http://www.banadir.com/hadraawi.shtml
TALKING POINT BY
M.M. AFRAH
Toronto (Canada)
Feb, 13. 2004
HADRAWI'S LONG JOURNEY TO PEACE
"Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."
Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948
Mohamed Warsame Hadrawi is one of the great moral and Peace Crusader of our time whose lifelong dedication to the fight against injustice, war mongering and acts of violence won him the admiration of many peace-loving Somalis everywhere.
Since his release from detention in a remote corner of Somalia for more than a decade of incommunicado and isolation, Hadrawi has been at the center of peace crusade on behalf of the ordinary Somalis who have been kept hostage of the gun by a bunch of brutal and merciless warlords for more than a decade.
The collapse of law and order was well underway long before the clan warfare. Urban centers continued to suffer violence, political chaos and economic disruption. Pastoralists and the farming population have less fared well as water wells (bore holes) have been poisoned and nomadic encampments in northwest and central province destroyed by the military. The inhabitants were accused "for harbouring anti-revolutionary elements and for spreading false rumours prejudicial to national security." General Barre's regime generally branded the armed insurgents, SNM, SSDF, USC and SPM as "bandits" in the payroll of un-named foreign countries,
This was a potential disaster in the making. It was a nasty preview of conditions to come. It became apparent during the ensuing years of civil war and an unprecedented bloodshed, but the Gulf War, which broke out at about the same time, dwarfed this tragedy.
Hadrawi, a prolific playwright and song composer, depicted in his plays the prevailing chaos, corruption, nepotism and the mismanagement of public funds and the confiscation of emergency food aid, which attracted the attention of the politically sensitive revolutionary government, which in turn earned him detention, without trial, and incommunicado, in a harsh environment comparable to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned by the apartheid regime for more than 27 years, breaking stones.His plays and his patriotic poems have been banned by the military regime. State Radio Mogadishu has even ceased to put on air all his masterpieces, including his popular number "Belet-weyne" (Beer Lula) sung by Hassan Adan Samatar as anti-revolutionary! To defy the ban coffee shop owners in the city continuously played the pre-recorded "Beer Lula" in ear-splitting volume day and night. The panicky NSS simply ignored them but cased some of the joints, just in case.
Now, the present crop of warlords is spreading rumours that Hadrawi "is seeking publicity and self-promotion in order to stand for an election for a political office." This smacks of smear campaign against the great man.
Undaunted, Hadrawi continued to preach peace, stability and non-violence in the Somali Peninsula during his current "Long journey to Peace" overseas. In his interviews he challenges faction leaders/warlords gathering in Nairobi to create a political system that builds public trust and institutions, including independent judiciary, freedom of speech and association, among other human rights, and to end their narrow political ping-pong, and bickering once and for all.
Hadrawi's courage, dedication and patriotism should remain our source of inspiration.
STOP RHETORIC, ADDRESS WEAPONS PROBLEM
It is hard to imagine that the world's greatest supermarket of weapons of all types and caliber freely open their doors every morning in Mogadishu to sell their deadly arsenal to anyone who can afford at bargain prices, depending on that day's intensity war fever in the city when the price of an AK-47 assault rifle goes up. Their customers include 12-year-old boys and the city's freelancers, the assassins-for-hire otherwise known as Mooryaan.
It is also hard to match the overwhelming majority of the people with this weapons bonanza country who are subject to chaos, hunger, and anarchy that seldom appear in the Western media since the Americans and the UN walked away from job half done in 1994 "as not worth undertaking in the first place". For all practical purpose Somalia became the world's first privatized state. Evidently, drug traffickers and gunrunners have been taking advantage of the lack of a government to accumulate wealth and hire their own fully armed private army.
It is not clear how this massive weaponry end up in Somalia or who are the suppliers, despite UN appointed "independent" monitors who seldom visit the country citing insecurity. (Recently UN official, a member of the UN field security team, was abducted by militia gunmen operating in Kismayu, but was later freed unharmed after 10 days in captivity.)
Had the dormant UN monitors visited the Bakaaraha, one of the thriving supermarkets of weapons, they would have witnessed test shots fired by prospective customers. They would have witnessed that, despite a 1992 arms embargo, weapons are freely available in this sprawling open air "Supermarket of Weapons", offering everything from RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades), Mortars, Landmines, Milan anti-tank rockets, anti-aircraft missiles and heavy machineguns. And for the first time in Somalia the Israeli made Uzi machineguns are on sale at bargain prices.
They would have witnessed fully labeled huge wooden crates conspicuously showing the names of the suppliers and their countries of origin, and even the name of the middleman.
The wooden crates are sold separately as construction material.
There are of course several other supermarkets of weapons in the city, such as Sinai and Argentina Markets, where apart from buying weapons, you can also exchange your US dollars, Euros and Saudi Real, among other convertible currencies. But the US Dollar is still the Grand Old Daddy of International currencies.
In the future, it will be impossible for any government to disarm the young militia boys as the majority are drug (Qaad) addicts and have no skills of their own and are numerically too many to absorb in future armed forces.
This is a problem of great proportions and one cannot simply brush it aside.
Every warlord/faction leader is aware that it is important to collect arms and shut down the mushrooming supermarkets of weapons in order to affect any security-at least in Mogadishu. But it transpires that the owners of the gun bazaars are some of the very people who are now gathering in Nairobi talking peace and reconciliation, while at the same time deliberately ignore the weapons problem for their own vested interests. Evidently, closing down the arms bazaars do not bode well with these Mafia-like godfathers.
In one of my past TALKING POINTS I had pointed out that the possession of a gun gives people a sense of confidence to protect their interests, even if in the process they violate the rights of other citizens. They will never relinquish arms so easily.
Many sincere and responsible people I know personally will think before they hand over their weapons. One valid excuse is that there is no government to guarantee their safety. "What if other clans attack us?" they would say. Without some sort of guarantee a lot of people will mount stiff resistance. They feel arms collection without effective law enforcement officers and transparent politicians at the helm, puts their future in the dark.
This is not an issue to be taken lightly. If a new government does not come up with a resettlement and employment program, it will certainly fail in its cleaning up campaigns.
DOCTORED DOCUMENT
Some officials, including the Kenyan Foreign Minister, Kalonzo Musyoka insisted that the Somalis should reach consensus when they are sure it will burst later and pave the way for a renewed violence. And as Mahatma Gandhi used to say Violence breeds Violence-a prelude to the all-familiar vicious circle. What I can not understand is why the sponsors and the participants of the talks failed to give top priority to the vital 3Ds-Disarmament, Demobilization and Demining during the more than a year of senseless talks, first in Eldoret and later in a warthog infested Nairobi suburb known as Mbagathi. Simply put, the international community, i.e. the United States and the European Union are disillusioned with the complex Somali clan system and petty politics and are threatening to cut the funds without bothering to highlight the 3Ds, which is the core problem in Somalia.
Uganda President Yuweri Musoveni was right when he said the Somalis are dying in genocide in slow motion. Mr. Musoveni, a former guerrilla chieftain himself, knows what it means to die in Genocide in slow motion.
On the other hand some of the participants claim that the document they had signed on January 29 in front of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was doctored and the text altered, and unless the problem is addressed they would walk out of the talks. As a matter of fact some of them have already checked out of the posh five-star Safari Park Hotel, huffing and puffing, according to our man in Nairobi.
If the accusation is true, we would like IGAD and the Kenyan Foreign Minister to enlighten us who had altered the text of this vital Transitional Charter, and WHY?
By M. M. Afrah©2004
Email: afrah95@hotmail.com
Africa News, February 18, 2004/ BYLINE: Somali Peace Rally
Somalia; No Mandate to Extend In Puntland State of Somalia
The creation of the regional administration called Puntland State of Somalia in 1998 was to improve the livelihood of the people after the fall of the central government in Mogadishu, Somalia. Unfortunately, this novel idea was hijacked by a bunch of power hungry individuals led by a ruthless warlord. Both the constitution and the purpose of this entity ceased to exist in 2000.
The constitution of Puntland was shredded when Col. Abdullahi, former President of Puntland, refused to hold elections in 2000. It is known that this led to a bitter civil war in the region. Instead of waiting for the verdict of the people, Col. Abdullahi asked a hand-made so-called members of parliament and fictitious elders to endorse his abuse of office. The pliant so-called MPs did not even shy extending their mandate, which was itself at stake.
Instead of developing the region, Col. Abdullahi and his bunch of criminals used the meagre resources of the region for seeking national leadership. In the meantime, the tax of the people is being fed with criminal warlords who happened to naturally fly with Col. Abdullahi with the same feathers. In Nairobi, the buzz-word for the ill-fated electioneering was Col. Abdullahi, simply because he is the only one dolling out money to anybody who says him "you are the president". The money of people was spent on an election campaign that has no end in sight.
Unfortunately the Colonel never thought of few basic facts. The current crisis in Somalia was mid-wifed by a man with similar qualifications Italian trained old-guard officer, who had no qualms with eliminating his political adversaries. A few seconds of thought were not given to the undeniable fact that Somalis would never elect another dictator and warlord like Aidid unless the majority goes crazy.
The new attempt to justify an illegitimate parliament or presidency does not make news. Puntland State of Somalia had no legitimate government for the last few years. There is nothing to extend in the first place. As the Somali says, an ill-gotten she-camel does not give birth to a legitimate off-spring. It would make a sense had Col. Abdullah called himself president for life a la Bokassa, a man of similar tendencies.
SPR speaks loudly against Col. Abdullahi's unconstitutional stay in office and his unbridled abuse of the resources of the region for personal aggrandizement, not to mention the assassination of people with dissenting views. May God bless those who fell because of their conviction.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 18, 2004
ETHIOPIAN ENVOY SAYS SOMALI PEACE TALKS FACE "SETBACK"
Addis Ababa, 17 February: The Somali peace agreement reached under the auspices of Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) has reportedly faced setback to form transitional council, Ethiopian envoy to Somalia said.
The special envoy, Ambassador Abdulaziz Ahmed told WIC (Walta Information Centre) in an exclusive interview that the peace agreement that has already enjoyed much international backing has faced setbacks as parties to the peace talks in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, failed to agree on key issue of which party should take responsibility to choose the Somali Transitional Council.
The ambassador said he believes that the Somali peace process can only hold if the peace talks are able to attract all stakeholders and be able to form broad-based and comprehensive transitional government. Ethiopia has always been supporting a broad-based Somali peace talks that involve all the stakeholders, the ambassador said, adding that it (Ethiopia) is working with IGAD towards the formation of a broad-based Somali government.
He noted that Ethiopia's support to the Somali peace process emanates from its firm stand to bring lasting peace and stability to the war torn country.
The raging conflict in Somalia has all round effects on Ethiopia which shares long borders and similar culture and language among the population on either side of the border, the special envoy said.
He noted that Ethiopia has always had neutral stand while treating stakeholders to the Somali peace process and has never influenced any of the parties.
The conflict in Somalia has been so deep rooted that the stakeholders fail to develop confidence in each other thereby initiating the involvement of third party in their affairs that always create setback to the peace process, he concluded.
Source: Walta Information Centre web site, Addis Ababa, in English 17 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 18, 2004
SOMALIA: PUNTLAND MINISTER "RETURNS" TO SOMALILAND
Mr Hasan Mahmud Dhilod, who was Majeertenia's (Puntland's) minister of education has arrived in Ceerigaabo (eastern Somaliland), Sanaag's regional HQ, following his decision to return to his country.
This report which was sent by Mr Mahmud Saraf, our reporter in Sanaag Region, said Majertenia's minister of education was received in Ceerigaabo by the town's mayor, Ismai'l Haji Nur, the regional governor Abdihakim Hasan, and other officials.
Mr Dhilod said he will give details on the reasons why he had returned to his country at a news conference in the next few days.
Source: Radio Hargeysa in Somali 1700 gmt 18 Feb 04
InfoProd, February 18, 2004
SAUDI ARABIA: OIC WELCOMES SOMALI ACCORD
According to IINA, the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has welcomed the accord arrived at between the Somali interim government and the various political factions, that was signed recently in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and that provides for a federal type of governance for the country. A statement from the OIC expressed the hope that an interim federal government and an interim parliament for Somali would soon come into effect, and thanked the Presidents of Kenya and Uganda, including their aides, for their efforts in bringing about rapprochement between the warring factions in Somalia.
The Ottawa Sun, February 18, 2004
BRINGING FREEDOM TO THE AIRWAVES; OTTAWA MAN BRINGS GIFT OF FREE SPEECH TO SOMALI HOMELAND
BYLINE: BY DONNA CASEY, OTTAWA SUN
STANDING behind the counter of his small, sunlit restaurant, Mohamed Elmi looks the picture of the successful businessman he's become since arriving in Canada 14 years ago as a Somali refugee.
On the walls of the Bank St. eatery, there are only a few hints of his double life as a free-speech crusader.
A framed certificate behind the cash recognizes the 47-year-old former university professor and two other colleagues for their efforts "to uphold the freedom of the press under challenging conditions."
Like thousands of other Ottawa residents, Elmi struggles to juggle work and family, but the husband and father of six also has his finger on the pulse of a country half a world away.
Four years ago, armed with a 50-page business plan and $500,000 in investment cash, Elmi and his friends Ali Sharmarke and Ahmed Abdisalam Adan started HornAfrik, Somalia's first independent TV and radio station.
Since the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, law and order has crashed and burned in Somalia, leaving it with no government, little peace and a population struggling to navigate through the chaos.
"We thought, should we let things fall apart over there? There's no magic solution but should we just watch it happen or should we contribute however we can," said Elmi, watching his south-end diner fill with lunchtime customers.
'SOCIAL AGENDA'
Echoing Churchill's famous observation that the first casualty in war is always the truth, Elmi said he and his partners wanted to set up a business in Somalia with a "social agenda" -- a news agency that would offer impartial reports and encourage debate in a society where the muzzle of a gun usually dictated the debates on the airwaves.
A plan to give Somalis an impartial media outlet would plunge the three men -- all husbands and fathers with lives in Canada that turned out "better than their dreams," said Elmi -- back into the turmoil of their homeland.
While Elmi and his two partners had no prior media experience, HornAfrik now has a staff of 50 reporters and technicians -- all trained by the BBC.
The station offers an alternative to radio stations run by feuding clan leaders who fill the airwaves with "hate-mongering propaganda," said Elmi.
The station's popular call-in shows offer the city's 1 million citizens the chance to talk about the country's problems. Even the city's powerful warlords acknowledge HornAfrik's popularity, showing up to be questioned by reporters and callers.
"It's a new chapter for the Somali media," said Elmi of the station that keeps afloat by selling commercials.
Even the BBC has jumped on board, broadcasting its twice-daily Somali news program on HornAfrik.
The station's three co-founders take turns travelling to Somalia to oversee the station. With Sharmarke and Adan now in Mogadishu, Elmi acts as the group's surrogate father, keeping an eye on his partners' families.
The men's work in Somalia has garnered both media attention and accolades. They were the subject of Talk Mogadishu, a documentary by Canadian filmmaker Judy Jackson. Last night, the trio was also featured on CBC's The National as part of a series focusing on Canadians making contributions around the world. Two years ago, the men were also recognized by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.
Finding journalists who were ready to think outside tribal lines was one of HornAfrik's first hurdles, said Elmi.
"We told them ... we have taken our own wealth, left our kids and families at home to come here to do this. We told them this is the kind of work you're supposed to do," he said.
Security at the station's compound is tight, its gates patrolled by armed guards and reporters escorted by gun-toting bodyguards when they go out on assignment. Last year, militiamen hired by a local warlord stormed the station and shut it down. Elmi's driver was shot and killed while out in the city.
HornAfrik's most fearless defenders are its listeners and viewers, said Elmi, poor and dispossessed people who have taken to the street when the station has come under fire.
"Total mental freedom," said Elmi, assessing HornAfrik's contribution to the city's citizens.
GRAPHIC: photo by Suzanne Bird, OTTAWA SUN; MOHAMED Elmi, who now lives in Ottawa, is a co-founder of HornAfrik, Somalia's first independent radio and TV station.
XINHUA NEWS AGENCY, February 18, 2004
Ugandan president on resolution of Somalia conflict
KAMPALA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said the Somalia conflict should be resolved more by sensitizing the warring factions to appreciate the need to reconstitute their country rather than by threatening them with sanctions.
The president made the remarks Tuesday when he received and held discussions with visiting Swedish Deputy Minister for Development Cooperation Annika Sodder in Kampala, according to a press release issued here on Wednesday by the State House.
Museveni told the Swedish guest that the situation in most African countries is relatively peaceful and calm.
Museveni said Uganda strongly encourages the development of the private sector.
He also briefed his guest on the situation in northern Uganda and told her that Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels who surrender will be pardoned under the Amnesty Law.
Sodder thanked the president for his commitment to restoring peace to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi and Somalia.
Africa News, February 17, 2004
Somalia; Dire Conditions in the Northern Togdheer Region - FEWS NET
BYLINE: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
Extensive drought in the northern Togdheer Region of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, where about 350,000 people live, has forced schools to close, water wells to dry up and the livestock population to decline significantly, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) said on Monday.
"There is currently a severe drought in Togdheer Region, particularly [in the] south and northwest due to successive rainfall failures," FEWS NET said in a report following an assessment mission to the region conducted in late December. "The Somaliland authorities conducted [an earlier] assessment... and called for international assistance," it said.
The prevailing harsh conditions in the region, it said, had, by December forced about 40 percent of children, most of them girls, to drop out of school. Of 54 urban and rural schools, seven were not operating due to migration of the local population to other areas, while another eight closed in December. "In some villages, even the teachers had moved with their families," it said.
On water availability, the report said that of 1,638 water sources found in nine villages, about 60 percent were either disused or damaged, and only 16 percent of the rest had water levels ranging from 25 percent to 75 percent of their capacity.
"The water infrastructure is in poor condition. Functioning [water sources in] the visited villages had poor sanitary conditions. Animal and human faeces, dead animal carcasses were observed scattered around the water points and villages, which would inevitably contaminate water sources," FEWS NET said.
It said livestock ownership in the predominantly pastoral region, had dropped to 40-50 percent for sheep and goats and 15-20 percent for camels. Nil production and consumption of milk or ghee, was observed, and dying stock was a significant source of food.
"Livestock production is the main economic activity providing food income and employment. A combination of inadequate pastures, diseases, high consumption and disposal has reduced livestock ownership [and] reduced the poor households' food source and income," FEWS NET said. "Livestock deaths are expected to increase during the coming dry season (January to April) due to water and pasture depletion."
According to FEWS NET, the general food security situation in the region was precarious. "A deterioration of the already precarious food insecurity for a significant proportion of the community and a surge in the population of the destitute and the displaced (IDPs) is anticipated," it said.
"The poor wealth group, now constituting 40-50 percent of Togdheer pastoral food economy, is likely to increase to about 60-70 percent as more middle group families join them after losing their livestock. Some of the poor households will further become destitute and/or IDPs," it said.
On health, the report said access to services was very limited and availability of medicines for common ailments was "either nonexistent or woefully inadequate". The situation was worsened by poor sanitation.
FEWS NET made numerous recommendations, including targeted emergency free food distribution from January to May, and provision of medical and vaccination supplies. It also called for a health and hygiene promotion campaign in the region, the establishment of mobile veterinary teams and drugs, relief fodder for the animals and restocking of livestock in the region.
Other recommendations included trucking water for human consumption and wide-ranging support to the educational systems, including school feeding and provision of alternative schooling models for the children.
The rapid assessment, which sought to study the impact of the current drought on water, pasture, livestock, migration and displacement, food security, health and nutrition, was conducted by several UN agencies and international and local NGOs. The report is available at:
http://www.fews.net/current/special/gcontent.cfm?gc_id=1000379&f=a&d=0
BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 17, 2004
SOME 200 SOMALI REFUGEES LEAVE DJIBOUTI FOR THEIR HOMELAND
Djibouti, 15 February: Two hundred and fourteen refugees from northern Somalia who have been living in camps at Holhol and Ali-Adde for the past 14 years returned to the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland within the framework of a programme of voluntary repatriation jointly initiated by the (UN) High Commission for Refugees (HCR) and (Djibouti's) National Office for Assistance to Refugees and Disaster Victims (ONARS).
The Somali refugees this morning left the Chebeley transit centre, in the south of the country, aboard 13 lorries hired by the HCR. (Passage omitted)
Source: ADI news agency web site, Djibouti, in French 15 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 17, 2004
SOMALIA/USA: MUSTAQBAL EDUCATIONAL RADIO - NEW SERVICE FOR SOMALIA
On 17 February BBC Monitoring observed a programme in the Somali language identifying as Mustaqbal (Future) on the frequency of 17565 kHz signing-on at 1202 and signing-off at 1232 gmt. The transmission closed with the following announcement in English:
"You have been listening to Mustaqbal, a programme designed to teach literacy in the Somali language. The programmes were designed and produced by the Education Development Centre and the Somali Regional Education Bureau. Funding was provided by the United States Agency for International Development."
A report by Wolfgang Buschel in Worldwide DX Clubs' "Top News" web site gives the full schedule for this service as follows:
Monday/Tuesday/Thursday 0630-0700 gmt on 17565 kHz via Al-Dhabiya, United Arab Emirates
Monday/Tuesday/Thursday 1200-1230 gmt on 17565 kHz via Meyerton, South Africa
The Education Development Centre also produces a programme for Sudan, called the Sudan Radio Service.
Source: BBC Monitoring research 17 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 17, 2004
KENYA: OVER 200,000 SOMALI, SUDANESE REFUGEES TO BE REPATRIATED AFTER PEACE DEAL
More than 200,000 refugees in the country will be repatriated once the ongoing peace negotiations on Sudan and Somalia are successfully concluded.
Discussions over voluntary repatriation of the 70,000 Sudanese and 135,000 Somalis have began but the final decision hinges on the conclusion of the peace talks, hopefully in the next few months.
Yesterday, Vice-President Moody Awori and Mr George Okoth-Obbo, of the UNHCR, said positive signals from the twin peace processes were raising hope for the repatriation. "The (ruling) National Rainbow Coalition administration remains keen on the ongoing Sudanese and Somali peace initiatives and we are delighted by the development, particularly in the Sudan. Discussions are already taking place for the possible voluntary repatriation of the refugees once the peace accord is signed," Mr Awori said.
Consequently, the VP has ordered all refugees living outside the designated camps to immediately return to the camps. Those who did not return and were caught in towns without authority would be treated as illegal aliens and face the law, the VP said. "The government is concerned with this group of asylum seekers as they are likely to be engaged in activities that are contrary to their stay in the country. The government will soon mount a crackdown on these illegal aliens with a view to flushing them out," he said.
In his speech, read by home affairs assistant minister Wilfred Machage, the VP said the government would ensure the refugee camps and their immediate environs remained free of arms.
Mr Awori said many of the 20,000 refugees living illegally in towns carried false documents purportedly authorizing them to reside out of the designated camps. He appealed to donors to provide funds for the repatriation when the right time comes.
Mr Okoth-Obbo said Kenya's refugee programme "sits on the edge of the greatest promise for decisive and permanent solutions it has ever experienced in the last decade". "With the hope that the Sudanese peace process continuing to unfold in Naivasha will be successfully concluded not too far from now, the opportunity will be created for over 70,000 Sudanese refugees to at last return to their country of origin in safety and dignity.
"Some 150,000 refugees from Somalia are also anxiously watching the peace process for their country with the same hope," said the UNHCR official at the start of a two-day planning workshop for the 2005 Kenya Refugee Programme. (Passage omitted)
Source: Daily Nation web site, Nairobi, in English 17 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 17, 2004
AT LEAST 24 SAID KILLED IN RENEWED CLAN FIGHTING IN ETHIOPIA'S SOMALI REGION
At least 24 people have been killed in renewed fighting that has erupted in the Buur Ukur area in Ethiopia's Somali-dominated Region Five (southeastern Ethiopia).
The fighting, in which more than 22 people lost their lives and a number more than that were wounded, started at about 4 a.m. and stopped at about 10 a.m. today. (Passage omitted).
Other reports from Buur Ukur say that fierce fighting has erupted between one of the rival clans militias which fought last night and the Ethiopian forces.
The fighting between these two rival clans is based on the dispute surrounding the ownership of the Feer Feer District regional administration, control of which is claimed by both clans. The Ethiopian government is said to have made no efforts to mediate between the two rival clans.
Other reports from Ethiopia's Region Five say that (government) forces in Mustahil and Feer Feer Districts have been put on high alert. Public transport vehicles are said to have suspended their operations between the two districts. (Passage omitted).
Source: HornAfrik Online text web site, Mogadishu, in Somali 16 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 17, 2004
LARGE DEMO IN SOMALI CAPITAL SUPPORTS RECENT PEACE ACCORD REACHED IN NAIROBI
About hundreds of people, mainly women and children, have taken part in a big peace rally in Mogadishu on Monday (16 February) to support the recent landmark accord signed by the Somalia faction leaders in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Participants have chanted slogans in support of the agreement, the first of its kind signed almost inclusively by Somalia factions for the last for 14 years. The agreement calls for the establishment of a transitional government that would lead the country for the next four years.
The agreement, also called transitional federal charter, came after more than a year of talks in Kenya aimed at ending the long-standing civil war in the Horn of Africa country.
According to the charter, the future Somali parliament will be made up of 275 members, with 12 per cent of the seats set aside for women. Each of the four major clans will select 61 members of parliament while a coalition of small clans will select the other 31. The task of selecting the members of parliament is left to each group, but this could be a lengthy and contentious process. Selection will now be effected by clan political leaders, and must be endorsed by recognized traditional elders.
Source: HornAfrik Online text web site, Mogadishu, in English 16 Feb 04
Kuwait Times, February 17, 2004
KNIFE-WIELDING MAN ARRESTED IN AHMADI SOMALI IN CUSTODY FOR SERIES OF BAYAN, MISHREF ROBBERIES
KUWAIT: A 27-year-old Somali was arrested in connection with a series of thefts and robbery reported in Bayan and Mishref suburbs. Police received several complaints, mostly from women, that a hefty dark man stopped them, opened their cars and grabbed valuable items and fled. One of the complainants was the daughter of a colonel in the Ministry of Interior. The man was located on a by-lane in Mishref and police surrounded the area and arrested him.
* A knife-wielding man stood near a popular restaurant in Ahmadi in the early morning and told the passers-by that he would kill himself unless some officials came and listened to his problem. Soon police officers arrived on the scene and took the man into custody. He was identified as a former employee of the Defence Ministry. The man was later admitted at the psychiatric hospital. In another incident, a man in Sabahiya holding two knives had threatened to kill all members of his family for locking him up. Police sources said that the man had previous record of drug abuse. * A Kuwaiti woman, who is 'wanted' in certain cases, managed to leave the country through Nuwaiseeb border gate but she was arrested at the airport when she returned. Police is investigating who facilitated her easy exit at Nuwaiseeb.
Reports of kidnapping Kuwaitis in Iraq for ransom are still coming. Lately two Kuwaiti citizens who went there to buy birds have been abducted. Their relatives informed security authorities that the kidnappers were demanding money for their release.
Africa News. February 16, 2004
Somalia; Emergency Assistance Needed in the Nugal Valley
BYLINE: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
About 6,200 people living in the lower Nugal Valley of northeastern Somalia are in need of immediate emergency assistance, the monthly food security assessment report for January, produced by the UN Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU), said.
It said the lower Nugal valley, which includes the areas of Huddun, Taleh and Garowe, was "of greatest concern, as households had suffered extensive livestock losses due to successive rainfall failures. The [area] is in need of quick and effective emergency assistance to preserve livelihoods for approximately 20-25 percent of the original population."
The assessment found that parts of the lower Nugal valley, the Hawd of Garowe and Eyl, the Hawd of Burtinle, the eastern half of the Hawd of Las Anod and the western part of the Addun in Jerriban, had been hit by current rainfall failure. As a result, there had been extensive livestock movement to other areas like the eastern Sool plateau in Bari Region.
"Food shortages have increased for poorer households, and recent reports from the field indicate water prices are continuing to rise in parts of Addun and Hawd of Burtinle and Jerriban," the report said.
The FSAU, which in December collaborated with the UN Children's Fund and World Health Organisation to conduct a rapid nutritional assessment in Taleh District, said it had found an acute malnutrition rate of 27 percent and a severe acute malnutrition rate of 5.8 percent among randomly screened under-five children.
The report also said the Sool plateau in the north and central region, was in an emergency situation. "While coordinated interventions to distressed households by Somali NGOs, international NGOs and UN agencies are under way, insecurity in the area disrupted some of the deliveries in January," it said.
"In Togdheer, no rain fell in the Hawd pastoral zone during January, although it is estimated that 60-70 percent of pastoralists had already moved out of the drought-stricken area into Ethiopia's Region V [Somali National Regional State]. However, poorer households, which could not leave the area, remain extremely food insecure and require close monitoring," it said.
Crop production during the October-December rains in southern Somalia, it noted, was approximately 50 percent of the estimated quantify for sorghum and 50 percent for maize. "This estimate is 48 percent above the postwar average... Insecurity, moisture stress, outbreak of birds, insects and pests may affect the final harvest production figure," it said.
It said compared to the long-term average, the October-December rains had been below normal in most parts of northern and central Somalia. "In particular, rains were extremely poor in Hawd, Sool Plateau and Nugal valley in the north, and Galgadud in the central regions [resulting] in a deterioration of the food security situation for some pastoral populations in the north and central regions, where livelihoods are primarily dependent on livestock and livestock production."
The FSAU report, entitled "Rapid Mission to Investigate the Drought in Parts of North Eastern and Central Somalia" is available at:
http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2004/fsau-som-11feb.pdf
Agence France Presse, February 16, 2004
UNHCR urges Sudan, Somali peace negotiators to reach peace deals
The UN refugees agency (UNHCR) on Monday urged Sudan and Somali peace negotiators not to let down thousands of refugees who escaped conflict in their countries by failing to reach final peace agreements soon.
UNHCR representative in Kenya George Okoth-Obbo told a conference in Nairobi that both peace negotiations "hold promise" to end 21 years of civil war in Sudan and 13 years of interclan fighting in Somalia.
"Should their leaders not let them down and surely, they dare not, one of the last major refugees frontiers in this region, the other one being Burundi, will come tumbling down," Okoth-Obbo said.
"With the hope that the Sudanese peace process continuing to unfold in Naivasha (Kenyan Rift Valley town) will be successfully concluded not too far from now, the opportunity will be created for over 70,000 Sudanese refugees at last to return to their country of origin in safety and diginity.
"Some 150,000 refugees from Somalia are anxiously watching the peace process for their country with the same hope," Obbo explained.
Kenya hosts around 235,000 refugees in its northwestern Kakuma and northeastern Dabaab camps. Apart from Sudanese and Somalis, the rest are from Ethiopia and Uganda.
"This will be a momentous and very happy event indeed because, along with the return movement taking place now in Angola, the refugee population across the African continent would for the first time dip below the million mark," he added.
Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which are expected to resume talks in Kenya on Tuesday, still have two outstanding issues to resolve before they conclude a final peace deal. The Sudan war has claimed the lives of at least 1.5 million people and displaced four million others.
Somali politicians and warlords last month signed a keystone deal on the Transitional Federal Charter (TFC) that outlined the creation of a future parliament to elect a national president and draft a constitution.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since the overthrow of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991.