Somaliland Cyberspace-News page 11

Demonstrations in opposition to Somaliland's interference in [disputed] Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn Regions have been held in town of Baran in Sanaag region. Demonstrators in the town were shouting anti Somaliland slogans and blamed the administration for inflicting suffering on residents of three regions. Residents of the town of Baran said they were determined to challenge the Somaliland Administration in its plan for these three regions.

One of the demonstrator told Shabelle they were disappointed with the Somaliland operations in these regions and called upon the Puntland Administration to intervene in the conflict and support residents. Traditional elders in the town who also took part in the demonstration said they were condemning recent visit by Somaliland minister of defence in these disputed regions.

GAROWE ONLINE EDITORIAL | What is painfully clear to all Somalis is the international community’s deafening silence on Somaliland’s savage attacks against Buhodle.

It is the painful sight of the young children. Some boys and girls look as young as 6 or 8 years of age. They were wounded during Somaliland’s savage aggression against Buhodle district – military aggressions that began in February 2011, then again in May 2011, and now during the first month of 2012. The repeated Somaliland violent onslaught targeting Buhodle district and its inhabitants – including the mothers and their children – has forced thousands of nomadic clansmen to take up arms and courageously defend their liberty and their right to self-determination.

In the Noble Qur’an, Allah Almighty asks: “For what crime was she killed?” (81:9)

Indeed, those children did not commit any crime, perhaps other than to belong to a particular clan and region of Somalia that has become a target for Somaliland. In looking at the heart-breaking photographs of wounded civilians transferred to a hospital in Puntland’s city of Galkayo, one aches to comprehend the reason and cause that motivates Somaliland’s deep hatred and inherent complexities that lead to the committing of war crimes against civilian populations in Buhodle. In October 2007, when Somaliland seized Las Anod city, the situation was different: Las Anod was betrayed by her own sons, who allowed Somaliland forces to march in to the city and displace upwards of 50,000 civilians, according to UN estimates.

But in Buhodle, despite bribing local officials, Somaliland has failed to infiltrate Buhodle society in a similar fashion to events in Las Anod. Each time the bribing effort failed, Somaliland provided even more bribes hoping that the situation would magically transform into the Hargeisa regime’s favor. When all the exponentially increasing bribes did not bring results, Somaliland’s tyrannical leaders who engaged in the 1990s genocides in northern Somalia could not believe their eyes – that the people of Buhodle are willing to die to defend their liberty and their right to self-determination. No man on earth has a right to impose a political or religious idea on any person or community.

It was the people of Somaliland, who in the 1980s, led the SNM struggle to liberate the northwestern cities of Hargeisa and Burao from the iron grip of the Barre dictatorship. The SNM and its supporters claimed the right to self-determination. Today, as if that memory was irrelevant, it is Somaliland’s SNM leadership that has overlooked recent history and is now behaving in manner similar to the Barre regime. If Somaliland had warplanes, it can be argued that Somaliland would have conducted airstrikes against Buhodle.

The reason for Somaliland’s repeated attacks against Buhodle is easy for any Somali to understand. The Isaaq-dominated Somaliland regime cannot fathom – and indeed their ego cannot accept – that a single Darod sub-clan (Dhulbahante) is able to face-off against the entire might of the Isaaq-dominated Somaliland forces. In all of Somaliland’s savage attacks on Buhodle, Somaliland forces lost again and again – both manpower and equipment. We send our condolences to the young Somali men who were sent to their graves in Buhodle by power-hungry SNM politicians in Hargeisa who are still thirsty for the spilling of more blood in order to satisfy their ego damaged by inherent complexities.

In Somali minds, this reading of Somaliland’s war losses damages the morale and self-perception of being “better” than fellow Somalis – and particularly the Darod whom Somaliland falsely brands as the foot soldiers of Barre dictatorship. Still, the resentment, enmity, hostility and hatred goes back even deeper into history, dating back to the anti-colonial struggle.

What is painfully clear to all Somalis is the international community’s deafening silence on Somaliland’s savage attacks against Buhodle. What Somaliland could not accomplish with policy, they will never accomplish with a gun. Every community in Somalia is armed. Despite all efforts to look like a “nation” it is very clear to Somalis what clans the families of deceased soldiers belong to. All Somalis fully know about the funerals at Somali homes in Hargeisa and Burao. All Somalis fully know what clan resides in Hargeisa and Burao. A few hired politicians, such as the unashamed warmonger from Las Anod Mr. Ahmed Abdi Habsade, will never constitute a legitimate representative of the aspirations of Dhulbahante people. The likes of Mr. Habsade is of lesser value than how Somaliland views the Isaaq politicians who are part of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia.

The international community is recommended to immediately intervene and demand Somaliland stop its savage aggressions. The people of Buhodle have proven with their blood that they do not wish to be part of any separation from Somalia. That separation can never come at the high cost of blood and violent imposition where people’s liberty and self-determination is taken away.

Secondly, Somaliland is reminded that the people of Buhodle are part of a larger Somali community that resides all over Somalia – in neighboring Puntland, in Galgadud region of central Somalia, and the Jubbaland regions of Somalia’s deep south. What is happening in Buhodle quite clearly is a clan war – and if this clan war does not cease immediately, then this clan war might expand and ignite a bigger war that destabilizes the entire Somalia – and particularly Puntland-Somaliland regions of northern Somalia that have experienced stability for years.

Thirdly, the shameful warmongers who post online opinions and false information to mislead the world are reminded that the truth can never be hidden or silenced. Somaliland’s savagery in Buhodle is now exposed – and history will demand answers.

And finally, Somaliland’s SNM leadership has failed the people of Somaliland. International recognition as an independent country is not coming. Every time Somaliland loses politically, the Hargeisa regime changes the people’s focus to the historic “enemy” – indeed a perceived enemy – to the east. This is shameful politics in the 21st century. There is now growing concern that battle losses, both politically and militarily, is widening internal discord in Hargeisa as Somaliland's aging leader Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo allows his ultra-powerful clan-cousin Mr. Hersi Haji Ali Hassan and allies like SNM warmonger and Kulmiye party chairman Mr. Muse Bihi to conduct a policy of extremist violence to settle old scores. Internal discords include the ongoing dispute between Somaliland President Silanyo and Vice President Abdirahman Abdullahi Saylici, a dispute attributed to Mr. Hersi and which is widely reported by Somaliland media, and even compared to the notorious TFG political disputes.

HARGEYSA, Somalia Jan 29 2012 (Garowe Online) – A prominent opposition party leader in the Somaliland government Faisal Ali Warabe who spoke to reporters said that Somaliland does not have good relations with the international community and the Somaliland government needed to adjust to the new Somalia, Radio Garowe reports.

Faisal Ali Warabe chairman of the Justice and Welfare Party of Somaliland (UCID) who spoke to reporters said that Somaliland government needed to adjust to the changing political outlook of Somalia. “We have to adjust to the changes in politics around us so Somaliland does not collapse politically,” said Mr. Warabe.

When asked about the international relations Somaliland has the opposition leader responded Somaliland has no real international relations with the international community.

Mr. Warabe spoke about the upcoming meeting in UK, where different autonomous regions in Somalia and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia are invited to meet in London on the 23 of February. Mr. Warabe stated that if Somaliland attends the conference or not, is not important what is important that Somalia comes out of the meeting with a unified policy.

According to reports Somaliland has been courted by many UK officials to join the different states in Somalia that are attending the meeting in which issues such as security, political process, and international cooperation will be discussed.

Mr. Warabe who gave a 10 minute interview, spoke about the Puntland government, Somaliland’s neighbor to the east. Mr Warabe said, "Puntland is leading the Somali national politics. The TFG Prime Minister is from Puntland. Farole [Puntland President] is hosting a national conference in Garowe."

Somaliland’s policies in the contested areas of Sool, Sanag, and Ayn have caused much controversy lately, resulting in protests and battles that led to many deaths in the contested areas. Somaliland also had problems in the region of Awdal which was a region of Somaliland for many years, recently declared itself as a state of Somalia.

The armed militias from Somaliland were conquered and their escaped militias went into Qorulugud town while the Dhulbahante's militias got aid from rural areas.

Mogadishu (Sunatimes) Colonial Mohamed Yusuf Indhashel, one of the three presidents of Khatumo State of Somalia was injured during Buhodle fighting between armed men from Somaliland and Khatumo State but one we glance deeply both of them are from Isak and Dhulbahanre clan.

Colonial Indhashel is a Somali Dutch who used to live in Delft city in Netherlands. It's confirmed that he was fired on the head while he was fighting at the front fighting zone at the same time he wound is uncomplicated.

During the Buhodle fighting, 28 people from Dhulbahnte clan were killed as well as 18 peaple included these are from one of the three sub-clans from Dhulbahante clan. In addition, over 20 people from this clan were wounded and all of them were taken into Buhodle town.

32 from Isak clan were killed throughout the Buhodle fighting while 19 of these troops are from Habar-jeclo sub clan and there are 9 troops werearrested as prisoners. As it's confirmed 39 troops from Somaliland were injured during the Buhodle fighting.

Vehicle belongs to Isak clan was taken over during Buhodle fighting which was provisions car, as well as weapon vehicle was burnt after they took its gun.

Armed men from Isak clan was defeated after they fired into Buhodle city so Somaliland's militias were overpowered by armed militias led by Ahmed Karash, one of the commanders ofKhaatuma State of Somalia, also a famous official and provisions' vehicle were taken over.

The armed militias from Somaliland were conquered and their escaped militias went into Qorulugud town while the Dhulbahante's militias got aid from rural areas.

The armed men from both sides are getting collecting weapons so it's confirmed that fighting can erupt another bitter fighting again.

The foreign and interior ministers of Somaliland have gone to Addis Ababa/Ethiopia as emergence and it's reported that their traveling is aimed to persuade Ethiopian authority ceasing its support to Khaatuma State iyo Awdal State.

It seems that Somali region authority in Ethiopia giving a hand to Awdal state of Somalia since Ogaden, Gadabursi and Dhulbahante clans have power in Somali regions in Ethiopia.

It's confirmed that the urgent traveling of two ministers into Ethiopia is aspired talking with the Addis Ababa authority do not allow the Awdal state's president, Rashid Aw Nur Hersi to use Jig-jiga airport after the welcoming troops has left from Awbarre city inside of Ethiopia.

The relation between Ethiopia and Somaliland is deteriorating after the President Silanyo had rejected to resign radical ministers since Ethiopian government has suspicions these ministers are members of Al shabab group.

Presidential minister and foreign Ministers of Somaliland had met in Cairo the great religious leader in Egypt and this caused enormous distrust.

At least eight people have been killed after troops from the self-declared republic of Somaliland launched an attack on local militiamen in the Buhodle district, Press TV reports.

The conflict erupted on Thursday as Somaliland forces launched an attack against bases of militia fighters, who have recently formed the new regional state of Khatumo, on the outskirts of Sool-Joogto village in the Buhodle district.

Fierce skirmishes broke out in the aftermath of the assault and heavy weapons -- including artillery and machine guns -- were used in the fighting. The gun battle forced local residents to flee their homes.

A total of eight people were killed and several others wounded during the clashes.

Somaliland, situated in northwestern Somalia, unilaterally declared independence from the rest of Horn Africa country in 1991.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The Somali government has struggled for years to restore security but efforts have not yet yielded results in the African nation.

Puntland Vice President, Abdisamad Ali Shire, has angrily spoken on the Khatumo Two conference which was recently concluded in the town of Taleh. The Puntland vice president while speaking on the outcome of the meeting said they were initially optimistic about the conference hoping that it would be used as an opportunity to unite the clan and liberate [disputed town of] Laas Canood. He said his administration was expressing regret at the fact that a self appointed group manipulated the conference and deviating it from the original plan.

"The clan is part of Puntland and they will forever remain so unless and until they choose to withdraw in the same way that they joined the administration initially. We know that the Khatumo conference was spearheaded by individual that have become known for putting their own selfish interests before that of the people," said the Puntland vice president.

"This so called Khatumo State is just like any of the irrelevant administrations that have been impulsively formed such as Caseyrland and Galbeedland," said the Puntland vice president with the grin. The vice president while cautioning clans in Sool Sanaag and Ceyn Regions said they should not allow to be displaced by an individual who will not help settle them down in the end.

Speaking on attack by Somaliland on town of Buuhoodle, Abdisamad Ali Shire said it was an unnecessary provocation and added that Somaliland has forgotten the problems they faced in the 1980's and how difficult life was for their people back then. He said it was wrong for Somaliland soldiers to inflict a similar suffering on the residents of Buuhoodle.

On January 11th , 2012, the new state of Khatumo was formed by leaders of the Dhulbahante clan (sub clan of Darod) from Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) regions, who declared their intention to break away from Somaliland and Puntland, which both claim sovereignty over the disputed territory.

Somaliland, also a breakaway state in Somalia, has since rejected the decision and sent troops to attack Khatumo militia bases on Thursday, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 90 Somaliland soldiers. Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in Somalia, also expressed their disappointment with the new state, but has not responded militarily.

In an effort to learn more about Khatumo, Somalia Report interviewed its new president Mr. Ahmed Ali Osman Karaash.

I can’t say that I am happy to be in this position because there is a lot of responsibility, but I'm happy to work with my family and towards peace in these regions.

We know that there have been a lot of problems in these region. How do you intend to resolve that?

Yes, there are more things that need to be resolved. My plan is to create peace and development and we will work with anyone in Somalia who wants peace.

How did the people in the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn react to the news of the new state?

Honestly I am sure that everyone in these regions are so happy about this announcement because they want peace and their own regional autonomy.

We know there is some areas which Khatumo will not handover to Somaliland. How does your government plan to keep control of those areas?

Yes, it is true that we want to tell first Somaliland that we need peace and for these regions to be calm. We will ask them to move out of our regions. You know the Somali state are clans so we do not need one clan to control another clan.

Recently heavy fighting broke out between Somaliland and the militia which supports your government in Buhodle district of Togdher region. Who started this fight?

Everyone knows that Somaliland forces started the fighting. We ask them to stop. We want peace.

As I told you, we need peace but if they ignore peace then, yes, we will fight them to get our land and our people.

Does your government have military forces and police to face Somaliland or to ensure the security in these areas?

Yes, because we have very experienced officials who worked for the Somalia government before the civil and were trained them.

I do not want to publish that in the media, but I can tell you that we have enough forces.

You know, we are we new state and have not started taxing yet, but we will. The Diaspora supports us now.

We aware that there are a lot of resources in these regions including oil and livestock.

You were Puntland’s former aviation and ports minister. Why did you resign your position and what was the conflict between you and Puntland government?

Yes, it is true that I was a minister in Puntland, but after I saw that our regions had no development or rights, I decided to resign that position and work to my family take part in developing these region.

We are neighbors and we are families so our relations are not that bad. If they will work us, we will work with them too.

TFG officials did issue a statement that they welcomed this new born state so how do you know?

I just told you that they recognized us and are aware about our meetings, but we are waiting for TFG officials to officially welcome us.

Do you have any relations with neighboring countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti?

Yes, we have reliable relations with all these countries because they know that we respect them and we need them to work us towards peace in the region.

We are expecting more and we are sure that if the Somali people trust one an other that they can succeed with anything.

My message to Somali people is this: we are brothers and sisters and we also have one religion, one flag, one country. We are one people so we need to work towards peace to ensure the stability of the country. We know that if we trust each other and have patience, we can succeed and everyone can live comfortably. I also want to tell also Somalis to support our country

BUHODLE, Somalia Jan 27 2012 (Garowe Online) - Over 31 Somaliland soldiers were killed , while 43 others were seriously injured in a counter offensive launched by local militia, some 30 kms north of Buhodle, the capital of Ayn region.

Reports say 23 local militia were killed, while 21 others were injured in the 3 hour battle launched by Somaliland at about 4:00 pm Thursday evening.

The militia led rapid response squads in a counter offensive that thwarted the Somaliland attack and destroyed 2 Somliland armed trucks and other military hardware.

The fleeing Somaliland soldiers abandoned a logistics truck laden with food rations for the Somaliland infantry and mechanized units. The truck is now under the custody of the regional security forces in the Buhodle district.

Meanwhile, residents were enraged that the G6 delegation led by former Somalia Premier, Ali Khalif Galeyr and former IMF official Ali Isse Abdi, did not take part in the intervention, although the G6 delegation's - escorted by 12 armed trucks - visit coincided with the attack by Somaliland forces.

A Buhodle citizen who wanted to remain anonymous attributed the G6 attitudes towards the clashes as a response to their recent loss in election for the Khatuma Presidency. The G6 lost the bid for the presidency to the popular politician Ahmed Karash, the former Puntland Minister for Civil Aviation and Airports.

Other residents were weary of the G6 presence in Buhodle , as rumors of a G6 - Somaliland alliance remained in circulation.

Renewed fighting in the northern Somalia between forces of Khaatumo and Somaliland administrations shows the fragility of peace agreements between clans more than twenty years after the collapse of state in Somalia. Unlike traditional clan wars the current war in Northern Somalia is a political one. Somaliland regards the ex-British border between the two provinces (North and South that united to form the Somali Republic in 1960) a basis on which its secession argument is based. Somaliland uses words such as sovereignty when it orders its militias ( known to its supports as Somaliland Army) to attack unionist towns such as Buuhoodle or to open fire on peaceful demonstrators waving the Somali flag in Las Anod town of Sool region.

Although Khaatumo and Somaliland are names of two administrations, the war is between armed men from Dhulbahante and Isaaq clans. Britain ruled the Northern Somalia territories until June 26 1960 and maintains links with that part of Somalia. Britain recognises the Transitional Federal Government and the territorial integrity of Somalia, has provided significant assistance to Somaliland during and after elections in 2010 and is, according to Human Rights and Democracy: The 2010 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report, Britain “ the largest bilateral donor” to Somaliland.

Somaliland’s insistence on and misuse of the term sovereignty is the cause of armed confrontations and the attack on Buuhoodle by Somaliland’s clan forces two weeks ago. These attacks cause widespread human rights violations that merit investigations. As the date of the British-organised Somalia Conference in London draws closer, Britain can play a major role in reining in Somaliland political and traditional leaders who have declared war on peaceful, unionist towns. Britain has a moral obligation to address the renewed clan warfare and work towards bringing together the two administrations to resolve political problems peacefully. By doing that Britain will send a clear message that it is not taking sides in clan warfare and that human rights violators will be brought to justice. Silence is not an option.

Somali MPs that hail from [disputed] Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn Regions have today held a meeting in Mogadishu in which they asked senior Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] officials to intervene in the situation in these regions. The formation of the Khatumo Administration has affected residents of these three regions.

Haji Abdi Muhammad Ali, a member of the Federal Somali Parliament told the media that Somaliland Administrations is causing a lot of problems for civilians in these regions and urged the TFG to support residents whom he said were struggling to up the national flag in these regions. The MP also urged residents of these regions to continue with the demonstrations and opposition to the Somaliland administration and stick to their plan of forming their own independent regional administration which will come under the TFG.

There have been clashes in Sool Sanaag and Ceyn Region ever since the formation of an administration that is independent from both Puntland and Somaliland were announced. Somaliland forces who were defying the formation of the new administration in these areas and local militias in these region have on several occasions in recent weeks clashed in a number of towns in the region.

Khatumo Militia After Fighting Somaliand Forces

UPDATE: Khatumo militias claimed victory and killed 86 Somaliland soldiers and captured more than 30 soldiers, according to militia leader Abdirisak Fanah who spoke to Somalia Report this evening.

At least six fighters were killed and more than ten were injured as the military of Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland fought against local militias that recently formed the new regional state of Khatumo in Fool-joogto village, 30km north of Buhodle district in Ayn region, on Thursday afternoon, locals said.

The fighting erupted when Somaliland forces attacked the militias’ bases on the outskirts of Fool-Joogto village, where the two sides fought more than one hour. Both sides used heavy gunfire, including artillery and machine guns.

“The fighting started at noon. I can confirm that six people were killed, including two from the militia and the others from Somaliland,” local resident Gurey Ahmed Adawe in Buhodle told Somalia Report, adding that the fighting effected the area and forced the residents to flee their homes.

“The local militias displayed two military vehicles which they captured from Somaliland as well as two Somaliland officers they took as prisoners,” he stated.

Suldaan Mahad Saleban Roble, a traditional leader in Buhodle district, accused Somaliland forces of “massacring” the civilians of Sool, Sanaag and Ayn regions and forcing them to break away from Somalia.

“We belief in Somalism and we don’t want to break away from the other Somali regions, but SNM militias (the former name of Somaliland when they rebelled against Somalia's military government in the 1980s) want to force us to join them and divide Somalia, but they don’t know that the world of the dictator is over,” he said.

Roble urged the international community and the United Nations to intervene and vowed they will fight against Somaliland until they eradicate them from Sool, Sanaag and Ayn regions.

Tensions remain high in the three regions and residents are expecting fighting to erupt any moment as Somaliland is deploying more troops to the area. At the same time, the local militias are preparing for a massive battle against Somaliland.

Recently, Darod sub-clan of Dhulbahante clan that reside the regions met in Taleh district and formed the new regional state of Katumo. Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, however, vowed he would never allow Somaliland to be divided.

Two weeks ago, Somaliland military forces failed to seize Buhodle and were forced to flee by the local militia.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2624/86_Dead_as_Somaliland_Battles_Khatumo_Militia

Puntland has expressed concerns over the move in which Somaliland forces deliberately killed civilians who were staging demonstrations in opposition to their administration in [disputed] town of Laas Canood, Sool Region. Puntland vice president, Abdisamad Ali Shire, while speaking to the media in Garowe said his administration was quite concerned about developments in these regions and was condemning Somaliland force's attack on civilians in Laas Canood. General Abdisamad said Somaliland will be held accountable for the massacre of innocent civilians by forcing them to support their administration.

Residents of Laas Canood recently staged demonstration in support of an administration recently formed in these regions and Somaliland forces in the town fired live ammunition at the demonstrators causing death and injury. Tension is high in Laas Canood as counter demonstrations in support of the Somaliland Administration are also being planned in town.

Mahmud Jama Muhammad, a resident of the town said clashes with the Somaliland forces started civilians brought in from other parts of Somaliland and into Laas Canood attempted to stage counter demonstrations in support of Somaliland administration. The situation is slowly normalising in Laas Canood although the tension still remains.

BARAN, Somalia Jan 24 2012 (Garowe Online) – Protesters who are against Somaliland’s authority in the region of Sanaag lined the streets of Baran chanting “Somalia is one”, Radio Garowe reports.

Hundreds of protesters with boards and banners crowded the streets of Baran capital of Sanaag region on Tuesday to protest Somaliland’s authority in the region which is hotly contested by both the Puntland and Somaliland governments.

According to Mohamed Saeed Dabayl Governor of Sanaag the citizens were protesting recent demonstrations in which Somaliland supporters had conducted in Somaliland and the arrival of Somaliland officials in Baran, the protesters chanted “Long live Puntland state, Somalia is one nation.”

Mr. Dabayl told reporters that Sanaag citizens want to be a part of Somalia and do not want further divides in the Somali nation.

Ugaas Hassan Jama Dhegood a clan leader in Sanaag who took part of the demonstrations told reporters that citizens of Sanaag do not want any authority that is against the unity of Somalia. He went on to add that Sanaag is a part of Puntland state of Somalia and its people are Puntlanders.

In related news Somaliland forces opened fire on protesters on Saturday in the city of Las’anod capital of Sool region killing 2 and injuring 12.

Somaliland government is unpopular in Sool, Sanaag and Ayn regions where they have militarily occupied lands. Although Puntland officials have asked Somaliland forces to leave the contested the lands there has been no comments made from the International community.

Puntland and Somaliland have had a territorial dispute since 2003 over the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Ayn. Although the three regions were hotly contested Las'anod was under Puntland rule until 2007 after Somaliland forces captured Las'anod and have occupied it ever since.

The organization accuses the authorities to trying to intimidate the media and calls for the release of four journalists still being held illegally.

"This wave of arrests of journalists is without precedent in Somaliland," Reporters Without Borders said. "We are disturbed by this crackdown and by the president's readiness to brand a media as a 'nation destructor.' This will further intimidate journalists who already have to cope with tough conditions in this region of Somalia. We urge the authorities to free the four journalists still being held and to reopen HornCable TV without delay."

When HornCable TV employees demonstrated outside the presidential palace in Hargeisa yesterday in protest against the station's closure, they were attacked and beaten by members of the Somaliland Special Protection Unit and eight of them were arrested. The eight detainees, all journalists, were Nimco Sabriye, Hamsa Ali Bulbul, Mohamed Gurashe, Abdirahman Sheik Yunes, Ayan Diriye, Nimo' Diriye, Hodan Ali Ajabi and Safiya Nuh Sheikh.

Thirteen other journalists from various media who went to help their detained colleagues were then also arrested. HornCable TV's owner was summoned to the president's office later yesterday and interrogated. The detained journalists, who included six women, were taken to police headquarters in Hargeisa and were finally released today on interior minister Mohamed Nour Arale's orders, after being held for more than 24 hours.

HornCable TV was closed on 14 January when around 100 policemen arrived in seven armoured vehicles, ordered all the staff to leave and sealed the doors. The transmitter was disconnected soon afterwards. The officer in charge of the raid, Mohamed Du'alle, admitted he did not have a warrant but said he was acting on orders from superiors. Mohamed Abdi Sheik, HornCable TV's East Africa director, was briefly detained during the operation.

In an address to parliament earlier the same day, Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Siilaanyon described HornCable TV as a "nation destructor" and accused it of broadcasting anti-government propaganda.

The government's anger was reportedly aroused by the station's coverage of a tribal meeting in Taleh district of Sool region, in which representatives of various tribes announced the creation of an autonomous administration in the region. The interior minister confirmed that this was the reason, and said the station's licence had been withdrawn for "anti-Somaliland propaganda."

The four journalists who are still detained were arrested in series of incidents from 8 to 11 January.

Ali Ismail Aare, a reporter for the weekly Waheen, was arrested on 11 January for taking photos of a service station and a building belonging to Somaliland Vice-President Abdirahman Abdilahi. Mohamed Omar Sheikh, a reporter for the weekly Saxafi, was arrested the same day for writing articles that were deemed likely to create conflict in the Awdal region.

Abdqani Hassan Farah, a Universal TV reporter in Las Anod district of Sool region, was arrested with two colleagues from HornCable TV and Somaliland TV on 9 January. The other two were freed after a few hours but Farah, also known as Gadari, is still being held on a charge of "exaggerating reports of a meeting that created instability in the Sool, Sanag and Eyn regions." It was a meeting of the Taleh tribes the day before. His arrest was reportedly arranged by Sool's governor on the orders of Somaliland information minister Ahmed Abdi Habsade.

On 9 January, Somaliland police also prevented four journalists from attending the laying of fibre-optic cable by SomCable Ltd that will enable the territory to be connected with the outside world via Djibouti. It has been the source of a great deal of controversy as it was authorized by the previous government and rejected by the new one.

Finally, Yusuf Abdi Ali, a reporter better known as Indho Quruh who works for London-based Royal TV, was arrested without a warrant in the Borame district of the city of Awdal on 8 January after being accused by a local NGO, Africa Youth Development Association, of making false allegations of corruption and management problems in local development projects. He is still being held in the Borame district police station. He has not been charged and has not been able to see a lawyer.

This is the list of 21 journalists who were arrested on 15 January and were freed the next day:

1. Mohamud Abdi Jama, editor-in-chief, Waaheen newspaper 2. Mohamed Omar Abdi, editor-in-chief, Jamhuuriya newspaper 3. Ahmed Aden Dhere, reporter, Haatuf newspaper 4. Mohamed Said Harago, head of news, Berberanews 5. Najah Adan Unaye, director, Hadhwanaagnews 6. Suhur Barre, reporter, HornCable TV 7. Abdiqani Abdullahi Ahmed, reporter, Hadhwanaagnews 8. Mohamed Ahmed Muse, reporter, HornCable TV 9. Mohamed Fayr, reporter, Geeska Africa newspaper 10. Saleban Abdi Ali Kalshaale, reporter, Waaheen newspaper 11. Khalid Hamdi Ahmed, reporter, Waaheen newspaper 12. Nimo Omar Mohmed Sabriye, presenter, HornCable TV 13. Hamsa Ali Bulbul, reporter, HornCable TV 14. Mohamed Ahmed Muse Kurase, reporter, HornCable TV 15. Abdirahman Sheik Yunes, presenter, HornCable TV 16. Ayan Diriye, reporter, HornCable TV 17. Nimo' Diriye, reporter, HornCable TV 18. Hodan Ali Ajabi, reporter, HornCable TV 19. Safiya Nuh Sheikh, presenter, HornCable TV 20. Ahmed Abdirahman Hersi, news editor, HornCable TV 21. Jama Omar Abdullahi, reporter, Waaheen newspaper

"How are you going to make money in a country that doesn't even exist?" That was probably the question that many people had at the back of their minds when Mohammed Yusef told them he would invest in Somaliland.

Others perhaps did not even know Somaliland had declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and that, in spite of not having been recognised internationally, it does have - unlike Somalia - a working political system and a strong business sector.

Mr Yusef of course knew. Although he now manages a very successful investment firm in the United Kingdom, Invicta Capital Limited, he has always kept in touch with the land where he was born six decades ago, while it still was a British protectorate.

"If what my parents say is true, I always had a mentality for trade, for business, and it's not inconsistent with the family history because the family originated from a fishing village on the Gulf of Aden," he told the BBC's series African Dream.

Mr Yusef was educated in the UK where he trained as a solicitor and practiced as a commercial lawyer before starting his own law practice specializing in commercial law, copyright and media law in London.

In 1999 he founded Invicta, a private equity firm providing finance for the media, commercial property and renewable energy sectors which, according to its website, has raised over £1.4bn ($2.3bn) of investment capital.

His Somaliland business is handled through a company called Prime Resources which has a staff of nine people in Hargeisa, the capital.

Mohammed Yusef
- Age: 60
- First business venture: buying and selling a film library
- Trained as a solicitor
- Practiced as a commercial lawyer before founding his own law practice in London
- Founded Invicta Capital in 1999
- His Somaliland business is handled through a company called Prime Resources
- Prime has a staff of nine people in Hargeisa

According to him, the firm has invested in mining, and oil and gas exploration and is about to embark on a $40m exploration programme. It is also evaluating business opportunities in Somalia in the agricultural and property sectors.

"When I first started looking at investment in Somaliland even my professional colleagues would say: 'You're mad. This doesn't make any sense'," he remembers.

"Not only did they confuse Somaliland with Somalia but it does have the problem of being an unrecognised country," he told the BBC's Mary Harper.

"But actually nobody ever made money from following the herd and the most money is often to be made where there is a mismatch between what people perceive to be the place and the reality of what it is, and Somaliland is exactly in those kinds of circumstances where there is a huge gap between the reality and the perception."

"So actually there is a method to my madness and it isn't inconsistent with the basic principles of business: Go find yourself a situation that nobody else has spotted and be prepared to hang on in there while everybody else catches up."

"There is no inconsistency between what we look for when we invest in an opportunity here [in London] and what we look for over there, except that the potential rewards in Somaliland are far greater, ironically."

"I was lucky in that I knew who my buyer was going to be, so it was one of those crazy situations where I knew I could buy for X and sell for Y," he said.

"In many ways, it's the worst first lesson to have in business because you run away with the idea that business is actually quite easy."

However, this experience was probably helpful to him when, later, he decided to specialise in structured film financing.

Invicta has been involved in the financial side of many successful film projects, including Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Da Vinci Code and James Bond's Casino Royale.

Although now he manages big money, Mr Yusef says that he started with very little.

"I had enough capital to pay the rent of an office for six months. I think it was enough to pay the secretary and assistant. That was it.

"But it didn't take much. It never takes much. Not having money is never really the obstacle, it's the excuse."

Mr Yusef says that for him one of the most exciting things about his business is meeting people.

“The biggest driver for people in business, if you look at it, is the creative drive, to create something from nothing and step back and say: 'That was nothing then, look at it now'”

He believes that it is often easier to get to know others in stressful situations because they cannot "keep their pretences up for very long".

"Every situation is different from the last. And the mistake often made is to assume 'Oh, I know how that story is going to end'. So there's always that tension - positive stress is what I call it - that keeps one going," he says.

"After a while, it may sound a bit glib to say this, the money motive isn't the main driver. Once you've reached a certain level of security - you've paid the mortgage if you still had one and taken care of the basics of life, and you can afford one or two luxuries - people who accumulate businesses and business interests just to make more money are a little bit unwell, I think.

"The biggest driver for people in business, if you look at it, is the creative drive, to create something from nothing and step back and say: 'That was nothing then, look at it now'. I'm sure that's the key motivator for most people who are successful in business."

"Control your fear and never give up because you will fail more than you succeed, and I think that's the thing that my father taught me more than anything else, and that's that ultimately you will prevail if you take your losses as well as your successes and learn from the losses. We learn nothing from success and everything from failure.

"I think the thing that separates the natural businessman and, let's say, a business consultant, is the tenacity that is required. Many people give up on their dreams and their ideas faster than they should, and even when they do fail, they should figure out why they failed and then look for the next opportunity."

African Dream is broadcast on the BBC Network Africa programme every Monday morning.

Puntland Vice President Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire asked the Somaliland government to end the violence that has forced people to flee their homes in provinces of Sool and Ayn, Radio Garowe reports.

Vice President Gen. Abdisamad spoke at a conference in Garowe to promote journalism in Somalia, the VP took the opportunity to speak about the violence that was occurring in Las'anod as 2 people died and 12 were wounded after Somaliland forces fired on protesters on Saturday.

Vice President Gen. Abdisamad asked the Somaliland forces to leave the hotly contested lands. "After the blatant violence against inhabitants of those lands, the Puntland government is asking the Somaliland government to pull out their forces from Ayn and Sool," said VP Gen. Abdisamad.

The Somaliland forces attacked the city of Buhodle capital of Ayn region last week killing 7 and injuring 15. Somaliland government is unpopular in Sool, Sanaag and Ayn regions where they have militarily occupied lands in order to extend their government rule.

Puntland and Somaliland have had a territorial dispute since 2003 over the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Ayn. Although the three regions were hotly

On 16th January 2012, a group of NAGAAD and Board of directors launched the third nationwide office in Erigavo the capital city of Sanaag region. The aim of this new office is to serve to the Far East regions of the country since Burao office is doing a lot of work in Togdheer region.

The mayor of Erigavo Mr. Ismail Haji Nour was given the launching remarks and vowed the importance of this new office since NAGAAD is a national women’s network that serves the interest of women in all aspects of life. Yes this is not the first time NAGAAD has reached Erigavo, but has been operating through its member organizations and starting from today this will be the center for their regional operation with close collaboration of the local authority and as well its member organizations and public at large.

The executive director of NAGAAD Network Ms Nafisa Yusuf Mohamed welcomed the participants of the launching ceremony and invited their mutual cooperation with NAGAAD since it serves the interest of women with not discrimination. In Erigavo, it is very important to have a regional office since this is the largest region of the country where women are also plays an active role in the development of the region. Continuing her remarks, Ms Nafisa informed the participants that your collaboration is very important and would have appreciated if we sustain towards a tangible changes where the rights of women respected in the region through political participation and access to all forms of life support.

A group of board members also welcomed the participants and vowed their potential participation of all the initiatives of NAGAAD. They have narrated that NAGAAD is theirs and will continue its interest throughout.

The ceremony was concluded in good form where participants also appreciated the initiative and vowed full support and collaboration.

http://www.nagaad.org/lag/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81:nagaad-established-a-new-office-in-erigavo-sanaag-region-&catid=31:news&Itemid=46

At least six people were killed and more than 10 others were injured when Somaliland troops fired on demonstrators in Lasanod in the Sool region of Somaliland, according to eyewitnesses.

Abdifatah Juge, a Lasanod resident who spoke to Somalia Report, said, “The police opened fire, killed six people and injured more than ten others. 20 people were arrested and tortured, including old men and women.”

Mohamud Gele, a Lasanod elder, spoke out defiantly, “We are sorry to see our beloved people killed by Somaliland forces, but the strike will continue until the government allows the people of Sool region independence. We are calling on the government to stop the agonizing mistreatment of our people.”

In recent weeks there has been conflicts between Somaliland government and the people of Sool, who have been seeking autonomy and identify with southern Somalia. This conflict has been violent in the past, and Somaliland troops have been willing to shoot protesters. Somalialand officials have yet to comment on the incident.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2587/Somaliland_Police_Kill_6_Demonstrators

Kenyan Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Farah Ma'alin, has today visited Hargeysa and held talks with Somaliland President, Ahmad Muhammad Silanyo as well as ministers in his administration. The Kenyan deputy speaker said his visit was a private one.

He said he requested the Somaliland leader to end clashes in the town of Buuhoodle and that President Silanyo of Somaliland accepted his proposals.

"We do not believe in bloodshed. We are ready to mediate. We spoke to the president and he has accepted my proposals. We know him to be a peace loving individual," said Farah Ma'alin. He said he urged President Silanyo to have Somaliland forces withdraw from battle grounds and that he accepted the proposal.

Asked whether he has spoke to residents of Buuhoodle where preparation for more fighting are being made, the Kenyan deputy speaker said telephone lines have been cut off but if possible, he would like to travel there and was asking traditional elders and intellectuals there to support peace and an end to the hostilities. It was just last Sunday [15th of December] that Somaliland forces launched attacks on the town of Buuhoodle where they were engaged in fighting by local militias in the town.

LAS ANOD, Somalia Jan 21, 2012 (Garowe Online) - Security forces in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland opened fire on protestors Saturday in Las Anod, capital of Sool region, Radio Garowe reports.

According to witnesses, Somaliland forces opened fire on protestors who had blocked the tarmac road with stones and tires. The protest began after Las Anod locals were informed about to truckloads of persons from Burao town, who were transported to Las Anod to stage pro-Somaliland protests.

"Locals were opposed to Burao persons pretending to be Las Anod residents in order to stage pro-Somaliland protests," said a journalist in Las Anod. At least 2 persons were killed and 12 others wounded when Somaliland forces opened fire on the protestors, the journalist added.

It is not the first time that Somaliland forces opened fire on anti-Somaliland protestors in Las Anod.

Somaliland forces have militarily occupied Las Anod town since October 2007, when Puntland security forces withdrew from Las Anod. The Somaliland administration remains deeply unpopular in Sool and Sanaag regions, as Somaliland forces frequently use force to impose Somaliland's separatist policies on communities in Sool and Sanaag regions.

Mr Silanyo added his speech "the British government wants to establish a compulsory Somali government, and we are facing strong pressure".

Hargeisa (Sunatimes) The Britain government has made pressure towards president of Somaliland, Ahmed Mohamed Silanyoto participate the Somali conference for Somali factions which will be held on February 23, 2012 in order to establish for coalition government for all Somalis.

British Diplomatic official for Somalis issues have confirmed us to night that the Somaliland authority will take part the Somali conference which will be held in London while there is disagree between the Somaliland officials.

This diplomatic who requested us not to mention his name said that the acceptation from Silanyo resulted after the Britain government had informed him that they will be stopped the financial support.

"The two first messages, the Somaliland authority didn’t response but they accepted the message which sent to them was to clarify their vision for the conference, so they said that they agree the conferences and its consequences: said the British diplomatic.

The diplomatic who work at the British embassy in Kenya and Ethiopia confirmed that the Awdal state and Khatumo states of Somalia will take part the conferences.

The UN representative for Somali, Ambassador Mahiga has said to waagacusub.com through phone "the Somaliland authority lost its confidences for the international community after the Klashale conferences, therefore its necessary to take part the London conference in order to suggest their view".

President Silanyo has met with all the Somaliland parts in closed meeting, and he has informed to them that he has faced pressure to take part the London conference. Thus he asked them to suggest ideas for the London conference but the main important this to get solution for the Khatumo state of Somalia which was established in Taleh city.

This Silanyo's meeting with the leaders of the Somaliland parts which was talking about the security, and the presidential Minister was president but the interior Minster was absent so it was legal for his participation since he was in Hargeisa. "I think that we have to take part the London conference in order to display our vision, but some Diaspora cautioned as well as others encouraged us for his participating" Said Mr. Silanyo while he was addressing his opinion towards the London conference.

Mr Silanyo added his speech "the British government wants to establish a compulsory Somali government, and we are facing strong pressure".

The British envoy for the Somali issues Mr. Matt Baug has expose yesterday through internet one of the British foreign Minsters and he posted the Agendas of the London conference for the Somali parts which will be held on February 23, 2012, read at here.

Mr. Ahmed Silanyo glances to Great Somalia but he could face difficulties to accept the Garhajis clan since they were massacred while they were supporting to Abdurrahman Tur.

On the other hand, it was reported that the deputy of Somaliland president Mr Abdurrahman Saylici has said that he will resign his position after he was despised by the Presidential Minster, Hersi Haji Ali who has power beside of the Silanyo president.

Abdurrahman Saylici didn’t take part the Minster's conference of Somaliland and he informed to a peace delegations that they presidential rule in under specific ministers and he indicated Hersi Tooriile.

"I have no power, I became a person who sets at the office without meaning, my power rule is under the order of Hersi Haji Ali, the disorder and the despise effected all things, for example I don't take part the issues of the country because of they meets as secret in a room, thus I will take a decision and I will share things with my clan" said Mr. Abdurrahman Saylici.

The Qarannewsas written, the disagreed of the Somaliland presentation that he didn’t able to take part the ministers meeting which was holding room next his office.

Abdurahman Saylihi is from Gadabursi clan and he support the Awdal state of Somalia at 85% but it's unknown that he will joint to Awdal authority after his resignation.

The Waaheen press has stated "the disagreed of Somaliland presidential officials is exist yet and important sources say that the peace delegations went to the deputy president and they came back failures".

President Silanyo tries to resign the presidential Minster but he had faced demands from the owner of Dahabshil, Mr. Mohamed Said Duale (Dhigshil) and he was the person who paid much money to win Silanyo to be President of Somaliland. The Ethiopian government stopped its relation with Somaliland after Ethiopia irritated president Silanyo after he rejected to resign some ministers whose radicals including; The presidential Minster, Mr Hersi Haji Ali (Tooriile), the finance Minster, Mohamed Hashi (Kaligi sahane) The m interior Minster, Mr Mohamed Arale Nur (Dur) and Religion minister, Mr. Khalil Abdullahi.

It seems, Ethiopia full of activity plans to support to authorities of Khaatumo State of Somalia who believes Great Somalia visions.

By JD, SHIINE OMAR 01/20/2012.http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2575/Puntland_Somaliland_Prepare_to_Fight_Pirates

Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland accelerated their efforts to fight against pirates and human smugglers by sending their newly establish Puntland Marine Police Force (PMPF) to Qaw village, 30 km west of the port of Bosaso. Officials told Somalia Report that the deployment kicks off the largest anti-piracy campaign to date in Puntland's coastal regions.

The mission, which commenced on 15 January, was authorized by Puntland President Farole, the Minister of Security, Mr. Khalif Isse Mudan, and the Mayor of Qaw, Mr. Abdi Rashiid Habibi, according to a press release from the PMPF.

“The PMPF is a key component of Puntland’s aggressive, multi-pronged anti-piracy strategy,” said Abdirizak Ahmed, Counter-Piracy Director in the Ministry of Maritime Transport, Ports and Counter-Piracy. “These activities enhance security in the region and provide much-needed humanitarian support to the people of Puntland.”

The PMPF underwent a six-month training course near Bosaso airport and have been supplied with boats and trucks, according to Puntland officials.

“These troops will fight pirates and those who illegally transport migrant people from Puntland to Yemen," Abdirisak Mohamed Mohamoud (Hidig), the coordinator of Puntland’s maritime police, told Somalia Report by telephone.

While this group of anti-piracy forces will remain at their base in Qaw village, Mr. Hidig explained that they plan to deploy more troops to the pirate hubs.

“It’s beginning now. There will be another group of maritime police that we will send to pirate bases on land, including Bargaal and Eyl. We are trying our best to fight pirates on land,” he said.

Mr. Hidig would not comment on the number of troops, boats or vehicles deployed, but told Somalia Report that the Puntland government planned these anti-piracy operations in Bari region after pirates began to hijack commercial boats that were trying to make their way to Bosaso, affecting local businesses.

Puntland President Farole has been a critic of pirates and has vowed to wage an anti-piracy war by implementing a series of security operations resulting in a number of arrests. Today, Puntland holds nearly 300 pirates in its jails.

Funding for this project, according to Mr. Hidig, came from the Puntland government.

"No else one supported the PMPF. They are Puntland made and Puntland trained by government money, but I cannot tell you how much it cost," he explained.

The PMPF has been involved in humanitarian operations, including a massive food and water supply program across southern Puntland during the drought last year, and fighting the massive fire that ravaged the Bosaso market. The PMPF plans to continue its support for local communities during its current deployment.

"In addition to conducting security operations, the PMPF was tasked by President Farole to assist the people of Qaw by repairing the roof of the local school, restoring electricity to the town, and fixing critical components of the town’s water supply," according to the PMPF press release.

While trying to secure the region from pirates and smugglers, Puntland is also attempting to rebuild its cities by investing in infrastructure projects and social programs, with the support of the United Nations.

Puntland today announced they are investing $1.2 million in projects and programs in Caluula of Bari region, Eyl of Nugal region, and Jariban of Mudug region, according to a statement from the Puntland Interior Ministry.

Abdikarim Kayton, chairman of Jariban district, confirmed that Puntland has agreed to help his city. "We will use the money to improve schools, create healthcare programs, and begin infrastructure projects like rebuilding the road. We also plan to help fight the priates or anyone that tries to cause insecurity in our region. These funds will also be used to create jobs for the youths and local residents," the chairman told Somalia Report.

Meanwhile, the breakaway state of Somaliland is also playing a new role in anti-piracy operations, according to local officials, although the region does not host any major pirate hubs.

Somaliland officials confirmed to Somalia Report that 300 maritime police officer have been trained to fight pirates and protect commercial vessels and shipments near the port of Berbera and surrounding coastland villages.

“We trained 300 maritime police who will fight against pirates. They finished eight months of training and now they are ready to fight any insecurity on Somaliland’s sea. Our mission is to secure the seas,” Ahmed Aw-Jama, the commander of Somaliland’s maritime forces, told Somalia Report by phone.

Funding for the program and equipment was the Somaliland government, according to the official who refused to comment on the cost.

"Somaliland's marine police have boats, cars and weapons all paid for by the Somaliland government. No other organization supported us to create the marine police. Our troops have been deployed to three bases in Saahil region," said the commander.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, January 18, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) welcomes the release of 2 Television Journalists in the police custody in the towns of Erigabo of Sanaag region and Boorama of Awdal region on Tuesday making the total journalists released within 2 days to 24 and urges the release of the journalist who is still in custody in Boorama without bring him to court and allow the Television to resume its operations.

Somalisat Television reporter, Abdirisaq Haghi Ahmed who was arrested by Erigabo Police on 14 January, 2012 for allegedly taking interviews from youth supporting the recent Taleex conference and Royal TV reporter Yusuf Ali who was arrested on January 8, 2012 and after spending two days in CID custody was transferred in Boorama jail on January 10, 2012, after a court in Boorama charged him to remain in jail for 45 days. He was was arrested for writing a story over alleged corruption of the regional projects of Awdal region.

The release of Abdirisaq Haghi Ahmed of Somali Sat TV follows after police found enough evidences that the journalist could appear before court, upon which, Sanaag regional Police Chief, Hasan Ismail Yusuf ordered his release on Tuesday 17 January, 2012. He was scheduled to appear in Court today..

Whereas, Royal TV reporter Yusuf Ali better known as "Indho Qurux" was released on Tuesday 17 January, 2011 from jail. His release came after the journalist met with anti-corruption commission in the jail over the alleged corruption he wrote about that led to his arrest, according to Mohamed Abdi Boosh of Royal Television reached by phone from Hargeysa.

Both journalists worked for privately owned televisions and were released on Tuesday 17 January, 2011 without charges.

However, Ali Aareye, Waheen Borama Correspondent, who arrested on January 12, 2012 for allegedly taking photographs on petrol station owned by the vice president, Abdirahman Abdullahi Ismail better known as Saylici is still in custody and was not brought before court.

"We welcome the release of our colleagues and reiterate our call for the release of Ali Aareeye, who is still in detention for six days without bringing him to court." Mohamed Ibrahim, NUSOJ Secretary General said, "We demand from the Somaliland authorities to stop its measures in trying to silence the media and at the same time respect the freedom of expression as enshrined in the Somaliland constitution."

Somaliland authorities released 22 journalists who were detained in a string of arrests against journalists in Somaliland for the past week.

21 one of them were detained on Sunday for making protests in front of the Presidential palace in Hargeysa followed by arrests and closure of Horn Cable Television, meanwhile Abdiqani Hassan Farah Gadari, a universal TV reporter who was detained on January 9. 2012 in the town of Laas-Anod was released on Sunday 16 January, 2012

24 Journalists have been released on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but the the television licence is still under suspention. Journalists in Somalia are at risks for their reporting resulting deaths, torture, arrests, intimidation and death threats.

Epoch Times, January 17, 2012.http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/somaliland-clamps-down-on-press-tv-station-shut-down-177607.html

Press freedom groups are raising alarm bells over an unprecedented clamp down on journalists in the breakaway territory of Somaliland on the Horn of Africa. Over the p.ast week, 25 members of the press were arrested, including 21 who were demonstrating outside of the presidential palace in the capital, Hargeisa, over the shuttering of a local television station, Horn Cable TV.

Although 21 journalists have now been released, the station remains closed and four people are still in detention.

Horn Cable was shut down over the weekend after Ahmed Mohamed Siilaanyon, the president of Somaliland who came to power in July 2010 called the station “nation destructor,” according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Somaliland is an unrecognized and self-declared de facto state that broke away from Somalia.

When journalists with Horn Cable initially held protests, they were beaten and were attacked by presidential security forces and eight were arrested on the spot, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

As word spread, 13 other journalists from the station and other media groups joined the protest, were arrested, and the head of Horn Cable was brought to the president’s palace and interrogated.

Omar Faruk Osman, the head of NUSOJ, said that the union is “relieved that Somaliland authorities have granted 21 of our colleagues their freedom,” according to a statement. “They committed no crime that warrants this unjust detention.”

Eleven of the 21 who were detained are employees with Horn Cable and the rest belonged to other media outlets, including the editors-in-chief of two newspapers.

RSF called the arrests and shuttering of Horn Cable a worrying trend for press freedom in the region.

“This wave of arrests of journalists is without precedent in Somaliland,” said the media watchdog in a statement.

“This will further intimidate journalists who already have to cope with tough conditions in this region of Somalia,” it added. “We urge the authorities to free the four journalists still being held and to reopen Horn Cable TV without delay.”

On Jan. 14, approximately 100 Somaliland police officers went to the office of Horn Cable TV in armored vehicles, ordered the staff to leave, permanently sealed the doors and disabled the station’s transmitter. The officer in charge said he did not have a warrant but said his superiors told him to carry out the raid.

President Siilaanyon on the same day made a public address and accused Horn Cable of disseminating anti-government propaganda. Later, the interior minister said the station was shut over its broadcast of “anti-Somaliland propaganda,” according to RSF.

There is growing concern over the four journalists who remain detained. They were arrested in several incidents between Jan. 8 and Jan. 11, according to NUSOJ. The union said that currently, “this number of journalists in jail is [the] largest number ever detained in the history of Somalia.”

A reporter for the weekly Waheen publication, Ali Ismail Aare, was arrested during that time span for photographing a building and service station belonging to the vice president, the union said. Another reporter, Mohamed Omar Sheikh, who works for the Saxafi weekly, was arrested for producing articles that were deemed sensitive by the government.

Universal TV reporter Abdqani Hassan Farah was arrested for “exaggerating reports of a meeting that created instability in the Sool, Sanag, and Eyn regions,” according to RSF. London-based Royal TV reporter Yusuf Abdi Ali was arrested for making false allegations about management problems and corruption in Somaliland’s development projects.

In the past year, the Somaliland Journalist Association, via the Somaliland Press news portal, said the government attempted to file lawsuits against various media groups operating locally in an attempt to stifle press freedom.

Somaliland is located within Somalia, a country with no central government since 1991, and is governed by the Republic of Somaliland, maintaining some relations with foreign governments. However, the African Union and the United Nations do not recognize it as a sovereign state.

For Somaliland journalists, it has been a terrible start to the New Year, as dozens of media professionals have been harassed, arrested and intimidated over the past days by the Somaliland police and security forces. Hargeisa administrative officials, led by President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, are facing strong condemnation from the Somali community both home and abroad, as well as international press freedom groups.

The Somaliland government is using sweeping unconstitutional laws to crack down on journalists after it accused independent media outlets in the region of reporting biased news that undermines the integrity of Somaliland and criticizes its rulers.

In the last few days security forces have detained 25 journalists, according to the media sources in Somaliland. Included among them were more than 20 editors, directors and press defenders from various media houses, who were detained in Hargeisa on Sunday while they were holding a rally near State House in protest against the closure of a popular local TV station, Horn Cable TV.

In an address to the Somaliland parliament on Saturday, President Silanyo labelled the privately owned independent Horn Cable television as a threat to the sovereignty of Somaliland, due to its spreading of anti-government propaganda. The station denied the allegations.

In the past months, authorities have applied laws unjustly to detain independent journalists, in an attempt to eliminate the few voices critical of the administration. The state has no clear evidence against any of the detained journalists or the banned TV station, according to Somaliland media defender Mohamed Rashid.

“Aiming at increased detention and attacks against the media, the police raided and shut down the offices of the Horn Cable Television, ordering its staff to leave the headquarters,” said Mohamed Rashid.

According to the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), since the 2010 election the Somaliland government has issued several criminal defamation suits against the independent press, shuttered a popular broadcaster, and has now detained the largest number of journalists at one time in Somalia’s history.

“Never in the history of Somalia have so many journalists been rounded up and detained without any due process,” CPJ's East Africa consultant Tom Rhodes told Somalia Report.

“These moves are far removed from the pledge of President Ahmed Silayano to uphold press freedom and show a leadership tolerant of criticism,” he said.

According to the secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), Mohamed Ibrahim, every Somaliland journalist who writes on political issues is currently under a shadow of fear.

One Somaliland journalist was detained last week over reporting on corruption in a local NGO, but the rest the reporters have been held on charges of writing articles or airing news about the Khaatumo II conference in Taleh Village last week.

The meeting was organized by elders, politicians, business people and the traditional leaders from Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn (SSC) regions.

“It was aimed at building a new regional administration for SSC inhabitants, but that would be unacceptable to the Somaliland leader,” Somali political analyst Abdifitah Jama told Somalia Report.

Khaatumo II participants were largely Somali nationalists from the Dhulbahante clan who strongly oppose the separation of Somalia. But Somaliland leaders are arguing that the Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn regions are part of its territories as it declared independence from greater Somalia in 1991

Intimidations to press freedom like those which occurred on Saturday and Sunday will not aid Somaliland in its bid for independence.

“In order for Somaliland to attain independence the government must show its citizens and the world that they uphold the rule of law and respect press freedom," said Mr. Rhodes.

“We had the right to invite independent media houses to report on our Khaatumo II conference in Taleeh, and for that the journalists like those working for Horn Cable TV were harassed by a weak Silanyo administration in Hargeisa. It should not get involved in our quest for the establishment of a new regional state in the SSC regions,” a well known elder in Taleh, who asked not be named, told Somalia Report.

Six of the journalists detained on Sunday were female, although most of them were released after 24 hours on the orders of Somaliland interior minister Mohamed Nour Arale.

According to the Paris based international press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders, four other journalists still being held in Somaliland jails illegally.

Not only are people interested in watching news and politics on Horn Cable TV, but there are also many other residents in Somaliland, mostly youths and families, who love to watch a Turkish drama series translated into Somali.

“None of my kids slept with joy the last few nights because they wanted to watch the show Musalsalka Caasi,” Shugri Ahmed, a mother of seven kids, told Somalia Report.

“We appeal to our leaders to lift the ban over the TV station in Hargeisa," she added.

Somaliland forces today released the remainder of the journalists arrested on Sunday, sources have told Somalia Report.

Some of the journalists arrested were working for local newspapers in Hargeisa, some work for TV stations, while others work for websites.

Barkad Osman, an independent journalist in Hargeisa visited the detained journalists while they were in prison and told Somalia Report.

“Today at noon when we visited the journalist in the prison, we were told that they were badly mistreated and tortured by the security forces when they were arresting them, they used huge sticks to beat with them and threw them in vehicles like criminals.”

Another journalist described his escape. “I was one of the journalists who went to the presidential house to demonstrate, we were fired on and all the protesters were arrested but luckily I escaped,” Keyse Jiirdiil told Somalia Report.

The minister of internal affairs of Somaliland Mahamed Nuur Araale held a press conference and talked about the closure and arrest of the Horn Cable TV.

“The government has withdrawn the permission they had given the TV station to work in the country,” Mr. Araale said, adding that the journalist demonstration was not legal, and that is why they were arrested.

“We shall not stop the service we are doing for our people. Arresting or torturing us will not create fear in us, we shall continue doing our jobs until we fulfill the expectations which our community has of us. We are sending a clear message, the leaders of Somaliland must protect the freedom of the press and release all the journalists they have arrested and to reopen Horn Cable TV,” he added.

This was the first time large numbers of journalists have been arrested in the same time, which can only deepen the conflict and lack of trust between the press and the government.

Hamse Ali Bulbul, Head of News at Horncable TV
Hodon Ali Ajabi, Horn Cable TV
Nimo Omar Mohamed (Sabriye), Horn Cable TV
Mohamed Kuraase, Horn Cable TV
Abdirashid Eynte, Horn Cable TV
Mohamed Omar Abdi – (Irro), Editor of Jamhuuriya Magazine
Harago, Editor of Berbera news-website
Najah Aden Unaye, Director of Hadhwanaag news-website

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2541/Press_Freedom_Under_Pressure_in_Somaliland

BUHODLE, Somalia Jan 17 2012 (Garowe Online) - Fighting continued early Tuesday after there was a pause in the clashes between Somaliland troops and residents of Buhodle on Monday, Radio Garowe reports.

Recent reports from local sources in Buhodle say heavy artillery and gunfire was heard 25 kms north of Buhodle, there have been no confirmations on the deaths that have resulted in the fighting.

Somaliland troops attacked Buhodle from three different fronts, shelling the town with heavy artillery on Sunday, the fighting led to 7 dead and 15 injured.

The Somaliland troops who are in the hundreds have been spotted in the outskirts of Buhodle and have been attacking the town from there since Sunday.

Puntland Government released a statement condemning the Somaliland military action in Buhodle defining the action as a "naked aggression".

The Somaliland troops have attacked Buhodle before with prior attacks in February and May 2011.

Hargeisa- January 17th, 2012 (RBC) The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) welcomes the release of the 22 journalists who were detained by the Somaliland authorities in a systematic media crack down campaign that continues the second week and appeals the release of the three other journalists still held without charges and allow the Horn Cable television to resume its operations.

The Somaliland authorities released 21 journalists on Monday 16 January, 2012 without any further condition and their names are written here below as confirmed by the Somaliland Journalists Association.

1. Hamsa Ali Bulbul, Head of News Programs
2. Ahmed Abdirahman Hersi, News Editor
3. Nimco Mohamed Sabriye, Presenter
4. Nimco Diirie, Producer
5. Ayaan Diirie
6. Hodan Ali Ajabi,
7. Safia Sheik Nuh,
8. Suhur Barre,
9. Mohamed Ahmed Kurase
10. Abdirahman Sheik Yonis

11. Mohamoud Abdi Jama (Xuuto), Editor in Chief of Waaheen Newspaper
12. Mohamed Omar Abdi, Chief Editor of Jamhuuriya Newspaper
13. Khaalid Hamdi Ahmed, Reporter of Waaheen Newspaper
14. Jama Omar Abdullahi, Reporter, Waaheen newspaper
15. Saleban Ali Kalshaale, Reporter of Waaheen Newspaper
16. Mohamed Mohamoud Haybe, Reporter of Geeska Africa Newspaper
17. Ahmed Adan Dhere, Reporter of Haatuf Newspaper

18. Najah Adan Unaye, Hadhwanaagnews
19. Abdiqani Abdilahi Asparo, Hardhwanaagnews
20. Mohamed Said Harago, Berberanews.

The journalists were arrested on Sunday January 15, 2012 by Somaliland police, some of whom severely beaten during a protest at the presidential palace which the journalists were demanding from Somaliland authorities to stop its attacks against the journalists and the media station.

The journalists’ protests follows after the Somaliland police raided the offices of the privately owned Horn cable televisions on Saturday evening, forcing all the media workers and the journalists to leave, followed by a week long campaign of arrests by the Somaliland police.

The journalists were released by Col. Mohamed Saqadhi Dubad, Somaliland Police Chief with the orders of the Somaliland Minister of Interior, Mohamed Nor Arale better known as Duur after meeting with journalists leaders led from Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA), a NUSOJ partner. During the meeting, the Somaliland Interior Minister, Mr. Arale agreed the release of the journalists who were detained on Monday unconditionally. Though, the television still remains under suspension.

In a separate incident, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) learned that Somaliland police detained Abdirisaq Haghi Ahmed, a SomaliSat Television, a privately owned Television that broadcasts via satellite on 14 January, 2012 around 8:00am local time in the town of Erigabo of Sanaag region. Mr. Ahmed was arrested after he interviewed youth that was in support of a recent Taleeh conference that announced its own independent regional state, which infuriated the Somaliland authorities and led to the major journalists’ detentions.

Meanwhile, A court in the town of Boorama ordered Royal TV reporter Yusuf Ali who was arrested on January 8, 2012 to remain in jail for 45 days on January 10, 2012, until the police investigations are completed, which is unlawful and even contrary to the Somaliland constitution and the Somaliland Media law.

“We call for the Somaliland authorities to respect the freedom of expression and free the journalists illegally kept in custody without charges immediately or put them before fair court, while we welcome the release of the 22 journalists released.” Mohamed Ibrahim, NUSOJ Secretary General said, “Keeping journalists more than 48 hours is a total violation to the basic human rights principles and therefore stop its campaign in silencing the independent press.”. In another development, Somaliland Police released Abdiqani Hassan Farah Gadari, a universal TV reporter on Sunday 16 January, 2012. Gadari was detained on January 9. 2011 in the town of Laas-Anod, after he was accused of reporting a conference which the Somaliland authorities were not happy with it.

He was released after 8 days in custody without charges. Gadari informed NUSOJ before he was arrested that his arrest was ordered by the Somaliland minister of information through the Mayor of the Las-Anod town, numbering the total of released journalists on Sunday and Monday to 22.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has lashed out at Somaliland for the latest bout of repression of media freedom following "unwarranted" closure of private television network, arrest of 9 media practitioners, and "illegal" detention of eight reporters.

On 14 January, at around 6:45pm, Somaliland police stormed the main headquarters of HornCable TV in Hargeisa and sealed the offices. The police threw out the staff. Two production studios of the television network in Haregisa, which were not in the same building of the headquarters, were also closed down.

At around 8:15pm on Saturday, the police also descended on the TV's broadcasting station and shut down the transmitter after realising that the broadcast was still continuing. The police forcefully entered the transmitting station and forced the news off the air. Nearly 100 Somaliland police soldiers with seven armoured vehicles executed this abrupt action, according to Abdullahi Wayab, editor-in-chief of HornCable TV, who spoke to NUSOJ in Hargeisa. Police officers have been re-routing traffic away from the area, Wayab added.

The police unit, which was led by an officer with the name Mohamed Du'alle, informed the management of HornCable TV that the police could not show a warrant but they were acting on higher orders. During this operation, the police briefly arrested Mohamed Abdi Sheik, East Africa Director of HornCable TV.

Horn Cable TV journalists told NUSOJ that Somaliland authorities are furious over reports aired by the TV station about a tribal meeting in the Taleeh district of Sool region, in which tribal politicians and elders announced an autonomous administration. The station is also allegedly broadcast views of people who criticized the Somaliland administration for not preventing this meeting from taking place. Somaliland claims to control Sool, Sanag and Eyn regions.

This attack comes after Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud Silanyo addressed the two chambers (House of Elders and House of Representatives) of Somaliland parliament on January 14. Silanyo made a tempestuous reference to HornCable TV in his speech as being a "nation destructor".

NUSOJ views the law enforcement body as backward and illegal, who without any court order, arrogates to themselves the right to seal offices, shut down broadcasting and throw out journalists and thereby hampers the practice of independent journalism.

On the morning of 15 January 2012, journalists from HornCable TV staged a peaceful protest in front of the Somaliland presidential palace, where the presidential guard beat up protestors and arrested eight journalists. The names of the arrested journalists are: Ms. Nimco Sabriye, Mr. Hamsa Ali Bulbul, Mr. Mohamed Gurashe, Mr. Abdirahman Sheik Yunes, Mr. Ayan Diriye, Ms. Nimo' Diriye, Ms. Hodan Ali Ajabi, Ms. Safiya Nuh Sheikh. Further to this brutal repression, Farhan Haji Ali Ahmed, owner of HornCable TV, was summoned by the Somali Presidency for questioning.

"We roundly condemn this despicable act of barbarity against HornCable TV and its journalists. We denounce in particular the speech to Silanyo which maligned the station," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General. "We express our firm support for the management and the media workers of HornCable TV".

NUSOJ calls on the Somaliland authorities to respect the internationally recognised standards of freedom of expression and freedom of the press it purports to uphold, and to cease all further acts of harassments and intimidations against journalists and media houses.

"Operations against private media continue to go hand in hand with sustained harassment, intimidation, arrests and persecution in Somaliland since August 2010," said Ahmed Mohamud Mohamed, NUSOJ Secretary for Labour Issues, who is also news editor of HornCable TV in Bossasso, Puntland. "This act is a blatant misuse of powers by authorities".

The wave of media repression has resulted in four journalists being detained in Borame and Las Anod. Mohamed Omar Sheik, reporter for Saxafi newspaper, is detained in Borame for publishing reports creating confrontations in Awdal region. Ali Ismail Aare of Waheen newspaper is detained in Borame for taking a picture of a petrol station allegedly owned by Somaliland Vice President Abdirahman Abdallahi Ismail Saylici.

On 9 January 2012, Somaliland police arrested Abdqani Hassan Farah, nicknamed Gadari, who is a reporter for Universal TV in the Las Anod district of Sool region, northern Somalia. Farah is being detained without charge.

On 8 January, Royal TV reporter Yusuf Abdi Ali, publicly known as Indho Quruh, was arrested by Somaliland police in Borame district. Borame police stated that they received a complaint against the journalist alleging that he falsely reported on "corruption by humanitarian NGOs," who expressed annoyance about the journalist's news report to police. Ali is being detained at Borame central police station. The police secretly took Ali's case to district and got permission to detain him up to 45 days to conclude their investigations.

NUSOJ calls on Somaliland's top leaders, including President Silanyo, to remove police stationed at the offices of HornCable TV, to release all detained journalists including those detained in Borame and Las Anod, and to allow the media to operate freely and without fear of repercussion.

Heavy fighting broke out in the town of Buuhoodle, [in disputed] Ceyn Region between Somaliland forces and local militias which resulted in the loss of life and injury. Somaliland forces launched the attack on the town and made a surprise entry in armoured vehicles.

Somaliland Minister for information, Ahmad Abdi Haabsade who hails form Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn Regions said they launched an attack on the Buuhoodle in which they captured the town and managed to disperse the local militias that were there. Asked whether they sustained any losses in the attack, the minister said they have not lost any soldiers in the fighting but that four sustained light injuries. He said their forces have been coming under attack in the last two nights and had mortars fired in their positions.

Meanwhile, a commander for the local committee in Buuhoodle named Abdirazak Haji Bakeyle said they have managed to oust Somaliland forces from the town and have defended themselves from the attacks.

"As I speak to you, am in centre of Buuhoodle. We have ousted Somaliland forces from the town and we inflicted unexpected losses on them having ambushed the town. They have killed vulnerable civilians, 12 in total among them six children and three women," said Abdirazak Haji Bakeyle. He said the town was attacked by armoured vehicles this morning and following the ensuing battle, the sound of the gun battle could still be heard in locality of Shangale which is in the outskirts of Buuhoodle having ousted their rivals. Heavy losses were sustained on both lives lost and property as many houses were destroyed in the fighting and the town's fuel market burnt down after it was hit with mortars. Civilians in the town have also been displaced.

The situation in the town is now calm although militias from other parts of the Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn Region continue arriving in Buuhoodle for reinforcement.

Somali MPs that hail from [disputed] Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn Regions have asked the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] to take part in the ongoing fighting in Buuhoodle.

MPs that hail from these regions have today held a news conference in Mogadishu in which they angrily spoke on the ongoing clashes between Somaliland forces and local militias in Buuhoodle. Haji Abdi Muhammad, an MP, said Somaliland forces attacked Buuhoodle where they caused a lot of problems for residents. He said attempts to fly a flag other than the Somali one in these regions would not succeed and urged the TFG to intervene in the ongoing clashes in Buuhoodle.

Haji Muhammad said the attack on Buuhoodle is being led by individuals who are self serving from Sool Sanaag and Ceyn Regions. He said Somaliland forces that attacked the town also abducted a number of traditional elders and intellectuals. Following the conclusion of the meeting in Taleh in which an independent administration under the TFG which is separate from both Somaliland and Puntland was formed, there have been concerns over breakout of fighting in these regions which are now under Somaliland.

The Somaliland national army stationed in the frontline at Kalshaale yesterday morning hit hard at the anti-peace Buuhoodle militia following the unprovoked attack launched by the militia the previous evening. The national army has now taken full control of Buuhoodle town.The national army crushed the anti-peace militia and captured three of their tanks and burnt down six battlewagons and a fuel tanker.Reports say that during the fighting five anti-peace militiamen were killed and 12 others injured. The national army are reported to have sustained the injury of three soldiers.[Passage omitted].

Reporters Without Borders is worried by events of the past week affecting the media in the breakaway northwestern territory of Somaliland, in which a total of 25 journalists were arrested and a television station, HornCable TV, was closed in Hargeisa, the territory’s capital. The organization accuses the authorities to trying to intimidate the media and calls for the release of four journalists still being held illegally.

“This wave of arrests of journalists is without precedent in Somaliland,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We are disturbed by this crackdown and by the president’s readiness to brand a media as a ‘nation destructor.’ This will further intimidate journalists who already have to cope with tough conditions in this region of Somalia. We urge the authorities to free the four journalists still being held and to reopen HornCable TV without delay.”

When HornCable TV employees demonstrated outside the presidential palace in Hargeisa yesterday in protest against the station’s closure, they were attacked and beaten by members of the Somaliland Special Protection Unit and eight of them were arrested. The eight detainees, all journalists, were Nimco Sabriye, Hamsa Ali Bulbul, Mohamed Gurashe, Abdirahman Sheik Yunes, Ayan Diriye, Nimo’ Diriye, Hodan Ali Ajabi and Safiya Nuh Sheikh.

Thirteen other journalists from various media who went to help their detained colleagues were then also arrested. HornCable TV’s owner was summoned to the president’s office later yesterday and interrogated. The detained journalists, who included six women, were taken to police headquarters in Hargeisa and were finally released today on interior minister Mohamed Nour Arale’s orders, after being held for more than 24 hours.

HornCable TV was closed on 14 January when around 100 policemen arrived in seven armoured vehicles, ordered all the staff to leave and sealed the doors. The transmitter was disconnected soon afterwards. The officer in charge of the raid, Mohamed Du’alle, admitted he did not have a warrant but said he was acting on orders from superiors. Mohamed Abdi Sheik, HornCable TV’s East Africa director, was briefly detained during the operation.

In an address to parliament earlier the same day, Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Siilaanyon described HornCable TV as a “nation destructor” and accused it of broadcasting anti-government propaganda.

The government’s anger was reportedly aroused by the station’s coverage of a tribal meeting in Taleh district of Sool region, in which representatives of various tribes announced the creation of an autonomous administration in the region. The interior minister confirmed that this was the reason, and said the station’s licence had been withdrawn for “anti-Somaliland propaganda.”

The four journalists who are still detained were arrested in series of incidents from 8 to 11 January.

Abdqani Hassan Farah, a Universal TV reporter in Las Anod district of Sool region, was arrested with two colleagues from HornCable TV and Somaliland TV on 9 January. The other two were freed after a few hours but Farah, also known as Gadari, is still being held on a charge of “exaggerating reports of a meeting that created instability in the Sool, Sanag and Eyn regions.” It was a meeting of the Taleh tribes the day before. His arrest was reportedly arranged by Sool’s governor on the orders of Somaliland information minister Ahmed Abdi Habsade.

This is the list of 21 journalists who were arrested on 15 January and were freed the next day:

1. Mohamud Abdi Jama, editor-in-chief, Waaheen newspaper 2. Mohamed Omar Abdi, editor-in-chief, Jamhuuriya newspaper 3. Ahmed Aden Dhere, reporter, Haatuf newspaper 4. Mohamed Said Harago, head of news, Berberanews 5. Najah Adan Unaye, director, Hadhwanaagnews 6. Suhur Barre, reporter, HornCable TV 7. Abdiqani Abdullahi Ahmed, reporter, Hadhwanaagnews 8. Mohamed Ahmed Muse, reporter, HornCable TV 9. Mohamed Fayr, reporter, Geeska Africa newspaper 10. Saleban Abdi Ali Kalshaale, reporter, Waaheen newspaper 11. Khalid Hamdi Ahmed, reporter, Waaheen newspaper 12. Nimo Omar Mohmed Sabriye, presenter, HornCable TV 13. Hamsa Ali Bulbul, reporter, HornCable TV 14. Mohamed Ahmed Muse Kurase, reporter, HornCable TV 15. Abdirahman Sheik Yunes, presenter, HornCable TV 16. Ayan Diriye, reporter, HornCable TV 17. Nimo’ Diriye, reporter, HornCable TV 18. Hodan Ali Ajabi, reporter, HornCable TV 19. Safiya Nuh Sheikh, presenter, HornCable TV 20. Ahmed Abdirahman Hersi, news editor, HornCable TV 21. Jama Omar Abdullahi, reporter, Waaheen newspaper

On Sunday, 15 January 2012, journalists of HornCable TV, Jamhuuriya Newspaper, Waaheen Newspaper, Geeska Afrika newspaper, Bulsho TV and Sahan newspaper staged a peaceful protest in front of Somaliland presidential palace, where the presidential guard beaten up the protesting journalists and arrested on the spot 8 journalists who all work for HornCable TV. The names of arrested journalists are: Ms. Nimco Sabriye, Mr. Hamsa Ali Bulbul, Mr. Mohamed Gurashe, Mr. Abdirahman Sheik Yunes, Mr. Ayan Diriye, Ms. Nimo' Diriye, Ms. Hodan Ali Ajabi, Ms. Safiya Nuh Sheikh. Further to this brutal repression, Farhan Haji Ali Ahmed, owner of HornCable TV, was today summoned at Somali Presidency for questioning.

Following arrest of HornCable TV journalists, police hunted down other journalists who took part the protest and arrested journalists from Jamhuuriya newspaper, Waaheen newspaper, Geeska Africa newspaper, Bulsho TV and Sahan newspaper. At around 10:30pm, the total journalists in jail were 21, including 6 female journalists who are all detained at Hargeisa central police station.

Somaliland Minister of Interior, Mohamed Dur Arale, announced decision of his ministry to revoke the operating license of HornCable TV, stating that any work of HornCable TV in Somaliland is “illegal” from yesterday.

At around 4pm local time, Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo met owner and chairman of HornCable TV, Farhan Haji Ali Ahmed, at the presidency with the presence of Hersi Haji Ali Hassan, Minister for Presidential Affairs and Deputy Speaker of Somaliland parliament, Abdiasis Mohamed Samale. It was reprodly agreed that the journalists will be released and HornCable TV will be allowed to carry out its operations. But even after this meeting the crackdown continued and journalists are still in jail in this morning.

Mohamed Omar Sheik, reporter of Saxafi newspaper, Ali Ismail Aare, reporter of Waheen newspaper and Yusuf Abdi Ali, reporter of RAAD TV are detained in Borame district of Awdal region. Abdqani Hassan Farah, reporter of Universal TV is detained in Las Anod district of Sool region. In the history of Somalia, this number of journalists was not detained.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) considers the detained journalists to be media professionals arrested solely for their journalistic work, advocating for media freedom and exercising their fundamental human rights of freedom of expression – and calls for their immediate and unconditional release. This number of journalists in jail is largest number ever detained in the history of Somalia.

NUSOJ calls on Somaliland President and Minister of interior for the immediate and unconditional release of the 25 journalists detained in Hargeisa, Borame and Las Anod.

“Once more we urge the Somaliland Authorities to end systematic harassment and intimidation of journalists and all media workers by the police and other Somaliland security organizations,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General, who asked the Somaliland Ministry of Interior to reissue operating license of HornCable TV and allow the television network to operate freely.

BUHODLE, Somalia Jan 15 2012 (Garowe Online) - There are reports of heavy fighting in the town of Buhodle located in Ayn region after the Somaliland army bombarded the town of Buhodle early Sunday morning, Radio Garowe reports.

Local sources in Buhodle say that Somaliland troops have attacked the city from three different fronts, shelling the town with heavy artillery destroying buildings in Buhodle.

Hundreds of heavily armed Somaliland troops were spotted in the outskirts of Buhodle early Sunday morning, heavy artillery was heard all morning throughout the city, there have been no confirmations on the death toll.

Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo expressed his distraught to his Parliament on Saturday when tribal leaders met in Taleh. President Silanyo addressed a joint session Saturday and stated that he was ready to flush out separatists. He ordered an emergency meeting with his army chief, and Defense Minister among other officials.

Buhodle is located on the border between Somalia and Ethiopia and is a commercial hub. Somaliland have tried to seize the hotly contested city of Buhodle before, in May 2010 the Somaliland army clashed with local authorities leaving 13 dead and 33 wounded.

Buhodle — At least twelve people were confirmed killed and more than twenty others wounded in a heavy fighting between the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland military and a local tribal militia in Buhodle town in Togdher region of northern Somalia, reports said on Sunday.

Reports also indicated that the deadly combat flared up, after heavily armed soldiers loyal to Somaliland administration moved into the town of Buhodle early Sunday morning, targeting on a local tribal militia already stayed and controlled of the town.

Faisal Farah, one of tribal militias officers said, four of their combat fighters were killed and eight others wounded during the war.

For his part, the minister of information for the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland, Ahmed Abdihabsade said, his troops managed to capture the town of Buhodle from the clan fighters after offensive. He added that four soldiers from attacking Somaliland have been hurt in the battle.

Crackle of gunfire and thud of mortars used by both warring sides could be heard nearby villages and far from the battle zone of Buhodle town that forced residents to flee from their houses in fear of harm from the fierce fighting with shells, according to residents.

The tribal militias in Buhodle town are trying to defend separatists gathering in nearby town of Taleeh which is aimed to declare the formation of a semi-autonomous state of Somalia. All causalities were reported to be on both sides.

The independent reports from the Buhodle say, Somaliland forces are re-grouping an area 10-km from the town and preparing to launch a counter-attack to retake it from the tribal militia that are still handling the control of Buhodle town.

By NOOR ALI FARAH 01/14/2012.http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2535/Somaliland_Shuts_Down_Horn_Cable_TV_Station

The broadcast offices of Horn Cable Television in Hargeisa were ordered closed on Saturday by the Somaliland administration after President Mohamud Ahmed Siilanyo announced that Horn Cable was broadcasts dissent against his government and dividing Somaliland. Somaliland armed forces entered the headquarters for the TV station and ordered a shutdown. According to recent reports, the troops are still surrounding the building in Hargeisa, where some of the TV workers remain. Horn Cable presenter Hodan Ali, who is in the locked-down building, told Somalia Report by phone, “our international station continues to broadcast, but the local station was shut down by the government. As yet we don’t know why.” Mohamed Ilig, the director of Horn Cable TV, said that a number of soldiers entered the broadcasting headquarters and instructed him to shut down the TV broadcast immediately, “so we shut down the local broadcast,” he told Somalia Report. “Here, there is a law we have to follow. But we are gravely worried about how this administration has acted, to close the doors of a main broadcast in a democratic land without evidence is not something to take lightly.”

Horn Cable Television reported recently on a conference held in Sool by politicians, traditional elders, religious leaders and civil society members of the Sool, Sanaag and Buuhood regions who have voiced their views on tradition, the economy and public policy. At the end of that conference a regional government was announced which was opposed by the president of Somaliland. President Siilanyo voiced his anger at a meeting with the Somaliland representatives on Saturday, saying, “The conference in Sool is separating Somaliland, and those who declared an administration independent from Somaliland will lead the country into devastation.”

In his speech, he said that Horn Cable is participating in the division of Somaliland, but he did not directly order its closure. However the administration has often been in conflict with media groups present, and journalists have been jailed many times in recent years, some of them are still in prison, and some radio stations have been shut down before. The journalists at Horn Cable have not been harmed as yet, but they are concerned, as well as the residents of Hargeisa.

The Somaliland government has yet to make a public comment, but the administration of Horn Cable said they are seeking an official explanation.

By AWEYS CADDE 01/15/2012.http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2541/26_Journalists_Detained_in_Somaliland

Security forces for the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland arrested more than 25 journalists after a demonstration held in front of the presidential building in Hargeisa, expressing their anger over the closure of the independent Horncable TV by Somaliland security forces on Saturday.

Some of the journalists arrested are working for local newspapers in Hargeisa, some work for TV stations, while others work for websites. They are being held in the central jail of Hargeisa.

Barkad Osman, an independent journalist in Hargeisa visited the detained journalists in prison and told Somalia Report, “Today at noon when we visited the journalist in the prison, we were told that they were badly mistreated and tortured by the security forces when they were arresting them, they used huge sticks to beat with them and threw them in vehicles like criminals.”

Another journalist described his escape, “I was one of the journalists who went to the presidential house to demonstrate, we were fired on and all the protesters were arrested but luckily I escaped,” Keyse Jiirdiil told Somalia Report.

The minister of internal affairs of Somaliland Mahamed Nuur Araale held a press conference and talked about the closure and arrest of the HCTV and said that “the government has withdrawn the permission they have given the TV to work in the country,” adding that the journalist who demonstrated were not legal, and that is why they arrested.

Recently, the Somaliland administration has been angry at reporters since the government is against covering the conference going on in Teleeh and the new independent administrations which are being established, declaring themselves distinct from Somaliland.

A senior journalist, Abdisalam Gabeyre told Somalia Report, “We shall not stop the service we are doing for our people. Arresting or torturing us will not create fear in us, we shall continue doing our jobs until we fulfill the expectations which our community has of us. We are sending a clear message, the leaders of Somaliland must protect the freedom of the press and release all the journalist they have arrested and to reopen Horncable TV,” he added.

This is the first time large numbers of journalists have been arrested in the same time, which can only deepen the conflict and lack of trust between the press and the government.

Hassan Mohamed Yussuf, President of Somaliland Journalist Association (SOLJA)
Mohamed Abdi Hassan (Ilig), Director of Horncable TV
Hamse Ali Bulbul, Head of News at Horncable TV
Hodon Ali Ajabi, Horn Cable TV
Nimo Omar Mohamed (sabriye), Horn Cable TV
Mohamed Kuraase, Horn Cable TV
Abdirashid Eynte, Horn Cable TV
Mohamed Omar Abdi – (Irro), Editor of Jamhuuriya Magazine
Harago, Editor of Berbera news-website
Najah Aden Unaye, Director of Hadhwanaag news-website

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has today [15 January] lashed out at Somaliland for [the] latest bout of repression of media freedom following "unwarranted" closure of private television network, arrest of nine media practitioners, and "illegal" detention of eight reporters.

On Saturday, 14 January, at around 6.45 p.m., Somaliland police stormed the main headquarters of Horn Cable TV in Hargeysa and sealed the offices. The police threw out the staff. Two production studios of the television network in Hargeysa, which were not in the same building of the headquarters, were also closed down.

At around 8.15 p.m. on Saturday, the police also descended on the TV's broadcasting system and shut down the transmitter after realizing that broadcasting is still continuing. In this move, the police forcefully entered the transmitting studio and made off-air the news night. Nearly 100 Somaliland police soldiers with seven armoured vehicles executed this abrupt action, according to Abdullahi Wayab, editor-in-chief of Horn Cable TV, who spoke to NUSOJ in Hargeysa. Police officers have been re-routing traffic away from the area, Wayab added.

The police unit, which was led by an officer with the name Muhammad Du'alle, informed the management of Horn Cable TV that they have no warrant to show the management of the television network but have superior orders. During this operation, the police briefly arrested Muhammad Abdi Shaykh, East Africa director of Horn Cable TV.

But Horn Cable TV journalists told NUSOJ that Somaliland authorities are furious at the reports by the TV station on a tribal meeting in Taleeh district of Sool region, in which tribal politicians and elders announced an autonomous administration. The TV is also reported that to have broadcasted views of people criticizing Somaliland administration for not preventing this meeting to take place. Somaliland claims to control Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn regions.

This attack comes after Somaliland President Ahmad Muhammad Mahamud Silanyo addressed on Saturday the two chambers (House of Elders and House of Representatives) of Somaliland parliament. Silanyo made a tempestuous reference to Horn Cable TV in his speech as being a "nation destructor".

NUSOJ views as backward and illegal [the] move of the law enforcement body, who without any court order, arrogates to themselves the right to seal offices, shut down broadcasting and threw out journalists and thereby hampers the practice of independent journalism.

Sunday morning, 15 January 2012, journalists of Horn Cable TV staged a peaceful protest in front of Somaliland presidential palace, where the presidential guard beaten up the protestors and arrested eight journalists who all work for Horn Cable TV. The names of arrested journalists are: Ms. Nimco Sabriye, Mr. Hamsa Ali Bulbul, Mr. Muhammad Gurashe, Mr. Abdirahman Shaykh Yunes, Mr. Ayan Diriye, Ms. Nimo' Diriye, Ms. Hodan Ali Ajabi, Ms. Safiya Nuh Shaykh. Further to this brutal repression, Farhan Haji Ali Ahmad, owner of Horn Cable TV, was today summoned at Somali presidency for questioning.

"We roundly condemn this despicable act of barbarity against Horn Cable TV and its journalists. We denounce in particular Silanyo speech to Horn Cable TV which maligned the station," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ secretary-general. "We express our firm support for the management and the media workers of Horn Cable TV."

NUSOJ calls on the Somaliland authorities to respect the internationally recognized standards of freedom of expression and freedom of the press it purports to uphold, and to cease all further acts of harassments and intimidations against journalists and media houses.

"Operations of private media continue to go hand in hand with sustained harassment, intimidation, arrests and persecution in Somaliland since August 2010," said Ahmad Mohamud Muhammad, NUSOJ secretary for labour Issues, who is also news editor of Horn Cable TV in Bossasso, Puntland. "This act is a blatant misuse of powers by authorities."

The wave of media repression has resulted in four journalists to be in detention in Borame and Las Anod. Muhammad Omar Shaykh, reporter of Saxafi newspaper, is detained in Borame for publishing reports creating confrontations in Awdal region. Ali Isma'il Aare of Waheen newspaper is detained in Borame for taking a picture of a petrol station allegedly owned by Somaliland Vice President Abdirahman Abdullahi Isma'il Saylici.

On 9 January 2012, Somaliland police arrested Abdqani Hasan Farah, nicknamed Gadari, who is a reporter for Universal TV in the Las Anod district of Sool region, northern Somalia. Farah is being detained without charge.

On 8 January, Royal TV reporter Yusuf Abdi Ali, publicly known as Indho Quruh, was arrested by Somaliland police in Borame district. Borame police stated that they received a complaint against the journalist alleging that he falsely reported on "corruption by humanitarian NGOs", who expressed annoyance about the journalist's news report to police. Ali is being detained at Borame central police station. The police secretly took Ali's case to district and got permission to detain him up to 45 days to conclude their investigations.

NUSOJ calls on Somaliland top leaders, including President Silanyo, to remove police stationed at the offices of Horn Cable TV, release all detained journalists including those detained in Borame and Las Anod, and to allow the media to operate freely and without fear of repercussion.

New York — The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the recent spate of arrests of independent reporters in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland.

At least seven journalists have been arrested since last week, with three still in custody without being charged, local journalists said. According to Somaliland's constitution, a judge can authorize police to hold a suspect without charge for up to 21 days for further investigations.

"The spate of arrests sends a chilling message to the Somaliland press and demonstrates the government's intolerance of independent and critical reporting," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. "Arrest and detention should not be the knee-jerk response of the authorities to reporting. The journalists should be charged or released immediately."

Somaliland authorities have detained Royal Television reporter Yusuf Ali (also known as "Indho Quru") without charge in the northwestern town of Borama since Sunday based on a complaint filed against him by the Africa Youth Development Association (AYODA), a local NGO, news reports said. The journalist had reported on the group's alleged misuse of funds, local journalists said. On Tuesday, a magistrate approved a police petition to extend Ali's detention for an additional 45-day period pending investigations, Royal TV reporter Mohamed Abdi Kahin, also known as "Bosh," told CPJ. He also said the court session lasted only minutes and that no witnesses were present.

On Wednesday, authorities in Borama detained Ali Ismail Aare, a journalist with the independent weekly Waheen, the Somaliland Journalists Association (SJA) reported. Aare was arrested after he took photographs of a gas station and building belonging to Somaliland Vice President Abdirahman Abdilahi, which residents complained was built incorrectly and encroached upon roads in the town, leaving no room for traffic or pedestrians, according to local journalists. Barkhad Mohamoud, SJA's executive member, said taking photographs of an edifice owned by a public official is not a criminal offense under Somaliland law, according to local journalists. The journalist has not been charged yet, news reports said, but he is expected in court on Saturday.

On Monday, Somaliland police arrested Abdiqani Hassan Farah ("Gadari"), a reporter for Universal TV in the Las Anod district of Sool region, news reports said. Local journalists said Farah had reported on a clan dispute.

Four other journalists were also arrested in Somaliland in the past week, but detained for only a short time. On Wednesday, Borama police's Criminal Investigation Department detained for questioning Mohamed Omar Sheikh, a reporter with the independent weekly Sahafi, Omar later told CPJ. The arrest was based on a complaint filed by members of the public regarding interviews published in Sahafi by Omar of members of the Somali diaspora calling for the Awdal region to separate from Somaliland. Police released Omar on bail on Thursday morning, he told CPJ.

Last week, Somaliland police arrested three journalists from private broadcasters Horn Cable TV, Somaliland TV, and Universal TV in the disputed Las Anod region of Somaliland for allegedly supporting youth groups who pose a threat to security in the region, according to local reports. Police released all three journalists the following day, local journalists said. Source: CPJ

HARGEISA- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is extremely troubled by continued attacks against journalists by Somaliland police following the further arrest of two journalists in the town of Boorama on Wednesday 11, 2011 and Universal TV Reporter held without charges for the fourth day in the town of Las-Anod of Sool region.

Ali Aareye, Waheen Borama Correspondent and Mohamed Omar, Saxafi Correspondent, were arrested on Wednesday noon around 1:00pm local time respectively by the Somaliland police in the town of Boorama of Awdal region. The journalists were detained at the CID in Boorama since Wednesday. However, Mohamed Omar, Saxafi Correspondent was released on Thursday, 12 January, 2012 without charges. It was not immediately known the reason behind his arrest.

Waaheen and Saxafi are both independent newspapers issued at Hargeysa, Somaliland.

However, Ali Aareye, Waheen Borama Correspondent, was arrested on Thursday noon for allegedly taking photographs on petrol station owned by the vice president, Abdirahman Abdullahi Ismail better known as Saylici, according to Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA), a partner to the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

He was supposed to appear in court on Thursday, but was postponed till Saturday.

Meanwhile, Abdiqani Hassan Farah Gadari, a universal TV reporter in Laas-Aanod is still held at the Central Station of Las-Anod in Sool region for the fourth day without bringing him to court. . Gadari informed NUSOJ before he was arrested that his arrest was ordered by the Somaliland minister of information through the Mayor of the Las-Anod town. He still remains in jail without bringing him to court.

NUSOJ is concerned by the apparent attempts of intimidation against the journalists by the Somaliland police providing that It is not crime to take photographs to a petrol station and is a clear violation against the freedom of expression and calls for the Somaliland authorities to stop the rampant arrests against the journalists and jailing them without charges.

“The string of arrests against the journalists by the Somaliland police without warrants is an apparent intimidation against journalists in covering news stories critical to their administration,” Mohamed Ibrahim, NUSOJ Secretary General said, “We demand from the Somaliland authorities to immediately release the journalists or bring them before fair court.”

Meanwhile, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) and its partner organization, the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA) have been trying to secure a lawyer for the Royal TV reporter Yusuf Ali who was arrested by Somaliland police in the town of Borame on January 8, 2011 after he allegedly wrote about corruption over the regional projects of Awdal region implemented by local NGO. A court in the town of Boorama ordered the journalist to remain in jail for 45 days on January 10, 2012, until the police investigations are completed, which is unlawful and even contrary to the Somaliland constitution and the Somaliland Media law.

By ABDIRASHID MUSE 01/11/2012. http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2503/New_Mini-State_Created_in_Somalia

The Khaatumo II conference of Dhulbahante clan leaders held since January 5 at Taleeh fort in Sool region has culminated in the proclamation of a new semi-autonomous region in northern Somalia.

Delegates at the Taleeh conference from the Sool, Sanaag and Ayn regions announced that the new administration will function independently from the semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland, a senior spokesman of Khaatumo conference said.

Conference spokesman Adam Abdullahi Shuuriye told the local and international media that delegates of the Khaatumo Conference had unanimously agreed to the establishment of a semi-autonomous federal region in the northern administrative districts of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC).

“The delegates of Khaatumo II conference unanimously supported the formation of their own administration which will function as a federal state of Somalia," Mr. Shuriye announced late yesterday.

“The delegates will discuss the name and administrative structure of the new state on Wednesday,” he added.

The Sool, Sanaag and Cayn regions are disputed by Puntland and Somaliland, but the local community and the Dhulbahante diaspora have been organizing conferences in the region and abroad to discuss self-determination. In a high level October 2009 meeting in Nairobi, for instance, prominent Dhulbahante leaders declared the creation of "The Unity and Salvation Authority of the SSC Regions of Somalia."

While the three regions lie within the British colonial mandate of Somaliland, the Dhulbahante belong to the Darod clan family that inhabits Puntland. In 2007, Somaliland forces invaded Sool, occupying its capital of Las Anod and causing a rift amongst Dhulbahante clan elders, some of whom remained loyal to the Puntland administration.

Following the takeover, the Northern Somali Unionist Movement (NSUM), a diaspora network opposed to the Somaliland administration, formed a military wing, the Sool Sanaag Ayn Army (SSCA), which Somaliland officials have designated a terrorist organization.

There were fears that SSCA elements would hijack the conference and strong-arm other Dhulbahante leaders into accepting self-determination, but the outcome appears to have been an expression of majority will.

The Somaliland and Puntland administrations, which were strongly opposed to the conference, have yet to comment on its outcome. It remains to be seen if the creation of an SSC statelet will destabilize already tense Puntland-Somaliland relations.

The creation of a new independent administration creates further difficulties for the UN-sponsored 'Roadmap to end the transition,' whose recent consultative conference in Garowe lacked the participation of key non-state actors, such as Somaliland and elements of Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa (ASWJ). While the roadmap process seeks national reconciliation amongst competing polities, Somalia appears only to be fragmenting further.

In another development, the president of Awdal State, Abdirashid Nor Hersi, arrived in Mogadishu on Tuesday to a cordial welcome from TFG officials.

The Awdal State, inhabited primarily by the minority Gadabursi clan, is an autonomous region recently declared by members of Awdal's anti-Somaliland diaspora community.

Reports say two Somali journalists were arrested on Wednesday while the third one was arrested on Tuesday under unknown circumstances.

The journalists, Ali Ismail Are and Mohamed Omar Sheikh, work for Waaheen and Sahafi newspapers respectively, while Yussuf Indo-quruh is a reporter for a Somali TV channel, Royal TV.

The reasons behind their arrest are yet to be known but reports say that the TV journalist, Yussuf Indo-quruh, was arrested after an aid agency allegedly lodged a case against him. But the nature of the case still remains in the dark.

The area administration has not yet issued any statements regarding the arrest of the three journalists in Borame.

Associated Somali Journalists ASOJ Condemns Somaliland administration, ASOJ Says “ Somaliland became too dark and deteriorating the situation of Somali Journalists who works area of Borama and Las-ano town of Sool region.

Two decades of civil war in Somalia have made the country one of the most dangerous places in the world for a woman to give birth. The World Health Organization says Somalia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. In southern Somalia, the situation is grave, and the recent famine has made the health crisis for mothers and infants even worse. In camps for internally displaced people in Mogadishu, women give birth in their tents. If there are complications, they are either taken to the clinic in the camp or, if the resources exist, transported to one of Mogadishu’s three hospitals.

At the Medina Hospital, which focuses on trauma and emergency maternal medicine, nearly 200 women give birth every month. The director, Dr. Mohamed Yusuf, says the famine is straining the hospital's already limited capacity. "A lot of people who are IDPs today, you can imagine how they are malnourished while they are in pregnancy," Yusuf said. "And the premature delivery is frequent here, and not having an incubator is another problem.” A lack of equipment in Somalia is endemic. There are no neonatal facilities in the south. And without respirators or incubators - caring for premature babies is difficult. The closest incubator can be found 846 kilometers north in Hargeisa, the capital of the autonomous region of Somaliland.

In Hargeisa, Edna Adan Ismail, a British-trained midwife and the former first lady of Somaliland, established a private maternity and training hospital in 2002. She believes training is the key to improving healthcare, but that is just part of the challenge. Both her hospital and Medina Hospital are understaffed because they cannot compete with salaries offered by international organizations. “The biggest pirates of the staff that we train are the international organizations working in the Horn of Africa and Somaliland," Ismail said. "When we are training these nurses and midwives, they don’t support you because they say 'Oh no no. This is not in our budget,' and as soon as you’ve trained them, then they offer them salaries and they steal them from you.”

Another challenge facing medical providers in Mogadishu and Hargeisa is the Somali custom rooted in Islam that requires a man’s consent to treat female patients. Often the father or husband will disagree with the doctor’s recommendations for surgery. In emergency situations, this negotiation can be time-consuming and often fatal. “They just say she will deliver by the will of God, so let’s just wait," said Dr. Nimo Abdi Hasan from Medina Hospital. "Sometimes they refuse C-section, so we just wait until they allow. If they don’t allow, we just discharge the patient, tell them to take them somewhere else because we can’t have death on our hands if we can do something.” Edna Adan Ismail believes it is a permanent feature of Somalia society that must be worked around. “That is our custom; that is our culture," she said. "The husband is the person who is responsible for that woman and he should give consent because he is going to be footing the bill anyway. So even when she can afford to pay for herself, the custom is that the husband approves.”

World Health Organization figures show that maternal and infant mortality rates in Somaliland have improved since its decision to break away from Somalia in 1991. Experts says the rest of Somalia has been left behind because it has not had a functioning government for near two decades. While Somaliland has an unrecognized but functioning government, has worked to develop state institutions to provide public services and a government-run hospital.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, January 11, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) protests the unjust court order against Royal Television reporter by Boorama court, followed by string of arrests of journalists in different towns in the regions controlled by Somaliland last week, worsening the already deteriorating press freedom in Somaliland.

The Court ordered Yuusuf Ali better "Indho-Qurux", who is the correspondent of the Royal Television in the town Boorama to stay in jail for 45 days on Tuesday 10 January, 2012 around 11:30 am local time. The court said that he will re-appear in court after 45 days, according to Mohamed Abdi Boosh of Royal Television reached by phone from Hargeysa, adding that there were no evidences or witnesses presented to the court.

According to Boosh, there has been negotiations for his release and were planning to travel to Boorama, before they heard the surprise and unjust sentence.

"We were planning to travel to Boorama today, but postponed when we heard the unjust sentence handed down to our colleague." Mohamed Abdi Boosh who works for the Royal Television told NUSOJ by phone from Hargeysa, "There were no evidences displayed at the court and it was a matter of minutes when the court released their sentence."

The police had requested 45 days the journalist to remain in jail untill the investigations against his complete are completed, which contravenes the Somaliland constitution which allows three weeks and the Somaliland media law and was immediately transfered to Boorama Central Jail, according to journalists.

Ali was arrested on Sunday January 8, 2012 and It is not yet clear the reasons behind his arrest. However, journalists believe Ali's arrest is related to an article he wrote about alleged corruption on regional projects in Awdal region last week.

"We protest the unjust court order handed down to our colleague and call for the Somaliland authorities to reverse their decision and give the journalist's freedom back." Mohamed Ibrahim, NUSOJ Secretary General said, "This contravenes the Somaliland Justice system and call for the Somaliland authorities to respect the freedom of expression and the press and regulations set for it."

This follows string of other attacks against journalists this week in Somaliland.

On January 9. 2011. Abdiqani Hassan Farah Gadari, a universal TV reporter in Laas-Aanod was detained on by the Somaliland Police.

Gadari informed NUSOJ before he was arrested that his arrest was ordered by the Somaliland minister of information through the Mayor of the Las-Anod town.

On January 4, 2012, Somaliland police arrested Abdirahman Ali Duale, Horn Cable reporter, Abdiaqani Hassan Farah Gadari and Barkhad Joon, Somaliland National TV and they were released after 8 hours in detention in the Las-Anod central police station

SOMALILAND, Somalia, 10 January 2012 – Ali Abdullah stands at the front of the class asking students their ages, how long they take to walk to school, whether they are orphans, and whether any have learning or development needs.

Mr. Abdullah, headmaster at Koossar Primary School, is one of thousands of teachers conducting an unprecedented primary school census, helping produce the first comprehensive, government-led survey on the state of northern Somalia’s schools.

“Before, the Ministry of Education did not have this correct data about school facilities. It was just theoretical information, guesses really,” he said. “Now when you have the right information, you can show how many students there are, what items are lacking like text books or latrines, and the ministry can then go to the Ministry of Finance and donors and show what really is there and what is needed.”

The survey, to be repeated yearly, is part of a broad effort to rehabilitate and improve the country’s education system – from the inside out.

Years of civil war have left government agencies with few trained administrators. For the education ministries in semi-autonomous Somaliland and Puntland, this means school systems have been rudimentary, and improvements have been makeshift.

Many schools lack electricity, running water, text books and toilets, and do not have enough desks or chairs. Teachers’ training is limited, and their salaries are largely dependent on community contributions.

“These are very basic things that sound like they should be automatic, but in Somaliland, Puntland and South Central Somalia, they are not,” said Isabel Faria de Almeida, Head of Rural Development, Social Services and Infrastructure at the Delegation of the European Union in neighbouring Kenya.

“If the ministry doesn’t know how many teachers it has, how can they run a system? If they don’t know what financial resources they need, or how many school books they have to print, or how many pupils are attending schools, then they don’t know the needs,” she said.

To create lasting improvements, the European Union, UNICEF, the CfBT Education Trust and the Africa Education Trust have designed an innovative programme to increase capacity at the country’s education ministries. Central to the strategy is bringing professional Somalis living abroad back to their home country to work alongside senior education ministry staff, passing along their expertise.

Hassan Suleiman is one of 10 technical advisors to return to Somalia. He is supporting the Somaliland Ministry of Education and Higher Education through the Integrated Capacity Development for Somali Education Administrations (ICDSEA) programme. ICDSEA focuses on planning and policy, human resources, financial management, quality assurance, and gender equality.

“There has been a realization that the institutional capacity in terms of skills, knowledge, structure – all aspects – is not enough to deliver an adequate education system,” said Mr. Suleiman, who grew up in Britain after fleeing the Somali war. “We have relied on international consultants to produce nice policy documents, but they are just shoved on a shelf because the skills have not been there to implement them.”

Amina Osman, another technical advisor, grew up in Uganda. She working in Puntland, harmonizing the many different curricula used, and is working to ensure the consistency of end-of-term exams. Meanwhile, Abdirahman Mohamud, from Kenya, is running tests on a software package that will organize the data from the primary school census.

Each of the 10 advisors are shadowed by two trainees, Somalis hired from within Somalia who will become professional managers at the Ministry.

Once the security situation improves in the south, a similar scheme is planned for the education ministry in Mogadishu.

One morning at the Ministry of Education in Garowe, Puntland, Sahro Koshin stood before a crowd of officials to help launch a scholarship fund for girls. Ms. Koshin, who grew up in Holland, is working to increase girls’ school attendance.

“Teachers are not taught about gender issues,” she said. “In a typical class you will find girls on one side and boys on the other, and the teacher is always addressing the boys, showing in an unspoken language that the girls should keep quiet and the boys should answer.”

Turning around these ingrained prejudices will “take time”, she admits. But the situation will improve if gender equality factors into all aspects of education policy.

“We believe that supporting Somalia’s authorities to build their own systems, as well as develop their own policies and competent staff, is the only way to ensure that all Somali children will have the opportunity to access a quality education,” said UNICEF Representative in Somalia Sikander Khan. And girls are sure to benefit.

“One example of this is the girls’ scholarship fund that UNICEF has supported the Ministry of Education Gender Units to establish,” he continued. “In its first year, the fund will give over 450 deprived girls the means to attend school, and hopefully with additional support, will give hundreds more of Somalia’s most deprived girls the opportunity to go to school in future years.”

“Increasing the capacity of managers here, to plan everything for the future, that is the only way to make sure things do not remain the same,” said Abdulkadir Yusuf Nur, Acting Director General of Education for Puntland. “It will work, I know. Soon, we will be standing on our own two feet.”

MOGADISHU, Somalia, January 10, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) expresses deep concern over perpetual attacks against journalists by Somaliland police who continue to arrest and detain reporters. Some of the journalists have also been barred from traveling around Somaliland to cover stories.

On Monday, 9 January 2012, Somaliland police arrested Abdqani Hassan Farah, nicknamed Gadari, who is reporter of Universal TV in Las Anod district of Sool region in northern Somalia.

Farah's arrest happened at around 9:30am, local time, after he aired a news report about clan meeting in Taleh town in Sool region, the night before the arrest. Somaliland police accused the journalist of “exaggerating reports of a meeting that was creating instability in Sool, Sanag and Eyn regions”.

Farah was informed that his arrest was ordered by Somaliland Minister of Information, Ahmed Abdi Habsade. The order was executed by the Governor of Sool Region who called the journalist to his office only to order the police who were already waiting, to arrest him.

In a separate incident, reports from Borame indicate that on Monday, Somaliland police barred 4 journalists from traveling to cover the laying of the fibre-optic cable by SomCable Ltd, which is supposed to connect Somaliland via Djibouti and Red Sea. The deal for SomCable Ltd to implement this Internet cable project was allegedly sanctioned by the former Somaliland government but has reportedly been rejected by current government.

On Sunday, 8 January, Royal TV reporter, Yusuf Abdi Ali, publicly known Indho Quruh was arrested by Somaliland police in Borame district, the regional capital of Awdal. Borame police indicated that they received complaint against the journalist alleging that he falsely reported “corruption by humanitarian NGOs” who expressed annoyance about the journalist's news report to police. Ali is being detained at Borame central police station without trial.

“These latest arrests and continued detention of Farah and Ali are uncalled for and illegal since there is no legal basis that warrants their arrest and subsequent detention. We condemn this move by security agencies and call for their immediate and unconditional release,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General.

NUSOJ deplores the illegal arrest and detention of the journalists without warrants of arrest and court rulings. “This is pure intimidation meant to scare journalists from reporting on sensitive issues. The authorities must not bar journalists traveling to cover events and gather news and we ask them to end the restrictions” added Osman.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, January 9, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the arrest of the Television journalist by the Somaliland Police in the town of Boorama on Sunday around 11:30 local time.

Journalist Yuusuf Ali better known as Indho-Qurux, who is the correspondent of the Royal Television in the town Boorama, was arrested on Sunday without warrant by Somaliland police in Boorama, according to local journalists.

The Arrest of the journalist has been confirmed by a colleague journalist, Mohamed Abdi Boosh, who also reports for the for the Royal Television by phone from Hargeysa.

"It is really disappointing, Yusuf Ali was arrested without a warrant and he staying in custody tonight." Journalist Mohamed Abdi Boosh told NUSOJ by phone from Hargeysa.

It is not yet clear the reasons behind his arrest. However, journalists believe Ali's arrest is related to an article he wrote about alleged corruption on regional projects in Awdal region.

"The Arrest of is an absolute voilation and we condemn it in the strongest terms possible." Mohamed Ibrahim, NUSOJ Secretary General said, "We call for the Somaliland authorities to immediately release the journalist and respect the freedom of the press."

Secretary General of Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA), Mohamed Rashiid also condemned the arrest of the journalist and demanded from Somaliland authorities to release the journalist from custody without condition.

Journalists in Somaliland have been subject to police brutalities - arrests, intimidations and harassment, among others.

Somaliland's maternal, infant, and child mortality rates are among the highest in the world. A rudimentary health system already beset by under-investment and neglect collapsed completely during the final years of a civil war which ended in 1991.

SOMALI MAN DETAINED IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Somali national Boqor Osman Mohamoud was arrested by security forces in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 17 November 2011 and is now being held incommunicado in conditions amounting to an enforced disappearance. He has not had access to relatives or lawyers and he could be at risk of torture or ill-treatment.

Boqor Osman Mohamoud (also known as Buurmadow),aged about 45, is a traditional elder from the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in north western Somalia. Through his role as an elder, he has been involved in peace mediation in local conflicts in that region. He holds dual Somali and Ethiopian citizenship, and has the right to reside in the UAE, where his wife lives. He was arrested when he landed at Abu Dhabi airport in the UAE, on his return from a pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Boqor Osman Mohamoud's relatives have not been informed of the reasons for his arrest, his location and whether he has been charged with any offence. They fear that he could be in very poor health, as he needs regular medication for conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure. Four days after his arrest he was brought back to his home in the UAE by six plainclothes officials thought to be members of the UAE security forces. The officials seized some files and his computer, but did not allow him to take any of his medication. It is not known whether he is receiving medication from those holding him.Relatives present at his home at the time were not allowed to speak to him or enquire about the reason for his arrest or his place of detention. His family has been unable to contact him and he has received no legal or consular support. In December 2011, Amnesty International wrote to the UAE authorities seeking clarification for the reasons for his arrest and urging that he be granted access to his family and a lawyer of his choice. No response has yet been received.

Please write immediately to the UAE authorities in Arabic, English or your own language:

Urging the UAE authorities to reveal the whereabouts of Boqor Osman Mohamoud (Buurmadow), and to disclose the reason for his arrest and his current legal status to his relatives;

Calling on them to ensure that, while detained, he has access to the medication that he needs, and any other necessary medical care, as well as to a lawyer of his choice and his relatives;

Calling for assurances that he is being protected from torture or other ill-treatment while in detention;

Urging them to either charge Boqor Osman Mohamoud with an internationally recognizable criminal offence and try him in accordance with international fair trial standards or to release him immediately.

Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Lt-General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan

Office of the Prime Minister. Human Rights Directorate. POB 2838, POB: 398, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Salutation: Your Excellency. Email via website:http://www.uaepm.ae/en/communicate/index.html
Salutation: Your Excellency And copies to:Minister of Justice
Dr Hadef bin Jua'an Al Dhaheri, Ministry of Justice, Al Khubirah, Sector 93, Street 5, P.O. Box 260, Abu Dhabi. Fax: +971 2 6810680, Salutation: Your Excellency,

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation

Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991, following the collapse of Siad Barre’s government. Somaliland’s independence has to date not been recognized by any government or international body. The Republic of Somaliland has its own government and enjoys a degree of stability compared to South and Central Somalia, which has no functioning central government.

Boqor Osman Mohamoud (Buurmadow) is an elder. In Somalia, elders play an essential role in traditional governance structures, including in the implementation of customary law, local politics and in mediating conflicts.

There is a longstanding pattern in the UAE in which people arrested by Amn al-Dawla (State Security) officers are kept in solitary confinement and later face unfair trial. Amnesty International fears that the effective enforced disappearance of BoqorOsman Mohamoud fits this pattern.

For example, UAE national ‘Abdullah Sultan al-Subaihat was arrested on 8 February 2007 by Amn al-Dawla (State Security) officers in the Emirate of ‘Ajman where he lived. After months of incommunicado detention, he was tried unfairly, then convicted of“obtaining secret information on state security” and sentenced to a prison term. During a court session on 10 September 2007, he was said to have complained that he had been tortured while detained by Amn al-Dawla officials. He claimed that the torture methods they used included being beaten by a hosepipe all over his body, sleep deprivation, being forced to carry a chair on his head every day for two weeks, and threats of sexual assault. Amnesty International is not aware of any investigation ordered by the court into these torture allegations.

Sudanese businessman Al-Sadiq Sediq Adam Abdalla has been missing since November 2007. He had previously been arrested and held for two days in September 2007. The UAE authorities have never clarified his fate, despite queries from his family, the UN’s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and appeals from Amnesty International.

In August 2008, Amn al-Dawlaofficials arrested Naji Hamdan, a US citizen, at his home in the UAE. He was held incommunicado for three months at a secret location, then tried unfairly. Naji Hamdan was tortured and ill-treated in detention. On 15 June 2009, at his first appearance before the State Supreme Court, he declared that signed confessions being used as evidence against him were false and had only been signed as a result of the torture inflicted upon him. In November 2009, hewas handed down a prison sentence equalling the time he had already served, and was deported the day after the verdict was delivered.

Although most individuals suspected of political offences in the UAE are held incommunicado in undisclosed locations after their arrest by Amn al-Dawla, a few political detainees have been allowed to make brief and limited phone calls to their families.

Following their release or during their trials, some have spoken of the torture or other ill-treatment they have been subjected to.

Political parties are not formally permitted in the UAE; political dissent is not readily tolerated and there are severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association. Online discussion forums and political websites have been closed down or their access from the UAE blocked by the authorities. On 9 March 2011, over 130 civil and political rights activists in the UAE petitioned the President of the UAE to introduce universal, direct elections.

In April 2011 five UAE residents - the “UAE5” – were arrested. In June 2011, they were tried unfairly before the Supreme Court on criminal defamation charges relating to articles calling for political reform and others critical of some UAE government policies posted at an online forum. Amnesty International considered all five – Ahmed Mansour, a human rights activist and blogger; Nasser bin Ghaith, a university lecturer and advocate of political reform; and online activists Fahad Salim Dalk, Ahmed Abdul-Khaleq and Hassan Ali al-Khamis – to be prisoners of conscience. While held, they were targeted in a campaign of vilification on social networking sites. On 27 November 2011, Ahmed Mansour was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, while the other four received two year prison sentences. All five were released the following day after a presidential pardon, inadvance of the UAE’s national day, on 2 December 2011. Despite the pardon, they still have criminal records, which should be overturned.

Name: Boqor Osman Mohamoud (Buurmadow)
UA: 2/12 Index: MDE 25/001/2012 Issue Date: 5 January 2012
http://sunatimes.com/view.php?id=1617

The founder of Flagg Street Capital now runs Abaarso Tech, a nonprofit that helps prepare Somaliland students for top-tier schools in the U.S. and U.K.

Starr, here meeting parents of his students in Hargeissa, Somaliland, says generating revenue helps donors measure the NGO's success Frederic Courbet for Bloomberg Businessweek

By the time he was 27, Jonathan Starr had written a book about value investing, made his first million, and founded his own hedge fund, Flagg Street Capital, in Cambridge, Mass., not far from his hometown of Worcester. He had a fat Rolodex and a bright future in finance—only he was burning himself out. “I’m obsessive by nature, but I wanted to be obsessed with something else,” he recalls.

In 2008, Starr took a trip to Somaliland, his uncle’s home country, which had been devastated by civil war and was struggling to rebuild. (Although it declared its independence from Somalia in 1991, Somaliland is still internationally recognized as an autonomous region of the state.) A year later, with some $500,000 in savings, Starr founded Abaarso Tech, a nonprofit organization that helps prepare the country’s brightest boys and girls for top-tier institutions in the U.S. and U.K. (Abaarso, the school’s location, means “drought.”) The institution is also designed, he says, to run like a business: Students pay what they can, while several revenue-generating programs—English courses, a school of finance, and an executive MBA track—make up for the shortfall in tuition.

Starr, 35, works at Abaarso all but three weeks of the year, along with two dozen teachers. “He was fanatical about investment philosophy, and he’s fanatical about what he’s doing now,” says Anand Desai, a former colleague at SAB Capital Management. Next year, Starr will administer the first official SAT exam in Somaliland history. “We’re making great progress,” he says. “And soon we’ll have some test scores to prove it.”

You aren’t going to make progress in the developing world without running into a lot of roadblocks and uncomfortable situations. To succeed, you can’t even consider packing up and going home.

You have to be able to see what works and what doesn’t and to adapt quickly. Otherwise you’ll spend years running plays that have no chance of succeeding.

Boqor Burmadow has been known for his efforts to reconcile between rival Somali clans in northern region.

Dubai (RBC) Famous Somali traditional elder Boqor Osman Mohamoud [better knownas Burmadow] was arrested by security forces in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 17 November 2011, Amnesty International said today in a press release.

“Boqor Osman Mohamoud was arrested by security forces in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 17 November 2011 and is now being held incommunicado in conditions amounting to an enforced disappearance”. Amnesty said in its press release.

“He has not had access to relatives or lawyers and he could be at risk of torture or ill-treatment”. The statement added.

Burmadow, originally from the break away region of northern Somalia (Somaliland)was detained from Dubai airport shortly after he returned back from Makka, Saudi Arabia for pilgrim, sources close to the elder’s relative in Hargeisa told RBC Radio.

The elder has been known for his efforts of reconciliation for rival clans in northern Somalia after the collapse of Somalia’s former central government in 1991.

He has been living in exile for the last years after Somaliland administration issued a warrant of his arrest.

Although it’s the first time in the history Somali politician who believes Great Somalia to go throughout in Somaliland territory, indeed Prof Ali Khalif Galeydh seems that he has support from Ethiopian troops and his clan named Dhulbahante.

Taleh (Sunatimes) Former Somali Prime Minister, Prof Ali Khalif Galedh had across through some villages and towns in Somaliland while he was taken by Ethiopian polices.

Prof Ali Khalif Galeydh with some officials including former minster of mass media Mr. Abdikarim Ali Omar has arrive at Taleh district in Somalia in order to take part the conference of Dhul-bahante clan called Khatumo 2. This conference will talk about political issues because they are going to establish autonomy which independent from Somaliland and Puntland.

Moreover, talked to the Somali media after he reached at Taleh town and he stated that the conference welcomes all the Great Somalia, this speech seems that Mr Galeydhwants to annoy for Somaliland Authority.

Although it’s the first time in the history Somali politician who believes Great Somalia to go throughout in Somaliland territory, indeed Prof Ali Khalif Galeydhseems that he has support from Ethiopian troops and his clan named Dhulbahante.

By the way, the minister of interior of Somaliland Mr Mohamed Nur Arale (Dur) has threatened that they will attack the conference while he was talking to the Somali VOA. "The Somaliland minster's is dream because of we would like to consult our interest so if they attack us they will fail" Said Dr Galeyd after waagacusub.com asked how he felt when he hear the threatening from Duur,Somaliland minster of interior.

"Somaliland police have arrested three local journalists in Laas Caanood District" of Sool Region, northwestern Somalia, for allegedly "assisting groups perpetrating violence in the district", UN backed Radio Bar-Kulan reported on 2 January.

"The three arrested journalists are working for Horn Cable TV, Universal TV and Somaliland TV respectively".

A Somaliland police officials said "the three journalists were supporting youths who are a threat to the security of the district", adds the source.

Preparations for the meeting of clan members that hail from [the disputed regions of ] Sool, Sanaag, and Ceyn continue as delegates that are to take part in this major meeting that is to be held town of Talex flock into town.

A function to welcome traditional elders, academics and politicians from the region who are arriving in Talex for the meeting has been held in the town. This meeting is being closely monitored after prominent Somali politicians some of whom are former senior government officials joined the talks, the security of the venue where it is being hosted having been tightened.

Former Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] prime minister Professor Ali Khalif Galeyr and the former minister for information, posts and telecommunication, Abdikarin Hasan Jama have also joined these talks said to be discussing the future of the Dhulbante sub clan [of Darod] which predominantly resides in Sool Sanaag and Ceyn Regions. Professor Ali Muhammad Galeyr said the Dhulbante sub clan will be discussing its future in this meeting whose outcome, he added, is being closely followed by the entire Somali public.

There are reports that the main reason for this meeting is the formation of a single regional administration for clans in Sool Sanaag and Ceyn Regions which has been in discussion for a while now. Both Somaliland and Puntland Administration who have in the past fought over control of these regions are weary of these talks and are keeping a close eye on its outcome. Somaliland has said it would oppose any decision that threaten its existence and rejected the talks. Reports also indicate that the former TFG minister of information, posts and telecommunication, Abdikarin Hasan Jama'a plans to re-launch himself in Somali politics and is vying for the position of the president of the new regional administration is to be formed.

Abdikarin in his time as a former director of the Somali Presidency, Villa Somalia, managed to secure meeting between officials of the Sool Sanaag and Ceyn [SSC] rebel group and President Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad marking the beginning of the conflict between the TFG president and the leader of the Puntland Administration, Abdirahman Farole.

Somaliland should be protecting, not trampling on, the most basic rights of refugees. The authorities should immediately account for this group’s forcible return and issue a public reassurance that refugees and asylum seekers won’t be deported in the future.

Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch (Nairobi) – The Somaliland authorities should cease forcibly returning refugees and asylum seekers to possible persecution in Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch said today. On December 28, authorities returned 20 Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers in violation of the fundamental international refugee law prohibition against “refoulement,” the forcible return of anyone to persecution or to a place where their life or freedom is threatened.

The Interior Ministry confirmed the deportations at a January 1 news conference. Shortly before they were deported, an international humanitarian worker met the group on December 28, at the immigration office in Wajale, on the border with Ethiopia.

“Somaliland should be protecting, not trampling on, the most basic rights of refugees,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should immediately account for this group’s forcible return and issue a public reassurance that refugees and asylum seekers won’t be deported in the future.”

Local sources told Human Rights Watch that police arrested the group on December 22, during a meeting between refugee leaders and Somaliland officials at the Interior Ministry in Hargeisa. They were discussing the situation of about 1,000 Ethiopians camped on premises known as the Social Welfare Centre, run by an international nongovernmental organization for refugees and migrants in Hargeisa.

The group was initially detained at Hargeisa’s central police station. Local lawyers working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited the group in detention. On December 28, police told the lawyers the group had been transferred to an undisclosed location, UNHCR said.

UNHCR said that fifteen members of the group were registered refugees and five were registered asylum seekers.

At the January 1 news conference, Somaliland authorities threatened further deportations, saying that refugees and others currently occupying the Social Welfare Centre would be deported if they did not vacate the premises. No date was given for future deportations.

Somaliland ended all registration of asylum seekers in 2008. UNHCR estimates that at least 20,000 undocumented foreigners are in Somaliland, including unknown numbers of Ethiopians and others who want to claim asylum. International law prohibits the deportation of anyone seeking asylum prior to a fair determination of their status.

Large numbers flee Ethiopia to escape persecution every year. Previously returned refugees have been detained by the authorities. Torture is common in Ethiopia's prisons. Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991, after the demise of Somalia’s last functioning government. No country has recognized Somaliland’s claim of statehood. Human Rights Watch takes no position on whether Somaliland should be internationally recognized as an independent country.

Nagaad Network has been implementing an integrated project(2009-2012) entitled “Enhancing women's participation in both rural and urban level decision making at all levels of society in Togdheer region’’. The project was funded by International Solidarity Foundation (ISF) who is a long-term donor of NAGAAD since 2001. The project targets 30 villages in Togdheer region for enhancing gender equality in the decision-making of the region in question.

On 2009, NAGAAD registered 1522 students and out of those 1027 graduated (679 females and 348 males). On 2010, the network also registered 1500 students where 890 of the graduated (537 female and 353 male). The number of drop outs were quite a lot and this was because there recurrent and long-lasted droughts where many people move around in pursuit of pasture and water.

On 31 December 2011, Nagaad network organized the graduation ceremony for 1200 literacy and numeracy graduates where 801 of them were females while 399 are male. In the graduation ceremony, the executive director of NAGAAD Network, Togdheer Governor, Mayor of Burao District, Regional Officer for the ministry education and police commanders, and Ministry of labor and social affairs also participated.

The Executive Director of the Network Ms Nafisa Yusuf Mohamed deeply elaborated the mandate of the Network. She has highlighted this literacy and numeracy program is grounded to NAGAAD’s education theme where the Network will offer such and similar initiatives in the region and entirely in the country. She also thanked to ISF country coordinator Ms Airi Kahara for her contribution to the development process of the country specifically Togdheer and Sanaag in which they have been funding for the last recent years.

There were also respective speeches from the mayor, the governor, and other officials that have proved potential encouragement for the students and also appreciated the work of NAGAAD Network and the donor (International Solidarity Foundation).

In conclusion, the scenery was very beautiful where traditional elders from the respective villages, students themselves, and the entire participants of the graduation were very happy and vowed sustainability as far as the education service is concerned. The graduation was concluded in a very responsive atmosphere with full appreciation.

http://www.nagaad.org/lag/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79:literacy-and-numeracy-graduation-for-1200-youth-and-adults-in-burao&catid=31:news&Itemid=46

Somaliland Minister for Interior, Mohamed Nur Arale, told the London-based Universal TV that Somaliland administration supported the Khaatumo conference currently being held in the historic town of Taleex but that it will not allow anti-Somaliland politicians to manipulate the meeting. “We will not accept any anti-Somaliland declaration because malcontents with Somali flags are now attending the meeting,” Arale said.

Nearly one year ago a meeting for diaspora groups of Sool and Sanaag and Cayn Diaspora (Consultative Conference of Beesha Dhulbahante ) was held . A 14-point declaration based on six principles was issued. Three of the principles are:

- Unity and territorial integrity of Somalia
- Democratic self-governance and the abiding rights to resistance against aggression
- Peaceful political dialogue in managing conflicts

The first principle is in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1863 (2009) while the second and third principles emphasise peaceful resolution of conflict rather than clan warfare.

Somalilad Minister for Interior called some participants in Taleex conference qaran-dumis ( elements bent on destroying the nation). Somaliland administration prides itself on being a good example of governance while many parts of Somali were affected by civil war but the language of its Interior Minister shows that Somaliland feels unsettled by a conference for people who don’t subscribe to secession.

Nearly 14 months ago Somaliland administration of president Ahmed Siilaanyo mishandled Kalshaale incident (Somaliland Government Erred on Kalshaale Decree) by ordering his troops, known to him as national army, to be on the side of his clansmen , a decision to which Declaration of the Consultative Conference referred as “war campaigns waged against our people.” Somalia’s political turmoil is partly fuelled by reluctance and refusal to candidly discuss political problems in a non-dogmatic and bigoted approach. Somaliland administration will be undermining its achievements if it continues poking its nose into meeting for leaders of clan that supports peaceful coexistence and political unity of Somalia.

Egypt's Mufti Ali Gomaa has welcomed cooperation with Somaliland to boost Sharia and justice research.

In a meeting with visiting Somaliland Presidential Affairs Minister Hirsi Ali Haji Hassan on Wednesday 28/12/2011, Gomaa said the Egyptian Ifta House is willing to contribute to promoting the moderate teachings of Islam in Somaliland.

He made it clear the Ifta House is ready to offer support in training and guidance to correct wrong ideas about Islam.

On 24th December 2011, NAGAAD NETWORK held the annual general assembly at Crown hotel. In this GA meeting all the 46 member organizations participated where 16 of them came from the regions where they do operate accordingly. The Network BOD organized the conference in a very attractive and responsive manner where the participants proved ahead and towards developed women’s network. This is because the network started its operation from scratch in 1997 with few member organizations and the 2011 GA meeting, developed network was the paramount feature.

The BOD members of the Network took the led as one of their core responsibilities and prepared a platform of convenience and responding organizational atmosphere. Prior of the meeting day, all concerned member organizations were invited and informed where in case those from the regions may get sufficient time to arrive to the capital city and also provide transportation (dynamic bus) to those in need.

On Thursday 24th, member organizations attended the session at around afternoon and the essence of the meeting started with beautiful environment. The chairlady opened the session and welcome all the member participants. Before the official assembly, there were attractive talk shows depicting the achievements of the Network since last year. There were also other events which appeared from the projector.

The chairlady Mrs Kaltun presented the achievements, lessons learnt, challenges and opportunities of the network to the member participants. Common Pot Fund Policy was also discussed with Nagaad’s member organizations and also what have been done so far since last year (2010). Member organizations themselves showed very much interest and shared their achievements and milestones respectively.

In conclusion therefore, this General Assembly was very different and unique since there were potential and tangible achievements realized by the Network secretariat. Fundraising has been strongly built and this has led the development of the Network where NAGAAD’s visibility became more popular than before. The member organizations themselves also shared a lot in reference to their respective operations and agreed mutual cooperation between the two. Participants also appreciated the financial contribution of various donors such as Oxfam Novib, HBF, ISF, Progressio, CARE, UNDP, TS, UN Women, etc and also EC, USAID and DFID who are the central providers of all these funds.

http://www.nagaad.org/lag/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:nagaad-annual-general-assembly-ga-conference&catid=31:news&Itemid=46

Ethiopian asylum seekers in de facto independent Somaliland are increasingly feeling unsafe in their host country. But returning to Ethiopia is not an option.

In 2006, Tesfy Assefa fled Ethiopia after having been accused of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an organisation deemed a terrorist group by the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.

His father had been killed and his mother beaten in front of him. Leaving Harar in the middle of the night, he found a ride to Jijiga and then caught a minibus to Wojale, the border town between Ethiopia and Somaliland, before arriving in Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital.

He has lived there ever since. "I could never go back to Ethiopia, my life would be in danger," he says, now aged 28. "I worry for my wife and my son. But here it's dangerous now, too."

Assefa is one of a group of 1700 Ethiopian political refugees living in Hargeisa. Initially, life here wasn't all that bad. Most of the asylum seekers were living in ordinary houses. Others were housed at the Social Welfare Centre under the care of the NGO Save the Children.

They were all protected by international law, and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) gave a number of them a subsistence allowance. Early this year, however, UNHCR stopped providing cases with assistance, the idea being to stimulate people to integrate more in Somaliland society.

Some of the group found steady work upon arriving in Hargeisa, taking advantage of their good education in Ethiopia. They found jobs as teachers, construction workers, waiters or cooks. The most successful asylum seekers even managed to assume positions of power as businessmen or financial managers.

But many still were not suitable for employment, as they were poorly educated or not educated at all. Adding to the already strained relationship between Ethiopians and Somalis is a religious divide between the Orthodox Christian belief of the Oromos and the deep Islamic values that shape Somaliland's society.

Zubir Mohammed, a 36-year-old teacher, arrived in Hargeisa in 2007, after he was caught collecting money for the OLF. He says that there are many problems amongst the group:

"We have no clean water, no toilets, no food and no security. The police have started to arrest us because they want us to leave. But we have nowhere else to go."

Several weeks ago, local authorities passed a law banning undocumented foreign workers from being employed in the semi-autonomous republic. Mohammed says he was making good money working at a private school, but since the law has been passed he has stopped going to work.

"When I started three years ago, I was making 230 euros a month. But then there was a conflict between the Ethiopian and Somali owners of the school, and they began to see me only as Ethiopian. They cut my salary to 115 euros, but in fact they haven't paid me at all."

A few days ago, Mohammed's daughter gave birth in the grounds of the Social Welfare Centre. The Hargeisa Group Hospital refused to admit her, despite her being sick with diarrhoea, and was forced to give birth at the centre. Two days ago, Mohammed's granddaughter died from untreated sickness.

As hostilities from the general public increase, the group has accused the local authorities of refusing to protect them. Ahamed Mohammed says the police outside the Social Welfare Centre gave him a black eye because he tried to leave the compound to find food for his baby daughter. Other asylum seekers claim that such attempts to intimidate them are part of the wider society's desire to force them out.

"I cannot return to Ethiopia, but every day I feel more unsafe in this country," says Mohammed. "The only solution is that the world starts paying attention to us and our terrible situation. We urge Human Rights Watch and UNHCR to take action and protect us."

Virtually all of the asylum seekers have given up hope of a future in Somaliland. As each day passes, more people in the group are planning to escape to a third country, whether through legal or illegal means.

Two ugly events took place recently in Somaliland: the murders in Seemaal and the announcement of the formation of an extremist religious party called Hizbullah. The government's response to these two events, however, was a study in contrast. In the case of the murders in Seemaal, the government took immediate action and mobilized substantial resources to handle the situation, and rightly so. But in the case of the announcement of the formation of an extremist religious organization called Hizbullah (the Party of God) in its capital, there was no government response to speak of. It is not clear why the government decided to keep quiet and to do nothing regarding the matter of Hizbullah, but there is little doubt that this new organization poses a threat to Somaliland's peace and security. All one has to do is listen to its leaders speak for a couple of minutes, and one will quickly conclude that this organization has no loyalty to Somaliland' s independence or political system. Actually, it is not just that they do not have any loyalty to Somaliland, they want to abolish Somaliland's constitution. The irony here is that these people are trying to take advantage of Somaliland's recent decision to allow political parties in order to establish themselves, but their intention is nothing short of dismantling Somaliland. The attack on the constitution is only the first step. This is the same tactic that the Islamic Courts, which later showed its true face as al-Shabab, used to gain power in the south.

Hizbullah and other like-minded groups and individuals should be told that Somalilanders are very much aware of such tactics and will not allow their country to become another South Somalia. They should also be told that yes Somalilanders do believe in freedom and fair competition, but anyone who wants to participate in Somaliland's political process must adhere in words and deed to Somaliland's constitution.

Somaliland's government should have been the first to send this message, but, so far, it has not. Many people are wondering why? We are still waiting for Somaliland government's response to this dangerous development.

Dr. Barrie has 20 years of experience in mineral exploration with expertise in VMS and Ni-Cu-PGE deposits, as well as orogenic gold and porphyry Cu deposits. He has authored 40 publications, is an adjunct professor at two Canadian Universities, and is a recognized expert with a great deal of practical experience in the Arabia/Nubian Shield. Mindesta intends to acquire additional permits based on Mr. Barrie's extensive contacts and expertise in the region.

Mindesta has entered in an option agreement with Nubian Gold Corporation ("Nubian"), a privately owned Ontario company, which holds title to two 2,000km2 mineral exploration permits, Arapsyo and Qabri Bahar, which are the first two ever issued by the Republic of Somaliland. Under the option agreement, Mindesta can earn a 50% interest in both permits by incurring total exploration expenditures of $2 million within two years and can increase its interest to 80 per cent by completing a bankable feasibility study. Mindesta is required to make an upfront cash payment of $100,000 to Nubian as compensation for expenses incurred, and the first $750,000 of exploration expenditures represents a firm commitment. Mindesta also has the option to acquire all of Nubian's remaining interest in the permits at fair market value at any time after incurring the first $750,000 of exploration expenditures.

The Nubian Shield encompasses parts of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Somaliland and is host to many major mineral deposits including Bisha in Eritrea, Sukari in Egypt, and five gold/base metal mines in Saudi Arabia that are owned and operated by Ma'aden Gold, the state mining company. Somaliland has over 30,000km2 of exposed Precambrian rocks. Extensive sampling and mapping by the British, US and Russians in the 1970s identified a number of areas that are anomalous in gold, copper, lead, zinc and nickel. Nubian's permits cover the most prospective areas and it initiated a stream sediment, prospecting and sampling program in September, 2011 to define potential drill targets. Results are expected in the first quarter of 2012. The program is being supervised by Remi Bosc who has 15 years of experience as a mineral exploration, resource and mining geologist in Europe, Africa and south-east Asia. He started his career with the French Bureau of Geological and Mining Research ("BRGM") and was project geologist during the discovery of the Tasiast deposit in Mauritania.

Gregory Bowes, CEO of Mindesta stated that: "Our announced plan to distribute Mindesta's investment in Northern Graphite Corporation to shareholders by way of a pro rate dividend in kind closes one chapter in the Company's history and the option agreement with Nubian is the beginning of another. While the new strategy is not without risk, the Company has achieved first mover status in an area of the world which we believe has very attractive geology and an underappreciated political situation. After the record date for the dividend, Mindesta plans to raise additional financing for its exploration activities and will investigate seeking a listing in Canada subject to the completion of all corporate and regulatory requirements and approvals."

Gregory Bowes, CEO and a director of Mindesta, is a major shareholder of Nubian and therefore the option agreement with Nubian represents a related party transaction. The transaction was approved by all of the independent directors of the Company with Mr. Bowes abstaining from voting. The independent committee approved the transaction following a review of, among other things:

1. A geological report by Mr. Tucker Barrie who visited the permits and who is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.
2. A budget and work program proposed by Mr. Remi Bosc who visited the permits and is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.
3. Similar joint venture agreements relating to early stage exploration projects in Africa.

The potential acquisition of the balance of Nubian's interest in the permits would be subject to a fairness opinion and to a shareholder vote.

The Republic of Somaliland is located on the Red Sea between Djibouti to the west, Somalia to the east and Ethiopia to the south. Somaliland is a former British colony that gained its independence in 1960 and became a member of the United Nations. Somaliland subsequently agreed to join Italian Somaliland, in an informal partnership that was never ratified by their respective parliaments, to form the greater "Somalia". Following the collapse of the Somalia government in 1992, Somaliland withdrew from the partnership and reasserted its independence. While the rest of the world has not yet officially recognized Somaliland's "re-independence", the Company anticipates this will happen based on the fact that Somaliland has held three free, fair, and non-violent elections, it jails pirates and extremists, and it is one of the few functioning democracies in Africa and the Middle East.

Mindesta is a junior exploration company that trades on the OTCBB and is an SEC registrant current on all 10k and 10Q filings. The Company has approximately 8.9 million shares outstanding.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of statements that include words such as "could", "potential", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "likely", "will" or other similar words or phrases. These statements are only current predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Contacts: Mindesta Inc. Gregory Bowes CEO. (613) 241-9959
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mindesta-options-first-mineral-exploration-permits-issued-by-republic-of-somaliland-2011-12-19-71220?reflink=MW_news_stmp

On Monday, police from Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland detained Shiekh Mohamoud Abdulahi Gelle, who had formed an Islamist political party in Hargeisa last week named Hizbullah, senior officials told Somalia Report.

Shiekh Mohamoud Abdullahi Gelle, speaking at the opening ceremony for his party in Hargiesa last week, gave his Islamist party the name 'Hizbullah' (Party of God), and declared that the aim of the party would be to govern Somaliland under Islamic law, not by democratic ideals. He also said that his party is religious and not political. A Somaliland police officer confirmed to Somalia Report that police had detained Sheikh Gelle in Hargiesa. “Police arrested and detained Shiekh Mohamoud Abdulaahi Gelle. He is free to create a new party, but he delegitimised our administration, and is creating insecurity,” said a police officer in Hargeisa who cannot be named. Officers said that a trial will be held as soon as possible. Under the Somaliland constitution, it is prohibited to form a political party based on religious ideology.

A witness in Hargeisa told Somalia Report that Sheikh Gelle was taken by police from his Qur'anic school where he was teaching, and brought to Koodbuu police station.

Hizbullah members condemned the state’s action against their chairman in a statement released on Monday, demanding that the government release Shiekh Gelle.

“We are saddened that the government detained our chairman Sheikh Gelle. We request the state to release the chairman without any conditions. We are a religious party and our aim is to control the whole state according to the Islamic religion,” wrote a spokesman of Hizbullah Party, in a press release today. “To arrest our chairman is not fair, it’s far from justice. He is not a criminal. I would like to ask the government: if you want to control your region under Islam, is that a crime?” he added.

There have been dozens of new political parties announced in Somaliland in recent months, and the deadline to form parties is December 28th. Elections are planned for early 2012, and only three parties will be selected to run for office.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2366/Somaliland_Police_Detain_Islamist_Leader

Somaliland forces have this morning conducted security operations in Laas Caanood town, Sool Region.

Reports from Laas Caanood say security operations are under in the town in which a number of people including businessmen have been arrested.

Security officials said the operations follows an intelligence report received that group of people have come to commit insecurity acts in the town.

The number of arrested people suspected to be behind the insecurity acts in the town remains unclear. The suspects were taken to a police station in the town.

A number of Somaliland officials have been assassinated in Laas Caanood in the past. Laas Caanood has remained relatively peaceful in recent past.

A new coalition political party, the National Democratic Party (NDP) with a woman leader, has been formed in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland.

The new party represents several other political parties in the country and is expected to get much support from Somaliland women.

In an exclusive interview with Somalia Report, Fawzia Adam, the leader of the new party, said her party intended to work with other social movements and interested parties in Somalia before the next elections.

A founder member of Hargeisa University and a political activist in the bullet-ridden Horn of African nation, Adam ran as an independent presidential candidate in the 2003 Somaliland elections attracting a paltry 37 per cent of the total presidential votes

“As NDP leader, I will ensure that my party wins the next general elections and I am hopeful that I will be the first woman president of this country,” she told Somalia Report.

She said that if elected, she would prioritize enhancing Somalia's tainted education and health sectors as well as developing the country’s dilapidated infrastructure.

Faisal Ali Warabe, the leader of UCID, another political party allied to NDP, welcomed the move saying it would encourage Somali women to take part in the country’s political process.

“The NDP will put the national interest before our political ambitions and will work hard to establish democracy in our country,” she said.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2344/Somaliland_Forms_Womens_Political_Party

Somali MPs have held a meeting in Mogadishu in which they condemned recent statement by the United Nations Special Envoy to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga in which he said Somaliland was worthy of recognition.

The MP accused the UN envoy to planning to break the country into regions and asked the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] to make urgent decisions against the UN envoy to Somalia. Muhammad Abdi Yusuf, an MP who was among those that addressed the meeting condemned the UN envoy over statements he made in Hargeysa during a recent visit and said he is the Somali people's enemy.

Abdi Hashi, another MP said a decision needs to be made on Mahiga as he is more of a hindrance than help he said. MPs attending the meeting agreed that the unity of Somalia as whole was of great importance and non negotiable and urged the government to safeguard the unity of both the public and the country as a whole and work on efforts to bring together the entire nation.

Somaliland Minister of Information, Ahmad Abdi Habsade strongly defended Somaliland government from charges that it suppresses the media. Explaining his government's policy, he said they respect the freedom of the press, but at the same time he also warned against the media's spreading of baseless news. He particularly called on the media to show restraint in times when incidents occur that could lead to tribal conflict.

The Information Minister condemned the killings of three individuals that took place in Seemaal, and appealed to the communities of Gabiley and Awdal regions to keep the peace. Mr Habsade had just come back from Sanaag Region where he went to mediate between feuding clans. Haatuf newspaper caught up with him as he got back and gave it a brief interview in which he made the above statements.

Officials of Somaliland, the nation which still didn’t get recognition as an independent nation from the United Nations and the African Union so far, have made an official visit to the United Kingdom (UK) and Wales and met with their parliamentarians.

Ahmed Omar Haji Abdillahi, Governor of Hargesia Region and Chairman of Somaliland Governor Association, is among the officials who talked to the parliamentarians of UK and Wales during his tour of the UK Somaliland Communities, according to the press statement Wales Somaliland Communities dispatched to the media.

During the two weeks long visit , the Somaliland delegations held talks with Rt. Hon. Alun Michael, MP and Chairman of UK Parliament – All Party Parliamentary Group for Somaliland, Rt. Hon. Peter Hain, MP and Shadow Wales Secretary of State, Mr. Kevin Brennan,MP and all four Cardiff Assembly Members namely Mr. Vaughan Gething, AM, Ms. Julie Morgan, AM, Mr. Mark Drake, AM and Ms. Jenny Ruthbone, AM and all with large constituent from the Somali Community .

The Somaliland Delegations briefed the Parliamentarians and Somaliland Community members on the current situation of Somaliland using documentations such Somaliland Five Year Plan, Somaliland Vision for 2030 and from their first hand knowledge of the situation of Somaliland. The Delegations attended the Labour Party, Annual Muslim Eid Party, as well Banquet hosted by the Somaliland Community members for their honour of the visitors from Somaliland.

“We are delighted by warmth welcome and reception from all sections of the Somaliland Community of Wales, youth, Community elders, and women’s and their elected Parliamentarian Members in Wales and UK Parliament,’ said Rt. Hon. Ahmed Omar Haji Abdillahi, Chairman of Governor Association and Mr. Osman Saed, Somaliland Vice –President Advisor.

“We in Somaliland value the friendship between Wales and Somaliland based on century old historical settlement and we appreciate Wales Somaliland Community for their extra ordinary support to their homeland. The Delegation strongly advocated in maintaining and further developing an effective and long lasting mutual partnership between our two countries institutions both Parliaments and Governments and our people and we fully endorsed the Somaliland community crucial role in acting play as Ambassadors for the UK and Somaliland in an ever changing world.”

Somaliland declared independence in 1991 after the overthrow of Somali military dictator Siad Barre. Leaders of the Somaliland argue that even though Somaliland appears to fulfil all the requirements of statehood, the lack of international recognition has been preventing it from establishing its position in the world as an independent nation.

In the wake of birth of Southern Sudan as independent republic, Somaliland hopes that the African Union and international community will follow suit to recognize the efforts made by Somaliland people in maintaining functioning government and flourishing democracy in the region.

In the leaked cables the United States acknowledges the Somaliland government is in control of the region. However, they have withheld recognition to Somaliland on grounds that the African Union should determine the question of Somaliland’s independence.

In turn, the African Union refuses to recognize Somaliland based on fears that doing so would lead to a series of claims of secession by other territories in Africa.

Moreover, the African Union believes that recognizing Somaliland would create further instability in Somalia by introducing “a new dynamic into Somalia and its warring factions, thus threatening current efforts to establish peace and stabilize peace within the country. Furthermore, the African Union further basis its position on their history of upholding the borders demarked following colonization to deter tribal claims of secession.”

http://www.newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=666:somaliland-officials-meet-with-uk-wales-parliamentarians-&catid=13:regional-politics&Itemid=6

Two people were killed and four others wounded when two rival groups of the Islamist insurgents Al-Shabab exchanged fire with each other in Taleeh District of the Sool Region [northwestern Somalia], locals said on Monday.

The fighting occurred late on Sunday, witnesses told Somalia Report. The clash broke out after militant fighters from Sool Region fired at other members of the Al-Shabab from Garoowe, Puntland's commercial city. "We can't talk about this yet," a local resident, who witnessed the clash, said.

According to police sources, a local prominent businessman and another person were killed during the fighting, while four people, among them a journalist, sustained serious wounds. "We are now investigating the cause of the differences," a police source said.

Majority of the inhabitants of Sool Region belong to the Dhulbahante (Daarood) clan whose members are divided over if the region lies in Puntland or Somaliland. Other members claim that the region should have its autonomy. "Both groups were from the region. The group that killed the businessman comes from Garoowe while the other group that started the shooting hails from Taleeh area," a resident in Sool Region who did not want to be named told Somalia Report.

The Somaliland President, Ahmad Muhammad Silanyo, has today dismissed and replaced the region's military commander, General Nux Ismail.

A decree was issued at the office of the Somaliland leader in which the Commander for the Somaliland military was dismissed. General Muhammad Hasan has been appointed as the new commander and is expected to take over from his predecessor. The spokesman for the Somaliland presidency, Abdullahi Muhammad Dahir Cukuse announced the dismissal of General Tani but refrained giving reasons for his dismissal.

General Nur Ismail Tani has been in the position for the last eight years and served under the previous administration led by President Dahir Riyale Kahin. The reason for his dismissal from the position is not yet known. The current Somaliland administration which has been in office for one and a half years now has in recent times been appointing new armed commanders in the national forces.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, December 8, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) denounces the arrest and brief detention of Hassan Mohamed Yusuf, Chairman of Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA).

Yusuf was arrested on Wednesday, 7 December, around 09:40am inside Hargeisa District Court by police from Somaliland's Criminal Investigations Department (CID), led by colonel Dahir Abrar Muse, while he was attending hearing of defamation case against him and Hargeisa Star newspaper where Yusuf used to be Editor-in-chief.

The complainant is Somaliland's Minister for Presidential Affairs Mr Hersi Haji Ali Hassan who claims that he was “defamed” after the newspaper reportedly published last year an article on misappropriation of half a million US dollar by the Minister. Yusuf refuses the responsibility of the publication of this article, as he was that time out of the Country for medical reasons in Djibouti

NUSOJ was reliably informed that Somaliland Attorney General Hassan Adan ordered arrest of SOLJA chairman after the association strongly condemned Aden's recent decision to temporarily suspend the registration of new private media houses in Somaliland.

“The continuation of defamation cases against journalists in Somaliland is a major obstacle for free press. We denounce the arrest and detention of Hassan Mohamed Yusuf,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General.

Hassan Mohamed Yusuf, who currently works for Radio Hargeisa, was freed after more than 2 hours of detention at the CID headquarters, according to fellow journalists.

NUSOJ joins SOLJA in demanding the end of suspension of registration of new private media houses by Somaliland's Attorney General.

Provided by PR Newswire: http://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/view/somalia-journalists-leader-arrested-207500.html

The first democratic Local Government elections is expected to be held on mid 2012 in a political atmosphere of party campaigns. Women representatives in the local government institutions were almost zero where there are only two females out of 285 seats. This was total discrimination and yet women are majority of the population and even the voters. In addition to that, those councils diverted their responsibilities into political scheme and they have never narrated a single legislative policy for the local governments since they were the first group elected.

NAGAAD Network was in a process of assessing the women candidates for the coming local government elections. To achieve this trend, the executive director organized two groups each contained three to collect the data. One group was allocated to work on Maroodijeex and Awdal regions and the other group was allocated to the rest of the regions (Sahil, Sanaag, Togdheer and Sool). A group contained member from BOD and two other staff from the secretariat conducted two day assessment in Borama the capital city of AWDAL region. The group recorded so far six candidates from different political parties including those newly announced.

On 23rd November, 2011 another group also conducted the same data collection in four regions (Sahil, Sanaag, Togdheer and Sool). The assessment proved that women have potential interest to participate in the coming local government elections. In Erigavo and Burao, there were women political aspirants who have motivated interest for both local government and parliamentary elections.

During the process, it has been organized to fill simple questionnaires depicting the respective political parties in which they belong, the municipality, the possible voters for women, their expectations and whether they have been given relevant training to campaigns. The questionnaire was also included how women candidates target in reference financial resources.

After talk shows and simple interviews with women candidates, Nagaad also organized traditional dances as public gathering to support the selected candidates in question. In Borama and Erigavo, the best traditional dances in Somaliland was conducted and recorded. At the sight, women candidates vowed women’s support and encouraged others to join. For the case of Borama all candidates were given brief introduction by themselves and also why are they contesting for the coming local government elections highlighting the needs of the community in particular women and children.

The traditional dances as well the respective speeches of the candidates were aired out in the local media. This has been watched by the public from TVs, and also listened from radios. Upon the release of the information, there are other women candidates who have been inspired by the news and again called for registration.

In conclusion, NAGAAD aimed at this assessment to realize the preliminary number of women political aspirants and also take clear intervention to show public that women have potential interest in the decision making and the development process of Somaliland at large. The number will increase from to time as we approach towards the local government elections on 2012.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 December 2011 08:32 ) http://www.nagaad.org/lag/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75:nagaad-conducted-an-assessment-on-interested-women-candidates-for-the-2012-local-government-elections&catid=31:news&Itemid=46

MOGADISHU, Somalia, November 30, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the continued harassment against the journalists in Somaliland, after one of the Somaliland's presidential guards slapped a reporter for the independent newspaper, Haatuf, on the face on Monday morning around 11:00am local time, amid celebrations to welcome President Siilaanyo' return was underway at the Hargeysa airport.

Journalist Naasir Adan Nawaa, a repoter for an independent Newspaper paper, Haatuf, based in Hargeysa, was trying the cover the event, when one of the presidential guards attacked and slapped him on the face, singling out among dozen journalists at the airport, according to local journalists.

"I don't know why this policeman attacked me in the midst of the dozen journalists," Naasir Adan Nawa told NUSOJ, "I was taking photographs when the policeman hit me unexpectedly on the face."

"It was around 11:00am on Monday morning, It was expected the president to arrive from Djibouti." Mr. Nawaa added.

Somaliland is a relative safe regions of nothern SomaliaUnprecedented attacks against journalists have been one of the biggest challenges the journalists face, sometimes facing arrests, intimidation, legal procedures etc. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the act and calls the Somaliland Authorities to cease the attacks against the press.

"Slapping the Journalist's face on duty by presidential guard is inhuman and deliberate act of abuse," Mohamed Ibrahim, the Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists said, "We demand from the Somaliland authorities to end the impunity and call upon to cease the attacks against the journalists." On Oct. 27, 2011, Mohamed Abdi Kahin, who works for both a Somali new website Ramaas and Royal Television 24 respectively, was seriously beaten by Somaliland police at Shacabka neighborhood in Hargeysa, in proud daylight. The police accused the journalist for taking recently published photographs.

A confrontation involving Somaliland army that caused death and injuries has occurred in Laas Caanood, Sool Region.

According to reports from Laas Caanood, a battle involving Somaliland army erupted in a locality under Laas Caanood District.

Local residents said the confrontation broke out following quarrel over arms. The fighting resulted in death and injuries.

One person is reported to have died and three others injured. All the casualties were the soldiers involved in the gunfight. Tension is still high in the town as the soldiers take up positions.

More Somaliland soldiers were sent to Laas Caanood to intervene between the rival soldiers. Somaliland government has so far not issued any statement regarding the incident.

At least one soldier was killed and three others injured when Somaliland forces fought amongst themselves for unknown reasons in a small village called Yagori, 60 kilometers north of Las Anod in Sool region, officials and residents said.

“Two sections of Somaliland troops - groups of seven and nine - fought in Yagori village on Tuesday,” Keys Ahmed Hajji, Somaliland Governor of Las Anod District, told Somalia Report. “It's not clear why they fought, but we are investigating.”

Sool is part of the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn region, which is disputed by Puntland, Somaliland and a separatist movement.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2153/Somaliland_Soldiers_Fight_Amongst_Selves

If an elderly woman can build a hospital, everyone has the potential to move humanitarian mountains if they put their mind to it, says Edna Adan Ismail.

Ismail is a former foreign minister of Somaliland, an autonomous region of Somalia. swissinfo.ch talked to the 74-year-old director and founder of Somaliland’s first teaching hospital following her talk on Sunday at the TEDxRC² event in Geneva.

The TEDx talks were held ahead of the four-day International Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which opened in the western Swiss city on Monday. The meeting takes place every four years aimed at strengthening international humanitarian law and humanitarian action.

TED is a global non-profit organisation devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading”. Leading thinkers and personalities are filmed giving a 15-minute talk which is broadcast free on the internet. TEDx is a programme of local, self-organised events.

swissinfo.ch: At the age of 60 why did you decide to build a hospital at Hargeisa in Somaliland using your life savings and pension?

Edna Adan Ismail: Health and hospitals has been my business all my life. The biggest motivation came from my father, who was the first Somali doctor and the father of healthcare in my country – I refer to him as the African Albert Schweitzer. From a young age I wanted to build the kind of hospital my father would have liked to have worked in.

At 60 you are fit, healthy and your whole life and career are behind you and there is a big need – a whole lot of suffering around you. So I just said, ‘I’m going to roll up my sleeves and see what I can do about it’.

Of course, I underestimated the challenge. It’s not just about building a hospital but to run it, equip it, replace what’s broken, train health workers and set standards.

But I love it. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t hesitate. I feel that whatever it is I’ve given was material, while what I get in return, one life saved, has no measure, no size. It’s something far bigger than anything I’ve given.

The hospital has also given me life. I work seven days a week and still deliver babies. I used to live there when I was foreign minister. I’m a hard-headed woman.

E.A.I.: We’ll be ten years old in March and it’s given life to an entire country. Every midwife in Somaliland has had to do a refresher course with us. We’ve developed a nursing training curriculum which is used nationally and a midwife training programme which has been replicated and used in neighbouring Somalia. It’s become a curiosity; people want to come and see what an old woman has done.

swissinfo.ch: TED conferences are about presenting great ideas to peacefully change the world for the better. What are your next big plans?

E.A.I.: I have two burning ambitions. One is to multiply the number of community midwives working in my country to about 1,000. Of course we need doctors but we can’t wait eight or nine years, and when we get doctors they don’t like going to villages.

The other is to start a school health programme, as we have 250,000 children going to school and there is no scheme. If I had ten arms I would use six dealing with the midwives and four with the school programme.

E.A.I.: The hospital may get run down and a window may fall out, but what will always remain behind is the knowledge we leave with the midwives, lab technicians, pharmacists and university students.

I was 16 and a half when I won a scholarship to go to England [to train as a nurse] and it is that knowledge at a young age and that training which is helping me today. Without that I might have been just another nomad woman and wouldn’t have been able to encourage or inspire other women.

swissinfo.ch: In your speech you said, ‘If I can build a hospital at 60, any of you can do it’. Is that realistic?

E.A.I.: People come to me and say they want to do something, but can’t build a hospital. I tell them size has nothing to do with it.

I tell them, ‘Go to where your grandparents were born or parents met. Find a school near there that maybe has a leaky roof and fix that. Or maybe the school doesn’t have a toilet for girls – so go and build them’. These are just small things. You then learn about your potential; and then maybe next time you can do something bigger.

But we don’t all need to start with hospitals. Try and measure your potential against the challenges and say this is a big problem but if I take a small hammer and chisel there will come a time when we can overcome this problem. Don’t try to move a mountain, just try to make it a little bit smaller.

Simon Bradley in Geneva, swissinfo.ch. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/foreign_affairs/Edna_shares_her_humanitarian_vision_with_TED.html?cid=31654080

By Thorir Gudmundsson, Director of International and Domestic Operations, Icelandic Red Cross

Thorn bushes, bundles of cacti and parched gravel, lots of gravel; that's now home for Hinda Muse and her husband Ahmed Mohamoud and their three children on a barren hillside outside of Hargeysa, Somaliland.

They were evicted from a plot in Hargeysa 23 days ago and now need to live in the newly-established Sheikh Omar Internally Displaced People's (IDP) camp, a place that has no running water, no electricity and hardly a road. Water is trucked in by the Somaliland Ministry of Education.

But Hinda and Ahmed are in an optimistic mood. They have just received assistance in the form of trapaulin, blankets, a jerrycan, a bucket, mosquito nets and a hygiene parcel.

"We need the tarpaulin, especially, because when it rains our roof leaks," says Hinda.

That much is quite clear. Her two square metre hut uses a mixture of plastic bags, garments and paper to cover the walls and ceiling. They are fortunate, if you can use the term for Somali IDPs, because they do have shelter and Ahmed has a job in town distributing water on a donkey cart.

"We used to be nomads but our animals died from disease and drought," Hinda says. Asked if she expects to go back to a nomadic lifestile, the reply is a fervent "No." They prefer city life.

Fadma Abdullah is less fortunate. She arrived in the camp seven days ago with her husband and five children. They still don't have a shelter so they have been sleeping rough, in the open.

The tarpaulin, two 4x6 metre sheets of plastic, means the difference between sleeping on the ground without a roof over their heads and being sheltered from the elements.

Somalia Red Crescent volunteers ensure the distribution goes smoothly. Each family's allotment is neatly stacked and everybody's registration paper is checked at the entrance to the distribution area.

This is an example of people-to-people assistance across continents. Funding for the relief items is provided by the Icelandic Red Cross from its clothing business. Customers who purchase used clothes in Red Cross stores in the country know that the proceeds will be used for humanitarian assistance.

Somaliland declared independence two decades ago and while it has yet to achieve international recognition, it is a rare spot of relative tranquility in the collapsed state of Somalia.

While Southern and Central Somalia carry the brunt of the East Africa food crisis, Somaliland has not escaped the effects of recurrent droughts and political violence. Large parts of its capital Hargeysa were destroyed in the Somali civil war as were its only cement factory and important infrastructure. And now there is the drought.

There have always been droughts, wreaking havoc on the lives of East Africa's nomads.

In these conditions, the operations of the Red Crescent present the very image of order in the midst of chaos. In the Hargeysa branch, young volunteers crowd a small room to learn first aid. A great majority of them are girls.

They are all secondary school or university age, but actually many of them come from the IDP camps and belong to families who constitute a considerable part of the Red Crescent's beneficiaries.

In another room, only the low-murmuring hum of computers disturb the silence. Here, more young Red Crescent volunteers are studying, in this case to use computers.

"These young people sign membership agreements and get the opportunity to learn important skills," says Hargeysa branch chairman Ahmed Issa Mohamoud. "Then, they become volunteers. We have their phone numbers and whenever we require them we can send an SMS and they show up."

It is an ingenious method of recruiting volunteers, used in one way or another by many Red Cross Red Crescent societies the world over. These are not paid volunteers, but in the conditions of general poverty in Somaliland, the skills they acquire are precious indeed.

Back at the Sheikh Omar IDP camp, the youth volunteers prove their mettle. Under the midday sun, some 390 stacks of relief material have been placed in neat rows and behind each stack there is a member of the beneficiary family. As dignitaries make their speeches, it is decided the beneficiaries have waited long enough. Men and women pick up their new belongings and immediately head for the hills. It is a rough existence, but it just got a little bit easier.

Somaliland President Ahmad Muhammad Muhamud (Silanyo) met in London with British minister for Africa, Henry Bellingham. They discussed mutual cooperation in the area of security in the Horn of Africa region. They also reviewed the status of bilateral relations between the two countries and British aid to Somaliland.

Somaliland's president is currently on an unofficial visit to Britain. Somaliland is a former protectorate of Britain and the two countries have long historical relations.

Rampant unemployment in Somaliland has prompted thousands of young people to leave the territory every month

HARGEISA, 22 November 2011 (IRIN) - A high unemployment rate in the self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland, especially among school-leavers and university graduates, has fuelled an increase in migration, with hundreds of young people embarking every month on a perilous journey to Europe through the Sahara Desert, officials said.

"In the months of August, September and October, about 3,500 young men and women from Somaliland went through Ethiopia, to Sudan, then to Libya and on to cross the Mediterranean Sea on their way to western Europe,” Abdillahi Hassan Digale, chairman of the Ubah Social Welfare Organization, who works for the International Office for Migration (IOM), told IRIN.

According to Somaliland's National Development programme - which was launched in October - total employment (comprising self-employment and paid employment) among the economically active population is estimated at 38.5 percent for urban areas and 59.3 percent for rural and nomadic areas. The weighted average national employment rate is estimated at 52.6 percent.

Unemployment among the youth, which stands at 75 percent, is much higher than the average. Unofficial estimates show that at least 65-70 percent of Somaliland's 3.5 million people are younger than 30.

A study carried out in December 2010 by the Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO), with Oxfam-Novib, indicated that out of 800 people interviewed, only 25 percent were employed.

"On the issue of employment, participants were asked if they had any type of employment, paid or unpaid; 75 percent indicated that they had none," according to the study.

"This was, in a way, to be expected because youth between the ages of 15-22 could still be in school or university... Only 25 percent of the youth stated that they had some employment. Some 43.1 percent of the employed group were engaged in business, 40.6 percent were employed in the private sector, whereas 14.4 percent were employed in the public sector. Of those employed, 77 percent were confident that they had job security."

The study identified the business sector as the biggest employer of the youth, noting, however, that the sector was not well formalized or regulated.

"The youth who worked for this sector were mostly unsatisfied with the remunerations they received for the work they did; 69.1 percent of the unemployed youth had been unemployed for more than three years despite the fact that 53.2 percent of them had skills for different trades," the study indicated. "Lack of employment opportunities prevents them from putting their energies and creativity to good use and thereby fulfilling their ambitions. This leaves them with a sense of frustration and hopelessness that drives some of them to take desperate measures.

"Each year, hundreds decide to try their luck against all odds, by getting to the shores of Europe, crossing continents, deserts and dangerous seas. Most of them do not make it and many perish on the way.”

According to the study, lack of sports and recreational facilities, venues for cultural activities as well as opportunities for internships and doing voluntary work increase the youth's desperation and feeling of alienation.

During election campaigns in 2010, many young people supported the now ruling party KULMIYE (Solidarity), because one of its campaign platforms was job creation for the youth and free primary education.

In his acceptance speech after the 20 June 2010 elections, President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo said: “The winners are our young generation who will never undertake illegal immigration and will never die in the Mediterranean Sea in search of a better life and employment."

In a statement on 25 October, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Ilhan Mohamed Jama said the government had taken certain measures to ensure the youth had better access to work, in particular, issuing a directive to employers to give priority to citizens. He said there were many foreigners working in Somaliland yet they did not have work permits.

“We have now nominated a monitoring team to register the foreign workers in Somaliland and to assess their status, because our mandate is to give job opportunities to our citizens," said Abdil-Kadir Da'ud, director of the ministry's Labour Department. “Only 40 foreign workers are registered with our ministry but the exact number will be known upon completion of our monitoring.

"We have also urged international aid agencies to advertise job vacancies in Somaliland locally and we have notified them that we will not accept [the] hiring of foreign workers for vacancies that Somalilanders can do."

Zainab Ali Mohamed, chair of Marwo Youth Organization, said: "About 104 international NGOs and UN agencies are now working on different projects in Somaliland; but instead of seeking locals to help in implementing the programmes for which they source funds from donors, about 60 percent of their staff are foreigners. This has had a negative impact on Somaliland youth, many of whom are left with no choice but to leave the country in search of a better life."

However, some local NGOs say illegal migration by Somaliland youth decreased in October, compared with August and September 2011.

Ubah’s Hassan said youth migration decreased in October due to increased awareness-raising campaigns by IOM and its Mixed Migration Program partners.

100 elders from two clans, Dhulbahante and Isaaq, have signed an agreement to end clashes in Erigabo, at a meeting in Erigabo town in the disputed region of Sanaag.

Fifty elders were selected from each the southern and northern Erigabo clans to sign an agreement to end the clashes without conditions. They further agreed to forget what happened in the past and to work towards peace and stability.

The ceremony was attended by the Somaliland delegation led by the minister Mohamed Nur Aralle, the council elders of Somaliland, traditional elders delegations from Sol and Togdher regions, the two clans, and local officials.

Mr. Aralle welcomed the agreement and thanked the elders who helped bring peace to the region.

“I and my delegations won't leave here until we ensure the security of the region and see that stability is being restored as part of the peace agreement,” he said.

Somaliland's Information Minister Ahmed Abdi Habsade welcomed the agreement and sent the two clan militia a message of unity. He said that the four clans in Erigabo should act as one for the stability of the region.

The agreement comes 15 days after a heavy battle between clan militias, which killed at least ten people, including district police chief Shine Yasin.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2084/Warring_Clans_Agree_to_Peace_Deal

Somaliland parliament passed a motion in which it suspended the existing voter-registration list which was used for the presidential election. The parliament's motion also says the coming municipal election would take place without voter registration.

Thirty four parliamentarians voted for suspending the previous voters registration list, 9 voted against suspending the registration list, and 4 abstained. Similarly, 37 parliamentarians voted for conducting the municipal election without voter registration, 5 voted against having an election without voter registration and 5 abstained. Also, 42 parliamentarians voted for a new voter-registration before the parliamentary and presidential elections takes place and 5 abstained.

The motions by Somaliland's parliament has thrown a monkey's wrench into Somaliland's coming elections, the first of which was supposed to be the municipal elections, which the election commission had set to occur in April 2012

A year after a group of venture capitalists partnered to form Venture Capital for Africa (VC4Africa), their move to back a lab in Somaliland comes as a sign that tech entrepreneur funding in Africa is moving beyond traditional hubs like Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos and Accra.

"We see ventures coming online in Congo, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Southern Sudan and Somaliland; it shows there is an entrepreneurial appetite on every corner of the continent," said Ben White, VC4Africa founder.

The group is backing Somaliland's first software incubation and testing labs. VC4Africa matches entrepreneurs with VCs. Entrepreneurs register their apps and businesses with VC4Africa to receive feedback and potential funding from venture capitalists within the organization. VCs working with VC4Africa include eVa Fund, Acumen Fund, Ashoka Change Makers, East Africa Capital Fund and In Return Capital.

Somaliland and its capital, Hargeisais, are relatively peaceful relative to the more famous war-torn Somalia and its capital, Mogadishu. Because of the similarity in names, Somaliland is often mistaken as hostile and unstable, but the country is served by fiber optic cable and telecom costs are relatively affordable compared to other countries and major cities such as Nairobi and Addis Ababa.

"The region is quite stable, energy and Internet provision are above average and you have a young and graduated workforce which is hungry to prove their skills," said Saskia Reus, head of international partnerships at VC4Africa.

The lab in Boorama, Somaliland, is being formed in partnership with ExtendedBits, a local software company. VC4Africa has already connected the company with RLabs in South Africa, to allow developers in the two companies to exchange ideas and improve on software and testing.

"There is tech talent in Somaliland and graduates are quick to learn principles of software testing," said Hassan Giire, founder of ExtendedBits. "Somaliland has one of the cheapest telecom rates and the infrastructure is good."

Giire said the company is ready to deliver high quality testing and enhance on-the job training in order to attract bigger outsourcing contracts in Europe.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/network-wifi/3318238/vc4africa-extends-tech-support-somaliland/

Somaliland government said this week it has no policy of suppressing the media and that any attempt to prevent the media from doing its job would violate the principles on which the country was founded.

The statement was part of the response of the Somaliland government spokesman Abdullahi Muhammad Dahir [Cukuse] to questions that were put to him by Haatuf Newspaper about police attacks on reporters.

The government spokesman also added that the government was not aware of the cases of government abuse of reporters that were mentioned in the media organization SOLJA's [Somaliland Journalists Association] press release and that SOLJA had not informed the government about those cases.

The Somaliland media organization SOLJA had issued a press release in which it catalogued a list of violations of the freedom of the press last week which was published in some of the newspapers.

Somaliland officials have expressed concern over an increase in the number of illegal immigrants

HARGEISA, 10 November 2011 (IRIN) - Migrants in Somaliland, especially those from Ethiopia, have increasingly come under attack since the government in the self-declared independent state in September ordered employers to fire all "illegal foreigners" as part of its commitment to expelling them from the territory, according to rights organizations.

"Many of those targeted for attack in the past one-and-a-half months live in the eight IDP [internally displaced persons] camps in Hargeisa," said Abdillahi Hassan Digale, an official of the Ubah Social Welfare Organization, which champions the rights of minorities and IDPs. "We have recorded 23 cases of violations, mostly by security groups [young men hired by the community to provide protection services] in these camps. They ask for bribes from the migrants; if they don't pay up, they are threatened that the police will be notified of their presence in the country."

Digale said most of the illegal migrants targeted were employed as watchmen, domestic servants, rubbish collectors, construction workers, farm hands or latrine diggers.

An estimated 90,000 illegal migrants, mostly Ethiopians, were thought to be in Somaliland by the time the government issued the directive.

On 25 October, the government announced that foreigners working in Somaliland without permission from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs would be relieved of their jobs and urged employers to prioritize citizens for work.

Human rights organizations estimate that about 45,000 illegal migrants have left Somaliland since the government directive but those remaining were living in difficult circumstances, with some hiding in their homes for fear of deportation. Others have been camping outside the Social Welfare Centre - run by the international NGO Save the Children with funding support from the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR - fearing attacks and deportation.

Digale told IRIN: "Only 50 percent of the total estimated number of illegal immigrants has left Somaliland while the 50 percent who remain continue to suffer human rights violations in their settlements, afraid the police could deport them or the citizens could attack them. Already, some have not been paid, despite working for their employers for a month-and-a-half. Others have been beaten by members of the local communities."

Abdi-Hakim Mohamed Elmi, an Ethiopian working as a construction worker in Hargeisa, told IRIN his employer had confiscated his tools and refused to pay him for two days' work.

"Three weeks ago, I worked on a construction site in 150-ka street in Hargeisa, earning 70,000 Somaliland shillings [US$12.70] per day; when I was not paid for two days, I decided to report to the Dalodho police station but I was told there was no-one to follow up on my case," Elmi said. "I have not gone back to the construction site since then because I am afraid my employer could hurt me."

Khadir Abdalla, from Ethiopia's Oromiya region, who lives in the Dami IDP settlement in Hargeisa, was attacked 11 days ago by a group of young men in the camp.

"I used to collect trash in the local government area," he said. "A group of young men came to my home one day and asked me to come out. They asked why I was not adhering to the government directive to leave Somaliland. I told them I would go but, instead, they started beating me using sticks and punching me. They took whatever I had. I did not report them to the police because I was afraid... I would be deported."

Ahmed Yare, another Oromo Ethiopian in the Cakaara IDP settlement, said: "Young men came to my house 19 days ago and asked why I had not left the country. I told them I did not have the fare to travel. They beat me up, injuring me in the head before they left."

Ahmed Mohamed Said, chairman of Somaliland's Counter-Trafficking Network - an umbrella body of local NGOs working with the International Office for Migration (IOM) - said it had registered about 50 cases of human rights violations in the past three months, mainly targeting watchmen, domestic workers, latrine diggers, street sweepers and beggars.

"We submitted these cases to IOM who provided the victims with psycho-social support, rehabilitation and food aid," he said. "There are networks of human traffickers supplying labour from Ethiopia and south-central Somalia; when someone arrives in Somaliland, these middle men link them up to potential employers on condition that he will give up a portion of his salary to them."

Ahmed Elmi Barre, director-general of Somaliland's Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Re-integration, told IRIN the ministry had not received any reports of human rights violations against Ethiopians in Somaliland.

However, rights groups say at least 30 Ethiopian Somalis were arrested 20 days ago in the border town of Lawya-addo. But Mohamed Muse Bu'ul, governor of the region of Selel - from where Lawya-addo is administered - told IRIN the arrests were for security reasons.

Bu'ul said: "We know in the region, there are about 450 foreign workers; arrests can happen for security reasons... A year ago, Somali militia who are members of ONLF [Ogaden National Liberation Front] landed in Somaliland's western coast; for this reason it is our duty to keep an eye on the security matters in the area."

At least one Ethiopian was killed and three other were injured as residents fought Ethiopian police forces in Bali-dhiig district of Tog-Dher region in the breakaway region of Somaliland on Monday, local residents and an official said.

According to local resident Abdihakin Kamarun, the fighting erupted after Ethiopian forces entered the border district and tried to detain religious leaders and Islamic teachers, surrounding and investigating two schools and one mosque.

“About 80 Ethiopian police entered our distinct and tried to do what they want, but civilians fought against them,” he told Somalia Report, adding that he saw the dead body of an Ethiopian.

“We received information that two Ethiopian vehicles entered Bali-Dhiig and surrounded the mosque and Islamic school; we don’t know the reason why, but will investigate and ask the government,” he told Somalia Report.

In early October, Ethiopian forces entered Bali-Dhiig and detained six religious leaders, including five Pakistani citizens.

This is the second time that Ethiopian troops have entered Somaliland over the last 40 days, and many believe this intervention will damage relations between the two countries following a July agreement on mutual respect and security cooperation.

At least three people died and two others were injured when Somaliland forces fought against a clan militia in Ceerigaabo District of Sanaag Region [northwestern Somalia] on Sunday [6 November] with both sides using heavy artillery and machine guns.

Fighting began when Somaliland Minister of Information Mr Ahmad Abdi Habsade tried to visit the house of a clan militia member to offer condolences for Shine Yasin, a district police chief, who was assassinated on Wednesday in Ceerigaabo District by members of the Isaq clan.

Once the minister arrived, the clan militia began firing at the official and his delegation.

Col Muse Jama Dalaf, a police officer in Somaliland's Sanaag Region, confirmed to Somalia Report the deaths of three people. "Yes, the clan militia started firing against the policemen and killed at least three people. The situation is not good. They are using heavy weapons," said the colonel.

Witnesses also confirmed the fighting. "The fighting started at 12:00 p.m. local time and I saw the bodies of two men in the war zone. The fighting is still on going and I can hear the sound of gunfire and heavy weapons from both sides," Muhammad Muse, a witness in Ceerigaabo told Somalia Report.

Over the last two days, clan militias (Dhulbahante-sub-clan of Harti) have been regrouping inside Ceerigaabo District to seek revenge against Somaliland soldiers for the death of Shine Yasin.

"Three people were killed and three others have sustained injuries after Somaliland troops and clan militias clashed in Ceerigaabo District of Sanaag Region", northwestern Somalia, privately-owned Horn Cable TV reported on 6 November.

The fighting erupted after "clan militias attacked government ministers and officials holding meeting to soothe tension between rival clans in the district".

Somaliland troops have said that they "arrested 15 militiamen during the fighting" and said that they "took control of Ceerigaabo District", adds the source.

Somaliland's interior minister has told Horn Cable TV that the fighting "has now ended and the situation is under the control of the government".

Delegation of ministers and MPs from Somaliland recently arrived in Ceerigaabo District in a bid to reconcile rival clans that clashed in the area.

Located in northwest Somalia, Somaliland enjoy relative peace compared to southern regions of the country and unilaterally declared independence from the rest of the country in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally.

An elderly Somali sits in a camp for Internally Displaced People in Galkacyo, Somalia, during a visit by UN refugee agency chief Antonio Guterres on Dec. 3, 2010. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)LEWIS CENTER, Ohio — Last month Al Shabaab, the Somali fundamentalist Islamist group with ties to Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for a deadly truck bombing in Mogadishu in which more than 85 Somali students died as they waited in line to see if they had won scholarships to study in Turkey.

Somalia arguably is the world's most ungovernable country, and a graveyard for many of the United Nations' unsustainable policy initiatives.

But in reality Somalia is three different entities: Somaliland, Puntland and south central Somalia, where the current humanitarian disaster is unfolding.

Somaliland, the northern territory of Somalia, has shown itself to be a lawful and productive nation. Somaliland's order contrasts dramatically with the rest of Somalia, which has collapsed into clan-driven violence, terrorism, piracy and lawlessness.

The chronic instability in Somalia highlights that America and the West must find a new pragmatic approach which reflects the new reality on the ground.

Luckily, an overlooked partner for peace and stability already exists — Somaliland, which re-declared its independence in 1991. It was briefly independent in 1960.

Right now the United States is expending vast resources supporting a fictional Somali government led by Sheik Sharif Ahmed. While for political reasons, the Obama administration has refused to support and recognize a source of strength in the area — the stable, functioning and democratic entity of Somaliland, which stands for freedom and democracy.

I believe recognizing democratic Somaliland would have positive consequences not just for Somalia, but for the whole Horn of Africa region. It offers a platform to stabilize southern Somalia, a bulwark against radical forces in the region and a reliable partner to combat the piracy that is the scourge of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian ocean.

What role are the Fed other central banks and the Bank of International Settlements playing in destroying economies and...

Somaliland’s success shows the world that Somalis have the ability to manage their own affairs, reconcile various clans, compromise and govern themselves, with little or no outside help.

Somaliland as an example that could provide the rest of southern Somalia’s rival clans an incentive to stop fighting among themselves in the interest of their own citizens, to reach out adversaries for the sake of ending the civil strife, and to begin moving toward good governance.

If southern Somali clans used the Somaliland model, they could develop a more stable society, which would start to alleviate the heavy burden the Somali refugees had on its neighbors, especially Kenya, which is hosting more than 600,000 people who have fled the current famine and the violence in southern Somalia.

Granting full diplomatic recognition for Somaliland would help it rebuild its shattered economy. With a stable economy, Somaliland would become stronger and be able to provide more resources for education, health, agriculture, water and economic development, which would improve the livelihood of its people, especially for young people.

This would be bad news for Al Shabaab, which controls much of central and southern Somalia, because its Al Qaeda-style extremist ideology would diminish.

More deadly drone attacks or proxy African troops alone will not dismantle or defeat Al Shabaab in Somalia.

Somalia’s chronic instability is causing piracy to thrive in many small ports in its coastline, and is costing the world economy billions every year.

Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in eastern corner of Somalia, is the hub of the pirates that now plague much of the Gulf of Aden and the north Indian Ocean.

But Somaliland, which has a nascent coast guard that has cracked down on piracy on its 585 miles of coastline, is willing to contribute significantly with the United States and the West efforts to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden — one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

If it were to become a member of the international community, Somaliland would be able to equip and modernize its counter-piracy operations and could become a reliable partner to the international community in eliminating piracy.

Recognizing Somaliland would not be the negative step some US State Department diplomats, particularly those who are experts on Africa, think it might be. I believe if America were to take the lead, many other countries would quickly follow.

It is time for President Barack Obama to lead the world and do the right thing by accepting the viable and sustainable solution — an independent and sovereign Somaliland.

Anything else would mean keeping the status-quo: more terrorism and chaos in Somalia, which could threaten the whole region. And for democratic Somaliland it would mean unjust delay for its diplomatic recognition and fewer resources to develop its economy. It would also leave the country to fend for itself from menacing piracy and extremism.

Ali Mohamed is co-founder of the Horn of Africa Freedom Foundation, a grass-roots level organization advocating for the advancement of freedom and democratic values for the indigenous people of the Horn of Africa.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/opinion/111107/opinion-lesson-stability-somaliland

Zeinab Abdillahi, 23, was born in the village of Ina Cunaaye, Somaliland. She and her eight younger siblings were delivered by a traditional birth attendant in their parents’ two-room stick and papyrus hut. Ina Cunaaye is poor and remote, and with droughts for most of the year water is precious and people sometimes have to search for miles to find it. Many families like Zeinab’s struggle to feed their children.

From a very young age, Zeinab wanted to learn, although her experience of school was limited to what she heard from the occasional visitor. Until 2003 there was no primary school in Hawd, and her family could not afford to send her away to school. Finally, when she was ten years old, her father had enough money to send her and her brother Mohamed to live with their uncle in the nearest town, Hargeisa, an hour away on a rough road.

Her face takes on a radiant hue as she recalls her first day of class, even though they had to sit on dusty floors on upended tin cans. She was so impressed by her teachers that she wanted to join this profession, to inspire children to rise above the poverty that she and her siblings faced.

Zeinab worked very hard, and despite missing a year when her father could not afford her fees, she finished Class Eight in 2005. By then she was 18, and in keeping with Somali culture, she began receiving her first suitors. Zeinab did not feel ready to marry. She knew she could stay single if she contributed financially to her family. So she took a job as a hotel receptionist, and later worked for her uncle in his photo studio. Every little bit she earned, she sent to her family. She was quite literally buying time. She managed to stave off the pressure to get married, but the only opportunities to further her education cost money she did not have.

With each passing year, Zeinab felt her dream slipping away. Finally in 2008 she returned in defeat to her family home. Unable to continue her own education, she taught her younger siblings to read and write.

“I woke up every morning to the same routine of making injera and sugar, to washing clothes outside with the rest of the girls, making lunch and dinner and then repeating the process all over again,” she recalls. “Most of my age mates had married by then. But to me, getting married without a proper source of income and education was just bringing more mouths to feed into a world where it was already difficult enough to find food.”

It was difficult to remain steadfast with each passing month. Then one evening, while the entire neighborhood was gathered around the radio, she heard an announcement that made her heart race. The broadcaster was calling for qualified young people to train for the teaching profession under a CARE program called Strengthening Capacity of Teacher Training (SCOTT). Hardly able to believe it, Zeinab sent her application. For the 20 days it took to get a reply, she prayed and hoped and thought of nothing else.

The aim of SCOTT is to increase access to basic primary education in Somaliland, where many teachers are untrained and under-trained and the system cannot cope with rising school enrollment. Through the project, CARE targets untrained teachers currently serving in schools, and new entrants to the profession, particularly women. CARE provides school-based training and short-term college-based training, where teachers learn child-centered, participatory teaching skills, as well as the subject matter they will teach. CARE works with government ministries and teacher training institutions, to ensure that they can sustain the improvements over the long term.

Zeinab knew she was a good candidate, but when she got a positive response and was asked to report to the University of Hargeisa to begin training, she finally believed in miracles.

Though she is confident and straightforward, Zeinab can be a little reserved. But when she steps up to the flipchart to do a demonstration for her classmates, she loses her inhibitions and emits an inner radiance that lights her pretty face to a glowing perfection.

Since the beginning of the project, she has visited her village several times, where she continues to educate her 12-year-old brother and 10-year-old sister, and teaches village children how to read and write. She hopes to instill in them the conviction that if they want something badly enough, then with hope, it is within their grasp. Teaching others, she says, makes her feel like she is repaying the kindness of the strangers who provided her a chance when she needed one.

The SCOTT project has been ongoing in the regions of Sool, Sanaag, and Hargeisa since June 2005, and is now in its third phase. Zeinab is one of 27 participants currently being trained at the University of Hargeisa. CARE pays for their training and scholastic materials, and gives them a small allowance. Zeinab says she would have been happy just to be trained to be a teacher. The additional support, she says, that allows her to help her family with no disruptions to her education, is simply icing on an already rich cake.

She is a reminder of the quote, “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” With CARE’s support, Zeinab has taken the light that shines naturally within her, and turned it outward, where it promises to blaze a brighter future for many more young lives.

At least three people died and two others were injured when Somaliland forces fought against a clan militia in Erigabo (Eergabo) district of Sanaag Region on Sunday with both sides using heavy artillery and machine guns.

Fighting began when Somaliland Minister of Information Mr. Haabsade tried to visit the house of a clan militia member to offer condolences for Shiine Yasin, a district police chief, who was assassinated on Wednesday in Erigabo district by members of the Isaaq clan.

Once the minister arrived, the clan militia began firing at the official and his delegation.

Colonel Muse Jama Dalaf, a police officer in Somaliland’s Sanaag region, confirmed to Somalia Report the deaths of three people.

‘’Yes, the clan militia started firing against the policemen and killed at least three people. The situation not good. They are using heavy weapons,‘’ said the colonel.

‘’The fighting started at 12:00PM local time and I saw the bodies of two men in the war zone. The fighting is still on going and I can hear the sound of gunfire and heavy weapons from both sides,‘’ Mohamed Muuse, a witness in Erigabo told Somalia Report.

Over the last two days, clan militias (Dhulbahante-sub-clan of Harti) have been regrouping inside Erigabo district to seek revenge against Somaliland soldiers for the death of Shiine Yassin.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1966/Deadly_Fighting_Breaks_Out_in_Sanaag_

The Somaliland authority in Cerrigabo District of Sanaag Region [eastern Somaliland] imposed a night curfew on the town following inter-clan clashes.

The curfew went into effect last night following inter-clan clashes in the district. The curfew would continue for several days and it is not known when it would end.

The local district administration, the military officers and police held a meeting and discussed the security situation of the town, and the implementation of the curfew. The officials have agreed to tighten the security of Ceerigabo town and bring inter-clan revenge to an end.

The officials said that the government will not tolerate any insecurity act to take place in the town, adding that the government will take action against those they suspect out to cause insecurity in the district. The officials have also said that there are ongoing operations to beef up security and pursue those behind the clashes.

The fighting in Ceerigaabo, which caused deaths and injuries, happened after a Somaliland official was killed in the town.

The Somaliland government is trying to calm the tension resulting from the clashes.

Credit: Shabeelle Media Network website, Mogadishu, in Somali 4 Nov 11. Shabeelle Media Network website, Mogadishu, in Somali 4 Nov 11/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC

Eri Gabo — A Somaliland police officer was gunned down by unknown and heavily armed men in the center of Eri Gabo town of Sanag region in northern Somalia.

Witnesses and officials said the gunmen escaped from the scene shortly after the shooting.

But, the murder of the officer sparked tension and clash between armed men and Somaliland forces inside the town.

Col. Abdirashid Dhunkal, Somaliland official, told Shabelle Media Network that the armed confrontation erupted after the gunmen entered the town of Eri Gabo opened fire killing one Somaliland officer.

Dhunkal added that they killed three of the armed men, whom he accused them of being SSC guerrilla, and three 4 injured.

He noted they also seized seven of them. The official spelled out they burn down two of their battle wagons while confiscated 5 of those cars.

Calm returned to the town and normal lifestyle started, according to Dhunkal who stated they are committed defending the town from anyone attacks.

At least six people, including a senior Somaliland police official, have been killed and several others were injured in Ceerigaabo district of Sanaag region during fierce fighting between the locals and soldiers loyal to the breakaway Somaliland administration, witnesses told Somalia Report on Wednesday evening.

The clashes erupted after Shine Yasin Xin Finin, Fiqi Fuliye district's police chief, was gunned down near Eergabo district earlier in the day, according to residents.

"Shine Yasin died after being shot in the head in Ceerigaabo. He was assassinated around 7pm local time. The police chased the men and exchanged gunfire, but the men escaped. Two civilians were injured and one is in serious condition," Ali Abdi Hurre, the Chairman of Sanaag Region Somaliland, told Somalia Report.

The fighting allegedly broke out two hours later as a result of the assassination.

"The fighting broke out at 9:00pm (local time) and seems to be spreading into the city where a freelance militia is trying resist a hundred troops from the Somaliland administration," Ceerigaabo resident Ahmad Nur told Somalia Report.

"We believe this fighting was in revenge for the killing of Jama Ahmed Ali, a officer of Daallo police station, in Eergabo who was killed in August," added Mr. Ali.

Eergabo, the regional capital of Sanaag and divided in two, hosts two major clans, the Harti sub-clan (Dhulbahante and Warsangeli )and Isaack, which continually fight each other. Their new tactics, officials say, is to target officials from the other clan.

"Yes, they are hunting elders, officers, and businessmen between the Dulhanate and Isaaq clans. We fear that fighting and targetting well-known people among these clans might spread from urban locations to pastoral areas. That will be very risky," said Ahmed Awad Farah, a traditional leader in Ceerigaabo.

The control of Fiqi Fuliye is disputed between the self-declared Republic of Somaliland and its neighboring semi-autonomous state of Puntland. Disputes and between Puntland and Somaliland administrations over the control of Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn regions have increased in recent years.

By MUHYADIN AHMED ROBLE 11/02/2011.http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1920/Somalilands_Booming_Arms_Business

For the last twenty years, Somaliland has been enjoying far more stability and peace than southern Somalia, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your hands on some serious hardware if you are inclined toward mayhem.

Hargeisa’s densely populated and labyrinthine arms market of Irtoogte, which means Sky-Shooter, offers everything from bombs to machine guns. As you enter the market, the competitive brokers scurry and jog alongside, offering good deals on whatever you need. The babble of voices rises everywhere as buyers, sellers and brokers haggle.

Arms seller Mohamed Ahmed sits among a group of men in an iron shack. He is the main dealer of AK-47s, and most of the men working in the market are subordinate to him. Every few minutes his mobile rings with queries about his prices.

Mohamed was a taxi driver seven years ago. Now he is a wealthy man. In front of the other men, his answers are tight and short. It is only when he motions me outside that he begins to open up.

“This place is risky for journalists....if they got to know that you are a journalist you will be in trouble,” he says as we walk through the market before arriving at a tea shop.

He silently opens a room next to the shop, and we enter into a gun nut’s heaven. AK-47s and Russian pistols line the walls.

“The government is aware of this business, but they don’t know how it goes,” he says. “We buy from those who are tired of the gun, and sell to those who want one. It’s a free market.”

“We mostly sell three types of AK-47, and two types of pistol, the Tata and another one locally known Dhabannacas,” he adds.

Somaliland suffered attacks by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab in 2008, which hit the presidential palace, United Nation Development Program offices, and offices for the Ethiopian government. The attack killed twenty eight people and injured forty others, and was carried out by the first known American suicide bomber, Shirwa Ahmed from Minneapolis. Since then, the Somaliland government imposed a law against terrorism and began to register arms. The law also said that anyone who wants to buy a gun must register with the police. However, Mohamed said the government and police don’t get involved.

“We sell arms to anyone, but sometimes we ask the buyer to come with someone we know,” he says. “We are not police ... it is not our job to register the arms.”

“We buy the arms from local owners ... there are no new arms coming to the market,” he says. “We mostly sell old arms. When Somalia’s government collapsed in the 90s, people looted all the military equipment.”

While Mohamed is adamant that guns are not coming in from outside, other dealers say that weapons come in from southern Somalia. There are suspicions that weapons are making their way in from Yemen and Eritrea.

The best-selling items are the four types of Russian-made AK-47. Mohamed said the prices run from $500 to $850 for the newest model, known locally as Daba-laab. Handguns go from $1000 to $1300. The Hargeisa market is more expensive than Mogadishu, where you can buy a brand-new pistol for almost half the price, and the new Kalashnikov comes in at least $50 cheaper.

"Business is good,” says another arms dealer, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If you buy three pistols, you can sell them again in hours.”

While the arms dealers are pleased with themselves and their business, residents are concerned that the government is doing nothing to curb the deadly trade. According to a newspaper editor, who wished to remain anonymous, the police and intelligence community are involved in the trade.

“Some of the arms in the market are Somaliland army equipment, and they also sell their ammunition,” he says.

None of the arms dealers would name the people they worked with or discuss their customers.

Somalia Report repeatedly attempted to contact the appropriate government ministries and police officials, but we were repeatedly refused comment.

It is common to see armed civilians walking the streets of Hargeisa, Many of them come from rural areas to sell their guns in the market.

Ali Warsame is a herdsman who came to sell his AK-47 to feed his family and livestock.

“A hard drought hit the countryside, and people and animals are dying, so I am came to sell my gun to buy food and water,” he says.

Arms trader Mohamoud Aw Jama said many people were selling their weapons in face of the drought. He says the main clients are business people and companies, which control their own security. One businessman, who didn’t want to be named, said he say no problem in the arms trade.

“The market is not a big deal,” he says. “Not everyone can afford to buy guns as it is expensive, so only business people use the market.”

Asked if al-Shabaab members can get arms from the market – as many analysts have warned - to carry out attacks in the city, he says he believes the group doesn’t shop there for fear of coming under suspicion.

At least six people, including a senior Somaliland police official, have been killed and several others were injured in Eergabo district of Sanaag region during fierce fighting between the locals and soldiers loyal to the breakaway Somaliland administration, witnesses told Somalia Report on Wednesday evening.

The clashes erupted after Shiine Yasin Xin Finin, Fiqi Fuliye district's police chief, was gunned down near Eergabo district earlier in the day, according to residents.

''Shiine Yasin died after being shot in the head in Eergabo. He was assassinated around 7pm local time. The police chased the men and exchanged gunfire, but the men escaped. Two civilians were injured and one is in serious condition,'' Ali Abdi Hurre, the Chairman of Sanaag Region Somaliland, told Somalia Report.

The fighting allegedly broke out two hours later as a result of the assassination.

“The fighting broke out at 9:00pm (local time) and seems to be spreading into the city where a freelance militia is trying resist a hundred troops from the Somaliland administration," Eergabo resident Ahmed Nur told Somalia Report.

"We believe this fighting was in revenge for the killing of Jama Ahmed Ali, a officer of Daallo police station, in Eergabo who was killed in August," added Mr. Ali.

Eergabo, the regional capital of Sanaag and divided in two, hosts two major clans, the Harti sub-clan (Dhulhante and Warsangeli )and Isaack, which continually fight each other. Their new tactics, officials say, is to target officials from the other clan.

''Yes, they are hunting elders, officers, and businessmen between the Dulhanate and Isaaq clans. We fear that fighting and hunting well-known people among these clans might spread from urban locations to pastoral areas. That will be very risky,'' said Ahmed Awad Farah, a traditional leader in Eergabo.

Control of Fiqi Fuliye is disputed between the self-declared Republic of Somaliland and its neighboring semi-autonomous state of Puntland. Disputes and between Puntland and Somaliland administrations over the control of Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn regions have increased in recent years.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1939/Deadly_Clashes_Hit_in_Eergabo_Sanaag_Region

Two Somali pirates, including one of Somalia’s most famous and ineffectual seafaring criminals, have escaped from Berbera Jail after bribing their prison guards, officials and residents in the Somaliland port said.

The two escapees - bumbling and publicity-hungry Farah Ismail Idle and Abdirashid Ismail Haji - and another six individuals were the first Somali pirates sentence to prison terms by Somaliland in 2008.

“Two pirates escaped from Berbera jail, and we are investigating how they escaped: I don’t want to talk deeply this case, we heard they escaped after paying a bribe, and we will investigate,” a police officer in Berbera told Somalia Report.

Idle is still in Berbera, while Abdirashid Ismail Haji went to Puntland and joined his old friends (pirates) in Bari region, residents said.

Pirates used some of the ransom from the MV Dover to release these two pirates from Berbera Jail, according to a member of the pirate group that received $3.8 million for the vessel.

“As a number of them are relatives of these two escaped pirates, they were planning how to get their relatives released,” Mohamed Ahmed told Somalia Report. “I heard last night that Farah and Abdirashid got out, it is good news.”

Ahmed said that more than $100,000 was paid to secure the release of the two men. On October Somaliland officers denied that a number of pirates had escaped jails in Hargeisa.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1937/Two_Pirates_Bribe_Way_out_of_Jail

Addis Ababa, 31 October: Ethiopia and Somaliland vowed to work closely towards ensuring peace and stability in the region.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed [Mohamud Silanyo] held discussion on various issues including peace and stability, bilateral and regional concerns here on Monday [31 October].

The two leaders have also discussed as to how jointly work to prevent the piracy along the Indian Ocean.

After the discussion Somaliland President Ahmed told journalists that his administration has put in custody dozens of suspected terrorists engaged in piracy and investigation is under way. He said the two sides are working to further enhance their relation in which he said "in a good shape".

PM [Prime Minister] Meles on his part lauded the efforts of the Somaliland administration for its commitment to fight against piracy. The premier said Ethiopia is resolute to work with Somaliland to ensure peace and stability in border areas, according to an official from the ministry of foreign affairs.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The break-away African nation of Somaliland has huge hydrocarbon potential but is virtually unexplored, an African oil conference heard on Tuesday. Hussein Abdi Dualeh, Somaliland's mining and energy minister, said the country was off investment radar screens not least because many people did not even know it existed.

But he told delegates at the annual Africa Oil Week series of conferences that geography and geology highlighted its oil and gas potential.

"There is very high potential for considerable reserves of hydrocarbons in Somaliland but it is one of the least explored countries in the region," he said.

He said even by the East Africa's under explored standards, Somaliland was a frontier with only 21 wells drilled.

But he noted that the geology of Somaliland was similar to oil-rich areas across the Gulf of Aden.

East Africa have yet to produce a commercially viable oil source but gas discoveries off Mozambique and Tanzania have prompted lots of interest though the region remains largely unexplored.

Oil discoveries would be a cash boon to Somaliland though hydrocarbons have often proven to be a curse to African nations as the opaque nature of the industry often breeds corruption.

Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not been formally recognised internationally.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The break-away territory of Somaliland is open for hydrocarbon business and has a message for investors worried by its rough neighborhood: this is not Somalia and pirates here go to jail.

Hussein Abdi Dualeh, the minister of energy and mining, said it was unfair to lump Somaliland with lawless Somalia, where pirates have captured oil tankers and headlines.

"We have no navy to speak of but what deters pirates is the prison sentences they get, 25 years or more. We have been successful in catching them with limited resources," Dualeh told Reuters on the sidelines of an African oil conference.

Dualeh earlier told the conference that Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not been formally recognised internationally, had seen almost no exploration but had huge potential with a geology similar to basins containing 9 billion barrels across the Gulf of Aden.

He said three firms -- London listed company Ophir Energy, Asante Oil and Prime Resources -- had just signed deals with his government under which they will have 18 months to explore, conduct seismic tests and identify wells.

Ophir has a track record in the region with gas discoveries off the coast of Tanzania.

Only 21 wells have been drilled in Somaliland, making it under explored even by the frontier standards of the region, where the oil and gas industries are in their infancy.

The minister said a number of big oil companies with permits to operate there left what is now Somaliland in the late 1980s and declared force majeure during Somalia's escalating civil conflict. "We are talking about the big boys like Chevron, Conoco. We asked them to come back for years but they would not. Now it's a clean slate," he said, adding they must reapply for permits or concessions.

"It's been over 20 years so they no longer have a legal interest in Somaliland," he said.

Offshore East Africa has yet to produce a commercially viable oil source but gas discoveries off Mozambique and Tanzania have prompted great interest.

Oil discoveries would be a cash boon to Somaliland though hydrocarbons have often proven to be a curse to African nations as the opaque nature of the industry can breed corruption.

Dualeh said he had recently been to Norway and preferred its oil revenue model to Nigeria's, where tens of billions of petro-dollars have been stolen or squandered over the decades and oil dependency has undermined other sectors of the economy.

"Norway is a model we can at least aspire to ... they have managed to protect their other sectors without letting oil crowd them out," he said.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) demands a stop to brutality against journalists in Somaliland MOGADISHU, Somalia, October 31, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of...

MOGADISHU, Somalia, October 31, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has strongly condemned the ongoing brutalities against independent journalists in Somaliland.

Journalist Mohamed Abdi Kahin, nicknamed Boosh, who works for Ramaasnews, an online news website, and Royal TV, a private TV station, was brutally beaten on Thursday, 27 October 2011 by Somaliland police in Hargeysa city after the police accused him of taking pictures from “protesting women”.

On 19 September, police in Hargeisa had beaten up and briefly detained Mustafe Sheik Omar Ghedi, editor of Saxafi newspaper, in Hargeisa after police saw him taking pictures of poor people who were resisting forceful eviction by Somaliland Local Government in Goljano village.

“We demand that the authorities in Somaliland immediately stop this uncalled for brutality and repression against journalists and that action immediately be taken to punish those who beat up and brutalise journalists,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General.

The union expressed concern at the apparent increased intolerance of freedom of expression which had seen ordinary citizens intimidated for airing their views through the media.

Jama Elmi Said, an ordinary citizen, who published an article on Waheen newspaper in September 2011 was beaten in Hargeisa's main market on 12 October by the police. He was victimized for expressing his view in the media.

Last week, a group of Members of Somaliland House of Representatives have publicly announced that they have prepared a draft media bill, which they intend to table in the House of Representatives in a bid “to control the unethical and irresponsible print media of Somaliland”, according to one of the members who spoke to the media.

The journalists' community in Somaliland have strongly opposed this bill due to lack of consultations with media stakeholders and the journalists and whose content remain unknown, but the Bill is potentially dangerous to media freedom. Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA) has expressed its opposition to the move and warned members of House of Representatives against tabling the said Bill.

“We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Somaliland in making sure this bill is not tabled in the House of Representatives because there has been no consultation with media stakeholders and there are serious doubts if it meets the international standards of freedom of expression,” added Osman.

Somaliland has in the past six months experienced recurring attacks on journalists, which have included beatings, arbitrary, arrest, criminal charges of defamation and slander against journalists perpetrated by senior government officials including ministers.

http://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/view/the-national-union-of-somali-journalists-199535.html

http://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/view/somaliland-police-beat-journalist-in-har-199119.html

MOGADISHU, Somalia, October 28, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) strongly condemns the violations against journalist which continues in Somalia as Somaliland police has beaten seriously a Television journalist in Hargeysa.

Mohamed Abdi Kahin aka Boosh, who works for both a Somali new website Ramaas and Royal Television 24 respectively, was seriously beaten by Somaliland police on Thursday Oct. 27, 2011 at Shacabka neighborhood in Hargeysa, in proud daylight. The police accused the journalist for taking recently published photographs.

"When I was seriously beaten, I requested them to take to the police station." Mohamed Abdi Kahin told NUSOJ, "But they refused me to file even my case to the police."

"We condemn the strongest terms possible and call for the Somaliland authorities to investigate the case thoroughly and stop the harassment of the journalists and the obstruction of the freedom of the expression." Mohamed Ibrahim, the Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists said, "It is unlawful and inhuman to beat a journalist or any other human what so ever the circumstance might be and the violations against journalists in Somaliland has to end."

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) documented at least a dozen press freedom cases in Somaliland. NUSOJ asks for the United Nations, Human rights Organizations and press freedom groups to intervene the worsening and the climate for journalists in Somaliland and the rest of the Somalia.

Child rights activists are expressing concern over a law which they say is failing children and leaving them unprotected in Somaliland.

Officials in the self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland say that there is an average of 200 children detained each month by police for minor offences and are not charged properly under the juvenile justice law.

Khadar Nour, a child protection activist in the Somaliland capital, these children "end up being detained with adults because there are no rehabilitation centres for children or prisons for children".

Somaliland passed a juvenile justice law in 2007 which puts the age of criminal liability at 15. It limits the maximum punishment for someone as young as 15 to 15 years, and prohibits corporal punishment, life imprisonment and the death penalty. The law also sets out guidelines for the protection of a child’s rights and a child’s participation during court proceedings.

However, many are saying that the new law has not been implemented properly due in part to a lack of resources and a lack of understanding the law by government officials. According to an assessment conducted in August by Somaliland's ministry of justice, just 5 percent of the average 200 children detained monthly are processed though the judicial system.

This means that for the most part children are often arrested and freed arbitrarily. Many of the total of the 104 children in prison were there for offences such as theft, possession of illicit drugs and rape.

The assessment also found that more than half of Somaliland's police stations did not apply the juvenile justice law.

Admen Aidid Hussein, the Minister for justice, stated that "This law... calls for the establishment of children's courts, children's pre-trial detention centres and children's rehabilitation centres."

He added that the law had been held up primarily by a lack of funds for implementation, and by the need for training of police officers, social workers and other staff required to implement it.

Traditionally, criminal cases against children in Somaliland are dealt with by clan elders, with the clan, and not the child, taking responsibility for the crime. The 2007 law aims to protect the rights of children in accordance with international human rights law in a way that harmonizes the provisions of secular, Sharia and customary laws relating to children in conflict with law.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child remains the most widely recognized and ratified international child rights document. Article 37 (d) of the convention states that “Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.”

NAGAAD Network supports youth girls by offering technical training courses as part of Nagaad’s theme of education. Nagaad has been serving for the public in the last 14 years and all along it proved true to provide skilled women with various technical knowledge in Somaliland. These include; advocacy trainings, scholarships, provision of literacy programs for the rural settlements, professional courses, etc.

Since February, 2011, Nagaad has been training 80 girls as part of boosting their skills subject to employment opportunities in the country and their level of education. The trainees contained university graduates and those who failed to do formal education. Nagaad designed to organize and provide professional courses such project planning and management, financial management, mobile repairing and food catering.

For the university graduates, they were trained with project planning and management and financial management. For those missed schooling/drop outs, they were given mobile repairing and food catering. The training was funded by EDC (Education Development Center) as part of USAID funding.

The training was very successful, where students earned both practical and theoretical knowledge in reference to their respective courses. By 11th October, 2011, the graduation ceremony for the trainees was held at Crown Hotel where officials from government, telecommunication companies, CSOs, public, parents and also EDC officials represented.

The trainees who have excelled in the exams were given some gifts and the scenery was very beautiful. The executive director of Nagaad Network offered every body’s certificate where students got delighted. The other representatives present at the ceremony also vowed as positive and historic.

The graduation ceremony became an outstanding. Representatives from telecommunication companies promised that they will work closely with Nagaad and provide internship for the mobile repairing students. Other civil society organizations also vowed that they will provide maximum assistance when needed.

In conclusion, the training was very useful where they were given practical information and vowed that it will be helpful for their respective jobs. The training also gave inspiration and encouraged many of them to have serious job seekers.

HARGEISA, 24 October 2011 (IRIN) - Child rights activists have expressed concern over the stagnation of a juvenile justice law in Somalia's self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland, where officials say an average of 200 children are detained every month by police.

According to Khadar Nour, a child protection activist in the capital, Hargeisa, children are regularly detained for minor offences and "end up being detained with adults because there are no rehabilitation centres for children or prisons for children".

Somaliland passed a juvenile justice law in 2007 but is yet to implement it due to what government officials say are financial constraints and lack of knowledge of the law by the responsible institutions and their staff.

The law puts the age of criminal liability at 15, and requires that punishment be proportionate to the circumstances of the child and the gravity and nature of the offence. It limits maximum punishment to 15 years and prohibits corporal punishment, life imprisonment and the death penalty. The law also sets out protective measures relating to the child's record, and ensures clear child participation and child rights during proceedings.

But according to an assessment conducted in August by Somaliland's ministry of justice, just 5 percent of the average 200 children detained monthly are processed though the judicial system; children are often arrested and freed arbitrarily.

Ahmed Ismail Ali, director of child protection in Somaliland's ministry of justice, said at the time of the assessment, a total of 104 children were in prison for offences such as theft, possession of illicit drugs and rape.

"Out of the total [number of children in prison], 10 percent were female; 59 percent of all children in prisons were convicted by courts mainly for rape, drug [possession] and gang-related offences as well as other minor offences, while the remaining 41 percent are on remand," Ali said, quoting the assessment. "During trial, it was learned that 46 percent of those convicted were subjected to arbitrary detention."

The assessment found that more than half of Somaliland's police stations did not apply the juvenile justice law.

"This law... calls for the establishment of children's courts, children's pre-trial detention centres and children's rehabilitation centres," said Ahmed Aidid Hussein, the minister for justice, adding that the law had been held up primarily by a lack of funds for implementation and the training of police officers, social workers and other staff required to implement it.

However, officials with the UN Children's Fund in Hargeisa told IRIN the institutionalization of children was not ideal, and ways should be found to keep them within the community rather than in rehabilitation centres.

"I appeal to international and UN partners engaged in juvenile justice to commit themselves to contribute to the establishment of these institutions without which juvenile justice cannot be implemented," Hussein said.

French Ambassador to Djibouti Rene Forceville met with President Siilaanyo to discuss economic assistance and trade relations between the two nations.

Somaliland’s President Mr. Ahmed Mohamoud Siilaanyo met with a French delegation today [20 October 2011] that is on a short visit to Somaliland. The meeting took place at the presidential office in Somaliland’s capital of Hargeisa. Somaliland president briefed the delegate about the general situation in the country.

According to press release issued from the presidential spokesman Mr. Abdilahi Mohamed Daahir ‘Cukuse,’ Somaliland president Mr. Siilaanyo held a high level meeting with French delegation. The meeting was held at the office of the president today as the press release states.

The French delegation is headed by the French ambassador to Djibouti Mr. Rene Forceville.

The ambassador stated that the main aim of their visit was to enhance and upgrade the cooperation and the bilateral relation between Somaliland the French government.

The ambassador further added that his government is keen on assisting Somaliland with development and enhancing private trade.

Somaliland president took the opportunity to brief the delegate about the general situation in the country and the genuine peace and stability that Somaliland has achieved.

The president added that Somaliland has achieved miracles when it comes to maintaining security on the ground and its territorial waters and it is now working hard on achieving genuine development.

Somaliland president hailed the French delegate’s arrival to Somaliland and he seized the chance to demand that the French government as well as the international community provide assistance to Somaliland when it comes to the underscored achievements.

Somaliland president was accompanied by the planning and development Dr. Sacad Ali Shire and the foreign affairs secretary Dr. Mohamed Rashid Sh. Hasan.

The French ambassador to Djibouti Mr. Rene Forceville was accompanied by Renu Morechaux from the French defense ministry and the first secretary at the French embassy to Djibouti, Alexdener Jabet.

http://www.fsnau.org/downloads/FSNAU-Post-Gu-2011-Food-Security-Technical-Series-Report.pdf

The food security situation in the livelihoods of Northwest indicated a mixed trend. The situation has deteriorated in pastoral livelihoods of Togdheer, Sool and Sanaag regions due to two consecutive seasons of poor rains (Deyr ’10 and Gu ’11) and the harsh Jilaal dry season, while the pastoral livelihoods of W Galbeed and Awdal regions have improved, owing to normal rains received in the last two seasons. Currently, the total population in crisis in Northwest is estimated at 215,000 people, which is equivalent to 79 percent increase in the number of population in crisis from Deyr 2010 (120,000 people). Out of the total population in crisis, an estimated 50,000 people are in HE, while 165,000 people are in AFLC. About 77 percent of the population in crisis are concentrated in the rural areas. Sool Plateau pastoral remains in HE due to significantly reduced livestock assets and high indebtedness. On the other hand, pastoral livelihoods of Hawd, Nugal Valley and East-Golis deteriorated to AFLC due to significant livestock losses (small ruminants) during previous harsh Jilaal dry season. However, all agropastoral livelihoods in the Northwest region remain in BFI as in the Deyr 2010/11 due to good crop and livestock performance in the last two seasons.

The food security situation in the key pastoral livelihoods of Hawd (Togdheer and Sool regions), Nugal Valley, Sool Plateau and East Golis-Guban has deteriorated primarily as a result of drastic asset losses during the Jilaal season, limited milk production and increased debt levels. However, localized normal rains received this Gu season improved the rangeland conditions, which enhanced livestock body condition (average) and increased prospects for opportunistic normal migration. Furthermore, the acute water crisis experienced during last Jilaal has ended and water prices have returned to normal in most of the pastoral livelihoods. Reproduction and production (milk) is well below average as a result of poor conception of small ruminants during Deyr 2010 and medium camel abortions due to pasture and water stress during Jilaal season. Additionally, deaths of small ruminants during previous Jilaal season has led to a further decrease in herd sizes in these livelihoods and the herd size projections (Dec.11) are 45-56 percent of baseline levels in Nugal Valley, Sool Plateau and Hawd (Togdheer and Sool regions). Additionally, the poor households in these livelihoods reportedly resorted to selling of breeding animals as a distress coping strategy in order to access food and income. However, the herd size of the poor in the pastoral livelihoods of Hawd of Hargeysa and West Golis/Guban is anticipated to improve at the end of December 2011 (119% of baseline in Hawd of Hargeysa and 222% of baseline in West Golis) owing to medium lambing and high camel calving rates.

Crop establishment in the agropastoral livelihoods is below average (36% of last year and 86% of PWA) due to below normal Gu 2011 rains. Nonetheless, this is expected to improve between August and September 2011 owing to the ongoing good Karan rains. In most markets in Northwest regions (Hargeysa, Borama, Burao and Lasanod), local cereal prices (white sorghum) showed an increasing trend due to lack of cereals trade from Southern Somalia and Ethiopia as well as limited locally produced cereal stocks. The price indicate an increased trend in July and August 2011. In addition, the imported cereal prices are also higher compared to a year ago, hence the decreased purchasing power of poor households across the region.

The Post Gu 2011 integrated nutrition situation analysis shows mixed trends in the nutrition situation in Northwest livelihoods with most livelihoods showing significant deterioration while others indicate either sustained or improved situation compared to the Deyr 2010/11 situation. The nutrition situation for the West Golis and Nugal Valley livelihoods has significantly deteriorated from Serious phase in Deyr 2010/11 to Very Critical levels while that of Sool Plateau population has declined to Critical levels from the Serious levels in the previous season. The deterioration recorded in the respective livelihoods is mainly attributed to reduced milk access at the household level which resulted from abnormal seasonal livestock out-migration patterns, hence reducing milk availability and consumption in the area. Elevated morbidity levels, including the outbreak of measles, acute watery diarrhoea and dengue fever reported in these livelihoods have also contributed to the high levels of acute malnutrition. The populations in the agro-pastoral and East Golis/Gebbi Valley livelihood zones show a sustained Serious nutrition situation since Deyr 2010/11. On the other hand, the population in the Hawd livelihood illustrates the best nutrition situation in the country having improved from the Serious levels in Deyr 2010/11 to the current Alert phase. This is attributed to improved milk access following positive rainfall performance in the area, particularly in Hawd of Hargeisa.

As a result of localized normal rainfall (100-125% LTM) received this season, rangeland conditions (pasture, browse and water) have improved in the key pastoral livelihoods of Hawd, Sool Plateau, Nugal Valley, Golis- Guban with exception of some pockets in these livelihoods. This has resulted in average livestock body condition for all species with the exception of lactating camel that have not yet recovered from the impact of Jilaal. Acute water crisis experienced during last Jilaal since ceased and prices of water returned to normal (0.2 USD per jerrycan) in the pastoral livelihoods. Cereal crop establishment and projection estimates are below average as result of poor rainfall performance this Gu season. However, crop production is expected to be higher than the establishment projections due to favorable ongoing Karan rains that provided opportunities for second cycle of maize planting and improved the conditions for standing sorghum crops.

In most parts of Northwest regions, road infrastructure is good with the exception of Golis/Guban/Gebi and Nugal Valley livelihood zones, where poor roads contributed to the high transportation costs, particularly during the rainy seasons. Some boreholes in Qabri-Huluul, Caynabo, Xingalool, Awrbogeys, Baraagaha Qol that serve large populations during critical periods are currently not functional, while most berkads in Hawd, upper Nugal, Sool Plateau and agropastoral areas hold limited water due to aging and lack of maintenance.

In this season, the traditional social support to the poor is weak in the key pastoral livelihoods of Sool Plateau and Nugal Valley, Hawd and East Golis due to drastic reduction in asset holding. However, the poor are still relying on social support like Kaalmo and Amaah (food on loan, food and cash gifts). Similarly, in the agropastoral areas the traditional social support to the poor in the form of Zakat has dramatically reduced due to limited cereal crop harvest in late July 2011.

Access to education services in most rural livelihoods in this region is limited due to inadequate infrastructure and lack of professional staff. However, school attendance in the pastoral livelihoods of eastern regions in this season has increased due to normal pastoral migration pattern compared to last Deyr 2010 where school attendance was disrupted by the abnormal migration. The results of the nutrition surveys conducted in July 2011 among West Golis population report a GAM rate of 22 percent (18.9-25.4) and a SAM rate of 5 percent (3.4-7.5) indicating a significant deterioration from Deyr 2010/11. Similarly, results from an assessment done in the Nugal Valley livelihood indicated a GAM rate of 23.2 percent (18.5-28.1) and a SAM rate of 6.7 percent (4.4-10.0), showing a significant deterioration from Deyr 2010/11 results. In Sool Plateau livelihood, results indicate a Critical nutrition situation with a GAM rate of 15.9 percent (13.6-18.4) and a SAM rate of 4.0 percent (2.9-5.4) reported in the current assessment. This is a significant deterioration from the Alert levels in Deyr 2010/11. A nutrition survey conducted in the East Golis livelihood reported GAM rate of 12.7 percent (8.5-16.9) and SAM rate of 1.1 percent (0.0-2.7) while an assessment in Northwest agro-pastoral livelihood recorded a GAM rate of 11.5 percent (8.5-15.4) and SAM rate of 0.6 percent (0.2-1.9) indicating a sustained Serious nutrition situation since Deyr 2010/11 in both livelihoods. The results of the July 2011 assessment in Hawd livelihood in Northwest regions reported a GAM rate of 6.2 percent (4.3-8.8) and a SAM rate of 0.3 percent (0.1- 1.4) which indicate an improvement from a Serious levels in Deyr 2010/11.

From the analysis (SLIM data), the number of rural people accessing loans has increased in Togdheer (34%) and Sool (5%) regions from June to August 2011, but slightly declined in Sanaag region (4%) due to lack of repayment of previous debts. Livestock asset holding has further decreased due to high death levels of small ruminants during the harsh Jilaal season and poor conception in Deyr 2010. As a consequence, the herd sizes are far below baseline levels in Nugaal Valley, Hawd of Toghdher and Sool regions. Projection for livestock herd sizes for the next six months (Dec.’11) as percent of baseline are as follows: Hawd Pastoral (Togdheer and Sool regions) - 93 percent of camel and 40 percent of sheep/goat; Hawd of W/Galbeed - 119 percent of camel and 167 percent of sheep/goat; Sool Plateau - no camel and 56 percent of sheep/goat; Nugal Valley - no camel and 45 percent of sheep/goat; W/Golis/Guban - 213 percent of camel and 80 percent of sheep/goat, East Golis - 173 percent of camel and 45 percent of sheep/goats. Livestock holding in agropastoral livelihoods of Northwest regions are projected as follows: camel (slightly above baseline) 105, cattle- 96 percent (near baseline) and sheep/goat 84 percent (slightly below baseline) in the same period. In most agropastoral livelihoods the poor households do not have cereal stocks, therefore, highly dependent on market purchases. Access to farm labour is also limited due to below average crop establishment, although expected to improve after Karan rains. However, the daily labour wage remained the same in June 2011 compared to a year ago and the same trend was maintained in July and August 2011. The average debt levels of poor households in pastoral livelihoods of Hawd, Nugal Valley and Sool Plateau increased compared to Gu 2010 (400 to 500 USD). This high indebtedness is mainly attributed to increased prices of trucked water for human/ livestock consumption and food on loan during Jilaal season.

In a normal year, 60-80 percent of poor pastoralists’ food needs are met through market purchases (mostly rice, wheat flour, sugar and vegetable oil). The remaining 20-40 percent of their diet comprises of livestock products, such as milk and meat available from own production. Additionally, livestock sales are the major source of income (50-65%) for the poor pastoralists, supplemented by income from employment (25-30%), as well as from livestock product sales (15-25%). The middle and better-off pastoral households generally earn most of their income from livestock and livestock product sales. Own production, including crop and livestock products, is the main source of food for poor agropastoralists (86%). Income is derived from labour/self-employment (75%), livestock sales (14%), crop sales (4%), as well as fodder and grass sales.

Food and income sources of the poor in key pastoral livelihoods of Sool plateau, Nugal Valley, Hawd of Burao and Lasaanood districts and East Golis have deteriorated due to below average milk production which is a consequence of medium rate of camel abortion and limited saleable animals owing to the drastic asset reduction during Jilaal season. Conversely, the food and income sources of poor households in pastoral livelihoods of Hawd of Hargeisa and West-Golis have improved in the current Gu 2011 season due to improved own production and increased herd sizes.

Own Production: in the affected pastoral livelihoods of Togdheer, Sanaag and Sool regions, camel milk for consumption is below average due to low camel calving rate, while in the agropastoral, access to cattle milk is average as a result of medium calving. Given the below average crop establishment in agropastoral livelihoods, low Gu/ Karan 2011 harvest is expected. However, good Karan rains between August and September 2011 is expected to improve Gu/Karan harvest. The overall crop harvest projection is estimated at 17,000MT (sorghum 96% and maize 4%), which is below normal and the lowest harvest since 2005 (36% of Gu/Karan 2010, 86% of PWA and 68% of the 5-year average of 2006-2010). In Awdal, cereal production is 122 percent of PWA and 124 percent of 5-year average, while in Togdheer, cereal production is 44 percent of PWA and 28 percent of 5-year average. In W. Galbeed cereal production is 81 percent of PWA and 63 percent of 5-year average. Generally, there is lack of cereal stocks amongst the poor households in the agropastoral livelihoods and they entirely depend on market purchases. However, amongst the Togdheer agropastoralists, there is improved food access as a result of some crop harvests in late August 2011.

Market Purchase: in most markets of Northwest zone, availability of local cereals is below normal at increased prices because of limited cereal inflow from southern Somalia and Ethiopia. Therefore, the purchasing power of the poor is affected considering that prices of white sorghum have also increased (17% to 26%) in June 2011 compared to same month last year and the previous six months (5% to 47%) (Figure 54).

In June 2011, the ToT of cereal to labour wage decreased in the main markets of Hargeysa (20%), Borama (14%), Burco(10%), and Lacanood (29%) compared to a year ago and Jun5 2 to August 2011 (from 10kg to 8kg) (Figure 55). In Northwest main markets, rice price increased in June 2011 (10% to 17%) compared to June 2010 and the trend continued in August 2011 due to decreased supply from Berbera port. Consequently, the ToT of local quality goat to rice declined from June 2011 to August 2011 in the affected livelihoods of Northwest zone. Namely, the ToT declines are observed in Burao (from 56kg to 36kg/head), Ceerigabo (from 35kg to 30kg/head) and Lascanood (55kg to 51kg/ head) Markets. Furthermore, the prices of imported staple food commodities have also increased compared to a year ago, rice (7%), sugar (8%) and vegetable oil (16%) in June 2011 to June 2010 (Figure 56).

In Northwest main markets, rice price increased in June 2011 (10% to 17%) compared to June 2010 and the trend continued in August 2011 due to decreased supply from Berbera port. Consequently, the ToT of local quality goat to rice declined from June 2011 to August 2011 in the affected livelihoods of Northwest zone. Namely, the ToT declines are observed in Burao (from 56kg to 36kg/head), Ceerigabo (from 35kg to 30kg/head) and Lascanood (55kg to 51kg/ head) Markets. Furthermore, the prices of imported staple food commodities have also increased compared to a year ago, rice (7%), sugar (8%) and vegetable oil (16%) in June 2011 to June 2010 (Figure 56).

In most agropastoral livelihoods, income from crop sales is limited due to below average crop establishment. However, this situation is expected to improve in the harvest period of November 2011. Income from milk sales by the poor wealth group is meager across the livelihoods due to low calving rates, although income from livestock sales has slightly increased this season. However, poor pastoral households in Sool, Sanaag and Togdheer regions have limited income from livestock due to limited number of saleable animals (local and export quality). The local quality goat prices have increased in June 2011 in Ceerigabo (15%) and Burao markets (24%) compared to Gu 2010, with a decreasing trend noted between July and August 2011, due to increased supply from better-off and middle household to repay debts.

Similarly, income from gum and frankincense collection in East-Golis has declined due to the poor rainfall performance this Gu season, but is expected to improve from September onwards.

Livestock exports of sheep/goat, camel and cattle at Berbera port from January to June 2011 (721,946 heads) was 25 demand from Arabian Gulf states. This has contributed some income to the middle and better-off households who are more engaged in livestock sales for export while the poor in the main urban areas of the Northwest regions engage in labour activities related to livestock exports. In the first half of the year 2011, exports of chilled meat from Burao abattoir ceased as a result of increased demand in live animals trade from Arabian Gulf states.

Overall, the traditional social support to the poor in Sool Plateau, Hawd, Nugal valley and East-Golis have declined due to reduced saleable animals as result of livestock death (small ruminants) during Jilaal season. The poor currently rely on distress coping options such as loan and cash gifts. Other options employed by the poor households include bush product sales, charcoal burning and distress sales of breeding animals. In Sool Plateau livelihood, humanitarian interventions by international agencies mitigated the situation and saved lives of the most vulnerable households in this livelihood zone.

Oct 15th 2011 | BERBERA AND BOSSASO | The Economist. http://www.economist.com/node/21532293

WHERE there are beasts, there is life, goes a saying in Somalia. Half of its people depend on livestock for their survival. This year they will export record numbers of animals. That seems improbable given that a famine is raging in south Somalia, which has seen over a million animals die of hunger and thirst. But the grazing in other parts of Somalia, especially the north, has been excellent and demand for livestock from abroad has never been higher. After banning Somali sheep and goats for many years, for allegedly being diseased, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia has once again declared them welcome.

For the first time since the collapse of Somalia as a unitary state in 1991, Saudi and Lebanese traders have ventured into the local livestock markets. Goats are mainly exported to Mecca for the annual haj pilgrimage. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that $250m-worth of animals will leave the port of Berbera and its more ramshackle rival, Bossaso, in the seven weeks before the haj in early November.

In the livestock market in Hargeisa, capital of the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland, sweaty goatherds press in on Adan Ahmed Deria, a trader. Hundreds of camels are being loaded onto lorries. Mr Deria nods to show that the price is fixed. “God willing,” he says, “I will buy 800,000 goats and sheep this year.” That is $52m of business, in cash, in a country where the economy has apparently collapsed.

Trade is set to grow further. Saudi Arabia wants to double its livestock imports from Somalia by 2013. The herders face fierce competition from Georgia, China and Paraguay, but halal butchers value the quality of Somali animals, which are raised by nomadic Muslims.

Somalis have hardly begun to tap the value of their animals. With about $50m in international help they could invest in watering stations, encourage communities to cure animal skins, make soap from bone marrow and fashion buttons from camel bone. They might also usefully improve transport by, say, building bridges over rivers prone to flooding, which would cut out rapacious middlemen.

Though the region suffers from rampant piracy, it mainly affects international shipping rather than locals. Last month pirates captured a livestock ship in the waters off Bossaso; they were killed within hours by irate traders and herders. Meanwhile, hijacked foreign freighters litter the coastline undisturbed.

As parts of the economy grow, Somalis increasingly look to the diaspora for loans. Its members are prominent in gold and metal markets across Africa. Many excel at moving goods and money around. The once thriving fishing industry would be helped by investment in refrigerators, as would frankincense cultivation, which employs 10% of the workers in Puntland, a breakaway region in the north.

None of this is to deny that the situation in south Somalia—the country’s breadbasket—is anything other than dire. UN figures yet to be published suggest that 80,000 people may already have died as a result of the famine. More are certain to follow them to the grave. According to Somali aid workers from the hungriest areas, the situation is bad but improving. Forecasts for the coming rains are promising. Showers have already arrived in some places. Recovery will be a struggle, but apocalypse looks less likely now.

An American celebrity campaign, entitled “F--- famine”, emphasises that famines are man-made. That is unhelpfully vague but not necessarily wrong. In Somalia famine results from the strictures imposed by the al-Qaeda-linked Shabab militia, which controls large parts of the south. A drought has strained the entire region. But Kenya and Ethiopia have dealt with it much better than the ignorant and petty Shabab. They have been kicked out of Mogadishu, Somalia’s ruined seaside capital, by African Union (AU) troops paid by America and the European Union.

The Shabab are not yet defeated, but they have lost a lot of ground and support. The story of a 23-year-old farmer, Ahmed Mohammed, is typical. He fled his village of Bulamerer on the Shabelle river along with his heavily pregnant wife and one of their children. They left two other children behind in the village with Mr Mohammed’s mother and his teenage brothers and sisters. The family’s goats died of hunger. He fears his children might suffer the same fate. Still, he says he will not return home until the Shabab have gone.

The fighters take a third of the harvest as taxation, ban singing, whip the men to prayers, force the women to cover their faces, and violently break up any gathering of four or more people. The village school is run by the Shabab, but only those loyal to their cause are allowed to attend. Echoing the suggestion that the famine is at least in part man-made, Mr Mohammed claims he and others were denied access to river water for their crops.

Now on the defensive, the Shabab have taken actions as desperate as they are deadly. On October 4th they arranged a suicide bombing in Mogadishu which killed over 100 people. Most were students queuing up for scholarships to Turkey. The bomber, a teenager, recorded an interview before the attack in which he said of the victims, “They never think about the hereafter and about harassed Muslims.”

The target of the bombing was education—hope itself—but also the Transitional Federal Government. It is supported by the AU troops in the capital. The prime minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, wants to finish off the Shabab and has said “this is the time to intervene” and that the “cowards” should not be allowed to regroup. An offensive led by the AU and transitional government troops this week hammered Shabab positions on the edge of Mogadishu. Publicly, donor countries say the government is the best bet to run the country. Privately, they lambast it. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the lacklustre president, has extended his mandate by delaying elections to next year, to nobody’s satisfaction. Venal and inept, his government surely needs to be replaced. But with what?

The International Crisis Group, a research and lobby group, argues that a “European style centralised state, based on Mogadishu, is almost certain to fail”. Somali elders talk of free-spirited nomads “vomiting up” orders made far away. Devolving power to towns and clans—the linchpin of Somali society—would be better. But that too is risky. South Somalia has several separatist groups and Puntland has at least three separatist insurgencies which result in almost daily assassinations of officials and an indefinite delay in potentially lucrative oil exploration. Somaliland in the far north is different again. Despite a dependency on qat, a mild stimulant imported from Ethiopia, which accounts for a third of imports, or $160m a year, it has a maturing government and four successful elections behind it. Many Western diplomats now think it deserves full independence. Ethiopia might agree. It needs a stable Somaliland to pipe gas from a newly found field in the east to the coast.

The non-Shabab parts of Somalia have every chance of seeing strong economic growth. The diaspora remits $1 billion or so a year. That could finance badly needed investments. Yet often the money comes with strings attached. Some benefactors engage in what is known as “PlayStation politics” in which they attempt, as in video games, to control affairs in their homeland remotely. Or pillage it: “Where there is money, there is funny,” says Abdiwahid Hersi, the director of Puntland fisheries.

Take the spiny lobster. Puntland used to catch 2,000 tonnes of these each year. But predatory fishing practices have destroyed stocks. Last year, the catch was only 167 tonnes. Next year, the spiny lobster may be gone forever. With it goes another chance for a better life in coastal communities tempted by piracy.

Further economic growth in northern Somalia is dependant on law enforcement—an unlikely prospect. A group of mercenaries is suspected of having landed a shipment of arms and equipment at Bossaso this month. Could they be paid to clear out pirate dens and save the spiny lobster? Somalis laugh at the thought.

But with north Somalia recovering somewhat, while the south is mired in famine, one conclusion is inescapable. The Somalia of the past is gone. The southern breadbasket has fallen too far behind. Even though it may slowly be freed from extremist control, Mogadishu will only ever be the capital in name. The country’s economic centre of gravity has shifted to the Arab-facing north. Bossaso has grown from 50,000 to 1m people since 1991. Hargeisa has expanded even faster. The best hope for the south is that some of the dynamism spreads.

When my wife and I went to the Horn of Africa last year for our Ethiopia road trip, we were eagerly looking forward to a culinary journey. We weren't disappointed. Ethiopian food is one of our favorites and of course they make it better there than anywhere else!

While it came as no surprise that the food and coffee were wonderful, the cuisine in the Horn of Africa turned out to be more varied and nuanced that we expected. The two countries I've been to in the region, Ethiopia and Somaliland, have been connected to the global trade routes for millennia. Their national cuisines have absorbed influences from India, the Arab world, and most recently Italy.

Ethiopians love meat, especially beef and chicken. One popular dish is kitfo--raw, freshly slaughtered beef served up with various fiery sauces. I have to admit I was worried about eating this but I came through OK. Chicken is considered a luxury meat and is more expensive than beef. One Ethiopian friend was surprised to hear that in the West chicken is generally cheaper than beef.

Ethiopian booze is pretty good too. Tej is a delicious honey wine and tella is a barley beer. They also make several brands of lager and one of stout.

I've also spent time in the Somali region of Ethiopia and Somaliland. Living in arid lowlands rather than green and mountainous highlands, the Somalis have a very different cuisine than the Ethiopians. A surprising staple of Somali cooking is pasta. Actually on second thought it isn't so surprising. The former Somalia was an Italian colony for a few decades. Italian food is popular in Eritrea and Ethiopia as well and makes for a refreshing change from local cuisine. Some Somalis are still pastoral nomads, moving through the arid countryside with their herds of camels and goats much like their ancestors did centuries ago. Pasta is a perfect food for nomads--compact, lightweight, nutritious, and easy to prepare.

The only downside to eating pasta in the Somali region is that Somalis, like most Africans, eat with their hand. I made quite a fool of myself trying to eat spaghetti with my hand!

Goat is a popular meat in the Somali region and is served in a variety of ways. I love a good goat and have eaten it in a dozen countries. It's tricky to cook, though, and can easily be overdone and end up stringy and flavorless. Good goat, however, is one of the best meats around. For some expert opinion, check out Laurel Miller's fun post on the cultural aspects of eating goat.

While goat is the main meat for Somalis, what they really like is camel. These ships of the desert are expensive, so camel meat is usually reserved for special occasions like weddings. Wealthy, urban professionals eat it fairly regularly, though. At the Hadhwanaag Restaurant and Hotel in Hargeisa, capital of Somaliland, expert chefs slow-cook goat and camel in clay ovens that look much like tandoori ovens. The meat comes out deliciously tender and fragrant. Lunch at the Hadhwanaag was easily one of my top five meals in Africa.

Oh, and don't forget Somali tea! A mixture of black tea, spices, and camel's milk, it's almost identical to Indian chai. The perfect pick-me-up after a long day seeing Somaliland's painted caves or looking for your next edible ride at the camel market.

The Horn of Africa has an unfair reputation for warfare and famine. This is because it only gets on the news when something bad happens there. It makes a great adventure travel destination, though, and the determined traveler will find fascinating sights, friendly people, and great food. With any luck I'll be back there in 2012!

Seven pirates were given five year jail sentences in Somaliland's coastal city Berbera. The Somali pirates were apprehended by Somaliland's coast guard earlier this year. The sentencing was confirmed to the media by judge Usman Ibrahim Dahir. The judge also said that one of the pirates admitted that they were engaged in piracy.

Somaliland courts have sentenced more than 80 pirates to jail in the last few years.

Somaliland is to extradite hundreds of Ethiopians, unofficial reports indicated.

Somaliland is a breakaway northern territory of Somalia. Somaliland declared independence almost two decades ago, it has not achieved international recognition. Though there had been a few unofficial reports of instance of extradition, in the past, Somaliland often resisted as it complicates clan relations. Especially, in case of ONLF, which consists the Ogaden clan of Somali people.

As reported in this blog in mid-September, Somaliland official claimed that: ‘After evaluating the status of the illegal immigrants, we realized that these people have no benefits for the country; on the contrary, they are a problem in terms of security,….For this reason, the government of Somaliland has given a month’s notice to all illegal immigrants to leave the country. Those who do not leave will face legal charges and be deported.’

The officials also said: ‘We recognize only 1,772 Ethiopian refugees out of 80,000 to 90,000 illegal immigrants in Somaliland. And the decision will affect those of every nationality living in Somaliland illegally.’

Noting that the decision will affect Ethiopian, to whom most of the illegal immigrants belong, this blog commented: ‘given the Somaliland’s government reliance on Ethiopia for diplomatic and security support, it is unlikely that the decision to deport would be taken without the knowledge, if not consent, of the latter’.

It seems now that, however, the large-scale deportation may not take place. Rather, it was a show staged to camouflage the extradition of a few hundred individuals.

Recent reports claim that Ethiopian officials formally requested, in early September, Somaliland President Mahamoud (aka Silanyo) for the extradition a long list of Ethiopians residing in his territory. Most of whom are suspected of involvements in the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). The two organizations claim to be fighting to end ‘colonialism’ in the southern and eastern parts of Ethiopia, according to the mission statement posted on their officials websites. The Ethiopian government and IGAD, the Horn of Africa’s regional bloc, recently proscribed the two organizations as terrorists.

Subsequently, Somaliland’s police arrested some 250-350 Ethiopians, most, if not all, named in the list provided from Ethiopia. It is not clear if the Somaliland officials are done with the arrest and when they will deliver them to Ethiopian officials.

It is noteworthy that the Somaliland signed a tripartite agreement with Ethiopia and and China last august. The agreement was said to be on oil, gas, and logistics, concerning the gas and oil pipelines to be built from eastern Ethiopia to the Somaliland port, Berbera. It is not clear how far the agreements, subsidiary documents, involve security matters, especially arrangements for extradition.

http://danielberhane.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/somaliland-to-extradite-alleged-olf-onlf-operatives-to-ethiopia/

Since Somaliland’s independence in 1991 its main foreign policy objective is to achieve international legal recognition. Because Somalia no longer exists as a state and the current TFG and its predecessors did not have the legal authority from which Somaliland could reclaim its sovereignty and legal nationhood, it rather focused on campaigning and lobbying Western, African countries and international institutions for its cause. Many of these countries and international organisations now generally accept that Somaliland is a de facto State and that it has demonstrated the will, determination, cohesion, stability and political maturity that is required for international recognition. This leads to many bilateral relationships and development support for Somaliland, but it did not lead to the hoped international recognition as an independent state.

The international campaign for recognition turned out to have other effects as well. Because Somaliland successfully distant itself from the chaos in Somalia but also distanced itself from other Somali’s. Many Somali’s in Somalia and throughout the world perceived Somaliland’s independence aspirations as hostile and counterproductive to the peace and reconciliation aspirations of Somalia. Ethiopia’s early support for Somaliland’s independence added more resentment to those questioning its claim for independence. And finally, concerns of internal political division and tribal politics in Somaliland, particularly in the regions of Sool, parts of Sanaag and sometimes in the Awdal region which surfaces from time-to-time although the latter has different concerns compared to that of the first two. This has created further negative implications to Somaliland’s bid for international recognition.

Over the years Somaliland’s diplomatic focus shifted from Ethiopia to the Republic of Djibouti and Kenya. A positive step for gaining a balanced support in the greater region. However Somalia remains the only legal authority from which Somaliland could reclaim its sovereignty from and Somali’s from Somalia are the stakeholders who can grant Somaliland it’s wish for recognition. Somaliland needs to gain grass root support from their Somali brothers in Somalia and abroad. Somaliland to show to the Somali public that its independence aspirations and Somalinimo go hand in hand, that it has genuine desire for fraternal and friendly relations, that it is concerned with the fate of Somalia and wishes to contribute to the peace, reconciliation and development efforts in the region. Last week a Somaliland delegation led by prominent poet Mohamed Warsame Hadraawi was send to Mogadishu to deliver aid to famine stricken families. The funds were raised by the people of Somaliland in solidarity and sympathy with their starving brothers and sisters in Somalia. This kind of initiative shows goodwill to all Somali’s and above all demonstrate Somaliland’s political maturity. And with enough goodwill from the Somali’s it may one day lead to recognition by their brothers from Somalia. This kind of recognition is much more preferred and desired then recognition from any other foreign country.

Even though Somalia no longer exists as a state, still diplomacy towards Somalia is much needed. Traditional diplomacy, the interaction between governments, would be ineffective as the TFG mandate doesn’t have a lot of support in Somalia and its mandate is ending by next year. So this would not have the added value needed in this case. But Somaliland could achieve its goals by using Public Diplomacy rather than traditional diplomacy. In international relations public diplomacy or people’s diplomacy, broadly speaking, is the communication with foreign public to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influence public attitudes and perception. It is practiced through a variety of instruments and methods ranging from personal contact and media interviews to the Internet and educational exchanges. Somaliland should use Public diplomacy by effectively communicating with Somali publics around the globe through the use of mass media and through dealings with a wide range of nongovernmental entities(educational institutions, religious organizations, clan and ethnic groups) and influential individuals (business people, singers, writers) for the purpose of influencing the Somali public perceptions towards Somaliland. Even through sports and other social/cultural activities like music events and youth exchanges could be used to promote understanding of Somaliland’s case.

It involves not only shaping the message that Somaliland wishes to present, but also analyzing and understanding the ways that the message is interpreted by the public and developing the tools of listening and conversation as well as the tools of persuasion. With public diplomacy Somaliland would encourage understanding; listens and engages in dialogue; objectively displays national achievements and international goodwill to a broad Somali public. As shown last week by Hadraawi’s humanitarian visit to Moqadishu.

One of the most successful initiatives which embody the principles of effective public diplomacy is the creation of the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg after the second World War. It’s original purpose was to facilitate dialogue and function as a catalyzer for greater understanding between Europeans who first perceived each other’s as hostile after the World War. The Centre has been established as a residential and educational training and meeting Centre for the implementation of the Council of Europe’s youth policy. The Centre hosts around 150 activities, training courses, study sessions, consultative meetings and symposia dealing with development of youth in Europe. For more than 40 years the Centre played a key role in promoting and shaping its youth’s view towards fundamental values like equality, human rights, rule of law, democracy, discrimination against minorities, social exclusion, development and the unity of the continent.

Public diplomacy is seen as one of the most crucial tools in the practice of diplomacy today. And by using some people diplomacy Somaliland could strengthen its case and at the same time create better understanding, peace and cooperation among the Somali people in the Horn of Africa.

By: Khaalid Hassan.H. Mahamoud(Msc) Former Policy Officer at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and previously worked with the International Labour Organisation in Somalia/Somaliland. Currently Member of Delft City Council in the Netherlands

Today is World Post Day, celebrated every October 9 to mark the anniversary of the foundation of the Universal Postal Union in 1874. More than 150 countries celebrate this day honoring something that's so vital to our lives but is generally taken for granted.

In Somaliland they aren't celebrating, because they don't have a postal system. No other country recognizes Somaliland as a nation and therefore it can't get membership in the Universal Postal Union. Somaliland is the northern third of former Somalia and declared independence in 1991. After a bloody war of independence it developed a government, law enforcement, a viable economy, and infrastructure while neighboring Puntland became a haven for pirates and southern Somalia was torn apart by warlords and terrorists.

When I was traveling in Somaliland last year I was based in Hargeisa, the capital. Unlike much of the region, the lights stayed on around the clock, the streets were safe, and businesses were thriving. When I visited the central post office, however, I found an empty ruin.

So what does a country without mail do to get, um, mail? Courier services are widely used, and there's broadband Internet in the capital. In fact, they had the fastest Internet connection I've ever seen in Africa! Some Somalis told me the lack of a postal system actually encouraged the development of Internet Service Providers.

Still, it would have been nice to have been able to send postcards to my friends from this nation that doesn't officially exist. Of course I didn't actually see any postcards for sale, because there was no way to send them. With the rest of the world recognizing the Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu, which doesn't even control all of Mogadishu, it doesn't look like we're going to be seeing any postcards from Somaliland anytime soon. Filed under: Festivals and Events, Africa, Somalia

By JAMA DEPERANI 10/07/2011. http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1722/New_Political_Party_Formed_in_Somaliland

The establishment of Waddani, a new political party, was formally announced in Somalia’s northern breakaway region of Somaliland, during a ceremony in Hargiesa on Thursday evening.

This will mark the fourth political party in Somaliland since the breakaway government last month approved a law to allow for a multi-party system. Other parties include the Kulmiye party, which is currently in control, and the two opposition parties of Udub and Ucid.

More than 600 hundred participants including government officers and opposition parties attended the ceremony, according to journalist Abdirisak Mohamed who spoke to Somalia Report.

The new political party was created after members of UCID party had internal conflicts and broke away to form Waddani, according to the new Waddani chief, Abdurahman Mohamed Abdulaahi (known as Cirro), who also serves as Somaliland’s Parliament Speaker.

“We declared this new party for different reasons, but mainly because of conflicts which affected UCID about rules," Mr. Abdulaahi told Somalia Report.

"The rules did not allow the chairman to be elected more than twice. We hold elections every five years and Chairman Faysal Ali Waraabe needs to be chairman third time, but the rules wouldn't allow it. That is why we moved away from the UCID party and formed our own,” he added.

Waddani has at least 250 members with at least 17 of the members, including the chairman, defecting from the UCID party. The new party also includes members of the government and will be a formidable force, according to the chairman.

Officers of the new party told Somalia Report that they will be on the side of its citizens through backing development and infrastructure improvements.

"If we win the next election we will realize our dream, a dream that Somaliland will be an independent country, recognized by international community,” aid Mr. Abdulaahi.

UCID is still made up of influential political members including the Chairman Faysal Ali Waraabe, a well-known politician. Faysal was elected twice as Chairman of UCID. It is the only party yet to lead the state.

In August, Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gabose, Somaliland's Interior Minister quit to establish his own new party.

Somaliland’s last presidential election was June 26, 2010, and the next election will be June 26, 2015.

The point of departure for this paper is the fact that Somalia has been without effective state institutions since 1991. Markus Virgil Hoehne explores how moderately effective state-like institutions have been rebuilt in Somaliland and Puntland in northern Somalia over the past two decades. These institutions do not enjoy international recognition and are limited in power and scope. Moreover, the paper shows how alternative forms of authority exercised by so-called non-state actors have gained prominence during the process of state-formation.

A particularly important category of non-state actors in northern Somalia are traditional authorities. In the northern Somali setting, these are family or clan heads. Traditionally, they follow norms of culture and their legitimacy is embedded in social relations among and between their and other groups. However, they do not act in a political vacuum. In the contemporary (northern) Somali setting they have to engage with and are influenced by militias, religious activists, civil society groups and the existing state-like institutions. This brings about a complex mixture of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ elements of politics and leads to shifts in modes of legitimacy.

The paper is based on long-term fieldwork in Northern Somalia, where the author has followed the contested process of state formation. It was initially presented at the 1-3 November 2010 conference on Access to Justice and Security. Non-State Actors and Local Dynamics of Ordering, organized by DIIS researchers Helene Maria Kyed and Peter Albrecht.

http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/DIIS%20WP%202011-18.sk%C3%A6rm.pdf

The high court of Sahil region in Bebera of the breakaway state of Somaliland has sentenced seven Somali men to five years in prison each for committing acts of piracy including hijacking ships and commercial boats.

According to the chairman of Sahil High court, Osman Sutan Inrahim, the suspects were caught by Russian anti piracy troops and delivered to the Somaliland security forces on July 10th, 2011.

“When we realized those men were involved with piracy operations, hijacking ships, commercial boats and taking several ransom, the court sentenced them five years in prison each,” the judge said, adding that they can appeal the sentence over the next 30 days.

The convicted men are Mohamud Aden Hersi, Abdifatah Cali Dahir, Mohamed Omar Mohamed, Hussein Mohamed Sa’id, Mohamud Salad Isma’il, Jama Mohamed Farah and Abdirisak Abdulahi Shire.

According to the residents, fear gripped the city after an unidentified group scattered warning letters on the streets last night, threatening to carry out revenge against Berbera's administration.

“The papers said they will targeted all government offices and the public places,” Layla Hirre, a local journalist told Somalia Report.

On June 6th, the Sahil High court sentenced five Somali pirates to eight years to prison.

The leader of Somalia’s separatist region of Somaliland Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo has criticized leaders of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), saying that the delivery of humanitarian aid to Mogadishu was “non-political issue,” Radio Garowe reports.

Somaliland President Silanyo said TFG President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed “should not mistake our [Somaliland] humanitarian aid to Mogadishu as our desire to re-unite with Somalia. We have independence and we are not re-uniting.”

TFG President Sharif and Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gas have publicly commented that Somaliland is part of Somalia, but owned the door for future talks with Somaliland’s separatist leaders on reunification.

Last week, a group of civilians from Somaliland flew to Mogadishu to delivery US$750,000 cash donation for humanitarian purposes. The group was led by Somali poet Ibrahim Hadrawi, whom President Silanyo criticized for Hadrawi’s nostalgic pro-unity comments upon arrival in Mogadishu.

HARGEISA, 3 October 2011 (IRIN) - A humanitarian delegation from the Republic of Somaliland donated relief aid for 9,000 drought-displaced families in the Somalia capital, Mogadishu, during a visit on 30 September, the first such visit since the region declared unilateral independence from the rest of the country in 1991.

"We plan to distribute food for 9,000 families and medicine for four hospitals," said Hasan Abdi Awed, chairman of Somaliland's Chamber of Commerce and leader of the eight-member delegation. "The food we are distributing will last the beneficiary families for one month."

Awed said the Somaliland government had announced in late August that it would participate in the international efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Somalia, which has been hit by famine and drought across most of its south-central regions.

Mohamed Shugri Jama, a spokesman for the delegation, told a news conference in Hargeisa before the visit: "We collected about US$700,000 donated by the people and the government of Somaliland, and we have split into two delegations, one will be in Mogadishu distributing the food aid there, while another will go to the refugee camps [in Dadaab] in Kenya."

Receiving the Somaliland delegation at the Mogadishu international airport, the governor and mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamed Ahmed Nur Tarsan, said: "We are glad to receive the delegation from Somaliland, which is here in response to the humanitarian crisis. It is not the amount of their contribution that matters but their empathy is more important."

Somaliland [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=89706 ], in the north of the country, is a former British protectorate that joined Italian Somaliland to form the Republic of Somalia in 1960. In 1991, the northwestern region declared its independence from the rest of Somalia and has enjoyed relative stability and peace unknown in Mogadishu.

Addressing reporters in Hargeisa on Thursday night, Silanyo ruled out any political significance of their visit to the south.

Hargeisa (Sunatimes) The president of the Somali breakaway region of Somaliland Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud Silanyo has affirmed that they will not soften their political stand and rejoining the rest of the Somalia.

He said the recent delegation from his region that has delivered humanitarian aid in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, was purely on humanitarian ground and has nothing to do with politics.

Addressing reporters in Hargeisa on Thursday night, Silanyo ruled out any political significance of their visit to the south, saying that they will not negotiate for their secession from the rest of the country.

He was responding to criticism from opposition parties in his region and an alleged assertion from the Somali president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

He said it was their responsibility to come to the aid of their brothers in the south who were suffering and thanked Somaliland people.

He said the southerners should not view their generosity as political come back of the northerners.

Silanyo criticised the assertion by some leaders of two main opposition parties in Somaliland, UDUB and UCID especially Feisal Ali Warabe who alleged that Silanyo was softening his stands as far as the region’s separation from the rest of Somalia is concerned.

The regional president said such accusations amounts to insult aimed at misleading Somaliland people. He urged locals not to listen to baseless accusations from the opposition parties.

Text of unattributed report in English entitled "Somaliland sends aid to Somalia's famine victims" by Somali newspaper The Somaliland Times website on 24 September

Somaliland government announced that two delegations will leave with aid to Somalia's famine victims. One delegation will deliver aid in Mogadishu and the other delegation will take aid to the refugee camps in Kenya.

The Minister of commerce, Abdirizaq Khalif Ahmed, said the Somaliland government had raised $700,000 for famine relief in Somalia. He also revealed that the money was largely collected inside the country with the exception of 0.5 per cent which came from the diaspora.

The delegation to Mogadishu includes Muhammad Ibrahim Warsame (Hadrawi), Jamal Aydid Ibrahim, Sheikh Muhammad Shugri Jama and Ahmed Muhammad Adan.

The delegation to Kenya's refugee camps is composed of Sh. Khaliil Abdillahi Ahmed, the minister of commerce, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmed Adan and Muhammad Shigri Dagal.

Somaliland’s political rights rating improved from 5 to 4 due to the successful conduct of a long-delayed presidential election and the peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent to his leading rival.

In a long-delayed presidential election in June 2010, incumbent Dahir Riyale Kahin lost to his leading challenger, Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud “Silanyo,” and power was transferred peacefully to the new president. International observers declared the balloting a success, but overdue legislative elections were postponed once more.

The modern state of Somalia was formed in 1960, when the newly independent protectorates of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland agreed to unite. In 1969, General Siad Barre took power, ushering in a violent era of clan rivalries and political repression. Barre was deposed in early 1991, triggering a fight for control between armed militias divided along clan lines. The current Somaliland, largely conforming to the borders of the former British Somaliland in the northwestern corner of the country, took advantage of Somalia’s political chaos and declared independence later that year.

In a series of clan conferences, Somaliland’s leaders formed a government system combining democratic elements, including a parliament, with traditional political structures, such as an upper house consisting of clan elders. The first two presidents were appointed by clan elders. In 2003, Dahir Riyale Kahin became Somaliland’s first elected president; although he won by less than 100 votes, the runner-up accepted the outcome. Direct elections for members of the lower house of parliament were held for the first time in 2005. The president’s United People’s Democratic Party (UDUB) won the most seats, with the Peace, Unity, and Development Party (Kulmiye) and the Justice and Development Party (UCID) following close behind. While the 2003 and 2005 elections did not meet international standards, there were no reports of widespread intimidation or fraud.

In 2006, Riyale violated the constitution by postponing elections for the upper house and extending its term by four years. His decision set a precedent for other constitutional breaches. Local and presidential elections were repeatedly delayed, provoking a political crisis that lasted until 2010.

At the heart of the dispute was a failure to compile an electoral roll that was acceptable to all sides. The process was mishandled by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and plagued by fraud. Registration was almost derailed by coordinated suicide bombings in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, in 2008, which killed at least 23 people. Somaliland officials blamed the Shabaab(Arabic for “the youth”), the Islamist militant group that controlled much of central and southern Somalia. The presidential election was postponed twice more in 2009. An opposition motion to impeach the president led to brawls in the parliament as well as street protests. The police responded to the protests with live ammunition, killing four people.

A transitional agreement was eventually reached between the parties, clearing the way for the presidential election to take place. After several more delays, the poll was finally held in June 2010. Kulmiye leader Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud “Silanyo” won just under 50 percent of the vote, easily defeating Riyale, who took 33 percent. Turnout among the roughly one million eligible voters was about 50 percent, having been affected by the nonparticipation of some residents living in Sool and Sanaag, a disputed area on the border with Somalia’s semiautonomous region of Puntland. Monitors from Europe and the United States identified some irregularities but declared the vote to have been free and fair. Silanyo was sworn into office in July. While the presidential election was a success, the long-overdue legislative elections were postponed again in September.

Poverty is rife in Somaliland, and the government struggles to provide basic goods and services to the population. Conditions are exacerbated by the limited access to foreign assistance and international loans that stems from the territory’s lack of diplomatic recognition as an independent state, though the successful presidential election was expected to strengthen Somaliland’s campaign for recognition.

According to Somaliland’s constitution, the president is directly elected for a maximum of two five-year terms and appoints the cabinet. The presidential election of June 2010, originally scheduled for 2008, resulted in the smooth transfer of power from the UDUB party to the main opposition group, Kulmiye. While the outcome was peaceful, the campaign was conducted amid considerable political tension. The opposition accused incumbent Dahir Riyale Kahin of using public money to fund his campaign. There were also some outbreaks of violence. The Shabaab threatened to stop the vote, and in June Somaliland’s police claimed to have disrupted a terrorist plot in the city of Burco. In addition, militia groups supporting Puntland’s claims to Sool and Sanaag attacked polling stations, killing four people. Fake voting cards were found to be in circulation on election day, and there were some reports of underage voting and ballot-box stuffing. The NEC made credible efforts to address most complaints. Domestic and foreign election monitors found that the vote generally met international standards and that its outcome reflected the will of the people.

Members of Somaliland’s 82-seat lower house of parliament are directly elected for five-year terms, while members of the 82-seat upper house (Guurti) are indirectly elected by local communities for six-year terms. Both houses extended their terms in September 2010, arguing that Somaliland could not organize another election so soon after the presidential poll. The Gurti voted to increase its term by another three years, having originally been due for elections in 2006. The House of Representatives, whose elected term was to expire in December 2010, gave itself an extension of two years and eight months. Both decisions were made with the apparent blessing of the new president, Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud “Silanyo.”

Somaliland’s constitution allows for a maximum of three political parties, and parties defined by region or clan are technically prohibited. Nevertheless, party and clan affiliations tend to coincide.

Corruption in Somaliland is a serious problem. There were persistent accusations that Riyale’s government improperly diverted millions of dollars in public funds. Upon taking office, Silanyo set up a good governance and anticorruption commission with a mandate to tackle the corruption problem.

While freedoms of expression and the press are guaranteed by Somaliland’s constitution, journalists face interference and harassment. Three reporters were arrested in June 2010 for taking photographs of a house displaying the Kulmiye party flag; they were released without charge later that month. Riyale’s government displayed little tolerance of independent media and banned private broadcasters from operating inside Somaliland. The new administration followed suit. In October, the satellite broadcaster Universal TV, which operates from Britain, had its license suspended. It had been accused of favoring the interests of Puntland. The main radio station is the government-run Radio Hargeisa. There are seven private daily newspapers in Somaliland in addition to the state-owned Mandeeq, though they have limited circulations. While Somaliland has a small number of online news sites, they have limited reach within the territory because of low internet penetration. Nearly all Somaliland residents are Sunni Muslims, and Islam is the state religion. Proselytizing by members of other faiths is prohibited. Academic freedom in Somaliland is greater than in neighboring Somalia. The territory has at least 10 universities and colleges of higher learning, although none are adequately resourced.

Freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed, and both international and local nongovernmental organizations operate without serious interference.However, the country’s political crisis and precarious security situation was used as a justification to ban public demonstrations in 2009. While restrictions were eased in 2010, police used heavy-handed tactics against protesters in Hargeisa and Borama shortly after the new government took office in July. The UDUB opposition accused police of firing live ammunition into a crowd of demonstrators, though there were no reports of injuries.

According to the constitution, the judiciary is independent, and the laws cannot violate the principles of Sharia (Islamic law). In practice, the Riyale government bypassed the courts and used secret security committees to try many defendants without due process. A report compiled for the House of Representatives in March 2010 revealed that of the 765 inmates at Somaliland’s main prison, 300 had not been charged with any offense but were being detained on the orders of the authorities. Upon taking office, Silanyo pledged to uphold the rule of law and implemented reforms at the Ministry of Justice to reduce executive interference in the judiciary. A pledge to release all prisoners who had not been charged with a crime, apart from those suspected of terrorism or theft, had not been fulfilled by year’s end.

The judiciary is underfunded, and the Supreme Court is ineffective. Somaliland has approximately 100 judges, most of whom do not have formal legal training. Somaliland’s police and security forces, while more professional than those in Somalia, have at times used excessive force.

Societal fault lines are largely based on clan. Larger, wealthier clans have more political clout than the less prominent groups, and clan elders often intervene to settle conflicts.

While society in Somaliland is patriarchal, women have made modest advances in public life. Silanyo appointed two women to his 20-member cabinet in July 2010. As in the rest of Somalia, female genital mutilation is practiced on the vast majority of women.

At least 12 people are reportedly killed after flash floods triggered by days of heavy torrential downpour hit parts of Somalia's northern breakaway region of Somaliland.

The floods wrecked havoc in villages in between Djibouti and Somaliland countries where people and their animals were swept away by floodwater.

According to resident of Somaliland capital city of Hergeisa, some 12 people were killed after their cars were washed away.

"Floods has caused the deaths of 12 people in Agabar Valley, and there are others who were not found their body’’ Abdirisaq Hajji, a resident in the hargaisa told Somalia Report.

Hajji Added that the total of the passengers were 24, 12 others are still remaining unknown.

Somaliland‘s First Aid agencies have arrived on the scene and they are still busy to rescue the passangers.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1656/Heavy_Rain_kills_Dozen_in_Somaliland

Authorities in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland are accusing Somaliland of training and prodding members of the militant group al-Shabaab.

Officials from the Sanaag Region have strongly criticized the breakaway state of Somaliland for harboring the Islamist fighters and providing them with military training in parts within its territory in order to terrorize the government of Puntland.

“The truth is Somaliland gives military training to a number of al-Shabaab members in their regions and we know it," Governor of Sanaag Region, Mohamoud Said Nur (Dabaylaqor) told Somalia Report via a telephone interview.

Nur claimed the training was being conducted in several areas within Somaliland, including Togdheer region and Godmo Biyo Cas residence.

Puntland officials argued that once they are trained, the Islamist fighters would be sent over by the Somaliland authorities to launch assaults against Puntland.

“Somaliland uses these alshabaab members to destroy Puntland, interfere with the peace and stability that our regions continue to enjoy,” the governor said.

Early this year, Puntland's former Minister for Security, Yusuf Ahmed Kheyr, told the local media that Somaliland was actively involved in training the al-Shabaab in their region and that it planned to send the group to Puntland regions to cause chaos.

But in a quick rejoinder, Somaliland’s Minister for Ports, Abdulaahi Jama Osman (known as Geeljire) refuted the claims saying his government had no links with the militant group, which is allied to the infamous global al-Qaeda terrorist network.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1653/Puntland_Chides_Somaliland_over_Al-Shabaab

Mogadishu — A Somaliland delegation led by prominent poet has arrived in Mogadishu to deliver aid to famine stricken families in conflict torn capital on Saturday.

Members of Benadir regional administration led by Mogadishu mayor Mohamed Ahmed Nur Tarzan, some of Somali MPs and famous singers have warmly and cordially welcome the Somaliland delegation at Mogadishu international airport.

The Mogadishu mayor said that he was very pleased to see and welcome the Somalilanders spearheaded by Somalia's well-known poet Mohamed Warsame Hadrawi, thanking for their visit to Mogadishu and their sympathy with their starving brothers and sisters in Somalia.

Speaking to the media, the famous poet Hadrawi said that he was very happy in visiting Mogadishu to help famine victims.

The spokesman of Somaliland delegation Mohamed Shukri Jama said the Somaliland people have sent 13.5 tonnes of food aid destined to assist the famine displaced people in the capital.

By JAMA DEPERANI 09/23/2011.http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1630/Somaliland_Captures_Senior_Al-Shabaab_Leader

Ise Sulub Ige, al-Shabaab's Deputy Director of Amniyaat (Assassinations), was captured in Somaliland's Berbera district, according to the Somaliland officers.

The police chief of Sahil region, Abdurahman Mohamed, confirmed they captured the al-Shabaab leader while speaking to local media.

“Yes, we captured this man after we suspected him. He is al-Shabaab's Deputy Director of Amniyat. He has used three different names since he was in Berbera and now we transferred him to jail,” the chief of Berbera prison (known as Cidheere) told Somalia Report.

Somaliland officers told Somalia Report that the Berbera court will charge the suspect, who hails from Somaliland clans, next week.

Meanwhile Somaliland officers are conducting operations to find more members of al-Shabaab, according to Mohamed Abdulaahi, a journalist in Berbera.

Berbera (Sunatimes) Somalia’s breakaway administration of Somaliland has arrested Al-Shabaab’s Amniyad brigade second-in-command at the Port city of Berebera, reports say.

Amniyad is a special brigade of the militia group tasked with security and intelligence.

Somaliland’s Sahil police boss, Abdirahman Mohamed confirmed to the media that they arrested the militant man whose name was not made public.

But well informed sources close to the area police told Bar-kulan that the man is Isse Sulub Ige, who is believed to be one of the fugitive militia leaders fleeing Southern Somalia. Ige I said to be second commander of the group’s security apparatus, the Amniyad.

If confirmed, his arrest will weaken the already ailing militant group militarily and morally as it will be a victory for the Somali government battling the outlawed group.

The group has in the recent months suffered financial and leadership crisis as well as losing important figures including the Comoros born Fazul Abdllah Mohamed who was killed in the Somali capital earlier this year.

Its leader, Ahmed Godane, has recently criticized some of his colleagues for giving up hope of victory and abandoning the struggle against the government and African peacekeeping forces in Mogadishu.

In an audio message sent to the media on the eve of Eid, Ahmed Godane said his fighters would keep up attacks against government troops and foreign peacekeepers despite the retreat.

The militant leader who down played his group’s military weakness, claimed that they neither abandoned the fight nor weakened and promised to launch a new phase of fighting against TFG and Amisom, which he said will prove their military capability.

His comments showed the divisions within the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group’s ranks as government forces and African Union peacekeepers battled them in the capital, ultimately forcing them to withdraw from most of their bases there.

With growing concern, Reporters Without Borders has registered at least eight serious press freedom violations ranging from arbitrary arrest to shooting attacks on journalists in the past two months in the semi-autonomous northeastern region of Puntland and the breakaway northwestern territory of Somaliland. In most of these cases, there has been no investigation and no one has been punished.

“When attention is turned to Somalia, it tends to focus on the ruined capital of Mogadishu, where fighting continues and where two journalists were killed this summer, and the south, dominated by Islamist militias opposed to the transitional government,” Reporters Without Borders said. “But very violent attacks on journalists are also taking place in the north, in Puntland and Somaliland.

“We urge the local authorities to stop this escalating violence by bringing those responsible for these attacks on journalists to justice. Each region must guarantee a favourable climate for media personnel, one in which they can work without fearing for their safety, without being arrested and without being forced to censor themselves.”

Hassan “Anteno” Mohamed Ali, a reporter with privately-owned Voice of Peace radio, sustained serious gunshot injuries to the chest yesterday when three unidentified individuals fired on him at close range in a café opposite the radio station in Bossaso. His condition is said to be critical.

Horriyo Abdulkadir Sheik Ali, a journalist with Radio Galkayo, was also seriously injured when unidentified individuals fired on her as she was returning to the radio station in Galkayo on 14 September. She was taken to the city’s medical centre with four gunshot wounds to the stomach, chest and hand, and underwent an operation.

The premises of Galkayo-based Radio Daljir were damaged on 26 August by a bomb that also injured a security guard. The attack came almost exactly a year after Radio Daljir journalist Abdullahi Omar Gedi was fatally stabbed on 31 August 2010.

Reporters Without Borders urges the Puntland authorities to do whatever is necessary to ensure that those responsible for these extremely violent attacks are brought to justice and to guarantee the safety of the region’s journalists.

In Somaliland, journalists are harassed by the police and judicial authorities, who take their orders from government officials. Abuse of authority, police violence and arbitrary arrest are all common.

On 12 September, an appeal court in Hargeisa gave Abdifatah Mohamud Aidid, the editor of the newspaper Saxafi, a week to pay a fine of 700 US dollars in a libel case brought by air transport and civil aviation minister Mohamed Ashi Abdi in January. Aidid was convicted by a local court on 30 April.

Somaliland’s authorities have had the independent daily Waheen in their sights for months. One of its journalists, Saleban Abdi Ali, was badly beaten by members of the police Special Protection Unit in Hargeisa and detained for several hours on 10 September after he tried to cover the installation of the new interior minister, Mohamed Nur Aralle. In a further example of the lack of respect for journalists, an officer defended the treatment that Ali had received by citing the newspaper’s “offensive” stories about government officials.

Ahmed Muse Mohamed, a Waheen reporter also known as Sagaro, was detained on 5 September at the police station in Buro, in the region of Togdheer, on the orders of Buro governor Yasin Mohamed Abdi. There was no arrest warrant and no other legal formalities were respected. On 7 September, he was taken before a judge, who ordered him held in pre-trial detention for week.

Finally freed on bail on 12 September, he is still facing prosecution in connection with an article about disputes between sports ministry officials and the local authorities, including the governor, who accused the newspaper of twisting his words. Other newspapers that carried similar reports were left alone.

Ali Ismail Aare, Waheen’s correspondent in the Awdal region, was also detained for several hours on 5 September by the local authorities, who did not press any charges.

Mahad Abdillahi Farah, a reporter for the Hargeisa-based daily Ogaal, was detained for seven hours on 6 September by members of the Criminal Investigation Department in Buro.

Local sources told Reporters Without Borders that a total of six newspapers – Saxafi, Ogaal, Hatuf, Waheen, Hargeisa Star and Yool – are currently the target of legal proceedings in Hargeisa.

The two journalists killed this summer in Mogadishu were Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, a visiting Malaysian cameraman with Bernama TV who was fatally shot on 2 September, and Farah Hassan Sahal, a presenter with privately-owned Radio Simba, who was killed by three shots fired at close range outside the station near Bakara Market on 4 August. No one has so far been brought to justice for these two murders.

Somaliland plans to send a delegation to Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Saturday, in what would mark the breakaway region's first official visit there in more than 20 years.

During a news conference Thursday, Somaliland Vice President Abdirahman Saylici downplayed any political significance, saying the trip is purely humanitarian.

The delegation plans to deliver money to help Somali drought and famine victims. Somaliland's trade, industry and tourism minister, Abdirisaq Khalif, said his region's people have raised $700,000.

A second delegation from Somaliland will visit Kenya's massive Dadaab refugee complex near the Somali border on Saturday. Dadaab is home to more than 400,000 Somali refugees.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but is not recognized by any nation. The region runs its own affairs and has existed in relative peace and stability for two decades.

Somalia, in contrast, has been wracked by 20 years of chaos and conflict since warlords overthrew dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991.

Sada Mire fled Somalia's civil war as a child, and lived as a refugee in Sweden. But now she is back in the Horn of Africa as an archaeologist, making some incredible discoveries.

Sada Mire is only 35, but she has already revealed a dozen sites that could be candidates for Unesco world heritage status.

She has a fellowship in the department of art and archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and is head of the department of antiquities in the breakaway territory of Somaliland, in the north-west region of Somalia. She is the only archaeologist working in the region.

It's a remarkable journey for a girl who fled Mogadishu in 1991, aged 14, as Somalia descended into the chaos of civil war.

Driving her forward is the urge to uncover and preserve a cultural heritage that has been systematically looted, both in colonial times and more recently by warlords trading national heritage for guns.

The region has proved to be rich in archaeological wonders, which Sada Mire has been logging for the last four years with a team of 50 helpers.

She has recorded ancient rock art at 100 sites, medieval Islamic towns, and pre-Islamic Christian burial sites.

More than 1,000 such sites, she estimates, are still out there waiting to be put on the archaeological map of Somaliland.

The most stunning of Ms Mire's discoveries is a vast series of rock art sites in Dhambalin, outside the seaside town of Berbera.

The brightly coloured and beautifully preserved rock paintings, depicting domesticated animals, could be up to 5,000 years old.

Men are depicted riding on the back of some of the animals, or with raised arms, as if worshipping the cattle.

Wild animals such as giraffes - which no longer exist in this rocky, arid climate - also appear, suggesting a shift in weather patterns since the paintings were made.

"We all agree that this is an important discovery," says Lazare Eloundou Assomo, chief of Africa at the Unesco World Heritage Centre.

But as Somaliland is not recognised by the UN, and Somalia has not ratified the 1972 World Heritage Convention, there is no question of the site getting world heritage status in the near future. Sweden

To begin her study, four years ago, Sada Mire made a journey she had both dreaded and waited for, for many years - back to a region that held so many memories for her.

She was brought up in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and still vividly remembers the first bomb, which exploded as she was watering the flowers outside her family home.

Within weeks, she was fleeing with her siblings and her mother on top of a relative's lorry, dodging bandits who threatened to attack and rape refugees. Her mother had to sell jewellery along the way to buy food.

"We felt like zombies," Ms Mire says. "We were just a herd, we were just going wherever not thinking about anything, but [my mother] kept us together and was able to keep us safe."

Together with her twin she eventually made it to Sweden, where they joined an older sister and were granted asylum.

Arriving in the north of the country in the dead of winter, with snow and ice all around, was like stepping into a different world, she says.

As she learned about her new home, she also became acutely aware of the lack of historical knowledge of Africa, before slavery and colonialism. Unearthing the history of her homeland became her key objective. Dignity

“Start Quote

When I tell people the importance of a site and its significance for world heritage - it gives them dignity and pride”

End Quote Sada Mire

So far, her work has been limited to Somaliland which, unlike the rest of Somalia, remains relatively peaceful.

Even so, travelling between towns she employs guards armed with AK-47s. The roads themselves are treacherous, and landmines and deadly snakes litter the countryside where many of the archaeological sites are found.

Some sites are also now secured by armed guards, to prevent looters.

The country as yet has no museums.

"She is working under incredibly difficult conditions," says Dr Andrew Reid of University College London - Ms Mire's PhD supervisor.

The burial site near the city of Burco pre-dates the arrival of Islam

"One of the problems Sada has had to deal with is how to define mobile, nomadic heritage. In Somalia they carry cultural heritage in their heads. It's not something you can point to and say, 'Isn't this a fantastic building?' Their cultural heritage is much more difficult to define."

Sada Mire regards national heritage as a human right, crucial to a nation's sense of itself even during a time of conflict and famine.

"When we find sites and I am able to tell local people about the importance of the site and the potential that can come from it - its significance for world heritage - it gives them dignity and pride," she says.

She spends her time between digs, appearing on TV and in front of local communities to explain the value of the sites she is charting and has set up a non-governmental organisation, Horn Heritage, to fund her work.

"Our culture is very oral, so people need to hear from somebody and they repeat it," she says.

"People immediately feel that they have something, a resource. They can say, 'We may not have a lot but if we can take care of this site, we have something.'"

Sada Mire spoke to Outlook from the BBC World Service. Listen to the interview here.

Somaliland: A Reliable Partner in Combating Piracy

Morgan Roach. September 20, 2011

Piracy off the Horn of Africa increases every year due to constant instability in the region. In 2008, 111 vessels were attacked. Since the beginning of 2011, there have already been 188 attacks. Every year worldwide piracy costs the shipping industry billions of dollars in rerouting, ransoms, and many other related expenses. These costs are then passed on to the consumer.

To curb piracy, the international community is working with regional partners to stabilize the region. Somalia’s U.N.-appointed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has proven largely incapable of establishing law and order outside of parts of the capital city of Mogadishu. Constraining piracy is well beyond the limited capabilities of the TFG. By contrast, the government of Somaliland, the autonomous state in northern Somalia, is a more promising partner even though it is not recognized by the U.N.

Somaliland is a unique region of stability in Somalia. The state re-declared its independence in 1991 (it was briefly independent in 1960) and formed a government based on representative democracy. In 2001, Somaliland reaffirmed its independence through a constitutional referendum. For the most part, the region has been spared the conflict and instability that has afflicted the rest of Somalia and contributed to the lawlessness that allows piracy to prosper.

Piracy and terrorism threaten Somaliland’s relatively peaceful society. Somaliland has taken an active role in working with the international community not only to protect its citizens but also to increase its presence on the world stage. Earlier this month, Somaliland’s anti-piracy committee met for the first time to assess appropriate measures for government action. The purpose of the committee is to examine the ways in which Somaliland can work at an international level to counter piracy.

In the past few years, Somaliland has increased its cooperation with regional neighbors including Puntland (another semi-autonomous region in Somalia) and the TFG. Somaliland’s adherence to the Djibouti Code of Conduct led to the creation of the Kampala Process under which anti-piracy laws (including those related to prisoner transfers) were drafted. In November 2010, Somaliland built a maximum-security prison (with the help of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime) to relieve the burden of regional partners lacking the capacity and/or will to incarcerate pirates. As of last March, there are approximately 350 suspected and convicted pirates being held in Somaliland and Puntland.

Somaliland’s lack of international recognition poses major challenges to its involvement in combating piracy. International recognition could help increase foreign direct investment and improve economic development. As piracy becomes more frequent, more ransoms are paid and pirates become wealthier. Pirates then invest this money into sophisticated fortification for operating bases, out-resourcing local authorities. With a stable economy, Somaliland would be able to devote more resources to combating piracy.

At a public event last week at the International Republican Institute, Dr. Mohamed Abdullahi Omar, Somaliland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated that the U.N. arms embargo on the region has severely affected Somaliland’s ability to modernize its counter-piracy operations and combat terrorism.

Somaliland has the potential to be a major asset to the international community in combating piracy. In seeking international recognition, the government wants to be included in the U.N. Security Council’s reports on Somalia and is working towards more involvement in international forums. With so few willing and able governments in the region, Somaliland should be encouraged in these efforts.

Morgan Roach

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/09/20/somaliland-a-reliable-partner-in-combating-piracy/

Al-shabaab Deployed Fighters Near Somaliland

Hundreds Militants Arrived by Boat in Sanag Region

By AWEYS CADDE 09/21/2011

Al-Shabaab fighters (File Photo)

Hundreds of newly trained Somalia's insurgent group, al-shabaab fighters armed with different kinds of machine guns, mortars and small arms were deployed in Sanag region of northern Somalia.

The resident of Erigabo district said on Wednesday that they saw a large number of militias with fully armed that were heading towards the mountains of Aalmadow village, near Somaliland.

“They arrived on Tuesday while they were shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) and forced the residents to give them place to settle," Abdijalil Osman, a local journalist in Erigabo told Somalia Report.

Officials from Somaliland administration, including chief commander of Sanaag police forces, Colonel Awil Abdirahman told the local media that they are ready to attack them.

"We are only waiting order from the top officials to give us permission to deploy more forces in Sanaag region especially the mountains of AalMadow, Eerigaabo district and Las Koray, which are believed to be the hiding ground of the militant," Abdirahman said.

On the other hand, the residents of Sanag region believe that the militias were from southern Somalia, claiming that they are not fighters of local militants led by Mohamed Said Atom, who is fighting with Puntland troops in the remote mountains.

Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Godane and his Deputy Ibrahim Afghan are from northern regions of Somalia, and his group does not operated those areas, according to the elders.

The region together with bordering Sool region has been the source of numerous clashes between the two autonomous Somali regions (Puntland and Somaliland) for years.

Somaliland, argues that the Sanag and Sool regions are part of its territory under the colonial border left by the British colony.

On the other side, Puntland, claims that the two regions is under its authority, because they are inhabited by people belonging to the Harti, a clan that is largely found in Puntland.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1619/Al-shabaab_Deployed_Fighters_Near_Somaliland_

IOM Assists Ethiopian Migrants Stranded in Hargeisa/Somaliland with Return Home and Reintegration

Sep 19 2011. http://iom%20assists%20ethiopian%20migrants%20stranded%20in%20hargeisa/Somaliland%20with%20Return%20Home%20and%20Reintegration

IOM is currently carrying out an operation to assist some 500 Ethiopian migrants stranded in Hargeisa,Somaliland, who wish to go home voluntarily. This IOM Assisted Voluntary Return Operation (AVR) planned for the last three months following requests by this group of migrants to return to their areas of origin in Ethiopia, is part of IOM Mixed Migration (MM) Programme. The Government of Japan and the U.S. State Department’s Bureau for Population, Migration and Refugees (PRM) generously fund the MM programme.

This IOM return operation has been closely coordinated with the Government of Ethiopia, who dispatched two immigration officials to Hargeisa on 10 September, 2011 to screen the migrants. It has also been coordinated with key actors in the Somaliland Government such as the Somaliland Ministry of Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (MRR&R), Ministry of Interior (MoI), as well as with IOM officials inAddis Ababaand the Mixed Migration Task Force (MMTF). The screening is progressing well at the Migration Response Center (MRC) in Hargeisa, with half of the migrants screened. Operations are to begin within the next week.

Following completion of the screening in Hargeisa, the migrants will be assisted by IOM to return home. IOM has ensured that security arrangements have been made. Upon arrival in Jijiga, they will receive a reintegration grant and proceed onwards to their areas of origin.

Every year thousands of Ethiopian migrants embark on very dangerous journeys attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden to reachYemen,Saudi Arabia,Europeand beyond in search for stability, security, better economic opportunities, education and health.

Many of these migrants suffer serious human rights abuses at the hands of smugglers and all of them incur large debts. “We really just want to go home now and try to start all over again. Many of us are sick and we want to get help at home,” said an Ethiopian migrant in Hargeisa who signed up voluntarily to go back to Ethiopiaafter becoming stranded in Somaliland.

IOM’s Mixed Migration Programme comprises six key components assisting migrants:

1.Outreach and advocacy (mass information campaigns) targeting migrants and host communities.
2.Emergency assistance including Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR).
3.Support to livelihood projects in home and host communities.
4.Capacity building for local authorities and local partners.
5.Countering human trafficking.
6.Support for a medium to long-term approach to encourage regional dialogue and cooperation.

For more information please contact Hisham Halim IOM Hargeisa – hhalim@iom.int

Somaliland: The winding road up to Sheikh

by John Fox. Sunday, September 18, 2011. http://www.hiiraan.com/op2/2011/sept/somaliland_the_winding_road_up_to_sheikh.aspx

It’s not fair, I think, that flights to the toughest places leave at the toughest time of day – the night.

Yet again, to go off to Somaliland I had to get up before 4 a.m. to get to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by 5.15.

Even at that time, there were plenty of cars on the roads.

It was a Sunday morning, so they were not going early to work – more likely they were going home late from the bars and nightclubs of the city.

Which was evident in the way a few of them were slowly zig-zagging along pothole-free roads.

It was another slow flight over the arid lands in the inappropriately named Dash.

On arrival at the refurbished Egal International Airport at Hargeisa, I took a bottle of mineral water from my rucksack while waiting for my colleagues to clear the visa queue.

I peeled off the plastic seal and looked round for a waste bin. A young Somali official noticed.

“No problem,” he said.”You can throw it on the ground – this is Africa.”

He looked somewhat bemused when I smiled at him and slipped it in my pocket.

Few of the locals are so fastidious, it seems. The city is littered with those flimsy plastic bags; pink and blue, they hang on the thorn bushes, they clog the gutters and along the dry river bed they wait for the rare sluicing rain ....

These days, however, Somaliland is not really so tough a place.

Hargeisa, the capital, and Berbera, the port on the Gulf of Aden, have some good hotels; the shops are well-stocked; you don’t see young men on the streets with AK-47s.

It has regular commercial flights. It has eight pages devoted to it in a Lonely Planet travel guide.

It is a long way in more than kilometres from violent and troubled places like Mogadishu and the al Shaabab controlled regions of south-central Somalia .... But this is not a political piece.

It is a simple telling about a drive towards the east, from Hargeisa to Burao, the capital of the Togdheer region of Somaliland.

There is a seemingly more direct route to Burao across country, but the almost 300 kilometres of tarmac road north-east to Berbera and then south-east to Burao is more secure – and most probably faster.

Large herds

Beyond the city the land is flat, the soil is thin and the thorny vegetation is sparse.

Quite often you see large herds of camels being slowly driven to Berbera for export to the Gulf states.

You pass through a gap in the Golis chain of mountains that runs parallel to the Gulf of Aden, from Ethiopia in the west and into Puntland in the east.

The road to Burao skirts Berbera town and turns back to the south.

Here, the coastal plain is narrow, and quite soon you snake up and into the mountains, where the vegetation greens and thickens the higher you go.

At the top is the town of Sheikh. You might think you are in cattle country to the north of Naivasha.

The contrast with the stony and sandy lands you have driven through from Hargeisa is quite dramatic: the grass grows greener, the acacias spread wider, the community facilities – especially some schools and health centres – are more substantial and neater.

This is where the expatriate officials liked to stay and cool off when Somaliland was a British colony.

A few kilometres beyond Sheikh, there is a securely-fenced and watch-towered estate that, so I have been told, belongs to some prince from the Gulf, who comes there occasionally with his retinue.

What they do there I have no idea – not hunting, because the game in these parts must have been shot out long ago.

In the four times I have travelled this road, I once saw a family of warthogs scrabbling in the dust – no other wildlife. Even birds are scarce.

Wide plateau

After Sheikh, the vegetation thins out again across the wide plateau until you reach Burao, where trees grow along the river course.

Burao is a volatile place, with a mix of clans. It was here, in May 1991, that the conference was held (with no support from the “international community”) that reached agreement between different clans, and the independence of Somaliland was declared – but not recognised by the rest of the world.

On a previous visit, we had stayed in the City Plaza Hotel which, despite its name, is a quite rustic place, with comfortable bandas and dining tables set out under the shade of trees.

This time, we tried the more city-like Egal Hotel, with its grandiose conference facilities but less remarkable bedrooms.

Let me just say that it was a treat to get back to the Ambassador Hotel in Hargeisa – where the rooms are scrupulously clean and the food in the garden restaurant is varied, well cooked and attractively presented. No, Somaliland is not such a tough place.

John Fox is the managing director, Intermedia Development Consultants. He can be reached at fox@africaonline.co.ke. This article was first published in The Daily Nation

Arab Spring may lead to recognition of Somaliland's independence - paper

Anonymous. BBC Monitoring Africa [London] 15 Sep 2011. The Somaliland Times website, Hargeysa, in English 10 Sep 11/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC.Text of report in English by Somali newspaper The Somaliland Times website on 10 September

From Somaliland's perspective, Husni Mubarak, Ali Abdallah Salih, and Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi all had one thing in common: they had in various overt and covert ways tried to subvert the struggle of Somaliland's people for self-determination and international recognition. To that extent, the overthrow of Egypt's Husni Mubarak and Libya's Al-Qadhafi as well as the weakening of Yemen's Ali Abdallah Salih's is a net plus for Somaliland. Whatever views the current Egyptian government, Libyan rebels, and Yemen's Ali Abdallah Salih may have regarding Somalis, they are now too weak and preoccupied with their own survival to meddle in Somali affairs. The same is true of Syria.

The destruction [Egypt and Libya] and the weakening of Arab regimes that were opposed to Somaliland's independence and the fluid and changing situation in other Arab countries presents Somaliland with opportunities to establish a presence and win support in those countries. Even before the Arab revolts, there were already indications of changes in the attitudes of some of the Arab leaders to the Somali conflict.

One measure of this change was Crown Prince Muhammad Bin-Zayid al-Nahyan's comment to the then-US Central Commander Gen John Abizaid, that 'The Somalia job was fantastic'. 'The Somalia job' that the Abu Dhabi crown prince was referring to was the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia which was facilitated by the US. For an Arab ruler to accept, let alone welcome with such glee, the invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia would have been unthinkable not too long ago.

In pursuing support in Arab countries and among Arab opinion makers, Somaliland should highlight these assets:

1-Somaliland's democracy which should appeal to Arabs who have shown thirst for establishing democracies in their countries.
2-Somaliland's historical ties with the Arab world and the Middle East.
3-Somaliland's anti-piracy.
4-Somaliland's fight against terrorism and religious extremism.

In addition to working on gaining influence in Arab countries that are going through convulsions, Somaliland should also reach out to non-Arab countries of the Middle East such as Turkey, Israel and Iran, as well as Kurds who are increasingly becoming assertive throughout the Middle East.

Such an approach would require dynamism and creativity from the ministry of foreign affairs but it is doable. Here are three steps that could help the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in attaining the above goals:

i-Establish a department for the Middle East [along with other departments that cover Africa, Asia, Europe and the US].
ii-Recruit foreign policy specialists and young Somalilanders who are Arabic-speakers and who are familiar with social media to help the ministry in implementing these reach-out activities and policies.
iii-Organize a conference in Somaliland on the changes taking place in the Middle East, its prospects, and its possible impact on Somaliland.

Credit: The Somaliland Times website, Hargeysa, in English 10 Sep 11

Somaliland Appeals Court Confirms Fine for Newspaper Editor

By: National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) 14/09/2011 15:04 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia, September 14, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has today protested against an order by Somaliland appeals court that Saxafi newspaper editor, Abdifatah Mohamud Aidid, pays a 700 USD fine within a week from Monday 12 September 2011.

On 30 April 2011, Hargeisa Regional Court announced its verdict in a defamation case filed by Somaliland Civil Aviation and Air Transport Minister Mohamed Hashi Abdi in January 2011 against the editor-in-chief of "Saxafi" newspaper.

Aidid was charged with defamation by the Somaliland prosecution over a December 2010 article in "Saxafi", which reportedly cited the "mishandling" of a US$10 million donation from the Government of Kuwait by the Civil Aviation and Air Transport Minister. This donation was seemingly meant for the refurbishment of the Hargeisa and Berbera airports.

However, the Somaliland appeals court confirmed the payment of fine but reduced the amount to USD 700. The court ordered that this to be paid within a week or the journalist risks going to jail.

NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman said the ruling was "harsh" and was meant to reduce the "already constraint media freedom space in Somaliland." “We condemn the use of criminal defamation to punish journalists in Somaliland. Mounting cases of criminal defamation against journalists are contrary to Somaliland's constitution and its obligations to respect international standards of freedom of expression and of the press”.

In April 2010, the newspaper editor was convicted of offending the name and reputation of Minister Hashi Abdi, and was, as a consequence, ordered to pay a fine of 6,000,000 Somaliland Shillings (approx. US$1,000). The court, which obliged the journalist to pay the fine within 30 days, also warned "Saxafi" that its licence would be revoked should the paper defame the Minister again.

The editor vowed not to respect the appeals court ruling saying it violated the media law passed by Somaliland parliament in 2004. “This ruling is an insult to the Somaliland media law passed by parliament in 2004 and signed by the president and I will not accept any ruling that is not based the media law,” said editor Aidid.

http://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/article/somaliland-appeals-court-confirms-fine-f-189727.html

Somalia: Journalist Beaten By Police in Somaliland

International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House (Toronto) 14 September 2011. press release. http://allafrica.com/stories/201109150863.html

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is outraged by the savage beating of "Waheen" newspaper journalist Saleban Abdi Ali by the Somaliland Police's Special Protection Unit (SPU). The incident took place on 10 September 2011 in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

The journalist was trying to attend a ceremony in Hargeisa where a new interior minister, Mohamed Nur Aralle, was being sworn in to the ministry by the acting interior minister, but the SPU soldiers stopped the journalist from entering the ceremony.

Two men wearing police uniforms beat the journalist before detaining him for 10 hours in the Hargeisa detention center.

One of the SPU officers who was watching when Ali was beaten told him, "You want to be famous? We'll make you famous." The officer told the other journalists who witnessed the assault that Ali is "an example", adding that when "Waheen" publishes "disparaging reports" about "government officials" its reporters should be treated like this.

"For police officers to attack a journalist because the authorities do not like what the newspaper publishes is an indicator of how little respect there is for press freedom and journalists' security in Somaliland," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General. "Attacks like this contribute to an atmosphere of fear for the Somaliland media."

"We call upon the Somaliland authorities to open a full investigation and bring the soldiers who carried out this brutal assault to justice. This kind of shameless attack cannot go unpunished," added Osman.

In a separate incident, Somaliland police arrested journalist Ahmed Muse Mohamed, publicly known as Sagaro, who is also a reporter for "Waheen" newspaper, on 5 September 2011 in Bur'o police station. He was later transferred to the central jail in Bur'o, in the Togdheer region of Somaliland.

Somalia.Each Drop is Precious (Somaliland)

Report—Medair - http://www.medair.org/. http://reliefweb.int/node/446691 14 Sep 2011

As drought continues to take a terrible toll in the Horn of Africa, we are working on an effective and low-cost way to help prevent future food crises among livestock-herders in the region’s desert villages.

Drive through Somaliland’s dry, dusty desert, hours off-road from any city, and you will find people living out here in small villages, relying on herds of livestock for their survival.

But the region’s deadly drought has had a calamitous impact in these pastoral communities. Without water, their livestock have died at an alarming rate, leaving people weak from a lack of food and milk.

“This drought has been the worst of my lifetime,” says 70-year-old Suleman Mohamed Jirde, community leader in the desert village of Jama Qamar. “In other droughts, we still had a little water, but this time there was no water anywhere.”

Traditionally, villages have been able to store huge quantities of rainfall in large cisterns called berkads. But many of these berkads have developed cracks and they are no longer able to store water.

“We have 30 goats left,” says Khadja Hassan Mohamed, a widow raising six children on here own in Jama Qamar—children who have grown increasingly sick and malnourished during the drought. “Before the drought, I had around 100 goats, but the others have all died.”

Livestock Crisis

This terrible drought threatens the lives of 12 million people in the Horn of Africa. Families lack sufficient food and need special feeding programmes to save the lives of their malnourished children. In response, Medair is running nutrition programmes for children in several high-need regions of Somaliland.

But in a drought like this, there is also an urgent need for water—not only for people to drink, but also to keep livestock alive. In fact, providing water for livestock is one of the keys to preventing famine in desert regions.

“The food crisis in the Horn is essentially a livestock crisis,” said Mr. Lloyd Le Page, CEO of the U.N.-sponsored Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), at a recent conference on the food crisis. “The best way to prevent famine in arid lands is to ensure access to critical dry season grazing and water areas for livestock.”

Water is a major part of our integrated response to the crisis. In the first several months of 2011, Medair trucked 1.3 million litres of water into 30 villages including Jama Qamar. “Our camels drink a lot of water, about 100 litres every week,” says Suleman. “Medair sent 16 tankers to us, so Medair is good in our eyes.”

Water trucking is an emergency measure to urgently save lives, but it is a costly and unsustainable solution for desert communities over the longer term. Productive wells are virtually unheard of because the water table is so low here (150 to 250 metres deep), requiring deep-well drilling that is extremely expensive.

As everyone in these desert villages knows, the most viable solution is to save and store rainfall in berkads. While rains here are infrequent, when they come, they provide a vital resource that can be harvested before it vanishes into the dry earth.

“Each drop of water is precious to us,” explains Mohamed Mohamed, chairman of Kaladhac village. “We can’t even describe the importance, because it’s much greater than we can tell you. Water is life. Our life is based on water availability.”

Repairing Berkads

Berkads are like large cisterns—you might think of them almost like big swimming pools—where the ground slopes toward them, forcing rainwater to flow into the berkad through a silt trap, and capturing the water within. “The berkads are the reason we are here,” says Mohamed. “If they were not here, we would all move.”

With so many berkads in disrepair, pastoralists struggle to keep their livestock alive during droughts. Without livestock, they have few other sources of food, milk, or income, and soon enough, once-healthy families can become malnourished, potentially displaced in search of water and food, and in need of assistance to survive.

In response, we are working with remote desert communities to rehabilitate their berkads and secure long-lasting sources of water for families and their livestock. A full berkad can store water for up to 250 people for six months without requiring any more rainfall—and with those repairs, the berkads will last for at least 20 years.

Low Cost, High Impact In Jama Qamar, we rehabilitated an enormous berkad, one with a capacity of 750,000 litres. Before we started working on it, it was just a hole in the ground. “This is the first berkad we have had rehabilitated by an international organisation,” says Suleman. “We know it will last a long time now.”

When Medair’s Mark Toews visited Sibidley village, he was shocked to see how full the berkad had become after just one rain. “I couldn’t believe it,” says Mark. “The one we had rehabilitated had filled more than halfway after one very large rain. Fifty metres away, there was a broken berkad that didn’t have a drop of water inside. That’s the difference a rehabilitated berkad can make.”

“When the rains came, and the water came into our berkad, we were very happy and excited,” says Mohamed, in Kaladhac village. “We felt like someone who has lost his precious possessions and then gets them back, or as if we were poor and suddenly became rich.”

For the huge impact they can have on people’s lives, the cost of repairing a berkad is surprisingly low. We can repair a berkad for USD 8,400, which provides a sustainable source of water for 250 people for the next 20 years. With that berkad, families have water to keep their livestock alive, which helps them ward off future food crises—while also helping them survive the one that’s happening now.

While Medair continues to urgently treat malnourished children in Somaliland, we are also repairing berkads to help save lives and improve the chances of preventing future food crises.

One berkad costs USD 8,400, which means that your gift of USD 150 can provide a family of five with a sustainable source of water for the next 20 years.

EU delegation discusses "areas of mutual interest" with Somaliland president

Anonymous. BBC Monitoring Africa [London] 14 Sep 2011. The Somaliland Times website, Hargeysa, in English 10 Sep 11/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC. Text of report in English by Somali newspaper The Somaliland Times website on 10 September. [Report by Mahlet Mesfin: "Somaliland president meets with EU parliament delegation"]

The Somaliland President, Mr Ahmad Muhammad Mahmud (Sillanyo) met with a delegation from the European Union parliament led by Mr Charles Tannock MEP on Saturday, 3 September, at the presidency in Hargeysa, Somaliland.

President Sillanyo and Mr Tannock discussed areas of mutual interest including the security in the region with regard to combating terrorism and piracy, as well as, efforts by the international community to help alleviate the drought affecting millions of people in the Horn of Africa.

President Sillanyo thanked the European Union for its assistance towards Somaliland in terms of social and political development. President Sillanyo also took the opportunity to thank Mr Tannock for his continued support of Somaliland's international recognition.

On his part, Mr Tannock thanked the President and the people of Somaliland for the warm welcome afforded to the EU parliamentary delegation. Mr Tannock also took the opportunity to brief the president on the delegation's visits to several countries in the region including Ethiopia and the outcome of the discussions held with officials from these neighbouring countries.

Credit: The Somaliland Times website, Hargeysa, in English 10 Sep 11

Somaliland's new minister of interior defects to ruling party

The new minister of interior, Muhammad Nur Arrale [Dur] resigned from UDUB party and became a member of Kulmiye [ruling] party. Muhammad Nur Arrale [Dur] made the switch in parties after he was appointed minister of interior.

Explaining his decision at a luncheon in his honour in Hargeysa's Summer Time hotel, he said that although technically he was a member of UDUB for the last six years, his voting record, and the positions he took, were more aligned with Kulmiye, and now that he has switched parties there will no longer be a discrepancy between the positions he takes on issues and his party affiliation.

Muhammad Nur Arrale [Dur] was elected to parliament from Sahil region. He replaced Dr Muhammad Abdi Gabose who resigned his job as minister of interior.

Credit: The Somaliland Times website, Hargeysa, in English 10 Sep 11

Puntland, Somaliland act on migrants, IDPs

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93718

Ethiopian immigrants on a street in Hairgeisa: Somaliland has given illegal immigrants a month to leave the country (file photo)

HARGEISA/NAIROBI, 14 September 2011 (IRIN) - Authorities in Somalia's self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland have given a month's notice to an estimated 80,000 illegal immigrants - mostly Ethiopian - to leave the region.

"After evaluating the status of the illegal immigrants, we realized that these people have no benefits for the country; on the contrary, they are a problem in terms of security," said Osman Garad Sofe, Somaliland's Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Reintegration. "For this reason, the government of Somaliland has given a month's notice to all illegal immigrants to leave the country. Those who do not leave will face legal charges and be deported."

Sofe told a news conference in Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital, that those targeted did not include registered refugees or Somalis displaced from the larger Somalia.

Ahmed Elmi Barre, the director-general in the ministry, said: "We recognize only 1,772 Ethiopian refugees out of 80,000 to 90,000 illegal immigrants in Somaliland. And the decision will affect those of every nationality living in Somaliland illegally."

Ibrahim Bulshaale, chairman of the Organization of Ethiopian Refugees in Somaliland, told IRIN: "Fewer than 2,000 Ethiopians are recognized by Somaliland; most of these arrived in 1991 while others came in the 2000s. In 2006, Somaliland informed UNHCR [UN Refugee Agency] that it did not have the capacity to host any more refugees; for this reason, no asylum seekers are accepted any more in Somaliland. The process of seeking asylum started at the Ministry of Interior and the ministry has already closed its doors to any more refugees. Those who are recognized as refugees have legal cards identifying them as members of our organization."

An Ethiopian immigrant, Mohamed Ali, 20, who works as a car-washer in Hargeisa, said many Ethiopians in the region were from Oromia, which is badly affected by an ongoing drought that has undermined livelihoods.

"Because of the drought, many of us had nothing to eat and nothing to do; when we came to Somaliland, we found that life is better, we can survive," Ali said. "Now the Somaliland government says it does not want us, what can I do? I will simply obey and leave."

Farah Abdi, a mother of three, who survives by begging in Hargeisa, said: "We are now begging for bus fare so we can return to Ethiopia; the government here will not allow us to continue begging."

Repatriation

An official from Somaliland's migration office, who declined to be named, told IRIN the office was working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to repatriate some 570 Ethiopians.

"Two Ethiopian officials are already here to screen these people to determine whether or not they are Ethiopian," the official said.

Andy Needham, a public information officer for UNHCR Somalia, told IRIN the agency had held initial talks with Somaliland authorities to chart a way forward for those targeted by the government's notice. He said the agency expected that any measure authorities took would be in accordance with international humanitarian law as well as national laws.

Puntland ID cards

At the same time, authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland have initiated a scheme to issue ID cards to internally displaced persons (IDPs) from southern Somalia who have sought refuge in the region. The move, officials said, would weed out militias and other criminal elements from genuine IDPs.

"The ID cards will be given to all IDPs in Puntland; these people will, in particular, get food distribution cards, those for registration, ID cards to enable WFP [World Food Programme] or other aid organizations to count them," said Abdullahi Ahmed Jama, Puntland's Minister for Home Affairs. "These IDs will also be issued for security matters [because] we want to encourage the IDPs to police themselves... build police stations and recruit some of them to handle their own security."

Jama dismissed claims that Puntland had thrown out IDPs from southern Somalia, saying: "This is totally untrue, people [from southern Somalia] are not discriminated against here. For example, in the recent past, we have had drought-displaced people who have been left with nothing, some live with their relatives but we have taken the responsibility to help these people as most are IDPs from the south."

UNHCR's Needham said at least 290 people from southern Somalia were in Garowe, the capital of Puntland. He said initial talks had been held between Puntland authorities, UNHCR and other agencies regarding the issue.

Somalia: Two Journalists Arrested in Somaliland

International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House (Toronto) 12 September 2011. press release. http://allafrica.com/stories/201109130063.html

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is calling on Somaliland authorities to end a new campaign of intimidation against journalists and free a detained newspaper reporter who has been in jail since 5 September 2011 in Buro' town, Somaliland (northwestern Somalia).

Ahmed Muse Mohamed (publicly known as Sagaro), a reporter for "Waaheen" newspaper, was arrested on 5 September at Buro' police station but was later transferred to the central jail in Togdheer region, Somaliland.

Reports from Somaliland indicate that the journalist was arrested without a court warrant on the orders of the Buro' governor, Yasin Mohamed Abdi. He was brought before a town court on 7 September and remanded to custody for one week.

Officers attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Buro' town also arrested Mahad Abdillahi Farah, a reporter with "Ogaal" newspaper, on 6 September. Farah was held in a cell for seven hours with detainees serving time for criminal offenses.

The motive behind Mohamed's detention was a report published by "Waaheen" about a dispute among officials from Somaliland's Ministry of Sports over an activity in the region that the governor failed to resolve. The governor accused the journalist of misquoting him even though the same reports were carried by two other major newspapers, "Ogaal" and "Haatuf".

"It is evident that the Somaliland authorities are determined to continue their extremely coercive and confrontational actions of cracking down on the independent media in Somaliland," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General. "We demand the withdrawal of the case filed against Ahmed Muse Mohamed."

In a separate case, journalist Ali Ismail Aare, "Waaheen" correspondent for the Awdal region, was arrested and later released without charge after the local government in Awdal accused him of collecting information about alleged plans to remove the gate doors of anyone refusing to pay taxes to the local government.

"Somaliland authorities must safeguard the independence of journalists to help them carry out their crucial role in exposing society's ills," said Osman. "Journalists cannot do their work under such oppressive and coercive conditions."

NUSOJ demands that Somaliland authorities immediately put an end to the harassment of journalists and ensure their protection so that the press can work in a free environment.

NUSOJ concerned about "savage beating" of Journalist in Somaliland

http://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/view/nusoj-concerned-about-savage-beating-o-189205.html

MOGADISHU, Somalia, September 12, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is outraged by the savage beating of Waheen newspaper journalist, Saleban Abdi Ali, by Somaliland Police's Special Protection Unit (SPU) on Saturday 10 September 2011 in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

The journalist was trying to attend a ceremony in Hargeisa where a new interior minister Mohamed Nur Aralle was handed over to the ministry by acting interior minister, but the SPU soldiers stopped the journalist from accessing to the hall of the ceremony. Two men wearing police uniforms had badly beaten the journalist before detaining him briefly in Hargeisa detention center for 10 hours.

One of the SPU officers who watched when Ali was beaten said to the journalist, “you want to be famous? We'll make you famous”. The officer told the other journalists who were present at the assault that Ali is “an example”, adding that when Waheen publishes “disparaging reports” about “government officials” its reporters should be treated like this.

“For police officers to attack a journalist because authorities do not like what his newspaper publishes is an indicator of little respect for press freedom and security of journalists in Somaliland,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General. "Attacks like this contribute to an atmosphere of fear for the Somaliland media”.

“We call upon the Somaliland authorities to open a full investigation and bring those ordered and soldiers who carried out this brutal assault to justice. This kind of shameless attack cannot go unpunished”, added Osman.

Somaliland police arrested journalist Ahmed Muse Mohamed, publicly known as Sagaro, who is reporter for Waaheen newspaper, on 5 September 2011 in Bur'o police station but he was later transferred to the central jail of the town in Togdheer region in Somaliland.

Somalia.Unreported need: the effects of drought in Somaliland [pdf] 02 Sep 2011. Full-text. Report—Havoyoco

A combination of conflict and drought leading to humanitarian catastrophe in South Somalia has understandably captured the attention of the world. Yet as international attention focuses on one disaster, next door, the self-declared independent state of Somaliland faces its very own drought-related crisis. Action now is essential to help communities emerge from the poverty brought on by successive failure of rains and to support them to move away from a cycle of drought and dependence.

Somalia: Somaliland to 'expel foreigners within 30 days'

5 Sep 5, 2011 - http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Somaliland_to_expel_foreigners_within_30_days.shtml

The administration in Somalia's separatist region of Somaliland has issued a ruling to expel foreigners within a month, Radio Garowe reports.

Somaliland's acting Minister of Interior, who is Deputy Interior Minister Mohamud Garaad Soofe, told a press conference Sunday in Hargeisa that "it took time to reach the expulsion decision."

Ministry of Interior officials said the Somaliland administration recognizes as refugees 1772 persons, mainly Ethiopians and Pakistanis.

"After assessing conditions, we have decided that the unregistered foreigners in Somaliland are of no benefit to our country [Somaliland]...in fact, the foreigners bring only problems to us," said Deputy Interior Minister Soofe.

An official at Somaliland's Ministry of Interior, Mr. Abdullahi Black Hussein, told reporters at the same press conference that Somaliland citizens are warned to ensure that unregistered foreigners "leave Somaliland before 4 October 2011. Most of these foreigners are house-workers," he added.

Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia, unilaterally declared independence in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally. In the past, Somaliland has forcefully evicted tens of thousands of Somalis who fled war in southern Somalia.

Under a tree in Dararweyne village, Somaliland

Hargeysa : Somalia | Sep 04, 2011 By M. Ali

Conflict resolution workshops : Richard Clark and Mo under a tree in Daraweyne, Somaliland

This is a black and white photo of professor Richard Clark of Massachusetts university and Mohammed Ahmed Ali under a tree in Dararweyne, Somaliland during a Participatory Rural Appraisal seminar that was held in January 2001 for Somaliland MPs and local residents of this small village .The professor is here seen speaking to the participants while M. Ali takes notes.

The workshop was part of the, then ongoing conflict resolution and institutional building efforts and good governance projects in Somaliland.

Daraweyne is a village inhabited by 4 sub-clans of Somaliland who had dispute over new leadership at the time when the workshop was in process because of the death of its leader few months earlier.

The atmosphere created by the workshop that went on for 10 days and the nightly conference and social gatherings between the residents and the workshop participants eventually created harmony and mutual agreement among the residents to choose a new leader for the village.

Daraweyne is rich in fertile soil and is known for supplying cash crops to Hargiesa and the surrounding areas and has also been home to a huge military training camp during the rule of the late dictator Siyad Barre of Somalia. Many similar workshops have followed later in Burao and Sheikh.

The work shop was organised and funded by ICD Hargeisa and 55 persons took part of it.

Assassination of Somaliland President Foiled

3 Al-Shabaab Suspects Caught with Explosvies Near Mosque

By AWEYS CADDE 09/02/2011

Somaliland security forces captured three men suspected of planning to assassinate Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo in a Hargeisa mosque during prayers for Eid Fitri.

The three men were arrested on the outskirts of the northern Hargeisa near the entrance President Silanyo used to enter the mosque.

“These three men are suspected of attempting to carry out a terrorist attack within the city and they are in custody,” a Somaliland security officer told Somalia Report on the condition of anonymity.

“They were carrying an explosive device and confirmed that they are al-Shabaab members trying to kill the president. Top security officials ordered us not to give the press any information about this mission,” he added.

Also the officer said that the police chased the fourth suspect who escaped but failed to re-capture him. The other three men are now in Hargeisa's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) center for interrogation.

The security officer said that the suspects, who were under surveillance, were believed to have come from areas of southern Somalia controlled by al-Shabaab where they are fighting against forces from the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), African Union (AMISOM), and the pro-government Ahlusunna Waljamaa (ASWJ) militia.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1498/Assassination_of_Somaliland_President_Foiled

Somaliland collects $500,000 for Somalia drought.

Published On: Monday, August, 29 2011 - http://www.sunatimes.com/view.php?id=1320

Hargeisa (Sunatimes) Somaliland has revealed that is has already collected over $ 0.5 million aid donations from its public to save the lives of hunger-stricken people in southern Somalia.

A committee tasked with collection of donations from the general public for drought and famine displaced people in southern Somalia said the campaign is currently underway and targets to collect enough funds for the famine victims in the region.

Somaliland’s defence minister Ahmed Hajji Adami who is also chairing the committee said in a press conference that they have already received donations worth $0.5 million from locals in the region.

He said they are committed to helping the starving people in the worst drought and famine-hit areas in southern Somalia.

Earlier, Somaliland’s Hajj representative in Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Adan Safina told committee members that they have delivered humanitarian aid to starving people in Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya and those camping at the border town of Dhobley on Somalia side of the border between Kenya and Somalia.

Wikileaks: Ethiopia proposed ‘semi-recognition’ for Somaliland

Posted by Daniel Berhane on Thursday, September 8, 2011

Created – 2009-02-02 14:31
Released – 2011-08-30 01:44
Classification – CONFIDENTIAL
Origin – Embassy Addis Ababa

A leaked Cable of US Embassy Addis Ababa shows Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi lobbying for a ‘semi-recognition’ status for Somaliland, a breakaway northern territory of Somalia.

In a January 30, 2009 meeting with Assistant Secretary Phil Carter, the Ethiopia Premier was quoted as saying that:

he(Meles) has already broached the notion of an interim- or semi-recognition, along the lines of what the Palestinian Authority enjoys, with Somaliland President Kahin Riyale, and that Riyale has become increasingly receptive to the strategy……the next steps must be for others in the international community to help convince the Somalilanders of such an approach.

Meles argued that granting a "semi-recognition" for Somaliland would be ‘a critical step necessary to enhance the international community’s ability to support Somaliland on regional security/stability and in its own domestic efforts toward democratization.’ He stressed further that ‘the international community’s status quo relationship with Somaliland is untenable and that Somaliland needs a way around the issue of legal recognition to allow the international community to "recognize some authority within Somaliland with which it can engage”.‘

While accepting the Assistant Secretary’s criticism of Somaliland’s internal political dynamics in the prior two years and the need to hold credible elections as planned, Meles Zenawi insisted that ‘Somaliland’s democratic process cannot be sustained without some kind of interim recognition which can allow for the provision of international assistance to bolster Somaliland’s own democratic process.’ [Note that the 2010 Presidential election went as planned and Somaliland managed a peaceful transfer of power to an opposition party, albeit with some hitched in ...]

However, Somaliland needs a "good sponsor" within the African community to advance the cause, Meles observed. Speaking of potential sponsors, Meles suggested that:

Djibouti would be the best choice, and acknowledged that Ethiopia would be the worst (as the move risked only fueling detractors’ arguments that Ethiopia is bent on breaking up Somalia).

Once the support of Africans is secured, ‘the onus would be on the U.S. and UK to make the Somaliland semi-recognition case to the Europeans and others in the international community’, Meles outlined the strategy.

SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA MAKES CASE FOR SOMALILAND "SEMI-RECOGNITION"

Classified By: Ambassador Donald Yamamoto for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

¶1. (C) On the margins of a discussion with Acting AF Assistant Secretary Phil Carter On January 30, Ethiopia Prime Minister Meles made the case for "semi-recognition" of Somaliland as a critical step necessary to enhance the international community’s ability to support Somaliland on regional security/stability and in its own domestic efforts toward democratization. Meles argued that the international community’s status quo relationship with Somaliland is untenable and that Somaliland needs a way around the issue of legal recognition to allow the international community to "recognize some authority within Somaliland with which it can engage."

¶2. (C) Meles accepted Acting A/S Carter’s argument that Somaliland’s internal political dynamics over the past two years have not helped their case, and agreed that the region must get back on track and hold credible elections as planned this spring. Still Meles argued that Somaliland’s democratic process cannot be sustained without some kind of interim recognition which can allow for the provision of international assistance to bolster Somaliland’s own democratic process.

¶3. (C) Meles noted that he has already broached the notion of an interim- or semi-recognition, along the lines of what the Palestinian Authority enjoys, with Somaliland President Kahin Riyale, and that Riyale has become increasingly receptive to the strategy. Meles argued to Carter that the next steps must be for others in the international community to help convince the Somalilanders of such an approach. Then, Somaliland needs a "good sponsor" within the African community to advance the cause. Meles suggested that Djibouti would be the best choice, and acknowledged that Ethiopia would be the worst (as the move risked only fueling detractors’ arguments that Ethiopia is bent on breaking up Somalia). Once the strategy had support among African states, Meles argued that the onus would be on the U.S. and UK to make the Somaliland semi-recognition case to the Europeans and others in the international community.

YAMAMOTO.http://danielberhane.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/wikileaks-ethiopia-proposed-semi-recognition-for-somaliland/

Somaliland: the defenseless democracy

Mon, 2011-08-29
By Abdirahman Mohamed Dirye
Asian Tribune, Vol. 11 No. 129

The absence of international ties tellingly shows how Somaliland democracy has been suffocated. Our deep yearning for fully grown democracy has been continuously under threat from various forces that have no common currency apart from hatred against Somaliland’s prosperity and well-being!

These factions whose objectives are miscellaneous in yet united only against toppling Somaliland assembled a blind men in the diaspora to tarnish Somaliland’s image but this movement has failed to garner a little support in their local districts never mind wider Somalia, and then resorted a desperate measures.

Some of the deadly conspirators are: Unionists from Northern Somalia, Alshabaab, Sool, Sanaag, Cayn, (SSC) Djibouti, Puntland, the piracy-lords, and the list goes on.

However, for the last 10 years or so, these groups watched each other’s back and have been shoulder to shoulder with themselves in aggression and destabilization in the entire Horn of Africa to prevent people from utilization of their natural resources and sustainable development. Somaliland national asset is peace, and are, therefore, determined to keep it intact at the all costs. “He secured fear and starvation from…,” Surratul Quraysh or “Blessed are peacemakers….,” Mathew 5:9.

Let us critically analyze these spectrum alliances one by one, the first category, the bogus Unionists from North Somalia comprise of remnants of militarily vanquished men of ex-Generals of Somalia who beautifully presided over the mass murdering of thousands of innocent in Somaliland, and engineered the enormous destruction that still visible in Somaliland major cities despite 20 years of unprecedented reconstruction by expatriates together with some indoctrinated morons who grown up in foreign lands. The military regime that they worked for, committed atrocities that constitute crimes against humanity in Somaliland during 80s when tanks and other armor vehicles are unleashed in densely populated cities of Hargaysa, Buroa, Berbera, and Erigavo killing civilians in massive number.

Instead of asking forgiveness from their victims, the perpetrators have begun lecturing when they safely arrived in the Western countries with their newly coined names to avoid justices; they claimed to be human rights defenders back in Somalia or even in Palestine— they can anything from Hamas ass-wipers to suicide-bomb interns to destroy Hargaysa—the question begging for answer is this: where are the ministers of Somalia who chaired Hargaysa Genocide in full view of the international media including Channels then? Help us find criminals like Mohamed Hirsi Morgan. Hence we will investigate your tiny village’s grievances of Camel raids, and set it free!—though we are not foreign occupation forces.

Closely monitoring Somaliland democratic progress from outside of Somalia, this fully resented e-guerilla, try to derail Somaliland’s stability by hook and crook, in their cheap sites, they frequently; ferociously portray Somaliland as a “family enterprise” or “clan entity” and etc; living in overseas as asylum seekers, these dyed-in-the-wool fabricate offensive statements from alcoholic hallucinations because they are suffering from Somaliland dystopia, living in fantasy and virtual world of Sony games, they feel Somalia closer to their desktop while overrunning Somaliland military bases! A wishful thing— I used to hear for the last twenty years Mogadishu beasts are attempting or coming to destroy Somaliland but met a failure. Where are they? Stuck in starvation or what?—however, are they saying the British Secretary for African affairs and other EU ministers were a clan-entity guest rather than a state official one? This bulsh*t even idiots cannot buy it but they are good at selling myths as facts. Whenever tribal or awry cult sentiment arises; overwhelms Somalis, they go intoxicated and then begin to tell everything that comes at their lips without substantiation.

Somaliland has been doing whatsoever to attract Direct Investments (DI) from every country on the planet, and why the president of Somaliland had been on official trip to China to negotiate on direct investment in his country in building roads and other essential infrastructure; the foreign media extensively covered this issue. you can google it.

The second ones, acting little more than the role of Bilal Binu Habashi, the prophet’s Muezzin and the only black man in the history of Islam apart from the Moors, is said to be fighting to create the first black Caliphate on the planet,, Ahmed Godane, the head of Al-Shabaab, himself from Somaliland entertains his poor subjects including false unionists from Northern Somalia in Southern Somalia that he will remove visa requirements in all Muslim countries as of this is a “colonial legacy, and Un-Islamic as well” let alone Somaliland! But Unionists from Northern Somalia have to be patient until Godane led Empire emerges, perhaps one century later! Nonetheless, Somaliland principle is “mind your own business”; therefore, the group sees Somaliland a number enemy. In their viewpoint, the elimination of Somaliland is not a religious but also a moral obligation for every Muslim adult.

Abusing freedom values which given by the countries they live in, Unionists from Northern Somalia does fund-raising for troublemakers in Somalia and beyond, they are determined for the derailment of Somaliland democratic process whatsoever means possible either through sending finance from UK, US, and Gulf back to Sool region to instigate a deadly civil war or allying themselves with terror forces against Somaliland “the end justifies the means” rather than assisting their fellow countrymen and women who are dying on daily basis before reach Kenya territories, what Somaliland has done to these lunatics?

SSC, at the behest, and a poodle of its financiers: Unionist from North Somalia, carries out ugly assassinations of their fellow kinsmen who are civil servants in Somaliland government to terrorize; deter their localities to join to the ongoing inclusive political dialogue; their targets are not only confined to men but also women and kids thought to have affiliated with or fed from Somaliland! — Actually fitting the Dervish meaning in Turkish and Arabic which means insane!

Djibouti which is a service country for the most of its time since independence, particularly has been a gateway to the Red Sea for Ethiopia in pre-independence era, has somewhat a legitimate concern when it comes to growing Ethiopian-Somaliland relationship. The former views Somaliland not only a displacing challenger but also a direct threat to its national interest, and that is why Djibouti— not necessarily hating Somaliland— always spends its little resources on futile, marathon conferences for the failed Somalia to put it back to its own feed— despite close proximity and intimacy with Somaliland, Djibouti fought to host UN, Arab league, AU, and her own funded conferences to immediately assembly the torn-war country which is beyond repair to block Somaliland possible independence, and had ignored Somaliland vibrant democracy altogether.

Djibouti’s last bid to revive Somalia did not stop at there, but they summoned North American Universities staffs such as Professor Ahmed Samater, a Somalilander but whose widely known belittlement of Somaliland’s milestone is attributed to a certain ethnicity prejudice (abtiyaashi), to explain how Crisis Management or Exit Theories work out to Somalis from failed Somalia whereas Djibouti beautifully replays of Magool’s revolutionary anthems including my favourite album “ afrikay hurruday hadbaan cunaay huruddoy” “ Africa fell asleep, prey birds are scavenging their corpses…,” to motivate the dysfunctional or the dead conscience of Somali political leaders and then move them to tears!

Baseless condemnation of Somaliland, the only place that survived the disastrous hurricanes that demolished much of the southern Somalia is very often traces back to tribal hatred and envy against Somaliland continual prosperity from the day of the independence declaration in 1991.

In recent times, many thought Djibouti has lost an appetite of holding of inconclusive meetings that made the barren country a way out of budget, and realized that “Somalia has passed away once for all!” Or reached a point of no reviving! And as a result expected to hold a funeral service to pay the last tribute to starving masses whose graves are yet undecided whether to be in Mogadishu or Dadaab because many died enroute to Kenya; however, the recent announcement of trilateral agreement among Ethiopia, Somaliland, and China to install a gas pipeline, a multi-million project, all the way to Berbera, Somaliland seaport city in the Gulf of Aden revealed otherwise, in some reliable sources, the breakthrough drove Ismail Omer Geule of Djibouti to make surprise visit to Mogadishu in his first trip to Somalia, amazingly enough, he paid visit to 1977 War wounded soldiers and distributed money rather than famine-stricken people!

To pressurize Addis Ababa to withdraw close ties with Somaliland which are not less than a formal recognition. Djibouti’s womanly affection for Mogadishu rather than Hargaysa which is only a few kilometers away from Djibouti is still a mystery! But some people suggested that Djibouti, a country the word Farm or Agriculture never been in use since time immemorial, realized the least possible scenario Djibouti can encounter is when Ethiopia transfers all transit cargoes( the lifeline of their country) to Berbera of Somaliland and suspends all vegetable food that goes to Djibouti since the domestic consumption is running high ! What will happen? The US force will flee not from bullets firing by Taliban but lack of water never mind basic essentials!

Eritrean insane regime further complicated Djibouti prospect for Direct Investment; the latest military incursion into Djibouti has exposed the blurred icon of Djibouti military vulnerability to world-wide investors. In the backdrop, Afro-Asian Bridge is supposed to built in Djibouti which has economic benefit for the whole region was suspended, so ever since Djibouti was alluring Somali successful business to fill gaps at the expense of Somali starving folks.

When Somalia which has two rivers, and a remarkable farmland massively died out of starvation; their Omer Bashir, who offered them land for plantation is wanted by the Hague War Crime Tribunal, this tiny inhabitable country has every right to be anxious!

This is not the first Somalis that displayed naked jealousness over Somaliland growing diplomatic relationship with other international community. When UK overseas development department (DFID) increased aid to Somaliland, entire sleeping folks awoke as thunderstorm landed on their makeshift shelters by taking to the streets in London, and Washington to air hateful messages but Somaliland took note of that and acted upon it.

Puntland, a safe haven for piracy and arms smuggling in the Horn of Africa, has been created not to secede from Somalia but just to imitate, and to make noise about Somaliland whenever some positive development is underway in Hargaysa, the capital of Somaliland. Nonetheless, the Majeertania people as they like to call themselves are somewhat smarter than other groups; in very often, they harm Somaliland not directly but through inconceivable means of Hartism, a tribal allurement, to stir eastern margins of the country where their tribe entity locates.

In fact, using stick and carrot policy, Somaliland taken away Puntland’s last weapon: an ethnicity, which they used to divide Somaliland diverse societies for political gains; again, Somaliland outperformed their cheap tactics of attempting pure Somalilanders into rebellion. Moreover, SSC, hand-made thugs who are fighting for no cause and their military failures made Puntland’s hope for Somaliland’s disintegration extremely dim. The recent abduction of Somaliland civil servants which was masterminded by Puntland was the height of despair.

Somaliland opponents’ claim that Somalis are homogenous people; consequently, Somaliland does not deserve a recognition is no longer valid point in comparing with hard facts in the Arab world, for the sake of argument , the homogeneity itself does not prevent Somaliland from going outright independent since Arabs are mostly Muslims but have different countries, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar to mention a few, but all these countries are Muslim with Sunni version, what is difference between Kuwait and UAE? Why the UN does not force them to unite because they are homogenous or the word is designed to deny us of our basic rights enshrined in the international law!

Shiekh Abrahim Afghani of Al-Shabaab and his ilk have Islamic religion blended with some old paganism that calls for the murder of innocent, to illustrate Somalis’ hyper-division which is not only in political circles but also within the society itself.

For instance, in Addis Ababa, where the Supreme Islamic Council of Ethiopia is in charge of Islamic affairs such as Hajj, has distributed a Ramadan calendar leaflets to Muslim communities including Somalis living in Ethiopia prior to Ramadan arrival, despite all these, Somalis are breaking their fasting to different calendars, what a pity! One day I was sitting next to Ethiopian Muslims along with some other Somalis breaking their fasting/ Ramadan at sunset, the Ethiopian who knew the local timings better than any of us—as the logic dictates—begun to eat— but, we, the Somalis, breaking fasting in different timing took Ethiopians by surprise. But the fact is that our Islamic religion varies from person to another but we have no courage to admit that, for example, one of us has Pakistani Islam of distorted Wahabi , another one with Sudan version of more relaxed one, I ate with the Ethiopian guys but that kept my fellow Somalis in shock, so I thought Somalis believe people of non-Arabs are not Muslim enough and does not know non-Muslims constitute more 90 percent of the world Muslims!

However, the emphatic homogeneity is just an oral not in practice, the only thing I cannot deny is that we have the same looking faces with little different accents or variations in some vocabularies but Somaliland language is the standard one, of literature, science, and media, which is widely spoken in all Somali territories.

Moreover, I have to admit that Somalilanders have very much in common with Djiboutians who left the business of the Greater Somalia, an outdated idealism, in 1977 behind them when French gave independence, and created ethos, national identities of their own rather than joining failed Somalia as one expected.

Furthermore, the foregoing, blinded by naïveté, political miscalculation, and good memories of been genocidal ministers due to the hash ensuing realties, extends not gratitude but pour insults to any western scholars such as Prof. Peter Pham, and Matt Braydon, a member of International Crisis Group, (ICG), who simply reflect “Somaliland Miraculous Journey” from rising ashes to electing president through the “ballot boxes”

It easy to destroy but hard to build, given Somaliland lying in volatile region and hodgepodge groups playing different cards from religious to tribal feuds for sinister aims, today, it is a miracle that Somaliland alone still fighting for their own survival and the enemies of all colors are so far unable to destroy Somaliland. But would the world ever come to their salvation before it is too late?

- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/08/28/somaliland-defenseless-democracy

SOMALIA AND SOMALILAND: THE TWO EDGED SWORD OF INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION

by David Kenning*

Special Issue on Federalism and Conflict Management
edited by Neophytos Loizides, Iosif Kovras and Kathleen Ireton.
* Queen’s University Belfast, Ireland
Email: dkenning01@qub.ac.uk

Full-text 10 pg

Kenning, D. 2011, “Somalia and Somaliland: The two edged sword of International intervention”, Federal Governance, vol. 8 no. 2, pp. 63-70.

Abstract: Since the collapse of the state in Somalia in 1991 the country has been the recipient of numerous international interventions and operations but has not as yet reached a sustainable peaceful settlement, despite at one point costing the UN almost two billion dollars a year in its operations. In contrast Somaliland, the area that seceded in the north, despite not being recognised by international governments and having been on the brink of several civil wars, has reached a level of political reconciliation and economic growth that compares favourably to the rest of Somalia. This article argues that the international actors’ misinterpretation of Somali social and political organisation during intervention, Somaliland’s ability to engage in a form of democracy that is based on traditional politics and the different experience the area had during colonialism has meant that its society has reached an unlikely level of peace and reconciliation.

http://federalgovernance.co/archives/volume8/FG_VOL8_ISS2_KENNING.pdf

Somalia: ‘Silanyo admin violates press freedoms’: Somaliland press association

Aug 25, 2011 - http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Silanyo_admin_violates_press_freedoms_Somaliland_press_association.shtml

A press association in Somalia’s separatist region of Somaliland has condemned President Ahmed Silanyo’s administration for “violating press freedoms” and for “threats against journalists,” Radio Garowe reports.

Officers of the Somaliland press association SOLJA held a press conference at the SOLJA office in Hargeisa on Wednesday.

SOLJA Chairman Hassan Mohamed Yusuf, Deputy Chairman Saleban Ibrahim Gurey and Secretary-General Mohamed Rashid Mohamed Farah jointly told reporters that the Silanyo administration is responsible for “gross media violations.”

“During Silanyo’s current tone-year in office, the Attorney-General’s office has presented 8 cases against journalists,” said SOLJA Secretary-General Mohamed Rashid.

SOLJA officers called on Somaliland’s administration to “enact Media Law No. 27/2004” and stated that SOLJA has “filed a case at the Somaliland Constitutional Court against the Somaliland Attorney-General’s office.”

Somaliland President Ahmed Silanyo, who was elected in June 2010, is an aging former warlord who led anti-government militia group SNM that fought against former Somali dictator Gen. Barre’s government in the 1980s.

Located in northwestern Somalia, Somaliland unilaterally declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally. Somaliland claims to support democracy and media freedoms, but citizens are not allowed to express their pro-unity political views and media freedom is limited, particularly a constitutional ban on all radio stations except a single state-run radio station in Hargeisa.

Puntland jails Somaliland officials in turf war

Deceptive calm in Puntland, a semi autonomous region of Somalia now threatened by rebellion.

AFRICA REVIEW. http://www.africareview.com/News/-/979180/1225466/-/h7ds07z/-/
By ABDULKADIR KHALIF in Mogadishu
August 26 2011

The semiautonomous Puntland state has jailed four government officials of the self-declared Somalialand republic following a border dispute.

The officials were seized in Taleh district after clashes on August 10. The area is about 1,100km northeast of Mogadishu.

"Our security officials seized 11 (Somaliland) officials that trespassed our jurisdiction," the spokesman of Puntland's presidency, Omar Abdullahi Farole, said.

District judge Abdinur Jama Hussein on Wednesday handed down terms ranging from 5-10 years.

Soldiers accompanying the officers at the time of capture were each sentenced to five years in prison.

Large territory

The however court released one of the accused after he proved that he was not a Somaliland government officer.

Somaliland was formed in May 1991 following the collapse of central rule in Somalia while Puntland was constituted as a semiautonomous state in August 1998.

The two authorities have been in dispute over the control of a large territory that comprises most of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) regions that lie between them.

However, a rebel movement calling itself SSC Authority has been claiming independence from both Puntland and Somaliland, further complicating the dispute.

According to SSC leaders, the group believes in the unity of Somalia and is particularly opposed to the secessionist ideal of the Somaliland leaders.

Somaliland Military Build Up in Taleh

By AHMED ABDI 08/26/2011

Taleh's historic forts

Somaliland has deployed at least 90 soldiers to the Taleh district of the disputed Sool region following Puntland’s jailing of four Somaliland officials, but while tensions are high locals are not concerned about significant conflict.

Somaliland and Puntland have fought several times for control of the disputed Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) regions.

On Wednesday, the First Degree Court of Garowe city of Puntland sentenced four Somaliland officials to ten years in prison for creating insecurity and illegal intervention into Puntland’s territories. The officials were part of a Somaliland convoy heading to Taleh when they were arrested on August 10.

“Our men have been kidnapped by armed road blockers from the so-called Puntland administration, who then prosecuted them under a tree,” Somaliland lawmaker Saleban Yussuf Ali Korre, who was among the convoy but managed to escape, told Somalia Report. “We condemn this and we will defend our territory strongly.”

Saleban is outraged, and reportedly is lobbying for more military forces to be sent to the area to fight against Puntland.

Saleban said Somaliland troops are currently under control of Taleh, and admitted the existence of military build-up in the area by Somaliland forces. He blamed Puntland presidential guards for attacking Sool officials, saying that their act of attacking, kidnapping, looting and killing officials “encourages clan hostilities.”

Puntland ministers refused to talk about the incident, saying only that the ruling against the Somaliland officials was just.

Somaliland military officers reach Taleh

The Somaliland administration has dispatched military officers to Taleh and surrounding areas to address and mobilize pro-Somaliland militia who are dominant in the area. The militia is estimated at around 90 well-armed men, but Somaliland claims it has 400 registered soldiers in Taleh area.

“We were attacked with technicals when we did nothing wrong,” Ahmed Muse, one of the military officers sent to Taleh, told dozens of Somaliland militia from the Dhulbahante clan in Taleh. “Our leaders were arrested and killed. We have to kneel down and fight the enemy attacking us from Puntland because they are aggressive.”

Ahmed said the militia should not be afraid to fight “to the death”, as reinforcements could be sent within hours.

All the convicted officials from the Somaliland administration hail from the Dhulbahante Sub-clan of Darod. Dhulbahante are the dominant clan inhabitants of Sool and are active in both the Somaliland and Puntland administrations. Somaliland information minister Ahmed Abdi Habsade once held a ministerial post in Puntland before he deserted Garowe and joined Somaliland. Local experts argue that if the Dhulbahante unite and decide to follow one of the administrations for good, it would end the conflict.

Locals, analysts play down risk

Locals in Taleh district who spoke to Somalia Report have played down the risk of all-out war between the two administrations over the Taleh incident.

“Both administrations are not currently eager to enter a full-scale war,” one resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “You see the top-level officials in Hargeisa have yet to react on the issue of the ruling in Garowe.”

Another resident said sporadic border conflict could flare between the two administrations, but doubted it would escalate.

Puntland expert, Mohamed Bashe in Garowe, told Somalia Report that if Puntland is to enter war with any administration, it would first consider getting rid of the Ras Aseyr state, which was announced in April 2011 by local politicians the from mountainous eastern Bari region of Puntland. Fighting between Ras Aseyr and Bargal authorities last week claimed at least three lives.

Reliable sources indicate that there is a high possibility that Puntland could soon launch a military offensive against the new state.

UN visit believed to have hastened skirmishes

The tension in Taleh district of Sool region is believed to have been prompted in part by the recent visit by the United Nations with Puntland officials to Taleh to monitor the situation of the area and see if Taleh could be recognized as a World Heritage Site.

Taleh, which is 80 km north of Garowe and 170 km north east of Las Anod district of Sool region, was the headquarters of the anti-colonial resistance led by Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan until 1921, when he and his Dervish followers were defeated. The town was subsequently subjected to aerial bombardment by the British colonists.

The UN delegates from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and United Nations Development Program, accompanied by Puntland high level officials including security minister, Kalif Issa Mudan, and information minister, Ahmed Ali Askar, went there to monitor the overall situations of the historic town, especially the situation regarding security, development, education, health and other basic needs.

The UN is reported to be planning to spend $3 million dollars to renovate the forts of Said Mohamed Abdulle and build the infrastructure of the town, reliable sources in the town say. Taleh residents asked the UN for compensation for British air bombardments and for the restoration of historic sites.

Puntland Taleh Governor quits

Abdikadir Abyan Koore, the governor of Taleh district, has resigned from his post following the skirmishes.

Abdikadir, who attended a meeting with Taleh traditional elders and intellectuals on Thursday evening, said the Puntland administration had failed to do what was expected of it and has created waves of insecurity in the area recently. He confirmed said resignation was linked to the clashes, and accused Puntland of failing to help the district for 13 years.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1450/Somaliland_Military_Build_Up_in_Taleh?PHPSESSID=04c6cc73acc381772cfd9ad88d949778

In Somaliland, less money has brought more democracy

Unable to access foreign aid, Somaliland's government has had to negotiate with citizens and business leaders for financial support – and provide stability and democracy in return

by Nick Eubank
2011/8/26

MDG : Somaliland capital Hargeisa

Cars clog a main road in Hargeisa, capital of the breakaway region of Somaliland. Photograph: Shashank Bengali/Getty Images

As the humanitarian crisis in southern Somalia threatens millions of lives, Somalia's little-known northern neighbour, Somaliland, is doing so well that its government recently offered to send aid across the border. That a small and relatively poor country that is also suffering from the ongoing drought would be in a position to help Somalia is itself remarkable; that Somaliland achieved this position without being officially recognised by the international community as a sovereign nation – and thus without being eligible for international assistance – is truly impressive.

But have Somaliland's accomplishments come in spite of its ineligibility for foreign assistance, or because of it? Somaliland's success – providing peace, stability and democracy in a region where all are scarce – is in large part due to the fact that the government has never received foreign aid. Because Somaliland's government cannot access funding from the World Bank, IMF, or other major donors, officials were forced to negotiate with citizens and business leaders for financial support. This negotiation created the responsive political institutions that, in turn, have allowed the nation to fare relatively well in recent years and in the current crisis.

Somaliland was part of Somalia until 1991, when it seceded during the country's civil war. When Somaliland first declared independence, its government was built around a single clan and lacked accountable political institutions. Business leaders eventually agreed to provide funds, but not until the government agreed to develop representative and accountable political institutions (a concession that politicians made only out of necessity, as it weakened their own grasp on power).

In one notable incident, the government was forced to implement democratic reforms in exchange for tax revenues from Somaliland's main port. These revenues total less than $30m a year – a fraction of the more than $100m the government would have received from aid organisations if Somaliland had been eligible for international assistance. It is difficult to imagine that the owners of the port would have been able to exact the same concessions if the government had other funding options.

As a result of these negotiations over tax revenue, Somaliland has become an exceptional democracy. It has held multiple presidential, parliamentary and district-level elections. It has seen multiple peaceful handovers of power, including to a minority clan. It even survived a presidential election that was decided by an 80-vote margin without resorting to violence.

While the government's limited finances prevent it from providing an ideal level of public goods, the stability it has ensured has led to an economic revival, massive gains in primary schooling, and significant reductions in infant mortality. It has also been able to facilitate a strong response to the current food shortages, which is evident in this World Food Programme map of the current incidence of famine. To be sure, there is still much work to be done but, in context, Somaliland's accomplishments are, in the words of Human Rights Watch, "both improbable and deeply impressive".

Of course, one might wonder whether Somaliland's experiences can be generalised. In fact, the idea that government dependency on local tax revenues makes it more accountable has a strong historical pedigree. Political scientists and historians have long argued that the modern, representative state emerged in medieval Europe in large part as the result of negotiations between autocratic governments that needed tax revenues to survive inter-state conflicts and citizens who demanded accountability in return. Only recently, though, have development professionals have begun to recognise the implications of this line of research for modern development policy.

Certainly, not all foreign assistance is bad. Aid has clear benefits against which the potential harms discussed here must be weighed on a case-by-case basis. In a country like Nigeria, where the government has ample access to oil revenues, foreign assistance is unlikely to affect the relationship between citizens and the government. In many countries, though, aid is the largest single source of government revenue; there are 16 sub-Saharan countries in which the ratio of foreign assistance to government expenditure is greater than 50%, and in 10 of those, this ratio is greater than 75%. If these aid levels damage the quality of governance in recipient countries – as Somaliland's experience suggests they may – then it might be the case that, in the long run, less money may actually do more good. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/aug/26/somaliland-less-money-more-democracy/print

Ethiopian rebels threaten China, Somaliland over gas, oil pipeline

Anonymous. BBC Monitoring Africa [London] 25 Aug 2011. Ogaden National Liberation Front website, in English 24 Aug 11/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC

Text of press release in English entitled "Unholy tripartite deal between China, Ethiopia and Hargeysa Administration" issued by the Ethiopian rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) published on official website of Ethiopia's rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front on 24 August

The recently publicized deal between China, Ethiopia and the northern Somalia regional administration of Hargeysa [Somaliland] regarding building a refinery in Berbera port of Somalia, a gas pipeline for Ogaden [southeastern Ethiopia] gas and oil, and a proposed road through Ogaden Somali territory is a pipe dream that will not go beyond the drawing boards of those who hatched it.

The regime of [Prime Minister] Meles Zenawi, with the help of such groups as the Hargeysa administration is committing genocide in Ogaden by embargoing the people of the Ogaden at a time of famine and denying them trade while using aid as a weapon of war. Tens of thousands are perishing due to this and the war crimes committed by Meles Zenawi army (the so-called Ethiopian National Defence Forces).

Since the Chinese company is aware that Ethiopia is committing those crimes, the decision to assist Meles Zenawi to exploit forcefully Ogaden resources, constitutes an act of war against the Ogaden people.

Therefore, after extensive consultations with all sectors of the Ogaden society, the Ogaden National Liberation Front [ONLF] and the Ogaden people have decided to undertake all necessary measures to defend their resources and territory against all involved in this unholy alliance against the people of Ogaden. Such measures will include diplomatic and legal action and if necessary armed resistance.

ONLF requests the international community to assist the Ogaden people in rebuffing this new threat that could reignite the Cold War again in the Horn of Africa. Hundreds of thousands of Ogaden people lost their lives due to the cold war of the sixties and seventies.

[Issued by] The Ogaden National Liberation Front
Credit: Ogaden National Liberation Front website, in English 24 Aug 11

Food Security Situation Deteriorating in Somaliland; International Medical Corps Teams Delivering Emergency Nutrition Relief in Sool & Sanaag Regions

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- http://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/view/food-security-situation-deteriorating-in-185697.html

With famine already affecting five zones of southern Somalia, the food security situation in many areas of Somaliland - the autonomous, generally more stable region to the north - has now reached critical levels and is rapidly deteriorating. Having worked since 1991 in the region, International Medical Corps teams on the ground are already reaching severely malnourished people with lifesaving nutrition interventions in Somaliland as well as within Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

East Africa has experienced two consecutive dry rainy seasons which has caused extensive crop failure, high livestock mortality and skyrocketing food prices. Coupled with ongoing conflict in Somalia, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in the region, with the UN reporting more than 390,000 children at risk of starvation.

With support from UNICEF, International Medical Corps is implementing an emergency nutrition program in the Sool and Sanaag regions of Somaliland to mitigate the effects of drought and improve the nutritional status of children under the age of five. Through six Outpatient Therapy (OTP) sites and four outreach teams covering areas where there are no static OTP sites, International Medical Corps is reaching severely malnourished children with nutrition screenings, supplementary feedings of nutrient-dense foods, and medications. The program also includes health and nutrition education that emphasizes the importance of breastfeeding and healthy hygiene and sanitation practices.

International Medical Corps teams have delivered nutrition supplies including ready-to-use foods and nutrition equipment such as height boards and weighing scales to local health centers in Somaliland. Trainings were also conducted for Ministry of Health staff on community mobilization, nutrition screening, micronutrient supplementation, vaccination and referrals. In addition, community health workers were trained on management of acute malnutrition and identification and referral of severe acute malnutrition; community nutrition workers were trained on community management of acute malnutrition; and health care providers and volunteers were trained on provision of nutrition education. As a result, International Medical Corps-supported sites screened a total 10,356 children for malnutrition in the region and admitted 630 children with severe acute malnutrition to the OTP program since its inception in May. International Medical Corps is also preparing to launch nutrition and water/sanitation/hygiene programs in Galgaduud region in Somalia.

As thousands of Somalis are fleeing across borders in search of food, water and other basic necessities, International Medical Corps is also providing a multi-faceted response throughout East Africa. Near Dolo Ado in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, more than 118,500 Somalis are seeking shelter and basic resources in refugee camps.

In Kobe camp, a UNHCR assessment has found death rates have reached alarming levels among new arrivals with an average of 10 children under the age of five dying each day.

International Medical Corps, in partnership with the Ethiopian Government's Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), has scaled up supplementary feeding services for malnourished people, including the provision of nutrient-dense therapeutic foods. To date, approximately 5,000 children and pregnant and lactating women have undergone nutritional screening and were referred to the appropriate level of therapeutic care.

International Medical Corps teams also constructed 136 latrines/washrooms with 200 more planned and have launched a hygiene campaign to thwart the spread of communicable disease in the overcrowded camps. Following reports of suspected cases of measles, measles messaging is being integrated into community outreach work at Kobe to ensure children exhibiting related symptoms are referred to local health clinics for further support.

At Kambioos refugee camp in Kenya, a part of the Dadaab Complex which is today the largest refugee camp in the world, International Medical Corps is also preparing to implement a health post with nutrition services and a maternity center.

For more detailed information about International Medical Corps' drought and famine response throughout East Africa, please visit: http://internationalmedicalcorps.org/page.aspx?pid=1348

Since its inception more than 25 years ago, International Medical Corps' mission has been consistent: relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information visit: www.InternationalMedicalCorps.org. Also see us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

SOURCE International Medical Corps

Somaliland Seizes Three People for Allegedly Robbing People

AllAfrica.com [Washington] 24 Aug 2011.

The security of the self proclaimed republic of Somaliland have seized at least three persons charged with being bandits and accustomed to rob the civilian people traveling inside Sool region north of Somalia.

Reports said the operations conducted by the security forces of Somaliland took place inside and outside of Las Anod town on Tuesday night.

Some of the bandits were said to have escaped thought three captured and taken into custody.

After several gangs escaped, the forces opened fire and that caused the injuries of several civilians.

Officials of Somaliland at the region said they will continue their operations battling against stick-up and armed robbery.

Food Security Situation Deteriorating in Somaliland; International Medical Corps Teams Delivering Emergency Nutrition Relief in Sool & Sanaag Regions

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- http://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/view/food-security-situation-deteriorating-in-185697.html

In Kobe camp, a UNHCR assessment has found death rates have reached alarming levels among new arrivals with an average of 10 children under the age of five dying each day.

For more detailed information about International Medical Corps' drought and famine response throughout East Africa, please visit: http://internationalmedicalcorps.org/page.aspx?pid=1348

Puntland Sentences 4 Somaliland Officials

Somaliland Officials Get 10 Years for Creating Insecurity, Illegal Intervention

By AHMED ABDI 08/24/2011

Disputed Taleh District and Potential World Heritage Site (@Somalia Report)

The high court of Garowe in Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland has today sentenced four Somaliland officials to ten years in prison for creating insecurity and illegal intervention into Puntland’s territories. The officials were part of Somaliland convoy heading to disputed Taleh district in Puntland's Nugal region when they were arrested on August 10, 2011.

The convoy was attacked by Puntland troops in Arroley area which is located between Taleh and Las Anod districts. Two people were killed including Somaliland's chairman of education for Taleh district. Three Somaliland vehicles and 19 people were seized.

Las Anod District Court Commissioiner Salad Ismail Mohamud, Sol education ministry official, Mohamed Ali Artan, Las Anod district court official, Abdirashid Abdullahi, and Said Ali Shire were sentenced to serve ten-year jail terms, according to Nugal Regional Court Commissioner Abdin Nor Jama Hussein.

The court has also sentenced four soldiers serving as armed guards of the officials, Mohamed Abdi Mohamed, Mohamud Ahmed Adan, Mohamed Ali Shire and Mohamed Ahmed Warsame, to five years in jail each.

The court has pardoned one man, whose name has been shortened to Sharmarke, who was among the Somaliland delegates, but was determined to be an innocent civilian.

The court ordered the police to confiscate three vehicles with Somaliland license plates which were seized with the officials.

Somaliland administration has earlier called on Puntland to release the officials unconditionally, and said that the delegates were ambushed, cornered and kidnapped by a group of army bandits from Puntland. Puntland Information Minister Ahmed Ali Askar denied the allegation and said that the delegates violated their territories and were punished accordingly.

The Somaliland delegation wanted to visit disputed Taleh district, which Puntland has proposed to be recognized as a World Heritage Site as it was the headquarters of the Darvish Resistance Movement led by Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan.

This is the first time that a Puntland court has convicted Somaliland officials.

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1438/Puntland_Sentences_4_Somaliland_Officials

Somalia: Puntland court sentences Somaliland officials to 10 years

24 Aug 24, 2011 - GAROWE ONLINE

A court in Somalia’s Puntland state has sentenced four officials from Somalia’s separatist region of Somaliland to 10 years in prison, Radio Garowe reports.

On Wednesday, the First Degree Court of Garowe city of Puntland proceeded with criminal hearings for eight men, including officials of Somaliland administration.

The defendants were charged with illegally entering parts of Puntland and planning to commit political sabotage in favor of Somaliland, according to court documents.

After presentations by the prosecutor and defense lawyers, court judge Abdinur Jama Hussein sentenced four Somaliland officials to 10 years jail-terms.

The officials were identified as follows: Mr. Salad Ismail Mohamud, mayor of Las Anod; Mr. Saeed Ali Shire and Mr. Mohamed Ali Artan, officials of Somaliland’s education ministry; and Mr. Abdirashid Abdullahi, judge of Las Anod appeals court.

Another four soldiers, who were all arrested on the same day, were sentenced to serve 5-year sentences in Puntland jails. A ninth man, identified as Sharmake Ali, was released after the court found him “not guilty” of the criminal charges.

The three vehicles the Somaliland officials were traveling in were ruled over the Puntland police.

On Aug. 11, Puntland security forces arrested 19 persons who traveled from Las Anod to Taleh district, also part of Sool region. In a press release, Puntland’s government blamed Somaliland Information Minister Ahmed Abdi Habsade for “provocation” and accused him of planning to stir insecurity in the area. READ: Puntland Responds to Somaliland Provocation at Taleh District

Las Anod is the capital of Sool region, which is disputed between Somaliland’s separatist administration and the Puntland state government in northern Somalia. In 2007, Somaliland forces violently seized control of Las Anod and have subsequently appointed pro-Somaliland officials to high positions, although terrorist groups have carried out multiple assassinations against Somaliland officials in Las Anod in recent years.

Somaliland's separatist administration has not responded publicly to the court ruling of its officials in Puntland. Somaliland claims ownership over Sool and Sanaag regions whose inhabitants are from Puntland clans, thereby leading to 'border' fighting between Puntland and Somaliland, regions in northern Somalia.

Puntland considers itself as part of a future federal Somalia, while Somaliland unilaterally declared independence in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally.

http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Puntland_court_sentences_Somaliland_officials_to_10_years.shtml

Somaliland Closes Offices of Opposition Party

UCID Offices Closed Until Infighting Resolved

By MUHYADIN AHMED ROBLE 08/22/2011.
http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1424/Somaliland_Closes_Offices_of_Opposition_Party

The supreme court of Somaliland on Monday closed the headquarters and offices of the opposition party, UCID (Ururka Caddaalada Iyi Daryeelka or Justice and Welfare Party), because of infighting among the party's leaders which erupted on July 24th when the executive committee of the party sacked its leader Faysal Ali Waraabe.

Faysal Ali Waraabe, who found the party and was its only presidential candidate since the party was established, refuted the committee’s demand.

On Sunday Somaliland’s security forces surrounded the headquarters of UCID in Hargeisa and refused to allow anyone from the party to enter until the disagreement is resolved. The security detained supporters of Faysal Ali Waraabe who tried to enter the office with force.

The decision to close headquarters and all the offices was signed by Supreme Court Chairman Yusuf Ismail Ali and three other judges and is meant to convince each side to come together and solve their disagreement.

Chairman Waraabe accused Parliament Speaker Abdirahman Mohamed (Cirro) of being behind the conflict. Weeks ago, Mr. Cirro asked the chairman to transfer the leadership of the party as Somaliland’s president and former Kulmiye party leader Ahmed Mohamed Siilaanyo did. Mr. Waraabe refused.

Police Commander Shot

Meanwhile, the commander of Somaliland police in Erigaabo, Jama Garma-qaate, was shot and killed in the city on Sunday by one of his own policemen who escaped, according to local media reports.

A large number of armed police were brought to city which is under curfew to search the murderer. Neither the local nor the central administration would comment about the murder.

This killing was unusual for the city which is relatively safe as compared with other Somaliland regions.

Al Maktoum aid targets thousands in north of Somalia

Maey El Shoush. Aug 23, 2011.http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/al-maktoum-aid-targets-thousands-in-north-of-somalia

The operation will be coordinated from Hargeisa and Bosaso. From Hargeisa, the relief package will cover the cities of Borama and Burao. From Bosaso, donations will go to those in need in Galkacyo (pictured above), Garowe and Gardo.

DUBAI // Six thousand families in Somalia will soon receive enough food to survive for three months thanks to a donation by the Al Maktoum Foundation.

Rice, sugar, oil and flour will be sent to the northern part of the country, where many of the hungry are arriving.

Foundation officials said many international aid agencies were already working to alleviate suffering in the south.

"Places like Somaliland are receiving little attention, but this needs to change immediately because there are too many displaced people there and surrounding areas," said Hamdan Mohamed, the cultural adviser at the Al Maktoum Foundation.

"This is a critical situation because people are fleeing the south and aid organisations must also focus their attention to places they are heading."

The first phase of distribution was set to begin last night and continue until Friday. The next phase will begin after Eid.

The Al Maktoum Foundation is the personal charity of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.

"Sheikh Hamdan is very affected by this situation," said Mr Mohamed. "It is not strange to see this type of charitable act from him. Wherever there is a problem, an emergency or a disaster that requires relief, Sheikh Hamdan acts immediately - like he did during the floods in Mozambique, the Asian tsunami and the crisis in Darfur."

The Al Maktoum Foundation has operations across Africa and two offices in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and Bosaso.

"From Hargeisa, the aid will also cover the neighbouring cities of Borama and Burao. From Bosaso, we will be able also to help people in Galkacyo, Garowe and Gardo, for example," said Mr Mohamed. The two centres will reach a combined 6,000 families.

Al Tayeb Abdalla, the head of the Al Maktoum Foundation's office in the northern port city of Bosaso in Puntland State, said there were about 400,000 displaced people seeking refuge in nearby camps.

Speaking from Bosaso, Mr Abdalla said: "The camps are full, diarrhoea is a big problem and disease is spreading. Doctors, medical supplies and clean water are in dire need."

Once a month, for three months, families will receive 25 kilograms each of rice and flour, 10.5 litres of oil and 12.5kg of sugar. The value of the donation was not disclosed.

"Because of the sheer number of those displaced, we have to focus first on the most needy - including children, elderly and the sick," Mr Abdalla said.

He said it was not unusual for his team to see between 30 and 40 people living in the same makeshift shelter built from plastic or straw.

The cramped quarters means disease can spread quickly.

"Most men have either died or fled, leaving the woman alone in responsibility. They are looking after children, taking care of elders, the sick and bringing supplies. They are carrying a heavy burden," Mr Abdalla said.

Mohamed Ahmed Ismail Mohammed, the general manager of the Al Maktoum Foundation in Hargeisa, said strict measures had been taken to ensure the food was safe for consumption.

"We made this very clear to the agricultural company supplying the food items becau

NEWS PAGE 11

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