Somalia News Bulletin: Ethiopian Troops Invade Key Central Town

Somali internally displaced persons hold a demonstration outside the capital of Mogadishu., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Ethiopian troops invade key central Somalia town

Jeffrey Gettleman,Mohammed Ibrahim
New York Times
Saturday, December 31, 2011

Mogadishu, -- Somalia - Ethiopian troops poured into a strategic town in central Somalia on Saturday, seizing it from the al-Shabab militant group and opening a new axis of conflict in the country.

The loss of Beledweyne, a trading hub near the Ethiopian border, leaves the al-Shabab rebels, who once controlled much of the country, spread thin and on the defensive.

African Union forces have been pounding their positions in Mogadishu, the capital, driving al-Shabab fighters from most of the city. Kenyan troops, meanwhile, are battling al-Shabab in the swampy jungles along the Kenya-Somalia border.

Dozens of people appeared to have been killed in the fighting in Beledweyne, with conflicting casualty reports from Somali government officials and from al-Shabab.

The Ethiopian forces, who crossed into Somalia with heavy armor last month, were joined by militias and troops allied to Somalia's weak transitional federal government, the internationally recognized authority that controls little territory of its own.

"Today, the government and the people of Somalia have stood up against the evils of al Qaeda and al-Shabab terrorists, who have for so long terrorized and killed countless Somalis and our neighbors," Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said in a statement.

The statement added that "the Somali National Army recaptured some al-Shabab-occupied territories" and that this was a "historic operation."

Al-Shabab has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda and installed a reign of terror in the areas it controls, chopping off hands, blocking the delivery of emergency food to famine victims and raping girls, especially those who have moved into crowded, lawless refugee camps.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/31/MN6T1MJFVO.DTL


SOMALIA: Puntland officials narrowly escape IED attack

LAS ANOD — Farah Ali Shire, the Finance Minister of Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland narrowly escaped a roadside blast on Saturday in Bosaasso, reports.

Officials said Mr Shire who was traveling at the time with the governor of Bari province, Abdulsamad Mohamed Gallan, was on his way to his house when the bomb was triggered. They added the explosive, which was remotely controlled device, did not cause any damages and an investigation was under way.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but in the last two years, unmanned roadside bombs have became the weapon of choice for insurgents operating in Puntland with almost one planted daily.

Just this week alone at least four security forces and two civilians were killed in Puntland in similar attacks. The bomb disposal unit continue to work around the clock defusing improvised explosive devices (IED).

Locals strongly blamed the insecurity situation in Puntland on Islamic insurgency, piracy and tribal tensions in the region. There are unconfirmed reports that hundreds of al-shabaab militants are pouring into Puntland towns as they flee TFG, AU, Kenya and Ethiopian offensive in the south and central regions. Assassinations of religious scholars, tribal chiefs and officials have all became norm in the region in recent years.

Somalilandpress


Letter From Somalians Express Concern Over Garowe Principles

To: Ban ki-Moon, UN Secretary General

CC: UN Security Council

CC: The African Union

CC: The Arab League

An open letter concerning “The Garowe Principles”

We, Somali citizens, former leaders and civil society personalities, are gravely concerned about the implications of the “Garowe Principles.” Signed on December 24th by six Somali politicians under the auspices of the UN Political Office in Somalia (UNPOS), the pact was legally and politically flawed. If its declared intention was to end the transitional phase, and, as a result, the wider conflict, it achieved neither.

That the conference was held inside Somalia was an admirable step, and together with recommending significantly leaner parliament (225, down from 550 MPs), the Garowe gathering had a potential. But it nonetheless was a missed opportunity. Political settlement is contingent upon just and legal solutions to the underlying political problems. By default, the “Garowe Principles” empowered few individuals at the expense of state institutions. As a result, the pact fails to address the most serious problem: lack of fair political representation.

In this regard, we note the following five points:

1. The “Garowe Principles” practically disenfranchises the Somali people. It steals the people’s inherent right to select their future leaders. The pact grants that basic right to handful of politicians. Moreover, the pact is dangerously ambiguous, presumably to allow the empowered “stakeholders” to interpret it as they see fit. Six politicians were given an outsized influence over the selection and formation of a new parliament and, subsequently, future political leaders. These so-called “stakeholders” are not representative of the wider Somali public. That they’re now at the center of shaping the future of Somalia deals a fatal blow to the reconciliation and peace gains made over the past few years. The leaders of the TFG, Puntland, Galmudug and Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama’a, while they are entitled to help shape the future of their country as citizens, must not be exclusively entrusted with the pivotal role of deciding on the future political dispensations. This vertical approach to solving Somalia’s crisis has been tested and tried, and the result was consistently disastrous.

2. The pact essentially nullifies the Transitional National Charter (TNC), and it replaces the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) with a “National Constituency Assembly” (NCA). The proposed NCA is much bigger in size and few individuals are to select its members, thus creating another illegitimate entity.

3. The “Garowe Principles,” while it misleadingly appears to pave the road for ending the transition, in fact extends it under another term: “provisional.” This play of words contravenes with the Transitional National Charter (TNC), the “Roadmap” and the Kampala Accord (KA), all of which stipulate the necessity to end the transition by August 2012.

4. Among the signatories of the “Garowe Principles” is the former speaker of the parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. Notwithstanding that an overwhelming majority of the parliament removed him from his post earlier in December, the UNPOS allowed him to sign the agreement as the “speaker.” This move practically delegitimizes the legislative branch of the nation, undercuts its constitutional mandate and, more menacingly, infringes upon the sovereignty of our national institutions. In effect, the UNPOS is trying to singlehandedly reverse a parliamentary decision.

5. Lack of fair political representation is at the heart of the Somali crisis. Instead of addressing this problem judiciously, the UNPOS has succumbed to political expediency by empowering its anointed “stakeholders.” As a result, the pact deepens Somalia’s crisis.

Keeping the aforementioned problems in mind:

1. We are calling upon the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to immediately intervene to rectify the situation. The first principle should be ‘do no harm’. The international community should help diffuse the situation not escalate it.

2. New political dispensation is certainly needed. But, the process of selecting new members of the future Somali parliament should wholly be driven by communal-constituency assembly, led by traditional elders, not opportunistic politicians. Representative clan elders must be convened in a national conference and given the authority to select legislators, in consultations with their respective constituencies. With the aim of direct elections whenever the prevailing security situation permits, this process should be envisaged as a temporary arrangement.

3. Until a new parliament is formed, the international community should empower the current institutions and respect the processes, despite its inherent weakness.

We hope that the UNPOS, along with the rest of the international community, do not once again miss another opportunity to affect a positive change. A new, more horizontal dispensation should be undertaken.

Signed by,

1. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, former Somali president

2. Abdulqasim Salad Hassan, former Somali president

3. Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmaajo”, former Somali prime minister

4. Dr. Abdulnur Sheikh Mohamed, former education minister

5. Mohamed Hussein Rage, MP

6. Hussein Arale Aden, MP

7. Ali Omar Ghedi MP

8. Abdulqadir Sheikh Ismail, MP

9. Abdulfatah Ibrahim Rashid, MP

10. Abdullahi Ghedi Shadoor, MP

11. Muhudin Osman Ali, MP

12. Prof. Mohamed Hussien Ilkadahab, MP

13. Dr. Nur Dirie Hersi “Fuursade,” – Italy

14. Eng. Osman D. Osman, Virginia

15. Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, Toronto

16. Basto Ahmed, Virginia

17. Eng.Mohamoud Dahir Adani, Virginia

18. Abdirahman Ahmed, Ohio

19. Abdiaziz Haji Hussein, Minnesota

20. Professor Liban Egal, Seattle

21. Abdulkani Rage Barrow, Ottawa

22. Abdulkadir A. Abdi Ohio

23. Dr. Ali M. Tifow, London, UK


Hunger, cholera kill 55 kids in Somalia

Sun Jan 1, 2012 3:27AM GMT
presstv.ir

A malnourished child rests inside the pediatric ward at the Banadir hospital in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. (file photo)
Fifty-five children have died of cholera and severe malnutrition in Somalia, which is currently experiencing a famine after over two decades of war, Press TV reports.

Cholera claimed as many as 35 children in the Bay region of southern Somalia, located about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, local physicians said on Saturday, the Press TV correspondent in the Somali capital reported.

At least 425 people suffering from various types of diseases were also taken to local hospitals for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, over 20 children died of hunger in Bay region and thousands more are on the verge of starving to death.

Somalia has the world's highest child mortality rate, with almost one in five children dying before their fifth birthday.

The mortality rate in 2010 stood at 180 deaths per every 1,000 live births, according to the latest data released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

With most of southern Somalia in famine, the United Nations says 750,000 people are at imminent risk of death.

Last year, less than a third of one-year-old children in Somalia were immunized, over 70 percent of the population lacked access to safe water, and only three out of every 10 children of primary school age were enrolled in school, according to the United Nations.

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

Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia is one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world.


Germany: EU considers expanding scope of anti-piracy mission to beaches

By Associated Press
Published: December 30

BERLIN — German officials say the European Union is considering expanding the scope of its anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa to allow the destruction of pirates’ equipment on the beaches of Somalia.

The EU’s anti-piracy force patrols the seas off the coast of the country. Somalia has been mired in violence since 1991 — plunging it into a chaos that sprouted militants and piracy.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said Friday that the “limited destruction of piracy logistics on the beach” is under discussion but “no deployment on land.” He stressed that discussions are ongoing and no decision has been made.

Defense Ministry spokesman Stefan Paris said an EU committee on Dec. 20 called for the force’s commander to draw up plans for revised rules of engagement.