VOICE OF SOMALILAND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

U.S. lawmakers study arming cargo ships to fight pirates

June 20, 2011 6:19 pm By: Jim Kouri

"Since the earliest days of this country, piracy has been a serious crime," said U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride. "Piracy threatens human lives and disrupts international commerce. When pirates attack U.S. vessels by force, they must face severe consequences."

Some U.S. government officials are seriously considering permitting American registered cargo ships to carry weapons to defend themselves from international piracy especially off the coast of Somalia and northern Africa.

According to an intelligence source, there are two main rationales for arming merchant ships: First, to protect the ships and crews from Somali pirates and terrorists; and to regulate the use of private security firms offering armed mercenaries.

Members of the shipping industry have requested that a study be conducted by security and naval experts on dealing with pirates who plunder ships, kill crew members, and seize both and hold them for ransom. Critics have complained about the failure of naval forces inability to deter or react to piracy.

"Since the earliest days of this country, piracy has been a serious crime," said U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride. "Piracy threatens human lives and disrupts international commerce. When pirates attack U.S. vessels by force, they must face severe consequences."

According to a U.S. intelligence official, 117 ships have been attacked by pirates in Somalia with at least seven crew members killed and 338 sailors held hostage in the first quarter of 2011; and more than 700 seafarers are being held hostage by Somali pirates at any one time according to the Greenwich Maritime Institute.

A U.S. intelligence source told the Law Enforcement Examiner, that several countries are considering taking direct and deadly action against the pirates on land, where they hide, as well as sea. One scenario is the use of Navy SEAL-type units to seek and destroy pirate strongholds in Somalia. Another is the use of bombing missions over pirate bases located in the Horn of Africa or use of missiles launched from warships targeting hideouts.

In Britain, lawmakers say they will determine if international law is sufficient to deal with the piracy threat, and investigate the use of private negotiators when pirates demand ransoms for the return of crews, ships and cargo.
This latest anti-piracy probe comes as a senior US military official admitted the country was struggling to protect ships from attack. There are not enough ships in the world to defeat piracy at sea, William Wechsler, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, told U.S. Congressmen probing piracy.
"Somali pirates operate in an area covering approximately 2.9 million square nautical miles. If you took all of the navies of all the countries in all of the world, and put them against this area, they still wouldn't be able to cover this amount of nautical space," said Secretary Wechsler.
As a result, the US would pursue pirates on land as well as sea. "Our intention is to pursue innovative measures to maximize all the tools at our disposal in order to disrupt the activities of the financiers, organizers and logistics suppliers of piracy," Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, told the congressional hearing. "We will focus in the coming months on identifying and apprehending the criminal conspirators who provide the leadership and financial management of the pirate enterprise, with the objective of bringing them to trial and interrupting pirate business processes."
During the congressional hearing, Mr. Wechsler admitted the US needed more intelligence on the links. "[Intelligence] on this issue is much less than any of us would like. As we see it now, we believe the terrorists and the pirates are not operationally or organizationally aligned, though there is an element of coercion that results in pirate revenues going to Al Shabaab."

Private security operations are proliferating to meet the demand for protection from pirates

Credits:

Getty Images

Monday, June 20, 2011

SOMALILAND VS GENERAL ALI SAMATAR

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Somalia's Piracy Problem: Robbery on the High Seas Too Lucrative to Refuse

By Horand Knaup in Hargeisa, SomaliaJune 18, 2011

There are hundreds of pirates serving time in prisons in northern Somalia. But for every one arrested, there are several people willing to fill the gap. A visit to a pirate jail reveals that, despite the risks, many Somalis are still being drawn to the sea by dreams of ransom, revenge and repute.

Inmates are seen through bars at Berbera prison in

Republic of Somaliland, March 30, 2011. Hundreds of pirates are

serving time in prisons in northern Somalia

Omar Abdullahi, 45, knew the patrol boat routes. He knew the coast guard's equipment, and he knew their salaries were a meager $45 (€32) a month. That was all he made, too, despite being head of the Las Qoray outpost. At sea, he saw how easily the pirates in their fast boats got away from his fellow coast guardsmen. And, on land, he saw how they could afford expensive cars and fancy houses.

Finally, Abdullahi had had enough. In 2007, after 14 years of service, he left the coast guard of Somaliland, a republic stretching along Somalia's northern coast that declared independence in 1991. At the time, he said he could make more as a fisherman.

These days, Abdullahi is sitting in a prison in Berbera, a city on Somaliland's northern coast, waiting for his case to go to trial. On March 23, his former coast guard colleagues arrested him and six accomplices in a boat outfitted with a GPS system rather than gill nets. Members of the coast guard claim to have seen them throw their AK-47s and RPGs overboard before their arrest. The indictment says they were pirates and that they had attacked tanker and container ships.

Colonel Ahmed Ali is the commander of the coast guard unit in Berbera. He says his former colleague had spent some time in Eyl, the pirate stronghold on the country's eastern coast. "We know that he made a lot of money there," Ali says, adding that it didn't come from fishing. "If he were a fisherman," Ali explains, "he would go fishing where he comes from and not here."

Berbera's jail is a dark vault built by the Turks in the 19th century. He provides only evasive answers to questions. He insists that he is a fisherman and has five children to feed. And he claims he made $200 a month as a fisherman, considerably more than in the coast guard.

A Brand New Prison for Pirates

Abdullahi is just one of roughly 350 suspected pirates sitting in prisons on the northern coast of Somalia, in both Somaliland and neighboring Puntland. In Somaliland, in particular, officials are eager to get more serious about combating piracy. With strong support from the European Union, the United Nations has built a brand new prison in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. The two organizations invested roughly $1.5 million in the detention center, which now holds 88 suspected and convicted pirates.

Piracy has become an expensive matter for this seafaring nation. Indeed, a recent study found that piracy off Somalia and in the Indian Ocean has cost the global community somewhere near $10 billion. It also says that average ransoms for ships grew from $150,000 to $5.4 million between 2005 and 2010, and that there have been a record 98 attacks between January and March in this year alone. There are additional costs as well: having ships out of service, the deployment of naval vessels from a number of countries, tankers and freighters needing to take long detours to avoid danger zones, holding court cases and incarcerating the pirates.

Western security firms have now discovered piracy as a new business sector -- one worth millions. Their portfolio of services includes making contact and negotiating with pirates, supporting relatives and preparing and delivering ransoms. Occasionally things go wrong, such as when Somalian officials recently arrested three Britons, two Kenyans and an American at the airport in Mogadishu. When they searched through the group's luggage, they found $3.6 million in cash meant as ransom for two ships seized by pirates last year.

Ransoms Are a "Type of Tax"

Among those sitting in the new jail in Hargeisa is Ahmed Muhammed Adam, from the port city of Bosaso in Puntland. He was arrested on April 17, 2010 along with six others.

Like almost all the other suspected pirates incarcerated in Hargeisa, Adam claims to be just a hard-working fisherman with no connections to piracy. The motor of his boat broke down and Adam says they then drifted westward from the coast of Somaliland. Then, he says, a foreign frigate spotted his boat and relayed its coordinates to the coast guard. Adam was given a 15-year sentence.

Despite his denials, Adam went on to provide some astonishing insights into the piracy trade. "Anyone who goes out is assuming a risk," he says, "and most of them suffer a defeat." He adds that, before becoming a lucrative business, piracy was a way to fight back against foreign ships. In fact, the business has gotten so lucrative that the high risks involved no longer frighten people off. He also says that it won't stop, either, because people like him view the ransoms "as a type of tax."

These days, lots of people are dying off the coasts of Somalia, and only a fraction of the victims are ever identified. In mid-May, helicopter-borne American soldiers shot dead four Somali pirates as they were trying to board the Artemis Glory, a German supertanker. The ship's crew had already repelled a number of attacks before the helicopter took off from the USS Bulkeley, an American destroyer, and came to their rescue.

In recent months, there have been a number of similar episodes. But they still haven't done anything to reduce the number of pirate attacks. On the contrary, as the pirate Adam puts it: "Whenever 20 die, there are always 20 more to replace them."

The International Effort through Pirate Eyes

Adam also says that the pirates have devoted some of their profits to obtaining better equipment. "They now have speedboats that can escape from any warship," he says. He adds that the prestige that pirates gain from a successful seizure is enormous. "Whoever brings back a ransom is untouchable."

As such, it is no wonder that pirates who have successfully seized a ship enjoy so much support on land. "The major clans and families are also involved," Adam says, "all of them." He adds that the state no longer has any influence in Hobyo, a large pirate nest on Somalia's eastern coastline. "A minister recently wanted to talk with the clans," Adam recounts. "But he encountered serious difficulties already on his way to Hobyo."

Adam is also convinced that the state is powerless to stop piracy. "In the 1990s," he explains, "you could have still pulled it off. But that's no longer the case. It's too late now; the ransoms are too high."

Brainwashing the Young

Another prisoner in Hargeisa is Ahmad Muhamad Jama. The 30-year-old also claims to have been a simple fisherman and says his boat had also merely drifted off course. Though he claims to have never encountered any pirates, Jama says he supports them "morally." He also seems surprisingly familiar with the piracy business. "It's very hard to stop," he explains. "People are forced to avenge their brother or father whenever they are killed at sea." He also compares the riches that can come from piracy to "brainwashing for the young."

Indeed, the pirates have become heroes for many young Somalis. One of the prisoners in Hargeisa is 18-year-old Muhammed Yussuf Abdia, who was sentenced to a year in jail for attacking his father with a machete. The young man has no compunction about saying that he wants to become a pirate -- the "commander of a unit," no less -- once he is released. His role model is Farah Ismail Ilie, one of the unofficial bigwigs in the Hargeisa prison.

Discussions with prisoners at Hargeisa reveal the degree to which the situation has escalated. There are often no witnesses to the encounters between naval ships, pirates and the vessels they prey upon. Jama claims to have lost three relatives himself. He says they headed out to sea to go fishing. "We never saw them again," he says, "only the wreckage of their boat washed up on shore." No one knows if the boat was the victim of an accident or an attack by a foreign warship. "Many never come back," says Adam, Jama's fellow prisoner.

Hargeisa prisoners also provide a clearer picture of how the foreign fleets operate. Naval crews from around the world prefer to take as few pirates into custody as possible. Instead, they stop the suspected pirate boats and, if the pirates haven't already thrown them overboard themselves, they confiscate weapons, scaling ladders and GPS devices. Sometimes they destroy the outboard motors; sometimes they give the pirates food and water.

One notorious case involves the Russian destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov. In May 2010, the vessel arrested 10 Somalis after they attacked a Russian oil tanker. The Russians seized their weapons and navigation instruments and then gave them a little food and water. Then they were left to their own devices 600 kilometers (373 miles) from shore. The pirates were never seen again.

Fishermen Profiting from Piracy

Another pirate in Hargeisa tells the story of a Russian naval vessel that stopped his boat, tagged it with paint, removed its outboard motor and reported its coordinates to the Somaliland coast guard, which merely had to pick them up.

The pirates aren't the only ones to profit from their thriving trade; the fishermen do as well. Yussuf Muhammed Ahmed, the 39-year-old head of the local consortium of 500 fishermen, stands on the pier at Berbera. "When it comes to our earnings," he says, "the pirates are a boon. Otherwise we'd have nothing." He explains that pirates have forced the fishing fleets from Spain, India and Italy to go elsewhere. Catches, he said, are much higher now than they were five years ago. Only deep-sea fish have yet to recover.

In the harbor's small military area, base commander Col. Ahmed Ali deploys the members of his coast guard. They are a very strange-looking bunch, wearing well-worn boots and a mishmash of uniforms manufactured in the West and the former Soviet Union, boarding boats that the pirates can easily outrun. With the 400 men and 10 boats at his disposal, Ali is supposed to safeguard activities on almost 1,000 kilometers of coastline. He opts to say nothing of the replacement parts that never turn up, the lack of fuel and the salaries that always arrive late.

Ali knows what journalists want to hear. "Piracy is a scourge," he says. "But if we really want to get good at this, we need better radars for our boats, better training and real speedboats." And then he adds: "Instead of spending billions of dollars to deploy warships, the international community should invest in us. It would be a whole lot cheaper."

Translated from the German by Josh Ward
source:http://abcnews.go.com/International/somalias-piracy-problem-robbery-high-seas-lucrative-refuse/story?id=13859183

SUDAN: Road closures, bombings, landmines hit Southern food supplies

BENTIU, UNITY STATE, 13 June 2011 (IRIN) - The closure for nearly two months of a road between Northern and Southern Sudan has led to serious food shortages in Southern Sudan’s Unity State, with government officials and aid workers expressing concern over the food security of thousands of displaced people, returnees and others.

At the same time, rebel militia activity in some districts of Unity State, and aerial bombing allegedly by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), have hindered relief agencies’ access.

“High fuel prices, insecurity and the onset of the rainy season have worsened the situation,” Riem Mut, social development minister and acting agriculture minister in the Unity State government, told IRIN on 11 June. “There is a food crisis in Unity although the situation has improved somewhat in the past few days with the trickling in of supplies from southern routes.

In April, the authorities in the north restricted the movement of goods along the Khartoum-Olbeid-Nyamar-Kadugli-Kharasana (all in the North) route which links up with Parieng, a district in the north of Unity State.

Mut said vulnerable households - returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and food insecure host communities - were the hardest hit by the blocking of the road. Prices in Unity State markets, especially food prices, have shot up.

A [50kg] bag of sorghum previously sold for 200 Sudanese pounds (US$74) now costs 320 pounds ($118), meaning that `wal wal’ (a traditional food made of sorghum) is now scarce, Mut said.

A check on Rubkona District market (near Bentiu) indicated that prices of most food products - sorghum, maize, sugar, sesame and rice - had in some cases almost doubled since the road was blocked. Vegetables, fruit and other perishable commodities were not available.

Traders at the market said goods coming in from southern routes were costly, hence the increase in prices. Before the road blockage, a 90kg bag of onions sold for the equivalent of $74, but was now $130; a 50kg bag of wheat flour which used to cost $92 was now $130; while a 50kg bag of sugar which used to be $92 had gone up to $130, according to traders in Rubkona.

Gideon Gatpan Thoar, minister for information in Unity State, told IRIN: “We had hoped this road would have been reopened by now but, instead, it seems the northern authorities have even tightened the closure; this has impacted negatively on us after the Khartoum government restricted movement of goods. Only passengers coming to the South are allowed through. Efforts by the Southern authorities in Juba to consult the Northern government over the reopening of the road have failed.”

Southern routes

A riverine corridor and road networks from Juba, capital of Southern Sudan, had allowed limited amounts of East African food and fuel to reach Unity State since the northern route’s closure, said Thoar.

In Juba goods can be transported by barge on the River Nile to Malakal, capital of Upper Nile State, then to the port of Adok in Unity’s Leer County. From Adok, they are taken by road to urban areas in Rubkona and Bentiu counties. By road, goods move from Juba through Mapel and Rumbek (in Lakes State) and on to Mayendit County in Unity for onward transportation to Rubkona and Bentiu.

Thoar said a 40-km stretch of extremely poor road near Mayendit was currently being repaired and was expected to be completed in two weeks.

Nyamoka Koriam, a resident of Rubkona District, said many people were selling their livestock to buy cereals. “Many of us rely on the markets for grains but the prices of most of them have gone up since the road from the north was closed; I have a large family, I don’t know for how long we will survive by selling our cows.”

Northern bombing, rebel activity

Aid workers say access to three districts - Parieng (where bombings have reportedly been going on in the past four days), Mayom and Abiemnhom - has been limited. Abiemnhom, on the border with South Kordofan State, has seen a sharp influx of IDPs in the past month following conflict in the disputed Abyei region. A significant number of IDPs are also said to be in Mayom following March-May fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and militia groups led by ex-SPLA rebels.

Five civilians were reportedly killed and over a dozen injured on 9 June when suspected SAF forces bombed Jaw village in Parieng District, about 80km northeast of Bentiu. Aid agencies have so far not gained access to the area to determine the extent of civilian displacement. Unconfirmed reports on 11 June indicated that bombing was still going on in the area.

Photo: Paul Banks/UNMIS
Insecurity has hindered access to displaced communities

Unity’s information minister Thoar said the bombings were part of efforts by the North to push SPLA troops from their positions in states bordering the north. Southern Sudan is scheduled to become Africa’s newest state on 9 July, when it completes a long process of seceding from the North.

“We require urgent humanitarian intervention before the situation explodes,” Thoar said. “We especially need food assistance, shelter for the displaced and medicine. Moreover, from now until July, we expect a lot of rain in the area and this will affect road transport and help will not easily get to those in need.”

An aid worker, who requested anonymity, told IRIN: “Several ongoing [relief] programmes on health, food security, shelter, livelihoods and capacity-building as well as water and hygiene in the counties of Parieng, Mayom and Abiemnhom have been greatly affected by insecurity. Some agencies have suspended programmes in Mayom due to ongoing insecurity and supplies have not reached those in need in Parieng and Abiemnhom due to landmine issues.”

Michael Bateah Kutei, acting director of the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) in Unity State, told IRIN limited humanitarian access due to continuing conflict “has hindered the conducting of assessments of displaced communities”.

Landmines

He said the laying of landmines by militias on roads in some districts had further complicated the situation. The SSRRC is the humanitarian arm of the South Sudan government.

“Landmines have complicated the conflict in Unity because it has affected humanitarian aid delivery; aid agencies cannot move out of Bentiu because of this,” Kutei said. “Civilians are now caught up in fighting between the militias and SPLA. In Mayom District alone, at least 20 civilians died during fighting in April and May.”

He said the state has an estimated 42,800 civilians who have been displaced by fighting since February.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Unity is one of the Southern states to have received a high number of returnees from the North since October 2010. So far, at least 80,000 have returned to Unity in organized returns, with aid workers estimating that a significant number of spontaneous returnees had also made their way into the state.

Father Stephen Ocir of the Catholic Church in Mayom District told IRIN the church was urging the Southern government to consider dialogue with ex-SPLA rebel leaders in Unity.

js/cb

Theme (s): Conflict, Food Security, Security,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Response from Protection delegate of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Dr Fahmo Abdi Whereabouts

Thu, May 12, 2011 7:15:35 AM

Subject: Complaint

From:	ADD_Prot
To:	sbolaleh@yahoo.com
Cc:	SOK_Tracing

Dear Mr Suleiman Ismail Bolaleh,

in response to your query (below) to search for Dr Fahmo Abdi in prisons, we would like to let you know that the ICRC is not visiting places of detention in most of Ethiopia, including the Somali Regional State, nor does the ICRC have a presence in the Somali Regional State.

Also, as per working procedure, the Red Cross usually conducts tracing on the basis of a tracing request initiated by a family member.

With best regards,

Micha Wedekind
Protection delegate
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Bole sub-city, Kebele 12/13, House no. new
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 647 83 00 Fax: +251 11 647 83 01

Urgent Alert: Forced Disappearance Of Dr. Fahmo Abdi Sh. Aden - A Female Medical Doctor In Somaliland

April 23, 2011

To: H.E Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gaboose - Somaliland Minister of Interior

To: Red Cross and Red Crescent Offices in Somaliland and Ethiopia

To: Media

(Hornwatch) Hargeisa - Dr. Fahmo Abdi Sh. Aden, Somali female medical doctor have been missing since her disappearance in Gabiley district of Somaliland in the Sunday late evening on 17 April 2011. Somaliland Impartial Human Rights Organizations Network (SOHIRA-NET) fears she may be subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.

17 April 2011, Dr Fahmo Abdi Sh. Aden told her family that she will go to Gabiley district to collect some documents and return back to her home immediately. Unexpectedly her family members told to the human rights researchers from SOHIRA-Net that she had sent A short massage from her mobile cell phone and stated âan armed man wearing civilian clothes had kidnapped me.

Somaliland Impartial Human Rights Organizations Network (SOHIRA-NET) concerns are heightened by persistent reports of torture and other ill-treatment as well as prolonged detention without charge or trial in the Somaliland. Somaliland Impartial Human Rights Organizations Network (SOHIRA-NET) fears that the missed of the female medical doctor Ms. Fahmo Abdi Sh. Aden in conditions amounting to an enforced disappearance puts her at a great risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Dr Fahmo Abdi Sh. Aden is the owner a private medical center in Xero Awr village in Hargeisa since 2006 when she fled the civil wars in Mogadishu, Somalia.

SOHIRA-Net is deeply concerned about the safety of Dr. Fahmo Abdi Sh. Aden as her whereabouts remain unknown. SOHIRA-Net fears that she may be subjected to torture, ill-treatment and/or extrajudicial killing. Somaliland intelligence and security services have a well-established track record of using forced disappearances and unlawful deportation of lawful refugees to Ethiopian security. SOHIRA-Net urges the competent authorities to guarantee her physical and psychological integrity at all times, in accordance with international human rights law, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

According news article published Waaheen newspaper on 21 April 2011 disclosed that Somaliland intelligence had handed to the Ethiopian Intelligence an Ethiopian refugee man called Cabdisalan Mukhtar Haji who lived several years in Somaliland and has a refugee status at the UNHCR Office in Hargeisa (http://waaheen.com/?p=13142).

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Somaliland government:

- Somaliland human rights defenders are request to Somaliland Government to:

- Immediately locate and disclose the whereabouts of Dr. Fahmo Abdi Sh. Aden;

- Carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the enforced disappearance of Dr. Fahmo Abdi Sh. Aden, the results of which must be made public, in order to bring those responsible before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;

- Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

To the Red Cross and Red Crescent office in Somaliland and Ethiopia:

- Calling for the red cross and red crescent office in Somaliland as well as in eastern Ethiopia to search her the prisons of the two countries;

Suleiman Ismail Bolaleh
NATIONAL SPEAKER
Somaliland Impartial Human Rights Organizations Network (SOHIRA-NET)

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) East Africa Mission on June 7th 2011 rolled out an ambitious program to enhance business investment and economic opportunities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland.

The developed agency which launched a blueprint multimillion initiative dubbed ‘Partnership
for Economic Growth’ in the capital Hargeisa, says it seeks to improve the environment for
investment and expand economic opportunities in the tiny Northern region of troubled Somalia

“We believe in the resiliency and entrepreneurial spirit of the Somali people,” said Acting
USAID East Africa Mission Director, John Power. “This partnership will not only benefit the
local economy, but will also promote stability.”

The US’s largest aid agency will provide Somaliland’s business communities with new
opportunities to help them improve their incomes and build a better future.

As Hargeisa emerges from a backdrop of historical destruction, the USAID led program will
address strategic economic fields both in the private and public sectors.

“The Partnership for Economic Growth will work with a broad range of government authorities
and private sector to assess strengths, weaknesses and investment opportunities in the most
productive Somali value chains, including livestock, fisheries, gums and resins” USAID said in a
press statement

Part of the program also includes addressing the role of women in entrepreneurship by helping
women groups achieve some form of sustainable development through enhancement of their
much neglected businesses.

“It will improve access to business development services, especially for women entrepreneurs.
It will support the development of regulatory policies to do business better and ultimately attract
more investment” the statement read in part.

At a colorful function attended by representatives from the Ministries of Commerce Industry and
Tourism, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, the Chamber of Commerce, financial institutions,
private sector, women entrepreneurs and local associations, Somaliland authorities hailed the
initiative describing these efforts as one that will revitalize the economic mainstay of the region.

“The private sector is the pillar of the economy,” said Abdulahi Dirie Jama, Secretary General of
the Chamber of Commerce. “It is a source of revenue for the government and a major supplier of
livelihood for residents.”

War Degdega:Madaxwayne Silanyo Oo Xilkii Ka Qaaday Gudoomiyihii Maxakamada Sare Iyo Isku Shaandhayn Lagu Sameeyay Garsoorka Dalka

Madaxwaynaha Jamhuuriyada Somaliland Axmed Maxamed Maxmuud Silanyo ayaa xilkii ka qaaday Gudoomiyihii Maxakamada Sare Maxamed Xirsi Oomane, waxa uu sidoo kale Madaxwaynuhu isku shaandhayn balaadhan ku sameeyay Garsoorkii Dalka.

Arrintan ayaa ku soo beegmaysa wakhti yar ka dib xidhitaanka Shirwaynihii Dib- u habaynta Garsoorka Somaliland taasoo uu Madaxwaynuhu ka jeediyay khudbad uu aad uga dayriyaya nidaamka Cadaalada Dalka kuna balan qaaday inay Xukuumadiisu si dhakhso ah wax uga qaban doonto

Somaliland: Volcano In Eritrea Affects Flights

ARGEISA (Somalilandpress)–Flights between Somaliland and Djibouti have been halted due to the volcano that is erupted in Eritrea two days ago. Speaking to the press, the Somaliland’s Minister of Civil Aviation said they are worried about the situation and there have been problems since the last two days. The Minister said that there were no flights from/to Djibouti yesterday as the result of the volcano which affected many countries in the region.

He told the reporters that they are trying to find ways to overcome the problem but they are lacking the necessary equipments to estimate the danger. The minister said the flights to UAE and other countries have not been affected.

Red ashes could been seen on the Somaliland sky for the last two days which some described as the result of the volcano.

A huge Volcano erupted in the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia two days ago which affected the aviation in the two countries. Reports also said the Clinton’s trip to the Horn of Africa have been cut short because of the volcano.

“We are currently working on improving the Hargeisa and Berbera airports. We have very limited budget and we are trying to do the necessary and important improvements” Said the Minister.

War Degdega: Madaxwayne Siilaanyo Oo Si Rasmi Ah Ugu Dhawaaqay Furista Ururada Una Gudbiyay Barlamaanka

SOHIRA-Net (Harg) - Madaxwaynaha Jamhuuriyada Somaliland Axmed Maxamed Maxmuud Silanyo ayaa saaka Qudbad uu ka jeediyay Xaflad uu ku furayay Dhisme Cusub oo loo dhisay Golaha Wakiilada kaga dhawaaqay Furista Ururada, isagoo Madaxwaynuhu intaa ku daray in uu u gudbiyayay Golaha Wakiilada.

Madaxwayne silanyo ayaa hore Gudi ugu saaray ka soo talo-bixisa Furista Ururada Siyaasiga ah Gudidaas oo ku talisay in la furo Ururada una gudbiyay Go’aankooda Madaxwaynaha oo laga dhursugayay inuu si rasmi ah ugu dhawaaq.

U gudbinta Baarlamaanka uu Madaxwaynuhu u gudbiyay arrintan Furista Ururada ayaa ka turjumaysa in uu Madaxwaynuhu si rasmi ah ugu dhawaaqay taasoo ay Barlamaankuna ka gudan Doonaan Wajibaadkooda Dastuuriga ah.

Monday, January 12, 2009

WARGALIN TARTAN SUUGAANEED

WARGALIN TARTAN SUUGAANEED

Dhalinyarada reer Somaliland ee hibada Eebe u siiyay hal-abuurka suugaanta gaar ahaan gabayada waxa Ururka Samaflka Bulshada UBAX uu ugu bushaaraynayaa in ay ka soo qayb galaan tartan suugaaneed noociisa kii ugu horeeyay ee lagu qabto guud ahaan dalka Somaliland.

Tartan suugaankan ayaa ujeedadiisu tahay in lagu abaaro dhibaatada bulsho ee ugu faca wayn dalkeena oo ah takoorka lagu hayb sooco ama faquuqo qaybo ka mid ah bulshada reer Somaliland gaar ahaan kuwa la hayb sooco (Gabooyaha, Tumaalaha iyo Yibraha.

Shuruudaha tartanka:

Waa in uu Somalilander yahay;
Da’da tartamayaashu waa in ay u dhaxaysaa 18 – 35 sano jir;
Tartame kastaa waa in gabayga ama buraanburka uu/ay kaga qayb galayo/so tartanka ku keenaa cajalad cod saafi ah ku duuban;
Mudada tartarnkani soconayaa waa 15/01/09 ilaa 15/02/09;
Tartankani wuu u furan yahay wiilasha iyo gabdhaha labadaba;
Gabayga/Buraanburka tartamahu waa in uu ku saabsanaadaa oo uu ka gar naqaa takoorka dhaqan ee u dhexeeya qaybaha bulshada ee la haysooco iyo kuwa haybsooca.

Tartamayaashu waxay ku soo hagaajin karaa cajaladaha oo gal afka ka xidhan ku jirta, kuna dul qoran yahay magaca tartamuhu xafiiska Ururka Samafalka Bulshada UBAX oo ku yaala dabaqa 2aad ee fooqa Baxsane oo dhinaca bari ka xiga National Hotel (Ex-Cinima) Qol # 111.

Wixii faahfaahin ah kala soo xidhiidh Gudoomiyaha UBAX Mr. Abdilahi Hassan Digaale Mobile Telephone: 44o4312. Xoghaynta UBAX Mr. C/rashiid Mob. Tel: 4403482

COURT RULES SOMALI EX-GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL CAN BE SUED

Court's decision paves way for individuals to be sued for violating human rights

For Immediate Release
January 8, 2009
CONTACT: Elizabeth Chertoff, Media Coordinator, 415-544-0444, ext. 303, echertoff@cja.org

(Richmond, Virginia). Today, January 8, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a federal district court’s decision dismissing the human rights lawsuit filed against former Somali General Mohamed Ali Samantar. As a result, the case against General Samantar for his role in overseeing the widespread and systematic use of torture, rape, prolonged arbitrary detention and mass executions committed against the civilian population of Somalia in the 1980s, has been reinstated.

The suit, filed on behalf of five survivors of torture and other human rights abuses, was dismissed by the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2007. The district court ruled that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) immunized former General Samantar from civil suit in the U.S. The Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded, finding that the FSIA does not apply to individuals and that Congress did not intend to immunize "individual foreign government agents like Samantar" when it enacted the FSIA. The Court further held that Congress did not intend to shield former government agents from suit under the FSIA.

"Today's ruling by the Fourth Circuit is an extraordinary victory for the people of Somalia who suffered severe repression under the military regime of Siad Barré and General Samantar and it is an important step in ensuring that human rights abusers who seek safe haven in the U.S. will be held accountable in our courts," said Pamela Merchant, Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Accountability which initiated the lawsuit. "It is unconscionable that this war criminal can live in the U.S., just a few miles from the nation's capitol."

CJA and pro bono co-counsel Cooley Godward Kronish LLP represent five Somali survivors against Samantar who was the Minister of Defense during the regime of Siad Barré during the 1980s. The lawsuit alleges that Samantar's subordinates in the Armed Forces committed torture, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other widespread abuses in violation of international law. Samantar has lived in Virginia since at least 1998. For a copy of the decision and more information and background on the case, Yousuf v. Samantar, please visit www.cja.org.

CJA is a San Francisco-based human rights organization dedicated to deterring torture and other severe human rights abuses around the world and advancing the rights of survivors to seek truth, justice and redress. CJA uses litigation to hold perpetrators individually accountable for human rights abuses, develop human rights law, and advance the rule of law in countries transitioning from periods of abuse.

All the best,
Pamela Merchant
Executive Director

PS: CJA relies on contributions from individuals like you to continue our work. Please consider making a donation today. http://www.cja.org/donate/donate.shtml

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Somaliland: On The Road To Independent Statehood?

By J. Peter Pham, Ph.D.

December 13th, 2007

In October, in my testimony to a House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health hearing on security in the Horn of Africa, I stated:

The most significant national interest at stake for the United States in this complex context is to prevent al-Qaeda (or another like-minded international terrorist network) from acquiring a new base and opening a new front in its war against us and our allies…

I would be remiss if I did not avail myself of this opportunity to raise the question of the remarkable reemergence of the Republic of Somaliland amid the ruin of Somalia and multiple conflicts wracking the Horn of Africa. With the collapse of the Somali state, the Somalilanders reasserted their independence and created a functional government, complete with all the accoutrements of modern statehood save, alas, international recognition…

Surely if America’s national commitment to support and strengthen democracy as a bulwark against extremist ideologies and terrorist violence has any real-world application, it is certainly the case here. The point I made at last year’s hearing on the expanding crisis in the Horn of Africa is even truer today: “The people of Somaliland have made their choice for political independence and democratic progress. While they have stumbled occasionally along the way, their efforts deserve encouragement through the appropriate economic, political, and security cooperation-which, in turn, will anchor Somaliland within America’s orbit as well as international society.”

I make no apologies for constantly returning to this theme: it is to me incomprehensible that we continue to express concern about the state of democracy in the Horn of Africa while all but ignoring a New York-sized region that has held internationally-monitored elections for the presidency as well as national and local legislatures. Talk of mixed signals!

Last week, in its December 4 th issue, the Washington Post carried a remarkable article by Ann Scott Tyson. Under the headline “U.S. Debating Shift of Support in Somali Conflict,” the piece notes that “ the escalating conflict in Somalia is generating debate inside the Bush administration over whether the United States should continue to back the shaky transitional government in Mogadishu or shift support to the less volatile region of Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991” and quotes two anonymous Department of Defense officials:

“Somaliland is an entity that works,” a senior defense official said. “We’re caught between a rock and a hard place because they’re not a recognized state,” the official said.

The Pentagon’s view is that “ Somaliland should be independent,” another defense official said. “We should build up the parts that are functional and box in” Somalia’s unstable regions, particularly around Mogadishu.

In contrast, “the State Department wants to fix the broken part first-that’s been a failed policy,” the official said.

In conclusion, Navy Captain Bob Wright, head of strategic communications for the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) based at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, was quoted as saying “ We’d love to [engage Somaliland], we’re just waiting for State to give us the okay.”

The next day, December 5 th, the Bureau of African Affairs posted to the State Department website a five-bullet point “fact sheet” attempting to explain what passes as “United States Policy on Somaliland”:
The United States currently engages the Somaliland administration and has provided assistance, for example to the election effort. Our policy on recognition is to allow the African Union to first deliberate on the question. We do not want to get ahead of the continental organization on an issue of such importance.
As indicated in the full quote above, the United States continues to engage with the administration in Somaliland on a range of issues, most directly Somaliland’s continued progress towards democratization and economic development.
In FY 2007, the United States provided a total of $1 million through the International Republican Institute to support training for parliamentarians and other key programs in preparations for the upcoming municipal and presidential elections in Somaliland. We expect to provide an additional $1.5 million in continued support for the democratization process in Somaliland following the elections.
While we continue to engage with the Somaliland administration, we do believe that the African Union is the most appropriate forum to address the question of recognition of Somaliland as an independent state. We understand that Somaliland is pursuing bilateral dialogue with the African Union and its member-states in this regard.
However, as the African Union continues to deliberate on this issue, the United States will continue to engage with all actors throughout Somalia, including Somaliland, to support the return of lasting peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.

On the face of it, the Foggy Bottom’s position seems reasonable enough: the United States does not want to be blamed for opening up a veritable Pandora’s Box by backing a secessionist attempt to redraw colonial-era boundaries in Africa which could cause a ripple effect across the continent; better to let the African Union make that call. However, the artful facade the diplomats put up to cover their geopolitical inertia is utterly mendacious, despite the truly diplomatic efforts of Somaliland Foreign Minister Abdillahi Duale to welcome the State Department’s positive comments about the country’s “continued progress towards democratization and economic development.

First, as I pointed out in this column nearly two years ago: “ From 1884 until 1960, Somaliland existed within its current borders as the protectorate of British Somaliland. On June 26, 1960, Somaliland was granted its independence by the British Crown and was internationally recognized as a sovereign state. When, a week later, the United Nations trust territory that had been the Italian colony of Somalia received its independence, Somaliland joined it to form a united republic. The union, however, was troubled from the beginning…Amid the anarchy that ensued following Siyad Barre’s ignominious flight in January 1991, clan elders in Somaliland issued a declaration reasserting the independence that the northwestern region had briefly enjoyed in 1960.” There is no question of - much less precedent set for - redrawing colonial frontiers.

Second, the African Union (AU) itself has acknowledged the unique circumstances surrounding Somaliland’s quest for recognition. The official report of an AU fact-finding mission to the republic in 2005 led by AU Deputy Chairperson Patrick Mazimhaka concluded: “ The fact that the union between Somaliland and Somalia was never ratified and also malfunctioned when it went into action from 1960 to 1990, makes Somaliland’s search for recognition historically unique and self-justified in African political history. Objectively viewed, the case should not be linked to the notion of ‘opening a Pandora’s Box’. As such, the AU should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case.”

However, by punting the question to a body like the AU, which decides major political questions by consensus, while simultaneously continuing the delusional policy of recognizing the utterly ineffectual “Transitional Federal Government” (TFG) of Somalia, which asserts sovereignty over the entire territory of the defunct Somali Democratic Republic despite being unable to so much as control its putative capital, the State Department belies any pretensions of neutrality. The Africa Bureau knows very well that there is no way the phantasmal TFG will ever permit an AU consensus to be forged which recognizes the de facto Republic of Somaliland. Thus the State Department’s support for the fictional Somalia’s continued presence at international forums like the AU is fundamentally irreconcilable with functional Somaliland’s ever getting a fair hearing. So the only thing conceivably worse than the State Department being cynically duplicitous in its Somaliland policy is the possibility that its denizens don’t realize this and, hence, are criminally incompetent in their guidance of U.S. policy in the geopolitical sensitive Horn of Africa.

Fortunately, the TFG may not be a factor for much longer. Last week, its “president,” Abdillahi Yusuf, was hospitalized in Nairobi, Kenya, and had to cancel a meeting in Addis Ababa with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; should his condition worsen, that charade will be over. The meeting that did take place between TFG “prime minister” Nur Hassan Hussein and America’s top diplomat was farcical to anyone with historical knowledge of the region. The secretary said she hoped “ Hussein will draw on his humanitarian background to facilitate delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid.”

What “humanitarian background” does Dr. Rice refer to? His role as police colonel under the brutal dictatorship of Muhammad Siyad Barre? His tenure as deputy head of the despot’s “ National Salvation Court,” a military tribunal that sent thousands of regime opponents to their deaths? Or perhaps his leadership of the Somali Red Crescent Society where he “did well by doing good” - so well, in fact, that as Somalia descended into chaos and its luckier citizens fled, his children inexplicably found the capital to open a string of internet cafés and currency exchanges in Great Britain to meet the needs of their displaced countrymen? And while the secretary could only “ encourage” the self-appointed TFG “ to develop a timeline for the remainder of the transitional process by early January” in the hope of staging elections sometime in 2009, Somaliland has already held several sets of the internationally-monitored free polls, the most recent, the parliamentary elections of 2005, was observed and reported on by an International Republican Institute (IRI) delegation led by Ambassador Lange Schermerhorn, a former U.S. envoy to Djibouti who has also served as political advisor to the CJTF-HOA. (I served as an election observer with the ambassador in Nigeria earlier this year.)

The failure of the TFG should not be surprising. As I pointed out a year and a half ago, the pretender regime is little more than the product of a well-intentioned effort by the international community to conjure up yet another government for Somalia after the ignominious collapse the previous year of its previous attempt, the risible “Transitional National Government” (TNG), which went through four prime ministers and hundreds of cabinet members in three years before going bankrupt, having misappropriated millions of dollars in donor funds while governing nothing other than what was inside the confines of the four walls of “president” Abdiqasim Salad Hassan’s villa in nearby Djibouti. With even fewer prospects and, if it is possible, even less legitimacy than the TNG, the TFG’s leaders have little incentive to do anything other than leverage the international recognition which is their only real asset with which to enrich themselves.

One could hardly find a starker contrast to this than Somaliland. As former World Bank economist William Easterly, hardly someone who looks at Africa through rosy lenses, noted in his realistic, if somewhat pessimistic, volume, “The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good”:

In Somalia, the “international community” has sponsored fourteen rounds of fruitless peace talks since the collapse of the government in 1991, not to mention the failed UN/U.S. military intervention. Meanwhile, without outside intervention, foreign aid, or even international recognition, the breakaway Republic of Somaliland in the north of Somalia has enjoyed peace, economic growth, and democratic elections over the same period.

Thus, among the many others which could be adduced, there are five compelling reasons for the United States to abandon the bankrupt, State Department-driven policy of preferring self-appointed “leaders” of a failed construct to an effective government of a real country:
Counterterrorism . As the Pentagon has now publicly acknowledged (and as I suggested earlier this year), scarce resources would be better spent boxing in the troubled parts of Somalia, rather than vainly asserting the questionable claims by a clearly unpopular regime whose illegitimacy is actually a magnet for extremists. No less a figure than Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates declared last week while visiting Camp Lemonier that his “ biggest concern for Somalia is the potential for al-Qaeda to be active there.” Formal ties with Somaliland would permit closer ties between U.S. military and intelligence personnel with their counterparts in the small country’s services. Access to Somaliland territory, including the onetime NATO installation at Berbera, would also expand the scope for counterterrorism and other operations by CJTF-HOA as well as the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) which will subsume it next year.
Regional stability. Far from being destabilizing, as I told Congress earlier this year, recognition of Somaliland would “ show the countries and peoples of the sub-region our resolve to reward progress as well as give the lie to those who argue that our anti-terrorism and pro-democracy objectives are not subterfuges for an anti-Muslim agenda. (Somaliland’s population is almost exclusively Sunni Muslims and the shahâdah , the Muslim profession of the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as God’s final prophet, is emblazoned on its flag.)” Furthermore, U.S.-led diplomatic recognition of Somaliland would not only allow the country much-needed access to international institutions and finance for development of the country itself, but also spur regional integration and prosperity. To cite just one example, America’s close partner Ethiopia, whose cut-off from the sea is a factor in the border dispute with Eritrea which I discussed two weeks ago, would benefit directly from access to Somaliland’s 900-kilometer coastline along the Gulf of Aden.
Natural resources and economic opportunities . Earlier this year, I reported on mainland China’s play for petroleum resources in Somalia. Establishing formal ties with Somaliland would not only open opportunities for American firms to bid for similar concessions in that country, but also to invest in what could be a significant regional market. Conversely, ties with American commercial interests would also help anchor the strategically-placed country in the orbit of the United States as it joins the global economy. On the other hand, Somaliland’s considerable potential for economic and social progress is jeopardized not only by the maelstrom in neighboring Somalia, but also, as the AU has reported, by “ the lack of recognition [which] ties the hands of the authorities and people of Somaliland as they cannot effectively and sustainably transact with the outside to pursue the reconstruction and development goals.”
Moral imperatives. As I previously argued, “ Somaliland’s trajectory…has been nothing if not extraordinary, being characterized by both social stability and democratic politics-the northern region’s progress standing in stark contrast to the free fall of the rest of the former Somalia. And despite being cut off from international financial institutions, direct bilateral assistance, and other sources of development and investment capital-all for want of diplomatic recognition-the Somalilanders have rebuilt Hargeysa, which was leveled during the Siyad Barre regime’s brutal campaign against them, and resettled close to one million of their displaced citizens.” Somaliland has already had democratic presidential, legislative, and local government elections; even the State Department has acknowledged that its upcoming presidential and municipal elections are more than credible enough to deserve U.S. funding.
Global leadership. Despite some major faux pas of American foreign policy in recent years - both in substance and implementation - the world still defaults to looking to the United States to take the lead in critical arenas like the Horn of Africa. A number of governments, both African (including those of Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia) and European (including those of Great Britain, Germany, and Sweden), have either entered into de facto relations with or at least made friendly overtures to the Republic of Somaliland. In June, the German federal parliament even passed a resolution calling upon Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government “ to work towards mitigating dangers for Somaliland’s stability that may arise from the current Southern Somali scenario,” including “ initiatives to advance the resolution of the question of an international recognition of an independent Somaliland.” However, nothing is likely to advance without American leadership or at least tacit approval - in any event, the opposite of the State Department’s passive attendance on the AU’s capacity-challenged policymaking and implementation processed (see my column last week on “The Challenge of Peacekeeping in Africa”).

At the very launch of this column series, I wrote: “ Since the disintegration of the Siyad Barre’s oppressive Somali regime into Hobbesian anarchy and warlordism, the international community has staunchly defended the phantasmal existence of the fictitious entity known as ‘ Somalia.’ Now, however, is the time for the United States to break ranks and let realism triumph over wishful thinking, not only recognizing, but actively supporting Somaliland, a brave little land whose people’s quest for freedom and security mirrors America’s values as well as her strategic interests.” If anything, that counsel is even truer today than ever before, as many of our military officers have now publicly acknowledged. The only question is whether or not America’s elected political leaders will have the vision and fortitude to finally instruct their unelected diplomatic mandarins on the real stakes: diplomatic, military, and economic.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor J. Peter Pham is Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He is also an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C., as well as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA).

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/global.php?id=1385868#

Source: FamilySecurityMatters

OPEN LETTER TO THE SOMALILAND NATION

Sunday, 18 May 2008

From:    Jenny Sonesson,
                Secreteray General Liberal Women of Sweden
                Stockholm

To: Dahir Riyale Kahin, Somaliland President
To: Abdirahman Abdillahi Cirro, Speaker Somaliland Parliament
To: Sh Ahmed Sh Nuuh, Deputy Speaker house of Elders
To: Mohamed Mahamoud Siilanyo, Party Chairman, Kulmiye
To: Faisal Ali Warabe, Party chairman, Welfare party

We have been following the political developments in Somaliland.

Somaliland has embellished its democratic political system with latest parliamentary election, which was a milestone for Somaliland’s path towards healthy democracy. International Election Observers monitored Somaliland elections and described according to the circumstances as free and fair elections. Somaliland was nicknamed as “Africa’s best kept Secret" and "Peace Paradise in Africa".

We hope that the different Somaliland actors (stakeholders) all of us shall engage us constructively for a peaceful and democratic outcome.

Leaders and people of Somaliland have come long when it comes establishment of democratic institutions and the coming elections will be a very important opportunity to move forward in the development of democracy. As we can understand, all the political parties and the government agrees to hold local and president elections. The problem is the time table. To solve this problem, all of the stakeholders with the help of the international community must come together and show a political leadership, willingness and courage in order to reach a united agreement concerning the timetable. The rule of law is important element when discussion the solution for the constitutional crises that come up.

Our hope is that all stakeholders, political parties, government and National Election Commission work together in order to achieve the ultimate goal, which is to hold fair and democratic elections. One important issue is the participation of women in the coming elections. If women are not in priority and the political parties do not give attention to this issue, it will be a democratic deficiency, so all the political parties should work hard to promote women in the coming elections.

We who embrace the success Somaliland already has achieved, wish you all the best for the coming elections.

Birgitta Ohlsson,
Member of the Swedish Parliament and Spokesperson Foreign Affairs, Liberal Party

Gunilla Davidsson,
Secreteray General SILC (Swedish International Liberal Center)

Jenny Sonesson,
Secreteray General Liberal Women of Sweden

Tuesday, The Pentagon’s view is that “ Somaliland should be independent”

19 February 2008

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti, December 3 - The escalating conflict in Somalia is generating debate inside the Bush administration over whether the United States should continue to back the shaky transitional government in Mogadishu or shift support to the less volatile region of Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, U.S. defense and military officials said.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates discussed regional issues during a visit to Djibouti on Monday, including Somalia and the presence there of about 8,000 Ethiopian troops, the officials said. Ethiopian forces intervened a year ago to install the fledgling government in Mogadishu and they continue to fight Islamic radicals in Somalia.

"My biggest concern about Somalia is the potential for al-Qaeda to be active there," Gates said on his first visit to the Horn of Africa as defense secretary. Asked about allegations of human rights abuses by Ethiopian troops in Somalia, Gates said: "We're obviously very interested in helping the African Union and Ugandans to try and exercise some constructive influence on the Ethiopians."

U.S. military officials say Somalia is the greatest source of instability in the Horn of Africa, leading them to seek new ways to contain the violence there.

One approach, Pentagon officials argue, would be to forge ties with Somaliland, as the U.S. military has with Kenya and other countries bordering Somalia. A breakaway region along Somalia's northwestern coast, Somaliland has about 2 million people and an elected president, and offers greater potential for U.S. military assistance to bolster security, even though it lacks international recognition, they say.

" Somaliland is an entity that works," a senior defense official said. "We're caught between a rock and a hard place because they're not a recognized state," the official said.

The Pentagon's view is that " Somaliland should be independent," another defense official said. "We should build up the parts that are functional and box in" Somalia's unstable regions, particularly around Mogadishu.

In contrast, "the State Department wants to fix the broken part first -- that's been a failed policy," the official said.

The official U.S. government position is that the United States should withhold recognition from Somaliland because the African Union has yet to recognize it. "We do not want to get ahead of the continental organization on an issue of such importance," said Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi E. Frazer in an e-mailed response to questions.

The issue is diplomatically sensitive because recognizing Somaliland could set a precedent for other secession movements seeking to change colonial-era borders, opening a Pandora's box in the region.

In Djibouti, U.S. military officials say they are eager to engage Somaliland. "We'd love to, we're just waiting for State to give us the okay," said Navy Capt. Bob Wright, head of strategic communication for the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. The task force is composed of about 1,800 U.S. troops who conduct military training and reconstruction projects such as digging wells and building schools in 11 countries in the region.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to back Somalia's weak Transitional Federal Government, set up in late 2004 with support from international organizations and the African Union.

That incursion also created an opportunity for the U.S. military to take action in Somalia with counterterrorism raids by small Special Operations teams. Together with the CIA, they are attempting to eliminate members of what is known as the East Africa al-Qaeda cell, thought to be responsible for the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, according to defense officials.

"They are precise, laser-like focused, small, a handful of guys who go in and out," the defense official said. "Some things the agency [ Central Intelligence Agency] does, some things they allow us to do," the official said, adding that counterterrorism operations are ongoing.

In Somalia, the U.S. military has also staged at least two AC-130 gunship airstrikes and a naval strike targeting suspected al-Qaeda operatives in the past year.

In recent months, human rights groups have accused Ethiopian forces of abuses such as rape and indiscriminate killing of civilians as they bomb and burn villages in counterinsurgency operations.

Despite those allegations, the Pentagon continues to back the Ethiopian presence. "Any government that provides Somalis with assistance we support, including Ethiopia," a senior defense official said. "I am unaware of specific allegations regarding the conduct of the Ethiopian troops."

Source: Washington Post

Travel Picks: Top 10 hells on earth

Fri 16 May 2008, 13:07 GMT

SYDNEY, May 16 (Reuters Life!) - Had a bad vacation? It probably could have been a lot worse, with men's portal AskMen.com coming up with a list of the top 10 hells on earth to prove how dire it could have been.

This list was compiled by AskMen (http://www.askmen.com) and is not endorsed by Reuters:

1. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Type of hell: Disease

With over 115 new HIV and AIDS cases diagnosed every month, the capital of Papua New Guinea is in trouble. With the population expanding at an uncontrollable rate, unemployment levels have rocketed, income levels plummeted and gang members, known as raskols, have been known to carry out bank robberies with M16 machine guns and hijack cars wielding machetes.

2. Linfen, China

Type of hell: Darkness

Linfen, China, is sooty and dark. It is located in a 12-mile industrial belt and affected by the 50 million tons of coal mined each year in the nearby hills of Shanxi. There's no escaping the smog.

3. Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi

Type of hell: Corruption

With the lowest GDP per capita in the world, Burundi is the poorest country on the planet and is scarred by a history of genocide, mass killing and assassinated political leaders. Not only that, but a pool of 178 countries found that Burundi's people had the poorest satisfaction of life in the world.

4. Pyongyang, North Korea

Type of hell: Oppression

While its modern-day facade may look like any other Western city, underneath it's entirely autocratic. Radios and TVs have only one channel which broadcasts special programs controlled by the government, bicycles are banned as part of a political regime to restrict movement and interaction.

5. Oklahoma City, United States

Type of hell: Natural disasters

Located in the direct path of "Tornado Alley," the worst time to visit would be from March to August. The severe weather season makes Dorothy's Kansas look positively calm, with Oklahoma City being the city worst affected by tornadoes in the United States.

6. Chernobyl, Ukraine

Type of hell: Radiation

Famed for a nuclear explosion that tore through the city in 1986 and contaminated most of its living organisms, Chernobyl is certainly not the kind of place you'd like to vacation in. Everything is still largely abandoned and remains as it was 20 years ago, with hundreds of miles of uninhabitable space, deserted buildings and poisoned lakes and rivers.

7. Mogadishu, Somalia

Type of hell: Lawlessness

With the collapse of central government in 1991, Mogadishu is largely lawless, with no structure of real peacekeeping present, despite a failed effort in 1992 by the U.S. Marines. Indeed, Mogadishu certainly won't be found in any glossy vacation brochure anytime soon.

8. Yakutsk, Russia

Type of hell: Environmental extreme

Officially the coldest place on earth, temperatures here often drop to a hypothermia-inducing -58F (-50C), and if it drops below this (which it often does), children get the day off school. Another hellish aspect of Yakutsk is its isolation -- a whole six time zones away from Moscow.

9. Dhaka, Bangladesh

Type of hell: Pollution

Despite enduring political instability, military suppression and devastation from war and natural disaster, the capital of Bangladesh faces a new crisis over critically high pollution levels. Rapid industrial development has filled the city with so much smog it is causing environmental damage, with 9.7 million tons of waste dumped in the river by the city each year.

10. Baghdad, Iraq

Type of hell: Conflict

The city has been irreversibly damaged by the Gulf War and years of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, bringing the once vibrant city to its knees. Lootings, robberies, kidnappings, and sexual assaults have been rife, but it is the daily slaughter of troops, journalists and civilians that terrify the most.

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)