Thursday, December 30, 2010

Hate crime charges filed in attack on Somali women in Seattle

Somalilandpress

Comments (8) Seattle, WA (Somalilandpress) — A woman from Burien, Washington has been charged with a hate crime for physically and verbally assaulting two Muslim women at a Tukwila gas station last weekend.
The incident occurred at a Tukwila AM/PM gas station on Saturday evening when, according a charging documents, 37-year-old Jennifer Leigh Jennings accosted two Muslim women from Somali decent, calling them “terrorists” and “suicide bombers” before physically attacking them.
The victims, who do not want to be identified for fear of reprisal, are both of Somali decent and were wearing traditional Muslim attire.

The Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations held a press conference Thursday morning to denounce the attack and raise awareness for what some see as a recent spike in Muslim hate crimes.
At the press conference, both victims said they are now afraid to leave their homes or show their faces in the community. Both are U.S. citizens and both called the incident “un-American.”
Jennings, who is also known as Jennifer Leigh Adams, was charged today with two counts malicious harassment, the state’s hate crime statute, for using the victims’ “race, ancestry, and nation of origin” as reason for the attack, prosecutors said.
The attack occurred as victims were trying to pump gas at the station after paying the clerk, but the pump had not been activated.
According to court documents, Jennings saw the pair trying to fill their gas tank and told the victims they should “go back to your country” after calling them “suicide bombers.”
One of the victims described how the incident began.
“A lady on the other side (of the gas station) drives up and starts verbally assaulting me,” she said. “She’s calling me a suicide bomber, a terrorist. She’s saying, ‘What are you doing here? Are you trying to bomb our gas stations? Our country?’”
Police said the victims did not respond to Jennings’ taunts, but when one of the two went back in the store to get the clerk to activate the pump, Jennings slammed their car door on the legs of the other victim.
The woman then got out of the car and Jennings kicked her, according to police.
The attack shook both victims to the bone, and they hope it opens people’s eyes about the seriousness of hate crimes.
“As Muslims, we’re human beings and we deserve the same respect as everybody else,” one victim said. “This country is a melting pot and there’s so many diverse people, I think we should all respect each other and (each other’s) space.”
Jennings was arrested arrested the scene and while being transported to jail told a police officer “Ya, I shouldn’t of called them sand (expletive) or other stuff like that.”
Jennings is scheduled to be arraigned November 2.
By Mohamed H. Gulaid

Somaliland Police Seized Counterfeit Money

Somalilandpress

December 18th 2010   ·   18 Comments Berbera- (Somalilandpress)- Somaliland security forces arrewsted five men in connection with US counterfeit money in the coastal city of Berbera.
“Sahil regional Security forces has seized $550 US counterfeit dollar. Four people are being detained in connection with the case.” Said Somaliland’s chief commander Elmi Kabal .
Sahil regional police commander Abdiraxmaan Ibrahin Mahamoud speaking at a press conference in Berbera last night told the detainees were trying to use the counterfeit money, but fortunately were arrested, after a shop keeper informed the police.
Mr. Abdirahman warns  Somalilander’s to be vigilant of counterfeit money and inform the security forces if they come across.
It is not the first time, that security forces arrest for carrying counterfeit money. The police are now questioning the detainees.

State of Kuwait Funds Ten Millions to Renovate Somaliland Airports

Somaliland press

December 29th 2010   ·   19 Comments HARGEISA (SomalilandPress)—

The government of Somaliland and the State of Kuwait have signed an agreement in which Kuwait will fund the renovation and rehabilitation of both Egal International Airport in Hargeisa and Berbera International Airports. Kuwait will fund this project approximately with ten million dollars, with the understanding that they will manage the allocation of the funds.
During a press briefing in his office Aviation Minister Mr. Mohamud Hashi Abdi informed SomalilandPress that “Kuwaiti government will fund the renovating of Hargeisa and Berbera Airports with the exception that Kuwaiti Fund that is owned by the State of Kuwait will manage the allocation of the funds and contracting”. To elaborate further Minister Abdi said “we agreed to this term with Kuwait because we would like to have transparent with all donor funds, rather than say gives us the money, we are saying help us build infrastructure”. When the project is completed Kuwaiti Fund will turn the complete project back to Somaliland government.

After these two projects are completed it is expected to cater for some of the world’s biggest commercial jets and ultimately drive air traffic growth in the region both inbound and outbound. Both Airports are currently hub for passengers traveling between Somaliland and Somali.

This is not the first time that the State of Kuwait has funded projects in Somaliland, earlier this year the Kuwaiti Royal family has funded the upgrading of Sheikh Hospital. The hospital is located in the same city where the Kuwaiti emir has built a modern luxury villa in the outskirt of the city.
Source: SomalilandPress

Somaliland jails Russians over weapons for Puntland


map

Six Russians have been jailed in the northern Somali breakaway territory of Somaliland.
Their aircraft was seized earlier this month carrying military equipment bound for the neighbouring semi-autonomous state of Puntland.
A court sentenced them to a year in jail and fined them for supplying military equipment to an enemy.
The charterer of the plane, Saracens International, denied that the cargo was illegal.
The Russians were also convicted of violating Somaliland's airspace and fined $500 (£320). The uniforms and mines which were found on board the aircraft were confiscated by the court in the Somaliland capital, Hargeisa.
Reports say the Russians were told that if they paid a larger fine they would serve a shorter sentence.
Some South African journalists on the plane, which had landed without permission in Hargeisa to refuel, were released earlier.
BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says that this is a very murky case and that many elements of it are unclear.
Disputed territory
After the Russians were arrested the interior minister of Somaliland, Mohamed Abdi Gaboosi, said the cargo was in violation of the United Nations arms embargo on Somalia.
Saracens - a private military contractor, which is based in Uganda and South Africa - told the BBC at the time that the cargo was destined for its operation in Puntland, where it is training an anti-piracy force.
Somaliland declared itself independent from Somalia in the early 1990s, but is not internationally recognised. It is relatively stable, unlike the rest of Somalia, and even organises regular elections.
However, it has a border dispute with Puntland and the two security forces occasionally clash.
Unlike Somaliland, Puntland says it does not seek recognition as an independent entity, wishing instead to be part of a federal Somalia.
Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991.

Somali government: 18 militants killed in overnight Mogadishu confrontations

All Headline News

A government military officer in Mogadishu said Al Shabaab extremists launched hit and run attacks on military bases in the city three times.
Troops of the transitional federal government of Somalia killed 18 Al Shabaab extremist fighters during fierce clashes in parts of Mogadishu, an official said Wednesday.
clearpxl Dhame Abdulkadir, a government military officer in Mogadishu’s Hodan district, told reporters in the capital that Al Shabaab launched hit and run attacks on military bases in the city three times. He said government forces inflicted severe losses on the insurgents and confiscated many assault rifles from them.
Local residents said the clashes erupted Tuesday night in different areas of Mogadishu after Al Shabaab attacked government and AMISOM bases. Most of the confrontations reportedly took place in the districts of Abdul Azeez, Bondhere, Hodan and Howlwadag in northern and southern Mogadishu.
“We penetrated into several positions by Al Shabaab militants. I don’t know where that had run away. But if they try to attack us again we are ready here to repulse them and that is what we can do,” Abdulkadir was quoted as saying. The sound of gun fire could be heard near him as he spoke.
No statements from Al Shabaab were immediately available in response to the government’s claim.
Local inhabitants report that areas experiencing the overnight conflict are now quiet.
At least 10 civilians have been killed and more than 25 others hurt in the last 24 hours, according to Mogadishu health officials.
Local hospitals are reported to have been overwhelmed by wounded, included women and children.


Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/articles/90029016?Somali%20government%3A%2018%20militants%20killed%20in%20overnight%20Mogadishu%20confrontations#ixzz19fJ40iOW

SOMALIA 'From one hell to another'



(Sudarsan Raghavan)
  Enlarge Photo    

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Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, December 26, 2010
IN GALKAYO, SOMALIA Deka Mohamed Idou sat under a tree, exhausted after a grueling six-day journey. She touched her belly, yearning for her unborn child to kick.
This Story
    This is why she took the long, bumpy road out of Mogadishu: War. A missing husband and three missing children. A shattered house.
    This is why she's here in this wind-swept no man's land between Somalia and Djibouti: Peace. Work. An education for her two other children. She can't see what awaits them. Perhaps sanctuary. Perhaps more suffering. But she's certain of one thing.
    "I will deliver my baby in a place without gunfire," she said.
    For Somalis, the road out of Mogadishu is a last resort. Those traveling on it have fled homes abruptly with terrified children, and crossed a wilderness of thieves, armed Islamists and marauding tribesmen. Many have been robbed, beaten, raped, even killed.
    The situation in Mogadishu has become so bad that nearly 300,000 Somalis have made their way out this year, swelling the ranks of what is, after Iraq and Afghanistan, the third-largest refugee population in the world. Most are women and children. The men who have survived have stayed behind to protect their homes, or they went ahead. Some have vanished in the chaos. Others are fighting.
    The road, and the places along it, is the most visible evidence of a population still disintegrating, amid hopelessness and death, two decades after the collapse of Siad Barre's government plunged Somalia into an endless civil war.
    Today, al-Shabab, a militia linked to al-Qaeda, controls large chunks of the Muslim country and seeks to overthrow the fragile U.S.-backed government. The militia's Taliban-like decrees and recruitment of children provide more reasons for Somalis to flee.
    They travel north, often to places they have only imagined, arriving hungry and desperate. They join the hundreds of thousands who have fled since 1991, leaving behind a city that once had 2.5 million people.
    Many remain too poor to flee. The ones with some means head for camps in Somali towns like Galkayo, Bossaso and Hargeisa, searching for peace and support. The ones with a few dollars more head for foreign lands - Djibouti, Yemen, Saudi Arabia - searching for a new life.
    Those who succeed enter a world where they can be deported at any moment, where they are increasingly viewed as a security threat. Those who fail, and most do, are trapped in a humanitarian limbo, resigned to hardship, dependency and a broken life.
    Or they die.

    Al-Shabab admit to public cruelty and abuse of power

    SUNA TIMES
    Published On: Wednesday, December, 29 2010 - 03:47:49

    The latest remarks by Shongole, a close confidant of Al-Shabab Commander Ahmed Abdi Godane – who is rarely seen in public and is believed to moving around dressed in a women dress and veil -- is short of admitting constant public mistreatment, killings, robbing and rape as they stand accused in the public opinion which has unfortunately became a way of life in many Al-Shabab held regions of southern Somalia.
    By Guled Mohamed

    Mogadishu, December 26 –The notorious Al-Shabab militants have finally admitted to mistreating the public blaming their barbarism to recent crushing defeats in the hands of the poorly funded Somali government and their backers African Union peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi.

    In a rare public appearance in the agricultural rich district of Afgoye, 30 km west of the capital Mogadishu, Fuad Mohamed Khalaf aka Shongole, a senior Al-Shabab commander warned his accomplices of a severe blow to their fading rule should they continue mistreating the public.

    Al-Shabab rose from obscurity into power by default as an off-shot of the once powerful Islamic Courts Union which controlled Mogadishu and large swathes of land in southern Somalia between mid 2006 to late December after rooting out a US-backed coalition of warlords who had divided up Somalia into a patchwork of fiefdoms.

    “The reason the Mujahedeen’s have failed to emerge victorious against the infidels is largely due to the bad relationship between the public and Al-Shabaab. If we are stronger than the public we should remember that Allah is also stronger than us… We need to fairly treat the people if we are to succeed,” Shongole was quoted on local radio on Saturday while addressing residents of Afgoye town, which they recently usurped together with Hizbul Islam their former copy-cat Islamist gang who were in charge of the sleepy town along the shores of river Shabelle.

    The latest remarks by Shongole, a close confidant of Al-Shabab Commander Ahmed Abdi Godane – who is rarely seen in public and is believed to moving around dressed in a women dress and veil -- is short of admitting constant public mistreatment, killings, robbing and rape as they stand accused in the public opinion which has unfortunately became a way of life in many Al-Shabab held regions of southern Somalia.

    Analysts say Shongole’s remarks is not likely to change the groups cruelty against the public largely due to the unlettered nature of the thousands of their underage militias who only believe in enforcing their strict application of Sharia law devoid of wisdom unto the war weary public many of who adhere to the more tolerant Sufist belief.

    From the southern port city of Kismayu to the central regions of Somalia where Al-Shabab’s autocratic rule extends, the group is accused of widespread human rights abuses contrary to the same Islamic belief they so adamantly claim to adhere to.

    For the ordinary Somalis who languish in poverty and have nothing to eat as a result of Al-Shabab’s ban on humanitarian aid agencies. Many have either fled or a contemplating fleeing from areas controlled by the group not knowing what next to expect in the immediate future under Al-Shabab’s terrible reign.

    PUBLICITY STUNT

    Just 15 km from Afgoye where Shongole was speaking, Al-Shabab militias were reportedly robbing people around the Elesha Biyaha internally displaced persons (IDP) camps located along what has come to be known as the Afgoye corridor in the humanitarian circles where the worlds biggest concentration of IDP camps are located with more than half a million people living in squalid camps in a 20-mile stretch of land along the busy Mogadishu-Afgoye road.

    Many of these poor IDP’s were actually rooted from their homes in Mogadishu by Al-Shabaab’s unsuccessful attempts to unseat an interim government struggling to assert its authority in a country that has virtually become a byword of anarchy with an incessant war that span for 20 years since the ouster of the last central government in 1991.

    Witnesses said heavily armed Al-Shabab militias riding heavily tinted vehicles kidnap anyone seen coming out of the various Hawala’s or money transfer companies located in the camps to secret locations where they lock their victims, robbed them of any US Dollars they had been sent by relatives abroad before beating them up in the pretext of punishing them for cooked-up crimes according to their scriptures.

    “Al-Shabab militias kidnapped him and drove to an undisclosed location where he was robbed, kicked and accused of being a spy for the government and AMISOM. He had gone to pick our monthly bill of $100 sent by our sister living in the US. He was released in the evening and threatened to be killed if he revealed what happened to him. He has fled to Mogadishu and left us without food. There are many other victims of this daylight armed robbery,” said a young Somali teenager, speaking by phone from Elesha IDP camp sounding really worried.

    If you thought this is to much wait until you hear of other merciless acts committed by Al-Shabab militias who seem to simply be getting away with anything they do in Somalia.

    A poor potter is still struggling to survive from a harrowing experience with Al-Shabab after his tongue was cut-off with a live electricity wire for apparently being suspected to be a spy after he was spotted carrying goods several times on his wheelbarrow for a client from the insurgent held sprawling Bakara market to the government-held Hamarwayne district.

    And as if that is not enough, they recently killed 2 pastoralists near Kismayu for refusing to pay Zakat or alms. A Mogadishu teenager was shot dead by an Al-Shabab militiaman after he refused to pick up his hair after it had been forcibly clipped. The reason, he had kept an un-Islamic hairstyle.

    “If these ridiculous crimes are anything to go by, Shongole and his accomplices have a right to be really worried because Al-Shabab is slowly fading away. Since it is an ideological belief it is very hard to fight it head on. Their inhuman treatment of the same public who supported them yesterday will deprive them of recruits and the economic muscle they badly need. They stand no chance and the likes of Shongole cannot redeem their already bloodied hands with any public relations gimmick,” a Somali analyst said declining to give his name for his own safety.

    Al-Shabab mortar wounds 4 civilians in Mogadishu.

    SUNA TIMES

    Published On: Wednesday, December, 29 2010 - 10:16:39 This post has been viewed 127 times

    The mortar is said to have crushed into a house close to where hundreds of Somali patients were waiting to get into the AMISOM base to receive free treatment. By Marian Yarisow
     Mogadishu, (Sunatimes)  At least 3 children and an elderly woman were wounded on Wednesday after Al-Shabab militias fired a mortar shell towards civilian patients waiting to be treated at a free clinic run by African Union peacekeepers in Somalia, officials and witnesses said.
    The attack which happened around lunchtime occurred close to the African Union peacekeepers main base in Mogadishu. The mortar is said to have crushed into a house close to where hundreds of Somali patients were waiting to get into the AMISOM base to receive free treatment.
    AMISOM later issued a statement condemning the attack and saying it was cowardly attack.

    “This is a desperate attempt by the extremist to harm civilians. As you know they have publicly threatened the poor people whom AMISOM is helping not to seek medical assistance from our hospitals. It is very unfortunate that innocent civilians have again been wounded by the extremists. The four wounded persons are receiving treatment at our hospital and are in a stable condition,’ AMISOM Spokesman Major Ba-Hoku Barigye told Sunatimes.com

    Hussein Abdi, who witnessed the attack, says they heard a loud explosion in the afternoon as hundreds of patients gathered outside waiting to be screened before they could be allowed into the AMISOM base.

    “The mortar landed in a house. An elderly woman and three children one of them a boy were wounded. The boy was seriously hurt as shrapnel’s pierced through his head. AMISOM medics rushed in immediately and stabilized them before taking them to their hospital. Al-Shabab is a coward gang that only knows how to kill and maim the civilians. Why don’t they go and face the soldiers in the frontline,” Abdi said outside the house where the incident happened.

    Al-Shabab officials could not immediately confirm or deny the attack. Their phones went unanswered.

    Monday, December 27, 2010

    Prof. Lidwein "Ladan" Soomaali bay ku hadashaa

    LEARN SOMALI MAAHMAAH by Georgi Kapchits

    Norwegian girl Speaking Somali language

    Tanya - Laqan

    gabar ajnabi ah oo hees soomaali qaadaysa

    Stacy [Fahiima] Speaks Somali and We are proud of her

    Julia waa Gabadh Maraykan ah Waxay bartaa luuqada Soomaaliga (Julia Is A...

    nin cadaan oo af somali ku hadlaaya

    Martin Orwin Af Soomaaliguu ku hadlaa, waxna ku baraa

    Canadian Boy Speaking Good Somali

    Caruur Af Hooyo iyo mid kale bara

    Shameless England Parliment Ignoring The Genocide in Somalia

    SD Somali Leader Reacts To Terrorist Attack In Somalia

    Tuesday, December 21, 2010

    United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime

    Drug use prevention, treatment and care

    Compilation of Evidence-Based Family Skills Training Programmes

    August 2010 - UNODC has recently published a useful new Compilation of Evidence-Based Family Skills Training Programmes. It provides policymakers, programme managers, non-governmental organizations and others interested in implementing family skills training programmes with a review of existing evidence-based family skills training programmes. UNODC received descriptions of some 150 programmes; the programmes included in this publication are those regarded, on the basis of randomized control trials, as having had positive results. The programmes appear in descending order according to the level of scientific evidence on which they are based. Read more.


    Working towards evidence-based drug dependence treatment and care

    July 2010 - UNODC has launched a new strategy for the treatment of drug dependence to promote evidence-based and ethical treatment policies worldwide.  The goals of TREATNET center around increasing access to quality drug dependence treatment services, reducing the negative health and social consequences of drug use and dependence, and creating local ownership and sustanability by involving staff from national and local government agencies, universities and treatment centres in project countries. UNODC has published an informational TREATNET brochure in all languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

    The non-medical use of presciption drugs, policy direction issues

    June 2010 - The non-medical use of prescription drugs controlled under the Conventions is an increasing problem in many countries. In some countries, this is second only to cannabis. This is most notably in North America, but there are also reports of significant treatment demand in Europe, Africa, South Asia and Latin America. Addressing the non-medical use of prescription drugs needs to carefully take into consideration the need to ensure the availability of these substances (that do have a recognised and much needed medical use), while preventing diversion and misuse. UNODC is developing a discussion paper to assist Member States in addressing the issue of the non-medical use of prescription drugs, focusing on recommendations for policy and practice. To this purpose, UNODC, together with WHO, convened a technical consultation in Vienna from 22 to 24 June 2010, inviting a wide range of researchers, policy makers and practitioners. Read more.

    Treating drug dependence through healthcare, not punishment

    May 2010 - Treatment offered as an alternative to criminal justice sanctions has to be evidence-based and in line with ethical standards. UNODC convened a technical consultation of experts from 28 to 30 October 2009 in Vienna where 20 reserchers, policy makers and practitioner from 13 countries worldwide participated. On the basis of the discussions, UNODC produced this discussion paper which outlines a model of referral from the criminal justice system to the treatment system that is mor e effective than compulsory treatment.  This model of referral results in less restriction of liberty, is less stigmatising and offers better prospects for the future of the individual and the society. From coercion to cohesion: Treating drug dependence through healthcare, not punishment.

    UNODC-WHO Joint Programme on drug dependence treatment and care:

    April 2010 - UNODC and WHO both have constitutional mandates to address issues presented by drug use and dependence.  Moreover, taking into account the health, socio-economic and security implementations of drug use and related disorders, the two agencies are uniquely positioned to lead this initiative.  In particular, it will open a dialogue with Member States and involve a varied group of government ministries such as those for health, welfare, as well as the criminal justice system and other relevant sectors.
    Our Brochure contains information on the programme and on the issues. Available in:  Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.

    Other drug use prevention, treatment and care initiatives

    UNODC supports Member States in addressing drug use and drug addiction as any other health disorder: i.e. by implementing drug use prevention interventions and providing drug dependence treatment and care services, which are based on scientific evidence and on ethical standards. Click on the links below to know more about UNODC activities and resources in:
    Drug use prevention
    Drug dependence treatment and care

    humantraffickung,org

    News & Updates

    Somalia: Human Trafficking on the Increase

    April 05, 2010
    Officials in Somalia's self-declared independent state of Somaliland are concerned over a rise in human trafficking in the region. Children are mainly trafficked from south-central Somalia, because of the lack of government there, says a senior government official.
    “Human trafficking is increasing in Somaliland. Before, no one believed that human/child trafficking existed in Somaliland but such kinds of crimes occur here…” Fadumo Sudi, the Minister for Family and Social Affairs, said during a recent ceremony to reunite a girl with her family. She had been trafficked to Hargeisa in February from Qardho, in the autonomous northeast region of Puntland.
    “One day, my sister went to school as usual, but she disappeared. We searched for her everywhere but we didn’t find her. Finally, we heard from the media that she had been trafficked to Somaliland and by Allah’s mercy she was saved. We are happy to have her back,” Najib Jama Abdi, the girl’s brother, said.
    In January, the Somaliland immigration office in the area of Loyada, along the border with Djibouti, sent home more than 60 minors in the company of about 200 illegal immigrants who were hoping to proceed on to Europe via Eritrea, Sudan and Libya.
    Ethiopian Oromian children also travel to Somaliland without their parents in search of work; most end up in petty trade or as street children. Older people, claiming to be the children’s parents, use them to beg.
    "The children are used in different ways ... and are exploited for child labour in Somaliland," Lul Hassan Matan, the director of child protection in Somaliland's National Human Rights Commission, told IRIN. "Whenever you see a child in the street crying and ask him or her why, they respond they are not with their parents, but have been brought in to work." (Since speaking to IRIN, Matan has left this position).
    Raising awareness
    According to Khadar Qorane Yusuf, the victim referral mechanism lead person in the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs, the children are initially enticed with false promises and told not to share the information with anyone, only to be later violated.
    "With the collaboration of the International Office for Migration (IOM), we are raising awareness by holding forums to discuss the issue of trafficking, as well as debates and seminars," added Qorane. Information posters have been strategically placed along the borders and airports.
    IOM defines trafficking in persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
    Exploitation includes the exploitation or the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
    Forced into sex work
    According to Mayumi Ueno, the counter-trafficking project manager at IOM’s Somalia Support Office, the scale of human trafficking in Somalia is not known. “But [a] rapid assessment conducted by IOM indicated [the] existence of international trafficking of Somali women to Djibouti, Kenya, and the Gulf States, mainly the United Arab Emirates, for sexual and labour exploitation. Moreover, further investigations confirmed the widespread practice of domestic human trafficking of Somali women and children [who are] lured into forced prostitution in some areas of Somalia [Somaliland and Puntland],” Ueno told IRIN.
    In 2009, IOM launched a Counter Trafficking Project for Somalia, in Somaliland and Puntland, whose activities include awareness-raising campaigns targeting the local population to inform them of the dangers and risks of being trafficked. It has also supported Somaliland and Puntland in setting up National Counter Trafficking Taskforces.
    Challenges remain, however, with the public and authorities not familiar with the concept of human trafficking and the best ways to respond, Mayumi said. “Furthermore, the general lack of social services and issues of culture and social stigma make victims' reintegration extremely difficult.”
    Adapted from: "SOMALIA: Human trafficking on the increase." 2 April 2010. IRIN news.

    In Brief: Fish nets join mosquito nets against malaria

    IRIN

    Photo: Wikipedia
    Malaria is transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito
    Johannesburg, 2 July 2010 (IRIN) - New drugs to fight malaria may well lie at the bottom of the ocean, according to researchers studying over 2,500 samples from marine organisms collected at depths of over 900 metres. They have already found 300 that contain substances that can kill the parasite.

    "Healing powers for one of the world's deadliest diseases may lie within sponges, sea worms and other underwater creatures," said an internal publication by the University of Central Florida (UCF) after a study of samples collected off the Florida coast in the United States with the help of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, Florida.

    "So far we have a hit rate of over 10 percent," said Debopam Chakrabarti, Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at UCF, who is leading the research. He was "quite enthused by the promise of the project", but warned that "early promise does not always materialize" into a usable drug.

    Chakrabarti has spent over 20 years researching treatments for the mosquito-borne illness, and turned to the largely unexplored biological potential of the ocean because "[current] drugs are becoming increasingly less effective and [malaria] is still killing," he told IRIN.

    The UN World Health Organization has noted that about 3.3 billion people - half of the world's population - are at risk of malaria, and around 1 million people worldwide are killed by it every year.

    tdm/he Theme (s): Health & Nutrition,
    [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

    INDONESIA: Lots of food - and malnutrition - in the east

    IRIN

    High rates of child malnutrition in Kupang province
    KUPANG, 20 December 2010 (IRIN) - A lack of trained health staff, treatments and health promotion make Indonesia’s eastern province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) one of the country’s most food insecure, despite the general availability of food.

    In the drought-prone mostly rural province of 4.5 million people spread out over 50 islands, the average per capita income is US$265 a year.

    “Food is not the main problem here,” said UN Food and Agriculture Organization food security officer, Andrey Damaledo, in Kupang, one of 20 in NTT. “We have pumpkin, cassava, banana here. Locals define food as corn or rice. Diversification [of diets] is what is needed.”

    Even rice and maize harvests have steadily increased from 2003 to 2007, according to the government’s most recent Food Security and Vulnerability Atlas, leading to surplus production in some districts.

    Yet NTT hosted six of the country’s most vulnerable districts, second only to the far eastern province of Papua, which had 11, according to the atlas.

    To create a composite food security index, researchers evaluated 14 factors nationwide, including female literacy; access to safe water, sanitation, electricity, 4x4 road access and health facilities; exposure to natural disasters; deforestation and food production.

    According to Damaledo, NTT’s “hunger paradox” goes much deeper than food.

    The country’s highest rates of under-five children who were diagnosed as chronically malnourished (as measured by height-for-age) or acutely malnourished was in NTT– 46.7 and 20 percent, respectively, as compared to the national average of 36.8 percent and 13.6 percent.

    Overall malnutrition is a longstanding problem in NTT that is still being treated with short-term solutions, said Damaledo. “Peanut pastes and rice giveaways do not address underlying problems of feeding practices, low levels of education, and cultural obstacles to good nutrition. There is a tree of causes we are still mapping.”

    Challenges

    Some 1,300 children were recorded as severely acutely malnourished in 2009 in NTT, which was 2 percent of all children surveyed.

    The province only had therapeutic foods available to treat 10 percent, according to the Ministry of Health. Severe wasting can be deadly if untreated as the child loses body fat and muscle tissue, say nutrition experts.

    ''It is like we are in a jungle with a machete looking for a way out now''
    Another problem is insufficient health promotion and lack of trained nutritionists willing to work in remote areas, said Messel Ataupah, who heads the Ministry of Health’s office in NTT district, Kupang.

    “For a long time we [Health Ministry] have ignored health promotion. It is like we are in a jungle with a machete looking for a way out now. People still see health promotion as a waste of time. It is hard to get [staff] to come in for training – some even refuse,” said Ataupah.

    There are seven trained nutritionists spread over NTT’s 286 community health posts.

    Untrained village health staff can gather inaccurate malnutrition data, said an assistant with the World Food Programme (WFP) office in Kupang city, Ha’i Raja Lawa. “Data is still a challenge we are struggling with in NTT.”

    The government is expected to release new malnutrition figures in its 2010 national basic health survey on 20 December.

    Interventions

    The government recently launched a programme in 11 districts in NTT to target energy-deficient children with 100g of fortified biscuits daily for 90 days.

    Another programme distributes “sprinkles” boosted with micronutrients to help children under-two fight lifelong chronic malnutrition – one of the leading causes of preventable disability, according to the World Health Organization.

    There are two medical feeding centres in NTT that are supposed to provide nutrient-dense foods to treat emaciated children for severe acute malnutrition.

    But these interventions have limited impact, said WFP’s Lawa, “Not all parents want to bring their children to a feeding centre. Parents in NTT do not see malnutrition as a problem.”

    Even Lawa admitted she fell into the trap of other working parents who neglect their children’s nutrition. She has an under-five child who is on the border between moderate and severe wasting, diagnosed by a child’s too-low weight-for-height or too-small upper arm.

    In the district where she lives in Kupang, 23.9 percent of children surveyed for malnutrition in 2009 had signs of wasting.

    pt/mw
    Theme (s): Children, Food Security, Health & Nutrition,
    [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

    Sunday, December 19, 2010

    Somali Islamist groups to join forces: spokesman


    MOGADISHU — War-ravaged Somalia's two major Islamist movements have ended their rivalry and merged their military forces, a leader of one of the groups told AFP on Sunday.
    Fighters from Hezb al-Islam joined the ranks of Al Qaeda-linked Shehab militants battling against African Union-backed forces of the fragile transitional government, according to witness reports.
    "We have decided to rejoin the Shebab and dissolve Hezb al-Islam. I can tell you from today (Sunday) our group, including the highest commanders, will become members of the Shehab," said Mohamed Osman Arus, a Hezb al-Islam spokesman.
    The spokesman said the agreement was reached after talks between leaders of the groups, following several weeks of tension which included the Shehab forcibly taking a town held by Hezb al-Islam.
    Islamist fighters control much of central and southern Somalia. The transitional government says it controls more than half of the capital Mogadishu, but swathes remain no-go areas controlled by the Shehab.
    No leaders of the Shehab could be reached to confirm the agreement with Hezb al-Islam.

    Sunday, December 12, 2010

    Police probe Stockholm blasts as act of terrorism

    Police search address linked to Sweden bombings  
    AFP – A passer-by stand stands at the corner of Bryggaregatan and Drottninggatan street in central Stockholm. …
    STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Police said on Sunday they were treating bomb blasts in Stockholm as an act of terrorism by a lone attacker that followed an emailed threat referring to Sweden's troops in Afghanistan and to cartoons of Mohammad.
    Police stopped short of calling Saturday afternoon's blasts, which killed the suspected bomber and wounded two people, a suicide attack. A car blew up in a busy shopping area, followed minutes later by a second explosion nearby.
    Shortly before the blasts, Swedish news agency TT received a threatening letter referring to Sweden's presence in Afghanistan and caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad drawn by a Swedish cartoonist. The letter included digital sound files with a recording in broken Swedish and in Arabic.
    The incident follows several nervous months in Europe after a U.S. travel alert about possible attacks by militants and a failed bid by a Yemen-based al Qaeda group to use air cargo to send parcel bombs via Europe to America.
    German authorities last month said they were on guard against threats of armed attack on civilians of the kind that killed 166 in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, but Germany said on Sunday it saw no link with the Swedish attack.
    TT said the letter promised attacks over Sweden's presence in Afghanistan, where it has 500 troops with the U.S.-led NATO force, and the cartoons drawn three years ago by Lars Vilks.
    "This is a very serious incident, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism," Anders Thornberg, director of operations at the Security Police, said in a statement.
    "As far as we know, it looks like he was working for himself, but we have to be really sure so we are investigating whether there could be more perpetrators," he told Reuters.
    The police declined to go into further details about the dead man's motives or identity.
    SUSPECT'S IDENTITY
    U.S.-based SITE intelligence group, which monitors Islamist websites, said a member of Shumukh al-Islam posted a message on Sunday identifying the alleged bomber as Taymour Abdulwahab and cited media reports naming him as Taymour Abdulwahab Al-Abdaly.
    A post on a Muslim dating website showed Abdaly was married with two young daughters and looking for a second wife.
    In the post he wrote that he was born in Baghdad and moved to Sweden in 1992 and that he studied at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton, which has a large Muslim community.
    U.S. terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann told Reuters the suspect had been identified on online forums normally used by militant groups, including al Qaeda, as "holy warrior" Taimur Abdelwahab.
    A Facebook page entitled "RIP (rest in peace) Taimour Abdulwahab our brother and friend" has also been set up.
    Swedish broadcaster SVT, citing unidentified sources, said the dead man was thought to be a 29-year-old from the small town of Tranas, about 200 km (124 miles) southwest of Stockholm.
    Newspaper Expressen said it had found the man's entry on Facebook and that it had a profile picture of two men waving a black flag with Arabic writing on it and Islamic martyr videos.
    Police would not comment on a report in daily Aftonbladet on Saturday which quoted a source as saying the man was carrying six pipebombs, of which one exploded, and a rucksack full of nails and suspected explosive material.
    "Sweden is panicking of course because this has never been the case before that you have an act of terrorism directed toward the public, and this will of course create fear in Sweden," Vilks told Reuters in an interview.
    WORRIED EUROPE
    Sweden did not raise its security threat level -- currently at "elevated," two notches below the top level -- but police stepped up their presence in Stockholm.
    Britain, which has suffered similar attacks, said it was in touch with Sweden.
    Kohlmann said he suspected the attack was by "a home-grown local extremist who may or may not have connections to any actual terrorist organization."
    Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt urged Swedes to remain calm and not let their belief in tolerance and openness be shaken.
    Police arrested a man seen getting out of a car brandishing an axe near Reinfeldt's office just before the premier spoke.
    The Islamic Association in Sweden condemned the blasts. "The attack is a shock to us all, and strikes at our joint peace and security," Chairman Omar Mustafa said in statement.
    The incident began when a car burst into flames near a busy shopping street in the city center, followed by explosions inside the car which police said were caused by gas canisters.
    The second explosion, about 300 meters (yards) away and 10-15 minutes later, killed one man and wounded two people.
    "Our actions will speak for themselves, as long as you do not end your war against Islam and humiliation of the prophet and your stupid support for the pig Vilks," TT news agency quoted a man as saying in one recording.
    (Additional reporting by William Maclean, Ilze Filks and Niklas Pollard; writing by Adam Cox and Patrick Lannin; editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

    Saturday, December 11, 2010

    Inside Africa - Eneida Marta & Outros

    Iqra TV- Mandy Bush from USA explains her journey to Islam

    Journalist cruelly Murdered in Galkayo

     Somaliweyn 

    Wednesday 01 September 2010 SMC
    The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the brutal murder of journalist Abdullahi Omar Gedi of Radio Daljir, who was stabbed to death in Galkayo District of Mudug region around 8pm of Tuesday, 31 August 2010.

    Gedi, 25, was attacked by unknown assailants who stabbed him at least six times at the chest and the legs in Garsoor village. He died from his wounds on his way to the General Hospital of Galkayo, according to his
    colleagues at Radio Daljir. His mobile was stolen.

    “We deplore the barbaric killing of Abdullahi Omar Gedi. The Puntland authorities must catch and bring to justice the killers and the brains behind Gedi’s killing,” said Burhan Ahmed Dahir, NUSOJ Puntland Coordinator.

    The motive of the killing is still unrevealed and no one was arrested for this brutal act, though the police and Puntland Intelligence Service asked questions pedestrians. “Many crimes against journalists were committed with impunity but this time we will not accept justice to evade. We need justice,” Burhan added.

    The slaying is the latest in a string of attacks that have raised grave concerns about press freedom in Puntland. Abdifatah Jama Mire, director of Horseed Radio, is still being detained in Bossasso prison and he is serving 6 years jail sentence.

    Gedi, who worked for Radio Daljir branch in Galkayo, is the 3rd journalist to be killed in Somalia in a week in this year. Barkhad Awale Adan, Director of Hurmo Radio, was killed on 24 August 2010 in Mogadishu. Veteran journalist Sheik Nur Mohamed Abkey, who worked for Radio Mogadishu, was kidnapped and murdered on 4 May 2010 in Mogadishu. Abdullahi Omar Gedi was newscaster and reporter.

    --
    For further information, contact:
    National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ)
    Taleex Street, KM4 Area, Hodan District,
    Mogadishu, Somalia, tel/fax: +252 1 859 944,
    e-mail: newsletter@nusoj.org 
    Internet: http://www.nusoj.org

    Somalia: Al-Shabab tell Mothers to purchase guns for sons


    Somaliweyn
    Mogadishu Tuesday 02 November 2010 SMC
    Somaliweyn – Mohammed Omar Hussein
    The administration of Al-Shabab in Banadir region has urged Parents particularly mothers to purchase guns for their children in order to partaker the ongoing clashes between them and the Somali government soldiers backed by the African Union troops on the ground.
    The regional commander of Al-Shabab has said the statement in an open ground in the Al-Shabab controlled zone in Mogadishu where hundreds of mothers have converged to hear the declaration.
    “ We are strongly urging mothers to engage themselves to purchase guns for their sons the so called African Union troops are no longer unable to resist our attacks and what we need is a slight boost from your energetic who are at home” said Sheikh Ali Mohammed Hussein the regional commander of Al-Shabab in Bandair region.
    The regional commander of Al-Shabab has as well added that the residents of Mogadishu to entire take part of the ongoing clashes in the city.
    “We shall not be suspending our fight against these infidels as long as they are in our soil” added the Sheikh Ali.
    Previously the human rights activists have denounced both the Somali government and the rival Islamists for child soldiering.
    Mohammed Omar Hussein+25261-5519235 shiinetown@hotmail.com   

    Friday, December 10, 2010

    Reconstruction Planning.wordpress.com

    Somali refugees stranded at airport in Moscow?

    Have you ever seen the Tom Hanks movie about the man from Eastern Europe who is stuck in an airport when when his country implodes and invalidates his passport before reaching customs?  That movie was based on the real life experience of an Iranian man who was stuck at a French airport due to his own idiocy.  The man had acquired refugee status in Belgium, then got on a ferry to England and sent his legal document back to Belgium in the mail, thus leaving him stranded between borders with no legal clearance.  Later he wrote a book about it, which I found shoved in the corner of guest house in Varanasi, and have wondered periodically about how the matter was resolved.
    But these stories are more than fiction.  Such things actually happen.
    Today I received an email that said the following:
    This past weekend I was traveling in Russia and I encountered a group of 8 Somali refugees who told me they have been stranded in the Moscow airport for the past nine months.  I spoke with two who have very good English.  The group is safe, but they are sleeping on the airport floor surviving on instant soup and have not been able to leave the airport at all.  I’m assuming this is the same group who Rachel encountered in June.I found your contact info on the forced migration list serve via a Google search and am following up to see if you have any additional information or ideas for how to support them.  I have referred them to the Advocates for Human Rights, a Minnesota-based organization in the US, but am looking for all ideas for how to help them.  The situation seems inhumane and I would like to do whatever I can to assist them in finding a permanent new home. A Russian airport staff person has donated a laptop to the group and they have internet access.  Here is the email address that can be used to reach them (haruunxx@hotmail.com).
    Please let me know if you might be able to help this group, or suggest someone who can, or have any advice for the best way to raise the profile of their plight.”
    Having read something about this sometime during the summer, I was disappointed to learn the situation is otherwise unchanged.  Airports are a legal curiosity, as they present passengers with a ‘legal fiction’ of control between border points while remaining trans-national space.  Yet I cannot wonder about the particular issues facing this group.  Were they denied entry to Russia?  Were they denied exit?  Were they in transit to another destination but lacked transit visas?  What happened?  If anyone can tell me more about this, I’d like to hear about it.  You can contact me at http://www.mitchell.sipus.com.
    Moscow Airport
    Moscow Airport
    http://reconstructionplanning.wordpress.com

    Thursday, December 9, 2010

    WikiLeaks cables: Muammar Gaddafi and the 'voluptuous blonde'

     

      Secret dispatch ahead of UN trip details Libyan leader's inner circle and 'eccentricities'
      • guardian.co.uk,
      • Article history
      • Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
        Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi 'cannot travel' without his Ukrainian nurse, a cable released by WikiLeaks details. Photograph: Rick Gershon/Getty Images Under the title "A glimpse into Libyan leader Gaddafi's eccentricities", a dispatch classified "secret – no foreign" of 29 September 2009 disclosed the dictator's reliance on a "voluptuous blonde" Ukrainian nurse. The cable was from Gene Cretz, the US ambassador to Libya, and read: "Recent first-hand experiences with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his staff, primarily in preparation for his UN [general assembly] trip, provided rare insights into Gaddafi's inner circle and personal proclivities … "Gaddafi relies heavily on his long-time Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska, who has been described as a 'voluptuous blonde' … Libyan protocol staff emphasised to multiple Emboffs [embassy officials] that Gaddafi cannot travel without Kolotnytska, as she alone 'knows his routine' … "Some embassy contacts have claimed that Gaddafi and the 38-year-old Kolotnytska have a romantic relationship. While he did not comment on such rumours, a Ukrainian political officer recently confirmed that the Ukrainian nurses 'travel everywhere with the leader.'" The ambassador concludes: "While it is tempting to dismiss his many eccentricities as signs of instability, Gaddafi is a complicated individual who has managed to stay in power for 40 years through a skillful balancing of interests and realpolitik methods. Continued engagement with Gaddafi and his inner circle is important … "

      WikiLeaks cables: Saudis proposed Arab force to invade Lebanon

      Foreign minister wanted US, Nato and UN backing for offensive to end Iranian-backed Hezbollah's siege of government
      • guardian.co.uk,
      • Article history
      • Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in July 2006
        A WikiLeaks cable details a discussion that took place as pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian groups laid siege to Beirut and threatened the government of Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora, seen here with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA Saudi Arabia proposed creating an Arab force backed by US and Nato air and sea power to intervene in Lebanon two years ago and destroy Iranian-backed Hezbollah, according to a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. The plan would have sparked a proxy battle between the US and its allies against Iran, fought in one of the most volatile regions of the world. The Saudi plan was never enacted but reflects the anxiety of Saudi Arabia – as well as the US – about growing Iranian influence in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East. The proposal was made by the veteran Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, to the US special adviser to Iraq, David Satterfield. The US responded by expressing scepticism about the military feasibility of the plan. It would have marked a return of US forces to Lebanon almost three decades after they fled in the wake of the 1983 suicide attack on US marine barracks in Beirut that killed 299 American and French military personnel. Faisal, in a US cable marked secret, emphasised the need for what he referred to as a "security response" to the military challenge to the Lebanon government from Hezbollah, the Shia militia backed by Iran and, to a lesser extent, Syria. The cable says: "Specifically, Saud argued for an 'Arab force' to create and maintain order in and around Beirut. "The US and Nato would need to provide transport and logistical support, as well as 'naval and air cover'. Saud said that a Hezbollah victory in Beirut would mean the end of the Siniora government and the 'Iranian takeover' of Lebanon." The discussion came just days after Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian groups in Lebanon laid siege to Beirut, threatening the pro-western government of Fouad Siniora, after 17 months of street demonstrations. Siniora survived, though only after making enormous concessions to Hezbollah. He was replaced by another pro-western leader, Saad Hariri, but Hezbollah remains a force in Lebanon, lionised by many Arabs after defeating Israel in the 2006 war along the Lebanese border. According to the cable Saud argued that a Hezbollah victory against the Siniora government "combined with Iranian actions in Iraq and on the Palestinian front would be a disaster for the US and the entire region". Saud argued that the present situation in Beirut was "entirely military" and the solution must be military as well. The situation called for an "Arab force drawn from Arab 'periphery' states to deploy to Beirut under the 'cover of the UN'." Saud said Siniora strongly backed the idea but the only Arab countries aware of it were Egypt and Jordan, along with the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa. No contacts had been made with Syria on any Beirut developments, Saud said, adding: "What would be the use?" Saud said that of all the regional fronts on which Iran was advancing, Lebanon would be an "easier battle to win" for the anti-Iranian allies. Satterfield responded that the "political and military" feasibility of the undertaking Saud had outlined would appear very much open to question, particularly securing UN agreement, but the US would study any Arab decision. Saud concluded by underscoring that a UN-Arab peacekeeping force coupled with US air and naval support would "keep out Hezbollah

      Wednesday, December 8, 2010

      Muslim Youth Leader Speaks About Attempted Bombing in Portland

      Feds Stage Another False Terror Plot

      Black Friday Oregon False Flag Car Bomber helped by FBI

      Ore. Bomb-plot Suspect Wanted 'spectacular Show'

      Somali anti-piracy force welcomed by experts



      NAKURU, Kenya (AP) — Officials and experts are cautiously welcoming the news that a northern Somalia government is training an anti–piracy force but warn that many questions remain over the chain of command and legal framework.

      Last week The Associated Press (News - Alert) reported that a private security company is training an anti–piracy force of up to 1,050 men in the semiautonomous Somali region of Puntland. The force is being paid for by an unnamed Muslim country.

      The U.S says the identity and aims of the donor are unclear and raised concerns the training may break a U.N. arms embargo.

      Alan Cole, the head of the U.N.'s anti–piracy force, called the new security force "a good thing." But he said he would like to know more, including the donor's identity.

      Source: TMC

      Two Somali-born men convicted for terror plans



      Stockholm - A Swedish court Wednesday sentenced two Somali- born men to four years each in prison for planning a terror attack in the troubled African country.

      The two, aged 22 and 26, were linked to the radical Islamic al- Shabab militia and were convicted of planning a suicide attack in Somalia, the ruling said.The five-member court was not unanimous but the majority handed down stiffer sentences than the three-year terms the prosecutor had called for.
      Both men denied the charges that they planned the attacks, but admitted to have visited Somalia and said they supported al-Shabab's aims.

      Evidence presented by prosecutor Agnetha Hilding Qvarnstrom included wiretapped telephone conversations. The trial was held at the district court in the west coast city of Gothenburg.
      The younger man was arrested in the city in May. The older man was detained in June in a Stockholm suburb.

      Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for twin suicide blasts in Uganda in July when more than 70 people were killed.