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Monitoring Committee Meets After Heavy Fighting in Mogadishu
NAIROBI, 28 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - A newly-formed committee, set up to monitor a shaky ceasefire accord between the warring sides in Somalia, met on Thursday following clashes between rival warlords in Mogadishu.
The monitoring committee - made up of the US, EU, AU, Arab League and the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) - met at the venue of the Somali peace talks in Mbagathi near the Kenyan capital Nairobi, sources close to the talks told IRIN on Friday.
They discussed the issue of imposing sanctions - such as travel restrictions - against sides which breach the cessation of hostilities agreement, signed by faction leaders and the Transitional National Government (TNG) in the Kenyan town of Eldoret last October.
The committee's views are being referred to a meeting of the foreign ministers of Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia - the so-called frontline states making up the IGAD technical committee which is steering the talks.
A routine meeting of the foreign ministers is due to take place in Nairobi on Saturday, although Djibouti has reportedly asked for a postponement until next week as its foreign minister is otherwise engaged.
Heavy fighting broke out on Wednesday in Mogadishu's Medina district between the Abgal militias of Umar Finish and Musa Sudi Yalahow. The clashes continued on Thursday, and at least 10 people have been killed, the sources said. Large numbers of civilians are reported to be fleeing the area.
On Thursday, Finish - who is in Nairobi - held talks with Kenya's newly-appointed Special Envoy to the talks Bethwel Kiplagat. Yalahow is currently in Mogadishu.
Posted on Friday 28th February at 14:51:51 Basketball Player Likes Life in Canada but Misses Family in Somalia
BATHURST, N.B. (CP) - Abdi Dini was a regular kid, just hanging out with his friends, when a stray bullet changed his life forever.
The native of Mogadishu, Somalia, was just 10 years old when he was paralysed from the waist down after being accidentally shot in the back. "I was with my friends, standing in front of their house," he recalled on Wednesday. "It was about lunchtime. I was just standing there with them and all of the sudden I got shot and I was down on the ground." To this day, he still doesn't know where the bullet came from.
"It came from far away. It wasn't intentional," the soft-spoken 22-year-old said. "There was nobody around."
It wasn't long before he received devastating news.
"The doctor told me I was going to be paralysed from the waist down," he said matter-of-factly. "It was hard at the beginning but as the years go by, (you realize) you're lucky to be alive."
On Wednesday, he seemed a long way from that horrifying day 12 years ago. Dini, one of the top young wheelchair basketball players in the country, is a member of Ontario's team at the Canada Winter Games.
With two world junior gold medals under his belt, his future in the sport is bright. It's exactly what his parents had hoped when they sent him to Canada in 1993 to live with his uncle.
"(They thought I would have) a better life situation here than if I was living there," he said.
So, at the age of 13, Dini got on a plane and left his parents and seven brothers and sisters behind.
When he first arrived in Canada, it was a big adjustment. Things were very different here than in Somalia, which was in the middle of a civil war.
"It was a difficult time," said Dini, who lives in Toronto. "But I kind of grew out of it."
He took up wheelchair basketball when he was 16 after meeting coach Steve Bialowas at Toronto's Variety Village. He said he enjoys the team aspect of the game. During Wednesday's match, which Ontario won 80-47 over New Brunswick, players were quick to lend a hand if one of their opponents was struggling.
"It's a team game, everybody's helping everybody, it's fun," said Dini, who is taking a year away from school to train.
Dini is a natural at the game and has won gold medals at the 1997 and 2001 world junior championships. He hopes to one day play for the senior team at the Olympics.
Wheelchair basketball works on a points system. Players are rated according to their disability. Those with the most movement rank as high as 4.5. Players are then ranked below that, depending on where their spinal cord is damaged. In Canada, able-bodied athletes are permitted to play the game and are ranked at 4.5. At any one time on the court, the players' rankings from one team can't add up to more than 15.
Ontario assistant coach Jeannette Lambert says Dini is one of the top-ranked Class 1 athletes in Canada.
"He shoots three-pointers which is unlikely for a Class 1," she said. "And he can push with the able-bodied individuals, so he's an excellent player."
While Dini has overcome great obstacles to get where he is today, Lambert said that he's no different than many of his teammates.
"They all have a story," she said. "That's the great thing about wheelchair basketball is that every one of them has a story and they kind of forget about that story. They're here for a purpose and a common goal so I think that's inspiring on its own."
Wheelchair basketball is not a game for the faint of heart. It's rough, it's exciting and it's fast-paced. Competitors use their chairs as an extension of their bodies, racing up and down the court, smashing into their opponents and flipping over their chairs. Their ability to manoeuvre is amazing. A player can go flying head over heels in his chair and be upright again within a few seconds.
Dini cracks a big grin when asked if he thinks wheelchair basketball is rougher than the stand-up version of the game.
"It is, there's people flying out of their chairs, there's hits," he said. "Everybody looks to hit."
He's happy in Canada but still feels homesick now and again. He's hasn't been back to Somalia in 10 years.
"We talk over the phone, send letters and pictures," he said. "I want to go back after I finish school and visit them."
By JULIE SCOTT; © The Canadian Press, 2003
Posted on Thursday 27th February at 14:18:16 Civil Society Warns Against Disrupting Peace Talks
NAIROBI, 27 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Civil society delegates at the Somali peace talks near Nairobi, Kenya, said on Thursday they would resist any attempts to disrupt the conference.
They expressed support for the regional IGAD leadership, which includes Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, and said they saw no reason to raise doubts and conditions at this stage of the talks.
"We know, of course, that governments have interests but we believe they all want to see a friendly government in Somalia," civil society chairman Dr. Sharif Salah Mohamed Ali told a press conference. And he said people should not sit around criticising. He appealed to all groups, including the Transitional National Government (TNG), to participate.
The peace talks began last October in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, but have now been moved to Mbagathi, near the Kenyan capital, for financial reasons.
The TNG has refused to come to the new conference facilities, saying they are unsuitable. Instead, the delegation is staying at a central Nairobi hotel. In a statement earlier this week, the TNG also accused Ethiopia of having "sinister designs for Somalia" and said Kenya should be allowed to manage the conference alone.
A number of faction leaders known as the "G8" have also complained about Ethiopian "interference", while leaders of the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) recently left the talks citing the same reason.
Civil society delegates believe Somalis should have ownership of the conference, said Dr Sharif, but that overall leadership should be left with the technical committee of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). He added that the technical committee, which is made up of Ethiopia, Kenyan and Djibouti, deserved support.
"Although the conference needs some structural rearrangement, the civil society of Somalia, representing the large masses of the country, believes that no alternative could be found for the reinstatement of peace and normal governance to Somalia," Dr Sharif said.
He added that "neither the Somali ownership issue, nor the Somaliland participation should constitute a stumbling block over the continuation of conference proceedings".
The civil society press conference also took issue with what Dr Sharif called "pressure from certain quarters" to ignore civil society's contribution or to question the legitimacy of civil society representatives.
"The Somali civil society is the principal stakeholder of the present conference and the most legitimate component of this process," he said.
Posted on Thursday 27th February at 14:10:27 Fighting in Somali Capital Kills Eight People
MOGADISHU, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Eight people were killed and at least 11 wounded in fighting between rival factions in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, witnesses said.
Fighting erupted in the city's Medina area between gunmen loyal to Muse Sudi Yalahow, widely regarded as Mogadishu's most powerful warlord, and others backing his former militia commander Omar Mohamed Mohamud.
It began at about 10:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) and was still going on by mid-afternoon. Many people fled the area.
Violence between two other rival militia factions broke out in another part of the city.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the fighting.
Somalia has been torn apart by fighting since 1991, when military ruler Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown and the country descended into chaos.
A transitional government sits in Mogadishu but controls only parts of the capital and small pockets of the rest of the country. Other areas are controlled by rival warlords.
Peace talks are under way in neighbouring Kenya, but have struggled to make any progress. On Tuesday the transitional government, one of many factions taking part in the talks, said it was pulling out because the peace process was on the verge of collapse.
Posted on Wednesday 26th February at 20:19:47 TNG Says Peace Talks Facing Collapse
NAIROBI, 26 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) has refused to take part in the peace talks which were moved recently from the Kenyan town of Eldoret to the capital Nairobi, warning that they are facing collapse.
In a statement, received by IRIN, the TNG listed a range of issues it was unhappy with. These include a threat to the "legitimacy" of the conference, caused by the participation of "all sorts of people with no-one to represent".
The statement also called for representation from the self-declared republic of Somaliland, and complained about the "unclear" programme and timetable of the conference, as well as the fact that the talks had "not yet been turned over to the Somalis".
The statement accused Ethiopia of "working tirelessly to marginalise or undermine the TNG and some factions, while favouring others".
"Ethiopian activities at the conference are motivated and driven by its sinister designs for Somalia," the statement said.
"Ethiopia is being encouraged further in this endeavour by the deference accorded to it by the international community - including Kenya - which is seemingly intimidated by Ethiopia's unjustified claim that it is the 'expert' in Somalia's affairs, hence its takeover of the management of the conference."
Along with Somalia's other neighbours - Kenya and Djibouti - Ethiopia is a member of the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development's (IGAD) technical committee which is steering the talks.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi admitted his country had sent troops into Somalia to attack members of the Islamist al-Ittihad group.
"They have engaged in terrorist activities in our country," he told the BBC. He claimed there were members of al-Ittihad within the TNG and the transitional parliament.
The TNG statement described Ethiopia as an "adversary" and said Kenya should be the sole facilitator of the talks.
"The TNG sees no reason to continue to be a part of a conference that, without any shadow of a doubt, will collapse under the weight of the problems listed above," the statement concluded.
Posted on Wednesday 26th February at 14:44:05 Ethiopia Admits Somali Forays
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has admitted to the BBC he has occasionally sent troops into neighbouring Somalia to attack members of a militant Islamist group, al-Ittihad.
Mr Meles said al-Ittihad was linked to al-Qaeda and they had tonnes of captured documents that proved the link to al-Qaeda.
"They have engaged in terrorist activities in our country," he told the Focus on Africa programme
He also said that several Afghan Arabs had been killed during an Ethiopian attack on an al-Ittihad training camp.
Mr Meles insisted that he wanted to see a stable and united Somalia and said "in the end it is for Somalis to decide".
But he said they had lists of members of al-Ittihad inside Somalia's parliament and the Transitional National Government (TNG).
TNG President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan has consistently denied Ethiopian claims that his government has linked to Islamic extremist groups.
Badme
Mr Meles also discussed relations with Eritrea.
He said he found it difficult to see how the border town of Badme, over which the two countries fought a war, could be awarded to Eritrea.
A Boundary Commission was established at the end of the war two years ago to demarcate the border, but although it has ruled on the border, the status of Badme is still unclear because the frontier has not been marked out on the ground.
Mr Meles said the Boundary Commission had decided that Badme would go to the country that administered the area at the time of the war.
This, he suggested, should leave it in Ethiopian hands.
He warned that if the commission failed to stick to the facts, it would cause a lot of problems.
The Algiers peace treaty signed in December 2000 laid down that the border should be drawn according to two criteria: the treaties Ethiopia signed with Italy at the start of the last century, and international law.
Posted on Tuesday 25th February at 14:29:12 International Committee to Monitor Ceasefire Accord
NAIROBI, 25 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - An international committee is being set up to monitor a shaky ceasefire accord signed by Somali faction leaders, Kenya's special envoy for Somalia Bethwel Kiplagat said on Tuesday.
He was speaking at a plenary session to relaunch the Somali peace talks at their new venue in Mbagathi, near Nairobi. The conference was moved from the western Kenyan town of Eldoret for financial reasons.
The Mogadishu-based Transitional National Government (TNG) boycotted the plenary to protest against the new conference facilities, while a number of factions were also absent.
"We have already contacted the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and all are now committed to be members of the committee which will be monitoring the ceasefire in that declaration [of 27 October 2002]," Kiplagat told the conference.
"IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development] of course is a member of that committee and also the United States of America," he said. "And I will be calling the committee this week to discuss what action we need to take for those who violate what they have signed."
Referring to the departure of the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) from the talks, Kiplagat said those who wanted to leave could do so.
"Even if there are only two of us to work for Somali peace, we shall remain only two of us," he stated.
Kiplagat, who chairs the IGAD technical committee which is organising the conference, stressed it was time to get back to work. The six technical committees deliberating core issues of the conference should resume and would not need more than two or three works to complete their work, he said.
TNG BOYCOTT
The TNG information minister Abdirahman Adan Ibrahim "Ibbi" said the transitional authorities were boycotting the meeting because the conference organisers had not given sufficient consideration to the "importance" of the TNG, and the new premises were "not suitable".
Speaking by phone from a Nairobi hotel, he nevertheless said the TNG would return to the conference if given suitable accommodation.
Conference organisers are threatening to stop paying the TNG's bills at their central Nairobi hotel.
A number of faction leaders were also absent from the plenary. At a press conference, they said they had written to Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka listing their grievances.
These included a demand that Kenya should be allowed to run the conference alone, without "interference" from Ethiopia and Djibouti. These three "frontline" countries make up the IGAD technical committee which is steering the talks.
Posted on Tuesday 25th February at 14:25:07 No Government of "Warring Faction Leaders", Rights Activists Say
NAIROBI, 24 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Somali human rights activists have stressed that the outcome of the ongoing Somali peace conference in Kenya should not be a "government of warring faction leaders".
In a declaration, issued by the London-based Amnesty International organisation, activists from 23 organisations who met in Hargeysa earlier this month, said they would increase their struggle against human rights abuses in Somalia.
These, according to the declaration, include arbitrary killings, torture, arbitrary detention and kidnapping. The declaration asserted that they would also work for the equal rights of all, with full protection for vulnerable groups such as women and minorities.
The statement urged the Somali political authorities to "publicly recognise the legitimate role of human rights defenders in the protection and promotion of human rights".
"The outcome of the peace talks should not be a government of warring faction-leaders giving themselves total impunity for their gross violations of human rights," the statement said. "Somali political leaders who believe in peace and human rights must unite now to stop the cease-fire violations, arbitrary killings, rape, kidnapping and financial extortion."
"The regional and international sponsors of the peace talks must strive harder to secure this commitment and see it in action as a basic pre-requisite for any new transitional government," the declaration added.
Participants in the Hargeysa meeting included the Peace and Human Rights Network, Coalition of Grassroots Women's' Organisations, Dr Ismail Jumale Human Rights Organisation from Mogadishu; Dulmidiid Centre for Human Rights from Puntland; Isha Human Rights Organisation from Baidoa; Kisima Peace and Human Rights Organisation from Kismayo; and Nagaad Women's Coalition, Hornwatch and several others from Somaliland.
Posted on Monday 24th February at 14:09:59 Faction Leaders Want Kenya to Run Peace Talks Alone
NAIROBI, 24 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Faction leaders attending the Somali peace talks in Kenya have condemned the slow pace of the conference and accused Somalia's neighbours - the so-called frontline states - of working for their own interests.
A statement, signed by 11 faction leaders, blamed "continuous contradictions, differences and misunderstandings" between the three frontline states - Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia - for the "very slow progress of the process".
The frontline states, the statement said, were "contesting for their own interests in Somalia, as well as [for] the existing political differences of those countries".
"Such an attitude shows that there is a deliberate attempt to fulfill a hidden unknown political agenda with the objective to wreck the reconciliation process and consequently blame the Somalis," it claimed.
To this end, the leaders said that Kenya, as the host nation, should have sole responsibility for conducting the process "without any interference of the Ethiopian and Djibouti governments".
The statement also said that the allocation of delegates' seats was still mired by "doubt and confusion" and called for the immediate formation of an "Arbitration Committee" among the Somali clans.
The statement further condemned moving the venue of the talks from the western town of Eldoret to the Nairobi suburb of Mbagathi. The new venue, it said, lacked essential facilities and was not suitable for hosting important events.
Signatories of the statement include Abdirizak Isak Bihi, Barre Aden Shire, Jama Ali Jama, Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, Aden Abdullahi Nur, Osman Hassan Ali (Atto), Musse Sudi Yalahow, Omar Mohamoud Mohamed, Mowlid Ma'ane Mohamoud, Ahmed Omar Jess and Abdullahi Ga'al Abdi.
The statement came as one delegation - the Kismayo-based Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) - walked out of the talks on Sunday reportedly because "Ethiopia's involvement is too much", according to a JVA spokesman, quoted by the Associated Press.
Posted on Monday 24th February at 14:08:27 Dirty Needles Research Rejected
which says most HIV infections in Africa result from dirty medical needles.
The suggestion that the spread of the virus that can cause Aids is closely linked to unsafe medical care challenges widely held scientific views.
The research estimates that about 60% of people with HIV in Africa become infected mainly through contaminated needles rather than through sexual contact, but the UNAids organisation puts the figure at nearer 5%.
UNAids says the conclusions they have drawn are not supported by adequate studies.
Figures disputed
Catherine Hankins, UNAids chief scientific adviser, expressed her concerns.
"Unsafe sex continues to be the major route of transmission throughout the world," she said.
"We're concerned that a report like this might tend to make people drop their guard and not use condoms, when it's exactly using condoms that is required at this point.
The organisation does say that more resources are needed to ensure sterile medical care in all countries, not just the industrialised ones.
It would cost $290 million to ensure a clean needle for every medical treatment or vaccination in the world in two years' time, research shows.
Shocked
Dr Christopher Uoma, HIV co-ordinator for ActionAid in Kenya, said he had not a chance to study the full research but was initially shocked by the findings.
"It could have profound implications for our programme and Africa in general," he said.
"It could lead to a serious change in terms of health behaviour with people being reluctant to enter hospitals."
He also warned that it could encourage some people to revert to previous habits of risky sexual behaviour.
He pointed out that HIV epidemics in South Africa and Zimbabwe, which had good health systems, were less developed than those in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where medical care was poorer.
This was the opposite of what would be expected if most cases were transmitted through medical procedures, he said.
The US researchers reviewed hundreds of studies on HIV transmission across Africa, going back 20 years, and concluded the main cause was the use of dirty needles for medical injections.
The research, published in the International Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Aids, was funded privately by members of the team.
bbc.co.uk
Posted on Saturday 22nd February at 14:35:19 Somalia Denies Being a Haven for Terrorists
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Somalia insisted Friday that it is not a breeding ground for terrorists but appealed for international help to disarm thousands of militia members who have kept the country in strife for more than a decade.
Somali officials attending a conference of the 114-nation Non-Aligned Movement ahead of its summit Monday said U.S. authorities who traveled to their country over the past two years have not found terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida.
Somalia's security problems are due to "thousands of youngsters who have guns" and belong to the scores of militias battling for turf since the early 1990s, Somali delegation member Mohamed Osman Omar told The Associated Press.
"As a breeding ground (for al-Qaida) — I don't think so," Omar said.
Bin Laden and associates have been accused of financing and helping organize resistance to the U.S. military presence in Somalia in the early 1990s, which began as a mission to feed starving people and ended in open conflict with Somali warlords.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Washington kept a close eye on Somalia to ensure that al-Qaida did not re-establish bases there.
In January, U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. John Sattler said a U.S. task force hunting terrorists in the Horn of Africa is focusing on Somalia and coastal areas as potential hot spots. None of the troops are in Somalia, Sattler said.
Omar said Somalia needed financial aid to disarm and "rehabilitate" militia members by providing them with education and jobs.
"After 10 years of civil war, our country is destroyed completely," Omar said. "And reports linking Somalia to terrorism is discouraging investors."
A draft summit declaration being discussed by the Non-Aligned Movement emphasized the importance of combatting terrorism and said groups "must not be allowed to take advantage of the situation in Somalia to finance, plan, facilitate, support or commit terrorist acts from the country."
Somalia wants the declaration to state that "comprehensive disarmament is key to peace and stability in Somalia" and to urge countries to provide assistance.
Regional leaders have made more than a dozen attempts to broker peace. The country of 7 million has not had an effective government since the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in January 1991. Factions subsequently turned on each other in a patchwork of battling fiefdoms.
A transitional government was elected at a peace conference in August 2000, but it has little influence outside the capital, Mogadishu. Sporadic fighting has continued despite a cease-fire agreement signed in November by faction leaders.
By JASBANT SINGH, Associated Press
Posted on Friday 21st February at 16:58:18 Somali Mayoral Candidate Takes Job with Coleman
U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has tapped Lyndale resident and former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Mahamoud Wardere to work as a caseworker in his St. Paul office.
Wardere, 35, will help with immigration issues and Somali community outreach, said Erich Mische, Coleman's state director. Wardere is one of 10 staff members in the fledgling office, 2550 University Ave. West, Suite #100.
"He gives us a different perspective," Mische said. "It is helpful to have somebody who has gone through those life experiences so we have a better appreciation for the challenges that they go through."
Wardere grew up in Somalia but left the war-torn country. He spent two years in a Kenyan refugee camp before coming to the United States in 1995, he said. He became a citizen in 2000, and within a year was running to become mayor of Minneapolis as a "New Voices Party" candidate. He got 160 votes.
He taught at Washburn High School, losing the job to budget cuts. He has worked as a bilingual aide at Pillsbury School and as a concierge for Marquette Place, 1314 Marquette Avenue.
Mische said Wardere was somewhat involved in the campaign and had talked with candidate Coleman several times about issues facing immigrants in general and Somalis in particular.
"When I started pulling the staff together, Norm said, 'You need to talk to Mahamoud,'" Mische said. "He is somebody who fits in with the kinds of outreach and services he wanted to have in his Minnesota offices."
By Scott Russell
Posted on Friday 21st February at 14:40:49 Anger over Somali Talks Move
The controversial relocation of the National Reconciliation Conference for Somalia from the Kenyan town of Eldoret to Nairobi led this week to the airing of many grievances and complaints in various African media outlets.
Kenya's special envoy to Somalia, Bethwell Kiplagat, told The East African that the relocation was necessary to cap the escalating costs of the talks.
"Initially, 400 delegates were invited but more than 1,000 turned up.. The budget was blown out of the ceiling."
Mr Kiplagat said the numbers were being cut to a more manageable 360.
It is a move which will undoubtedly please some commentators.
Writing in the Canada-based Somali paper Banadir, M. M. Afrah said the talks have been characterised by "the stench of corruption, embezzlement and scandal.. backroom deals and people on the take".
"There is too much distrust, too much ill will, too much meaningless talk, and no visible end result."
Unpaid bills
Moving hundreds of people nearly 200 miles to Nairobi did not prove easy however.
The East African reported that Eldoret bus and coach firms blocked the mass decamp because of unpaid bills. Only a Kenyan Government undertaking to meet their costs saved the situation, the paper said.
The London-registered Xog-Ogaal paper said the next cause of bad feeling was the list of permitted delegates.
"Some clan representatives have threatened to pull out of the talks if they sight any irregularities in the list of their representatives."
Lists and accommodation
Ayaamaha said the interim Somali government initially refused to leave Eldoret because it was "unhappy with the way the list of delegates had been prepared, which allotted the government 49 members".
Having relented and agreed to move, the various delegations continued to complain, particularly as they had to exchange hotel rooms for dormitory accommodation in the Kenya College of Communication Technology.
The East African Standard said the Somali interim government boycotted the opening session, accusing the regional body Igad of failing to enforce the terms of a cease-fire agreement.
"Lack of adherence to the agreement is likely to reduce the talks into a shadow boxing affair."
The government accused Igad of "colluding with other stakeholders to hijack and slow down the peace process".
Ensuring inclusivity
Other groups were also displeased. Ayaamaha reported that the Jubba Valley Alliance and the Somali National Front were considering a boycott owing to reduced numbers.
"Igad gave us a number that we don't deserve, and we shall not agree", said Isaq Hasan Behe of the SNF.
These are grievances that Bethwell Kiplagat knows must be addressed.
"In my experience of dealing with conflicts in Africa, one of the fundamental things is to ensure inclusivity of all interested parties because if you leave any out, they will jeopardise the process", he told The East African.
Meanwhile, Somalia's Radio Banaadir reported that the delegates were facing "harsh conditions".
The UN Integrated Regional Information Networks was more specific.
"Many female delegates were complaining that the accommodation was such that men and women were forced to share bathroom facilities. 'It is extremely embarrassing for us to have to queue with men to use the bathrooms,' one woman said."
Sense of perspective
As the complaints rumbled on, the opposition paper Kenya Times lost its patience with the conference and appealed for a sense of perspective.
"The uppermost question among the international community, observers, and the delegates themselves must still be: will it end the 12-year-long armed conflict in that seemingly god-forsaken country in the Horn of Africa?"
Posted on Friday 21st February at 14:37:37 Optimism About The Future - Even If War Continues
NAIROBI - Despite the slow progress at peace talks aimed at ending more than a decade of anarchy in Somalia, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is optimistic about the future - even if the war continues.
Steven Lauwerier was UNICEF's project officer based in Baidoa, in southern Somalia, until fighting broke out there late last year. Now, he is constantly on the move, sleeping in whichever town is safest at the time.
Despite such difficulties, he says progress is being made because UNICEF are now investing in people rather than infrastructure.
The conflict in Baidoa has not stopped UNICEF's child vaccination or education programmes.
''When there was a week of no fighting, we had a polio vaccination round. Which before would not have been possible but now there is that commitment from the community to do that. Schools reopened, we were able to deliver the textbooks,'' he says.
Speaking at the end of a two-day strategy meeting on UNICEF's 2004 to 2008 five-year programme this week, Jesper Morch, UNICEF Somalia Representative emphasised that it is wrong to write Somalia off as a basket case.
''We acknowledge that we are likely to spend a lot of our time, energy and resources on emergency response, but we also do it with a strong sense of optimism. Impressive results have been achieved in the midst of so much suffering and agony,'' he said.
UNICEF has had to work from a near vacuum. There has been no central government in Somalia since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
Almost a whole generation of teenagers have grown up without attending school.
The lack of even a basic education structure forced UNICEF to start at the very beginning - by creating a curriculum and standardised textbooks for primary schools.
In 2002, these textbooks were distributed to more than 1,100 schools. Over 6,500 primary school teachers also received training.
Some 265,000 students are now enrolled in Somali schools, a 75 percent increase on 1999.
The health sector continues to dominate much of UNICEF's work in Somalia. Infant, child and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world. Somalia is one of the few countries in the world where polio has not been eradicated.
Working together with the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF has carried out a successful polio vaccination campaign. The disease is likely to be eradicated in the next three years, if no new cases of wild polio are reported.
In the next five years, UNICEF intends to devote much more attention to the problem of HIV/AIDS. The prevalence rate in Somalia is one of the lowest in Africa - estimated at between one and three percent.
This offers a great opportunity to learn from past mistakes, and successes, in other African countries to make sure that HIV/AIDS does not decimate Somalia in the same way.
''In Somalia we have a unique opportunity - starting aggressive and full-scale response towards HIV/AIDS when the prevalence is still low,'' says Mira Inhalainen, UNICEF's HIV/AIDS project officer.
A lot of studies show it is easier to contain a low prevalence than do damage control later when the negative impacts of the pandemic start accumulating.
UNICEF also sees hope on the political front.
Peace talks aimed at re-establishing a central national government in Somalia have been dragging on for four months. The talks were moved from the Kenyan town of Eldoret to the national capital Nairobi last week.
Although progress is slow, Somalis are confident that the talks will produce results.
''During the past months I've seen more hope than there was before. And certainly talking to leaders as well as local authorities, I get the indication that there's far more clearer prospect for peace than there was before,'' says Lauwerier.
''Also people who come from the Eldoret conference say it will come out to something, to some kind of a peace deal. What it will be, how it will be, when it will be, that is the question that nobody can answer at this moment,'' he shrugs.
Although fighting still continues in Somalia, UNICEF officials say it has become much more localised and short-lived than before.
The current phase of the Nairobi talks, which involves drawing up recommendations in six key areas, like landownership and demobilisation, is expected to last another three weeks. After that, the delegates will move on to the final and most difficult phase - working out a transitional federal government for Somalia.
By Katy Salmon
IPS
Posted on Friday 21st February at 14:33:15 UN Looks at Boosting Activities in South
NAIROBI, 21 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - A UN team which recently visited southern areas of Somalia has noted the potential for increased humanitarian activities in those regions.
The team, led by Maxwell Gaylard, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, visited the port city of Kismayo in Lower Juba and the town of Jowhar in Middle Shabelle, said Calum McLean of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
In Kismayo, the team held talks with the local authorities and "assessed the potential for the UN to increase its activities in the Lower Juba region", McLean told IRIN on Friday. UNICEF is currently the only UN agency operating in the region.
Meetings with leaders of the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) - which controls of the area - as well as with civil society, elders and intellectuals "all gave the impression that the JVA is currently able to maintain a reasonable level of security that would enable increased UN and international NGO activity", he noted.
He also said there was clearly a need for intervention to help some 15,000 internally displaced people in Kismayo.
In Jowhar, the team met the regional governor Muhammad Dheere and also looked at ways of expanding activities there.
"Of particular interest would be the resurrection of a flood management system for Jowhar which has a physical element of helping the administration renovate river flood diversion gates, but would also build capacity to monitor and manage water levels in the Shabelle river," McLean said.
The team also evaluated ways of improving the local airstrip.
For his part, Max Gaylard said he was "very impressed by the extent to which the community is doing things to help themselves".
"For an increased engagement of the UN it is of overriding importance that peace and security are established and maintained," Gaylard stressed.
Posted on Friday 21st February at 14:29:01 Businessman Jailed in Sugar Export Deal
A deal to export sugar from South America ended bitterly for a businessman who embezzled more than Dh1.3 million from a businesswoman, and now faces two years in prison, followed by deportation.
Vimal S. H., a 40-year-old Indian, had struck a $3 million deal with Maryam A. Y., a 48-year-old Somali, to export sugar from Brazil to Somalia.
After signing the deal with the victim, Vimal travelled to India. Maryam signed cheques worth Dh1.3 million to the commercial mediator, Raishanjani N. B., who transferred the amount to Vimal. A month passed and the shipment was not sent to Somalia.
Upon Vimal's return to Dubai, the victim contacted him and asked for clarification. Vimal informed her that he needed some more money to be able to renew his company's commercial licence in India, after which he promised to dispatch the sugar. Maryam believed him and paid an additional $10,000. The businessman did not keep his promise.
Last May, Maryam filed a complaint against Vimal and Raishanjani, a 38-year-old Indian.
The General Prosecution charged Vimal and Raishanjani with embezzlement and breach of trust.
During questioning, Vimal confessed to the charges while Raishanjani denied that he had embezzled any money. He maintained that he had acted as a commercial mediator between Maryam and Vimal.
The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced Vimal to two years followed by deportation and acquitted Raishanjani for lack of evidence.
Dubai: By Bassam Za'za'
Posted on Thursday 20th February at 17:57:59 Somali President Seeks Financial Help From Arab League
JEDDAH, 20 February 2003 — Somali President Abdi Qassim Salad Hassan on Tuesday asked the Arab League for financial support for his war-torn country.
Somalia is an AL member state. “Two years ago, the Arab summit conference approved more than $400 million to rebuild the country but the money is still not forthcoming,” he told Arab News after performing Haj.
He pointed out that the Transitional National Government does not have the necessary international financial help. “The absence of international assistance has minimized the efforts of the TNG to provide basic social and economic services.”
The TNG has only received $20,800,000 from three Arab countries. The funds have been provided by Saudi Arabia ($15 million), Qatar ($3 million) and Libya ($2,800,000). The money is insufficient to cover the country’s basic needs.
Asked about US charges that local Al-Qaeda affiliates exist in Somalia, the president said that Washington had accepted that no terrorist groups are in the country. After Sept. 11, the United States government accused the Somali group, Al-Ittihad Al-Islamia, of having links to Al-Qaeda. Since then, US-led coalition warships have been stationed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean to monitor maritime traffic. US reconnaissance planes have oveflown the region and the country.
“US government officials and media reporters have visited the whole country. They visited Shimbirale and Ras Kamboni villages where terrorist elements reportedly had training camps. The US government has confirmed that it understands that no terrorist groups exist in Somalia. Washington has also told us that it will support reconciliation efforts, restoring a lasting peace and forming a broad based government in Somalia,” he said.
Speaking about the end of TNG’s mandate, which will expire in August, Salad said, “If the present Somali peace talks in Kenya fail, the TNG will organize another peace conference inside the country. We have met with some of our opponents. We also wrote to the leader of the northern region of Puntland, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who indicated he would accept our offer to hold peace talks in the country.”
Asked about the relations of his administration with Kenya and Ethiopia, Salad said, “Kenya has a large number of Somali refugees. Our relations with Kenya are normal. The former Kenyan president hosted the peace talks and the reconciliation conference. I hope that the new Kenyan president will follow in his footsteps.”
He added, “All TNG efforts to exert control throughout the country were impeded by continuous Ethiopian intervention. Ethiopia supplies large quantities of arms and ammunition to the warlords, and spreads baseless propaganda against the administration.”
Salad F. Duhul, Special to Arab News
Posted on Thursday 20th February at 14:27:37 Transporters Block Move to Nairobi
Nairobi, (The East African/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) THE PLANNED relocation of the Somalia National Peace and Reconciliation Conference to Nairobi this week was on Saturday marred by protests by transporters who complained of non-payment for their services.
They blocked buses hired by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) Technical Committee to transport the delegates to Nairobi and threatened to burn them unless they were paid all their dues.
The transporters had been ferrying the delegates from the 10 hotels which hosted the talks.
Efforts by Kenya's Special Envoy to Somalia, Bethwel Kiplagat, to plead with the transporters to allow the delegates to relocate were futile.
It took the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, Peter Ole Nkuraiyia, to save the situation when he faxed a statement promising that the transporters would be paid by Monday.
The conference, which started on October 15 last year, is the first to bring together a majority of the country's military and political leaders. Its progress has been marred by various hiccups, the most recent being financial irregularities in which Ksh500 million ($6.25 million) is said to have been lost to fraudsters.
An audit ordered by agencies funding the conference discovered fictitious payments, records of non-existent delegates and double registration of representatives among other practices.
The situation was worsened by an overwhelming turnout of delegates at the conference. Although only 300 were invited for the talks, more than 800 turned up, throwing budgetary allocations for the event into disarray.
Earlier, some faction leaders at the talks urged the removal of Elijah Mwangale, then Kenya's Special Envoy for Somalia, accusing him of "dictatorship." He has since been replaced by Mr Bethwel Kiplagat.
It took the intervention of Foreign Affairs Minister Kalonzo Musyoka to revive the talks in January. He, however, warned that Kenya and the international community would not tolerate leaders bent on causing bloodshed in the region.
Last week, some of the delegates opposed to the relocation of the conference, wrote to the technical committee of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, donors funding the talks and the Kenyan government, among others, demanding that the conference creditors in Eldoret be paid before it was relocated.
Puntland State Minister for Justice and Religion Ahmed Ashareh said Somali leaders were confident that the conference would result in the formation of a legal, all-inclusive government for Somalia.
"Our people should know that this is the only chance for us to agree on peace. They should know that the future of our nation, our existence and our well-being lies in this conference," Mr Ashareh said.
by Lucas Barasa
Copyright The East African. Distributed by All Africa Global Media
Posted on Thursday 20th February at 14:25:40 Aiming for a Win-Win Situation
Nairobi, (The East African/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) Retired Ambassador BETHWEL KIPLAGAT took over from Elijah Mwangale as Kenya's Special Envoy to Somalia on January 18. He comes in just as Phase II of the Somali Reconciliation Conference is winding up. He spoke to Special Correspondent CATHY MAJTENYI on the challenges and progress at the talks
What have been the major challenges of the peace talks?
The major challenges have been related to the number of delegates. Initially, 400 delegates were invited but more than 1,000 turned up. That put pressure on finances. The budget was blown out of its ceiling. We now have a bill of Ksh385 million ($5 million), which we have to clear before we can reorganise ourselves.
The other issue is representation. We have civil society, women, the diaspora, intellectuals. They all want to be represented. There is also the leaders' committee, which was initiated by Elijah Mwangale but has been contested. The major issue is identity and representation.
How will you deal with these problems?
We have decided to limit the numbers. The figure we are working on now is 361 delegates, but there will be an extra 20 or 30 positions for those looking after some of the leaders or resource persons.
Second, we are reorganising the secretariat. We also plan to move from Eldoret to Nairobi because the costs are higher here. We have found a place that we think will be much more conducive and cheaper.
We also plan to take up the issue of finances with the donors. We have discussed the problems with them, and they seem to be forthcoming. There is now an independent unit that will manage our finances. It was set up by the European Union and is working with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
You've been quoted as saying that you wouldn't allow Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, or even Igad to take the peace process hostage. What role does the technical committee play in the talks and to what extent do it and the individual players influence the outcome of the talks?
The technical committee acts as a facilitator for the process. Our work is to make sure all the various groups are there. The committee decided, in consultation with the Somalis and the other partners, to establish the six committees to examine aspects of building a stable Somalia. The technical committee will receive reports from these groups and then we will see how to take the process forward. In my experience of dealing with conflicts in Africa, one of the fundamental things is to ensure inclusivity of all interested parties because if you leave any out, they will jeopardise the process.
The interest and voice of the regional partners are important because they have also been involved in Somalia over the years. But we must make sure that their concerns and suggestions do not hold the process hostage so that only their interests are considered. We want a win-win situation for all those involved, mainly Somalia itself and the region. There are also other partners like the African Union, European Union, Arab League, US, and Egypt, whose interests matter.
Some key people, particularly Hussein Aideed (chairman of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council) and others have left the conference. What plans do you have to bring them back?
My information is that he did not leave the conference. He went for some function in Korea and he is going to come back. They are all coming back.
Col Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad (disputed president of Puntland) and the leaders' committee itself have requested that Somaliland be given representation at the conference. However, Somaliland has repeatedly said it is a sovereign state and doesn't need or want to be involved in the talks. What is your stance on Somaliland representation?
The Council of Ministers of the Frontline States have not recognised Somaliland. Hence, you could say they are for territorial integrity and the unity of Somalia. It is implied that Somaliland is included in Somalia. Secondly, they had a request from the delegation here that Somaliland should be invited. A delegation was earlier sent to Somaliland to ask them to come.
As far as we are concerned, we will carry on with the conference and come to some arrangement, have a government, hopefully, in Mogadishu, and then that government together with the international community will take up that issue. If, during the course of these discussions, there is a window of opportunity that opens up, I think the conference is not going to say no to that possibility.
There have been some unfortunate incidents that have occurred at the conference over the past few weeks, namely the assault of Prof. Muhammad Abdi Ghandi [a prominent member of civil society]. How do you explain the incidents of violence that have occurred at the conference in the past few weeks and how do you plan to prevent this from happening again?
Given what Somalis have gone through over the years, I am amazed that there hasn't been too much violence. The Somali people have been killed, they have lost their mothers, they have been raped. We should all put that in perspective. We will strive to create the right atmosphere so that these kinds of things do not happen. Security is in place, but that's not enough.
I'm urging all the delegates, starting with the civil society, to be reconcilers. When they see tension, they should come in immediately and sort out the problem in a peaceful way. If another incident of violence occurs, then we will deal with it according to the laws of Kenya and maybe also according to the Somali traditional method of reconciliation.
Foreign Affairs Minister Kalonzo Musyoka said recently at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa that the frontline states had agreed to set up a committee to monitor violations of the ceasefire that the factions and others signed last October. Can you tell us more about this?
The ministers have decided to establish a committee consisting of members from the Arab League, the African Union, the United Nations, and the European Union. I will soon call a meeting of that group to work out a plan of action to ensure that there is no violation of that agreement. Also, we have been trying to work out the mechanism of sanctions against the violators.
When do you think the conference will conclude?
We will continue until we have an agreement, depending on finances and the progress we make. We need another three weeks or a month. I will have to go to the donors, or rather to the Council of Ministers, and brief them on the progress and perhaps appeal for further financial assistance.
Copyright The East African. Distributed by All Africa Global Media
Posted on Thursday 20th February at 14:24:38 Key Issue is "Survival" Says UNICEF
NAIROBI, 20 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said that the survival and protection of children and women will remain key issues in Somalia over the next five years.
In a press statement, it said UNICEF would also continue to support basic health education and water services. This, it said, was essential to ensuring that children grew up in a society where they would be able to reap the long-term benefits of development initiatives whose foundations were currently being laid.
Addressing a gathering of donors on Wednesday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, UNICEF-Somalia Representative Jesper Morch said the programme would continue to be guided by basic human rights principles, chief among which was that of non-discrimination.
"UNICEF-Somalia’s goal is to build on progress achieved over the last few years to uplift the status of women and children," Morch said. "In this, UNICEF will continue to fulfil its mandate to enhance the survival needs of children and women, and at the same time will assist in preparing for a future in which civil conflict will no longer prevail."
The UNICEF statement noted that the challenges facing Somali children and women were daunting. "The infant mortality rate currently stands at 132 per 1,000 births, and the maternal mortality rate is 160 per 10,000," it said. "In some parts of the country, one in four children exhibits symptoms of malnutrition. Only 17 percent of children of eligible school age are receiving primary education, and of those in school, less than a third are girls.
"Access to safe drinking water is also a major problem facing Somalis - less than 75 per cent of the population has access to hygienic water resources," the statement added. "Coupled with these are the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS which, though demonstrating relatively low prevalence at about one percent (1999 figs), still requires stringent initiatives in place to prevent a future rapid increase."
UNICEF and its UN Country Team partners and other organisations would continue to strengthen cooperation to "assist Somalis move out of crisis into a future characterised by reconciliation and lasting peace", the statement concluded.
Posted on Thursday 20th February at 14:20:51 Somaliland Denies Supporting Anti-Puntland Forces
NAIROBI, 19 Feb 2003 (IRIN) The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have denied accusations by the neighbouring self-declared autonomous region of Puntland of supporting and arming dissident forces.
Abdullahi Muhammad Duale, the Somaliland information minister, told IRIN on Wednesday that the charges "are absolutely false and baseless".
Abdishakur Mire Adan, the Puntland deputy information minister, claimed that the Somaliland authorities were arming and supporting forces led by Gen Ade Muse, which are loyal to Jama Ali Jama. Both Jama and Col Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad claim to be the legitimate president of Puntland.
"We have evidence that the Riyale administration [in Somaliland] has allowed Gen Ade Muse to import 12 four-wheel-drive vehicles through the port of Berbera [in Somaliland], and that seven of them have already been turned into technicals [battle-wagons]," Abdishakur told IRIN. He also accused Somaliland of providing the anti-Puntland forces with 300 assorted small arms.
Abdishakur went on to say that Ade Muse's forces were being trained in Hamilka, Sanaag Region, under the protection of Somaliland forces based at the village of Dararweyn, also in Sanaag.
Both Puntland and Somaliland claim ownership of Sool and Sanaag regions, a dispute which led to an attack last month on the Somaliland leader, Dahir Riyaleh Kahin, who was visiting the area.
Abdishakur warned that Puntland was "losing patience".
"We will be forced to take action against any party posing a threat to our security," he said. "If Somaliland does not stop meddling in Puntland affairs, they will have to face the consequences. The activities of the Riyale administration will lead to a clan war between the Harti [Darod] and the Isaq [the dominant clan in Somaliland]."
However, Duale told IRIN that the only people the Somaliland authorities were helping were "displaced people running for their lives". He said Somaliland would never jeopardise its tranquillity by getting involved in other people's disputes.
"Our greatest asset is our security and stability, and we will not jeopardise it for any reason," he said. He noted in this context that Somaliland was busy preparing for its presidential elections, due to be held in mid-April. "Our democratisation process is our number one priority," he added.
Duale said that the Abdullahi Yusuf administration was behaving like "someone who has set fire to his house and is now trying to extend the fire to his neighbours".
"Our policy is and has always been to promote peace and stability in our region," he asserted.
Posted on Wednesday 19th February at 14:27:56 Delegates to be Screened and Re-registered
NAIROBI, 18 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Delegates to the Somali peace conference, which has been moved to the Kenyan capital Nairobi from the town of Eldoret, will be re-registered and screened before proceedings resume, a source close to the talks told IRIN on Tuesday.
The first group of delegates arrived at the Kenya College of Communications Technology (KCCT) in Nairobi's Mbagathi suburb on the evening of 15 February. Almost all the delegates were reported to have reached the new venue by Monday, said the source. The process of re-registering and screening was likely to take about two days.
According to the source, the screening of the delegates was made necessary by the fact that "many people who are not bona fide delegates are currently at the KCCT". "We need to screen them so that only bona fide delegates will remain," he said.
In the rush to move to the new venue, many people - including those not on the final list - were transported to Nairobi, one delegate told IRIN.
Many female delegates were complaining that the accommodation at the KCCT was such that men and women were forced to share bathroom facilities. "It is extremely embarrassing for us to have to queue with men to use the bathrooms," one woman said.
The technical committee of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the regional body which is organising the conference, was aware of the problem and was in the process of rectifying it, Peter Nyagah, the press liaison officer, told IRIN. "There will be a separate dormitory for the ladies," he said.
Meanwhile, the Norwegian government's announcement that it was contributing some US $250,000 towards the conference was "a positive sign and a vote of confidence for the talks," Nyagah added. "It shows the commitment of the donor community to the peace process and a desire to see it succeed."
Posted on Tuesday 18th February at 14:47:50 Iraqi, Somali Detained In Philippines, Probed For Terror Links
MANILA, Philippines, Feb 17, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) An Iraqi and a Somali, arrested in the Philippines for immigration violations, have been questioned for possible links to terrorism and the Iraqi intelligence service, officials said Monday.
Police Chief Supt. Oscar Calderon said Somali national Saad Abdulhader Abdi was arrested Wednesday at the former U.S. Clark Air Base north of Manila after he failed to present a driver's license.
The car Abdi was driving was later traced to Samir Mushen, a 36-year-old Iraqi married to a Filipino.
An immigration intelligence official said the two men have been charged for violation of immigration laws. Authorities have also looked into possible terror links, but so far have found nothing, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The official said the Somali was an undocumented alien working without permit for the Iraqi man.
Last week, the government expelled Iraqi Consul Husham Husain, alleging he had links to the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf. Officials cited an intelligence report that Husain spoke on the phone with an Abu Sayyaf member, who was later arrested, following a bomb attack that killed a U.S. Special Forces soldier last October.
The Iraqi Embassy has denied the allegation. The incident heightened tensions in the country amid official warnings that Muslim extremists may be planning terror attacks in retaliation for a possible U.S. war on Iraq.
An immigration official who arrested the two men said Abdi took flying lessons near Manila's international airport and later studied at a computer school near Clark. He arrived in the country in 1997 and his visa has expired, he said.
Abdi was working without permit for Mushen, an engineer who runs a recruitment agency in Manila, said the official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said he became suspicious of how Abdi raised the money for a flight school and computer studies.
Mushen has denied being a supporter of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the official. The Iraqi has been staying in the Philippines for about seven years and holds a temporary resident visa valid until October.
By TERESA CEROJANO Associated Press
Copyright 2003 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Posted on Monday 17th February at 15:58:29 Boost for Somali Peace
Nairobi - Norway will donate $500 000 to help pay for peace talks in Kenya aimed at ending internal conflicts in Sudan and Somalia, Norway's International Development Minister Hilde Johnson said here on Monday.
"We are pleased with the role Kenya is playing in the Sudan and Somali peace talks and we are coming in to assist with $250 000 each for both Sudan and Somali peace processes," Johnson said during a meeting with Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka.
The talks are being held under technical committees of the seven-nation Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), comprising Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and nominally Somalia, which has been without an effective central government since 1991.
Johnson, who is in Kenya on a two-day official visit, will hold talks with other top government officials before flying out of the country on Tuesday. - Sapa-AFP
Posted on Monday 17th February at 15:56:30 Dr. Edna A Ismail African heroine
Admired across Africa for her efforts on behalf of women, the underprivileged and the sick, EDNA ADEN ISMAIL will visit Canada to raise awareness of the plight of families and social issues in Somaliland. Ms. Ismail, Somaliland's Minister of Family and Social Affairs, will be honored on February 15 by the Somali community and Liberal Member of Parliament Jim Karygiannis who will present her with a copy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, translated into Somali for the first time.
A role model for millions, Ms. Ismail is in Canada to promote governance and civic participation in the Republic of Somaliland which is poised to hold presidential elections in May 2003 - 12 years after declaring its independence from Somalia, a strife-ridden nation plagued by war and anarchy.
In addition, she intends to raise awareness about the plight of families and social issues in Somaliland, a fledgling democratic state, and also express her gratitude to Canada for thousands throughout the Horn of Africa. Ms. Ismail, a former World Health Organization representative, gained global recognition and accolades after she built the Edna Aden Hospital in Hargeisa, Somaliland. The non-profit facility also serves as a teaching hospital and is the only provider of maternity care in Somaliland at present.
After Toronto, Ms. Ismail will travel to Ottawa to meet with Members of Parliament, including Ministers and other government officials, before traveling to South Africa at the invitation of President Thabo Mbeki for an AIDS conference.
Somalilandnet.com
Posted on Monday 17th February at 15:54:31 Situation in Shinille Area Improving
Addis Ababa, Feb 17, 2003 (The Daily Monitor/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) Emergency food distribution in Shinille zone of Somali Region has begun to turn the situation around from an impending disaster, Save the Children UK disclosed.
Some 204,000 affected people in 4 woredas of the zone have been provided with food through distributions made possible by Save the Children and the support of the US government.
"We're very pleased that we've been able to begin to turn this situation around," said Emergencies Focal Director John Graham of Save the Children.
"Conditions deteriorated very quickly after the failure of the Karan rains late last year," Graham added, "With the livestock either dead or moved outside of Shinille in search of pasture, the women and children left behind were very quickly thrown into serious threat."
Save the Children worked with local officials and the DPPC to undertake assessments and respond to the emergency.
A recent nutritional survey indicated that emergency food grain and supplements were urgently needed, as malnutrition had escalated.
However, the survey also indicated that the number of child deaths due to malnutrition was still relatively low.
"By getting a large distribution of food in now, we think that we've headed off having a much larger number of child deaths. With supplementary foods directed at children under five and needy women, we are hoping to turn the situation around," Graham added.
Rains are not expected in the area in the near future, so Save the Children is seeking ongoing support for food assistance, as well as water provision and other emergency needs. (Press release)
by Save the Children UK (press Release)
Copyright The Daily Monitor. Distributed by All Africa Global Media
Posted on Monday 17th February at 15:50:07 Confusion as Talks' Delegates Relocate
NAIROBI, 17 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Delegates to the Somali peace talks, arriving at the new venue in Nairobi from the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, have been greeted by chaos and confusion.
The first group of delegates started arriving at the Kenya College of Communications Technology (KCCT) in Nairobi's Mbagathi suburb on Saturday night, only to find that minimal arrangements had been made for them, one delegate told IRIN on Monday.
"We came at about 10:00 p.m. and there was no-one to guide us through the new place. It became a free-for-all, with people grabbing whatever space they could find," said civil society member Saredo Muhammad. "We found only a few security people, and no-one from IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development - the conference organisers]."
Saredo added that their departure from Eldoret had been delayed by transporters and hoteliers protesting that debts had not been paid. "We were kept waiting in our buses for hours, while IGAD representatives negotiated with the creditors," she said.
Some delegates claimed the confusion was caused by a lack of proper planning. More people had arrived than had been planned for, said Muhammad Mahmud, also a civil society member. About 360 delegates had been due to move, but "almost everyone in Eldoret, including those not on the final list, were transported to Nairobi", he told IRIN.
Saredo added that many of the delegates whose names were on the final list had yet to be accommodated at the KCCT.
Meanwhile, Hasan Abshir Farah, the prime minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG), was injured in a car accident on the way from Eldoret to Nairobi on Sunday.
The car carrying Abshir and several other TNG delegates rolled three times, Abdullah Derow Isaq, the Speaker of the Transitional National Assembly, told IRIN.
"The prime minister only suffered a fractured finger," he said, adding that all the occupants of the car had been taken to Nairobi's Aga Khan hospital for observation, and were later discharged.
Posted on Monday 17th February at 15:48:26 Millions Lost on Somali Talks
Millions of shillings were lost in financial irregularities unearthed in an audit of the ongoing Somali peace talks.
The audit, ordered by agencies funding the national reconciliation talks in Kenya, discovered fictitious payments, records of non-existent delegates and double registration of representatives, among other things.
A source at the ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters gave an example of a media consultancy firm, which has claimed Sh2 million for services not rendered.
"The company staff has never even been seen in Eldoret since October when the conference started yet they have presented a bill of Sh2 million for payment. In fact, media services at the council were being handled by ministry of Foreign Affairs officials," the source said.
The audit is said to have discovered some names of delegates who were booked in more than one hotel and bills for vehicles not used for the conference.
"The auditors were surprised to find that some vehicles, which had remained parked for months due to lack of fuel, had provided bills for payments. It is suspected there was collusion between some management officials, hoteliers, transporters and fictitious companies to defraud the organisers of the conference money," the source said.
Some hospitals are also said to have presented bills for medical services not provided to the delegates.
The source said nearly Sh500 million owed to the conference's creditors might only be paid after the audit is concluded.
Early this week, Foreign Affairs press and liaison officer P. Nyagah denied that the auditor was deployed to scrutinise misappropriation of funds.
Meanwhile, Puntland State minister for Justice and Religion Ahmed Ashareh says he is confident an all-inclusive government for Somalia will be constituted during the talks.
Mr Ashareh, however, accused some leaders of working for the downfall of the talks through "foreign media propaganda" and failing to attend the conference.
He said a party hosted on Tuesday by Puntland State President Abdullahi Yusuf, signified a breakthrough in the efforts to find peace in the Horn of Africa country. The party was attended by the main Somali factional leaders and representatives of the international community.
In another development, delegates to the talks have vowed not to move to Nairobi until hoteliers, transporters and other creditors are paid the nearly Sh500 million owed to them.
The creditors have complained of non-payment of their dues since the talks started last October. The third phase of the talks is expected to start on Monday at Nairobi's Kenya College of Communication Technology, Mbagathi.
He said KCCT charged only about Sh2500 per delegate per day for accommodation and meals unlike as much as Sh7,000 per person per day being charged by some Eldoret hotels.
By LUCAS BARASA
and PATRICIA OMONDI
Posted on Thursday 13th February at 20:22:16 Somali Detainee Should be Deported, Lawyers Argue
With about 20 Minnesota Somalis filling the courtroom, government lawyers asked a federal appeals panel in St. Paul on Wednesday to reverse a lower court ruling and clear the way to deport a Somali man being detained in a Minnesota jail.
But Jeff Keyes, an attorney for Keyse Jama, told two judges from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that U.S. law has long prohibited deporting people to countries lacking a central government.
"We don't want potentially stateless people bounced around from country to country," Keyes said during brief oral arguments at the federal courthouse in St. Paul.
No decision on the appeal is expected for four months.
Jama, 24, lost his legal residency status after pleading guilty to a 1999 assault. He has served his sentence for the assault, but he is being held in the Rush City jail as his deportation case winds through the federal court system.
Last April, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis ordered the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service not to deport Jama because of the chaos in his native Somalia. Since then, another federal judge in Seattle has put a hold on all Somali deportation orders pending more legal challenges.
"There is no central government in Somalia, only different factions and lawless people roaming around," said Osman Sahardeed, the assistant executive director of the Somali Community of Minnesota. He was among about two dozen Somali refugees and human rights advocates who attended Wednesday's hearing. Minnesota has become a leading home for Somali refugees.
"We came here as refugees and we are now Americans. And we have faith in the system of justice and believe the law is on our side," Sahardeed said after the hearing. "We came here because we believe in this system of justice, and we are now part of that system and we are looking forward to the decision of the 8th Circuit."
Keyes said that the effort to deport Jama is "in clear violation" of removal laws but that Jama's attempt to avoid returning to his homeland is far from unique or unusual.
"For 50 years, there have been people in this country who couldn't be deported to places such as Communist China, Cuba, Vietnam and Cambodia because they had no passports and those countries declined to accept them," Keyes said after the hearing.
Greg Mack, a senior litigation counselor for the U.S. Department of Justice, argued that Tunheim's ruling should be reversed and that the government has the right to deport people who have committed felonies to the country of their birth. He said that Somalia does have a recognized government and that Jama failed to exhaust established appeal procedures before taking his case to federal court.
Michele Garnett McKenzie, an attorney for the Minnesota Advocates of Human Rights, said even the U.S. State Department has described the current climate in Somalia as anarchy. The East African nation has been wracked with violence and disorder since a civil war in the early 1990s. McKenzie said that if Jama were to win his case, it wouldn't create a permanent fix for Minnesota Somalis trying to avoid being sent back to their troubled homeland. The deportations would resume once a central government became stabilized in Somalia.
Keyes said Jama is awaiting a separate decision from Tunheim seeking his release from the Rush City jail.
"We can't hold people in limbo indefinitely," said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.
Curt Brown
Star Tribune
Posted on Thursday 13th February at 14:44:38 Aacc Poised for Peace And Reconciliation Role
Serious tension has developed between Somali war-lords and members of Somali civil society currently locked in peace talks in Eldoret, about 300 kilometres North-west of Nairobi, AANA/APTA has learnt.
The tension is due to mistrust between the two groups. Accordingly, a meeting of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working for peace and reconciliation for Somalia has proposed that the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) should play a leading facilitator role.
They said AACC has a strategic significance as a continental body, with a wealth of experience in peace-making and reconciliation in Africa.
The proposal was made at the NGOs meeting on February 5, at the AACC headquarters here.
They proposed that AACC should invite some South Africans, familiar with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), to come and share their experiences with NGOs involved in the Somalia peace process, to help ease the tension.
Speaking at an earlier similar meeting on January 27, Kenyan Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, whose NGO, Africa Peace Forum had organised the meeting, cited the famous Addis Ababa, peace agreement for Sudan, where AACC, alongside Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC) brokered peace for Sudan from 1972-1983.
Ambassador Kiplagat is the new mediator of the Somalia peace talks currently taking place in Eldoret, Kenya, under the umbrella of IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development).
Participants, who represented several NGOs (civil societies) involved in the promotion of peace and reconciliation in Somalia, also proposed that prominent Kenyan Somalis should be incorporated in the peace-making process.
The general feeling was that as part of the larger Somali community, they should be put on board. Participants also proposed for the inter-faith involvement in the search for peace for Somalia.
'We call for this kind of involvement, taking into consideration that we are all men and women of the same God with one agenda " peace and reconciliation " for the wounded mother country of Somalia,' stressed one of the participants.
The January meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Kunijwok Kwawang, the head of the AACC Research and Development Desk, and Mr. Paul Koku Adzor, AACC's Executive Secretary for Youth Desk.
The organisation's head of Information and Communication, Mr. Mitch Odero, chaired the February 5 meeting.
The next NGO meeting is scheduled for February 19. Among the major organisations represented at the first and the second meetings were the Norwegian Church Aid, The Central Committee of the Mennonite and a British charitable organisation, Oxfam.
Meanwhile the peace talks in Eldoret have incurred a debt to the tune of US$3.7 million (Ksh 285 million). Kiplagat told a press conference that the talks might be moved to Nairobi, which has cheaper options for accommodation.
He also dispelled rumours that the peace talks had stalled, adding that 'currently, six committees have been established and that they were meeting in groups, after which they will come to the plenary'.
Posted on Thursday 13th February at 14:34:19 Unpaid Bills Mar Somali Talks
Auditors have been called in to look into $3.75m of unpaid bills accrued by the Somali peace talks in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret.
The talks have become so bogged down by overspending that in an attempt to cut costs they are being moved to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, at the weekend.
Bethuel Kiplagat, the new chief mediator of talks, said that there had been a "lot of rumours" about corruption so accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Kenyan Foreign Ministry would examine the bills.
The talks have made little progress since they began in October and have been plagued by disputes.
Mr Kiplagat was appointed by new Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on 20 January, replacing Elijah Mwangale, an appointee of former President Daniel arap Moi, who has been accused by Somali delegates of corruption and mismanagement.
Departure
Kenya's Government is supposed to pay expenses accrued at the talks, including the hotel bills, and then seek reimbursement from donors including the United States and European Union.
AP news agency says more than $1.3m has already been paid out on the talks.
More than 800 Somalis when to Eldoret as delegates when the talks began and booked into hotel rooms.
Organisers have been trying to halve that number of delegates.
Fighting has continued around the country despite a cease-fire agreement signed in November by the transitional national government and faction leaders during the first phase of the Eldoret talks.
More than a dozen attempts to broker peace in Somalia have failed since President Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
Posted on Thursday 13th February at 13:43:45 Measles Outbreak in South
NAIROBI, 13 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Three children have died in an outbreak of measles in the Middle Juba region of southern Somalia, according to an international aid agency operating in the area.
The outbreak reportedly started in and around the town of Sakow, some 540 km southwest of the capital Mogadishu, on Monday, World Vision (WV) Somalia said.
"As of yesterday [Wednesday] we had about 20 cases, but expect the numbers to increase as infected people are brought in from outlying villages," the organisation said. So far, at least eight villages had reported infections.
In a statement, WV said its medical team leader, Dr Abdi Ali, had flown from Bakol Region, south-central Somalia, to the affected area with drugs to start treatment.
Dr Ngini, a WV health officer, was quoted as saying that medical personnel, once on the scene, "will identify, isolate and treat the infected children". "What we are doing is damage control - treat the cases and prevent further spread. Immunisation will be done later," he said.
WV medical staff are reportedly meeting local elders on Thursday with a view to mounting a public awareness campaign to encourage people to bring in their sick for treatment.
Posted on Thursday 13th February at 13:38:02 Some Food Security Improvements in South
NAIROBI, 13 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - A food security watchdog for Somalia has predicted a good secondary harvest during January-February in southern Somalia, following a satisfactory Deyr, or short rainy season, in the country.
The Food Security Assessment Unit for Somalia (which is funded by the EU and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation) said in its latest report that in Hiiran region, south-central Somalia, the good Deyr season had resulted in crops "likely to reverse the poor food security situation that was predicted".
According to the report, crops in the area under cultivation are above normal and yields are expected to be good. Livestock conditions had also improved, it said.
The report, however, warned that longer-term food security issues affecting Hiiran region - such as poverty and low income levels - still remained, "particularly among the poor riverine groups (situated by the banks of the Shabelle river) of the region".
The Gedo region of southwestern Somalia, which had been food insecure for several consecutive years, "is now experiencing a period of temporary recovery" as a result of good Deyr rains, said the report. It noted that the region was currently moving from "a period of emergency food insecurity to a more chronic state of food insecurity".
It was important that "underlying factors which detrimentally affect livelihoods in the longer term in Gedo region are closely monitored", particularly if the March/April Gu rains are delayed or fail, the report added.
It noted that in the northern part of the region, near the towns of Luuq and Belet Hawa, insecurity had prevented planting, and a poor harvest was expected.
The report also noted that overall crop production in Gedo "contributes less than 15 percent to household food needs, because two-thirds of the population are estimated to be pastoralists". However, the other third of the population are riverine and agro-pastoral people and they rely on crops for an estimated 60-65 percent of their household income, the report pointed out.
Posted on Thursday 13th February at 13:37:32 Factions Violate Ceasefire
SOME FACTION leaders attending the Somalia National Reconciliation Conference in Kenya are encouraging their militias in Somalia to fight so that they can gain negotiating power during the peace talks, delegates and international observers have said.
"They [faction leaders] are here to reconcile, but they are sending some encouragement to [their followers] still proceed with wars in Somalia," Mohamed Aden, chairman of the conference's youth group, Save Somali Youth, said.
Mr Aden said that the main motivation that the warlords have to fight is to expand the territories that they control. "They say that the international community might give [them] some priority if they expand their land."
Despite a ceasefire agreement that the warring factions signed in Eldoret last October, fighting has continued in the capital, Mogadishu, the towns of Las Anod in the northeast and Baidoa in the southwest, and in the Bari, Bay, Bakol, Gedo and Lower Shabelle regions.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Somalia Maxwell Gaylard, last month urged all factions to respect the ceasefire.
"It is a matter of deep concern that despite the promising commitments made in October, we have seen such an escalation of violence," Mr Gaylard said. "The humanitarian community stands ready to support peace and reconciliation, but without meaningful guarantees of safe and unhindered access, we cannot effectively deliver aid to those who need it most. This is now the case in many parts of the country."
Last month, forces of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), led by Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, attacked an RRA faction led by Shatigadud's former deputies in Baidoa. At least six people were killed.
"The renewed fighting in Baidoa and in Mogadishu is related to what's happening here [in Eldoret]," an international observer said. "It started before the conference because people wanted to gain more territory and get a stronger bargaining position."
He said that, to a certain extent, the strategy worked, as the faction leaders are seen as "important" people and have their own high-profile "leader's committee," while representatives of civil society have had to struggle to be heard. Many delegates think the warlords have too much influence over the conference, said the observer.
However, the faction leaders' strategy will most likely backfire at this point, said the observer. "Doing it [gaining ground] after the conference has started might have a negative impact; it might be seen as violating the whole idea and spirit of the conference, and may not necessarily lead to any stronger position internationally."
Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat, Kenya's special envoy to Somalia who replaced Elijah Mwangale in mid-January, said that the faction leaders are one of many groups represented at the conference, and will not have greater influence than others.
The aim of the conference, which began last October under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad), is to help Somalis resolve their differences and come up with a new, transitional government.
"It's not the warlords or faction leaders who will dominate the process," he said. "It will be all these interested parties or stakeholders. I think it would be a big mistake if one group dominated the process."
Mr Kiplagat said that the conference's technical committee, which he chairs, along with representatives from the Arab League, the African Union, the UN and the EU have formed a committee to come up with sanctions or other punishments against those who violate the ceasefire.
Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Kalonzo Musyoka warned at the recent African Union summit in Addis Ababa that factions violating the ceasefire would be expelled from the peace talks or face sanctions. He said the frontline states - Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti - had agreed to set up a committee to monitor implementation of the ceasefire.
Another factor that might hinder the talks is the departure of some prominent faction leaders. These include the Mogadishu-based Muse Sudi Yalahow and Muhammad Qanyare Afrah, Col Barre Hiiraale, the leader of Juba Valley Alliance, and Husayn Aideed, co-chairman of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council.
Cathy Majtenyi, Special Correspondent (The East African)
Posted on Wednesday 12th February at 18:43:32 Somali Leaders Turned Away From Visit to Prisoners
A group of Somali community activists was turned away Tuesday at the state prison in Rush City while trying to visit detained Somalis facing possible deportation.
Members of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, Ali Khalif Galaydh, the former prime minister of Somalia, and Peter Erlinder, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, were told that their criminal background checks had not been completed in time to visit the eight Somalis detained for immigration violations.
They were told they could visit Friday afternoon. They had requested the Tuesday visit because they wanted to see detainee Keyse Jama before his federal court hearing this morning in St. Paul regarding his immigration status. Jama has been detained since completing a two-year jail sentence for assault last year.
"Obviously, we are very disappointed. But we will be back," Omar Jamal, executive director of the Advocacy Center, said after the 15-minute meeting with the prison official. "We are hoping to have a chance to talk to them this week."
Erlinder said that the conversation with the prison official was pleasant but that he was puzzled about why the background checks weren't completed by Tuesday. He said that the group "has to assume that there was a level of good faith" reached with prison officials about Friday's scheduled visit.
The detained Somalis are deemed deportable either because the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) had denied them asylum or because they had committed felonies. They originally were moved from Minnesota to Louisiana in November.
But a storm delayed their flight to Somalia, and a Seattle judge later issued a nationwide ban on deportations to that country because after a decade of civil war, it lacks a functioning government to receive deportees.
The group was recently returned to Minnesota.
Galaydh, who is now a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute, said Tuesday that he is eager to meet with the detainees.
"Some of them are not being accused of specific violations," Galaydh said. "Therefore, we would like to see an explanation on the part of the INS to clarify the picture and assure their loved ones and our community that they are being held on a specific charge."
He said their imprisonment has caused a sense of fear in his community. He said many Somalis also fear a backlash if the United States declares war on Iraq.
He recalled the period after the Sept. 11 attacks when several Somalis were harassed amid rumors that Somalia harbored terrorist bases and that the country was a likely place for Al-Qaida leaders to hide.
"I think there is going to be some [backlash] if there is a war, but probably not as much as before," Galadyh said. "I hope peace prevails."
Terry Collins
© Copyright 2003 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Posted on Wednesday 12th February at 18:36:46 Refugees Face Hostility in US Cities
Nairobi, Feb 10, 2003 (The East African/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) THE UNITED States reaffirmed last week that it will admit some 12,000 Somali Bantus who have been living in Kenya as refugees for the past decade. But the prospective immigrants, who are to begin arriving in the US within a few weeks, might encounter some hostility in their new home.
Racial and cultural tensions have developed in one US locality where large numbers of Somali immigrants have already settled. And leaders of a city in Massachusetts have voted to reject a US government grant intended to smooth the planned placement of Somali families in that community.
Somali immigrants are experiencing the greatest degree of local resistance in the ageing industrial city of Lewiston in the New England state of Maine. A neo-Nazi group organised a small anti-Somali protest in Lewiston last month.
The racist group scented opportunity after Lewiston's mayor urged local Somali elders last October to help dissuade additional Somalis from moving to the city.
The 1,200 Somalis already living in Lewiston are straining local resources "financially, physically and emotionally," the mayor had declared. The city has a total population of 36,000.
In the neighbouring state of Massachusetts, the Holyoke city council formally stated in October that the community "does not have the resources to care for, educate, train, house or protect" some 300 Somalis who were to have been settled there. Holyoke's political leaders also asked Washington to take back a $1 million, three-year grant intended to ease the Somalis' transition.
No major conflicts have occurred, however, in other US cities that have seen large-scale immigration of Sudanese as well as Somalis in recent years. Thousands of Somalis are living in the Minneapolis and Seattle areas where there have been few reports of tension. And even in Lewiston, a sizeable proportion of residents have expressed support for the new arrivals. State Department officials say they will ensure that the 12,000 Somali Bantus are welcomed in the US communities where they are to be placed.
Each of the Somali Bantu families is to be assigned to a charitable organisation that will assist with what the State Department calls "reception and placement services." The 12,000 refugees, currently housed in Kakuma camp in Kenya, are to be admitted to the US this year and next only after undergoing an intensive preparation process, which will include cultural orientation as well as security and medical screening. The Somali Bantus are also to be dispersed throughout the US, with as many as 50 different communities expected to receive refugee families.
It remains to be determined whether the US will bar entry to those families who have carried out genital cutting on their young daughters.
The US embassy in Nairobi said last October that Somali Bantu refugees who had performed the procedure would probably not be allowed to emigrate to the United States.
But while it continues to condemn the practice, known in the West as "female genital mutilation," the State Department now will not indicate whether Somali Bantus are to be excluded from the US for that reason.
The US first announced two years ago that it would consider accepting 12,000 of the Bantu refugees who fled Somalia following the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre in the early 1990s. But the September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington led to long delays in US refugee resettlement programmes. Some of those initiatives remain stalled, but the State Department reaffirmed last week that the Somali Bantu resettlement will move forward.
The State Department explained that the refugees cannot be given permanent status in Kenya which struggles to meet the needs of its own population as well as the hundreds of thousands of refugees it hosts..
The Somali Bantu trace their origins to Tanzania and Mozambique, from which they were taken as slaves in the 19th century. Partly because their facial features differ from those of indigenous Somalis, who are of Cushitic ethnicity, the Bantu suffered severe discrimination and physical mistreatment in Somalia and in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, which houses thousands of indigenous Somalis.
by Kevin J Kelley, Special Correspondent
Copyright The East African. Distributed by All Africa Global Media
Posted on Wednesday 12th February at 18:25:32 Fishermen Accuse Foreigners of Depleting Coastal Waters
NAIROBI, 12 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Large foreign ships are harassing and intimidating Somali fishermen around the southern coastal towns of Marka and Barawe, according to local fishermen.
Marka fisherman Mahmud Kulow Aweys told IRIN on Wednesday that many of the ships were fishing in Somali waters illegally.
"We see them on a daily basis, a few miles off our shores," he said. "Local fishermen usually go out late at night to set their nets, but subsequently we find that the crews of some of the ships have cut the nets. Some of them even try to ram our boats."
He claimed that some of the foreign vessels had arms and occasionally opened fire on Somali fishing boats. There have been reports that some Somali faction leaders have licensed foreign fishery companies and provide armed militiamen to go on board the ships.
Kulow said that so far none of the Somali fishermen had been hurt, but warned that "it is only a matter of time before serious damage is inflicted".
"Until recently they would let us fish in peace, but now they are becoming increasingly aggressive," he added.
He said the foreign ships were now fishing in southern Somali waters after some vessels were hijacked off the coast of Puntland, northeastern Somalia. "They are afraid to go to Puntland so they come here," he said.
Kulow also accused the foreign ships of dumping rubbish and oil into the sea which, he said, drove the fish away.
He stressed that the ships were destroying the livelihood of Somali fishermen and their families. "If nothing is done about them, there soon won't be much fish left in our coastal waters," he warned.
Kulow said that because there was no government in Somalia strong enough to stop this phenomenon, "we want the United Nations and other international agencies to help us".
Posted on Wednesday 12th February at 18:23:56 Commission Grants €5 Million in Hhumanitarian Aid
The European Commission has adopted a humanitarian aid package worth €5 million to help tackle some of the severe humanitarian needs in Somalia, resulting from prolonged conflict, drought and floods. This latest decision is targeted at those sectors where needs are greatest, namely health, water and sanitation, and food security. More than a million people will benefit from this aid. It is channelled through the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), which comes under the responsibility of Commissioner Poul Nielson.
There are wide-spread basic humanitarian needs in Somalia after more than a decade of anarchy and civil strife in central and southern Somalia, combined with droughts and floods. The vast majority of the population around seven million people are living in absolute poverty.
Humanitarian needs are most acute in the health and nutrition sector. Where public health services do exist, they suffer from a lack of medicines and personnel. The focus of ECHO funded activities will be on improving access to quality and affordable health services, and reducing malnutrition amongst the most vulnerable groups.
There have been sustained drought conditions in several areas in central and southern Somalia since 1997. Less than 20 percent of the population in these regions have access to safe drinking water. This latest aid decision will give priority to increasing access to clean water in rural areas and improving the sanitation situation of vulnerable groups, especially in cholera prone areas.
Food security in Somalia is also a major problem, especially as livestock production is facing serious disruption due to the civil war. To help improve the situation, ECHO funds will be used to minimise the impact of climatic hazards on livestock, and support crop production with seed distribution and irrigation schemes.
ECHO's implementing partners in Somalia include UN agencies, the Red Cross family and established non-governmental organisations.
A total of more than 1 million people should benefit directly or indirectly from the programmes funded under this decision. Over the past five years ECHO has allocated more than €25 million to Somalia, making it the one of the country's largest donors of humanitarian aid.
Posted on Tuesday 11th February at 14:25:40 EC to Support Road Improvements in Somaliland
NAIROBI, 11 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - The European Commission has approved a major project to support rehabilitation of the core road network in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, northwest Somalia.
In a statement, the EC described the project as a continuation of ongoing support through the German Federal Agency for Technical Releif (THW), which will include technical assistance to the Somaliland Roads Authorities.
"The total budget is € 4.5 million with contributions from the European Commission (€ 4.2 million), the implementing partner - the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), and the Somaliland Road Fund," the statement said.
It described Somaliland's roads as the region's lifeline. "With no railway network and with air travel being far beyond the reach of most Somalis, roads are crucial channels for trade and communications," the EC said.
Noting that the port of Berbera had been growing in importance, it stressed the need to continue improving the road between the port and the region.
"The volume of transported goods grows constantly, although it has suffered a setback as a result of the adverse effects of the livestock ban," the statement said. "Once this ban is lifted, traffic flows could rapidly grow even further."
Posted on Tuesday 11th February at 14:20:12 It's a Legal Drug, but It's Causing Problems
London, Feb 10, 2003 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) London, February 10 /PRNewswire/ Khat, the dark green leaf which is a major feature of life in Somalia and Yemen, is increasingly the cause of social problems for the Somali communities in the UK. These issues will be debated at an awareness raising conference being held by the social care charity Turning Point and Bromley Drug Action Team on 19 February at Queens Hotel, Church Road, London SE19.
Lord Adebowale, Chief Executive of Turning Point will address the conference, together with experts such as Bali Kaur, Community Development worker at Turning Point's Bromley Community Drug Team and Colin Newman of Bromley Drug Action Team who will explore the biological, social and community effects of khat use.
In his speech, Lord Adebowale will highlight the fact that, for Somali communities in the UK, factors such as unemployment (rates are as high as 80%) and social exclusion have led to an increase in the rate of use. In many cases khat is being chewed daily, from late afternoon through the night by some men (and increasingly Somali women) living in the UK. Wives of habitual chewers have virtually become lone parents due to their husband's spells in "khat dens".
Lord Adebowale will outline the need for the Government to ensure that khat is part of the government's drugs strategy and to provide the funding necessary to develop services. He will call for better partnerships to tackle the root issues surrounding khat misuse and provide a comprehensive and culturally appropriate package of services as a response.
Khat has been chewed or drunk in the Muslim cultures of Somalia and Yemen for centuries. There, men (it is less common for women to chew khat) meet in the late afternoon, after a day's work, and chew for a couple of hours, once or twice a week. But many people in the Somali communities who have moved to the UK are seeing these patterns change and, combined with other social factors, become increasingly problematic.
If used in moderation, khat creates a feeling of wellbeing. However, habitual chewers can become psychologically dependent on the drug and suffer from depression, paranoia, mood swings and aggression.
Khat is legal in the UK and can be bought for GBP4 per bunch in greengrocers in Somali areas. HM Customs and Excise estimate that up to seven tonnes of khat are imported into the UK every week. In the USA khat is an illegal drug, classified as a schedule-one narcotic (the same legal category as heroin and cocaine).
DATE: Wednesday 19 February 2003
TIME: 11am - 5pm
LOCATION: Queens Hotel, Church Road, London SE19
Copyright © 2003, PR Newswire Europe, all rights reserved.
Posted on Monday 10th February at 14:50:34 Peace Talks to be Moved to Nairobi
NAIROBI, 10 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - The Somali peace talks currently under way in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret are to be moved to the capital, Nairobi, by the end of this week, according to a source close to the talks.
"The technical committee [of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, IGAD] is planning to move the delegates on Saturday, 15 February," he told IRIN on Monday. However, the question of who would be moved to the new venue had yet to be decided.
"The number of the delegates who will be moved has not been agreed on yet," the source said. "It is up to the technical committee and the Somali leaders' committee to agree on an exact number."
The talks, which opened on 15 October last year under the auspices of IGAD, have been dogged by disagreements over the allocation of seats to delegates of the various participating groups. The conference was initially meant to bring together 300 delegates, but ended up with nearly 1,000.
That number had now been reduced to around 400, a Somali delegate told IRIN. The technical committee had been trying to reduce it to 300, but so far without much success.
Meanwhile, the new chairman of the talks and Kenya's special envoy, Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, has disclosed that a project management unit has been established for the talks, according to a press statement issued by the Kenyan foreign ministry.
The aim of this unit was "to streamline the administrative and financial management of the conference to attain greater transparency and accountability". The unit had been established with the assistance of the EU, the statement said.
Posted on Monday 10th February at 14:44:41 Vessel in Abduction by Somali Gunmen Escapes to Freedom
MOGADISHU, Feb 9, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) A tanker vessel which remained in abduction by gunmen in the northeastern coast of Somalia since August has escaped to freedom on Saturday, according to Farah Dohajog, the minister of commerce and industries of Puntland on Sunday.
It is not known how the tanker has escaped, but it has fled with three Somali gunmen onboard, he said.
According to the reports reaching here in Mogadishu, there has been some sorts of fighting between the Somali gunmen and the six crewmen, all from Georgia, on board the vessel before the vessel had escaped.
The gunmen, previously about 40 of them, have become somewhat friends with the crewmen and there had been only three boys onboard the vessel on Saturday when the crewmen have probably seen this as the best time to fight for their freedom.
Dohajog told this reporter on the line in Bossaso town on Sunday morning that It is not known whether any of the crewmen on board the vessel is wounded or even killed, but the three Somalis with which the vessel has escaped were on Sunday morning found off the Bossaso town coast alive.
"The three boys were armed, but they had been unarmed by the crewmen of the vessel," he said.
Dohajog said that the identity of the vessel still remains ambiguous, but it had had six men all from Georgia of the former Soviet Union."
"The vessel had no name on it, but flew a North Korean flag, we 've been told that its owner is from Greece," said Dohajog.
Some other sources said the owner of the vessel was from Cyprus. Dohajog accused the vessel of carrying toxic wastes which it dumped in Somalia's waters especially in Bareda village's off coast, about 163 km east of Bossaso town.
"What has led to its abduction was that it crushed a small fishing boat owned by the local men and killed four men and destroyed 21 fishing nets in the course," Dohajog said, "and that' s what's led to its abduction."
Since August last year, there has been negotiations for its release where the gunmen have started from a ransom of 1 million US dollars, then came down to 500,000 dollars.
"But, lately the gunmen have been asking for 200,000 dollars for the exchange of the safe release of the vessel and its crewmen, " said Dohajog, "we worked hard to give continuous supplies of food, water and medicine and to make sure of the safety of the crewmen as we kept on sending elders to cool the gunmen down when talks turn out tough," he said.
The northeastern Puntland gunmen have always been known to their activities as sea pirates since the downfall of the Siad Barre regime 12 years ago.
The coast of Puntland have been marked as one of the most dangerous worldwide where freelance sea pirates have all the time attacked the vessels and accused them of either illegally fishing or dumping toxic wastes in Somalia's sea waters, but such hostage taking dramas have always ended with the payment of hefty ransom.
Copyright 2003 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY.
Posted on Sunday 9th February at 16:57:31 War-torn Mogadishu Recovering
MOGADISHU, Feb 8, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- A new hospital went into operation here Saturday as part of Somalia's efforts to restore normal life to the war-torn capital.
Amid lawlessness and political stagnation, Mogadishu seems to be recovering as a series of new facilities for public services are being opened.
Ahmed Abroneh Amin, acting president and deputy chairman of the National Assembly, and Osman Mohamud Dufle, minister of state for heath affairs, attended the opening ceremony of the hospital, named Ayan.
The hospital has four main divisions, including the children and maternity department and the internal medicine department.
There is also the first aid unit, which is vital for Mogadishu since there are no restrictions on the movement of weapons and the killing and wounding of innocent civilians are daily occurrences.
Dufle said his ministry will keep in touch with the hospital and offer all possible assistance.
He called on the doctors to keep records of patients suffering from such contagious diseases as tuberculosis and hepatitis so that all records from the country will be given to the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children' s Emergency Fund.
Ali Omar Jumaleh, director of the hospital, said all services in his hospital will be free to the poor every Thursday.
Almost all public services such as health, sanitation, electricity and water have been ground to zero in Mogadishu following the downfall of the late regime 12 years ago, but local people have struggled to survive.
While looking forward to the outcome of the Somali peace talks in Kenya, people here are getting used to the privatization of public services.
Copyright © 2003, Xinhua News Agency, all rights reserved
Posted on Saturday 8th February at 20:43:51 Row Looming Over Somali Child Reconditioning Trips
Following Integration Ministry warnings last week that parents could face cash cuts in welfare payments, reconditioning trips for Somali children who become Westernized are under the spotlight.
Somali immigrants in many Western countries, including Denmark, are punishing their children for becoming ‘too Westernized,’ by sending them on so-called reconditioning trips to Somalia, Somaliland, and other Muslim countries in the region. In many cases, desperate Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian-speaking children of Somali heritage had appealed to consulates in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia to beg for help to come ‘home.’
Somali parents and family members in Denmark often feel that they have lost control of their children, or that their children are under the sway of the Western culture that surrounds them, rather than the Somali or Islamic traditions of the family.
Reconditioning trips may be spurred by teenage girls eager to wear modern Western fashions and go out with schoolmates. Or boys as young as nine years old, who suddenly perform badly in school, become unruly, exhibit juvenile delinquent attitudes, or drink alcohol. This kind of behaviour, whether rebellious or eminently normal in Western eyes, is considered ‘haram’ (forbidden) in Somali culture.
In recent weeks, a teenaged Somali girl, who was sent for reconditioning in the breakaway republic of Somaliland, desperately appealed to authorities for help in returning to Denmark.
The girl was raised in Denmark, and sent abroad against her will by parents who are refugees.
‘Please don't try to save me from circumcision. They've already done that to me. But help me come home,’ the girl cried.
Just a few months ago, a nine-year-old Danish-speaking Somali boy issued a similar plea for help in Somaliland. Diplomatic representatives near the Horn of Africa report that they receive enquiries from five to 10 Danish-speaking Somali children each year, anxious to come back to Denmark.
It is impossible for authorities to get an accurate picture of how widespread the practice really is. Danish and other Western diplomatic representatives are extremely cautious about issuing personal information of any kind. Moreover, consulates and embassies are only familiar with children who are courageous enough to stand up to their parents or seek help.
According to Denmark's former consul in Somalia, Ali Sheikh Mohamed, disputes over Western behaviour most often arise in families where the children do not live with their biological parents, but with uncles or aunts who have gained custody via illegal family reunifications.
Posted on Friday 7th February at 14:07:48 Somali Man Spared Jail on khat Charges
PORTLAND — A Somali man convicted of federal drug charges in the first case in Maine involving the stimulant "khat" was spared going to prison by a federal judge Thursday.
Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced Abdigani Hussein of Portland to one year of probation and urged him to help raise awareness in Maine's immigrant community that khat contains an illegal substance.
"You should let your friends and neighbors know about the illegality of khat," the judge told Hussein.
During the hearing, Hussein's wife was at the Maine Medical Center giving birth to their child. Hussein was given the opportunity to delay his sentencing, but he said he wanted to get it over with.
Afterward, he talked briefly with his probation officer before being allowed to leave and go to the hospital.
The case in U.S. District Court was the first of its kind in Maine, but one of a growing number around the country with an influx of immigrants from countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen.
In those countries, khat is used in much the same way coffee is used in the United States, Hussein's lawyers said.
The problem is that Khat contains cathinone, which is chemically similar to amphetamines. Federal drug enforcement agencies have included cathinone on the list of controlled substances since 1993.
"We have all learned a lot about a controlled substance that we previously knew little, if anything, about," Hornby said.
Hussein could have faced up to 20 years in prison. But under federal guidelines, his sentence fell in a range of zero to six months because of his background and lack of criminal history.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Chapman recommended something at the "low end of the guidelines." But he defended the appropriateness of the government's decision to prosecute Hussein.
"Khat is coming into the United States and it is an illegal substance, as the court has determined... Large amounts of it are coming across the borders and it's a serious problem," Chapman said.
Last year, 103,000 pounds of khat were intercepted at the nation's borders by U.S. Customs officers, he added.
Although Hussein was spared prison, he still faces potential deportation because of the felony conviction. For that reason, defense lawyer Joseph Groff said he could not rule out an appeal.
Hussein, who has applied for U.S. citizenship and moved to the United States six years ago, was arrested last April as he picked up a FedEx package that contained khat. Hussein was cooperative and told investigators he did not know khat contained any illegal drugs.
Speaking through an interpreter, he apologized for all of the trouble he had caused and noted that he had never done anything close to being illegal prior to getting into trouble with khat.
"I'm very sorry and I would appreciate your help and I've learned from it," said Hussein, who runs a Somali grocery store and market with several other Somali immigrants in Portland.
Afterward, the judge bode him well. "I wish you good health to your wife and your child," he said.
By DAVID SHARP, Associated Press Writer
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Posted on Friday 7th February at 14:05:28 Press Release: Where is Somaliland?
Cairo, Djibouti, Sodere, Nairobi, Arte and now Eldoret .. All these places and many others have three things in common. None of these places is in Somalia, but they have all hosted internationally sponsored peace conferences for Somalis (yes, Somalis).
There have been at least 14 such conferences that preceded the latest, which is taking place at the hotels of Eldoret, Kenya.
The third thing they have all in common is that none of them concerned the people and the Republic of Somaliland. Yet, every now and again, and specially when the usual differences arise between the conference participants (and primarily between the warlords and the former Somalia dictator's henchmen) the cry goes, "Where is Somaliland?"
We inform them that, at this moment, the Republic of Somaliland is busy preparing for presidential and legislative elections, having concluded successfully nationwide local elections. Moreover, the Republic of Somaliland has been at peace since it reasserted its sovereignty in May 1991. The statehood and the independent status of Somaliland are a reality, and its recognition by the international community is imminent. Like many other states, which withdrew from a voluntary union, our withdrawal from the failed union with Somalia is unequivocal and irrevocable.
It must be stated that the union between Somaliland, which was an
independent country for a period of time, and Somalia in 1960, itself, was never ratified. The rationale behind the voluntary union between these two states was an attempt to form a greater Somalia in the horn of Africa by bringing together all the Somali ethnic people in the region under the umbrella of one Somali state. Never the less, the idea of Greater Somalia became an unrealisable dream when the Northern Somali-inhabited territory (the NFD), remained part of Kenya, the former French Somaliland remained a separate state after its independence, and, despite bloody wars, the Somali inhabited parts of Ethiopia firmly remained part of Ethiopia.
At the end, the brutal dictatorship of Siyad Barre, which imposed a brutal and genocidal regime on the people of Somaliland, which, as in the words of British scholar, I.M. Lewis made Somaliland "look and feel like a colony under a foreign military tyranny," (I.M. Lewis, Horn of Africa, vol. 13, 1990, p. 58) brought about the death and end of the fragile union between the two states. Hence Somaliland reinstated its sovereignty in May 1991 and from there on embarked on nation building.
We, the Somaliland Forum - an organisation that represents the Somaliland Diaspora, say to those warlords who are harking back to an idea of Greater Somalia whilst their own country is still in chaos and war are simply prolonging the agony of their people. Somali irredentism is dead and gone! Somaliland wishes to live in peace and harmony with all its neighbours and when the people of Somalia build their own state, all the countries in the region, be they inhabited by ethnic Somalis or not, can and will look forward to peaceful coexistence and cooperation within the region and within the new African Union.
Hence, Somaliland has no place at any peace conference for Somalia, as it is not a party to the Somalia problems. Somaliland is a democratic, sovereign state with clearly delineated international colonial borders, which are in line with the OAU/AU Charter, a distinct population, and above all a functioning economy and a democratic government. It has achieved all that through the will of its people, as expressed on many occasions through conferences, a referendum in 2001 and, now, the ballot box.
We urge the organisers and the participants of the Eldoret conference not to be swayed by those who are using Somaliland as a diversion from the serious issues that are at hand and, which face Somalia. It appears that instead of working to stop the killing and mayhem in Somalia, some of these people are keen to export all that to Somaliland and beyond. This shall not pass.
The Somaliland Forum
www.somalilandforum.com
Posted on Thursday 6th February at 19:21:50 Presence of Terrorist Groups in Somalia Denied
JEDDAH, 6 February 2003 — A prominent Islamic scholar from Somalia reiterated yesterday that no terrorist group exists in his war-torn country. After Sept. 11, the United States government accused the Somali group Al-Ittihad A-Islamia of having links to Al-Qaeda.
“No terrorist group exists in the country. The charge that Somalia harbors terrorists and militant Islamic groups is based on misconceptions,” Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Muhyadin, deputy chairman of the Council of Somali Islamic Scholars (CSIS) told Arab News.
Sharif pointed out that Somalia has its local terrorist elements. “We have our own terrorists who are young armed militias. They commit random killings, rape, banditry and other related crimes against humanity. But there is no organized terrorist group with links to international terrorism.”
Asked about the current strength of Al-Ittihad, he said that the group had lost its strength and was in no position to assist Al-Qaeda. “Most of the group’s armed followers have been defeated and disarmed. They were obliged to assimilate into civilian society. At present, they cannot be a threat to domestic, regional and global stability.”
He said that CSIS, the umbrella for all the country’s Islamic scholars, was recently formed to work for the solidarity of all Islamic groups in the country.
“The objectives of CSIS are: to unite different Islamic factions, to deliver lectures on Islam and to propagate the Islamic viewpoint concerning everything, including terrorism,” he added.
“We must understand the difference between Islam and Muslim. Islam is a divine religion but Muslim refers to a human believer in the faith — and a human can make a mistake. Therefore, it is not right to link Islam as a religion to terrorism. At the same time, it is not Islamic to perpetrate terrorist operations such as suicide bombings.”
By Salad F. Duhul, Special to Arab News
Posted on Thursday 6th February at 14:31:06 Interview with TNG Foreign Minister Yusuf Hassan
ADDIS ABABA, 6 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Interview with Yusuf Hassan Ibrahim, foreign minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG) in Somalia. During the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, he spoke to IRIN about Somalia's relations with Ethiopia, the Eldoret peace talks and what the future holds for the war-ravaged country.
QUESTION: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi met the TNG president at the airport before the summit. Does this signify a warming of relations?
ANSWER: You can interpret that in two ways. One is because as head of state of Somalia, [President] Abdiqassim is coming to this summit and the tradition is the host country should meet officially all the heads of states who are attending the conference. That is one dimension. The other dimension, since the official relationship between the TNG and Ethiopia is not perfect, then maybe it is also meant that the Ethiopian government is showing its good intentions to the
Somali government.
Q: What do you see as the imperfections in the relationship between the TNG and the Ethiopians?
A: I think there has been for some time now, not since the beginning of the TNG time but sometime later, a misunderstanding between the TNG and the Ethiopian government, and that misunderstanding is based on the position of Ethiopia that they don’t recognise the TNG. In the initial process of Arta they were part of that, and a member of IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development], and they participated in the conference. So in the beginning they got involved, and then later on with the result of the government and the election of the parliament and the president and the prime minister, somehow the Ethiopian government didn’t approve of the TNG. Maybe it is something to do with the Ethiopian relationship with certain parts of Somalia - Somaliland, Puntland, other warlords which are not part of the TNG. So maybe for these two reasons the Ethiopian government was reserved in its dealing with the TNG. But we are both members in IGAD, so from time to time we meet with them in that practical way. But the question of recognition is the obstacle, I think, of why Ethiopia is not so positive.
Q: Are we moving towards recognition?
A: I think it is premature because Ethiopia and other members of the frontline countries [Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia] are working on the success of this reconciliation conference [Eldoret peace talks] and also I think that Ethiopia would like to recognise the outcome of that conference, the government which is established. They might decide to recognise before that, but personally I believe that what they want to see is this conference, if it succeeds, then the result of that conference will be recognised.
Q: Will the conference succeed?
A: There are a lot of problems in the conference now. One of the problems is the condemnation of certain factions and other factions, which, after they have signed the agreement of the cessation of hostilities, have violated that agreement. So now we, the TNG, see the statement that the frontline [countries] issued condemning this violation ... as a good development. Then we have the communiqué that the three countries have issued which indicates how they want to revitalise the conference, by first of all changing the venue nearer to Nairobi and by appointing a new envoy, a Kenyan chairman. If they succeed then it will be fine but if they face new problems and violations or lack of agreement, then we may have a problem.
Q: When are we likely to see peace in Somalia?
A: There are tremendous difficulties facing Somalia - difficulties and lack of understanding between the various important groups of the Somali political forces. [These include]the issue of Somaliland that has completely disassociated itself from the rest of Somalia, Puntland which is also undergoing another trauma of confrontations - and other factions, the spread of weapons, militia, armaments. All these are tremendous, formidable difficulties. But I think there is a reality now, maturity among the important parties, factions and the government that there is no other solution. Otherwise if this conference doesn’t succeed and there is no other alternative, then Somalia will be doomed. So nobody wants to see that. So I think either there will be cooperation inside the conference or maybe, alternatively there will be other arrangements where the Somalis will agree on certain things.
Q: So you think the Eldoret peace talks may not be the final talks?
A: From our point of view we will look at all the possibilities because we think this is a positive thing at least that we now have. Except Somaliland, all the other parties are there. There are no preconditions ... and Somali processes usually take time. Maybe the difficulties we see now, with time, with months, we can overcome, and then we can have an agreement. I think because of the maturity and being together in one place the alternative is bad – the collapse of the conference is bad for everybody, the TNG, the rest of the factions because we need legitimacy now, we need peace. We need understanding and joining a broad-based government. We need the support of the international community. At least this is the best chance that we have and we have to stick to it. But you cannot guarantee that everything will be fine.
Q: Could there be a scenario where Somaliland gains recognition or would that not be acceptable?
A: Somaliland has been trying to seek recognition with the international community for its secession but so far, the international community has been reluctant to recognise - unless the process of reconciliation fails. But even then I think it will be very difficult because if you recognise one part of the secession of Somalia, you usher in disintegration, because there will be others seeking secession and the international community will face a very difficult situation if they open that door. So I think the international community and the leadership in Somalia - when there will be elections and a reasonable leadership may appear from that - then they have to thank us because there can be a form where they maintain their independence, their internal arrangements, at the same time have some association with Somalia. That is the best way to solve the problem of Somalia.
Q: What was the AU’s assessment at the summit of Somalia?
A: The central organ supported the view of the chairperson of the commission, Amara Essy, who presented a report. His assessment was that we have to focus on the success of the Eldoret conference and help that process, the emergence of that.
Q: What do you say to critics who accuse the TNG of harbouring terrorists like Al Ittihad?
A: These are baseless allegations. You may have individual Somalis but inside the country there are no bases for Al Qaeda organisations. Al Qaeda itself has only been heard after September 11th, so therefore we had cooperation with the United Nations and United States and allies to see, to explore and survey the whole country and there were no bases or anywhere where these Al Qaeda seek refuge. So what people are concerned for now is to make security arrangements, not to allow infiltration. But for this you need united responsible government, for you always run the risk that maybe some of these groups are somewhere - but so far we don’t have that.
Posted on Thursday 6th February at 14:21:52 Bantu Refugees Being Prepared for Life in the US
NAIROBI, 6 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - The first Somali Bantu refugees will probably reach the United States this spring after the US agreed to take them in, according to a report released by the US State Department on Wednesday.
The 12,000 or so refugees under consideration for admission to the US have been in refugee camps in Kenya for over 10 years. Most of them were moved from the Dadaab camp in northeastern Kenya to Kakuma in the northwest between June and September last year, Sasha Chanoff, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told IRIN on Thursday.
The refugees have already begun the process that will see them into the US. "US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) officers had already started interviewing them from September up to the end of November last year, said Chanoff, noting that the officers had since taken a break, but would resume in March.
"IOM is conducting ongoing cultural orientation classes and the medical examinations," he added. The cultural classes are meant to prepare the refugees for life in the US.
Once they arrive in the US, "they will be placed in in extended family groups in up to 50 cities and towns across the US throughout 2003 and 2004", the State Department report said. Each family would then be assigned to one of 10 voluntary agencies, which would "assist with basic immediate needs such as housing, furniture, clothing, food, and referrals to employment".
These agencies are Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Ethiopian Community Development Council, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Iowa Bureau of Refugee Programs, Immigration and Refugee Services of America, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and World Relief Refugee Services.
Most of the Somali Bantu refugees are the descendants of slaves taken from Tanzania and northern Mozambique to the southern Somali coast in the late 19th century.
Posted on Thursday 6th February at 14:18:17 Plan to Send Asylum Seekers to Poor Nations
Thosuands of asylum seekers could be deported to safe havens in poor countries under confidential Government plans leaked today.
Ministers want the United Nations to set up "protection areas" for refugees in countries such as Somalia and Morocco to ease the burden on Britain and Europe.
Camps would be set up to hold waves of refugees fleeing civil wars or unrest for up to six months while the international community attempts to restore stability to their home country. Then they would either return home or apply for full refugee status, including the right to settle in Britain.
But the leaked Whitehall papers make clear the aim is also to clamp down on socalled economic refugees who exploit the system for a better life in Britain.
Deporting asylum claimants would "rapidly reduce the number of economic immigrants using asylum applications as a migration route", said the report, marked restricted and drawn up jointly by the Home Office and the Cabinet Office.
The leaked documents suggest Turkey, Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan for people fleeing Iraq. Northern Somalia could hold southern Somalians while Morocco is earmarked for Algerians.
By Joe Murphy, Whitehall Editor, Evening Standard
Posted on Wednesday 5th February at 14:17:20 Fuel Shortage Hits Mogadishu
NAIROBI, 5 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - A severe fuel shortage has hit the Somali capital, Mogadishu, over the past two weeks, according to a local businessman. Fuel prices have sky-rocketed, with the price of petrol doubling within a week.
The shortage was reportedly affecting not only the transport sector but many of the light industries which had proliferated in the city over the last couple of years, businessman Husayn Haji told IRIN on Wednesday.
He said the shortage was due to the fact that no cargo of petroleum had reached Mogadishu for "at least a month", and some traders were taking advantage to hike the price.
The fear of a war in Iraq was also contributing, with "rumours that once war starts, there will be no fuel coming from the Gulf countries", he said. The bulk of fuel for Somalia comes from the United Arab Emirates.
Petrol previously costing 8,000 Somali shillings (30 US cents) per litre two weeks ago was by Tuesday selling for 16,000 shillings, Husayn said.
Also contributing to the shortage was the unwillingness of some the traders to keep large reserve stocks due to fears of the fluctuations affecting the Somali currency. The exchange rate for one US dollar was 20,000 shillings on Wednesday, Husayn said.
Posted on Wednesday 5th February at 14:11:31 FAO Denies Upsurge in Rinderpest Disease
NAIROBI, 5 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has denied that there has been an upsurge in the cattle disease, rinderpest, in Somalia.
In a press release, issued on Wednesday, the FAO pointed out that rinderpest has been targeted for global eradication by 2010 and the disease is believed to be absent from Asia and the Middle East.
It said an earlier FAO press release, issued last November, had created the inference that the organisation was reporting an upsurge or epidemic of the disease in Somalia.
"This is not the case," the latest statement said. "Within the past decade, rinderpest has been progressively controlled and then eradicated from virtually the entire continent [Africa]."
"The only exception to this is the eastern Horn of Africa, which includes the Somali pastoral ecosystem and some adjoining areas of Kenya and Ethiopia, where, because of the difficulty of accessing cattle and pastoral populations, the exact status of rinderpest could not be ascertained," the statement said.
However, it stressed the virus was mild and urged interested Somali parties to work with the groups trying to eradicate the disease - such as the Pan African Programme for the Control of Epizootics (PACE) - by identifying areas where there are infected cattle "and eliminating the infection through targeted vaccination of the cattle involved".
"Achieving rinderpest freedom in Somalia will complete global eradication of this disease," the statement noted.
It stressed that this would "begin to reopen doors for trade in cattle and other livestock" by demonstrating that the Somali livestock sector could effectively monitor, control and report on major diseases, which, it said, was the prime requirement for livestock export.
Posted on Wednesday 5th February at 14:08:49 UN Teams Visiting Puntland
NAIROBI, 5 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - A high-level United Nations team is visiting the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, to consolidate cooperation, according to a UN source.
The team, led by Maxwell Gaylard, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, will be in the region from 5 to 9 February, and will explore "the potential for the UN to do more work in Puntland", the source told IRIN on Wednesday.
The team will also be trying to strengthen the "working relations with the Puntland authorities, which we have been developing in the last six months".
UN staff members were evacuated from the region in early May 2002 for security reasons, but on 15 October of the same year, UN agencies and the Puntland administration signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation.
In a related development, a team from the UN Development Programme was also visiting Puntland with a view to "re-establishing specific programmes", the UN source told IRIN.
These included the reintegration of refugee returnees and internally displaced persons into local communities, as well as establishing the scope of capacity building for "enhanced governance" and of "reforming and training the police and the judiciary".
Posted on Wednesday 5th February at 14:08:08 Somaliland Denies Asking Libya to Invite President Kahin for Visit
There is no truth in claims that President Riyale Kahin asked Libyan leader to invite him to visit his country as reported by the BBC, in a special interview with the Libyan ambassador to Mogadishu.
The Libyan ambassador said clearly during his visit to Somaliland, that he had a written invitation from the Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, but was told that the country was involved in elections and that it was unreasonable to expect that the invitation would be honoured.
He was told that a response to the invitation would came at an opportune time.
Radio Hargeysa
Posted on Tuesday 4th February at 18:02:07 Djibouti president says AU summit successful
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 4, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh said here Tuesday that the first extraordinary summit of the African Union (AU) was successful.
Before his departure at the airport, Ismael said he is pleased with the preparation of the summit and the participating leaders' commitment to making the session fruitful.
As for the Somali peace conference underway in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, he stressed that it is at an encouraging stage.
The governments of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti are exerting utmost efforts to make the Somali peace conference a success.
Ismael came here to attend the extraordinary summit of the AU, which ended Monday.
During the summit, heads of state and government as well as their representatives from the most AU member countries talked about the issues submitted by the Executive Council of the AU, such as the amendments to the Executive Act of the AU.
The AU is a political entity combining politics, economy, military and culture as one, ultimately aimed at unifying currency and achieving free transit of personnel and goods.
Currently, there are 53 members in the AU, which has four key organs -- the Assembly, the Executive Council, the Permanent Representatives Committee and the Commission.
Copyright © 2003, Xinhua News Agency, all rights reserved.
Posted on Tuesday 4th February at 18:51:54 Factions Face Sanctions For Ceasefire Violations
ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI, 4 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - Somali factions attending peace talks underway in Eldoret, Kenya, face expulsion or other sanctions if they continue to violate the ceasefire agreement, Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka warned on Monday.
Speaking on behalf of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) technical committee, which is steering the talks, he expressed concern that since the deal was signed on 27 October, factions and warring parties had continually violated the agreement. He was speaking at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa. The technical committee is made up of the so-called frontline states - Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Somali groups meeting in Eldoret agreed to suspend all hostilities for the duration of the conference.
However, since then, there have been continued violations, with fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, the towns of Las Anod in the northeast and Baidoa in the southwest, and in the Bari, Bay, Bakol, Gedo and Lower Shabelle regions. At least six schoolchildren were killed in an attack on a school bus in Mogadishu in December.
Musyoka said the frontline states had agreed to set up a committee to monitor implementation of the ceasefire which would be empowered to take action. IGAD has played a key role in bringing Somali faction leaders and the Transitional National Government (TNG), headed by President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, to the negotiating table.
“These violations are causing great suffering and loss of life to the people of Somalia as well as jeopardising the peace process and undermining humanitarian assistance,” Musyoka told reporters in the Ethiopian capital.
“We are looking at everything, including perhaps making sure that the violators are not allowed to travel to various parts of the world,” he added. “We have been able to identify, almost with certainty, that the violators are linked to the delegates who are now meeting in Eldoret.”
Musyoka also called on the international community to apply pressure on faction leaders and not to bankroll groups still involved in fighting and breaching October’s ceasefire. “What we are telling the international community is not to give comfort to any of the possible factions who come knocking at their doors in an effort to try and derail the peace process currently under way," he stressed.
Somali delegates on Tuesday welcomed the formation of a monitoring mechanism. "It is long overdue. This should have been in place from the beginning," prominent civil society member Prof Muhammad Abdi 'Gandhi' told IRIN.
He said IGAD should impose a strict sanctions regime against "any group or individual" who violates the agreement. "They [faction leaders] must know that there will be a price to pay for any violations. It is the only language they understand," he said.
Meanwhile, Musyoka announced that the peace talks would move from Eldoret to Mbagathi in Nairobi within two weeks, as part of a cost saving initiative.
But some delegates expressed reservations over the move. "There are too many distractions in Nairobi," one Somali delegate told IRIN. "Also it will next to impossible to stop the large Somali community in Nairobi from coming to the venue of the talks."
Posted on Tuesday 4th February at 14:15:24 Peace Talks Stalled
NAIROBI, 3 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - The Somali peace conference underway in the Kenyan town of Eldoret is said to have stalled for lack of a quorum by the regional technical committee which is piloting the proceedings, a source close to the talks told IRIN on Monday.
"Nothing is happening here [Eldoret] today, and nothing has been happening in the last few days," he said.
Of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) technical committee members "only the Djibouti delegation is in Eldoret", said the source.
The newly appointed Kenyan special envoy, former Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat, who is the chairman of the talks, is reported to be away, and the Ethiopian envoy to the talks, Abdulaziz Ahmad, is said to be in Ethiopia. The IGAD technical committee comprises Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti.
"Everybody is waiting for the technical committee to reconvene and restart negotiations," a Somali delegate told IRIN. Some prominent faction leaders are also absent from Eldoret. They include Mogadishu-based faction leaders Muse Sudi Yalahow, Usman Hasan Ali Ato, Husayn Aydid, Muhammad Qanyare Afrah and Gen Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan of the Somali Patriotic Movement.
"The IGAD needs to get its act together before the talks lose momentum", a regional analyst told IRIN. "If the talks do not pick up momentum soon, then the best outcome may be to declare them on hold," he warned. The absent leaders, some of whom are in Nairobi, while others are in Somalia, must be brought back to talks, he added.
The talks, which opened on 15 October last year under the auspices of the IGAD, have been fraught with difficulties, notably over the allocation of seats to delegates.
Meanwhile, the court case of faction leader Mawlid Ma'ane was mentioned on Monday. Mawlid Ma'ane and two of his supporters are facing charges related to an attack on a prominent member of civil society, Prof Muhammad Abdi Gandhi, last week.
Posted on Monday 3rd February at 14:02:30 President Receives Libyan Delegation in Hargeysa
Hargeisa, A delegation from the Libya's Jamahiriyah, comprising officials from the foreign ministry in charge of African relations, agriculture, livestock, and companies for investment in Africa, was today received by the president, Hon Dahir Riyale Kahin, in his Hargeysa office.
The delegation, headed by Ambassador Ma'tuk Muhammad al-Sayyid, arrived at Hergeisa following President Riyale's letter to the Libyan leader, Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, during the ambassador's previous visit during which the envoy had informed Hon Riyale on Libya's readiness to cooperate with Somaliland. In his letter, Mr Riyale had mentioned that if Libya was interested in having bilateral cooperation with Somaliland, it should start by fulfilling the pledges it had made to the former president the late Muhammad Ibrahim Egal. These included, the Togwajale project as heard, the wheat-grinding and pasta-processing factory, the cement factory, as well as livestock sector, in which they pledged to invest.
Mr Riyale said he is now being informed by the ambassador on the start of the initial phase of the pledges, and other things that could still be included. The president, who welcomed the delegates into the country, briefed them about Somaliland history and the way its progress had been ignored. He said they Somaliland people reclaimed their independence through a very bitter struggle and, from the scratch, with no one's assistance, attained all the necessary qualifications for a country to be recognized.
The president said that the nation was now in need of recognition and assistance in building it so that it could progress furtherý
Somalilandnet.com
Posted on Sunday 2nd February at 17:52:30 Back
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