Somaliland : Safiya: "I have to continue for the children’s sake"

HARGEISA, SOMALILAND, 27 October 2008 (IRIN) - In September, Safiya (not her real name) fled fighting in Mogadishu to seek shelter in a camp in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland.
Hargeisa, 1,500km north of Mogadishu, is home to thousands of displaced people from south-central Somalia. Safiya, 27, came to the city with her husband and three children, aged between 18 months and eight years, but her 10-year-old son was lost on the journey. She and other IDP women were robbed and raped. She spoke about her plight to IRIN on 21 October:
"We used to live in Manapolio [north Mogadishu]. The area suffered occasional bombardment but it was not as bad as most places in Mogadishu. In the past two to three months, things took a turn for the worse. We were becoming a battleground. It seemed there was not a day without fighting.
"We had a shop which was run by my husband and I had a stall in the market. We were not rich but we had enough to feed our family.
"The area got to the point where no one was safe and looting and rape became normal. Many houses were destroyed. One night, our neighbour's house was totally destroyed and no one survived. In the blink of an eye the entire family was dead.
"Our house was partially destroyed but we escaped unhurt. That morning we decided to leave with other families and take our children to some place safe.
"We had heard that many people were going north and had found peace and security there, so we also decided to go there.
"The journey was long; it took more than nine days. I lost my boy and we were robbed of everything we had.
"The second time they [bandits] took us away from the main road and into the bush. They told the men to lie down and then took the women they thought looked good and young and raped us; five other women and myself.
"Our husbands heard our cries but could do nothing. They were being held at gunpoint. It was the only time I wished I had never left Mogadishu.
"By the time we reached Hargeisa we had nothing. The people here [in Hargeisa] have been very kind. In the camp the residents let us share their dwellings.
“Since the incident [rape] my husband has not been the same. I am still searching for my boy and hope to find him. It is very hard but what can I do? I have to continue for the sake of the other children. It is the only thing that is keeping me going and makes me forget, at least for a while, what I went through.
"In Hargeisa I am not worried about bombs and killings and someone coming into my house to hurt me or my family. We have peace and security - something we did not have in Mogadishu. I thank God for that despite all my problems."

Somali Woman Stoned to Death for Committing Adultery

Somali Woman Stoned to Death for Committing Adultery (Update1)
By Hamsa Omar
Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- A 23-year-old Somali woman was stoned to death in Kismayo after being convicted of adultery in a Shariah court established by Islamists who control the southern port city, an eyewitness said.
(Photo: A Somali crowd gather at a public execution)
Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was buried in the ground up to her neck and her head covered with a black sack before she was executed, Yusuf Abdi Mohamed, a resident who attended the public event, said in a phone interview today from Kismayo, 500 kilometers (310 miles) southwest of the capital, Mogadishu. She had earlier confessed to the offense, which is banned by Muslim Shariah law.
It was the first such execution in Kismayo since the Islamist al-Shabaab militia captured the city in August. Shariah courts operate under a code of Islamic principles first established in the Arab world by the Muslim prophet Muhammad in the seventh century.
Somalia is in its 18th year of civil war and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991. Violence has escalated since Ethiopian troops helped Somalia's United Nations-backed government oust the Islamic Courts Union militia from southern and central parts of the country in January 2007.

Torture of Bashir Makhtal and the indifference of the Canadian Government

Medeshi 25 Oct, 2008

October 24th, 2008
By Louisa TaylorThe Ottawa Citizen
The cousin of a Canadian being held in an Ethiopian jail says an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs urged him yesterday to keep the case “low-key” because Canada is doing its best behind the scenes to help Bashir Makhtal.

(Photo: Torure Bed in Ethiopian prison)
However, following the Iacobucci report on the role of Canadian officials in the torture of three Canadians in Syria, Said Maktal said he no longer trusted what the government was telling him.
“I’m a polite person, I’ve been patient and I’ve had a lot of respect for our government,” said Mr. Maktal, whose cousin has been in an Addis Ababa prison since January 2007. “They keep saying, ‘We’re doing our best.’ But now, reading what our government did to our citizens, that gives me more doubt about what’s really going on.
“I’m not going to be low-key anymore.”
Bashir Makhtal is ethnically Somali, born in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. He came to Canada as a refugee and became a citizen in 1994. After training as a computer programmer, he worked for a Toronto bank. In 2001, he left for the Horn of Africa region to start a business trading used clothes in Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya.
Mr. Makhtal was in Mogadishu when Ethiopia invaded in late 2006, and he joined thousands of others in fleeing to Kenya to avoid the fighting. He and dozens of other foreign nationals were arrested at the border by Kenyan police, held in a Nairobi prison and eventually flown illegally to Ethiopia, where they were imprisoned.
According to Human Rights Watch, many of them were interrogated by FBI and CIA agents. There have been reports of beatings and torture by Ethiopian officials, and Bashir Makhtal has been held in solitary confinement since at least the summer of 2007.
Ethiopia at first denied Mr. Makhtal was in its custody, but finally admitted holding him in April 2007. It has variously accused the Canadian of being a financier for the Islamic Courts, a fundamentalist group in Somalia, or a liberation fighter for the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which was founded by his grandfather. The Ethiopians consider the ONLF a terrorist organization, while Canada does not.
No evidence has been presented for either charge, nor has Mr. Makhtal been allowed to see a lawyer throughout his 22-month incarceration. Canadian diplomats were allowed to visit him for the first time in July, but Ethiopian authorities have denied all subsequent requests for consular visits.
Human Rights Watch says Mr. Makhtal and a Kenyan national are the only remaining foreigners from the 2007 renditions known to be detained, though 22 others are not accounted for. The governments of 16 other countries secured the release of their citizens, some within weeks of the arrest in Kenya.
“The people at Foreign Affairs, they’re sitting in their offices, doing their paperwork and everything has a procedure,” said Said Maktal, who spells his name differently from his cousin. “But we’re dealing with a country that does not obey international law. What we’re doing is not enough.”
Mr. Maktal says his sources in Ethiopia tell him that Bashir was taken before a military court twice this week and pressured to sign a false confession of terrorist activities. He refused. Bashir managed to send a message through intermediaries, telling Mr. Maktal that the prison was “another world” and that diplomatic efforts at the level of junior officials wouldn’t get him released, or even a fair trial.
“What has to happen is the prime minister has to get involved personally,” Mr. Maktal said. “This is between countries. (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper should pick up the phone.”
Foreign Affairs spokesman Daniel Barbarie was unable to comment on the “low-key” comment by the end of the day yesterday. However, he did say that Canadian officials had made numerous high-level representations to the Ethiopian authorities, including two visits to Ethiopia by Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs. The result was one consular visit on July 18, more than 18 months after Mr. Makhtal’s arrest.
“Canadian officials were able to verify Mr Makhtal’s well-being during this visit,” Mr. Barbarie said. “Canadian officials continue to actively engage senior Ethiopian authorities on the issues of ongoing consular access, due process and respect for Mr. Makhtal’s rights.”
Pointing to Bashir’s case and those of Maher Arar, Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El-Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, Mr. Maktal said the common denominator was that “they’re all Canadians from somewhere else.”
“Are we not important enough, or Canadian enough? I’d like to know: Are there two classes of citizenship in this country?” Email This Post Add a comment Print This P

All Hail the King: President George W. Bush

Medeshi 25 Oct, 2008

All Hail the King: President George W. Bush.
America is supposed to be a democratic nation founded by "we the people" and based upon the will of the people. This conception of government contrasted sharply with European traditions that rulers were essentially chosen by God and thus the decisions of rulers were effectively divine mandates. Unfortunately, more than 200 years of democratic tradition have failed to extinguish the religious impulse to attribute divine agency to democratically elected leaders. There are many who believe God is responsible for George W. Bush being president -- including, it seems, George W. Bush himself.

There are reports of President Bush claiming that he was chosen by God to be president during this time in history. There are also reports of Bush claiming that he speaks to God, with God giving him instructions on foreign policy -- including the invasions of Afghanistan ,Iraq and Somalia. If Bush were alone in this it might simply be dismissed as egotistical delusions, but many of Bush's Christian supporters completely agree. They believe that Bush was placed in office by God, that Bush's authority is derived from this divine mandate, and that Bush's policies are all the Will of God.
If people believe their leader is placed in charge by gods, they are less likely to question, challenge, or oppose his decisions. This is what makes such beliefs popular with authoritarian, totalitarian, theocratic, and fascist rulers; it's also what makes such beliefs inimical to democratic systems. If God, not the people, is the sovereign power responsible for Bush being president, then it means Bush is ultimately responsible to God rather than to the people. Democracy requires the principle that citizens, not gods, choose their leaders and that the government is founded on human reason rather than divine agency.
This is fertile ground for Christian Nationalism and Christian Fascism because it allows for the excision of democracy, democratic elections, the separation of powers, constitutionally protected rights, and everything else which makes America a secular and free nation. People who say that Bush was placed in office by God are denying that Bush's authority and office derive from the will of the people. People who say that Bush is doing the Will of God are denying that the American people have any right to challenge or stop Bush. All of this is unequivocally anti-democratic.
This image is based on a World War II recruitment poster for America's Army Air Corps.
Slightly condensed from the web by medeshi

Brutal Behavior in the War on Terror Isn't Real Brutality When Christians Do It

Medeshi 25 Oct, 2008

Real Christians Do No Wrong: Brutal Behavior in the War on Terror Isn't Real Brutality When Christians Do It
Although it is technically inconsistent with Christian doctrine for a Christian to regard themselves as incapable of doing wrong, many seem to adopt this on a practical level and especially when it comes to acts designed to further a Christian religious or political agenda. An action committed by governments like those in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, or communist North Korea will be reviled as violations of human rights, but when committed by Christian America in the War on Terror and the War on Islamofascism the same sort of action is welcomed as necessary or even as a sign that the government has our best interests at heart.

(Original Poster: Northwestern University)
Conservative evangelical Christians in America are very vocal and passionate supporters of both the Republican Party and of George W. Bush. If they think that the Bush administration has done anything "sinful" in the War on Terror, they have been fairly quiet about it. We hear loud denouncements of abortion and homosexuality on a regular basis. We do not hear such denouncements of "alternative" and aggressive interrogation methods, of secret prisons in foreign countries where prisoners can be questioned without oversight, of detaining of imprisoning American citizens without charges or trials, of domestic spying without warrants or court oversight, or of assertions of presidential authority to ignore both the courts and Congress.
We can learn a lot about a person and about an ideology by looking at what sorts of actions they choose to condemn and what they choose to accept, facilitate, or even encourage. Christian Nationalists in America condemn pornography, homosexuality, and gay marriage, They accept, facilitate, or even encourage secret prisons, torture, warrantless domestic spying, imprisoning American citizens without trial, and so forth. They would condemn (and have condemned in the past) such behavior when done by other nations, but it's suddenly not so wrong when done by their Christian president.
The above image was taken from a World War II poster which also stated as its headline "This is Nazi Brutality," but the text was about how Nazi troops had killed the men of Lidice, Czechoslovakia and deported all of the women to concentration camps. The image of a prisoner with a hood over his head is disturbingly close to the iconic photograph from Abu Ghraib, but that may be because brutal regimes keep repeating the same tactics generation after generation.

Ath.

Somalia: In search of a better future

Medeshi Oct 25, 2008

Somalia: In search of a better future
Thousands of Somali refugees have fled their homes to escape violence only to find themselves stranded for years in overcrowded camps in Dadaab, northern Kenya, waiting for peace which continues to elude Somalia.
"Today I have seen children who have been born, raised and grown up in this camp. It's unacceptable from a human rights point of view," Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang told journalists during her visit to Dadaab refugee camp on 23 October.
She talked to children in the camp, many of them have spent their entire lives there, and urged them not to give up.
"Somalia is not a lost cause; it is a long term cause, and one that will require stamina, creativity and a concerted effort by the international community, civil society, and above all, Somali political leaders," Kang later said.
She also listened to the heartbreaking stories of new victims of the Somali conflict, who have been coming to the camp at a rate of some 5000 per month.
Three months ago, a human rights assessment mission on Somalia by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) interviewed newly arrived refugees in Dadaab.
A 34-year-old mid-wife spoke about her six-year-old son, who was killed in crossfire in Mogadishu while returning home from school at midday. She fled with her seven other children as well as two orphaned children, and gave birth to her latest child on her way to the camp. A 50-year-old school teacher lived in constant fear whether his three oldest children, aged 7, 9, and 13, would come home safely from school.
Shamsul Bari, Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Somalia, also recorded the plight of the Somali refugees in his September 2008 report to the Human Rights Council.
"They walked long distances, hitched rides on the back of trucks, paid for bus rides with scant money they could gather by different means or borrow from people, to reach safety in refugee camps in Kenya," the Independent Expert said.
"There were two families with large number of children whose fathers were killed in bombing or other attacks. A common factor was that they could not deal any more with the violence and fighting that raged around them most of the time. Some had to leave because their houses were razed to the ground by indiscriminate bombing…. In short, all were afflicted with utter hopelessness," he said.
The Deputy High Commissioner said the determination of Somali human rights defenders, humanitarian workers and members of civil society gave her hope for peace in Somalia.
"But any lasting peace in Somalia must be based on accountability and justice for the serious violations of human rights committed by all sides throughout the Somali conflict," said the Deputy High Commissioner.
"The Djibouti peace process should serve as a safeguard against amnesties for gross human rights violators, not a mechanism to let warlords off the hook. Broad participation of Somali civil society in the peace process, in particular women, who have borne the brunt of abuses, should help to ensure this," she added.
According to the United Nations refugee office (UNHCR), Dadaab camp has more than twice as many people as it should have. One of the world's oldest, biggest and most congested refugee camps, Dadaab is now home to more than 215,000 people – a 25 percent increase since the beginning of this year.

Tension In Sudan-Ethiopia Relations

Medeshi

Tension In Sudan-Ethiopia Relations

Written on Saturday, October 25th, 2008

by Al-Hayat, London, October 23, 2008–Diplomatic elements in Khartoum, Sudan are reporting a “quiet crisis” in Sudan-Ethiopia relations, citing a number of reasons. While Sudan is enraged over the transfer of arms shipments from Ethiopia to the South Sudan army, Ethiopia is accusing Sudan of not preventing rebels from operating within its borders, of identifying with Somali Islamists, and of supporting its sworn rival Eritrea. Sudan Tribune has more…
ST–October 23, 2008 (KHARTOUM) –Sudanese security agents stormed the home of an Ethiopian diplomat in Khartoum and detained some of the attendees, a newspaper reported today.
The daily Al-Hayat newspaper published in London quoting unidentified diplomatic sources said that the incident happened this week at the home of the Ethiopian military attaché during a party he was holding.
Security officials justified their action as saying that some of the people in the party violated the laws because of liquor that was being served.
The diplomats said the incident is the latest of series of recently setbacks in Sudanese-Ethiopian relations. They further said that Khartoum is angry at Addis Ababa for allegedly supplying arms to the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS).Earlier this month it was reported that an Ethiopian military plane arrived at Juba airport with weapons to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassadors of Ethiopia to protest the shipment. However the Ethiopian government said the weapons were for a military show.
The Ethiopian government is also reported to be dissatisfied with the close relations that between Eritrea, its main rival, and Sudan. Moreover some circles in Addis Ababa accuse Khartoum of backing Ethiopian Oromo rebels and Islamist militants in Somalia.Last July Sudan’s army accused Ethiopian troops of attacking a military camp inside their borders killing 19 soldiers.

OPEC to cut output

OPEC to cut output

Atul Aneja

DUBAI: Aiming to stem the decline in oil prices, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has decided to slash its daily output by 1.5 million barrels.
The decision was taken during an OPEC meeting in Vienna on Friday. It was not clear when the cut would come into force. Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Naimi said the new measure would come into effect on November 1. Some members said the decision would be enforced immediately.
OPEC meets nearly 40 per cent of the world’s daily demand of 87 million barrels. It is estimated Saudi Arabia would now lower its daily production by 4,66,000 barrels, the highest among OPEC members.
Analysts point out it is not necessary that the cutback in production would raise oil prices, which have declined substantially after reaching a per barrel high of $147.27 in mid-July.
Two major factors are apparently hampering resurgence in prices. First, the heightened value of the dollar over the last one month is imposing a downward pressure on prices. Second, despite the cutback, there are fears that the global demand of oil would be weak, in anticipation of a worldwide economic slowdown.
Oil prices sank to their lowest point since May 2007, reaching a low of $63 after OPEC announced its decision. Mr. Naimi was non-committal on whether further production cuts were possible in case oil prices failed to rise. However, he said all options were open between now and December, when OPEC reassembles in Algeria.
Earlier, OPEC President Chakib Khelil had said the cartel intended to stabilise oil prices between $70-90 a barrel.

UGANDA: Displaced first by war, now by elephants

UGANDA: Displaced first by war, now by elephants
AMURU, 24 October 2008 (IRIN) - Marauding elephants in northern Uganda have added to the challenges faced by civilians trying to rebuild their lives in the wake of 20 years of civil war, destroying their crops and prompting some to return to displaced people’s (IDP) camps they had only recently left. "The villagers are scared of the elephants; some of them have sought refuge in huts they had left in the [IDP] camps," John Bosco Okullo, a local leader in Amuru District told IRIN. Most affected are hundreds of returnees from six IDP camps - Goma, Anaka, Purongo, Ongako, Corner Nwoya, and Aler, all in Amuru District - whose crops have also been eaten by wildebeest roaming the villages in search of water and pasture. Some of the returnees have had narrow escapes from attacks by wildebeest competing for the same land that the villagers are returning to. Jackson Lukwiya, 78, from Koch village, said his 10 hectares of bananas had been destroyed by elephants. "A few days ago a man was thrashed beyond recognition by a charging calving elephant that had strayed into the village; we are worried," Lukwiya said. He said some families were now commuting from IDP camps to cultivate their land for fear of being killed. Earlier this year, a group of people were attacked by elephants crossing the main Koch-Lalworodwong village road in Alero village. The elephants also trampled on a bicycle belonging to one of those attacked, Lukwiya said. Local leaders have vowed to kill the elephants marauding in the area. Okullo said: "We shall organise the community to send back the elephants if the concerned authorities fail." Another resident said if one elephant were killed, the rest would automatically go away. Human-wildlife conflict Okullu said the elephants had destroyed the crops of up to 800 people in his village. "Crops like bananas, millet, sweet potatoes, beans, cassava, maize, yams, have been uprooted and eaten," he said.
Area residents accused the government of prioritising wildlife over the welfare of returning IDPs - in reference to the government's failure to revise the law on wild protected animals. Between May and July, an estimated 100 elephants from the park roamed villages in Gulu and Amuru, ravaging crops and interrupting the reintegration of IDPs. Uganda's wildlife senior conservation officer, Stonewall Kato, told IRIN in Gulu that in recent years there has been an explosion in the number of elephants in the park, forcing some to stray out in search of water and food. "It's a problem, but the law prohibits the killing of wild life. We have dispatched a team of rangers to drive the elephants back," Kato said. Moreover, Kato said, most people in the district had been living in IDP camps for about 20 years and their original villages had become forested, attracting the elephants and other wild animals. He said a team from the Uganda Wildlife Authority, accompanied by local leaders and community representatives, recently visited neighbouring Kenya's Tsavo National Park to find out more on elephant control measures being undertaken by communities in Kenya.
"We have started digging trenches at the elephants' crossing point, supporting community bee-keeping projects because the buzzing sound of bees drives elephants away, and we have [set up] ranger stations for scare-shooting in the villages around," he said. Kato said an estimated 1,500 elephants stray out of the park to villages yearly. The Ugandan government is ensuring that some of the money generated from the tourism industry is injected into community projects bordering national parks, such as the building of schools, skills training and other community income-generating projects. "This is a way of compensating the affected community," Kato said.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs

Djibouti to go to war with Eritrea

Medeshi Oct 24, 2008

Djibouti to go to war with Eritrea

Djibouti’s president has said his country will have to go to war with Eritrea unless the UN acts to resolve growing tension over a border dispute. Djibouti has accused Eritrea of invading its territory and its ambassador to the UN said Eritrea had been avoiding mediation. Eritrea has said it had no territorial ambitions.Both France and the US have troops in Djibouti. Its border with Eritrea is at a key strategic point on the Red Sea. But Eritrean ambassador Araya Desta said his country wanted “the cultivation of good neighbourly relations with Djibouti”.
“Contrary to the claims made, Eritrea has not taken any land that belongs to Djibouti and it does not have any territorial ambitions,” he said.
Desta instead accused Ethiopia of moving troops to high ground on the border of the three countries,
“Ethiopia has built from the Djiboutian side a network of winding roads up the mount and deployed offensive long-range artillery and heavy equipment directed at Eritrea,” he said.Since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, the Horn of Africa country has been involved in two serious conflicts over territory with its neighbours.
‘Missions rebuffed’
Clashes between Eritrea and Djibouti earlier this year left nine Djiboutian troops dead and 60 injured.
In June the UN Security Council called on Eritrea and Djibouti to agree to a ceasefire, stressing that Eritrea should pull its forces back, the BBC reporter from the United Nations.
France, the former colonial power in Djibouti, is working on presenting a plan to the Security Council reiterating demands for Eritrea to withdraw its forces.
France also wants the two sides to talk to each other about their disputed border.Djibouti’s ambassador to the UN, Roble Olhaye, said Eritrea had “refused or rebuffed all international mediation”.
“For the last four months all international organisations have been trying to talk to them, all regional organisations have been trying to send missions to Eritrea’s capital Asmara and they did not even issue them visas.” he added

Source : travelhouseuk

Teenagers released from prison in Somaliland

Medeshi Oct 24, 2008
Teenagers released from prison in Somaliland
NAIROBI, The UN children's fund, UNICEF, said on Friday that 104 teenagers aged 15 to 18 have been released from eight prisons in Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, following the enactment of the new Juvenile Justice Law for Somaliland in April 2008.
UNICEF Representative for Somalia Christian Balslev-Olesen welcomed the presidential decree and the initiatives taken by the Somaliland authorities, saying the action would lead to a fair legal system.
"These actions will ensure a fair justice legal system for children and build greater awareness of child rights and the need for children to be protected when they come in contact with the law," Balslev-Olesen said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
The Juvenile Justice Law has introduced well founded provisions to protect the rights of children in legal proceedings.
These include an increase in the age of criminal responsibility to 15 years and the stipulation that imprisonment of children should be as a measure of last resort for the shortest possible period.
Under a presidential decree pardon, announced to commemorate Eid Al Fitr, the children were released on Tuesday into the care of their communities. Many had been imprisoned on charges such as truancy, vagrancy or Asi Al-Walidain (disobedience to parents).
According to UNICEF, before their release, the children were evaluated and given two days of individual counseling and psycho social support.
"Upon release, services to reintegrate the children were immediately provided by the Justice for Children Project, a joint program between UNICEF and the UNDP Rule of Law and Security (ROLS) Program," the statement said.
UNDP's ROLS Program Manager Alejandro said implementation of the ROLS Justice for Children Project had helped to strengthen the judiciary, law enforcement and human rights in Somaliland.
"The new Juvenile Justice Law takes precedence over all other laws relating to children in conflict with the law and we expect its provisions -- such as community mechanisms to address juvenile misbehavior -- to be used more frequently to prevent the imprisonment of children," he said.
UNICEF said the children were provided with clothing, food allowances and transport back to their communities. Those without parents will be further supported to enrol in vocational programs.
Other activities will include the mobilization of communities to create protective environments to which the children can return: where they are not stigmatized but supported to become responsible and productive citizens.
Community child protection committees will also support education of children through enrolment in formal and non-formal education programs for children who have come into contact with the law.

Food running low for Ukranian arms ship

Medeshi Oct 24 , 2008
Food, water running low on Ukrainian arms ship hijacked off Somalia
MALKHADIR M. MUHUMED
Released : Friday, October 24, 2008
NAIROBI, Somalia, Food and water are reportedly running low on the Ukrainian arms ship hijacked by Somali pirates.
Meanwhile a spokesman for the pirates warned Thursday that the 20 crew members of the MV Faina would be among those killed if NATO forces attack the ship.
Pirate spokesman Sugule Ali also mocked comments by Tomex Team, the company which operates the Faina, for saying it has accumulated only $1 million toward the $20-million ransom the pirates initially demanded.
Ali described the Tomex statement as worthless, saying the money they claim to have raised ``would only pay for several nights' stay in a hotel.'
Ali declined to say whether the pirates had lowered their ransom demand.
He told the Associated Press that supplies were running out but the pirates would share what remained with the crew.
``We Somalis don't eat in front of a hungry person,' he said, speaking Thursday by satellite phone. ``We will share our food with them.'
But he repeated his promise to fight back if attacked, regardless of the arrival of a flotilla of NATO warships in the next few days.
``Either we get the money or hold on to the ship,' he said. ``And if attacked, we will fight back to the bitter end.'
``The important thing, though, is if we die they will die too,' he added, referring to the Faina's crew.
The Faina was heading for a Kenyan port with a cargo of 33 battle tanks and heavy weapons when armed pirates seized it Sept. 25 off coast of Somalia.
The ship is now anchored off Somalia's coast near the central town of Hobyo, where Ali was seeking medical treatment Thursday.
U.S. warships have surrounded the Faina for weeks, making sure its heavy weapons don't fall into the hands of any insurgent groups linked to al-Qaida.

Somalia in pictures

Warlord A. Yussuf Shopping in central London .

A member of Somalia’s Parliament, Abdi Abdullahi, in Baidoa .

Members of the local police force assemble in the back of a truck to enforce

A woman leads a donkey and cart through a street in Mogadishu, Somalia's bullet-pocked capital

A woman taking part in an anti-Ethiopia rally in Mogadishu held by supporters of the Islamist group that controls most of Somalia

Somali Insurgents showing off Kalashnikov guns

An old man limbs through the streets of Mogadishu

“Stray Bullets”

Posted by Medeshi on 24 Oct, 2008

Poem: “Stray Bullets”
By Ben Armstrong

My sister’s limbs twist to the rhythm,

Dance to the deadly beat of the bloody drum.
No destination but devastation,

Slug after slug viciously whizzes.
To our streets they bring their epic fight,

Their thirst for power, their fear of oblivion,

Unquenchable,
Their teeth into cigars,Their daggers into flesh, Sinking,
Their shots no target but catharsis,Their war no aim but fantasy,

Brains washed, people cleansed,
One silver bullet sprayed, Pierced my impervious heart,

Guiltless,
Limbs folding neatly upon the dirt road, I writhed from the impact.
A bloody tear scales my bony cheek,The beating continues.
My life fading, Hidden from God.

Free at last?

KENYA: Insecurity, transport stoppage deepens crisis in northeast town

Posted by Medeshi
KENYA: Insecurity, transport stoppage deepens crisis in northeast town
MANDERA, 23 October 2008 (IRIN) - An upsurge in insecurity in the northeastern region of Mandera has paralysed transport and led to the imposition of a curfew, worsening the situation for residents already affected by floods and extreme food shortages.
"The situation is getting from bad to worse and a curfew has been imposed," Titus Mung'ou, Kenya Red Cross Communication Officer, told IRIN on 22 October.
At least three people were killed, 300 displaced and some 31 houses burned on 21 October in the nearby village of Koromey during attacks by armed raiders. Koromey is located five kilometers from Mandera town.
The clashes involve the Garre and Murule clans who have in the past battled over water points for their livestock. On 16 October the clans fought over land that people displaced by flooding in the town had settled on temporarily.
Some 13 Koromey residents were missing as of the evening of October 22, according to the Red Cross.
“There is urgent need of food and other non-food items such as shelter to the latest victims of clan fighting,” the agency said in a statement released 23 October.
“Kenya Red Cross is working with the Government and other NGOs to provide relief assistance to those displaced by the flash floods and the recent clan fighting. Humanitarian assistance is underway after being disrupted by the fighting,” the statement added.
A severe food shortage and a sharp rise in prices have been reported in the border town after the only three transport companies serving the area suspended their operations over security concerns.
Mandera, which is experiencing food insecurity, is reliant on food brought in from other parts of the country and border regions. The town borders Ethiopia and Somalia.
Local food trader, Amina Shekh Abdullahi, told IRIN she was stranded with her fresh farm produce in Isiolo, a town in the neighbouring Eastern province. "I fear that all these cabbages, potatoes and carrots that I bought to sell in Mandera will go to waste." Isiolo is located southwest of Mandera.
Hundreds of passengers travelling to the neighbouring towns of Garissa and Wajir have also been left stranded. A bus driver told IRIN that some vehicles had been attacked and two passengers killed.
The government imposed a curfew outlawing population movement and the conducting of business in the town after the killing of at least 20 people in the past month. na/aw/am
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict