Somaliland: A News Digest in English 3
Ahmed Kheyre
November 20, 2009
The UNICEF delegation led by Dr. Richter flew in from Nairobi and is on a tour of East Africa, having already visited Kenya and Ethiopia. The delegation visited several project funded by UNICEF including the expansion and refurbishment of the Berbera Water Agency. During their short visit to Berbera, the UNICEF delegation also visited several health centres and local authority facilities around the Sahil Region.
The Somaliland Minister of Planning and International Co-operation, Mr. Ali Abdi Ibrahim also gave a press briefing on the visit. Mr. Abdi Ibrahim, a former UN staffer, described the visit as a boost to Somaliland's efforts to develop and strengthen its working relationship with international agencies such as UNICEF.
Dr. Richter and her delegation later departed for Asmara, the capital of Eritrea.
Source Qarannews
LONDON–UK- Reliable sources have confirmed to the Geeska Afrika newspaper that Somaliland is on the verge of official observer status within the Commonwealth member nations.
According to these sources, there have been recent meetings between officials from the United Kingdom and representatives from Somaliland held in London to study the possibility of Somaliland's observer status at Commonwealth summit and meetings.
If Somaliland is successful in its aspiration for observer status, it will not have an official voice, but Somaliland is expected to benefit in terms of diplomatic and economic relations with Commonwealth member states.
In early 2008 members of the Somaliland parliament were invited to participate in Commonwealth parliamentarians meetings held in London, however, it is the first time that Somaliland will have been granted observer status at any official Commonwealth member summits or meetings.
There has been no comment from either the Somaliland government or the Commonwealth secretariat, but according to Geeska Afrika newspaper, informed sources have confirmed a motion to grant Somaliland observer status at Commonwealth meetings and summit will be proposed for consideration.
The Commonwealth member nations comprise of mainly English speaking countries with strong ties to the United Kingdom. Somaliland is a former British protectorate which became independent on the 26th of June, 1960.
Source: Geeska Afrika Newspaper
HELSINKI-FINLAND- Security officials in Somaliland narrowly thwarted a terror attack that had been planned against a peace conference in the town of Hargeisa last Sunday. The gathering of clan leaders had been organized by Finn Church Aid, the foreign aid arm of the Finnish Lutheran Church.
Ten kilos of powder-based explosives were found in the possession of two uninvited guests. The aim was apparently to conduct a suicide attack against the meeting of the chiefs of the Hawiye clan.
Such an attack would have put the lives of seven Finnish citizens at risk.
The events began to unfold on Friday, when about 30 clan leaders flew from the Somali capital Mogadishu to the Hargeisa meeting. Also on board the commercial flight were two young men. At the destination they boarded a bus taking the participants in the meeting to their hotel.
The hotel´s security personnel made note of the nervous behaviour of the two. Organizers of the meeting also noted that there were two people there who had not been invited.
"Their room was searched, and explosives suitable for use in a suicide attack were found in their possession", said Antti Pentikäinen, executive director of Finn Church Aid, who spoke by telephone from Washington.
Pentikäinen himself was to have attended the meeting on Sunday, its opening day, but the trip was cancelled after the terror plot was unveiled.
The suspects were arrested, and they have been interrogated by local officials. The identity of the suspected would-be bombers has not been disclosed, nor is there any information on what rebel group they might belong to.
On the basis of previous suicide attacks, the main suspect is the al-Shabaab movement, which controls the south of Somalia. Al-Shabaab introduced the practice of suicide attacks to Somalia a few years ago, and the movement is believed to have links with the al-Qaeda network.
After the plot was unveiled, the organizers considered cancelling the meeting. However, it began on schedule on Sunday in Somaliland.
"Security arrangements are at the maximum. The meeting will proceed only if security can be guaranteed", Pentikäinen says.
The planned attack will not stop meetings aimed at peace from being organized in the future, Pentikäinen says. However, he adds that the situation will make it necessary to re-evaluate how the security of participants and organizers can be guaranteed.
"In Somaliland, we are trusted as organizers of meetings of this type. Under no circumstances do we plan to pull out. When we have collected all information about this event, we will ponder how the risks could be minimized in the future."
He sees the case as a worrying example of how security for aid organizations has deteriorated in recent years, especially in fragile states such as Somalia that the meeting had to be held in Somaliland.
Finn Church Aid has organized gatherings of clan chiefs and religious leaders in Somalia for a year and a half already. The meetings are low-profile events set up for airing the views of local leaders on how the peace process in Somalia should proceed.
Pentikäinen emphasizes that Finn Church Aid dies not bring its own agenda to the peace process. Instead, it seeks to support local communities, and to communicate their views to the international community.
Source: HELSINGIN SANOMAT
HARGEISA-SOMALILAND– Somaliland´s Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdillahi Muhammad Duale, received in his office a delegation from Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation was led by Sheikh Mansoor Ahmed, the General Secretary of Pakistan who is also at the same time the General Secretary of the ruling party in Pakistan (the PPP or Pakistan People´s Party). In addition to Sheikh Mansoor Ahmed, the Pakistani delegation had two other members.
The two sides discussed relations between the two countries. Somaliland´s Minister of Foreign Affairs talked about the good relations between Pakistan and Somaliland described the various stages Somaliland has gone through, and requested Pakistan´s help in securing diplomatic recognition for Somaliland. For his part, Sheikh Mansoor Ahmed, expressed how much he was impressed with Somaliland´s peace and democracy and promised to inform his countrymen of what he saw in Somaliland.
Somaliland Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Saeed Muhammad Nur attended the talks.
Source SL Times
BERBERA-SOMALILAND- The port of Berbera received a 230 meter ship, the longest ship to dock at Berbera since 1968. This ship is called the MV-Ander and it carried 18 tons of sugar for the Omaar Company and other goods for the Somaliland business sector.
Before the arrival of the MV-Ander at Berbera, the record for the for the longest ship to dock there was held by the Beder II, at 204 meters, the Beder II is a livestock transport to the Arabian Peninsula.
The Beder II arrived at the port of Berbera a few days ago to take more livestock cargo for the Saudi Arabian market after the Saudi ban on Somaliland livestock had been lifted. Source SL Times
BUROA-SOMALILAND- Days after Saudi Arabia lifted a nine-year ban on livestock imports from Somaliland and Somalia, the market in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has seen a 10-fold increase in sales, according to local traders.
"One thousand five hundred sheep used to be sold in the market before the recent announcement... compared to more than 16,000 animals in the market daily in the last few days," Jama Farah Duale, a middleman (`dilal´) in the market, told IRIN.
Livestock keepers in the republic of Somaliland, who are mainly pastoralists, said they were beginning to see a change in their fortunes.
"In the last nine years I used to earn 5,000-10,000 Somaliland shillings a day [US $1.6 - 3.2] but by Allah´s mercy in the past few days I have been earning 60,000-70,000 a day, which has really improved my life," Duale said.
Somaliland´s livestock minister, Idiris Ibrahim Abdi, announced the Saudi move on 5th November. Imposed in late 2000, the ban followed an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in the Horn of Africa region.
RVF is an acute viral infectious disease of humans, cattle and sheep, which usually occurs during the rainy season. Clinically it is characterized by fever, loss of body coordination and sudden death.
Saudi Arabia, which used to be the biggest buyer of Somaliland livestock, said it had lifted the ban to coincide with the `hajj´ pilgrimage later in November. Meanwhile Somaliland has recently opened a sophisticated new animal processing and veterinary complex in Berbera.
The decision allows livestock keepers to ship animals to Saudi Arabia through Somaliland's traditional livestock port of Berbera. In the past, the port also served livestock trucked from the neighboring Ethiopian regions of Somali and Oromiya.
Berbera had been losing its importance as a business centre since 2000. Thousands of people there moved to other towns such as Hargeisa and Buroa.
"[Most] of the young men who used to work in the livestock export business as animal herders on vessels heading to Saudi Arabia, have moved to Arab countries or other urban centers within Somaliland," a local resident said.
The Saudi decision, according to local pastoralists, has renewed hope that Somaliland livestock can fetch a good price. "We have suffered in the last few years because of the ban; our animals had no value in the market.
"For example one lamb was valued at only about US$20, which is much less than the cost of foodstuff," said Rashid Haybe Illeeye, from the Lebi-Sagaale region along the Somaliland-Ethiopia border.
"Today I came with four lambs as usual - to buy food - and three of them were bought at $40-50," Illeeye said.
A local journalist based in Buroa told IRIN that the lifting of the ban was a boon to all. "The market has not seen such activity for nine years," he explained.
"The whole of Buroa - from tea ladies, truckers and nomads, to porters - is doing a booming business." Source IRIN.
ERIGAVO-SOMALILAND– Two men believed to be linked with a recent attempt to hijack a Daallo airliner from the town of Bosaso in the Puntland state of Somalia were arrested by the Somaliland police force in Erigavo, the provincial capital of Sanaag region.
The men who have yet to be identified were arrested on Sunday morning as they entered the town of Erigavo by car after their departure from Bosaso. It is believed that the Somaliland police were informed in advance by their counterparts in the Puntland state of Somalia who are seeking the extradition of the two suspects.
The two suspects are accused of being part of an attempt to allegedly hijack the Daallo airliner bound for Djibouti in a bid kidnap two German passengers. Half-way through the flight, the Daallo crew outwitted the would-be hijackers and returned the plane back to Bosaso airport, and were met by the local police force. Source SL Times.
HARGEISA-SOMALILAND- A training course has began in Hargeisa organised by the Manhal Specialty Hospital and the Afro-Asian Training Centre for Medical Science. The course deals with the appliance of the Ultrasound technology in clinical and laboratory work.
Conducting the course is Professor Syed Gillani from Pakistan and the head of Afro-Asain Training Centre for Medical Science. The course is expected to last for two days and is designed to familiarise health workers in Somaliland with the use of the Ultrasound technology.
The Somaliland Minister of State for Health, Mr. Ahmed Ali Shire formally opened the course which had attracted attendance from Somaliland doctors, nurses, students at the various Somaliland universities medical schools, and some from as far away as, Mogadishu in Somalia. Source Qarannews
DUBAI-UAE- The Adal Community in the UAE has overwhelmingly supported the formation of a Chapter of ARDAA in the UAE. In a meeting held in a hotel in Dubai on Friday November 13, 2009, more than 50 people who came from all regions of the UAE and had welcomed the establishment of ARDAA. This will be the first representation of ARDAA in the Middle East.
At the outset Mr. Omar Ibrahim Kamil, famously known as Omar Dubai, a veteran Adalite in Dubai had given a rousing speech in which he spoke about the importance of cooperation and the need to help the people back home. He was given a warm applause for his speech. words:
Abdirahman Obsiye, an ARDAA Board Member, gave a briefing to the audience on the history of ARDAA, its constitution and structure and its programs which cover economic, social and cultural projects.
Among the other notable speakers was Adan Jama Hoori, a former Deputy Minister, who cited the urgent need for infrastructural development, stressing the significance of ARDAA in playing a major role in raising awareness and resources for the improvement of the infrastructure of Adal Regions.
Omar Adan Liban, who organized the meeting along with Saeed Ibrahim Iman also briefed the meeting on the procedures and requirements needed for the official registration of the chapter in Dubai.
Other speakers included Mahmoud Hassan Saad, Omar Ahmed Barre and Dr. Saad Awale who all emphasized the importance of the leadership role of ARDAA in uniting the scattered efforts and resources of the people and giving them a purposeful direction and transparent management.
The meeting was concluded with the election of 11-member committee which will be the administration of ARDAA Chapter in the UAE. The first task of the committee will be to elect four executive members and to start the needed paperwork for the official formation of the chapter in coordination with the President and Board of ARDAA.
The participants have pledged the funds needed for the registration of the office. As one of its first community tasks, the chapter raised US$1000 needed for the release of an Adalite woman who was in police custody for an immigration issue. Source Qarannews
BORAMA-SOMALILAND- This week marked the beginning of the Abaarso Tech 2009 - 2010 school year. AT is pleased to announce that all 51 students who received an invitation, committed to Abaarso Tech's four year secondary program and many more students expressed their desire to join the school.
Of the 51 students accepted, 30 boarding students were chosen as a result of scoring in the top 1% of the country on the Somaliland 8^th Grade Exit Exam and then further passing an exam administered by SOS and AT. This diverse group draws from all over Somaliland, including the distant Eastern regions, with 20% of students coming from Sanaag and Sool.
Abaarso Tech's 21 day students were selected from a pool of students who fell just below the top 1% on the Somaliland 8^th Grade Exit Exam, were recommended by their principals, or attended our September program. This group then took a separate AT exam which tested math, logic, science and writing. With an acceptance rate well under half of those students applying, the AT faculty is extremely pleased with the day students selected and thus far those children are proving every bit as good as those who are boarding.
Initially, Abaarso Tech did not anticipate having the capacity to house female students in its first year. However, the school recently received a grant commitment from Horsed Inc. (a non-profit organization committed to supporting education in the region) to put towards the construction of a temporary girls dormitory. As such, AT was able to accept 8 girls in its inaugural boarding school class and 15 overall. In the future, when proper dormitories are constructed for both boys and girls, this structure will become the Abaarso Tech biology/chemistry Lab.
Abaarso Tech is a world class secondary boarding school designed to take the best students from across Somaliland, provide them with four years of practical curriculum and intensive English classes. At the end of their time with Abaarso Tech, students should be well equipped to seek opportunities in Somaliland and abroad that they would not have had access to otherwise. Source Harawo
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