Ferocity of conflict threatens Somalia
An unprecedented escalation in violence and worsening humanitarian crisis have earned little notice in the West
STEPHANIE NOLEN
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Reuters
January 1, 2008
As 2008 dawns, Globe and Mail correspondents around the world examine international issues set to make news in the new year. Today's story is the fourth of five. To read the entire series, visit globeandmail.com
Never, Ahmed Abdisalam Adan says, has it been this bad.
The Somali journalist, who built a new life in Canada before moving back to start an independent media house in Mogadishu eight years ago, knows whereof he speaks: He lived through some of the worst of Somalia's civil war, and through the strange anarchic years that followed, when a country without a government somehow lurched along.
Now, however, Mr. Adan is living in Nairobi, afraid to go to the Somali capital after his partner and a reporter for his HornAfrik Media were assassinated in August.
"It's never been at this level," Mr. Adan said about the fighting in Mogadishu and the instability across the country. "It's no longer Somalis fighting, clans fighting. It's a regional conflict, an international conflict."
While Somalia is, it seems, perpetually in the news, the last year has seen an unprecedented escalation in the conflict, and 2008 looks set to be even worse, as the humanitarian crisis worsens and more regional actors get dragged into the fighting. Yet few of these developments have won notice in the West, accustomed as it is to the same old bad news out of Somalia.
Mr. Adan's views are echoed by many other observers: "We're not talking here about different clan militias waging war; we're talking about a complex political dynamic that has a lot of interest for the West in terms of counterterrorism efforts," said Leslie Lefkow, who monitors Somalia for Human Rights Watch.
The country's current troubles began in 2004, when a long-negotiated peace deal produced a transitional government made up largely of warlords. But other chieftains ruling patches of Somalia refused to accept its authority and President Abdullahi Yusuf never made it to the capital.
Before long, the new government's lack of legitimacy and support were apparent, and a new power arose in the vacuum. In June, 2006, an organization calling itself the Islamic Courts seized control of the capital and then much of the rest of southern Somalia. Its leaders imposed sharia, or strict Islamic law, but Somalis were delighted with the peace and stability they brought; for the first time in more than a decade, people walked Mogadishu's streets without fear.
But the Islamic rulers threatened (perhaps with serious intent but dubious ability to implement) jihad against neighbouring Ethiopia, a historic enemy that was continually sending troops over the border and denying it.
So Ethiopia took action a year ago on Christmas Eve, when the developed world was paying even less attention than usual, and invaded, saying it acted to install the "rightful" transitional government of President Yusuf in Mogadishu. The Ethiopians used the fashionable language of rooting out terrorism, and quickly got support from their ally the United States, which provided missile attacks to back up the invasion.
The Ethiopians said they would stay only long enough to install President Yusuf and hand over to an African peacekeeping force. But a year later, the Ethiopian forces are still there, routinely shelling residential neighbourhoods of Mogadishu while the Islamists wage an "Iraq style" insurgency of suicide bombings and assassinations of civil-society leaders and journalists such as those from HornAfrik.
The conflict has killed at least 6,501 civilians in the capital Mogadishu in 2007 and wounded 8,516 more, according to a count released yesterday by the Elman Peace and Human Rights Organization, a local group. The latest victims were eight members of a single family killed Sunday by a mortar fired during fighting between Somali insurgents and Ethiopian troops at a refugee camp north of Mogadishu.
"The core problem was that Somalis everywhere were appalled to see Ethiopian troops on the streets of their capital," Sally Healy, an expert on the Horn of Africa with the English international affairs think tank Chatham House, wrote recently in Johannesburg's Mail and Guardian.
"What kind of government, they asked, needed the protection of a foreign force against its own citizens? An insurgency was born [and] Ethiopia's rampage through the city ... hardened the insurgents' resolve, and made new enemies among the clans targeted; it deepened opposition to the transitional government, in whose name the operations were conducted; it prompted the flight of the business people so vital for any normalization; and it alarmed African nations who might have considered joining the small Ugandan contingent to provide security and enable the Ethiopian forces to leave."
After a year of this, a million people have become internal refugees in Somalia - the worst humanitarian crisis anywhere today. Hundreds of thousands of people are camped in desperate conditions on roads out of the city. Aid agencies are nearly powerless to help in the unstable and dangerous conditions; in sharp contrast to Darfur, flooded with aid groups, there is virtually no help for Somalis.
Unicef said earlier this month that 1.5 million children were in a dire situation, with critical shortages of food, water and medicine, plus widespread exhaustion and emotional trauma from the fighting. Many refugees are struggling to get to Kenya, which is already home to tens of thousands of Somali refugees. Ms. Lefkow noted that the fighting has also increased the movement of weapons through the region.
Both she and Mr. Adan see Ethiopia fighting out its grudge with neighbour Eritrea on Somali soil. (Eritrea backs various Somali rebel groups, as a way to destabilize Ethiopia.) "It's much easier to fight it here than on their territory," Mr. Adan said bitterly.
Already the fighting has spread to other parts of Somalia, and Abdullah HajAli Ahmed, a member of the opposition in the transitional government based in Baidoa, said it is going to spread further.
"I don't know whether Somalis have the capacity militarily or organizationally to take the conflict to the [Ethiopian] border - but it's a matter of time before you have the export of fanatics" who would threaten Ethiopia and any of its allies, he said. "If we don't solve this problem in Mogadishu for once and for all, it will develop into some kind of different form of continuing war."
Mr. Adan said the U.S. military intervention and the free hand it gave the Ethiopians has had the opposite effect of stamping out Islamist terrorism: While only a handful of people were affiliated with al-Qaeda before this crisis - people who could have been controlled by paying for their assassination - there is now widespread support for the Islamists, he said. "Now it's at a point where the U.S. can do nothing about it - every child is now fighting, saying, 'Anyway, we're dying, so what's the point; the best thing you can do is defend your country and your religion' - now there is no way to control it or to contain it."
Ms. Lefkow said the Ethiopians have been given a free hand - the U.S. denies any knowledge of abuses committed by Ethiopians in Somalia. "Ethiopia is not getting any pressure about its behaviour," she said. "Overlooking and ignoring the level of human-rights abuses is simply unacceptable."
The international community must get involved to try to check the crisis, Mr. Ahmed said, before it worsens any further. "It will take international pressure to get the Ethiopians out, because they won't leave on their own," he said. "But the government doesn't have the will or the ability to replace the Ethiopians. We need an international force, from Africa or beyond. And then this government has to go. We can't use them to establish stability."
To understand Somalia's history, society, and above all its politics, it is important to understand its clans. WHY ARE CLANS IMPORTANT?
The clans control districts and businesses and are the arbiters of most aspects of Somali life. Decisions are made collectively within the clans and their complex subdivisions.
An internationally recognized interim government formed in 2004 was created on a "4.5" clan structure, meaning major positions were split between the four main clans. The remaining 0.5 share was given to a grouping of smaller clans sometimes called the Fifth Clan.
Some Somali nationalists argue that the 4.5 system has had the effect of fracturing Somalia on clan lines by imposing a federal system. They say that system - historically a solution for uniting ethnically diverse countries such as Ethiopia - is totally unsuited for Somalia, one of the most ethnically unified countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
MAIN CLANS AND PLAYERS HAWIYE CLAN: New Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein hails from the Abgal sub-clan, same as his predecessor Ali Mohamed Gedi - who resigned under pressure. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, now exiled in Eritrea after the government and Ethiopian troops defeated his militant Islamist movement in January, is from the Ayr wing of the Habr Gedir sub-clan. Sheikh Aweys's Afghanistan-trained protégé Aden Hashi Ayro, said to be leading the Mogadishu insurgency, is also an Ayr. DAROD CLAN: Ex-dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, ousted in 1991, came from the Marehan sub-clan. President Abdullahi Yusuf is from the Majerteen wing of the clan. Since he is a Darod, the prime minister must be Hawiye. ISAAQ CLAN: The Education Minister, Ismail Hurre Buuba, is from the Dir sub-clan of Iidagale. RAHANWEYN: Parliamentary Speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe comes from this line via the Hadame sub-clan. FIFTH CLAN: Mohamed Omar Dalha, the deputy parliament speaker, is a member of this clan via the Jarererweyne sub-clan. That sub-clan is made up of Somalis from the ethnic Bantu minority originally brought to Somalia by slave traders, from what is now Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi. CLAN ROLES IN RECENT HISTORY
Hawiye dissatisfaction has played a major role in the travails of the interim government since its inception in late 2004. Many Hawiye felt that Mr. Gedi was imposed on them as prime minister by Ethiopian pressure, hence cheating them of real influence in the clan's top government position. That dissatisfaction manifested itself in an Islamist movement that controlled Mogadishu for the latter half of 2006, until its defeat by Ethiopia and Somalia over the new year. Some Hawiye are still involved in the current insurgency. It remains to be seen what welcome the clan will give the new Prime Minister.
Somalia's last national president, the dictator Mr. Barre, was blamed by many Somalis for favouring members of his Marehan sub-clan and discriminating against others, often brutally. That spurred Darods in northeastern Somalia who felt marginalized to rise up against his government, followed by Dir from what is now self-declared Somaliland. Mr. Barre's actions are said by Somalis to underpin much of the current Darod-Hawiye mistrust.
Reuters News Agency
2007-12-15
The Africa Command Prospect and the Partition of Somalia
The US foreign policy regarding Somalia ought to focus on ending the Ethiopian occupation and therefore ending their widely condemned human rights abuses, as well as facilitating an all inclusive reconciliation conference before the 2009 general elections, says Abukar Arman.
As the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, was recently visiting American forces in Djibouti, the Washington Post was reporting how the Pentagon has been spearheading a seemingly dicey initiative to pressure Washington into recognizing the secessionist northwestern region of Somalia known as “Somaliland” as an independent state.
In an article titled ‘U.S. Debating Shift of Support in Somali Conflict’ that appeared on December 4, 2007 issue, the Post highlights how some Pentagon officials are convinced it is time “to forge ties with Somaliland, as the U.S. military has with Kenya and other countries bordering Somalia.” The article quotes a senior defense official who asserts that "Somaliland is an entity that works." And another unnamed official who confirms the Pentagon’s view is that "Somaliland should be independent," and that the US should “build up the parts that are functional and box in Somalia's unstable regions, particularly around Mogadishu.”
This initiative clearly contradicts the State Department’s wait-and-see approach to this diplomatically sensitive issue. And, handled haphazardly, this could set ablaze the volatile inter-tribal tensions looming in northern Somalia, and, according to the article, “set a precedent for other secession movements seeking to change colonial-era borders,” therefore, “opening a Pandora's box in the region.
That said, it is worth noting that aside from the on again, off again, clan-driven skirmishes that make headlines every now and then, throughout the Somali civil war, the northwestern region has enjoyed relative peace and stability.
Naturally, this unprecedented aggressive approach by the Department of Defense raises questions worth pondering: When did the Pentagon become the engine propelling the US foreign policy? Why would the Pentagon care whether or not Somaliland becomes an independent state or not? And, more importantly, how prudent is it to take this kind of an approach?
In answering the first question, remember how the events of 9/11 have “changed the world” and how as a result the notoriously Islamophobic Neocons ascended to (absolute) power; remember that moment in history when in certain circles it was fashionable to declare diplomacy dead and to claim militarization of the American foreign policy is imperative to the survival of the nation. It is then when the rules of the game have profoundly changed. Today, while the icons of that political machine have disappeared for one reason or another, the policy imprint they left behind would probably take generations to undo.
Last summer, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, addressed an audience of several hundred, mostly Somali scholars, activists, students, and professionals at a Somali studies conference held in Columbus, Ohio. In her speech, Dr. Frazer said “we were against the Ethiopian invasion”. This, of course, contradicted what the Somali people and the world already knew- that in January 2007 Washington switched hats from a “tacit supporter” of Ethiopia’s aggression to an active partner in the illegal invasion. US Air Force AC-130 gunship has launched aerial attacks against "suspected Islamist terrorists" based in Somalia.
So, was Dr. Frazer not being entirely honest? Perhaps not, though her statement was cleverly inserted in a context which could only give the impression that Ethiopia has invaded Somalia in spite of Washington’s objections. After all her statement was consistent with the State Department’s position; alas, that was superseded by the hawkish wishes of the Pentagon. And this brings me to the latter of the two original questions. And the simple answer is the establishment of the Africa Command or AFRICOM as it is commonly known.
AFRICOM is a US command center completely devoted to Africa. The primary objective of the command center is to promote US national security by “working with African states and regional organizations to help strengthen stability and security…” and creating an environment in which sustainable economic growth is possible. The command center is supposed to focus on “war prevention rather than war-fighting”.
It is no secret that many in the Pentagon consider the Somali port city of Berbera as the ideal location for AFRICOM. However, considering the site-selection criteria jointly developed by the Pentagon and the State Department that include “political stability; security factors; access to regional and intercontinental transportation; availability of acceptable infrastructure; qualify of life; proximity to the African Union and regional organizations; proximity to U.S. government hubs; adequate Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA),” Somalia might not look as a prime candidate. However, detaching the secessionist northwestern region from the rest of chaotic Somalia gives a different picture. This explains why the Pentagon's view is that "Somaliland should be independent."
The Pentagon is pressed against time. October 2008 is the deadline when AFRICOM is supposed to be fully operational. In the mean time, Somalia’s situation is worsening by the day. The situation there is now considered the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa. According to the UN, approximately one million civilians fleeing Mogadishu have become internally displaced persons (IDP) threatened by severe food shortage.
Oblivious to the scale of this humanitarian catastrophe and how their approach could potentially add another layer of complexity, the Pentagon is eager to accelerate the establishment of AFRICOM, especially now that China is making profound stride in Africa and the European Union is following suit. However, the real set back to Washington is its own self-defeating foreign policy that is treated as suspect everywhere.
According to Congressman Donald Payne, the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Washington should expect “a lot of skepticism, because there has been so little attention given to Africa…All of a sudden to have a special military command, I think the typical person would wonder why now and really what is the end game?"
The neocons’ legacy, the DADD syndrome, or the Diplomatic Attention Deficit Disorder, is still propelling Washington’s foreign policy and continues to project America negatively throughout the world, especially in the Muslim world and Africa.
The US foreign policy regarding Somalia ought to focus on ending the Ethiopian occupation and therefore ending their widely condemned human rights abuses, as well as facilitating an all inclusive reconciliation conference before the 2009 general elections. This is congruent, at least in part, with a nine point recommendation articulated in a communiqué issued by the Somali Cause upon the conclusion of its two day conference on December 1, 2007.
Somali Cause is a nine member coalition, Eight US based organizations and one Canada based- the Somali Canadian Diaspora Alliance.
Abukar Arman is a freelance writer who lives in Ohio.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=23545
Somalia - Group says Mogadishu violence kills 6,500 in 2007
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Conflict in Somalia killed 6,501 civilians in the capital Mogadishu in 2007 and wounded 8,516 more, a local human rights group said on Monday.
The Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation said it had recorded 1.5 million people uprooted from homes in the city during a year that began with the toppling of an Islamist movement that was followed by an insurgency.
The group's chairman, Sudan Ali Ahmed, blamed Ethiopian forces supporting the interim Somali government for many of the civilian deaths. Residents are often caught in the crossfire as Ethiopian soldiers battle Islamist-led guerrillas.
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_7805942
Dyer: CIA behind Somalia's bloody occupation by Ethiopian troops
Gwynne Dyer, 12/25/2007
On Friday, it will be is exactly a year since Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, fell to Ethiopian troops and the occupation has been one of the most brutal on record. The resistance started at once, and Ethiopian counter-insurgency tactics are not gentle.
As early as last April, Germany's ambassador to Somalia, Walter Lindner, wrote a public letter condemning the indiscriminate use of air strikes and heavy artillery in densely populated parts of Mogadishu, the systematic rape of women and even the bombing of hospitals. By now, the Ethiopian army's attempts to terrorize the residents of Mogadishu into submission have driven 600,000 of them - 60 percent of the population - to flee the city.
The Ethiopians and their local allies indignantly deny these figures, but they come from the United Nations aid coordinator for Somalia, Eric Laroche, and the makeshift camps along the roads leading away from Mogadishu are there for all to see. It is, says Laroche, the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa, worse even than Darfur. But "since it is in Somalia, no one cares."
You will notice that some of the phrases used above do not appear in the agency reports about Somalia. The wire services do not talk about an Ethiopian occupation of Somalia, and they refer to the local Somali collaborators as the "transitional federal government," or TGF. This is mainly in deference to the United States, which organized and backed the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia.
The curse of Somalia is the clan system. It is the main point of reference for most Somalis, and it really became a crippling burden when long-ruling dictator Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. In the pre-independence days and the early years afterwards, the clans were able to unite against their Italian and British colonial rulers, but in 1991 they had to create a new government without an external enemy. They couldn't do it.
As the clans fought it out in the streets, the whole infrastructure of an organized state collapsed. By 1992 American and United Nations forces arrived to help the millions of famine-stricken refugees, but they were only drawn into the inter-clan fighting as well, and by 1994 they had all withdrawn, leaving Somalia to anarchy and civil war for the next decade. But in fact most of the country was fairly stable under the control of one clan or another, with only the Mogadishu area still a battleground between rival clan warlords.
This did not greatly inconvenience the United States, which developed a keen interest in the politics of the region after the atrocities of 9/11. At first the U.S. just made deals with the various warlords to ensure that no jihadi fanatics created a base there. But it got more upset when an organization called the Union of Islamic Courts chased all the warlords out of Mogadishu in 2006 and gave the capital its first taste of peace and good government since 1991.
The UIC was actually created by prominent merchants from the locally dominant Hawiye clan who wanted a safe environment in which to do business. The "Islamic" aspect of it was mainly there to provide a rallying point that other clans could identify with, though that obviously also attracted a certain number of earnest and bearded young men. Some of them, unfortunately, favored a rhetorical style that triggers a knee-jerk reaction in jittery post-9/11 Americans.
The people of Mogadishu, enjoying their first taste of normality in 15 years, overwhelmingly supported the UIC, but the United States decided it must be overthrown. To do the job, Washington turned to its close ally Ethiopia, Somalia's perennial enemy. The Ethiopians, who have no interest in a stable and strong Somalia, were happy to oblige - and for diplomatic cover, the U.S. could use the "transitional federal government" of Somalia.
The TFG had been created in Kenya in 2004 under UN auspices. Each of the major clans (Hawiye, Darod, Dir and Rahanweyn) appointed 61 members to a "parliament" while all the minor clans shared 31 members between them. The "parliament" then chose a president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. It was the 14th attempt since the overthrow of Siad Barre to create a Somali government.
The TFG set up in the town of Baidoa in early 2006, and promptly went to war with the Union of Islamic Courts that controlled the capital. Since it had only about 5,000 soldiers of its own, the TFG depended from the start on far larger numbers of Ethiopian troops to do the actual fighting. Large numbers of government members resigned as it became clear that the TFG had fallen into the hands of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Ethiopians, but a force of about 20,000 Ethiopian troops (with some U.S. air support) fought its way into Mogadishu a year ago.
With the occupation of Mogadishu, the interval of peace ended, and the past year's fighting has driven more than half the city's population into flight. The TFG has been permanently discredited by its link to the hated Ethiopians, but it will probably take more years of war to end the occupation, and a lot more Somalis will die. All because they called it the Union of Islamic Courts.
If only they had called it the Union of Buddhist Courts. Or Protestant Courts. Anything but the "I" word.
---
* GWYNNE DYER is a London-based independent journalist.
Ethiopia leaves key Somali town
BBC News 12/28/07
Ethiopian troops have withdrawn from a key town in central Somalia.
Islamist insurgents say they now control Guriel, where Ethiopia had a big military base to secure the road linking the two countries.
A BBC correspondent in Somalia says it is not clear why the Ethiopian troops withdrew without any fighting.
Guriel was a stronghold of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which lost power to Ethiopian-backed government troops a year ago this week.
Source: Garowe Online, Dec 30, 2007
A Somaliland Legislator Challenges President Rayale’s Policies
A Somaliland legislator has challenged policies of Somaliland president, Dahir Rayale Kahin, to secure what Somaliland regards as colonial border, a basis for the unrecognised region’s quest for statehood.
Writing in a Somaliland.org website, Abdirahman Yusuf Artan has questioned president Rayale’s wisdom to secure the borders that were colonially demarcated before the Republic of Somalis was formed in 1960.
“ Somaliland is a poor county that lacks recognition. Its 2007 budget was $30 million only. It is a country with a single commodity, livestock, that have lately suffered from a host of problems such as export bans. It is a country that suffers from widespread unemployment and its people can barely make ends meet. The most important source of income is the remittances sent by Somaliland expatriates to their families in the country. This shows that Somaliland is a fragile country, “ Artan wrote.
Artan: Against occupation of Sool
The legislator argues that the ruling party’s policies undermine Somaliland stability. “Before the war in which Somaliland captured the city of Las Anod, the International Community took a clear stand that favored Sool and Sanaag becoming part of Somaliland. The International Community worked diligently towards achieving that goal. The proof of this stance is based on the fact that the share earmarked by the Donor Nations for Sool and Sanaaag in the Reconstruction and Development Fund for the coming 5 years (2008-2013) falls within the $550 million that Somaliland will manage. The International Community took that decision with the knowledge that Las Anod was still in the hands of Puntland. The Puntland regional administration complained about that decision, but it appears that the Donors made them realize that the kinship Puntland uses as an argument for claiming Sool and Eastern Sanaag could create problems for the region.
The legislator’s ugrged traditional leader of Sool so to pacify the situation before it gets out of hand. “Somali people wherever they are, and regardless of their political views, realise the negative impact that a civil-war can have. It is important that the conflict be resolved with wisdom and to stop any actions that could lead to animosity. The issue needs to be looked at from a strategic point of view and not from an emotional point of view.”
Artan is the first Somaliland legislator who has publicly voiced his criticism about the polices of president Rayale, and is expected to lead to heated debates about what policies can lead Somaliland to realise its political goals without bloodshed or instability.
Somalia: We Will Reach International Border, Says Somaliland Leader
Garowe Online (Garowe) 25 December 2007
The leader of Somalia's breakaway sub-state of Somaliland has said that his administration intends to reach the international border established during colonial times.
Dahir Riyale, president of the breakaway Somaliland republic, told the Voice of America's Somali program that Somaliland and Somalia combined to form the first Somali Republic.
"Somalia was two countries that combined [in 1960]," Mr. Riyale said. "The third country in the middle known as Puntland is meaningless."
Puntland was formed when a coalition of Somali clans united and formed a regional administration, with land stretching deep into territory claimed by Somaliland's separatist leaders.
In October, Somaliland troops finally expelled Puntland from the key town of Las Anod that has become the centerpiece of the Somaliland-Puntland ' border' conflict since 2002.
According to Mr. Riyale, Somaliland is in Las Anod "by want of the people."
"We control Las Anod because of local support. We were outside Las Anod for a while and waited until the people wanted us [Somaliland]," Mr. Riyale said.
He downsized the significance of clan elders, saying: "The elders can say whatever they want. Our intention is to reach the international border and to protect our territorial integrity."
Clan elders belonging to the Dhulbahante clan, the dominant community in Sool region where Las Anod is located, have repeatedly demanded that Somaliland withdraw its soldiers from Sool.
The Somaliland leader said there is "no one in the south to talk to." He pointed to the violence in the capital Mogadishu, where war rages between insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces.
"Who invited Ethiopia? The people of Southern Somalia and its parliament invited the Ethiopian army to assist them," Riyale said.
He admitted that the road to international recognition is a long and difficult one, but underscored that his administration brought more attention to Somaliland.
He pointed to an African Union fact-finding mission that visited Somaliland and drafted a report.
Riyale said Somaliland has a democratic government and is a land where press freedom is protected. But he warned politicians and media organizations who violate the breakaway republic's laws.
"Law without punishment is not law at all," Mr. Riyale said.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712260270.html
Recognition of Somaliland is good for Somalia
http://www.garoweonline.com/ 28 Dec 28, 2007
If there is one issue that unites Somalia’s famously quarrelsome politicians, elites and ordinary clansmen it is the issue of Somaliland’s secession: They oppose it to a man, child and warlord.
Members of the ineffectual but secular Transitional Federal Government (TFG) oppose Somaliland’s secession as vehemently as the most fanatical of its Islamist enemies.
What drives this determination to keep Somaliland into Somalia’s death embrace remains unclear. It cannot be patriotism for surely if Somalia’s leaders, elites and clansmen had any of the stuff left they would have spared the Somali people the biblical suffering they have been so cruelly inflicting on them over the last 17 years through their selfish greed and primeval political machinations.
Neither is it driven by obvious economic interests because Somaliland and Somalia were never economically interlinked even during the 30 year- Union and have no economic links today whatsoever.
It cannot be some kind of brotherly goodwill they hold for the people of Somaliland because they harbour indeed venerate war criminals who participated in the pogroms and massacres against Somalilanders in the 1980s. Witness how both the TFG and their nemesis the Islamist Courts welcomed General Mohamed Omar Hirsi Morgan known as the `Butcher of Hargeisa’ Somaliland. The TFG even recently chose him as a member of a high powered delegation to Kuwait. throughout Somaliland for his genocidal activities in the late 80s when he was Siyad Barre’s chosen Milatary ruler of
The Somalia diaspora rallied around another suspected war criminal General Mohamed Ali Samatr who Siyad Barre’s Defense Minister in the 80s after Somaliland refugees in the US tried to have him arrested for War Crimes. This man who is alleged to have ordered the carpet bombing of Hargeisa by Rhodesian mercenaries hired by the Somali Airforce, all of a sudden became a focal point for all Somalis in the US, Canada and beyond. They lobbied and fundraised and held meetings and formed support groups and all to avoid this man investigated by a court of law. These and many other examples amply demonstrate that the elites of Somalia may not have the best interests of Somalilanders at heart.
Yet remarkably Somalia’s venal political classes, discredited elites and mostly disingenuous intelligentsia abroad succeeded in convincing the world that the recognition of Somaliland will somehow `harm’ Somalia itself. The world did not bother questioning this ludicrous assertion because frankly, no one is interested in Somalia, Somaliland or Somalis in general. As far as the international community is concerned, the place(s) and the people are among those the less one hears about the better. Nothing ever comes out of there except wars and refugees and the occasional would-be terrorist.
In other words the world seems to have adopted an `Ignore and Avoid’ policy on the Somaliland vs Somali issue. They are happy to repeat the mantra: We don’t want to recognize Somaliland because it will further complicate the situation in Somalia’.
This is not only morally and ethically dubious; it has no plausible basis in any assessable, measurable reality.
It is like being told to remain tied to your neighbour who is burning his down because if you untie yourself from the inferno the neighbour may get even madder and burn his house down with even more gusto!”.
Surprisingly this `logic’ is not used in Kosovo, Macedonia, Slovakia, Monte-Negro or any of the 20-odd new States who emerged (or about to emerge in the case of Kosovo) in Europe over the last 16 years.
Ironically that is the same number of years Somaliland was one of only two nations in Africa, the other is Southern Sudan, seeking the same freedoms and human dignity given to their European counterparts.
But the idea that Somaliland’s recognition will make things worse for Somalia is equally untenable on factual pragmatic grounds too.
For starters it is hard to foresee how things could get any worse in Somalia. This may sound a little cruel but under the circumstances, it is an apt and valid one to raise and examine.
Secondly, Somaliland and Somalia have been two de facto separate states for the last 17 years. Somaliland was not party to the events and issues that shaped Somalia after the collapse of Siyad Barre regime in 1991.
On its part Somalia occasionally tried to meddle in Somaliland’s affairs, usually in the shape of brotherly attempts to undermine the place or better still, destroy it altogether. But its’ ever bickering politicians soon lost interest in the affairs of distant `Qaldanland’ (The land of he always wrong) as they sometimes call it and concentrated on the important business of creating mayhem and mismanagement at local level.
So a recognition of Somaliland will be an acceptance of an existing reality on the ground and not creating a new one. This means that even in a worse case scenario, a recognition of Somaliland will have a neutral impact on the situation in Somalia.
Indeed it could have a far more positive impact than many people think. It may just make the political groups in Somalia realise that the world rewards those who bring about peace and stability through compromise, the upholding of the rule of law and the establishment of functioning secular democratic systems. The message a recognition will send to Somalia’s political classes is that the world is fed-up with your antics and lack of vision and may indeed `Ignore and avoid’ you from now on and shift its focus and resources to those who better deserve it.
It just might nudge them into taking some action to save their political careers and in the process save their people from further misery.
Guled Ismail
E-mail: calidheere@aol.co.uk
Zahara and Nuria walked for 15 days from their home town in Ethiopia to reach Bosasso. © UNHCR/A.Webster
Gulf of Aden smuggling can be deadly, UNHCR warns desperate migrants
BOSSASO, Somalia, December 19 (UNHCR) – One out of every 20 people who set out in rickety boats across the Gulf of Aden this year has perished. With deadly odds like that, the UN refugee agency has begun an advocacy campaign in the Horn of Africa to inform potential migrants about the perils of crossing illegally to Yemen.
Colorful leaflets including drawings as well as text printed in Somali and in three Ethiopian dialects are being disseminated throughout Somalia's Puntland region, while radio spots have been broadcast since October. The campaign also informs asylum-seekers coming from nearby countries that they can seek asylum directly in Somalia, and it asks the host community to treat migrants humanely. The advocacy campaign is currently being extended to South/Central Somalia and Ethiopia.
So far this year, over 28,000 people have made the perilous voyage from the port city of Bossaso, in north-eastern Somalia, to Yemen, in an attempt to reach the prosperous Gulf countries. More than 1,400 have died, killed by smugglers or drowned at sea. The most recent deaths – of at least 58 people – came last weekend when one smuggler's boat capsized, and another hit a rock and broke into pieces.
In Bossaso, awareness-raising for potential migrants is welcomed by local NGOs. "Migrants want a better life; they do not like to think about the dangers," a Somali aid worker says. "It is our duty to make sure they are fully aware that death may be awaiting them." Sheikh Abdulqader, chief of the elders in town, agrees: "We alone cannot prevent these desperate people from crossing. The support of the international community will help us curb down a tragedy that has been going on for too long."
In addition to the advocacy campaign, over the past year UNHCR has stepped up its work in Yemen under a $7 million operation, and announced Tuesday that the agency will expand its presence along the remote, 300-km Yemen coastline with the opening of two additional field offices in 2008.
In Bossaso, in a small Ethiopian café – where an unintentionally ironic inscription on the wall reads "the sailor is the future of man" – those about to board the smugglers' boats are reticent. A dozen young Amharic men chew khat, a local narcotic leaf, both excited and afraid by what is to come. Tonight, they will leave the town for a beach and board a rickety boat for Yemen.
All are nervous except Said, who has already crossed once. He says he was deported from Saudi Arabia a few months ago as he had no work permit. "Last time I crossed safely so I use the same smuggler this time," he says, adding that his wife is still in Saudi Arabia where she works as a maid, and that she sent him money for the trip. The two friends he talked into traveling with him from Ethiopia smile nervously when told about the dangers of the trip.
Not everyone will go tonight, though. Sitting next to a wall darkened by incense smoke, young Fahir seems so weak she can only whisper. "I came from Ethiopia with my husband after some neighbors, who were building a nice house, said there was money to be made in Saudi Arabia," she murmurs.
Once in Bossaso, though, her husband told her he could afford the crossing for only one of them and off he went, abandoning her and the baby in her womb. "I have no money to cross to Yemen, I have no money to go back to Ethiopia, and I cannot even work here to sustain myself because no one will hire a pregnant woman," she cries. Now, she adds, she just wishes she had stayed home.
Like Fahir, many migrants are stranded in Bossaso. "Even if you find a job as a porter in the port, you earn just enough to pay for three meals a day and one night in a shanty hotel made of cardboard walls, where you sleep crowded with dozens of other people," explains a young Ethiopian.
Some migrants can't even afford such a miserable roof over their head. After working all day in the port, sixteen-year old Hassan still has to sleep in the open air in a ruined building. "After my mother died, my father took to beating me. One day I heard some people of our Ethiopian village had gone to Bossaso in order to cross to Yemen. When my father tried again to beat me, I fled and headed to that city." But he really didn't understand how hazardous the journey to Yemen would be before he got to Bossaso.
It's not only Ethiopians like Hassan who seek to cross the sea. As violence raged unabated in Mogadishu all year long, more and more Somalis began to choose this route. For the first time, the number of Somalis has exceeded that of the Ethiopians aboard the 300 boats that crossed this year.
Despite the dangers, Khadija wants to be one of them. She left the volatile Somali capital several months ago with her family and headed to Bossaso, where her husband boarded a boat, promising he would send money to his family.
"I never heard of him again," Khadija laments. "He must have drowned in the sea." She lives with her children in a squalid shelter located in one of Bossaso's settlements for internally displaced persons.
Now she's so desperate she plans to leave her babies in the care of her 10-year-old daughter so she can board a boat to Yemen and send home money. "I can neither go back with my children to Mogadishu, where they will die, nor remain in a town where they lack everything," she explains. She reasons that "God has already taken my husband's life. He will not take mine."
By Catherine Weibel
in Bossaso, Somalia
SOMALIA SITUATION
Supplementary Appeal
Protection and Assistance to Somali IDPs and Refugees in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen and Djibouti 2007 - 2008
The continuous forced displacement of Somalis over the past 20 years has turned into a real
exodus. In 1991 and 1992, three million people, approximately half of the country’s population at
the time, were displaced. Most sought asylum in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Djibouti and Yemen as
a result of generalised armed conflict after the fall of the Siad Barre regime. More recently, severe drought, floods, famine and loss of access to traditional grazing grounds and water sources
have severely disrupted the already precarious livelihoods of many Somalis, which in turn has
exacerbated tribal conflicts over limited resources.
http://www.unhcr.org/partners/PARTNERS/46a4a1b82.pdf
Somalia: Hundreds of Islamist militants advance on Baidoa
Jarail, 31 Dec. (AKI) - Several hundred Islamist militants belonging to the al-Qaeda linked 'Young Mujahadeen' group have gathered at a disused miliatary base 40 kilometres from the southern city of Baidoa, where Somalia's transitional government is based, pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reports, quoting unnamed government sources.
The 'Young Mujahadeen' are being led by the Islamic Courts movement's former miltary commander, Mukhtar Rabow, whose battlename is Abu Mansur.
The group's objective is to launch intermittent attacks against Baidoa. To fend off such attacks, the Somali authorities have deployed an 'extraordinary defence plan' for the city, al-Sharq al-Awsat said.
Islamist militants in recent days have taken the village of Jarail, in the central part of the country, and over the weekend waged fierce firefights with Ethiopian troops in the capital, Mogadishu.
The militants are reported to have launched rocket attacks against government offices and the stadium in Mogadishu, which has become the Ethiopian troops' base.
Ethiopian troops came to the rescue of the embattled Somali government a year ago and swiftly ousted the Islamic Courts, which had briefly controlled large areas of south and central Somalia.
Remnants of the fundamentalist movement have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, waging a deadly insurgency, mainly on the streets of Mogadishu.
Hundreds of people, mainly civilians, have died in clashes between Ethiopian-backed government forces and insurgents over the past six months. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have been forced to flee Mogadishu, sparking what the United Nations has described as Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.
A contingent of 1,600 Ugandan peacekeepers deployed by the African Union has failed to stabilise the capital.
There is a plan to deploy a hybrid AU-UN force of 8,000 peacekeepers in Somalia, which has had not had a functioning central government since 1991, when warlords ousted dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.1721499743
Somalia: Islamists are more popular now than a year ago
December 30, 2007. By Tedla Asfaw
The United States occupation of Iraq and all its implications squarely rests on George Bush and the public is informed daily on the casualties of this occupation and its cost to the tax payers.
and the 2008 election will much be determined on who will bring the troops back home safely.
Today is the first anniversary of occupation of Somalia by "Ethiopian" soldiers and in direct opposite to the occupation of Iraq, let alone the public the so called parliamentarians do not now the number of "Ethiopian" soldiers who died in this adventure and where the money is coming for this war, and how much this occupation has cost so far?
We have not heard debate in the Ethiopian "parliament" similar to the USA Congress to fund the war and this surely proves that this money is not coming from tax payers of Ethiopia and it is probably tied up with the so called counter terrorism agreement with the USA administration.
Do we have the names of the dead? Is that also a military secret like most things in Somalia? Can anyone tale me how many Somalis were killed? We are hearing sometimes hundreds of dead Islamic fighters and does anyone believe that Somalia is much stable and is free of "terrorists" than it were a year ago?
It is in fact the opposite. After one year of ill conceived adventure the Islamists have many Somalis on their side fighting for their "national" pride and one thing this occupation did is to bring all Somalis together.
The impact of this occupation for the future instability is great. Somalia either will go to the 1990s clan fight or Islamists will capitalize on the current Somali nationalism and rally the people and establish an Islamic state hopefully which has no ambition for their neighbors territories.
I have no doubt, like the Hamas of Palestine and Hezbollah of Lebanon tested in war times they will also be popular in Somalia. However, the Somali Islamists should not miscalculate and call for Jihad on neighboring countries especially Ethiopia encouraged by outsiders who are now only giving lip service to their resistance.
The "Ethiopian" army unceremonious departure by next year will be filled possibly by India and Muslim countries to stop the killing and Somalis have to be ready to live with the Islamists and the Islamists have to realize their dream in their own territory and declaring "jihad" across the border against Ethiopia will sabotage Ethiopian people struggle for freedom and equality and be an excuse for the dictatorial regime of Meles Zenawi to stay in power.
Ethiopians are true friends of Somalia and the hundred thousands of Somalis displaced by war never felt as foreigner living in Ethiopia and no matter who comes to power in Somalia that should be the foundation of our future relationship.
http://www.africanpath.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=2945
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Neocon in Black Face
12/25/2007 by Margaret Kimberley
The young, attractive Somali woman has become a darling of the American corporate media. Ayaan Hirsi Ali started out as a heroine to a portion of the Dutch public, who rewarded her with a parliamentary seat for denouncing all things Muslim. Apparently, flagellating one's own non-white, non-Christian people is a sure route to success in Europe, just like in the U.S. Ms. Ali lost her halo in The Netherlands when it was discovered she had lied on her immigration papers, but was soon recruited into the self-hating Black grouplet at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, where she pretends to be a "scholar." America - what a country! Denounce your own people, and they'll make you a star.
Freedom Rider: Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Neocon in Black Face by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"She has become well paid and famous because she demonizes her fellow Muslims."
Ayaan Hirsi Ali first came to fame in the Netherlands, after emigrating there from Somalia. She was elected to the Dutch parliament and became known for criticizing that nation's Muslim immigrant communities, especially for their treatment of women and girls. The story of a young, pretty, African woman finding success and prestige in a foreign land was tailor made for Hollywood, or for right-wingers looking for the perfect person to excuse government sponsored mass murder.
The fairy tale story is just that. Ayaan Hirsi Ali exults in the lowest depths of self-hatred. She has become well paid and famous because she demonizes her fellow Muslims. As with black Americans or any other group of despised people, the self haters, the Uncle Toms, are given a clear path to fortune and favor.
Ali's political party soured on their relations with her when it was revealed that she lied in order to enter the Netherlands with refugee status. It turned out that the famous politician was like millions of people from poor countries who will do anything to live in wealthy western nations.
When Ali left the Netherlands to live in the United States, her true ideology came to light. She became a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, one of the most powerful right-wing think tanks in the nation. Other AEI scholars include John Bolton, Lynne Cheney, David Frum, Newt Gingrich, Charles Murray, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and John Yoo.
"Ali's true ideology came to light."
John Bolton argued in favor of "blowing up" the United Nations and was rewarded by the Bush administration with an appointment as U.N. ambassador. Former Bush speech writer David Frum coined the phrase "axis of evil" to legitimize wars of aggression against the rest of humanity. Charles Murray is author of The Bell Curve, the paean to white supremacist notions of black inferiority. Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz planned the genocidal occupation of Iraq. John Yoo is a White House lawyer and author of secret memos giving Bush authority to ignore the constitution and arrest and torture whomever he wants whenever he wants.
These are Ali's cohorts, and her relationship with them should never be forgotten when she utters her noxious words about "defeating" Islam. She has no concern for Muslims who are being killed by the United States military, currently the most prolific killer on earth. Her latest screed published on the op-ed pages of the New York Times, exhorted "moderate" Muslims to fight the "extremists" in their religion. As always, those in the powerless group are asked to condemn actions for which they have no responsibility.
White Christian Americans are never asked why they don't condemn the Iraq occupation that has cost nearly one million lives. They aren't asked to condemn racism, warfare, torture, or sexism. They aren't asked because their group is the group in power, and that connection gives them immunity from any and all criticism. White supremacy and the protections it grants are alive and well, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of its most prominent evangelists.
"Ali believes that the United States has the right to occupy other nations or kill people whenever it wants."
If Ali and others are outraged when rape victims are punished under Sharia law, they should also be concerned when Iraqi women are killed by American bullets. They should care that Muslim men are held without trial in Guantanamo and subjected to torture. Palestinian women have died in childbirth when Israeli soldiers at check points denied them access to medical care. Because these Muslims are not victimized by other Muslims, they do not merit a mention from Ali.
Not only is she selective in her indignation, but Ali believes that the United States has the right to occupy other nations or kill people whenever it wants. "The land that the United States should have occupied on the 12th of September should have been Saudi Arabia," she says. Ali sees nothing wrong with bombs, cholera outbreaks or theft of oil wealth.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a neocon, albeit in black face, and she goes down the line in faithful agreement with all of their horrific beliefs. "I completely and utterly agree with John Bolton that talking to Iran is a sheer waste of time." When she was honored by the American Jewish Congress in 2006 she openly called for war against Iran. She didn't even bother using the Bush administration nuclear canard:
"Either way we who live in the free world have war with Iran under Ahmedinejad. So the choice is not between peace and war. The choice that we have to make is between war with Ahmedinejad with a nuclear bomb, or war with Ahmedinejad without a bomb. Not making the right choice between these two terrible alternatives could spark off a present-day Holocaust."
"She is the worst kind of extremist, a lover of government sponsored mass murder."
Dead Muslims are no problem for Ms. Ali, just as long as the United States is their killer. She doesn't even care about other Somalis. The United States-instigated devastation of her homeland has not prompted her to utter one word of condemnation. Under the guise of fighting al-Qaeda, the American military is once again killing and starving thousands of people. No matter. They were killed by a government run by Christians and Jews. There is no need for anyone in those groups to be "moderate" or condemn "extremism."
Ms. Ali should ask the question of herself that she asks of others. Where are the moderate Muslims? She certainly is not one. She is the worst kind of extremist, a lover of government sponsored mass murder. Of course, the government doing the killing has to be the right one. If it is, no one has to speak of moderates and extremists. For Ayaan Hirsi Ali might makes right, as long as the "superior" people are the mighty ones.
Source. Black Agenda Report
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=461&Itemid=1
Dec 24, 2007
Somaliland Ministry Of Water & Minerals Soon To Publish Seismic Survey Data
Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 22, 2007 (SL Times) – A press communiqué issued by the ministry of Water and Minerals on 16 Dec. 2007 stated that the ministry will soon publish the data of the survey carried out by the Norwegian seismic survey specialists ' TGS-NOPED' early this year near eastern Berbera coastal area and parts of Sanag region as well as other data collected by TGS.
Ministry's statement:
The Somaliland ministry of Water and Natural Resources has been given the mandate to explore and extract the natural resources of the Republic of Somaliland. As a result of this mandate at the end of February 2007 an extensive Seismic Survey was inaugurated to explore the availability and quantity of natural resources within the borders of Somaliland as well as its coastline. The survey was designed to determine the presence of Oil and Natural Gas in Somaliland.
The survey will be conducted by the TSG/NOPEC Geophysical Company with the express agreement of the government of Somaliland. The survey was conducted in two parts, an Aeromagnetic gravity survey from the air, and a Seismic Survey of the sea, in North and East Somaliland.
The aerial survey will begin before the end of December 2007 and will be co-coordinated with current surveys that have begun in the Zeylac-Berbera corridor of Somaliland's Gulf of Aden coast.
In conclusion
It is the conclusion of the Somaliland ministry of Water and Natural Resources along with other invested Departments, such National Defense, Fisheries, Home Affairs, Finance, Civil Aviation and Public Works, as well a the residents of all Somaliland six provinces, that Somaliland's natural resources must be safeguarded and developed for the benefit of the people of Somaliland, the region and the World in an environmentally responsible manner.
Source: Somaliland Times
http://www.garoweonline.com/
November 5, 2007
We can learn from Somalia
By OSCAR KIMANUKA oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk
Digital revolution is already fuelling Africa’s development in a great way. The immense possibilities offered by information technology could wipe out ignorance and usher in better governance and greater participation.
This was the main message at the end of the recent Kigali summit on connecting Africa.
While the continent remains the world’s poorest and least connected, there is hope that improved access to information and communications technologies (ICTs) will give Africans a better chance of pulling themselves out of hunger and destitution. For example, modern networking tools supply farmers with market information and entrepreneurs with access to microcredit while linking community groups with disaster relief.
Sadly, many African countries still cling to outdated national policy regimes and punitive telecommunication regulations. These hinder cross-border harmonisation of licensing rules, thereby frustrating the economies of scale that are desperately needed to make such large projects affordable.
FOR INSTANCE, the much touted African Virtual University that offers satellite-based distance learning, has faced hurdles in obtaining licenses from more than 20 governments.
But there is one irony to all this: The unrecognised de facto state of Somaliland hosts the continent’s least expensive and most widely accessible telephone service on the continent!
HERE, ICTS rule the roost. This is partly explained by the fact that the small telecommunications sector relies heavily on satellites. Because these sky stations broadcast a wide footprint of low-cost and reliable signals, they offer a good model for linking a continent that suffers from a deficit of terrestrial infrastructure, after all satellites can connect “the last 1000 miles.”
If Africa is to be truly be part of this information revolution, there is need for our continent’s policy makers to critically think of the necessity to exploit techno-scientific knowledge in ICTs. After all, as it has been argued before, knowledge is the only source of long-run sustainable competitive advantage given the highly competitive global economy that we are part of.
Oscar Kimanuka is a commentator on social and economic issues based in Kigali
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/index.htm
Source: UNOCHA, 21 Dec 2007
Somalia: Situation Report 65 – 21 Dec 2007
Main Developments
At least 256,000 people have been displaced from Mogadishu since the end of October due to ongoing conflict between Ethiopian/Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces and anti-government elements. Fighting continued throughout the week with heavy shelling in Yaaqshiid, Hawl Wadaag, Heliwa and Wardhiigleey displacing about 10,000 people in the reporting period. On 16 and 17 December, at least a dozen people were killed around Bakara market, including a woman and her three children, and approximately 50 were wounded and admitted to the two main hospitals. Security operations continue to hinder access to hospitals for the wounded and those involved in market activities. In Baidoa, a roadside bomb possibly targeting Ethiopian forces went off but missed the convoy. Following the incident, Ethiopian forces shelled indiscriminately in the area wounding at least seven people according to hospital sources in Baidoa.
As violence persisted, efforts to help the displaced continued. Two more ships carrying WFP food arrived in the Port of Marka on 17 December carrying 4,850 metric tons of food aid. A total of six ships have now docked at the port with a total of 11,550 metric tons meant for people in need all over Somalia. All the ships were escorted by the French navy because of the danger of piracy in the Somali waters. There have been no attacks since the escorts began. Meanwhile, food distributions completed in Middle Shabelle's Balcad district with 7,640 beneficiaries. The wet feeding programme in Mogadishu continues with eight sites providing an average of 38,000 meals per day. Implementing partners say that 61% of those feeding at the centres are women, 25% children and 14% men. In Middle Shabelle and Hiraan regions, CARE Food for Work (FFW) activities continued paying 19,066 workers with 3,768 metric tons of Sorghum and lentils.
The NGO International Committee of the Red Cross distributed non-food items to IDPs in Daynile district in Mogadishu to 2,000 families, in Galgalato, Gubadley IDP settlements - 596 families, in Balad District: Ceelcade, Ceelcade port, Cisaley airstrip, Sheikh Abdulle - 960 families and Warsheikh (Eelmaan)- 650 families. In Lower Shabelle region about 6,700 IDP families also benefited from NFI distributions, and in Middle Shabelle 2,206 families benefited. In Bakool, 1,200 families displaced from fighting in El Berde also received NFIs and so did 800 families in Aato and 400 families in Lahelow.
UNICEF's warehouse in Mogadishu was looted by unknown people on 17 December. Supplies in the warehouse, most of which were for water and sanitation activities, were valued at USD$1.6 million. However, 21 tents and education supplies were moved out of a previously inaccessible (due to insecurity) warehouse in Mogadishu and delivered to partners along the Afgooye road. An additional 19 tents will be delivered bringing the total to 40, allowing 6,000 children to resume schooling.
Puntland
More than 1,400 would-be migrants, mostly Somali and Ethiopians drowned off the coast of Yemen this year across the Gulf of Aden. According to UNHCR Yemen, nearly 200 people are believed to have died over the weekend when the vessel they were traveling in capsized after hitting a rock. Reports indicate that the sea has been rougher than usual hence most boats get delayed on the journey subjecting passengers to hunger and dehydration due to lack of water. Since January 2007, about 28,362 have arrived at the Yemen coast – 16,980 Somalis, 11,356 Ethiopians and 26 from other African nations.
Insecurity in Somalia was further highlighted when gunmen kidnapped a French journalist on 16 December in Bossaso Puntland. The journalist was working on a documentary on Mixed Migration. Negotiations for his releases are ongoing.
WFP and partners distributed food aid to 7,640 people who have been displaced by the recent conflict in the Sool region. ICRC distributed NFIs to 16,648 displaced families in Sool region.
Source: UNOCHA, 15 Dec 2007
Humanitarian situation in Somalia: Monthly analysis, 1 Nov - 15 Dec 2007
OVERVIEW
The degree of violence in Mogadishu rose during November triggering the movement of more than 240,000 people since end of October. Six of 17 districts in Mogadishu which have been the scene of almost daily confrontations between Ethiopian/Transitional Federal Government Forces (TFG) forces and anti-government elements have been nearly deserted for most of the month due to insecurity and forced eviction. Communities who returned to areas where troops had temporarily withdrawn witnessed the almost complete destruction of homes and public infrastructure. Religious places were desecrated, as well as other public areas. As a result of the fighting, a high number of casualties were reported between 27 October and 23 November with 526 people admitted into the two main hospitals in Mogadishu with war related wounds. This brings the total since January to over 5,000 war-wounded admitted. Violations of protection of civilians continue to be a major concern.
The TFG and Ethiopian forces have been carrying out security operations including house-to-house searches and arbitrary arrests, instilling fear amongst the population with summary executions reported during these operations. Allegations of rounding up and executing civilians including slitting throats of men following attacks on their forces as collective punishment have been reported. While not a systematic trend, this type of barbaric act is instilling a sense of terror amongst the community and is a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Meanwhile, space of local media and civil society organisations working in Mogadishu shrunk further during the reporting period following the closure of three radio stations as well as the closure of Elman, one of the oldest Human Rights organsations in Somalia. All parties to the conflict are involved in assassination of key members of civil society who speak out about ongoing violations occurring in the capital.
Ad hoc roadblocks that charge taxes ranging from US$70 – US$500 to move in and out of Mogadishu have caused huge hindrances to the humanitarian community in accessing vulnerable people. In November, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) reported delays and payment of taxes of up to US$ 475 at eight roadblocks on the Mogadhishu/Afgooye road – a major area of humanitarian operations. The highest number of roadblocks since the beginning of 2007 – 336 in total – was recorded in November. Inconsistent demands on NGO registration from different authorities continued while 'gatekeepers' for instance in many Internally Displaced People's (IDP) settlements along Afgooye road who demand bribes were a further concern reaching those in need. Since January 2007, the NGO Consortium has been negotiating registration procedures for NGOs to enhance structured work. Also during the month, a prominent Somali humanitarian worker and women's activist whom, Ms Madina Mohamed Elmi, was accidentally killed during a distribution of non-food items in mid-November (see related box).
Despite the rising insecurity, the commitment to the Somali people by the United Nations was further reiterated by a one-day visit of the Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes on 3 December. He assessed the situation of IDPs along the Mogadishu/Afgooye corridor and all the people he spoke to in the camps had fled the violence and intimidation that have made life in Mogadishu unliveable. "Some spoke to me of snipers fuelling panic in the streets. Many left with nothing but the clothes on their backs," John Holmes said. He noted the humanitarian response in the areas he visited in spite of the faced significant challenges. In a meeting with Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein in Baidoa, John Holmes restated that a robust humanitarian response cannot make up for the absence of desperately needed political and security progress. In their discussions, the PM promised the Government's full help in improving the access situation.
Humanitarian organisations started the 'wet feeding' programme – involving cooking food and serving it to urban poor, vulnerable people trapped and displaced in Mogadishu. This is the first time food distribution is taking place in Mogadishu since June following a prolonged in access due to insecurity. Ten wet feeding sites were set up and are now feeding an average of 38,000 meals in a day. More food distributions to the displaced along the Afgooye road also took place benefiting about 180,000 people. Also, following concerted international efforts to secure humanitarian cargo ships in the dangerous Somali seas, four WFP ships escorted by French navy carrying 6,700 metric tons of food aid docked at Marka seaport. Overall, the quantity of food aid distributed as of end of November was 12,514 metric tons with 645,409 people benefiting throughout Somalia. A week-long immunization campaign aimed at reaching 100,000 children and women in about 80 settlements along the Mogadishu/Afgooye road kicked off on 2 December. However, efforts are still not enough to cover all needs – particularly if violence and displacement continue at their current pace.
The 2008 Consolidated Appeal for Somalia was launched on 11 December amidst the growing concerns of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in country. At the launch, speaker after speaker emphasised on the need to step up relief efforts to help the more than 1.5 million people in need. Humanitarian workers face increasing complications in getting assistance to people as travelling around Somalia is not for the faint-hearted. The extreme costs in time, money; morale and credibility were also raised. The donor community, agencies and the international NGOs were urged to increase their presence and the resources dedicated to Somalia. In 2007, the CAP received US$ 275 million or 72 percent of the US$ 366 million requested, while the 2008 appeal calls for just over US$400 million.
The Associated Press, December 14, 2007
Ousted Somalian group comes back with vengeance
By SALAD DUHUL AND ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY
Somalia's conflict
Somalia has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991, then turned on one another. The current government was formed in 2004 with the support of the United Nations but has struggled to assert any real control.
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A radical Islamic group that was driven from power a year ago by a Western-supported offensive is making a significant comeback in Somalia, and the government can do little to stop it, officials said Thursday, as shelling and gunbattles in the capital killed at least 17 people.
Sheik Qasim Ibrahim Nur, director of security at Somalia's National Security Ministry, said the government has no power to resist the Council of Islamic Courts, which the United States has accused of having ties to al-Qaida.
He said the fighters had regrouped and were poised to launch a massive attack.
Mortar rounds slammed into the biggest market in Mogadishu, killing 12 people and wounding more than 40 others. Five others were killed in a separate gunbattle in the city. The death toll was expected to rise from the latest bloodshed blamed on Islamic insurgents.
The Council of Islamic Courts has been waging an Iraq-style insurgency that has killed thousands of people this year.
"About 80 percent of Somalia is not safe and is not under control of the government," Nur said. "Islamists are planning to launch a massive attack against the [government] and its allied troops."
Nur appealed for international support, saying Islamic fighters "are everywhere."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged more African nations to send peacekeepers to Somalia, perhaps the most strategically located nation in the Horn of Africa. At a crossroads between the Middle East and Africa, Somalia dominates vital sea lanes, although rampant piracy has made the waters treacherous.
About 1,800 Ugandan peacekeepers are in Somalia, officially as the vanguard of a larger African Union peacekeeping force, although no other countries have sent reinforcements. Ethiopia, which sent soldiers to Somalia last year to back the government in its fight against the Islamic militants, is not part of the peacekeeping force.
The United States can do little by itself in Somalia. An intervention in the early 1990s left 18 U.S. servicemen dead, and the legacy of the "Black Hawk Down" battle still weighs heavily on both countries. But Western powers long have been concerned that the lawless country could become a breeding ground for terror.
Presidential spokesman Hussein Mohamed Mohamud also said that the Muslim fighters were regrouping, and said they have "a lot of weapons and foreign fighters."
The Council of Islamic Courts was driven from power last year when Ethiopia intervened, with the tacit approval of the United States, backing the government with soldiers and fighter jets.
Ted Dagne, an Africa specialist at the Congressional Research Service, the Congress' research arm, said the Islamic leadership was never truly gone and merely went underground.
"The Somali and Ethiopian governments may have underestimated the level of organization and determination on the part of the Islamic courts," Dagne said in a telephone interview from Washington.
He added that many people look back on the group's six months in power and conclude the country then "was relatively peaceful and gave hope to the people of Somalia that after over a decade of violence, they can live in peace."
After the council was ousted, remnants launched an Iraq-style insurgency, causing more bloodshed and throwing this already-beleaguered nation into chaos.
President Abdullahi Yusuf is in London for what his aides described as a regular medical checkup. On Thursday, the 73-year-old president was said to be well, but uncertainty over his condition persists, adding to the tension in his homeland.
Officials from Ethiopia, which has troops in Somalia backing the government, denied there is any Islamic resurgence.
"The facts on the ground tell you that they are in bad shape and having serious difficulties," said Bereket Simon, special adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
But there are increasing signs that the Islamic extremist group that controlled much of southern Somalia last year again is gaining power.
Members of the group and the feared Shabab — its military wing — have been spotted with increasing frequency throughout central Somalia.
In Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city and located about 310 miles south of the capital, a member of the Shabab said his group was sending soldiers to the capital daily to fight the Ethiopians. The fighter asked that his name not be published for fear of reprisals.
Over the weekend, about 50 heavily armed militiamen briefly overran Bula Burte town in central Somalia, about 130 miles north of the capital, said the regional Gov. Yusuf Dabaged.
"The so-called insurgents are increasing in the region," Dabaged said. "From now on we will fight them ruthlessly."
The country faces what the United Nations says is the biggest humanitarian crisis in Africa, and a local aid group says 6,000 civilians have been killed in fighting this year. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes to squalid refugee camps.
Associated Press writers Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu, and Nasteex Dahir Farah in Kismayo, Somalia, contributed to this report