Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Somalia's Shebab plays down surrender of wanted official | Daily Mail Online

Somalia's Shebab militia on Monday played down the surrender and arrest of a senior militant figure, saying the official had left the movement more than a year ago.
The Al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels said Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi, identified as a top Shebab intelligence official and the subject of a $3 million bounty as part of the US State Department "Rewards for Justice" programme, would be of little intelligence value.
"He abandoned the organisation more than a year ago," a senior militant official told AFP, insisting that the "news of the defection was only released in order to shift attention" away from last week's Shebab attack against the headquarters of the African Union force in the capital Mogadishu.
Four suspected Shebab fighters are detained by Somalian national soldiers following a gun battle in Mogadishu that left four other suspects dead on December ...

Four suspected Shebab fighters are detained by Somalian national soldiers following a gun battle in Mogadishu that left four other suspects dead on December 26, 2014 ©Mohamed Abdiwahab (AFP)
"All the information on military set up or plans he knew has been changed since he left, and therefore the so-called defector has no intelligence value to offer to our enemies," the Shebab official said.
He also said the surrender should not be seen as a weakening of the movement, which is fighting to topple Somalia's internationally-backed government.
According to Somali officials, Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi gave himself up to government and AU troops on Saturday. He had been hiding out in the Gedo region, where Somalia borders Kenya and Ethiopia.
Officials said he had once been close to former Shebab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was killed by a US air strike in September, but that he may have been sidelined during a series of recent bloody splits and purges within the group carried out by Godane and his successor, Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah.
The Shebab emerged from the Islamic Courts Union that controlled Mogadishu in 2006 before being pushed out by Ethiopian forces.
The militants were finally driven from their fixed positions in Mogadishu in 2011, and have lost several strongholds in the south and centre of the country in a recent offensive by the AU's AMISOM force. The group, however, still control vast rural areas.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Somalia: Vengeance Is In The Air

More and more al Shabaab groups are leaving central Somalia and heading for the Kenyan border, where they have access to the large number of Somali refugees (in well supplied Kenyan camps) and ethnic Somalis long resident in northern Kenya. These Somali Kenyans are easier to convince or coerce into cooperating with the Islamic terrorists than the Kenyans belonging to one of the many black African tribes native to East Africa south of Somalia. Al Shabaab is still angry at Kenya for sending troops into southern Kenya and, with the aid of local clan militias, set up a new government in the area that had long been under al Shabaab control. Traditionally Somalis invade Kenya not the other way around and the fact that the Kenyans got away with their “invasion” of southern Somali still annoys al Shabaab (and a lot of other Somalis.) So al Shabaab is moving south for revenge as well as to get away from peacekeepers, anti-al Shabaab militias and the trained soldiers the government now has available. The al Shabaab forces along the border are not yet strong enough to go to war with the Kenyan Army and the local Somali militias, but terrorism is another matter. So groups of al Shabaab gunmen have been crossing the border and murdering non-Moslem civilians they come across. This has angered Kenyans who are demanding that their government do something. In response Kenyan warplanes have bombed suspected al Shabaab camps and Kenyan troops are aggressively seeking out al Shabaab men on both sides of the border. Despite that there is panic among non-Moslem Kenyans living near the Somali border and thousands are leaving.
Kenya currently has 3,000 troops on the Somali side of the border and even more on the Kenyan side (in addition to police). The government is apparently going to send more troops and police to the Somali border and Kenyans up there who are ethnic Somalis are being asked to help. Some do, but many do not and a few actually support al Shabaab. At the moment the Kenyan security forces are held in low esteem by most Kenyans and political and military leaders are under a lot of pressure to actually do something.
The UN and other foreign aid groups gave become increasingly strident about foreign donors not providing enough money to deal with growing food shortages in Somalia. So far only about a third of the money (over 800 million) needed to handle the coming food crisis has been pledged. There are 20 percent more Somalis in need of aid this year than last. Foreign donors are reluctant to spend a lot of money on Somali aid because over the last two decades so much aid has been stolen by Islamic terrorists, warlords, bandits and whatever passes for government. The drought in 2011 killed a quarter of a million, largely because al Shabaab banned the “un-Islamic” food aid from those needing it. But the donor nations note that the aid groups play down the theft and subsequent investigations revealed this and the fact that the aid groups simply paid off the thieves, often with a portion of the aid. Donor nations want better security before they provide all that is demanded.
The major problem in Somalia has long been corruption and when this problem is actually measured Somali finds that it has the dubious distinction of being best at something they would rather not be. Thus a recent international study found Somalia one of the three most corrupt nations in the world. Corruption in this Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The three most corrupt nations have a rating of 8 (Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia) and the least corrupt are 91 (New Zealand and Denmark). A look at this index each year adds an element of reality to official government pronouncements. African nations are the most corrupt, followed by Middle Eastern ones.
Somalia also excels at terrorist violence. A recent terrorism survey (Global Terrorism Index) found that five nations (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria, in that order) accounted for 80 percent of all terrorism related deaths in 2013 and even more in 2014. Four Islamic terrorist organizations (ISIL, al Qaeda, Boko Haram and the Taliban) account for nearly 70 percent of all terrorist deaths. Many of the lesser terror groups are also Islamic. In fact, of the top ten nations by terrorist activity (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Syria, India, Somalia, Yemen, Philippines and Thailand) only India and the Philippines had a significant minority of terrorist deaths that were not carried out by Moslems. In those two countries the minority terrorists were leftist rebels who had not noticed the collapse of radical socialism in 1989. Meanwhile the rapid growth in Islamic terrorism violence caused the total number of terrorist acts to increase 44 percent in 2013 over 2012. Al Shabaab does what it can to keep Somalia competitive.
December 14, 2014: In Mogadishu al Shabaab fired several mortar shells at the largest peacekeeper base in the country. There were no casualties. This was apparently retaliation for an operation earlier in the day that arrested 200 men suspected of belonging to or supporting al Shabaab.
December 13, 2014: In central Somalia (Galguduud province) fifteen people (five soldiers and ten Sufi militiamen) died when troops drove the Sufi militia out of a village they had occupied. Since late 2011 Sufi militiamen have been again fighting al Shabaab gunmen in central Somalia. In the first eight months after the Sufi Ahlu Suna Waljama militia went to war with al Shabaab, the Islamic terrorists lost control of most key towns they held in central Somalia. Sufis are believers in a more mystical and peaceful form of Islam, and are looked down on by many radical Sunni groups. But the Somali Sufis got tired of being harassed by al Shabaab, and in 2008 began to arm and organize themselves for defense. In 2010 the Sufi militias became allies with the TNG (Transitional National Government) and Ethiopia, which keeps lots of troops on their Somali border, occasionally crossing into Somalia in order to discourage al Shabaab from raiding into Ethiopia.  Since 2013 there has been growing friction between local Sufi leaders and the officials the national government has sent to set up local government. The Sufi complain that they are being ignored and taken advantage of. The corruption of the government officials doesn’t help either.
December 12, 2014: In the Bakool area (175 kilometers north of Mogadishu) seven women have been killed because of an al Shabaab effort to intimidate soldiers. It began last week when al Shabaab kidnapped and beheaded the wife of a local soldier and another woman who cooked for the soldiers. In revenge soldiers seized ten women they believed were married to al Shabaab members and began killing them. Five of the ten were killed before tribal elders showed up and persuaded the soldiers to stop.
December 6, 2014: In Mogadishu parliament voted (153 to 80) to remove the current prime minister from power and thus give the president another chance to find a prime minister who will do what the president tells him. The dismissed prime minister and the president have been openly feuding for months over who gets appointed to senior positions. This is not about appointing the most effective officials, but the ones who will steal the most for the president or prime minister (the two most powerful politicians currently in government.) A recent UN study found that many officials will steal over 70 percent of the government funds they have control over.
December 5, 2014: In the central Somalia town of Baidoa al Shabaab set off a car bomb in a crowd and another bomb in a café that killed 15 and wounded three times as many.
December 4, 2014: One of Kenya’s F-5 jet fighters crashed on its way back from a bombing mission along the Somali border. Al Shabaab claimed to have shot down the fighter but the pilot reported mechanical problems before the jet went down. Kenya has obtained 29 F-5s since the late 1970s and about twenty are still in service and several more are being refurbished. Fifteen F-5s were recently refurbished after being obtained from Jordan. The F-5s is a 12 ton fighter roughly similar to the 1950s era MiG-21, and is a contemporary of that Russian fighter. The F-5 was built mainly for export to nations that could not afford the top-line Western fighters, but did not want the MiG-21s. The F-5 is normally armed with two 20mm cannon, and three tons of missiles and bombs. Introduced in 1962, over 2,200 were built before production ended in 1987.
December 3, 2014: In Mogadishu an al Shabaab suicide car bomber attacked a UN convoy killing four people (all security guards or civilian bystanders). The UN personnel were safe within armored trucks that are used to transport them from the heavily guarded UN compound to the equally well guarded airport.
Just across the border in Kenya (Garissa) someone threw a grenade into a café and wounding two people.
December 2, 2014: Just across the border in Kenya (outside Mandera) al Shabaab killed 36 non-Moslem workers at a quarry. As a result of this atrocity the Kenyan president fired his Interior Minister and the head of the national police promptly retired. Later in the day gunmen attacked a pub near the Somali border, killing one customer and wounding three others. Al Shabaab is violently opposed to alcoholic beverages and all sorts of other things (like school for girls).
November 26, 2014: The EU (European Union) agreed to keep its 128 military trainers in Mogadishu for another year. In 2014 the EU instructors trained 1,200 Somali troops and expects to train the same number in 2015.
November 24, 2014: Many Kenyans doubt their government’s claims that security forces quickly killed over a hundred al Shabaab men in the wake of the Mandera massacre. Al Shabaab denies that they suffered any losses and the government simply says that air force warplanes bombed al Shabaab camps along the Somali border while ground troops pursued and caught some of the Mandera killers. If that is so, Kenyans wonder why there are not photos or prisoners shown to prove it. Kenyans are losing faith in their security forces.
November 22, 2014: Just across the border in Kenya (outside Mandera) al Shabaab gunmen stopped a bus and killed 28 non-Moslem passengers, while leaving the Moslem passengers unharmed.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Somaliland: Ethiopia Government Unaware of any Clan Militias Amassing at Common Borders

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Saturday, 13 December 2014 23:31
Says Consul General Berhe Tesfay as Hargeisa Dispatches Senior Duo to Addis Ababa
Ethiopian Consul General Berhe Tesfay says his government is unaware of any clan militias amassing in common bordersEthiopian Consul General Berhe Tesfay says his government is unaware of any clan militias amassing in common borders
By: Yusuf M Hasan

HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – The government of Somaliland has dispatched its foreign affairs minister Mohamed Behi Younis and Chief of the armed Forces Gen Ismail Mohamed Shakale to Addis Ababa for negotiations with Ethiopian Authorities.

The two countries recently signed a memorandum of understanding geared towards enhancing inter-border cooperation at diverse fronts.

While no reason was given, the visit by the two comes in the heels of recent reports that a renegade traditional leader from Awdal region Sultan Abibakar Elmi Wabari is amassing clan militias along the Ethiopian border with Somaliland.

In the recent past Awdal region has been engulfed in controversies following anti-Somaliland sentiments expressed by Sultan Abikar who is also reportedly leading Samaron clan militias whom he has amaased along the common border shared by the two countries.

The two neighbouring countries share cordial relations that pertain to not only cross border movements of people and goods but security as well.

The Awdal saga started with a video clip released by the reneged Awdal region sultan in which he vomited anti-Somaliland state hood sentiments without giving clear grievances that he is attributing to his clansmen.

On the other hand the Ethiopian government is unaware of any clan militias from Somaliland being amassed on its common borders.

This was informed by the Head of Ethiopian General Consulate in Hargeisa, Brigadier General Berhe Tesfay, following querries by Somalilandsun adding that "our country's constitution does not facilitate the wrecking of havoc" in friendly countries "through hosting anti-government militias".
Somaliland FM Mohamed Behi and Amry Commander Gen Shakale in Addis for talks with Ethiopian CountpartsSomaliland FM Mohamed Behi and Amry Commander Gen Shakale in Addis for talks with Ethiopian Countparts

"While we are aware of a rumor of minor conflict happening few days ago in Borama town, we are however unaware of Somaliland clan militias amassing on our common borders," said Consul General Berhe Tesfay adding that "as far as our knowledge is concerned, the Somaliland Foreign minister and Defence chief are in the Ethiopian Capital for bi-lateral discussions with Ethiopian counterparts".

General Berhe who expressed his country's "track record of encouraging peaceful resolution of any internal differences" including in Somaliland and of the "readiness to share experiences and support any efforts aimed to resolve internal differences by peaceful means with a view to avoiding future confrontations or any forms of escalations of conflict", also noted his Government's determination "to take legal actions, based on evidence, on any peace-eroding individuals or groups hiding themselves in any cross-border areas within the Ethiopian sovereign territory while creating havoc or anywhere as this compromises the improving mutual peace and stability in the Ethiopian and Somaliland common borders".

On the other hand, the foreign affairs operative who revealed that Ethiopia has nothing to gain by supporting dissent within Somaliland, said that once the government in Addis Ababa is appraised on the allegations relevant action shall be pursued to unveil the truth thence appropriate action.
At the same time the Ethiopian government shall in pursuit of constitutional fulfillment upon ascertaining facts if approached by Somaliland provide relevant support and share experiences of similar activities.
VP Sayli and his renegade cousin Sultan he has failed to reinVP Sayli and his renegade cousin Sultan he has failed to rein

Meanwhile what is most surprising is the very conspicuous absence of the Somaliland Vice president Abdirahman Abdilahi Ismail Sayli who is not only the senior most politician and leader from Awdal region but missing in efforts towards reining the renegade his Cousin Sultan and remedy issues before they get out of hand.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Kenya, Ethiopia in talks to create buffer zone in Somalia | GlobalPost



Africa Focus: Kenya, Ethiopia in talks to create buffer zone in Somalia
by Ben Ochieng
NAIROBI, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya and Ethiopia are in discussions to create a buffer zone inside Somalia along their respective borders to deter Al-Shabaab attacks, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
Deputy President William Ruto decried that the existing 800km porous border which Kenya shares with Somalia has made it difficult to curb cross-border terror attacks mounted by Al- Shabaab.
"Kenya is holding talks with Ethiopia to likewise create their buffer zone inside Somalia to police their common border against insurgency from the militants," Ruto told a local television station during a talk show.
For several years, Kenya, with international support, has been pushing for the creation of a buffer zone at upper Jubaland, just inside Somalia, to shield its territory from neighboring Somalia.
Kenya shares an 800km-long border with Somalia, whereas the length of Ethiopia-Somalia border measures 68 kilometers.
Ruto's remarks come in the wake of fresh attacks at the border town of Mandera on Tuesday in which 36 quarry workers were killed at point blank range after being told to lie facing down.
The dawn massacre occurred barely 10 days following similar killings after members of the militant group murdered 28 people whom they pulled out of a Nairobi-bound bus at sunrise.
"Terrorist activities from Al-Shabaab have been exacerbated by the 800km long porous border and the similar communities occupying both sides of the border that make it difficult to discern one from the other," Ruto said.
He said that whereas terrorism continues to pose a huge challenge to the country, Kenya will not pull out its troops from Somalia, which he said is the narrative that the insurgents use as the reason for the attacks.
"The best defense is offense. The paramount way to keep Al- Shabaab away from Kenya is to take the fight to them in Somalia and stem the problem at its base," he said.
Ruto said Kenya is winning the war against the militants hence the reason Al-Shabaab is agitating for Kenyan troops to pull out so that they can have space to carry out their murderous activities against the Somali nation.
"If Kenya and the international community had not gone into Somalia at the time they went in, we would not have a region to talk about. We are here talking about a well-armed and ruthless group in their thousands that is out to further their militaristic agenda," Ruto said.
He said the 36 quarry workers who met their fate had been requested to move out to safer areas, but they did not think they were under threat.
"Even after they were informed that this is not safe for you, you better move out that place, they still insisted on staying there, unfortunately we learn a lot of lessons. We are re- strategizing to make sure our security forces read from the same script to be able to protect Kenyans," he said.
"We have learned a lot. I admit it was a failure on our side not to have moved them out forcefully, and we will in future do what needs to be done in matters pertaining to security," he added.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Somaliland: Why the Country Craves Recognition as an Independent Sovereign State

Somaliland: Why the Country Craves Recognition as an Independent Sovereign State
Sunday, 23 November 2014 16:44
Somalilandsun: It has been twenty three years plus since when Somaliland Withdrawn its Independence from Somalia. The case was denied by the International Community to consent this self-determined, democratic, stable country as a Nation State.
The elected government of Somaliland led by the incumbent President Silanyo officially declared again to keep this self-governing State a self-regulating free, liberated country, even if that takes 100 years plus. But the one million question is why Somaliland wants to be an Independent Sovereign State? To elucidate the main reasons behind why Somaliland wants to be an Independent Sovereign State are three simple whys and wherefores;
Firstly, the citizens of Somaliland are truly peace loving people who designated to have good relations with the neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia, Djibouti, Yemen as well as other nation states of the world. Collaboration and regional group effort towards political stability, economic development and social integration are the key political raised area of the Somaliland National Policy. Unfortunately, the Southern part of Somalia known as the Federal Republic of Somalia be injurious to this, as the elites of that ferocious country still insisting the unrealistic failed notion of future unity of the five Somali territories as a one nation state, including the self-determined nation Somaliland, Independent Djibouti, as well as the two other Sovereign Republics of Ethiopia (the Reserve Area) and Kenya (the NFD region).
Secondly, the people of Somaliland and their government will never consent to irrigate their blood to the farms of Egypt. This allusion back to the proxy war in Somalia between Egypt and Ethiopia, which concomitant to the Nile River. Somaliland President Egal unequivocally brought up his first diplomatic visit to Ethiopia and avowed that his country stands for regional peace and stability, promotion of democracy and the admiration of the international recognized borders. On the contrary, Somalia sees Ethiopia its biggest enemy and retaliation to conquer Ogadenia is an ongoing hidden agenda within the context of Mogadishu politics.
The third factor, which I revealed in my previous Article, was the interminable tribal politics between Darod and Hawiye. The most attention-grabbing phenomenon is, if the people of Somaliland join in matrimony with them, the discrepancy and power struggle will vanish. From there, these tribes have two different enemies, the internal one will be Isaak for the reason of in favouring Ethiopia. Whilst, the other one is very clear ''Ethiopia''. This is to laminate the underlying tribal philosophy of Darodism and Hawiyism, where if Somaliland stays independently the power struggle and proxy war on the Nile River remains in the south. The unity will never prosper but only disturb the regional peace and stability of the region, either by tribal civil war that spreads in the region or another attempt of neighbouring aggressive war, most properly a radicalised faith war.
The universally recognized government of Somalia in Mogadishu failed to resolve the routine conflict cases of the Presidents and the Prime Ministers for the last 23 years. The artificial government again nosedived to defend and preserve its own premises let alone to restore peace and stability in the country as a whole. For instance, the offices of the President, the Speaker of the House, the Chairman of the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister have been attacked and invaded several times. These incidents disappointed the International Community as America and Britain express their concerns about the internal power struggle within the hand-made government of Somalia. It was the government of Qatar that compelled Britain and the US to stretch recognition to Mogadishu, so that the Regional State Administrations of Somalia come to be heartbroken and then follow suit or straightforwardly, fade away and evaporate.
The political and the social nature of Somaliland and Somalia, to a certain extent, is divergent. The citizens of Somaliland are peace loving people, respect the rule of law through means of legitimised government system. The nation believes skirmishes and political crisis can only be solved through conciliation, consensus and a vital compromise. Somaliland sustained healthy Political Accommodation and in the context of Somaliland culture these ideas is designed to help political groups and other stakeholders the means of a technical approach to develop a governance arrangement that supports to construct peace and social democracy. Any competing interests have already been set into conceptual tools, which are:
Equity of representation; which is not only to give different actors a seat, but a fair say and participation that always helps to improve the quality of the options developed. Equity of political decision making influence as well as the degree of public participation and mutual conciliation. Somaliland deserves to be recognised as an Independent Sovereign State. Because the nation fulfilled the qualification of statehood and the indigenous democratic pillars of their way of life. Where politics do not determine culture, but culture determines the political and economic life of Somaliland. Those are the political structure, the electoral system, the executive, the legislative, public participation, traditional and customary arrangements. Whereby people of Somalia are less civilized, arrogant and corruptive. The International Community sent more troops to stabilize Somalia, the procedure of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration ''known as DDR'' and provides technical and financial assistance as well as institutional and the government formation.
The sustenance seems that the Mogadishu administration has not yet applied, that is why the US government changed the political perception, the White House is now more sceptical about the status quo on how this fluctuating situation be addressed. Current action for Copenhagen Summit is one good example. The reiteration of Somaliland Special Arrangement and the Somalia/Somaliland talks enshrined in the UN charter in New York shows a good hope and political enthusiasm that the world has no choice but to acknowledge the case of Somaliland.
Mohamed Hagi Mohamoud. The Department of Political Science. The University of Warwick. Email: M.Hagi-Mohamoud@warwick.ac.uk;mohamedomar1@hotmail.com
Originally published by Qarannews under the title "Why Somaliland wants to be an Independent Sovereign State"

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Somalia : Will Somalia Survive the Ordeal of IGAD ?

S

Ethiopia's IGAD abdication
We think an inward grief help none of us, when these two evils are enveloping us all , as " the arrow that has left the bow never returns ."


We, Somalis, share language, culture, religion, and ethnicity and we cannot accept the federal system which is our enemies' work to force us . Somalia Democratic Republic's best bet is not federalism and must be stopped immediately as it will weaken our regional role and will threaten our existence as a nation .  
IGAD , U.S , EU and UK are working tirelessly to keep Somalia in a position that it could not able to stand its feet again and they have already managed to achieve 50 % of their goals . Somalia is not different from the other countries that civil wars erupted but lacks a friendly nation that stands up with her. 
For instance, Turkey, Somalia's historical friend and ally abandoned its role to save Somalia from plots of the Ethiopia and Kenya . 
According to international law, when a government institutions ceased its existences and a country ended up a failed state as the case of Somalia , a friendly nation comes to rescue her but unfortunately, Turkey's expected assistance merely limited to giving scholarship and food aid at the time of the famine and it delayed its role to be implemented with no apparent reasons since Somalia's descent into civil war in the early 1990s . 
Even though, Somalis need any assistance regardless big or small  from any partner at this critical time;  Turkey 's failure to fulfill its obligations towards Somalia is unquestionable .   
To understand hypocritical U.S foreign Policies towards Somalis and Somalia recall for the last sixty decades . During the cold world , United states of America promised to ally Somalia against the Soviet Union but U.S found it too easy to renege on its pledges when Somalis and Somalia desperately needed an ally against the Ethiopian allies :The Powerful Russian, Cubans, and et al . 
U.S blindly ignored the geopolitics of the Horn of Africa and historical enmity between us and our big, bad neighbor of Ethiopia that is why it always helps the Ethiopian colonial troops in Somalia . U.S also props Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) up with millions of dollars annually in favor of  Ethiopia's willing to eliminate Somalis from the Horn of of Africa .

We all know how United States of America portrayed Somalis for its unjustifiable movie titled,   "Black Hawk Down " purportedly its incesteous John Grimes , Mr Goddamn shit, Dennis,  also known as Somalis in Djibouti as  fly-killer "Dakhsi-laaye"  in Somali and the likes as superheroes and Somalis as cartoon villains . 
The Western Countries proposed an " ugly clan federalism "  based on tribal territory ownership in bid to create dozens of  mini-states solely intended to weaken Somalia's power of balance in the Horn of Africa and to kill the feeling of Somali nationalism . 

The West, mainly United States and UK , pours more money into the pockets of the corrupted leadership of Dammul Jadiid that does not represent us and it take sides in Somalia politics whenever disagreement emerges among Somali politicians as well .

The recent dispute between Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh and his Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed coming prior to 2016 vision, made U.S and its allies very upset and reportedly 

threatened cutting its aid to Dammul Jaddiid if the party does not compromise for the interest of 

the U.S, EU and UK goals falsely-named Somalia's constitutional referendum , a goal being used as a pretext to execute another agenda, which means another five years under UN peace-keeper's rule or giving a green light for Kenya and Ethiopia to rule - a would be incompetent Somalia .

The Somalia president's telling to Nicholas Kay  to " respect Somalia's sovereign right to determine its own future" is interpreted to many Somalis " a good take but merely defending his own party of Dammul Jadiid " as his words coincided with a time his party is challenged by his PM Abdiweli . 

One can understand why Ethiopia and Kenya, whom their ill-intentions differ yet collaborate each other, under the auspice of the so-called IGAD, when it comes to meddling in Somalia's internal affairs because both of them have already annexed Somali territories . 

Over the last two decades, Ethiopian-dominated criminal bloc of IGAD has been serving no purpose other than to destroy and degrade Somalis and Somalia.
We know Ethiopia and Kenya add fuel to the fire whenever two fraternal clans are fighting each other by arming one of the warring tribes or both for their own profit of further aggravating the conflict .
Ethiopia occupied the vast territory of the Ogaden region and Kenya took what later became the Northern Frontier District (NFD). Despite illegal occupying Somali territories, the two neighboring countries yet want to conquest all Somalia with expansionist ambitions. 
In the wake of the  two regional states' secret  proposing to join Ethiopia ,Somaliland and Puntland's possible unification with Abyssinia (Ethiopia) widely reported in the local media . 

We ,Somalis, will not wake up until the news of the Ethiopia's real unification of the entire Somalia appears in the media reports any time soon and the existence of Somalia on the map totally disappears, we think an inward grief help none of us, when these two evils are enveloping us all , as " the arrow that has left the bow never returns ."
By Ahmed Abdi and Abdullahi Nur Colombo

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

H&M says seeks to ensure cotton does not come from disputed land


REUTERS, 11/11 23:39 CET
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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Hennes & Mauritz <HMb.ST>, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Tuesday that it made every effort to ensure its cotton did not come from appropriated land but could not provide an absolute guarantee.
Swedish TV4 said H&M was using cotton from areas in Ethiopia that are vulnerable to land grabbing — the buying or leasing of land in developing countries, often by foreign companies, without the consent of affected local communities.
“According to (TV4’s) investigation, cotton used for the production of H&M’s clothes in Ethiopia comes from areas subject to land grabbing,” TV4 said in an emailed statement.
H&M said it did not accept such practices.
It began small-scale buying of clothes from suppliers in Ethiopia in 2013, its first sourcing from an African country.
Its operations are widely seen as part of the Ethiopian government’s plans to build up a garment production industry.
“H&M does not accept appropriation of land, so-called land-grabbing,” the company said in a statement.
“Because of that we demand that our suppliers ensure that they do not use cotton from the Omo Valley region where there is a higher risk for land-grabbing.”
However, H&M said it could not guarantee that cotton in its clothes does not come from areas subject to land-grabbing.
The company said it had undertaken an analysis that showed land-grabbing did not occur in the area where its direct suppliers are located. It was not possible to trace any land-grabbing further down its cotton delivery chain, it said.
The Ethiopian government has leased large swathes of land, mainly in its western Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions, to large companies such as Indian firm Karuturi Global, hoping to boost agricultural productivity.
Critics, however, say many people — poor farmers in particular — have been forced off their land under the scheme.
H&M sources mainly from Asia and is sensitive about its supply chain.
A Bangladeshi factory collapse last year killed more than 1,100 people, heaping pressure on big fashion firms to improve working conditions at suppliers.
(Reporting by Helena Soderpalm and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Editing by Simon Johnson/Ruth Pitchford)

Chaos in Somalia's Parliament

Chaos in Somalia's Parliament

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Abdi Said Abdi Ismail book “The Rule of Apostasy In Islam: Is it True?” became "Salman Rushdie' - Religion News Service




(RNS) Somali author Abdisaid Abdi Ismail has been threatened with death and labeled an infidel for his book, "The Rule of Apostasy in Islam, Is it True?" RNS photo by Fredrick Nzwili.

(RNS) Somali author Abdisaid Abdi Ismail has been threatened with death and labeled an infidel for his book, “The Rule of Apostasy in Islam: Is it True?” Religion News Service photo by Fredrick Nzwili

 This image is available for Web and printpublication. For questions, contact Sally Morrow.
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) A Somali scholar is stoking Muslim anger after he published a book questioning the concept of the death penalty for apostasy in Islam.
Now, he is being branded as “Somalia’s Salman Rushdie” a reference to the British–Indian novelist whose book, “The Satanic Verses,” provoked worldwide Muslims protests and a fatwa from Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989.
Abdisaid Abdi Ismail’s book, “The Rule of Apostasy In Islam: Is it True?” was published in Kenya in September.
Ismail was following the Meriam Yahya Ibrahim case before starting work on the book. She is the Sudanese woman sentenced to death for converting to Christianity, but later freed. Her case outraged the world and drew attention to the growing abuse of apostasy in Islam. (Ibrahim said she has always been a Christian.)
The book, written in the Somali language, is being read in Western cities such as London, Toronto and Minneapolis, where there are large populations of ethnic Somalis.
Ismail said the book furthers the growing voice of Muslim scholars, intellectuals and prominent clerics worldwide who are increasingly rejecting the abuse of Islam by extremist groups such as the Islamic State, Nigeria’s Boko Haram and Somalia’s Al-Shabab.
“What we need are secular states where there is democracy, justice and equality for all,” he said. “Not theocratic ones where leaders rule by the name of God.”
Ismail’s concern is that Somali Islamic militants, clerics and other extremist groups in Muslim-majority countries are applying apostasy as a political tool, branding those with contrary opinions as apostates who need to be killed. He has watched Al-Shabab justify the deaths of those who oppose their hard-line interpretation of the Quran by branding them apostates. Somali civil servants, national army officers, local or international nongovernmental organization officials, are considered devil’s spies who deserve death, he added.
“I wanted to explain to my people the true meaning of apostasy in Islam,” he said.
A graduate of the Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia, Ismail, 50,  has written four other books on globalization and economics.
But he appears to have struck a raw nerve with the latest book, which he had hoped would stimulate a debate on religious freedom in Islam. The book also touches on other issues, such as gender equality and stoning adulterers to death in Islam.
“Apostasy is crime in Islam,” said Sheikh Abdallar Kheir, a religious scholar at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. “It is mentioned in the Quran and the traditions of the prophet. It is like treason.
“But there conditions and situations in which the rule is applied,” Kheir added. “It must be in an Islamic state, there must be dialogue and reasoning before it is applied, and it is applied if the person in the new faith causes disturbance to Muslims or the Islamic faith.”
Since the book’s launch, Ismail says he has received death threats, and warnings not to return to Somalia where his wife and three children still live. He has also been branded a devil and infidel on social media, with radical clerics calling for the banning and burning of his book.
He had traveled to Kenya to publish the book, since he could not find a willing publisher in Somalia. He was kicked out of hotels in Nairobi and Kampala, Uganda.
“Every day, I fear fanatical supporters of Somali extremists here in Kenya and Somalia may harm me,” he said. “I have been warned they may even try to kill me.”
But Ismail is defiant, saying the threats will not stop him from expressing his opinion on crucial religious debates. He views this as a way of reforming Islamic thought in Somalia, and rehabilitating and reconstructing his war-torn country.
But Ismail admits the subject is controversial and he only began researching and writing about it after it became clear that there was nobody brave enough to confront it.
Ismail’s book is selling secretly in Kenya and Somalia, after booksellers removed it from their shelves in the wake of Muslim clergy protests. It is available in the Somali language on Amazon.
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