Israel breaking law with Gaza war

Medeshi Jan 17, 2009
Israel breaking law with Gaza war
The president of the United Nations General Assembly has accused Israel of violating international law with its war on Gaza in which almost 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, nearly half of them civilians.
"Gaza is ablaze. It has been turned into a burning hell," Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann told an emergency session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.
He said Israel's offensive was "a war against a helpless, defenceless and imprisoned people" and accused Israel of carrying out attacks on civilian targets.
"The violations of international law inherent in the Gaza assault have been well documented: collective punishment, disproportionate military force [and] attacks on civilian targets, including homes, mosques, universities, schools," he said.
He also rebuked UN member-states for their lack of action over the crisis, saying: "The [UN Security Council] may have found itself unable or unwilling to take the necessary steps to impose an immediate ceasefire, but outsourcing that effort to one or two governments, or through the quartet, does not relieve the council of its own responsibilities under the UN charter.
"The council cannot disavow its collective responsibility. It cannot continue to fiddle while Gaza burns."Ryad Mansour, the Palestinian observer at the UN, called for an independent investigation of Israel's "grave breaches and systematic violations of international law".
"Since this crisis began, it is without a doubt that a multitude of war crimes have been perpetrated by the occupying power [Israel]," he said while also calling for "measures for the protection of the defenceless Palestinian civilian population."
Gabriela Shalev, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, dismissed the session as a "cynical, hateful and politicised [attempt] to de-legitimize Israel's fundamental right to defend its citizens".

Gaza war 'genocide'

The emergency meeting had been requested by the 118-member UN member states making up the non-aligned movement.
An Israeli delegate had sought to block the session on procedural grounds by arguing that under the UN charter the 192-member assembly could not rule on a matter already being tackled by the Security Council, but the move was dismissed.
D'Escoto noted that the Security Council last week had called for a Gaza ceasefire leading to the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
"Prime Minister Olmert's recent statement disavowing the authority of Resolution 1860 [the Security Council resolution] clearly places Israel as a state in contempt of international law and the United Nations," d'Escoto added.
He urged the assembly to agree its own non-binding assembly resolution reflecting "the urgency of our commitment to end this slaughter" in Gaza.
Israel has continued its offensive regardless of the resolution which was also rejected by Hamas.
D'Escoto, a former Nicaraguan foreign minister, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that Israel's killings of Palestinians in Gaza amounted to "genocide".
Almost 1,100 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's Gaza offensive, which Israel says is to stop Palestinian rocketfire coming from Gaza.

For Obama, a Party Tempered by Tough Times

Medeshi

For Obama, a Party Tempered by Tough Times
By Alec MacGillis

Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, January 17, 2009
When a train pulls out of Philadelphia today carrying President-elect Barack Obama on a symbolic journey to Washington, it will set off a four-day inaugural celebration of unprecedented ambition that has been calibrated to strike a balance between marking a moment many thought would never come and setting a tone that suits the sober economic times.
The event's planners want to conjure optimism about the country's ability to rebound from a deep downturn, yet do not want to create unrealistic expectations for Obama -- a tension that will dominate the early months of his administration. So they have tried to take into account the reality of the times while satisfying the desire to celebrate the first black president in the nation's history and the first Democratic commander in chief in eight years.
"It is a celebration, so it should be a joyous and festive moment. But this is also a serious moment for the country, so we're constantly going to be trying to communicate both those elements," said Jim Margolis, a consultant who produced Obama's campaign ads and is helping to oversee the inaugural planning.
"We didn't go out with an objective to say, 'When an act walks out on stage there can't be scenery or it has to be austere, and we're only going to let one person with an acoustic guitar sing into a microphone.' There will be strong, well-performed events, which is appropriate in an inaugural," he said. "What we're trying to do . . . is show that we're cognizant of what the nation is facing but that we also make sure people are provided a wonderful entertainment experience."
After weeks of anticipation, that experience will officially begin today, as the first of hundreds of thousands of out-of-town visitors descend on a Washington that, despite frigid temperatures, was making final preparations for their arrival. Obama, who was in Ohio to speak at a factory yesterday, will not hold a public event when he arrives at Union Station this evening but will be greeted just up the road by an expected 20,000 or more at Baltimore's War Memorial Plaza.
The official welcoming event in the District will be tomorrow, a star-studded show in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Planners will try to infuse the celebrity gala with sobriety by having the musicians and actors deliver

(Photo: Workers haul a stack of folding chairs in preparation for tomorrow's concert at the Lincoln Memorial. The show will be part of four days of inaugural festivities. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

thematically linked performances instead of just a collection of greatest hits -- though those selected to give readings include Hollywood stars not known for their gravity. To further ground the celebrations in the needs of the moment, the main theme Monday will be community service -- that is, until nightfall, when revelers will head to a slew of inaugural eve galas.
Trying to set just the right message throughout it all is a team that made its mark pulling off big campaign events that pushed the bounds of traditional political stagecraft: an Obama address before 200,000 people in Berlin after a presidential-style world tour; the Democratic convention acceptance speech at a football stadium; a half-hour TV special that ended by cutting to a live shot of Obama speaking at a rally.
Driving those events was the desire to make Obama, a young upstart running against a seasoned opponent, look presidential, a task that risked his appearing presumptuous. Mark Squier, a consultant who helped produce the convention for the Democratic National Committee, said the Obama team was adept at matching the theatrics to the moment.
At the convention, "it was, 'Hey, we're still a movement that can draw 80,000 to a stadium, but let's also be clear that what we're departing into is something that's incredibly serious: the presidency,' " he said.
Now that Obama is about to move into the

(Photo: Barack Obama's team has experience with big events, including the Democratic National Convention, above, but there is no precedent for this inauguration. By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)

White House, the same impresarios who built him up in stature are in some sense seeking to achieve the opposite by signaling that even as he takes power, he remains the same person who started out as a community organizer and launched his campaign in small Iowa towns. Planners say the first priority of Obama and his wife, Michelle, was that the inauguration be as inclusive as possible, in keeping with a campaign driven by grass-roots support.
"We want to make sure that people understand that those core beliefs that fueled the campaign . . . that none of that has changed," Margolis said.
But the expected size of the crowds and the tough security measures have raised concerns about how open the celebration will really be. The inaugural committee's tight grip on information has also made the planning process less than transparent.
In a video about the inauguration released this week, Obama almost seemed to encourage people to stay away if they are worried about the conditions they would encounter. Tuesday will "mean long lines, a tough time getting around and most of all, a lot of walking on what could be a very cold winter day. Fortunately, you don't have to brave the crowds and commotion in order to participate in this celebration," he said, before listing activities on preceding days or ways to watch on TV.
The goal of accessibility helped drive Obama's decision to arrive on rail from Philadelphia, accompanied by voters he encountered on the campaign trail, a trip that planners say will allow people along the route to feel a part of the inaugural event. (The trip also echoes Abraham Lincoln's arrival for his inauguration and capitalizes, one last time, on the Amtrak commute of Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who will join the train in Wilmington, Del.)

(Photo: Florida fifth-graders take in rehearsals for the inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Thousands of visitors are expected to start arriving in the area today. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)
The grass-roots renewal theme prompted Monday's planned activity. Obama will take part in community service and is urging others to do the same around the country, with a video released this week calling attention to a new Web site, http://usaservice.org/, where volunteers are linked with service opportunities.
To honor those serving abroad, Michelle Obama is hosting a concert geared toward military children at the Verizon Center on Monday night, starring Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers and to be broadcast on the Disney Channel. The concert is free but not open to the general public, with tickets targeted to preselected military families and Boys & Girls Clubs.
Making things inclusive led to one of the biggest decisions: opening for the inauguration the western end of the Mall, an area that had been used as a staging area for the parade. But the principle also sparked controversy when Obama invited evangelist Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation, despite their difference on gay rights.
To get more uncredentialed faces into the prime seats, two separate essay contests were organized, with inaugural tickets as prizes. And Tuesday night, the committee has added to the usual lineup of official balls a "youth ball" and a low-cost Neighborhood Ball, which is set for broadcast on ABC and for which many tickets were directed at D.C. community groups.
The desire to keep the inauguration consistent with the campaign also drove the decision to forbid corporate or political action committee donations and limit contributions to $50,000. But the bulk of the committee's money -- it hopes to raise $45 million -- has come from big donors, with 420 people giving the maximum. Many voters who sent donations to Obama's campaign have complained online about the repeated requests to send money for the inauguration.
Some aspects of the event are not as novel as the Obama team suggests. The Clintons in 1993 stressed inclusivity, with a collection of booths on the Mall featuring food and crafts from around the country, a free show at the Lincoln Memorial produced by Quincy Jones and a free children's concert at the Kennedy Center. "We tried to open up the inaugural in a way it hadn't been in the past," said Debbie Willhite, who helped with that inauguration and later directed the 1997 festivities.
President Bush tried to make his 2001 inauguration as unifying as possible after the Florida recount fight, and in 2005 wrestled with how to celebrate his reelection when the war in Iraq was going poorly. Democrats chided him for the $42 million cost of the 2005 inaugural events, but Jeanne Phillips, an oil executive who chaired both inaugurations, said the figure was within reason.
"We were mindful there was a war and respectful of that fact, but it was important for the soul of the country to move forward and have an inaugural ceremony," she said. "We were low-key both times."
Still, the scale of the Obama undertaking sets it apart. The Clintons honored charity by letting people attend dress rehearsals of the presidential gala free if they brought canned goods for food banks; the Obama team is trying to create a nationwide online service network. Both the Clintons and Bushes had some massive TV screens, but not the 20 that will be lined up all the way down the Mall.
Above all, there are the numbers. With Obama's big campaign rallies, his team of advisers over time was able to gauge roughly how large a crowd to expect. But this is its first inauguration, and one for which precedent offers limited guidance.
Margolis dismissed the notion that all the talk of security and travel restrictions would scare people away. Visitors "are coming filled with hope, excitement and optimism, and recognize the enormity of any inaugural, so there's going to be a lot of good will," he said. "This is people who really want to be there and are willing to put up with some delays."
John Clemons, for one, is undaunted. He is a lawyer from southern Illinois who has known Obama since he was a state senator and who reserved his hotel room in Washington long before Obama clinched the Democratic nomination.
He fully expects the Obama team to "keep to their tradition of staging phenomenal events," and he sees nothing wrong with putting on a big celebration at a time of economic crisis.
"There's a kind of human nature thing where you party before the bad times, like that the Band song 'The Last Waltz,' " he said. "Well, this is the last waltz. We're going to have some hard times in 2009, so I'm spending my money now."

US denies Olmert influenced UN vote

Medeshi Jan 16, 2009
US denies Olmert influenced UN vote

Olmert described Bush as an unparalleled friend of Israel
The US has denied that a telephone call made by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, to George Bush, the US president, led to the US abstaining in a UN vote on the Gaza war last week.
In a speech late on Monday, Olmert said Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, was left "pretty shamed" at the vote and had to abstain on a resolution she had helped arrange.
Sean McCormack, a US state department spokesmen, who was with Rice at the UN last week during debate on the security council resolution, said the remarks were "just 100 per cent, totally, completely untrue".
McCormack said that Washington had no plans to seek clarification from Israel.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Ehud Olmert, said the Israeli leader stood by his remarks.
Telephone influence
The Israeli prime minister said on Monday that he demanded to talk to Bush last Thursday, minutes before a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
"He [Bush] gave an order to the secretary of state and she did not vote in favour of it, a resolution she cooked up, phrased, organised and manoeuvred for"
Ehud Olmert"When we saw that Rice, for reasons we did not really understand, wanted to vote in favour of the resolution ... I looked for President Bush," Olmert said.
Bush, who Olmert said was taken off a stage in Philadelphia where he was making a speech, said he was not informed on the resolution and was "not familiar with the phrasing".
"I'm familiar with it. You can't vote in favour." Olmert claimed telling the US president.
"He [Bush] gave an order to the secretary of state and she did not vote in favour of it, a resolution she cooked up, phrased, organised and manoeuvred for," Olmert said.
Bush was in Philadelphia on Thursday morning and gave a 27-minute speech on education policy that ended about 10 hours before the UN vote and there was no interruption of the public event.
The Israeli prime minister described Bush as an "unparalleled friend" of Israel.
UN call
Fourteen of the security council's 15 members supported the legally binding resolution, which has until now failed to stop Israel's offensive in Gaza.
Olmert criticised the UN resolution, saying that "no decision, present or future, will deny us our basic right to defend the residents of Israel".
Israel launched its offensive on December 27, in what it said was an attempt to stop Hamas firing rockets into southern Israel from Gaza. After an intensive air campaign in the first week, Israel sent ground forces into Gaza in the second week of fighting and continues to push deeper into the strip.

Mogadishu after the end of 2 years brutal occupation

Medeshi Jan 16, 2009
Mogadishu after 2 years of brutal occupation
Residents of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, celebrated the end of two years of brutal occupation by the arch enemy Ethiopia and came out to the streets today. Jubilant residents have filled Mogadishu Stadium and other locations vacated by the departing Ethiopian forces in the capital.
Read more: http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2009/Jan/wararka_maanta16-5539.htm

Qatar, Mauritania cut Israel ties

Medeshi Jan 16, 200
Qatar, Mauritania cut Israel ties
Qatar and Mauritania have severed economic and political ties with Israel in protest against the war in Gaza.
The move announced on Friday followed calls by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, for all Arab nations to cut ties with Israel.

(Photo: Emir of Qatar)
Addressing leaders at an emergency Arab summit in Doha, the Qatari capital, al-Assad declared that the Arab initiative for peace with Israel was now "dead".
He said Arab countries should cut "all direct and indirect" ties with Israel in protest against its offensive in Gaza.
"Syria has decided that indirect peace negotiations with Israel will be halted," he said.
His comments were echoed by Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip.
Meshaal also called on Arab leaders to cut all ties with Israel, stressing Hamas would not accept Israeli conditions for a ceasefire.
Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries who have signed peace treaties with Israel and have Israeli embassies.
Ceasefire offer
Hamas has proposed a year-long, renewable ceasefire if Israel immediately ends its offensive in Gaza and lifts its crippling blockade of the territory.
Israel wants to ensure that Hamas, and other Palestinian fighters, will not be able to re-arm during any truce.
Speaking from Ankara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said Israel should be barred from the United Nations while it continues to ignore UN demands to end the fighting in Gaza.
"How is such a country, which totally ignores and does not implement resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the UN?" he said.
Erdogan's comments came hours ahead of Friday's official visit to Turkey by Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general.
The Turkish leader also added his voice to widespread condemnation of Israel's bombing of a UN compound in Gaza on Thursday.
"The UN building in Gaza was hit while the UN secretary general was in Israel... this is an open challenge to the world, teasing the world," he said.
Diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire have intensified over recent days with emergency meetings being held in Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait and Egypt.
The UN secretary-general also visited the West Bank on Friday and Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, is flying to the US for talks.
Arab divisions
However, Friday's emergency Arab summit in Doha, the Qatari capital, has highlighted the divisions within the Arab world, with Egypt and Saudi Arabia declining to attend, preferring instead to send delegates to a meeting of foreign ministers in Kuwait.
Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, admitted on Friday that the Arab nation's reaction to the war on Gaza was "in a very big chaos".
The Palestinian political factions Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) are also at the Doha summit.
Hashem Ahelbarra, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Doha, said the delegates in Qatar recognise the legitimacy of the Gazan factions, whereas Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Western nations have sidelined them from ceasefire talks.
"You have two camps: The so-called moderate Arab countries, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, some Gulf monarchies like the UAE, and those who are trying to say that we totally disagree with the US attempt to implement a new Middle East."
Ahelbarra said the "moderate camp" is uncomfortable with Hamas's ties with Iran and suspects that the Iranian leadership is using some Arab countries to further its influence in the region.
He said that the latter group believes it has the duty to convey the anti-war feeling of the Arab street and condemn Israel's actions.
Talks are continuing in Cairo over an Egypt-sponsored truce, with Amos Gilad, the Israeli chief negotiator, telling Egyptian officials Israel wants an open-ended ceasefire.
Israel is demanding that rocket fire from Gaza ceases and that an international force is established to prevent weapons being smuggled into Gaza.
Livni, due to arrive in Washington DC on Friday, will meet Condoleezza Rice, the outgoing US secretary of state, to discuss a potential US role in stopping weapons being smuggled into Gaza.
Rice said: "The Memorandum of Understanding that Foreign Minister Livni and I will sign should be thought of as one of the elements... to bring about a durable ceasefire.
"Among them is to do something about the weapons smuggling."

UN orders Eritrea's withdrawal from disputed Djibouti border

Medeshi
UN orders Eritrea's withdrawal from disputed Djibouti border
15 January - The UN Security Council has ordered Eritrea to withdraw its forces from a disputed border region with Djibouti. The border dispute that burst into fighting in June 2008, killed at least 35 people and left dozens wounded.

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday, giving Eritrea five weeks ultimatum to withdraw its forces and all their equipment and ensure that no military presence or activity would be pursued in Ras Doumeira and Doumeira island.
The resolution, drafted by France, demanded Eritrea to comply immediately with its demands and in any case, no later than five weeks after the adoption of the resolution.
It welcomed the fact that Djibouti withdrew its forces from the disputed areas as requested by the council last June and condemned Asmara's refusal to vacate the disputed land.
The council said it would review the situation six weeks from the adoption of this resolution on the basis of a report on the compliance by both parties with their obligations to be submitted by UN chief Ban Ki-moon in six weeks.
Last October, the United States had warned Eritrea that it faced appropriate action from the council if it refused to cooperate to resolve its border dispute with Djibouti peacefully.
The Council encouraged the African Union and the Arab League to strengthen their efforts to engage both parties in diplomacy, and asked Mr Ban to contact both organisations before reporting back on the matter within six weeks.
Last June's confrontation was the first clash since 1996. The two countries had in the past clashed twice over the border area at the southern end of the Red Sea, in 1996 and 1999.Eritrea which gained independence in 1993 from Ethiopia has been a menace in the horn of Africa having been involved in two serious conflicts on border demarcation with its neighbours and is still recovering from its 1998 war with Ethiopia.
Tension between the Horn of Africa countries has been high since 16 April 2008 when Eritrean troops raided Ras Doumeira, a disputed promontory on the shores of the Red Sea.
Source: Afro News

Somali executed for 'apostasy'

Medesh Jan 16, 2009
Somali executed for 'apostasy'
An Islamist militia has executed a Somali politician who they accused of changing his religion by working with non-Muslim Ethiopian forces.
An Islamist spokesman in the port of Kismayo told the BBC that Abdirahman Ahmed was shot dead on Thursday.
Mr Ahmed had worked with Kismayo's former warlord - the MP Barre Hiraale - who is accused of attempting to retake the city with Ethiopian backing.
He is believed to be the first politician executed by the Islamists.
Ethiopian forces are pulling out of Somalia, two years after they intervened to try to oust Islamists from the capital Mogadishu.
But their mission to prop up the interim government is widely regarded as a failure as various Islamist group have recently advanced and once more control much of the country.
A group of hardline Islamists retook the coastal city of Kismayo last August.
Islamist authorities in the city stoned a 12-year-old girl to death for adultery in November, although her aunt said she had been raped.
In Mogadishu, tens of thousands of people have gathered at the football stadium, a former Ethiopian base, to celebrate the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces.
Talks about power-sharing between moderate Islamists and the government earlier resumed in neighbouring Djibouti.
'Denied body'
Relatives of Abdirahman Ahmed - also known as Waldiire - told the BBC he did not have a lawyer present during his trial in a Sharia court.
They say he was arrested about a week ago and they were informed of his death sentence on Thursday morning.
Sheikh Hassan Yakub - the spokesman for Kismayo's Islamist administration - told the BBC's Somali Service that Mr Ahmed had admitted during his interrogation that he worked with those backed by Ethiopia.
This, he said, was the basis for the court's opinion that he had changed his religion.
The relatives said they had asked the authorities to allow Mr Ahmed to go into exile.
But he was executed after afternoon prayers on Thursday.
After the shooting, his brother pleaded to be able to bury his body, however, he was told the burial had already been done.
Mr Ahmed used to be the spokesman for the Jubba Valley Alliance - one of the factions which battled for control of Somalia during the 1990s.
Earlier this month, Mr Hiraale and his fighters took some towns from the hardline Islamist group al-Shabab in Gedo region, north of Kismayo.
Observers at the time said Mr Hiraale was being armed by the withdrawing Ethiopian troops - an allegation he denied.
Al-Shabab is on the US list of terrorist groups.

Somali prime minister announces he will run for presidency

Medeshi Jan 15, 2009

Somalia PM announces he will run for presidency
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein will run for the country's presidency, he announced Thursday.
"I served the nation as premier and I want to be elected president and promote peace and harmony," he told reporters at Mogadishu airport before flying out on a trip to Djibouti.
"My immediate task would be to promote dialogue in order to achieve a lasting peace, if I am elected," he added.
"Somalia needs more reconciliation... to have a stable government. I will also give more attention to development and reconstruction."
Somalia's parliament will on January 26 elect a president to replace Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who resigned on December 29 after having tried and failed to sack Hussein as prime minister.
Yusuf's bid to push Hussein out of his job was thwarted when parliament backed the prime minister with a massive vote of confidence.
Hussein, 70, was appointed prime minister in November 2007.
He launched the internationally-backed peace process that saw the signing in in Djibouti of a ceasefire with the moderate Islamist opposition in October 2008.
He and the Yusuf clashed on their approach to the opposition: during his time as president Yusuf had poor relations with the opposition, who accused him of obstructing the peace process.
Somalia's parliament will elect its new president by secret ballot.
The winner must garner a two-thirds majority of the votes. If not, a second and third round of voting is called. In the last round, the winner would only need a simple majority.
Conflict in Somalia and power struggles that erupted since 1991 have scuppered successive initiatives to restore any semblance of order.
Hardline Islamist fighters are continuing their military campaign against the government

SOMALILAND: Maternal mortality in decline but still worrying

SOMALILAND: Maternal mortality in decline but still worrying

HARGEISA, 15 January 2009 (IRIN) - Improved healthcare facilities have considerably reduced the rate of maternal mortality in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, but officials say much more still needs to be done.
In 1997, 1,600 out of every 100,000 women giving birth were estimated to die in Somaliland.
Anwar Mohamed Eggeh, Somaliland's director-general in the Ministry of Health and Labour, told IRIN the rate in 2006 was 1,044 per 100,000.
He attributed this to “increasing health facilities in the main towns and remote areas, as well as improvement in living standards. However, the rate is still high, so the Ministry, with the collaboration of UNICEF [the UN Children’s Fund] and EU, is planning to further reduce the rate, establishing new health facilities for the general public.
"There are not enough facilities such as maternal health centres in the country compared to the population, and we want to reduce maternal mortality as we did child mortality, which we reduced by 50 percent,” he added.
Edna Aden Ismail, who set up a maternity and teaching hospital in Hargeisa in 2002, said the facility had contributed to the reduction in maternal deaths.
“We train professional midwives in the hospital, who are now working in the main town hospitals, such as Burou, Lasanod, Borama, Hargeisa Group hospitals,” she told IRIN.
“The other factor is we have enough equipment, professional midwives, nurses and doctors here and the most serious cases are referred to this hospital. Only 32 mothers died in our hospital out of 8,307, and many of them could have been saved if they had arrived at the hospital early enough,” she added.
Antenatal care was still inadequate in Somaliland, according to Ugaso Jama Guled, a midwife and activist fighting female genital mutilation/cutting, which she said was a major contributor to the territory’s high rate of maternal deaths.
She said other factors included pre-eclampsia, hypertension, abortions, pulmonary embolism, ectopic pregnancy and ruptured uteruses.
"Most Somaliland mothers die because of prolonged bleeding, pre-eclampsia, hypertension, infection and malnutrition, caused by lack of a balanced diet," Ugaso said.

Ethiopia - Dignitaries active in business

Medeshi Jan 14, 2009

Ethiopia - Dignitaries active in business
Now that the EPRDF has been in power for almost two decades, its leaders have had time to accumulate wealth. We make a roundup – by no means exhaustive - of their activity.
Azeb Mesfin, the wife of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, takes no mean interest in the world of business and sometimes has been highly interventionist in defending the commercial interests of those close to her. She recently put the spoke in the wheels of the firm Nyala Motors over the importing of UD Nissan lorries; conversely she has lobbied in favour of Sunshine Construction whose executives Samuel Tadesse and Fetlework Elala are close to her. Moreover, Azeb Mesfin is believed to have a stake in Alfa University College and in property in Addis Ababa.

(Photo: Azeb Mesfin with Meles Zenawi)

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seyoum Mesfin, is for his part at the head of a unit producing ceramics for the construction industry. It is winning all of the contracts, to such an extent that it has pushed some of its rivals to close down. Asefaw Yirga, the manager of Ase Marble, is believed to be one of them. He committed suicide on 20 December. Seyoum Mesfin also owns several tens of lorries registered in his name. Addisu Legese, the Deputy Prime Minister currently on the way out, owns a hotel at Bahr Dar, which is the stopping place for all the officials visiting this town. The State Minister for Public Works, Arkebe Oqubay Mitiku, owns two buildings in the capital, while one advisor to the Prime Minister, Bereket Simon, owns a rental building and a fleet of lorries transporting oil products from Djibouti. The Police Commissioner Workineh Gebreyehu is at the head of an import-export company which has no difficulty in getting foreign currency when it needs it. A band of generals is very active in the property market, buying and selling villas and plots of land, beginning with the army chief of staff, General Samora Younis, who owns a building in the smart neighbourhood of Bole.

The Ethiopian government recently attributed plots of land in Addis Ababa together with money for building, to some generals, mainly Tigrayans. Samora Younis, Yohannes Gebre Meskel and a few others are among the lucky beneficiaries of this scheme.

Source: Nzt

More international support for Somaliland could help stabilise the Horn of Africa

Medeshi

More international support for Somaliland could help stabilise the Horn of Africa

Dr Charles Tannock MEP says former British protectorate’s call for sovereignty should be reconsidered
Strasbourg, 14 January 2009 – The time has come to consider more seriously Somaliland’s quest for independence as the situation in the Horn of Africa deteriorates further, Conservative MEP Charles Tannock said today ahead of a parliamentary debate on the situation in the Horn of Africa.
Dr Tannock, a member of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said that an independent Somaliland, supported by the international community, could potentially be a force for stability and good governance in an otherwise hopeless region.
Somaliland was formerly a British protectorate that became briefly independent in 1960 but then chose to be absorbed into the Somali Republic. In 1991 as Somalia descended into chaos following the death of dictator Siad Barre, Somaliland once again opted to go its own way. However, Somaliland is not recognized internationally as a sovereign state by any country, despite having developed the symbols and functional governance of an independent state.
Dr Tannock said:
“Somaliland is the only cohesive and functional public authority in Somalia.
“The people of Somaliland benefit from a relatively benign government and progressive institutions as well as having symbols of statehood such as a separate currency and flag. Perhaps it’s time we began to consider more seriously Somaliland’s quest for independence.
“An independent Somaliland, supported by the international community, could be a force for stability and progress in an otherwise hopeless region, and could be an ally in fighting the scourge of piracy off the Somali coast.
“Certainly the people of Somaliland would be justified in asking why the international community is so reluctant to recognize their country but was so quick to recognize Kosovo.”

Egyptian teacher abducted in Burao , Somaliland

Medeshi Jan 14, 2009
Egyptian teacher abducted in Burao, Somaliland
Officials say gunmen have abducted an Egyptian teacher in Burao, Somaliland.
Senior government official Jama Abdullahi says the kidnappers armed with pistols stopped Mohamed Mustafa Ibrahim and bundled him into a car late Tuesday as he went to a mosque in the town of Burao.
The kidnapping is assessed to be related with commercial/livestock business disagreements between the local community and the government of Somaliland. This incident is reminiscent of another incident in 2008 where foreign fishermen were kidnapped to pressure the government. More kidnappings and attempts of internationals/foreigners are likely to occur in the near future within Somaliland if the situation is not addressed.
All staff of Aid agencies operating in Somaliland have already been advised to exercise extreme caution whilst travelling outside Hargeisa town.
Burao is the second largest town in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland.
Somaliland police chief Ahmed Saqadhe Dubad said Wednesday that his officers are searching for the kidnappers.
Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 but hasn't received international recognition. It has been relatively peaceful, avoiding the anarchy of the rest of Somalia.

SOMALIA: Inside a pirate network

Medeshi Jan 13, 2009
SOMALIA: Inside a pirate network
HARGEISA, Hassan* and Mohamed* were fishermen in Bossaso, in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, but turned to piracy out of desperation and lack of alternative livelihoods.
However, in August 2008, coastguards from the self-declared republic of Somaliland arrested them after they strayed into the region's waters. In September, they were each sentenced to 15 years in prison for their role in the piracy that has intensified off Somalia's waters in recent years.
Hassan and several others jailed on piracy charges spoke to IRIN between August and December from two prisons in Somaliland.

Hassan said: "I participated in two missions which we planned in Bossaso; the first in February [2008]. As part of a group of eight, we went to Ras Azayr area in Puntland in search of some foreign vessels. We did not find anything. We thought that since there were no foreign vessels operating in Puntland waters, we could go to Somaliland.
"I met up with a group of five men in Berbera and we agreed to operate in Somaliland waters. Unfortunately, Somaliland coastal guards captured us before we could do anything. I was later charged with organising piracy activities in Somaliland.
"I agreed to engage in piracy because we wanted to get back at the illegal foreign vessels that were fishing in our waters, denying us a livelihood. We targeted foreign cargo vessels for that reason."
Explaining how a pirate network works, Mohamed, who was sentenced in December, said: "I was captured in [Somaliland's] His District alongside four other men captured by coastguards on 13 December. I was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
"I, as do most pirates, consider myself as having been performing the duties of a coastguard. We usually work in groups of seven to 10 people. Often, our missions are financed by individuals and businessmen who collect half of the ransoms paid.
"Many people who opt to become pirates do so because authorities such as those in Puntland contribute to the degrading of the sea's environment by licensing foreign ships which use illegal fishing methods.”
Omar*, another of the jailed pirates, added: "Piracy has become booming business in Puntland territories; we receive the fuel and logistics from local business people. For example, when a kidnapped vessel pays ransom, 50 percent of it is taken by the people who invested their money; the pirates only get 50 percent."

However, he was quick to point out that pirates did not attack any ship coming to Bossaso.
"No one will attack any ship toward Bossaso because the local people who support the pirates will not agree to the hosting of those kidnapped in their area, so the ships coming to Bossaso are safe from piracy."
The pirates consider the ransom they get to be retribution for the ships that fish illegally off Somali waters.
"The ransom they pay is somehow a punishment for their illegal activity in the Somali water, especially in the era without government," one of the pirates said.
*Not their real names

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Human Rights, (IRIN) Water & Sanitation
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Obama pays public tribute to Lincoln's unifying legacy

Medeshi

Obama pays public tribute to Lincoln's unifying legacy

By Guy Adams in Los AngelesMonday, 12 January 2009

Barack Obama paid a visit to the Lincoln Memorial at the weekend, publicly honouring the man who inspired his career and whose legacy is to provide a major theme for the inauguration in eight days.
The President-elect took his family to the monument on Saturday night, where they admired the statue of the 16th President, before studying the inscriptions of his greatest speeches, including the Gettysburg Address.

(Photo: Barack Obama and his family leave the Lincoln Memorial )
It was the latest indication that Mr Obama intends to begin his presidency citing his hero, an opponent of slavery who led the abolitionist North during the Civil War of 1861-65.
He has decided to be sworn into office using Abraham Lincoln's bible, and will spend three days this week travelling by train from Philadelphia to Washington, following the final leg of an identical journey taken by Lincoln.
The theme of Mr Obama's inauguration week, "A New Birth of Freedom", was inspired by Lincoln's speeches, while the menu for the lunch following his swearing-in is a replica of the one enjoyed by his predecessor.
According to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies, which has published recipes on its internet site, 200 guests will be served on plates identical to the fine bone china ordered for the White House by Lincoln's wife, Mary.
The appetiser will be seafood stew, while the main course is to be "a brace of American birds". This will have duck breast with sour-cherry chutney and herb-roasted pheasant, all served with molasses, sweet potatoes and winter vegetables. Lincoln, who grew up on the frontier in Kentucky and Indiana, was a fan of root vegetables and game. The "apple cinnamon sponge cake" being prepared for dessert is said to provide a nod to Mr Lincoln's love of both apples and cake.
Mr Obama and Abraham Lincoln have plenty in common. Both overcame poor backgrounds to become successful lawyers in Illinois. They share a skill for inspirational speechmaking, and both took office at a time of political turbulence.
Although opponents detect a whiff of the PR stunt in the President-elect's efforts to ally himself with such a pivotal figure, Mr Obama's affection for Lincoln appears to go back a long way. It is mentioned throughout Mr Obama's book The Audacity of Hope, and was also cited when he announced his decision to run for the presidency in Springfield, Illinois, on the steps of the Old Capitol, where Lincoln was a legislator.

SOMALIA: Three teaspoons a day to keep starvation at bay?

Medeshi Jan 12, 2009
SOMALIA: Three teaspoons a day to keep starvation at bay?
JOHANNESBURG, Ready-to-eat blended food has revolutionised the treatment of children who are acutely malnourished. In a pilot project, the UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) will use a similar product not to treat, but to prevent malnutrition in conflict- and drought-ridden Somalia.

( mother and her malnourished child in Beletweyne, Hiiraan region: Somalia has one of the world’s highest levels of malnutrition, with Global Acute Malnutrition rates of an estimated 18.6 percent)
In the biggest trial of Plumpy'doz, a variation of Plumpy'nut, a ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), UNICEF plans to reach 100,000 children by mid-January.
Plumpy'doz is similar to Plumpy’nut in that it is possible to treat a child at home, without refrigeration, even where hygiene conditions are poor.
Somalia has one of the world’s highest levels of malnutrition, with Global Acute Malnutrition rates of an estimated 18.6 percent, topping 20 percent in some areas, and 28 percent in displaced people’s camps in Bossaso, northeast Somalia. Anything over 15 percent can be regarded as an emergency.
In the trial, children between six and 36 months old will receive three teaspoons of the paste of milk powder, sugar, peanut paste, oil, minerals and vitamins three times a day for eight months. Unlike Plumpy'nut, Plumpy'doz is a supplementary food, which comes in jars and is dispensed before children become malnourished; it has the same amount of micronutrients but a quarter of the calories.
Proper nutrition in the first three years is critical for the long-term health and growth of the child, as recent studies have shown.
"We are not saying that we can cull [eradicate] malnutrition, which is a complex problem, with Plumpy'doz, [but] we hope to make a difference to thousands of children in Somalia, where access to quality complementary food for young children remains difficult due to drought, extreme poverty and in addition high food prices," said Fitsum Assefa, UNICEF's nutrition specialist for Somalia.
A worsening drought, the global food crisis and a falling currency pushed the cost of imported cereals in Somalia up by almost 400 percent in 2007/2008, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Somalia is behind Zimbabwe in the countries worst hit by food inflation, according to Assefa. Milk and water are scarce.

(Photo: Packets of Plumpy'nut in a warehouse: UNICEF will use Plumpy'doz, a variation of Plumpy'nut, in a pilot project to prevent malnutrition in Somalia)
Besides handing out Plumpy'doz to mothers, UNICEF will promote exclusive breastfeeding, a natural immune booster up to six months, and breastfeeding with complementary food for two years. Only 13 percent of Somali infants younger than six months are exclusively breastfed, according to UNICEF.

Effectiveness debate
However, there is a lack of scientific evidence to back the effectiveness of ready-to-use foods (RUSFs) in preventing malnutrition. The World Health Organization (WHO), which initiated debate on the use of RUSFs to prevent malnutrition in 2008, has underlined the need for clinical trials.
"It was decided that any new RUSFs [...] as effective as any other existing RUSFs in aiding growth [and] reducing morbidity can be used, but simultaneously organisations should also hold clinical trials to test efficacy in carefully controlled circumstances," said André Briend, a WHO official and inventor of Plumpy'nut.
No clinical trials of Plumpy'doz have been undertaken.
UNICEF decided to go ahead with the intervention following the findings of the pioneer trial by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) of Plumpy'doz in Niger in 2007.

(Photo: A doctor examines a malnourished child in Hargeisa: UNICEF plans to reach 100,000 Somali children by mid-January in the biggest trial of Plumpy'doz, a ready-to-use therapeutic food )
In that trial, 62,000 children between six and 36 months in the district of Guidan Roumdji in the Maradi region were given Plumpy’doz. The NGO did not record a peak in malnutrition during the lean season from May to September as it usually did, said Stéphane Doyon, leader of MSF’s nutrition team.
After the trial, a national nutrition survey conducted by the World Food Programme and UNICEF in Niger recorded the lowest levels of malnutrition in the country in Guidan Roumdji, further strengthening MSF’s belief that the intervention worked.
However, there have been some questions around the technical basis of the Niger trial, which was not held within a controlled environment. The children’s total calorific intake was not monitored. "It was not a clinical trial; I am sure someone will hold a clinical trial. We are satisfied with our findings which will be published soon," said Doyon.
The policy-making UN Standing Committee on Nutrition formally endorsed the RUTF approach in 2007, saying it could be used to treat three-quarters of children with severe acute malnutrition.
The use of RUTF for prevention, rather than treatment has only just begun. After their Guidan Roumdji trial, MSF rolled out Plumpy’doz in the whole Maradi and neighbouring Zinder regions. Agencies are considering its use in Sudan.
Cost issues
Critics of the peanut paste cure have often said Plumpy’Nut and Plumpy’doz are too expensive, milk powder being the most expensive ingredient.
"Plumpy'doz is not that expensive – it costs 12 US cents a bottle," said Doyon. But the costs add up as a child could use a bottle a week for three years. Scientists are looking at cheaper options, using soya instead of milk, he explained.
Manufacturing the paste locally could also help bring down costs. The paste is being made in several African countries such as Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Health & Nutrition