BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 22, 2004/Source: Xog-Ogaal, Mogadishu, in Somali 22 Jan 04
SOMALI INTERIM GOVERNMENT PLANING TO TRAIN 9,000 SOLDIERS
Commander-In-Chief (of the armed forces) of the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia Gen Muhammad Nur Galal, is working on a plan to reorganize and rebuild the TNG (National) force, which had in the past dispersed soon after its formation.
The plan targets to recruit and train up to 9,000 soldiers with a complete military attire. It is not clear who was going to provide the equipment.
According to the plan, several vehicles would be purchased for the troops which would be used for security operations as soon as they were acquired.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 22, 2004/Source: Holy Koran Radio, Mogadishu, in Somali 1530 gmt 21 Jan 04
SOMALIA: THREE CHILDREN DIE OF MEASLES IN SOUTH
Measles has seriously affected children less than five years (in Afgooye in southern Somalia). It is believed that (approximately) three children die every day of the disease and more than that infected. In an interview, Dr Shombe, who is one of the workers at a clinic sponsored by the Red Crescent in Afgooye District, has blamed the high infection rate on parents not considering cleanness of their children a priority. He said they provide vaccination against the six killer diseases.
Agence France Presse, January 21, 2004
Five die as rival militias fight in Somali capital
At least five people were killed and 15 were wounded when factional fighting broke out in the north of the Somali capital on Wednesday, residents said.
Two of the victims of the violence, which pitted rival militiamen belonging to the Abgal clan, were unarmed civilians and three were combatants.
The fighting was said to have been caused by a dispute over the control of the the Manopolyo neighbourhood of Mogadishu.
"Dozens of families fled their homes in Manopolyo," Asha Abdulrahman, a kiosk owner in the area told an AFP reporter.
"The warring sides have fired anti-tank rockets and used heavy machineguns and we fear for our lives," said Sheikh Hassan Jumale, a local elder.
Businesses and schools in the area affected by the fighting were closed Wednesday.
Somalia has not had a central government since the regime of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
Many consider the Transitional National Government (TNG), which controls pockets of the capital, Mogadishu, and little else, as just one of the many, mostly clan-based, armed groups vying for power and control across the country.
The International Herald Tribune, January 21, 2004, OPINION; Pg. 6
Preying on a failed state ; Somalia's warlords
BYLINE: Abdulqawi A. Yusuf
PARIS -- Political solutions have been found for several longstanding conflicts in Africa in 2003 -- in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Burundi. The political arrangements in these countries may not necessarily usher in permanent peace and stability, but they at least afford an opportunity to work toward such goals.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for Somalia, where anarchy, violence and chaos have prevailed for 15 years. A national reconciliation conference -- the 13th of its kind -- has been sitting in Nairobi for 15 months, unable to cobble together a transitional government. As usual, all possible solutions are stymied by warlords, warmongers and wannabe presidents.
Who are these foes of peace and reconciliation in Somalia? The warlords are the worst of the lot. They carry primary responsibility for the agony of the Somali people. They frustrated the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Somalia in the early 1990's, and since then have been undermining all efforts to pacify the country or to set up an effective national government. Their armed militias have murdered hundreds of thousands of Somalis and forced more than a million into exile.
The warlords have neither an ideology nor a political agenda. Their actions are solely driven by the pursuit of illicit enrichment and war booty. The individual fiefdoms they have carved out are used as a base for the exploitation of confiscated properties, plantations, ports and airports, as well as for drug trafficking, the issuance of fishing licenses for foreign concerns and for arms trade.
Because of the fortunes made by the first few warlords after the ouster of the dictator Muhammad Siad Barre in 1991, their numbers have been increasing in the last few years. In the capital, Mogadishu, there are no less than six warlords, each controlling a different section of the city and its rural hinterland.
The warlords are opposed to the creation of effective central or provincial governments, because of the danger such authority would pose for their illegitimate businesses. None of them, of course, would refuse if offered to head such a government, but none would accept a government led by another.
Then there are the warmongers, the financiers and business allies of the warlords. They run the plantations and manage the ports and airports; they organize the drug-trafficking and arms trade; they establish contacts with foreign companies for banana exports and fishing licenses. They promote the image of the warlords to the outside world as "faction leaders" or "clan elders," and generally put their racketeering activities in a positive light. Every year or two, they print new banknotes which are exchanged against the dollars or euros received by the impoverished population as remittances from relatives abroad.
The warmongers are as loath to have a peaceful settlement of the Somali crisis as the warlords. An end to the chaos and warlord-created fiefdoms would sound the death-knell for their insidious power.
Then there are the legions of wannabe presidents. Some of these have already anointed themselves -- at present, between Mogadishu and the self-declared states of Puntland and Somaliland, there are no less than five presidents and several prime ministers.
Others are perpetual candidates for leadership. At the national reconciliation conference held in Djibouti in 2000, a transitional Parliament of 254 members was selected and charged with the task of electing the president of a provisional government. Forty-five of the deputies, almost one-fifth, immediately submitted their candidacies for the post.
The same circus is being re-enacted at the neverending Nairobi talks, with more than 60 declared candidates among 365 delegates. Most of the pretenders are disciples of the deceased dictator, Siad Barre, under whom they had served. They dream of a lifetime presidency and instant wealth. Whoever among the wannabe presidents does not win the keys to the shop will do everything in his power to thwart its exploitation by others. Somehow, Somalis will have to find a solution to their sorrowful predicament. They will have to find in themselves as well as in their history and culture the wherewithal to overthrow the yoke of their homegrown oppressors. The odds of this happening are long unless they get a helping hand from other countries, especially their neighbors, as well as from Europe and the United States. Such assistance should no longer be in the form of futile reconciliation conferences, but should focus on criminal prosecution, sanctions and isolation of those responsible for the unending chaos and conflict in Somalia. Die-hard warlords will never reconcile or disarm unless forced to. In the absence of a credible legal system in Somalia, only coercive measures by the international community could help bring to an end their criminal and murderous enterprises. The freezing of the warlords' ill-gotten assets, travel bans on them and their families, sanctions on foreign corporations doing business with them and the establishment of an international commission of inquiry on massacres and mass murders committed by them and their armed thugs would go a long way to pave the way for a real peace in Somalia. Equally effective would be targeted assistance to those regions and areas where peace and stability have been secured through civilian-based governance. Helping those relatively calm provinces develop new institutions of self-government and laying the groundwork at the local level for democratic structures and mechanisms would serve as a powerful incentive for others to follow. On the basis of such self-governing units, a new Somali state could be established, perhaps with a federal structure.
Attempts to find a magic formula for a rotating presidency among Somalia's warlords, warmongers and wannabe presidents are doomed to failure. Warlordism breeds not only domestic terrorism and mayhem, but can provide a useful cover for international terrorist activities. The sooner the Somali people are helped to get rid of warlords, the faster another potential safe haven for terrorists will have been removed from the map. * The writer is general editor of the African Yearbook of International Law and a former lecturer in law at Somali National University, Mogadishu. [Not to be reproduced without the permission of the author.]
Africa News, January 20, 2004/BYLINE: United Nations Development Programme
Somalia;First Somalia Socio-Economic Survey in Two Decades Shows Hardships
A new Socio-Economic Survey of Somalia, the first such report in over two decades, shows the difficulties people face without a central government or basic public services. Most Somalis cannot afford private sector services.
The World Bank and UNDP prepared the report, based on a nationwide household survey. Even before the 1991-1995 civil war, economic and social statistics were lacking, but conflict and the collapse of many institutions over the last decade compounded the shortage.
The survey estimates that 43 per cent of Somalis live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than a dollar a day, and finds that nearly half the workforce is unemployed. Nearly one in four children ages 5 to 14 work to help their families get by.
One in four men and 13 per cent of women are literate, and only 17 per cent of children are enrolled in primary school. Access to health care is difficult: mother and child health centres are available to only one in four families and only 17 per cent of Somalis say they can afford them.
Some sectors have seen improvements, such as telecommunications, where the collapse of the state monopoly has allowed private cell phone companies to grow.
The World Bank and UNDP are jointly implementing the Somalia Watching Brief, a programme to set up data collection systems, strengthen statistical institutions, and help establish a statistical database to monitor economic and social conditions. The survey is not comprehensive, but provides a snapshot of various sectors, and the partners plan more thorough studies.
"This report represents a first step in providing reliable statistical data on demographic and socio-economic indicators for Somalia, which is of critical importance for informed planning and policy making to best meet the needs in the country," noted Makhtar Diop, World Bank Country Director for Kenya, Eritrea and Somalia.
The survey covers demographics and housing, employment and income, basic services, communication, participation of women, and environmental concerns. It was carried out with the support and participation of functioning Somali administrations and international partners.
"The survey is particularly important because it gives us a picture of what Somalia looks like today," said UNDP Country Director El-Balla Hagona. "It will also be important in providing indicators for more informed developmental interventions and initiatives, as well as preparing the Millennium Development Goals Report on Somalia."
The survey is the first in a series of joint Work Bank/UNDP statistical reports. The data collection and statistical capacity building are to be strengthened under the joint World Bank/UNDP re-engagement strategy for Somalia, with the collaboration of other development partners.
For further information please contact , UNDP Somalia or , UNDP Communications Office.
Associated Press, January 20, 2004
Fighting in Somali capital leaves six dead, ten wounded mm/clt
Militia fighting for control of a key intersection in northern Mogadishu left six people dead and ten wounded Tuesday, while clan elders worked to convince the two sides to stop fighting, a local leader said.
Gunfire echoed through Somalia's capital city as gunmen used heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in their battle for Manapolyo junction, a key crossroads used to bring goods into northern Mogadishu, witnesses said. The battle took place outside the former compound of the Italian Embassy.
Area businesses have shutdown and residents fled their homes. More of the dead and wounded were civilians caught in the crossfire, hospital officials said.
"The opposing militias are refusing our advice, but we hope to put oil in the troubled water," Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a clan elder, said of attempts to negotiate a cease-fire.
Rival militias often fight for control of toll collection at major intersection, a major source of revenue for militia leaders.
Top militia and clan leaders have begun a new round of peace talks in neighboring Kenya, attempting to restore a central government to Somalia. The nation collapsed into warring, clan-based fiefdoms in 1991, when rebels forced dictator Mohamed Siad Barre from power.
Associated Press, January 20, 2004
Overcoming anarchy, Somalis struggle to start private schools
BYLINE: CHRIS TOMLINSON
Children's' voices reciting the Quran echo down the narrow alleyways in one of Mogadishu's residential neighborhoods where three or four generations of Somalis share small, concrete block homes behind high white walls and dark wooden doors.
In a communal goat stable, children sit under a mango tree, learning to read and write. Only a few meters (yards) away, a clan elder teaches older children Quranic verses in an old storage room.
Parents scrape together what money they can to pay the teachers at the makeshift schools. Wealthier families send their children to more formal schools or bring the teachers into their homes.
Despite the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991 and the chaos that followed, parents, teachers and aid agencies have managed to piece together a private education system that ranges from preschool to medical school.
While some schools receive support from overseas, most are the work of local people, especially Somali clerics anxious to protect the country's moderate brand of Islam.
"We accept nothing from anyone. We are running our own schools," said Mohammed Issa Mohammed, a clan elder who manages 18 Quranic schools.
He said he wants to maintain his schools' independence - complaining that some Arab donors have tried to introduce extremist ideas into schools - but added he would consider outside support with no strings attached.
Because most Somalis are poor and have no money for tuition, many children are left out of the nascent school system. A socio-economic survey of Somalia by the U.N. Development Program and the World Bank, released Jan. 14 found that only 16.9 percent of primary school-aged children attend school.
"There are a lot of schools, but the main problem is that people can't afford the school fees," said Ali Ahmed Farah, headmaster of Jabuti school funded by the international aid agency Concern Worldwide. He said his school has empty classrooms but not enough money to hire teachers.
Most children spend their days at home or scavenging through abandoned buildings and garbage dumps for food and valuables.
"Children in Somalia are either learning or looting," said Abdulrachman Abdullahi, the chairman of trustees for Mogadishu University.
A former army officer who defected to the United States in 1987 during the dictatorship of Mohammed Siad Barre, he returned seven years ago to help rebuild his country by establishing the first functioning university in Somalia since war broke out in 1991.
The university now has 6,000 students enrolled in nine programs, including engineering, nursing, agriculture and computer science. Somali professors from Ohio University regularly teach in Mogadishu and the schools are developing plans for even greater cooperation in the future.
"We're trying to convince Somalis that education is a commodity, like rice and oil," Abdullahi said, explaining how the university primarily relies on student tuition fees for operating costs and donations for books and equipment.
Abdullahi was ridiculed when he began work in 1997, but now other universities have opened in Somalia to meet a growing demand.
In 2003, Somali doctors and former university professors restarted Banadir University's medical school. The school started with 22 students, half of them women - a remarkably high ratio for any form of education in the predominantly Muslim country.
Salad Farah Gutaleh, the dean of the faculty, said medical students would undergo six years of training. The medical school was desperately needed "because most of the Somali doctors have fled the country," he said.
"When the government collapsed, there were 960 doctors in Somalia and now there are only 250 doctors countrywide, of which 120 are in Mogadishu," he said. "Twenty-six doctors have been killed during the civil war and this has discouraged those who fled the country from returning."
On Dec. 25, Sudan's Al-Neeylain University opened a branch in Somalia. Funded by the Sudanese government, the university already serves 4,000 Somali students at the main campus in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, and plans to serve thousands more in Mogadishu, said Tarikh Ahmed, the Sudan's ambassador to Somalia.
But so far, Mogadishu University is well ahead of the others and has begun construction at a new, eight-hectare (20-acre) campus north of the city. Everyone involved in education predicts that if a peace agreement is reached, and a central government formed, students will quickly, and enthusiastically, fill classrooms again.
"We don't have money, but we have a big vision," Abdullahi said.
On the Web:
http://www.concern.ie/
http://www.mogadishuuniversity.com
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 20, 2004/Source: HornAfrik Online text web site, Mogadishu, in English 19 Jan 04
CENTRAL SOMALIA TOWN OF BELED WEYNE SAID CALM AFTER TWO DAYS OF FIGHTING
Peace has now returned to Beled Weyne town in central Somalia following two days of fighting that left 19 people dead and 34 others wounded.
The fighting first broke out on Sunday (18 January) between two armed militias loyal to two rival sub clans in the town but renewed on Monday (19 January).
Elders representing the two sides have succeeded to stop the fighting and are mediating between the warring sides.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 20, 2004/Source: HornAfrik Online text web site, Mogadishu, in English 19 Jan 04
UN DELEGATION IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA TO ASSESS SECURITY SITUATION
A UN delegation has arrived in Marka town in Lower Shabeelle Region, southern Somalia, on Sunday (18 January).
The two-member delegation has held talks with officials representing the local administration as well as a number of aid organizations based in the town.
Their aim is to assess security situation in the region.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 20, 2004/Source: KBC radio, Nairobi, in English 1600 gmt 20 Jan 04
GERMAN CHANCELLOR LAUDS KENYA'S PIVOTAL ROLE IN SUDANESE, SOMALI PEACE PROCESSES
Kenya will receive 50m euros in aid from Germany over the next two years to finance projects in various sectors of the country. This follows the signing of a bilateral agreement between Kenya and Germany in the presence of President Mwai Kibaki and visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at State House, Nairobi, today.
The grant will be used to support development of the water sector, agriculture, health and good governance.
Finance Minister David Mwiraria and Germany's parliamentary secretary for economic cooperation and development, Mrs Dr Ulchi Idd (phonetic) signed on behalf of their respective governments. The two officials also signed also signed a trilateral statement of intent with the World Bank to finance water projects in western Kenya. World Bank county director Makhtar Diop signed on behalf of the World Bank. (Passage omitted)
President Kibaki said they agreed to consult regularly and work together within multilateral organizations and other fora to promote consensus on matters of mutual interest.
On trade and investment President Kibaki invited German investors to take advantage of the greatly improved investment climate in this country and the eastern region as a whole.
The two leaders also touched on the Sudan and Somali peace efforts, saying they shared a common position on the need to galvanize international support in search of a lasting peace in the Sudan and Somalia.
President Kibaki encouraged all parties involved in the conflict to rededicate themselves to achieving a final, peaceful settlement to the conflict. (Passage omitted)
Chancellor Schroeder lauded Kenya's central role in peace efforts in the region and singled out President Mwai Kibaki's role in brokering peace in the Sudan and in Somalia as well. He also acknowledged Kenya's efforts in the fight against international terrorism. On corruption, Chancellor Schroeder lauded President Kibaki and the Kenyan government for the relentless war against corruption in the country, adding the determination with which President Kibaki is fighting corruption was remarkable.
Agence France Presse, January 19, 2004
Thirteen killed in two days of factional fighting in central Somalia
At least 13 people were killed and 27 have been wounded in two days of ongoing inter-clan fighting in central Somalia, local officials and witnesses said Monday.
Fighting erupted Sunday between rival militiamen of the Galjel subclan of the larger Hawiye group, said Abdullahi Abdi Koffi, the deputy district commissioner in the town of Beletwein.
"Ten people were killed early on Monday while three others died late on Sunday," Koffi told AFP by telephone from the town.
"Elders who attempted to stop the violence and arrange a ceasefire said that warring sides have refused to listen to them," Koffi said, adding that the fighting was continuing Monday.
Militia sources and elders in the Somali capital confirmed the fighting, the latest in a series of tit-for-tat confrontations between the rival sides and which are rooted in earlier feuds.
Inter-clan fighting is common in Somalia, which has lacked a central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
The regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has been sponsoring peace talks in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, aimed at ending anarchy and bloodshed in the Horn of Africa country.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 19, 2004/Source: HornAfrik Online text web site, Mogadishu, in English 19 Jan 04
FIVE KILLED IN RENEWED FIGHTING IN CENTRAL SOMALIA
At least five people have been killed and many others wounded after a heavy fighting renewed in the western part of Beled Weyne town in central Somalia.
The fighting erupted between armed militias loyal to two rival sub-clans in the town. According to local sources, the fighting first broke out on Sunday but renewed on Monday morning.
The warring sides have exchanged machine guns and rocket propelled grenades forcing local residents to flee their homes.
The reason of the fighting is not yet clear but some sources say it is related to a long-standing feud between the two clans. Local sources say that a number of houses were set on fire during the fighting.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 19, 2004/Source: Radio Midnimo, Boosaaso, in Somali 1030 gmt 18 Jan 04
SOMALIA: INTERIM PRESIDENT, PUNTLAND LEADER MEET IN KENYA
A Puntland delegate attending the Somali peace talks in Mbagathi (Nairobi), Mr Ali Isma'il Gir, has told Radio Midnimo that the president of the Puntland regional administration, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, and the president of the interim government of Somalia, Abdiqasim Salad Hasan, held talks yesterday.
He said the face to face meeting between the two leaders was organized by Kenyan and Djibouti ministers.
It is not yet clear what the two leaders discussed during the meeting, which was held in a hotel at Mbagathi where the Somali delegates are staying.
However, other reports say the two leaders discussed their political differences regarding the suitable number of delegates needed to participate at the Somali peace talks. (Passage omitted).
Africa News, January 18, 2004/BYLINE: The East African Standard
Somalia Faction Accuses Kiplagat
Members of Somalia's Absame community have accused the chairman of the Somali peace talks, Bethuel Kiplagat, of bias.
Ugas Mohamoud, the clan's King of Juba-land, said yesterday that Kiplagat was acting under instructions and orders from warlord Abdullai Yussuf who had fuelled infighting in the community.
"Mr Kiplagat is now behaving as if he missed the great responsibility entrusted on him by the government of Kenya and has taken sides," said Mohamoud.
He said the warlord enjoyed excessive political powers and wondered where he got them from.
In a speech read on his behalf by Juba-land chief Hajir Bille, Mohamoud accused warlord Abdullai of using his powers, with support from Kiplagat, to nominate individuals from a different community to political positions.
The community is appealing to the Kenya Government to intervene and sort out the problem.
Africa News, January 17, 2004/BYLINE: NOVIB
Somalia;Leaders' Retreat in Nairobi: Negotiation, the Only Option, Says Museveni
The Somali Leaders' retreat was launched in Nairobi by the Ugandan President, His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and his host, President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, on January 9, 2004. The ceremony was attended by Somali political leaders, civil society groups and members of the international community. President Museveni - who is also Chairman of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government - jetted into Kenya a day before the frequently on-and- off planned retreat for Somali leaders.
Before the launch, the Ugandan leader undertook two days of tedious and exhaustive consultations. At the pre-retreat talks he met Somali leaders from Mbagathi, six civil society delegates, a Transitional National Government (TNG) delegation from Mogadishu led by President Abdikassim and representatives from the recently-formed National Salvation Council, known as the Bal'ad group. Eight leaders who are signatories to the Eldoret declaration - from the Bal'ad and Mbagathi groups - are still in Somalia, though they are represented in Kenya by their deputies.
President Kibaki commended IGAD member States for the continued political and moral support they have given to the peace process. He also praised the IGAD Partners Forum (IPF) and the international community for supporting the peace and reconciliation talks. He said that, although the search for peace in Somalia had been a long and difficult journey, at least the initiative had succeeded in bringing together all the key players in Somalia. On the Eldoret Declaration of Cessation of Hostilities, President Kibaki said that there is growing concern over persistent violations of the declaration and told the delegates that a return to the senseless violence of the past could not be afforded. Kibaki advised the Somali political groupings to upgrade the Declaration on Cessation of Hostilities into a permanent ceasefire agreement. He warned against attempts to duplicate or create multiple mediation efforts, saying such moves would misdirect attention from the core issues that are critical to resolving the conflict.
President Museveni, on his part, said that legitimacy is a key factor in resolving the Somali conflict. He said that ideally legitimacy results from elections, however, in the circumstances, putting in place some form of traditional structure as an interim arrangement would suffice. He noted that legitimacy can also come from armed resistance in certain circumstances. Referring particularly to Somalia, he noted that none of the previous options had been viable and that the only remaining option is negotiation.
The president said that the lack of immunization of children and the damage done to children amounted to a 'slow genocide'. Other areas touched by Museveni were the collapse of the Somali economy and the absence of national development plans. He said restoration of peace, formation of a national government, including a national army, restoration of sovereignty and putting in place economic recovery were essential priorities.
On the external front, the Ugandan leader said he would attempt to galvanise opinion within IGAD and the international community. He advised Somali leaders to seek an all-inclusive conference involving everybody to achieve a viable agreement.
Before leaving the podium, President Museveni asked the Somali leaders to shake hands and President Abdikassim of TNG stood and moved towards the other side of the divide. The Mbagathi group also stood up to receive him and the whole atmosphere was affected by the shaking of hands and hugging by those who are traditional adversaries. The mood within the hall, that at the onset was tense, was replaced by a jovial mood.
At the ceremony, the Kenyan Foreign Minister formally announced the opening of the retreat the following day.
The political and civil society personalities interviewed by Novib Discussion Platform expressed the same feeling and referred to the ceremony as historic. President Abdikassim termed it as excellent and gave the credit to the two heads of States. He said, "previously we did not have the chance to sit together and meet and the only time we have done so, we demonstrate a change." Moulid Ma'ane of the G8 Political Alliance believes the event is a major breakthrough and would be sustained for the remaining part of the process. Similarly, Hussein Aidid of USC/SNA/SRRC and Co-chairman of SRRC, thought the ceremony was historic, with the barrier walls dismantled by the Kenyan and Ugandan Leaders: "We achieved a position we can build on and if we fail to agree on a maximum programme, we will concentrate on a minimum one," he ended.
Jama Mohamed Ghalib of civil society showed optimism but thought the progress simply a creation of President Museveni's personality: "To enhance the goodwill and commitment shown by the Somali leaders there has to be pressure," he said. On her part, Asha Haji Elmi, of civil society, believes the positive move to be a historic moment. The emotional exchanges have to be made practical and positive initiatives consolidated collectively to be strengthened further: "We have to be proactive to encourage the political leaders in taking forward strides," she commented.
Others who spoke at the ceremony included the chairman of the IGAD Partners' Forum and the Italian Special Envoy for Somalia, Amb. Carlo Ungaro. Ambassador Ungaro advised the Somali leaders to demonstrate a sense of humility and forwardness while avoiding finger-pointing as a prerequisite for reconciliation among the conflicting parties.
The Somali National Reconciliation Conference is 14 months old and is yet to secure an agreement among the leaders on power sharing that would lead to the formation of a government that could reverse the challenges facing the people of Somalia. The retreat was initiated to act as a forum for consultation among the Somali leaders on their areas of differences. The retreat that was originally planned for November 20, 2003 but was postponed three times prior to latest change of venue.
This report was produced by Novib and represents exclusively its own views. These views have not been adopted or in way approved by the European Commission and should not be relied upon as a statement of the European Commission's or its services. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 17, 2004/Source: Radio HornAfrik, Mogadishu, in Somali 0500 gmt 17 Jan 04
SOMALIA: DIARRHOEA OUTBREAK IN SOUTHERN TOWN
In the past 24 hours, 14 children infected with diarrhoea were admitted to Marka Hospital. Most of the children are below 10 years and are in serious condition.
All the infected children are from Marka town, Lower Shabeelle Region, southern Somalia. (Passage omitted)
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 16, 2004/Source: KBC radio, Nairobi, in English 1000 gmt 16 Jan 04
SOMALI FACTION ATTENDING PEACE TALKS IN KENYA ACCUSES CHAIRMAN OF BIAS
A faction in the ongoing Somalia peace talks has alleged that the chairman of the Somalia reconciliation conference, Bethwel Kiplagat is partisan. A spokesman for the Absame (phonetic) community now wants Kenyan authorities to intervene and solve the alleged interference at the peace talks by warlord Abdullahi Yusuf.
The faction accused Kiplagat of missing the great responsibility entrusted to him by the government of Kenya towards achieving peace in Somalia and appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (and International Cooperation) to correct this political mistake as soon as possible.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 14, 2004/Source: Xog-Ogaal, Mogadishu, in Somali 14 Jan 04
DEATH TOLL IN FIGHTING IN SOMALIA'S GALGUDUUD REGION NOW PUT AT 40
Forty people were killed and more than that suffered various injuries in severe fighting yesterday and the day before (12 and 13 January) between two clan militias in Ceel Buur district of Galguduud region (central Somalia).
According to unreliable sources close to the residents, yesterday's fighting was serious and some of the armoured vehicles involved were damaged. Mediation efforts between them (the rival militias) also ended in failure.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 14, 2004/Source: Radio HornAfrik, Mogadishu, in Somali 0500 gmt 14 Jan 04
SOMALIA: UAE OFFICIALS ARRIVE IN CENTRAL TOWN TO ASSESS LIVESTOCK HEALTH
Two United Arab Emirate nationals yesterday arrived in Beled Weyne town, the capital city of Hiiraan Region (central Somalia). The two men, a veterinary officer and a local government official, examined some goats that were to be exported.
After assessing the goats, they said livestock in Somalia, especially goats, are healthy and of high breed.
The United Arab Emirates had promised to resume buying livestock from Somalia (passage omitted).
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 14, 2004
SOMALIA: PUNTLAND OFFICIALS ADDRESS RALLY IN DISPUTED TOWN
Residents of Laas Caanood town, Sool regional HQ (northeastern Somalia, region claimed by Somaliland, Puntland) were today addressed at a rally. Some of the officials who spoke included the minister of interior and the Puntland police chief.
(Puntland's) Minister of Interior, Ahmad Muhammad Habsade, who spoke at length, strongly urged the people to safeguard their nationalism and defend themselves if provoked.
All speakers at the rally that dealt with peace and security in Sool Region, spoke about the need for defending the (word indistinct) and to be wary of anything which could jeopardize peace.
Meanwhile, Puntland police chief (name indistinct) said the police were ready to safeguard peace in Sool Region.
Scholars and clan leaders who addressed the rally said they were ready to work for the well being of the residents and said revenue collection should be expedited to promote peace and the economy of the region.
Source: Radio Gaalkacyo, Gaalkacyo in Somali 0001 gmt 14 Jan 04
Panafrican News Agency (PANA) Daily Newswire, January 14, 2004
WORLD BANK, UNDP UNVEIL STUDY ON SOMALIA
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The World Bank and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have unveiled a new survey providing an overview of social and economic development in troubled Somalia.
The 'Socio-Economic Survey 2002' launched Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya is the outcome of a multi-sectoral nation-wide household survey, the first of its kind in more than two decades.
Before the civil war, there was a dearth of economic and social statistical information on Somalia, compounded by the collapse of many institutions over the years.
The World Bank and UNDP are at the present jointly implementing a programme called the Somalia Watching Brief, aimed at setting up data collection systems, strengthening Somali statistical institutions and supporting the establishment of a statistical database to monitor macro-economic and socio-economic conditions.
"This report represents a first step in providing reliable statistical data on demographic and socio-economic indicators for Somalia, which is of critical importance for informed planning and policy making to best meet the needs in the country," said Makhtar Diop, World Bank country director for Kenya, Eritrea and Somalia.
The Socio-Economic Survey 2002 compiles baseline demographic and socio-economic data at a household level to address some of the critical needs and gaps and to establish a socio-economic database for better policy formulation and planning.
The survey, implemented with the support and participation of functional Somali administrations as well as international partners, covers demographics and housing, employment and income, basic services, communication, participation of women, and environmental concerns.
"This is particularly important because it gives us a picture of what Somalia looks like today," UNDP country director for Somalia, El-Balla Hagona said.
"It will also be important in providing indicators for more informed developmental interventions and initiatives as well as facilitating the Millennium Development Goals Report on Somalia," he added.
Agence France Presse, January 13, 2004
Eighteen killed by Somali interclan fighting
At least 18 people were killed and 23 wounded on Tuesday by interclan fighting in the Elbur district of central Somalia, elders contacted by radio said.
The fighting engaged the Murursade subclan against the Duduble, both from the major Hawiye clan, according to one of the elders.
Militia commanders and elders in the Somali capital also confirmed the fighting, which was instigated by a land dispute.
"The Murursade and Duduble fighters used battlewagons, heavy and small machineguns and rocket propelled grenades for the battle," Mohamed Musa, a radio communication centre owner told AFP.
He added that half of the victims were civilians.
Interclan fighting is common in Somalia, which has lacked a central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
BBC Monitoring International Reports,January 13, 2004/Source: Xog-Ogaal, Mogadishu, in Somali 13 Jan 04
SOMALIA: FISHERMEN FIND UNDERWATER SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS IN SOUTHERN COASTAL AREA
According to reports from Raas Kamboni in the Lower Jubba Region (southern Somalia coast), local fishermen have found four huge cameras lying inside the sea, near the Buur Gaabo coastal area. The local fishermen said they found the cameras, CDs and other equipment meant for charging the (the cameras).
It is not yet known who brought these equipment to the area, but it is thought they could be connected to satellites and intended for secret surveillance. It cannot be verified whether anything has been recorded.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 13, 2004
ITALIAN ENVOY DESCRIBES SOMALI PEACE TALKS AS "TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY"
Italian special envoy to Somalia describes the ongoing Somali leader's retreat in Nairobi as a tremendous opportunity.
The envoy, Carlo Ungaro, said he is confident that at least two of the absent leaders would join the retreat on Tuesday.
The Italian special envoy to Somalia, Carlo Ungaro, has described the ongoing Somali leader's retreat in Nairobi as a tremendous opportunity aimed at ending more than 13 years of bloodshed in the country.
Speaking with HornAfrik from Nairobi, Mr Ungaro played down the current deadlock among Somali leaders saying their differences were only on principal basis.
"I do not call it a deadlock but I call it a difference in using certain aspects," Mr Ungaro said. He also said he is confident that at least two of the absent leaders would join the ongoing consultations on Tuesday.
Our role is to support the ongoing process Mr Ungaro said in reply to a question put to him about the international community's role in the peace talks.
The ten-day Somali leaders retreat has been officially launched in Nairobi last Friday as part of efforts aimed at restoring stability in the horn of African nation.
Source: HornAfrik Online text web site, Mogadishu, in English 13 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 13, 2004
SOMALIA: UNDP OFFICIAL ARRIVES IN SOUTHERN REGION TOWN
The UNDP resident representative for Somalia, Maxwell Gaylord, has arrived in the southern town of Jowhar on Monday.
During his visit in the area, Mr Gaylord would be present at the opening of training for police forces in the area. About 50 police soldiers would take part in the training.
Mr Gaylord and his delegation have visited a number of projects financed by the UNDP and implemented by a local Non-Governmental Organization.
He also visited the town's main police station as well as other places in the area.
Source: HornAfrik Online text web site, Mogadishu, in English 12 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 11, 2004
KENYAN PAPER URGES RIVAL SOMALI FACTIONS TO PUT PERSONAL INTERESTS ASIDE
Somalia is a sad tale, indeed. Since the January 1991 collapse of dictator Siyad Barre's regime, there has been no recognized central government. As a result, the state called Somalia has practically disappeared from the world map.
The clan warfare raging in Somalia has serious ramifications internally and on the neighbouring countries. The neighbours have had to deal with an influx of refugees and the spillover of violence as weapons are smuggled across borders.
The ongoing Nairobi peace talks, though welcome, are the 14th time such discussions have been held. And this latest round - which has lasted over a year - is making pretty little progress.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the current head of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), couldn't have put it better in his warning to the rival warlords that the international community is losing its patience.
Regrettably, the deep divisions between the various groups are still too painfully evident. However, the Somali rivals must realize that the time put aside personal interests and differences and promote the wider interests of their country and people is now.
Source: Daily Nation web site, Nairobi, in English 11 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 10, 2004
KENYAN PAPER SAYS CURRENT SOMALI TALKS "BEST FORUM FOR RESOLVING CONFLICT"
The search for peace in war-torn Somalia has been, to say the least, a long and torturous process both for the Somalis and the international community. Despite relentless efforts by the global community to bring sanity to the Horn of Africa country, which has never known any peace since the ouster of President Siad Barre, there is nothing tangible worth writing home about.
The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), under whose auspices the dozen or so rounds of talks that have been held to try and broker a solution, has spent considerable resources, estimated at over 0.5bn shillings mainly provided by individual European countries, the EU itself and the Arab League.
The current round of talks, currently going on at the Kenya College of Communications Technology at Mbagathi in Nairobi, is the 14th so far and has already lasted a year. And sadly, there still seems to be no solution in sight. This latest round was expected to last three months but has instead dragged on for close to a year. The talks have been dogged by acrimony, confusion, suspicious killings and scuffles.
In addition, a section of the Somali delegates have attempted to derail the talks altogether on the premise that the process was not home-grown but imposed on them. Only recently, for instance, the Somali National Salvation Council, which is an alliance of 12 factions formed recently, vowed to boycott any further talks in Nairobi and to instead push for a reconciliation conference that would be held inside Somalia.
It is, however, the opinion of many that the Mbagathi venue is the best forum for the resolution of the Somali conflict since it provides a neutral arena where the conflicting aspirations of the various factions and clans can be expressed and consensus arrived at. In this regard, we strongly back the determination of IGAD to push forward with the peace process despite the myriad drawbacks. (Passage omitted)
It is high time the Somalis borrowed a leaf from their Sudanese brothers and sisters and agreed to discard their parochial and sectarian interests that are the main hindrance to the success of the peace process. That they have on several occasions even resorted to resolving their difference physically, the latest, according to reports, being on the eve of yesterday's launch of a 10-day retreat for them, is quite displeasing. (Passage omitted)
While such mundane details are crucial to the process, given the stakes involved, we belief that they can easily be sorted out in a much better way. Indeed, the impression being created does not augur well for the delegates' international image when viewed against the backdrop of the immense goodwill that has been forthcoming from international actors. (Passage omitted)
Source: The People, Nairobi, in English 10 Jan 04
The Boston Globe, January 19, 2004/BYLINE: Associated Press
MAINERS CHEER FILM ABOUT SOMALIS' ARRIVAL
LEWISTON, Maine - A documentary about how Maine's second-largest city coped with an influx of Somali immigrants received a standing ovation after its first showing in the state Saturday night.
"The Letter," which was produced and directed by Ziad Hamzeh, received critical praise after it premiered in Los Angeles in November. Its first Maine showing was at the Lewiston Middle School auditorium.
The 75-minute-long movie's title refers to a letter former Lewiston mayor Larry Raymond sent to the Somalian people who had settled in the city, asking them to spread the word that Lewiston's social services couldn't handle any more immigrants.
The film tracks the Somalis' flight from their homeland and resettlement in Maine. After Raymond's letter, a white supremacist group held a gathering in Lewiston that drew more than 400 antiracism demonstrators.
During the earlier portion of the movie, the audience buzzed as viewers recognized friends or neighbors. But soon its intensity took hold as racist quotes were countered by antiracist quotes.
In the film's final moments, city Administrator Jim Bennett breathes a sigh of relief after a white supremacist rally on Jan. 11, 2002, ended without violence. The film's climax brought the audience to its feet.
Former Lewiston mayor John Jenkins, who spoke in many scenes throughout the film, said after the film's end that the documentary "gives one hope that we are, in fact, a better community and will remain ever steadfast and working at it."
Hamzeh, the film's producer and director, said in a brief statement to the audience that he considers Lewiston to be his second home.
The Economist, January 17, 2004 U.S. Edition, SECTION: SURVEY
Breathing life into dead capital
YOUR correspondent once asked a Somali nomad how much his house cost. The nomad found the question slightly baffling. He explained that he had built it himself, with materials he had to hand. The walls were made of sticks, woven together and curved into a dome. For protection against rain and sandstorms, he had laid animal hides over the top and lashed them down. He could not say how much the dwelling was worth, because it would never have occurred to him to sell it. When he moved away in search of better pasture, he simply dismantled his house, loaded it onto a camel's back and took it with him.
Such a lifestyle requires a lot of space. When their cows have stripped one area of grass, nomads simply move on. But as Africa's population grows and farmers encroach upon nomads' traditional grazing grounds, the wandering herdsmen are being squeezed into ever smaller and more arid pockets of territory. They will be able to defend themselves for a while--young male nomads in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya all seem to carry submachineguns--but in the long term, their lifestyle is probably doomed.
For settled Africans, however, there should be more than enough land to go around. The continent is only one-25th as densely populated as East Asia. But Africans find it hard to use what they have to best advantage because they lack secure property rights. Very few can prove that they own their land or their homes, because they do not have title deeds. This matters, because without a reliable system for ascertaining who owns what, assets cannot be used as collateral.
In rich countries, if a farmer wants to invest in better seeds or bigger tractors, he can probably borrow the necessary cash using his land as security. If he fails to honour his debt, the bank takes the land. If all goes well, however, his easy access to credit allows him to make his land more productive, which in turn increases its worth. Asset-backed lending is a crucial element in the dynamism of advanced capitalist countries. In America, for example, the most common way for an entrepreneur to raise start-up capital is by mortgaging the family home.
In Africa, this is much harder. Less than 10% of the continent's land is formally owned, and barely one African in ten lives in a house with title deeds. Farmers and urbanites, unlike nomads, usually have a clear idea what their homes and maize-plots are worth. For example, in Mtandire, a Malawian slum, a sturdy brick bungalow costs about $300. That is a large sum by Malawian standards: nearly twice the average annual income. But home-owners in Mtandire have enormous trouble making their assets work for them.
One explained that she wanted to borrow $200 to expand her goat-slaughtering business to meet a ravening demand for goat stew, but no bank would accept her house as collateral. Like the other houses in Mtandire, it was built on "customary" land. She had bought it from peasants who had farmed it for generations. The only proof that they had owned it was the say-so of the village chief. Banks need more surety than that, so the home-owner's butchering business seems likely to stay small for the foreseeable future.
Multiply this story by several million, and it is clear that Africans are sitting on a colossal stock of underexploited assets; what Hernando de Soto, a Peruvian economist, calls "dead capital". Mr de Soto estimated that the total value of Africans' informally owned houses and farmland in 1997 was roughly $1 trillion. That is nearly three times sub-Saharan Africa's annual GDP, and more than 70 times the amount of aid the continent receives each year.
Sound property rights have great advantages. When people are confident that they will not suddenly be dispossessed, they are more inclined to make long-term investments, such as extending the family home or buying a new plough. Property rights promote flexibility, too. They allow peasants who want to move to the city to look for work to sell their land, or to rent it out without fear of being unable to get it back later. Transparently useful
In rich countries, property registries provide a wealth of commercially useful information. They show who owns a piece of land, where the boundaries are, and whether it is legal to build a factory on it. Such information makes it easier to spot commercial opportunities, and gives strangers confidence to do business with each other. Buyers know what they are buying. If someone cheats them, they know where to send the bailiffs.
In most African countries, by contrast, registries cover only a small fraction of fixed assets. Most Africans, being outside the formal system of rules and paper, prefer not to risk buying anything they cannot see. So farmers have to take their maize crop physically to market and usually have to sell it straight away, even if the prices are low, because they cannot afford the truck fare back. Western farmers can sell promises to deliver crops they have not yet planted, which is less cumbersome and better for the cashflow.
Many African peasants are aware that they lack property rights, and resent the fact. A survey in Zambia found that, despite the country's low population density, nearly half the farmers questioned felt that their land tenure was insecure. These farmers said they were willing to pay an average of $40 for more secure tenure. Several African governments have also realised that better property rights would help their citizens prosper, and have passed laws seeking to formalise customary tenure. This is a good first step.
Obviously, secure property rights cannot be established overnight. In the West, they evolved over centuries. And Africa cannot simply adopt rich countries' rules, because its governments do not have the expertise to enforce them, except perhaps among small enclaves of their better-off citizens. For example, other things being equal, it is desirable for land to be accurately surveyed before being registered. But there are never enough surveyors in Africa, and their services are too expensive for the poor. In Zambia, surveyors' cartels artificially restrict the number of surveyors who may practise, leading to backlogs of up to seven years. So if property rights are to be extended to the maximum number of people, the system has to start rough and cheap; it can always be polished later. And if it is to be accepted by ordinary people, it must build on arrangements they know and trust.
Mozambique's story is instructive. During the 1970s and 80s, property rights did not exist there. A Marxist government had abolished them in theory, and a vicious rebel movement had destroyed them in practice in all the areas it ravaged. Some 5m people--a third of the population--were driven from their homes, and their fields were sown with landmines.
After the war ended in 1992, however, the (now ex-Marxist) government was able to resettle those 5m people astonishingly quickly. Land records were rudimentary or non-existent, so the government relied on local institutions to resolve the inevitable disputes. The state still owns all the land, but families' occupancy rights were codified in law in 2000, and investors can now buy long leases. Those who want to lease unoccupied land, of which the country has a lot, have to negotiate with neighbouring communities, which reduces the likelihood of anyone being unjustly dispossessed.
The system is far from perfect, but it is not bad for a country where the average citizen earns only $200 a year. Better property rights have fostered confidence, and therefore investment. Economic growth in Mozambique has been in double digits in four of the past six years. Such successes have been too rare, however. A recent study of 19 African countries that had passed laws to upgrade customary tenure found that eleven had done absolutely nothing to put these laws into practice.
Overall, since independence, African governments have tended to weaken property rights rather than strengthen them. The European colonists, for the most part, had preferred to leave customary land arrangements alone, except in areas where they themselves wanted to live or establish plantations. After liberation, however, several African governments declared a state monopoly over the ownership or allocation of land. This took power away from local chiefs and bestowed it on bureaucrats. In the absence of checks and balances on central power, this proved disastrous.
Ethiopia provides an illuminating example. Within living memory, the country has suffered both feudalism and Marxism. In the 1970s and 80s, peasants were forced at gunpoint into giant collectives, causing production to collapse and paving the way for the great famine of 1984, in which 1m people died. Since 1991, when a less oppressive regime seized power, harvests have been up again and droughts less lethal. But the feudal system of imposing heavy taxes on subsistence farmers remains, as does the Marxist notion that the state should allocate all the land.
Peasants' rights over the ground their families have tilled for generations are conditional on them living on or near it. Owners who have not cultivated their farm for two seasons risk having it confiscated. This ties them to a location and a way of life that offer little hope of advancement. Even the most ambitious think twice before seeking their fortune in the city, because if things do not work out they may have nowhere to return to.
Establishing sound property rights is a long and tricky process, but dismantling them is quick and easy. Think of Zimbabwe, which until the late 1990s had a large and sophisticated formal sector. Since Robert Mugabe started gleefully tearing up title deeds, Zimbabwean industry has all but collapsed. A qualified welcome
Another, less remarked example is Cote d'Ivoire. Under the fairly benign dictatorship of Felix Houphouet-Boigny, migrants from neighbouring countries, such as Burkina Faso, were welcome to come and grow cocoa in Cote d'Ivoire. They arrived during an economic boom, when many young Ivorians were migrating to the cities to take up paid jobs. But when the boom turned to bust, many of the city-dwellers lost their jobs and went back to their villages looking for land to cultivate.
In the absence of clear title, squabbles erupted. Tensions between native Ivorians and Burkinabe planters were already high when a law was passed in 2000 under which all customary land not converted to full title within ten years would revert to the state. It was obvious from the outset that most claims would not be processed in time. Burkinabe planters feared that they would lose their land. Many did: land grabs became common, often with the connivance of the police and officials. Within two years, these and other quarrels had snowballed into civil war.
GRAPHIC: Not much use as collateral; Why secure property rights matter
IPR Strategic Business Information Database, January 14, 2004
CALL FOR SAUDI ARABIAN INVESTORS TO INVEST IN NATIONAL PROJECTS IN DJIBOUTI
Al-Riyadh newspaper quoted Housing and Development Minister Abdullah Abdullah Majil who called for Saudi Arabian businessmen to invest in national projects in Djibouti. He said that foreign investors will receive tax benefits for a period of ten to twenty years, that Djibouti competes with Ethiopia and Somalia, and that it has a total population of 300 million. The Djibouti government intends to set up a commercial and industrial free trade zone.
The Toronto Star, January 13, 2004 Tuesday Ontario Edition, Pg. A18
Somalia needs Canada's help
BYLINE: Afyare Abdi Elmi
Notorious Somali warlords, regional administration heads and former military government leaders have committed grave human rights atrocities against the Somali civilians including women and children.
Tens of thousands of Somalis have been killed, and hundreds of thousands were wounded. Millions more are displaced internally and externally. As a result, the Somali people remain stateless. No institution is left functioning.
Somalia has the second highest infant mortality rate and second highest rate of maternal mortality. According to UNICEF, more than 225 of every 1,000 Somali children die before they reach the age of 5.
The life expectancy of Somalis is about 47 years, one of the lowest in the world. Young Somalis die in the Mediterranean and Red seas fleeing atrocities at home.
There is no functioning judicial system in the country. And, alas, the transitional national government, whose legitimacy is questionable now due to the termination of its mandate, failed to ratify the International Criminal Court before its three-year term ended.
It is left to the international community to protect the Somali people. It should start by establishing an international criminal tribunal that documents, identifies and prosecutes the perpetrators of the human rights crimes of the past and the present in Somalia.
Lack of reliable records reinforces the culture of impunity in Somalia because the perpetrators of crimes assume they could, in the future, deny their culpability.
The local human rights organizations cannot be expected to fulfill this role because their capacity is limited. Moreover, since human rights activists are at the mercy of these warlords, some have been killed and many have left the country.
The creation of an international criminal tribunal would not onlythe transgressions of war criminals, but also deter further human rights violations. Warlords often travel abroad, particularly to Europe and the Middle East, for medication or vacation.
If the warlords and regional leaders knew that the international community would hold them responsible for their crimes, they would reconsider. Instead, they believe that the international community considers them the legitimate leaders of the Somali people.
The establishment of a tribunal would also bring political pressure to bear on neighbouring countries that help sustain the conflict. To establish sustainable peace, the international community must be tough with the Somali warlords who commit human rights violations, and the countries that support them.
Professor Stephen John Stedman, an authority on peace building at Stanford University, says the international community plays an important role in stopping what he calls spoilers of peace - in Somalia's case, the warlords.
"Where international custodians have created and implemented coherent, effective strategies for protecting peace and managing spoilers, damage has been limited and peace has triumphed. Where international custodians have failed to develop and implement such strategies, spoilers have succeeded at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives."
Ending impunity in Somalia would also facilitate the peace process. Identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators of human rights crimes will empower the victims of injustice. It would also encourage civil society and the peace-loving sectors of the community to establish an open and transparent system.
Unfortunately, while these criminal warlords and their militias continue with the killing, hostage-taking, displacement and rape, the international community seems to tacitly endorse their actions by convening reconciliation conferences for the warlords while excluding civil society and traditional leaders.
Appeasing these criminals has left the impression throughout Somalia that the more people one has killed, the more say a person will have in the peace process. New warlords have already appeared, hoping to take their share after seeing other warlords dictating the terms for peace.
This also has had a negative effect on the civil society and traditional leaders. Many could not stay in the country, and those remaining are highly demoralized.
Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International's Canadian chapter, says Canada has been a leader on such issues. It played a significant role in establishing the International Criminal Court and has helped establish the international criminal tribunal for Sierra Leone.
The establishment of such a tribunal for Somalia would be the first and necessary step in bringing peace to that country.
And Canada, being at the forefront of peace building and international justice issues, has a special role to play.
Afyare Abdi Elmi is a member of the Star's community editorial board.
Africa Analysis, January 9, 2004
SOMALIA
BASIC DATA Population:8m GDP:$ 200m Real growth:3.5% GNI per capita:n.a Life expectancy (yrs.):47 Female prim. enrolment %:n.a.
FINANCE IMF/World Bank:No accord Foreign Debt:$ 2.6bn (2000 est) Forex reserves:n.a.
RECENT AID or CREDITS n.a.
TRADE Total exports:$ 126m Total imports:$ 343m Main exports:Livestock, bananas, hides, fish, charcoal, scrap metal Main suppliers(% market share)
jibouti 29.8, Kenya 13.6, Brazil 10.5, Thailand 4.7
NOTES Conflict continues. Peace talks in Kenya ongoing since October 2002. Transitional national government's mandate expired. Self-declared states of Somaliland and Puntland arguing over borders. Drought and insecurity threaten food security. Livestock trade ban by Saudi Arabia because of Rift Valley Fever since 2000 but live trade with other Gulf states. Industries looted. Service sector healthy with cheapest international calls in Africa, $ 800m a year handled by remittance companies and hotels protected by militias. Electronic gadgets and arms sold in Mogadishu's main market. Major arrears to WB, which opened Country Re-engagement Note in June 2003.