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Princess facing Saudi death penalty given secret UK asylum

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Woman feared she would be stoned after giving birth to an illegitimate child in Britain

By Robert Verkaik, Home Affairs Editor

A Saudi Arabian princess who had an illegitimate child with a British man has secretly been granted asylum in this country after she claimed she would face the death penalty if she were forced to return home. The young woman, who has been granted anonymity by the courts, won her claim for refugee status after telling a judge that her adulterous affair made her liable to death by stoning. Her case is one of a small number of claims for asylum brought by citizens of Saudi Arabia which are not openly acknowledged by either government. British diplomats believe that to do so would in effect be to highlight the persecution of women in Saudi Arabia, which would be viewed as open criticism of the House of Saud and lead to embarrassing publicity for both governments.

The woman, who comes from a very wealthy Saudi family, says she met her English boyfriend – who is not a Muslim – during a visit to London. They struck up a relationship.

She became pregnant the following year and worried that her elderly husband – a member of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia – had become suspicious of her behaviour, she persuaded him to let her visit the UK again to give birth in secret. She feared for her life if she returned to Saudi Arabia.

She persuaded the court that if she returned to the Gulf state she and her child would be subject to capital punishment under Sharia law – specifically flogging and stoning to death. She was also worried about the possibility of an honour killing.

Since she fled Saudi Arabia, her family and her husband’s family have broken off contact with her.

The woman has been granted permanent leave to remain in the UK after the Immigration and Asylum tribunal allowed her appeal.

The Home Office yesterday declined to discuss the case. A spokesman for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London said that he would call back but subsequently became unavailable.

Relations between the UK and Saudi Arabia have been strained in recent years and were brought to a head in 2006 when Tony Blair intervened to end a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry into alleged kickbacks paid in a multibillion military aircraft deal between the two states.
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The Saudi royal family was deeply concerned about the idea that the investigators might try o open up their Swiss bank accounts, it was alleged at the time.

This led the Saudis to threaten to restrict the sharing of intelligence relating to terror activity if the prosecution went ahead. They also threatened to pull out of other highly-lucrative arms deals.

Last year, the House of Lords ruled that the SFO’s decision to drop the corruption investigation into the £43bn Saudi arms deal with BAE Systems was unlawful.

In a hard-hitting ruling, two High Court judges described the SFO’s decision as “an outrage”.

One of them, Lord Justice Moses, said the SFO and the Government had given into “blatant threats” that Saudi intelligence co-operation would end unless the probe into corruption was halted.

“No one, whether within this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice,” he said. “It is the failure of government and the defendant to bear that essential principle in mind that justifies the intervention of this court.”

The Middle East state has been shrouded in controversy over oppressive policies against women and homosexuals. Secrecy surrounds much of the Saudi legal system, but in a recent report on the use of the death penalty in the kingdom, the human rights group Amnesty International highlighted its extensive use against men and women.

Adulterers face public stonings and floggings and, in the most serious cases, beheadings and hangings.

The high numbers of executions in Saudi Arabia in 2007 continued into 2008. There were at least 102 executions of men and women last year – at an average rate of two every week. Amnesty is aware of at least 136 individuals currently awaiting execution.

Last week, Saudi Arabia’s religious police were blamed for the death of two sisters who were murdered in what was deemed an “honour killing” by their brother, after the sisters were arrested for allegedly mixing with men to whom they were not related.

The Society for Defending Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia said that the religious police had arrested the two sisters, aged 19 and 21, thus putting their lives in danger.

Their brother shot them dead in front of their father when they left a women’s shelter in Riyadh on 5 July, according to Saudi news reports.

In 2007, in a case that shocked Saudis, a woman from Qatif was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison after being gang-raped. She offended cultural expectations because she was unaccompanied when she got into a car with a former boyfriend.

The man had agreed to hand back a photograph of the woman who was about to marry another man, but as they drove along a street they were stopped and seized by seven men who raped them both. The woman was originally sentenced to 90 lashes but the sentence was increased when she appealed. Eventually, after an international outcry, she was pardoned.

In 2007, King Abdullah II of Saudi Arabia was jeered during a state visit to Britain as dozens of demonstrators turned out to protest at his country’s human rights record.

Source: Independent UK

Ayaan: One dollar can help

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Hargeisa, 21 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The year is 1988. At the height of the brutal assault by forces of the former Somali dictator Gen. Mohammad Siad Barre against the people of Somaliland, MiG fighters bomb civilian targets and thousands of bodies of dead and wounded litter the streets of major cities. Panicked survivors flee in droves. And, for a two-year old little girl, life will never be the same. Not even decades after the war ends.

Just one stray bullet disfigures her face and alters the course of her life. A small amount of money – so trivial to you, so very significant to her – could reconstruct not only her broken face, but also her wounded dignity.

Dear Reader: Could you spare a buck? Do you have some loose change?

Her name is Ayaan Osman Mohammad. In 1988 as her family fled Burao, the second largest city of Somaliland, tragedy struck. One stray bullet shattered her face near her nose and tore a big hole through her right cheek. The bullet exposed her teeth and left Ayaan’s face horribly disfigured. The devastation of Ayaan’s trauma on her family is beyond belief; equally sad is the inadequacy of the medical treatment available.

That Ayaan survived at all is thanks to international aid organizations working in neighboring Ethiopia, but they could do little for her.


Like a Ghost from Somaliland’s Past

Today, Somaliland people enjoy freedom and peace as the terror of the 80s fades from memory. But, for Ayaan, the brutal war is not yet over. Ayaan is not free. Not yet. Because the bullet removes a large area of her cheek and half of her nose, Ayaan must always hide her face in shame.

Somalilanders celebrate their nation’s independence every year on May 18th. Flag-waving citizens pour into the streets and crowds cheer both in the country and abroad. But Ayaan stays at home, ashamed to participate, like an unwelcome ghost from the nation’s past.

Just like any other proud Somaliland citizen, she perhaps dances to the tunes of the celebrations that the generous wind blows towards her house. She peeks through drapes on her window to witness the parades and the jubilant citizens dancing on the streets of Somaliland.

On one hand, she feels ecstatic that finally her nation is free from the tyranny of the 80’s. On the other hand, she perhaps whispers to herself, “I too was part of the struggle and severely wounded when I was a toddler… yet I am the one who is not yet free, living with the scars of the war. Living in shame as if I have disgraced myself… and hiding my face to avoid people staring at me like I am a monster. Oh my country people, have you forgotten about me? I too want to celebrate with you.”

“Help me to heal the wounds of the war and set me free like you so I could live with dignity and not struggle simply to eat and drink is all I ask. Luckily, so many of you are out there and the fact is: one dollar donation from each person is all I need,” she may add.

Just One Dollar

An estimated one million Somalis are scattered all over Europe, Asia, and North America. About half a million of these expatriates hail from Somaliland. Now, the fact is: if only each of us donates one dollar – Ayaan could be free from the trauma and the scars of the war.

Dear reader because of Ayaan’s plight we are appealing to you: could you spare a buck? Of course, the more you donate the better; but beyond a shadow of a doubt if each of us donates a buck, more than Ayaan’s medical expenses will be collected, enough money to help even other victims. She will have the facial reconstruction surgery that she so urgently needs.

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Of course, it is not only Somalilanders and Somalis who could assist Ayaan. The fact is friends of Ayaan from different nationalities have already donated over 900 Pounds as I write this paper. Anyone could chip in to help cover the expense of Ayaan’s facial surgery and help to alleviate her suffering.

Ayaan’s facial surgery fundraising is spearheaded by honorable Edna Adan Ismail – the former Somaliland Foreign Minister. In the following video clip, Ms. Edna appeals to all of us to help Ayaan. Here is the clip: www.helpayaan.org (Ms. Edna is also the founder of the only maternity hospital in Somaliland: Edna Hospital. www.ednahospital.org )

How could you help?

Surely, you could help Ayaan by contributing some donations but more important taking the lead – that is, spearheading the fundraising campaign in your family, neighbors, among your colleagues and friends, and local business communities will for sure expedite the fundraising process. You should also distribute printed copies of this article with Ayaan’s picture or e-mail them to anybody you know as to show him/her what Ayaan goes through daily. If you and I could forward jokes to our friends and acquaintances, so could we send this article to the folks in our e-mail list.

What is more wonderful than viewing the pictures of Ayaan’s face fully reconstructed? Equally, wonderful is the fact that you raised some of the money. You stood by Ayaan; you held her hand when she needed you the most; and you didn’t turn your back on her suffering. Every time you devoured your favorite dish, you remembered that Ayaan doesn’t have the privilege to enjoy her meal because of her injury and you could have done something about it.

To receive a tax deduction receipt for your donation, visit: http://www.justgiving.com/helpayaan/
You could simply use your credit card to donate.

You could also send donations through registered Somali money transfer agencies such as, Dahabashiil and Qaran Express. Two accounts are set up on behalf of Ayaan’s facial surgery fundraisings: Dhabashiil account is: HRGD14292; and Qaran Express is: 1380.

Finally, the incredible determination that it took us to rebuild our country could be applied to reconstruct Ayaan’s face. We cannot permit the brutal war of the 80’s holding Ayaan hostage while we stroll freely in the streets of our country. Let freedom ring for Ayaan; let her be free, once and for all.

Dear reader, please don’t just skim through this article and walk away from Ayaan’s plight; be brave and do something, not tomorrow, not the day after, but now. She cannot wait for another twenty years for surgery. Remember: none of us are immune to the tragedy that hit Ayaan. What happened to her could happen to any of us – at any minute, anywhere in the world.

Website: www.helpayaan.org

Dalmar Kaahin

Author’s contact: dalmar_k@yahoo.com
Questions regarding Ayaan’s case: ayaan@ednahospital.org

Somalia: Radicals loot UN compounds

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New York, Jul 21 2009 (Somalilandpress) — United Nations, New York, 20 July 2009 Somali militants raided two United Nations compounds today, stealing equipment and vehicles and forcing the world body to close down one of its operations in the violence-wracked country.
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Al Shabaab militiamen looted UN facilities in the towns of Baidoa and Wajid, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters in New York, adding that the UN Office in Somalia deeply regrets having to relocate staff and temporarily suspend its operations in Baidoa.

Ms. Okabe said that the UN will continue working in Wajid, where the minimum security measures remain intact, and it is optimistic that a reassessment of safety conditions on the ground will allow critical humanitarian work to resume in Baidoa and elsewhere in Somalia.

The looting occurred as the top UN envoy to Somalia warned that extremist rebel groups are threatening to overthrow its legitimately recognized Government, while calling on the international community to intervene.

 

Source: United Nations

Granny CSI

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A rapist was arrested after his 89-year-old victim scratched his face for DNA in a trick she learned from watching CSI, a British court has heard.

Bouncer Mauro Lopes, 31, was yesterday jailed for nine years for raping the woman twice inside her home in Leeds, north England, on March 14.

The court heard Lopes, who weighs 127kg, tricked his way into his frail victim’s home after posing as a policeman.

But during the horrifying ordeal that followed, the woman had the presence of mind to take a swipe at his face.

“I have been watching CSI so I scratched his face so you could get DNA from my fingernails,” the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.
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Her quick thinking allowed police to arrest Lopes just two days later after matching his DNA to a 2005 drink-driving arrest.

The court heard Lopes, an Angolan who was granted asylum in Britain seven years ago, had just found out his girlfriend was cheating on him.

In sentencing, Judge Peter Collier QC described Lopes’s crime as “vile and extreme”.

“He is a 31-year-old man with all his faculties and his desires,” he said.

“He got drunk and did something despicable.”

 

Source: 9News (Australia)

Two Somaliland Journalists Arrested, Horn Cable TV Banned

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Hargeisa, 21 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Somaliland, two journalists working for Radio Horyaal were arrested on 13 July, for allegedly inciting clan violence, and local independent Horn Cable TV (HCTV) has been banned. The International Press Institute (IPI) is concerned that this signals a media crackdown in the autonomous region of Somalia, in the run-up to presidential elections in September.

On 13 July, Radio Horyaal’s director and news editor, Mohamed Osman Mire and Ahmed Suleyman Dhuhul, were arrested at the radio station in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. The journalists have been refused bail, and are currently being held at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). They are expected to appear in court on 21 July.

The arresting officers reportedly did not have a warrant, and the men have not been charged with any crime – which makes their detention illegal under the Somaliland press law, according to Media Rights Somaliland (MeRiS) director Mukhtar Hassan.

Two days after the arrests, independent broadcaster HCTV was banned in a judgement by Sheik Hussein Warfa Sigad, reversing a decision taken the day before by the Harseiga Regional Court. IPI sources in Hargeisa report that, as of last night, HCTV continued to broadcast despite the ban.

On 14 July, Somaliland’s attorney-general asked that HCTV be shut down for “inciting violence” and “spreading false information.” The request was denied in the first instance and approved on appeal.

Suspicions abound that the arrests and ban are politically motivated. Mukhtar Hassan told IPI: “Many people, including opposition parties, are saying this is a sign that the government would like to suppress independent media before the September elections.”

“The arrests of Radio Horyaal’s director and news editor and the ban on Horn Cable TV are a blatant attempt by the Somaliland authorities to consolidate control of their public image in the weeks prior to the election,” said IPI Director David Dadge.

“The government of Somaliland must immediately release Mohamed Osman Mire and Ahmed Suleyman Dhuhul and lift the ban on HCTV. When the media reports news it is fulfilling its public interest duty, even if the news is embarrassing for the president and the government.”

The arrest of Radio Horyaal’s journalists and the ban on HCTV came after the broadcasters covered incidents relating to clan violence on the border between the Gabiley and Awdal provinces in west Somaliland.

On 10 July, 25 elders from Gabiley were invited by President Dahir Rayale Kahin to the presidential palace to discuss an ongoing dispute between clans in Gabiley and Awdal – where the president’s home is. The elders were reportedly unhappy that a June ruling made by the Guurti (upper house), giving their clan certain land rights, had not yet been implemented by the President.
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The session reportedly ended in dispute, and inter-clan violence broke out again the next day.

Police arrested Mire and Dhuhul because Radio Horyaal’s coverage of the meeting allegedly misrepresented events and incited the violence, the police chief commander told Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA) representatives on 14 July. But SOLJA’s Ahmed Mohamed Omar told IPI that Radio Horyaal had reported only that there “was no positive conclusion” to the meeting.

The attorney general, in turn, accused HCTV of having incited further bloodshed through its 11 July programming, which showed footage of that day’s violence between clan members.

Meanwhile, President Rayale’s office last Wednesday circulated a statement urging caution when reporting on the clan conflict. The statement accused some media of inciting violence and said that the sources behind media reporting on the conflict may be investigated.

Somaliland is a breakaway territory of Somalia, on the coast of the Gulf of Aden. It declared independence after the overthrow of Somali dictator Siad Barre in 1991 but its independence is recognized by neither Somalia nor the international community.

Somalia remains a notoriously dangerous place for journalists. According to IPI’s Death Watch, 18 journalists have been killed in the country since 2005. Several have been kidnapped or imprisoned. Among the journalists still being held are Canadian freelance reporter Amanda Lindhout and Australian freelance photojournalist Nigel Brennan, who were taken hostage in August 2008.

On 15 July, security guards in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region within Somalia, reportedly beat up Aweys Sheikh Nur, a reporter with Netherlands-based Horseed Media. According to sources, the guards attacked Nur with the butts of their AK-47 rifles after he took pictures inside a courtroom in the port city of Bosaso.

On 14 July, two French security agents reportedly posing as journalists were kidnapped from their Mogadishu hotel. Although IPI condemns the kidnapping, it is concerned at the reports that the men were pretending to be journalists.

“While the two hostages should be released immediately, it is unfortunate that they chose to pose as journalists. In a country where the lives of journalists are routinely at risk, actions such as this undermine the credibility of the profession and expose reporters to unnecessary risk,” said IPI Director David Dadge.

Somaliland: Elections “Tola-ayey Style”

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Hargeisa, 21 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Somaliland succeeded to hold together by the observance of tribal balance. Huwan entity was a melting pot representing the Somali nation as a whole and was a symbol of inspiration and national empowerment. While other Somali territories’ caved-in to imperialistic bullying and misdirection, Somaliland stayed stead fast on the Somali traditional course.

The SNL- USP coalition that spearheaded the independence reflects the true tribal balance that can work for Somaliland statehood and brotherhood. Egal-Riyaale ticket represents the continuation of this balance. That is why, despite all odds Somaliland is still going strong.

The upcoming presidential election is characterized by kilkenny cat fighting stigma, namely:

1. Negatively pugnacious tactics of public opinion mobilization as if fighting an alien monster or Dracula.

2. “TOLA-AYEY” threats and warnings galore.

3. Bad mouthing and accusations are below the belt.

4. Muscle flexing ultimatums snipe left and right. Such super tribe posturing could be counter productive.

5. The hot chair fever is a common ailment at all fronts and is a “must win” venture. Ousting the incumbent under tribal duress would end up in retaliatory eventuality.

6. While the upcoming election is Presidential and Presidential only, the bottomless mudslinging spree makes no exceptions and encompasses the totality of state leadership.

7. When ethics and decorum are stripped from election campaigns and their outcome, anarchy is let loose to take charge.

8. It is easy to talk and act irresponsibly, but going overboard could lead to disastrous consequences. The fashionable TOLA-AYEY syndrome, could turn ugly at the end of the day.

9. The “hot chair” fits one person and one person only, but Somaliland can cater for all, irrespective of who is who. National integrity and stability is sacred.

10. “TOLA-AYEY” went too far in disturbing the public odium. It might, by design or default disrupt the peace, stability, and social tranquility: the trump card qualities that Somaliland cannot lose.

For the record, two of the franchised political parties clubbed together, to deny the Dhulbahante, with all its tribal and humanitarian weight, the traditional quota of the Speaker of the House. Consequently, the Dhulbahante today is an auxiliary of “Ucid” . Ironically, while “Ucid” is a denomination with no tangible parameters, yet it is constitutionally public politician number one, public attorney number one, and public speaker number one. Superseding, in the process, the tribes and the traditional leaders, the national elite and, indeed all those who matter in public opinion making of Somaliland. Because of these diminishing factors, with no rhyme or rhythm, the bulk of Dhulbahante and Warsangeli tribes rebelled. Others might follow suit if victimized, in the same manner, by the laughable legal loopholes in the non-inclusive constitution. The constitution was a temporary filling, originally envisaged as an emergency prerogative of the Founding Father, President Mohamed I Egal upon his election by unanimous tribal consensus in Borama, to reconstruct Somaliland, of his dream, along state like structural institutions.

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The absurd audacity of tribal affiliations masqueraded as political parties to endeavor disfranchising the tribal pillars of Somaliland like the Dhulbahante, who cleansed Somaliland from colonization and Christianity roots in their Darwishade(crusade) against the British, is myopic maangaabnimo( will-o’-wisp)!! It was their gallantry and unwavering tenacity in keeping the impetus of the war for two decades that earned the metaphor “Somalis are the Irish men of Africa.”

Chronological brief

The British were in Somaliland for seventy years, broken down as follows:

• Towards the end of the 19th century, the British signed protection treaties with all Somaliland tribes except with Dhulbahante. The corner stone of these treaties was that the British cannot and would not transfer Somali territory to any foreign power, and that they would protect the territorial integrity and brotherhood of the Somali people.

• At the beginning of the 20th century, the Dhulbahante were fighting the British in darwishade (crusade) wars for twenty one years. Result: the Christian missionaries abandoned their presence in Dhaymoole settlement in the Guban area of the Berbera District. Furthermore, Somaliland was recognized as a protectorate rather then a colony like Aden.

• From 1920-1945 a limbo period in which the British were recovering from world war 1 damages and focusing on the 2nd world war. Ina Igare a Kenyan Somali from H.Y belonging was the interim proxy for the British Empire.

• 1945-1952 the Dhulbahante were an autonomous entity under Court Akil administration. The British presence was confined to a District Comissioner who executed the decisions of the Court Akil, composed of all Dhulbahante leadership.

• In early 40’s Haji Omer Amay, a Dhulbahante tribal leader of high standing, was assassinated in Burao by H.Y tribe elements. Burao was at the time a district for Dolb, H.Y, H.T, Essa Musa.

• The British offered the Dolb tribe the Ber village, twenty eight miles southward, to be their district in lieu of Burao. Incidentally, Garad Jama Garad Ali was crowned in Ber village which was Dolb grazing territory at the time.

By tribal intrigue the British were convinced to seat the Dolb. District in Nugal area. That is how the Dolb were pushed back 160 miles southward to Las-Anod.

• In 1950 Sir Gerald Reece was appointed as the Governor of Somaliland. He introduced the local authority status, leading to eventual independence. This option legalized the inclusion of the Dolb into the protection bandwagon.

• In 1955 the Hawd Reserved Area were transferred to Ethiopia. National uprising ensued, and in the process the National United Front (N.U.F) was instituted to fight for the cause.

• The N.U.F fought on the platform that “part of the Commonwealth was transferred to a foreign power”. This was seen as a betrayal of the Somali cause, since the term of Commonwealth could give legitimacy to the British action.

Most Somali Landers withdrew support from the N.U.F, under Michael Mariano, and in fluxed into the Somali National League (S.N.L) under the leadership of M.I.Egal, a wealthy business man from the great tribe of Habr Awal.

• In 1959, the British expressed preparedness to concede independence and closer association with Somalia, if Somaliland so desired.

• In early 1960 the SNL and the United Somali Party(U.S.P) formed the coalition that lead the independence and unconditional union with the south forming the Somali Republic.

This coalition was based on equal footing. The ministerial portfolio was divided in equal equation. That is how Somaliland came into being as an independent nation of equal destiny through thick and thin. Equality breads brotherhood and statehood.

In this defining moment Somaliland must be real.

We came a long way and can’t risk taking time by its tail and upsetting the balance. The traditional practice of tribal balance works. No questions asked!!

Mohamed Khawi
President
Somaliland natives Association
Somalilandnativesassn@gmail.com

________________________________________________________________________________________________
Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial

Somalia deports Chinese cyclist

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Garowe, 20 Jul 2009 (Somalilandpress) — A Chinese cyclist has been forced to put the brakes on a 12-year world tour, after officials in Somalia deported him for not having the right documents.

Lee Yue Zhong, who says he has visited 114 countries since setting off on his tour in 1997, arrived in the semi-autonomous Puntland region last week.

But he had no visa and Somali police arrested him before deporting him to neighbouring Djibouti.

The cyclist said he was disappointed with the decision.

He said he had travelled from Somaliland to the Puntland capital Garowe, where he was arrested.
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“It took me two weeks from Hargeisa to here and it was part of my long trip to tour continents worldwide, but they really disappointed me,” the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

Local police commissioner Abdirahman Haji Abshir said Mr Zhong, who is in his mid-fifties, could not continue through Somalia “for security reasons”.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991 and has been riven by fighting between Islamist insurgents and government troops.

Somaliland has declared itself independent while Puntland has semi-autonomous status. Both areas run their own own affairs.

Source: BBC News

Kenya trains Somali government forces

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Mogadishu, Jul 20 2009 (Somalilandpress) — Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula has said his country is arranging camps where Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] forces will be trained.

This was during a meeting with Western officials who are visiting the country, Kenya.

Moses Wetangula said his country is ready to provide training to the TFG forces, particularly the police and the military so that they can take charge of security of their country and government.

The minister also said his government will support all initiatives meant to strengthen the Djibouti agreement which was the basis for the formation of the current government in Somalia.

“The Somali forces will be trained in our country by officers from Burundi, Botswana, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda and other African countries,” said Kenya’s foreign affairs minister.
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The statement by the Kenyan government official comes at a time when the African Union has said they have come up with a plan in which 16,000 Somali soldiers will be offered training, which is expected to last for a period of six months.

According to [African Union (AU) representative to Somalia] Nicholas Bwakira, the training of Somali government forces is expected to cost $230m US dollars and will be paid for by donor countries who are interested in seeing the attainment of peace and stability in Somalia.

In the past Somalia’s opposition groups have warned Kenya over sending troops into Somalia.

It has been agreed that the number of African Union Mission in Somalia [AMISOM] troops will be increased during a meeting that was recently concluded in Nairobi. It was also agreed that they will be allowed to take part in the fighting that is ongoing in Mogadishu in order to assist in defending the government led by [President] Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad.

By Abdinasir Mohamed
Email: abdinasir4@gmail.com
Mogadishu-Somalia

Source: Somalilandpress

Autistic teen pulls off tycoon hoax

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A teenage boy has fooled British airline and airport executives into believing he was a tycoon who owned a fleet of jets.

The 17-year-old boy, from Yorkshire, claimed he was in his 20s and used the pseudonym Adam Tait to set up a one-and-a-half hour meeting with the director of Jersey airport.
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He was also in contact with other air industry executives about a plan to launch a cut-price Channel Islands-based airline flying around Europe.

Sometimes the boy also posed as David Rich or Anita Dash — Tait’s fictional colleagues — through phone calls and emails, The Times reports.

Tait, whose real name has not been released, has a brilliant memory but suffers behavioural issues due to a form of autism.

“He has been passionate about aeroplanes for about two years and his whole bedroom is plastered with them,” his father was quoted as saying.

“Before that he came within two days of bringing the US cast of High School Musical to a 300-seat theatre in Shropshire by cutting and pasting mastheads from one company to another, masquerading as this or that.

“It would have happened, except when booking the hotel some queries were thrown up. I don’t know why he did it. He is not nasty or vindictive or malicious.”

Tait’s airline hoax was uncovered after six months of fraudulent correspondence.

He set up an elaborate web of lies including publishing fake websites, articles in airline industry magazines and establishing virtual offices.

But he was intercepted by police last Monday while trying to inspect a 93-seat jet at Southend airport that he claimed he was interested in leasing.

They were acting on a tip-off from Airliner World magazine, which had became suspicious after running a story on Tait’s imaginary company.

No police action has been taken against the teenager.

Source: 9news (Australia)

Q+A – Who is behind Somalia's kidnappings?

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Nairobi, Jul 20 2009 (Somalilandpress) – A string of abductions of foreigners in Somalia have thrown the international spotlight on kidnapping in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation.

Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke told Reuters on Sunday that the government had not ruled out any option to rescue two French hostages, and that rebel groups were changing tactics with recent kidnappings.

Two French security men were seized last week in Mogadishu then three foreign aid workers at the weekend in a cross-border raid on a Kenyan town.

Kidnapping of locals is also a common tactic.

Here are some questions and answers about abductions:

WHY DID IT START?

  • Kidnappings became widespread following the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and the surge in local warlords controlling fiefdoms in the Somali capital Mogadishu and beyond. Before 1991, abductions were usually of a political nature, carried out by the state to disrupt opposition and to punish dissidents. Siad Barre’s administration used torture and assassination to help keep a grip on power.
  • The influx of small arms into Somalia following Siad Barre’s downfall has significantly contributed to the rise of kidnappings. An Indian-made AK-47 costs around $140 and is widely and easily available with little to no state control over who can buy a gun. Carjackings, armed-robberies and burglary have also emerged as a result of insecurity in Somalia, especially in Mogadishu.
  • Mogadishu is usually the favourite place for kidnappers to operate from. Often, abductors take hostages from remote areas and bring them to the sea-side capital. Mogadishu is the headquarters of many criminal gangs, freelance militias and insurgent groups. All foreign visitors and many Somalis must buy protection from one of the local armed groups.

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WHO’S BEHIND THE SEIZURES?

  • Freelance militias were largely responsible for kidnappings before Ethiopia’s invasion in late 2006 to squash a sharia courts movement that took control over the capital and much of the south, analysts say. These militias are also heavily involved in other criminal activities and sell their services — armed personnel and vehicles — to the highest bidder.
  • Rebels including al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam are sometimes linked to the kidnapping business, analysts say. Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam leaders were together in the Islamic Courts group that controlled much of Somalia in 2006, bringing a level of stability and safety not seen for years.
  • Somali pirates are arguably the nation’s best-known hostage-takers. Buccaneers make millions of dollars annually by seizing commercial and other ships sailing in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. Piracy has ballooned off the Somali coast in recent years where the sea gangs continue to defy foreign navies patrolling the vast shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe.
  • Clan militias originally arose out of a desperate need for protection following the chaos and civil war that erupted when Siad Barre was ousted. Somalia is a clan-based society, and minority groups usually face the brunt of clan kidnappings.

WHAT ARE THE MOTIVES?

  • Rebels and the government are involved in political kidnappings although since President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed took over the presidency from former warlord Abdullahi Yusuf, government-linked abductions have decreased, analysts say. Ahmed has also released hostages taken under the former regime.
  • Foreign captives fetch a higher price than Somali hostages. Kidnappings are a key source of revenue for some groups in the Horn of Africa nation. Ransoms for outsiders, especially Westerners, usually run over $1 million, but Somali captives are usually freed for $1-$3,000 but sometimes for over $10,000.
  • Access to land, water and livestock are key motives for clan militias. Drought is a chronic problem in Somalia where many are pastoral, and scarce resources in some areas are not only a source of conflict, but a reason for kidnappings.
  • Fierce business competition and disputes over dividends are also a cause for abductions in Somalia where enterprises have their own guards armed with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Businesses battle literally and figuratively for market share.

By Jack Kimball and Abdiaziz Hassan

Source: Reuters