Somali Islamist leader rejects talks with gov't

MOGADISHU, March 16 (Reuters) - A senior Somali Islamist leader rejected on Sunday an offer of talks by the interim government to end insurgent attacks, including beheadings, that have sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein said last Wednesday his government was ready to negotiate with opposition groups to end a 15-month insurgency against government troops and their Ethiopian military allies.

Calling for international mediation led by the United Nations' special envoy to Somalia, Hussein said the government was willing to hold talks in any location to end fighting that local aid groups said had killed 6,500 people last year.

Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys dismissed the offer, saying his sharia courts movement and its fighters did not recognise the government of the war-ruined country.

"This is not a government. We believe they are people who brought the enemy forces to our country. They are criminals," Aweys, a hardline Muslim cleric, told Reuters in an interview.
"Our fight is against Ethiopia and as long as they are there Somalis cannot have dialogue," he said by phone from Eritrea, where he is living in exile after fleeing Somalia last year.
Aweys, who the United States says is linked to al Qaeda, said the Islamists were "freedom fighters".

"The country is under Ethiopian colonisation and must be liberated from the enemy," said the former army colonel who was decorated for bravery in a war against rival Ethiopia in 1977.
Many Somalis living in the shell-shattered capital fear the Islamists' refusal to accept talks unless historic foe Ethiopia withdraws its troops signals more attacks which are already forcing some 20,000 civilians to flee Mogadishu every month.

Islamist insurgents were accused of spreading terror by cutting the heads off three Somali soldiers last week.

The head of the U.N. refugee agency told Reuters last Thursday that Somalia's problem was "intractable" with no sign of improvement. Guillermo Bettocchi said Somalia was a "negelected crisis" which surpassed Sudan's Darfur region.

Sheikh Aweys led Somalia's Islamic Courts Council, which ruled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006, before it was ousted by allied Somali-Ethiopian forces.

Aweys recognised Prime Minister Hussein as "humble and a peace lover".
"But we are very sorry that he has placed himself in this position," he added.
The Horn of Africa country has had no effective government since warlords overthrew dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, plunging the country into chaos.
The remnants of Aweys' movement is now blamed for an Iraq-style insurgency punctuated with roadside bombings, assassinations and grenade attacks.

(Editing by Katie Nguyen)
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ )

Waftiga xisbiga UCID oo guulo la taaban karo ka soo hooyay dalka Canada loona qabtay xaflad sagootin ah

Fikirka Xorta ah - Waxa beryahanba booqasho dibadda ku marayay wafti balaadhan oo isugu jira xildhibaanno Golaha Wakiilada ee Somaliland ka tirsan oo ka soo jeeda xisbiga mucaaradka ee UCID iyo guddida Fulinta ee UCID.

Waftigan oo ay hore ula socdeen Guddomiyaha Xisbiga Faysl C. Warabe iyo Afhayeenka am Guddomiyaha Golaha Wakiilada Somaliland Cabdiraxman Cirro oo iyagu hadda dalkii ku laabtay hawl shaqo aawadeed ayaa waxay soo mareen dalal badan oo ka tirsan Yurub, USA iyo Canada.

Qaybta hadhay oo haatan ku sugan dalka Canada ayaa waxay toddobaadkan la kulmeen madax sare oo ka tirsan dawladda iyo barlamaanka Canada. Iyagoo soo hooyay guulo wax ku ool ah oo ay ku jiraan ballan qaadyo la taaban karo ama la daba geli karo.

Waftiga haatan ku sugan Canada oo ay xubno ka yihiin Xildhibaan Naasir X. Cali, Guddoomiyaha Xisbiga ee Waqooyiga Amerika Keyse C. Geeddi, Mudane Maxamed Ibrahim Adan (Qabo) oo k atirsan guddida fulinta, Mudane Ibrahimrashid M. Axmed, iyo Mudane Axmed Xuseen (Fag-Fagaash) ayaa lugtii safarka ee u dambeeyey maanta kula kulmaya bulshada reer Somaliland ee deggan caasimadda Canada ee Ottawa.

Waxa habeenkii Axaddii ay ka soo noqdeen magaalada Toronto oo ay loogu sameeyey xaflad ballaadhan oo lagu sagootiyay. Xafladdan oo uu soo qaban qaabiyay Guddoomiye Xigeenka UCID ee Toronto Mudane Nasir Maxamud ayaa waxa ka hadlay dad dhawr ah oo odayaasha reer Toronto iyo xubnaha waftigaba isugu jira.

Waxa hadal mahadnaq iyo guubaabin ah ku furay Guddomiye Nasir Maxamud oo waftiga uga mahadnaqay imaantinka Canada oo noqotay mid ay guul dhab ah dalka iyo dadkaba u soo hooyeen. Wuxuuna sheegay inay reer Toronto caado u tahay inay cid kasta oo Somaliland ka soo jeedda oo wafti ugu timaadda xisbigay doonaaba ha ahaadeene ay gacmo diirran ku soo dhaweeyaan.

Waxa sifoo kale ka hadlay Xoghaya Arrimah Dibadda ee Xisbiga UCID Pilot Axmed X. Fagfagaash oo isagu hogaaminayay waftiga safarka Canada ku maraya. Axmed waxa uu si aad iyo aad ah uga mahadnaqay sida hagar la'aanta ah ee ay dadweynaha reer Canada ugu soo dhaweeyeen. Waxa uu sheegay inay ku reebtay raad kalgacal oo uu in badan u haynayo dadka Canada deggan ee reer Somaliland.

Xoghaye Axmed Fagfagaash oo ku hadlaya magaca waftiga ayaa waxa uu abaal marin guddoonsiiyay dadkii sida hagar la'aanta ah waftiga ugu hawlgalay. Waxana uu sheegay inaanay laantood u suurto gasheen hawsha ay u yimaaddeen.

Dadkii abaal gudka la siiyay ayaa waxa ka mid ahaa Amina Cabdi Jaamac, Cawil Xaashi Maxamud. Waxa sdoo kale abaal marin ay waftigu siiyeen saxaafadda Somaliland ee sida hagar la'aanta ah uga warrantay kolba siday hawsha waftigu u socoto oo ay ka mid tahay shabakadda wararka ee Hadhwanaagnews, Tifatiraha Hadhwanaag Axmednasir Jibril Farax.

Waxa kaloo oo goobta xafladda ka hadlay Xildhibaan Nasir X. Cali, Mudane Maxamed Ibrahim oo waftiga la socda iyo Farax Abokor Khayre iyo Shiine Wacays oo ka tirsan odayaasha magaalada Toronto oo waftiga talooyin ay la guryo noqdaan iyo hadalo xikmad leh soo jeediyay.

Xafladdan oo aad u qurux badnayd waxa sidaanu hore u soo sheegnay soo agaasimay Guddomiye Xigeenka UCID Toronto Mudane Nasir Maxamud oo intii ay waftigu Canada ku sugnaayeen si aan la soo koobi karin masuuliyaddooda dejinta, nasashadooda, gaadiidkooda, qarabasalaankooda iyo dukaansigoodaba u gutay. Isagoo wakhti iyo malba si niyad sami ah ugu hagar baxay.

Waftigan oo la filayo inuu toddobaadka soo socda ku noqdo dalkii iyagoo Yurub sii maraya ayaa waxay warbixinta hoos ku qorani dhigaysaa cidday kula kulmeen Canada iyo sawiradii oo la socda.

Riix halkan si aad u akhrido warbixinta:http://radiohadhwanaag.com/index.php?news=427

Sawirada halkan ka daawo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58551580@N00/sets/72157604109287716/show/

Saleban Dahir Cabdillahi ayaa Caawa Toronto si rasmi ah ugaga dhawaaqay inuu u taagan yahay jagada musharaxa Mayorka Hargeysa

Xafladdan ballaadhan waxa ka hadlay dad kala duwan. Waxana ka soo qaybgalay dad badan oo taageero u muujiyay Musharax Saleban.

Toronto (Hadhwanaag) – Xaflad si culus loo soo agaasimay oo lagu taageerayo Saleban Dahir Cadilahi oo lagu qabtay magaalada Toronto ee dalka Canada habeenkii Sabtidii ee bishan March ay ahayd 14 ayaa wuxuu Saleban kaga dhawaaqay in uu u taaganyahay, “Musharaxa Golaha Degaanka iyo Musharaxa Mayorka Magaalada Hargeysa’.

Xafladdan oo ay ka soo qayb galeen dad badan oo reer Toronto ah ayaa waxa ka hadlay dad kala duwan oo gubaabo iyo dhiirri gelin u soo jeediyay Musharax Saleban Dahir Cabdillahi (Dogox) oo isagu muujiyay inuu ka mid noqon doono dhallinta qurbaha ka noqonaysa ee aqoontooda iyo xirfaddooda dalkii hooyo wax ugu qaban doonta.

Sheeh Shaakir oo ka mid ah culimada diinta ee dalka Canada ayaa quraan iyo duco ku furay. Wuxuuna Saleban ka codsaday inuu noqdo mid ka duwan siyaasiyiinta kale ee iyagu musuqmaasuqa ku shaqeeya. “Salebanow waxan kaa codsanayaa inaanad laaluush qaadan. Inaad xoolaha danta guud ka fogaato, Dadkaagana waxtar iyo fa’ido u yeelato”, ayuu intaa ku daray.

Meesha xafladdan lagu qabtay oo aad loo qurxiyay ayaa waxay ahayd mid ay dadka ka muuqdeen jawi farxadeed. Iyagoo isla sawirayay una bishaaraynayay Musharaxa Golaha Degaanka iyo Duqa Caasimadda Somaliland Mudane Saleban D. Cabdillahi.

Waxa taariikhdii Saleban si kooban uga hadlay Khadar Guun oo ka mid ah dadka deggan Toronto oo aqoon badanna u leh Saleban. Khadar Guun waxa uu ka warramay heerarkii dhalin yaro ee ay soo wada mareen iyo sida ay jiilkoodu manta noqdeen kuwa la wareegaya maamulka dalka. “Saaxiibkay Saleban ayaa maanta siyaasadda dalka iyo hoggaankiisa u diyaar ah. Waxa kaloo jira rag ka horreeyey iyo qaar naga dambayn doona. Maanta waa Alle Mahaddii haddii ay jiilka aanu isku dada nahay noqdeen kuwo u diyaara inay dalkooda siyaasaddiisa hoggaamiyaan oo dadkooda wax u qabtaa.” Ayuu yidhi.

Khadar oo ammaan u soo jeediyey Saleban ayaa waxa uu ku tilmaamay inuu ku jiro ragga sida fiican ugu guulaystay nolosha qurbaha ee qoys, aqoon, shaqo iyo ganacsiba isku waday si miisaamanna u noqday kuwo ka gun gaadha nolosha adag ee qurbaha.

Xasan Ducaale oo ka mid ahaa dadkii isku dubba riday xafladda caawa ayaa isagu hadal kooban ku sheegay in ay reer Toronto diyaar u yihiin inay Saleban ku taageeraan musharaxnimadiisa.

Xafladdan oo uu xidhiidhinayay Gabyaaga Caanka ah ee reer Toronto Cali Jaamac ayaa waxa dhinaca muusiga daadihinayay ninka dhallinta yar ee Cabdillahi Boqol oo heeso macaan oo qoob ka ciyaar dhalintu ku raaxaysato soo bandhigay.

Khudbad dheer oo dhinacyo badan taabanaysa ayuu Saleban Daahir Cabdillahi (Dogox) habeenkii Sabtida soo bandhigay. Waxa uu taabtay meelaha looga baahanyahay in si degdeg ah wax looga qabto oo uu sidii wax looga qaban lahaana soo jeediyay.

Saleban waxa uu sheegay in magaalada Hargeysa noqotay mid aad u weynaatay oo maamul adag u baahan. Waxay doonaysaa qorshe lagu hore mariyo oo isu dheelli tiran ayuu qeexay. Waxana uu yidhi, “Meelaha wax qabadka u baahan waxa ka mid ah in la helo biyo wada gaadha dadka deggan Hargeysa’. Isagoo ku tuuntuunsaday inay biyuhu yihiin aasaaska nolosha qof kastaana xaq u leeyahay in uu biyo uu ku noolaado uu helo.

Khudbadda Saleban uu ku soo bandhigay inuu musharrax yahay, meelaha wax qabadka u baahan, talooyinka iyo qorshayaasha uu wato ee uu ku saxayo. Oo ay ka mid yihiin casiryaynta cashuur ururinta, dayactirka waddooyinka, caafimaadka guud, waxbarashada iyo shaqaalaha dawladda ayaa waxanu ku eegi doonnaa qormada dambe.

Ugu dabmayn waxa dadkii ka qoslisay iyadoo afka English ku hadlaysa Saleban inantiisa ugu yar oo lix jir ah oo la yidhaa Siman. Waxayna tidhi marka afka Somaliga loo tarjumo, “Waxan ku faraxsanahay inuu aabahaydadkiisa wax u qabanayo. Waxaad ku mahadsan tihiin inaad taageeraysaan oo aad caawa halkan isugu timaaddeen. Waxanan Aabahay weydiisanayaa inuu [Hargeysa u] dhiso dab demis iyo inuu sameeyo telefonka la waco ee [emergency ama marka dhibaato dhacdo la diro] 911”. Siman waxay dadkii meesha joogay ka qoslisay dhiirri gelin badanna ku beertay iyadoo sacabka mar keliya la isku daray.

Haddaba xafladdan oo ahayd mid aad loo habeeyey ayaa waxa intii dambe noqotay mid dadku ay iyagoo raxan raxan ah sawirro la galaan Musharrax Saleban. Halka ay qaar kale qoob ka cayaar iyo kaftan iskula joogeen. Waxana uu ahaa habeen caweys farxad iyo raynrayn ku dhammaada.

Hadhwanaag

Toronto, Canada

Sir iyo Caad: Blog dhinaca sirdoonka loogu talagalay

Waxanu bog cusub u furnay bulshada danaysa Sirdoonka ama taariikhda Sirgoobka. Booqo Bloggan loogu talagalay in la isku dhaafsado wixii culuun war raadis ama war dahsoon daah furkiisa loo sameeyey.

Maxaad kala socotaa NSS tii Somaliya xilligii Siyaad Barre sirdoonka caanka ku ahayd? Yaa tababaray? Yaa ka tirsanaa? Ya ka hadhay? Madaxda Somaliland inteebaa Sirdoonka ku xeel dheer? Waa maxay Khatarta iyo faa'idada Sirta iyo doonisteedu?

Ha moogaan Bogga Sir iyo Caad oo aanu khubaro akhbaarta sirta ku xeel dheer aanu ku waraysanayno. Baro inta hayadood ee sirta ku shaqo leh ee adduunka ka jira?

Dhacdooyinkii NSS, MOSSAD, CIA, KGB, FSP, MI5, MI6 iyo kuwo kale oo badan halkan ka akhri. La soco isbeddelka technology ee ay ku tallaabsadeen iyo weliba qalabka casriga ah ee ay dhegaysiga, qaadista sawirada, duubista codka iyo dilka qarsoon u isticmaalaan.

Booqo http://www.sirgoob.blogspot.com/

Somalia war creates 20,000 refugees a month:

By Guled Mohamed

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Nearly 20,000 civilians are fleeing violence in Somalia's capital Mogadishu every month with little hope of peace and stability in the Horn of Africa nation, a senior United Nations' official said on Thursday.

"The problem with Somalia is intractable ... The situation seems to be deteriorating. We don't see any improvement," Guillermo Bettocchi, head of the U.N. refugee agency for Somalia, told Reuters.

"Nowadays, an average of 20,000 people are leaving the city every month."
Up to one million of Somalia's total population of nine million are living as refugees after 17 years of conflict which took a new turn since early 2007 with an Islamist-led insurgency against the Ethiopian-backed government.

Most of the recent refugees are from the capital Mogadishu, where Iraq-style attacks are a near-daily occurrence. Many parts of the capital are destroyed and deserted.

Somalia now has the world's largest group of internally displaced people, Bettocchi said, on a small corridor between Mogadishu and Afgoye town to the west where 200,000 are camped in "very difficult conditions."

Reliant on handouts, many live in makeshift shacks made from sticks, boxes and tattered clothes. "I have never seen anything like Somalia in terms of the suffering of people," said Bettocchi, a 54-year-old Peruvian, with experience in various global hot-spots from Iraq to Sudan.

"NEGLECTED CRISIS"

Aid workers say Somalia's humanitarian crisis is one of the world's worst but is not receiving the attention it deserves. In Africa, it has been overshadowed by the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

"The situation in Somalia is not the forgotten crisis but the neglected crisis," Bettocchi said.
"In terms of effect on the people, it surpasses Darfur ... The consequences of the violence in Somalia are much worse."

Trying to escape violence and economic hardship at home, some 10,000 immigrants -- from Somalia and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa -- have fled from Somalia to Yemen this year. They go via the shark-infested Gulf of Aden on rickety boats owned by ruthless smugglers who often throw refugees overboard.

"In 2008 ... we have reports of 200 people who have drowned and died and we have reports of over 250 people who are missing. We don't know what happened to them," Bettocchi said.
He cited the example of an Ethiopian woman who gave birth unconscious on a boat only for the smugglers to throw her baby overboard before she came round. "That kind of abuse is unacceptable," he added.

The U.N. official said smugglers were shifting their bases from Bosasso, a port in the relatively peaceful region of Puntland in north Somalia to Djibouti, which is nearer to Yemen, due to lower costs.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)

Somalia: Puntland leader arrests clan elder for opposing exploration

BOSSASO, Somalia Mar 7 (Garowe Online) - A clan elder in northern Somalia's Puntland region was arrested Friday on the orders of regional President Adde Muse, Garowe Online has learnt.

Abdi Farah, an elder belonging to the Warsangeli clan, was detained by Puntland security forces from his home in the port city of Bossaso, clan elders said confidentially.

A group of clan elders from Bari region, where Bossaso is located, met with Puntland Security Minister Abdullahi Said Samatar to negotiate for Mr. Farah's release.

But Minister Samatar informed the traditional elders that Farah was arrested on the orders of President Muse and that Samatar "cannot do anything about it," sources at the meeting said.

The security minister also told the elders he met with that Mr. Farah was arrested in connection with a Warsangeli clan uprising in March 2006, when Puntland troops and foreign geologists collecting mineral samples were attacked in Majihaan village by Warsangeli clan fighters.

The ensuing violence, which lasted until April, killed at least 10 people and wounded scores, eventually forcing the Puntland government and its foreign partner to suspend operations there.
The Puntland government now suspects that Mr. Farah is leading a campaign to discredit the 2005 exploration deal President Muse signed with Australia-based Range Resources, Ltd.
In related news, Warsangeli gunmen angered by Farah's arrest exchanged gunfire with Puntland police in the town of Laag, roughly 20km west of Bossaso, sources said.

The government dispatched additional security forces to Laag as discussions continued in Bossaso to calm down the situation and negotiate Farah's release.

Muse has made it the highlight of his political career to implement the Puntland-Range deal, even though many in Somalia fear Majihaan-type armed resistance.

Locals oppose the Puntland-Range deal on grounds that Muse did not consult local clans and the legal fact that the Puntland leader lacks the constitutional authority to sell chunks of Somali territory to foreign firms.

Last month, the Muse government presented a revised Puntland Constitution that includes a clause stating that Puntland has the right to sign deals with foreign companies.

The new Constitution has not been introduced for debate in the Puntland Parliament.
Source: Garowe Online

Somalia's security nightmare: nothing is that simple in Somalia.

By Mark Doyle BBC News, near Mogadishu

The road in Somalia from the edge of Mogadishu to the town of Afgooye, some 30km (19 miles) to the north-west, is a seemingly unending vista of grim camps for displaced people.

They have fled the fighting in the capital between government forces and a combination of Islamist insurgents and clan opponents of the regime.
Family after family is crammed into tiny shelters made of bent twigs and scraps of cloth.
I saw evidence of a few aid agencies, local and international, giving assistance.

CLick link below to read more:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7281539.stm

Uganda short of money to boost Somalia force

By Francis Kwera

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda cannot fulfil its offer to completely take over the peacekeeping mission in Somalia because nobody has come up with the money, the defence minister said on Friday.

Uganda was the first of two countries to deploy soldiers as part of an African Union mission to Somalia, torn by fighting between the interim government and Islamist insurgents.

The African Union is supposed to pay for the force, but depends on funding from members and is short of cash. Uganda has said it could supply all 8,000 troops needed if the force is given a U.N. mandate, which would let Uganda tap a bigger pool of funding, but that has not yet happened.
"We are ready to start deployments in Somalia but we have a funding problem," Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga said in an interview with Reuters. "There is no money to transport and maintain peacekeeping troops in Somalia as promised."

The insurgency in Somalia has killed at least 6,500 people and forced some 600,000 to flee the capital, Mogadishu.

Uganda was the first African country to deploy peacekeepers in Somalia early last year, followed by Burundi. Burundi has sent around 600 troops, while Uganda has about 1,600 in place.

Malawi, Nigeria, Mozambique and Ghana withdrew their troop pledges, citing security reasons.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni met U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in January on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Ethiopia, where Ban expressed concern that few African countries had fulfilled pledges to contribute to the force.

Ban is due to issue a report on peacekeeping prospects in Somalia on Monday.
The insurgency in Mogadishu is led by remnants of a hardline Islamist group driven from power a year ago in a lightning offensive by Somalia's interim government and its Ethiopian military backers.

Somali Islamist Fighters Seize 2nd Town

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamist insurgents killed five government soldiers while briefly taking a strategic town in central Somalia, police and residents said, the second such seizure within 24 hours.

The attack late Thursday took place in Belet Weyne, near a critical road junction that links Somalia to the border with Ethiopia. Hundreds of troops are stationed at the junction, which is also Ethiopia's main supply route.

"They launched a surprise attack on the town from different directions, facing pockets of resistance from government forces and immediately took the control of the police station, the prison and a hotel government regional officials were using," said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The town's police chief, Col. Abdi Aden, confirmed that five government soldiers had been killed.
Local resident Duniyo Ali said the fighters had retained control of the town for about three hours before voluntarily withdrawing. The area was now calm, she said.

Also Thursday, residents said Islamists had seized Hudur, a strategic southwestern Somali town that lies along the road leading from Ethiopia into Somalia, without firing a shot.

Islamist fighters have vowed to wage an Iraq-style war on the shaky Western-backed transitional government after Somali troops supported by their Ethiopian allies chased the Islamists from power in December 2006.

The Islamists had seized control of much of the south and the country's capital, Mogadishu, which they had held for six months.

Since the Islamists launched their insurgency, thousands of Somalis have been killed. Somali government troops and officials come under daily attack and the U.N.-backed administration is viewed by many Somalis as corrupt and ineffective. The impoverished country is riven between warring clans and awash with weapons.

The U.S. has linked the militiamen to al-Qaida. On Monday, the U.S. launched a missile strike in a Somali town along the Kenyan border, targeting a suspect in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

US bombs Islamist town in Somalia

The US has launched an attack against a "known al-Qaeda terrorist" in southern Somalia, the Pentagon says.

BBC (London) - Three missiles hit Dhoble town early on Monday, reportedly killing four people and wounding 20.

People are fleeing the town, fearing more strikes. Residents say planes could still be seen flying overhead on Monday morning.
Islamist insurgents seized the town last week and reports said a leader, Hassan Turki, had been in the area.

Mr Turki is on the US list of "financers of terrorism".

US Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman refused to give the identity of the target, whether the strike had achieved its goal or how the strike had been carried out.

_________________________________________________________________

Source: BBC World Service

Female Genital Mutilation Still Common in Somaliland

By Cathy Majtenyi Somaliland

Female genital mutilation, or FGM, is a traditional practice that is performed throughout the Horn of Africa and other parts of the continent. The procedure is often called female circumcision, and it is illegal but still common in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, where health care workers, activists and others are working to end it. Cathy Majtenyi has more for VOA.

As many as 97 percent of girls and women in Somaliland are believed to have undergone the procedure. It involves cutting some or all of the external genitalia and commonly sewing up the genitalia, leaving a small hole for blood and urine to pass.

It is an ancient practice in Somaliland and throughout the Horn of Africa.

Halimo Elmi Wehliye manages an FGM awareness project at Care International that aims to convince communities to abandon the practice. She says that there are many reasons why people practice FGM, one being that it is believed to prepare women for marriage, "The reason why they are practicing [is they believe] if women do not circumcise, they become sexually very active - when she goes out she tries to rape even the men," says Wehliye. "In order to reduce that sensitivity, [they believe,] we have to remove this kind of organ."

Most women who have undergone FGM experience a wide range of medical problems, including acute bleeding, urinary infections, infertility, complications giving birth and even damage to the baby.

Edna Adan Ismail is the founder of a maternity hospital in Somaliland's capital Hargeisa and one of the first health-care professionals to bring the issue of FGM to the world's attention.
She describes what happened to one 12-year-old girl whose opening in her sewn-up genitalia was too small. "The abdomen was distended. There was abdominal pain. We did an ultrasound scan [to determine,] 'Is she pregnant? Why is the abdomen distending?' Of course, the diagnosis was that this young lady had been menstruating and the blood had been collecting inside the body all these months," she explained.

Ismail says a too-small opening can also spell disaster for marital relations. "They bring the bride to us on her wedding night, hemorrhaging like crazy. We suture. We stop the bleeding. We take care of it. We let her go home," she says. "She's brought back the following night with even more severe hemorrhaging, because the wound that we had sutured and the bleeding points that we had stopped were not given a chance to heal by the husband, who forced himself on this girl."
Activists say that the situation is slowly changing as people talk more and more openly about FGM and the harm it causes, with some women rejecting the practice for themselves or their daughters.

One mother described why she prevented her daughter from undergoing FGM. "I have experienced many problems myself, and my sister died because of FGM. She bled to death," the mother said. "I do not like any forms of FGM. My daughter does not wish to do a practice that goes against the Koran."

Activists say some communities are starting to challenge the practice of FGM.
Care International's Halimo Elmi Wehliye says she and her staff ask communities to describe the complications they experience from FGM and come up with possible solutions. "Most of them, they are saying, 'We have to stop [FGM],' and at the same time some of them are saying, 'We have to at least get centers.' Those who want to continue the practice said, 'We have to train qualified midwives at least who can use clean materials to prevent HIV or all blood-transmission infections.'"

But Edna Adan Ismail and others say the pace of change is slow, and that girls and women will continue to suffer needlessly until certain traditional attitudes are changed. ____________________________________________________________________
To watch and or listen, click the below link:
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-03-03-voa26.cfm

Journos targeted in Somalia:"Journalists Under Attack", Amnesty International

Mogadishu - Journalists in Somalia are working under the worst conditions in 17 years, with all sides of the country's conflict trying to curtail independent media by "killing, arresting and threatening" reporters, an international rights group said on Monday.

In a report titled "Somalia: Journalists Under Attack," Amnesty International said at least nine journalists have been killed in Somalia since February 2007.

"The killings, arrests and death threats targeting Somali journalists are not just another unfortunate by-product of the conflict and general insecurity in Somalia - they are a deliberate and systematic attempt by all parties to the conflict to stem the flow of information out of the country," said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme.
Death threats and arrests have forced at least 50 journalists to seek refuge in neighbouring countries, the group said.


On Sunday, Somali government soldiers raided three independent radio stations in the capital, Mogadishu, seizing equipment, forcing the stations off the air and arresting one journalist.
Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

"The situation for journalists in Somalia is the worst it has been since 1991, when the repressive Siad Barre regime was overthrown and the state's collapse began," Amnesty said.
The attacks on media freedom marked a reversal from 2005 and 2006, when new media outlets began extending news coverage and affiliation beyond clan and warlord loyalties, the report said.



Source: News 24

Sarkozy plans overhaul in Africa relations

CAPE TOWN, South Africa: French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a major overhaul of his nation's policies toward Africa on Thursday, saying that its military agreements were outdated and it had no interest in keeping its forces permanently on the continent.

Sarkozy told the South African parliament that he would re-negotiate all defense agreements dating back to the end of the colonial era in the 1960s. France is often accused of propping up dictators and ignoring cronyism and corruption in its former colonies in Africa. In future, relations would be more open and transparent, Sarkozy said.

"Defense agreements must reflect the Africa of today and not yesterday," he said.
"It is unthinkable that the French army should be drawn into domestic conflicts," said Sarkozy, who was elected in May. He said the new policy marked a "major turning point."

France has 9,000 troops at its bases in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, and Senegal and Gabon in the west, and serving in operations in Ivory Coast, Chad and Central African Republic. It also has a military base in the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.

A French defense ministry official in Paris said no decision had been made on whether to close bases. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
Presidential aides said the re-negotiation of France's defense accords would involve eight African countries.

South African President Thabo Mbeki said Sarkozy's stance would help speed the "completion of decolonization of the continent."

In Ivory Coast, where France has 2,400 troops, there was a muted reaction, with government officials saying Sarkozy must first consult with affected nations.

"I am skeptical ... I am waiting to see if there is any concrete action," said Maurice Fero Bali, editor-in-chief of the government daily "Fraternite Matin."

"We, Africans, are still waiting to see this change that Nicolas Sarkozy announced during his campaign. The reality in Chad, where France defended the regime of (President Idriss) Deby is disillusioning," he said.

In Senegal, political analyst Babacar Justin, who specializes in defense issues, said that 40 years after Senegal's independence, the French base in his country was an "anachronism." But he said it will be hard for France to completely relinquish its base in Senegal, which for years was the capital of France's colonial empire.

Alioune Tine, the president of one of the largest human rights organizations in Senegal, called the continued French presence in his country "a scandal for Africa."

Sarkozy arrived in South Africa after a brief stopover in Chad, an oil-rich, coup-prone former French colony that has never known real democracy. When rebels besieged Chad's capital earlier this month, French forces gave logistical support to the government, including transporting munitions from Libya and protecting the airport.

But Sarkozy emphasized that he did not authorize French troops to get involved in the fighting or shoot any Africans and said this was "unprecedented" and indicative of future policy.
Sarkozy said that in future France also wanted to pay greater attention to human rights and democracy, singling out Ivory Coast, Chad and Zimbabwe.

"Africa must take on its own security issues and problems," he said. Policing was a role for the African Union and regional African organizations, and France would help those organization play a more active decisive role in peacekeeping, the French leader said.

Sarkozy also announced an initiative to mobilize €2.5 billion (US$3.8 billion) in new investment in sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years. He said this would finance 2,000 companies and help create 300,000 new jobs.

The French leader stressed that the country's relationship with South Africa, never a French colony, should serve as a model for the new African relationships.

Sarkozy is accompanied by 40 French business leaders including chief executive officer Ann Lauvergeon of AREVA, which built South Africa's Koeberg nuclear power plant and has bid against a consortium led by Westinghouse Corp. of the United States to build a second one.

Sarkozy said he would send a team of French engineers in the coming days to try to help South Africa overcome an acute energy shortage, but stressed that this was unrelated to the AREVA bid.
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Associated Press writers Christine Ollivier in Cape Town, Parfait Kouassi in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sadibou Marone in Dakar, Senegal and John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report

Somaliland calls for aid during drought

HARGEISA, Somalia (Reuters) - Eastern Somaliland is ravaged by drought and acute water shortages, the vice president of the breakaway Somali republic said on Tuesday.

Ahmed Yusuf Yasin urged rich nations to send relief to avert "a calamity" and he called on his countrymen to pray.

"I call on the people to pray individually and in mosques for the next eight days," he told a news conference.

"I also recommend they gather in public, if it doesn't rain, with all schools closed and work stopped for general prayer on the ninth day."

Yasin also ordered all relevant government departments to report on the full extent of the crisis before Friday.

Somaliland broke away from the rest of Somalia in 1991 when warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, plunging the Horn of Africa country into anarchy.

Somalia: Senior Police Officer Killed

Armed groups have shot dead the commander of the orchestra group of Somali police on Monday witnesses said.

The commander namely Abdi Kahiye nicknamed "Harag Shabel" was shot dead in the vicinity of his residence in Hamar jabab district after a men armed with pistols assaulted him and they hit him several bullets on the upper body that caused him to pass away at the scene he was shot.

"I could see the commander bleeding on the ground and he suddenly died at the location he was shot dead" one-eye witnesses who refused to identify told Shabelle said.
Its unknown the reason behind the killing of the commander.

The killing of this officer comes as more than ten district commissioners and police officers were killed in Mogadishu in the last months.

Source: Shabelle News