Somalia: The Quagmire of Somaliland

opinion

 By Abdirahman Mohamed Dirye

While global attention is focused on Somalia, the self-declared republic of Somaliland has been independent for 20 years without recognition by the international community. This lack of recognition is an injustice to Somalilander.

 

Hanna, not her real name, born in 1992 in New Hargaysa the Somaliland capital celebrated her 20th birthday last 18 May, the Independence Day. Twenty years after independence, little has changed in her life. Because her country, Somaliland, neither has real independence nor unity with Somalia, nor effective administration to deliver basic necessities let alone guaranteeing better life for her.

Fleeing from the abject poverty and President Silanyo's government's indifference towards the painful suffering of the people as well as the international blockade in the form of denial of recognition by the international community, Hanna perished in the Mediteranian Sea unnoticed trying to reach to Europe.

The exodus of youngsters aged 18-29 years, of both genders, in attempted escape from hellish conditions back home often turns their journey more or less into mass suicide. But due to inherent uncertainty, many of Hanna's peers worry more about the future and the risky voyage to Europe is the pnly option that always comes to mind.

Somalilanders are law-abiding citizens who think the international laws are based on a concrete basis of conviction and justice. They prevented terror from ithe region and eliminated piracy from their seashore. According to an Aljazeera program , "pirates set up some sort of stock exchange for their companies that has drawn investment from Somali diaspora and other nations.

They started 15 maritime companies and now are hosting 75, not in the capital of Mogadishu but Harardhere Stock Exchange making piracy a community activities. One piracy investor contributed a rocket propeller grenade from her ex-husband's alimony and has made $75,000 in only 38 days.

The growing demand and mounting risks pushed ransom from $2 million to $4 million to satisfy the rising number of shareholders.

In the process, the piracy stock exchange has transformed the once small fishing village into a bustling town that earns a percentage of every ransom to be used on infrastructure including hospitals and public schools". Somalis are doing everything they can to survive or to make money. Why not we? But we uphold the national and international laws and yet there is no appreciation.

Somaliland and Somalia joined together in 1960 as two independent countries. Somalilanders were unable to grasp how the world was led to believe Somaliland was seceding rather than restoring its sovereignty from Somalia, and thus becoming a liability on the region encouraging balkanization of African states. But this is not true. Somaliland is an indispensable factor for the stability of the whole region since 1991 by providing firm intelligence to war on terror.

President John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech, 'We pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty' seems to be failing if not obsolete since the Obama administration is reluctant to extend assistance to hapless people of Somaliland.

The absence of recognition of Somaliland threatens the lives of ordinary nationals because its subsequent economic hardships have led to dramatic exodus of Somalilanders to EU over the past 10 years.

Imagine living in a country without formal recognition and without Taiwan's resources. However, still there's cause for optimism. The Wikileaks revealed how Ethiopia's late Prime Minister Melez was lobbying for Interim Status and had suggested Djibouti should recognize Somaliland.

The world, however, felt compelled to talk about the international isolation upon Somaliland people and its urgency to break. No one can morally justify the unwarranted suffering of so many innocent Somalilanders whose lives have been shackled and devastated by the inadvertent embargo.

More recently, Prime Minister David Cameroon of the UK spoke out and called Somalia and Somaliland to have 'exit' dialogue about their future relations. The little unrecognized country took center stage globally as The New York Times posted a startling, fascinating news article 'The World's Next State'.

The world has moral obligation to save the fleeing masses by changing its attitude towards democratic Somaliland.

- Dirye is Somaliland activist and senior editor at the Democracy Chronicles Africa's News Edition

Somalia: What Led the French Commando Raid On Al Shabab to Be a Failed One? !!!!!!

By Shabelle, 12 January 2013

Bulomarer — Reliable sources in and around BuloMarer town in South Somalia where French commandos raided late last night, say that the French commandos first landed at a village called Daaydoog which is located at the seaside and three kilometers away from BulMarur where the French intelligence officer was held by Al Shabab militants.

French President Vs Al Shabab

According to the reliable sources, who are local people and spoke to Shabelle, say that the French commandos killed some villagers and tied others when they landed at Daaydoog before they headed to BulMarer. But some villagers who survived the French killings at the seaside contacted and alerted Al Shabab fighters in BuloMarer telling them that there were at least fifty heavily armed foreign soldiers on their way to BuloMarer.

The reliable sources, who spoke to Shabelle, say that the survived villagers called particularly the commander of Al Shabab in Bulo Shiekh Ahmed who was among those the French killed in the fire fight.

But before he and his men moved to ambush the coming French commandos, Ahmed is reported to have moved the French captive from the house they were holding into another house.
The sources say that the killing of the villagers was a mistake which led Al Shabab to be alerted and prepare for the French commandos.

Somaliland: Poverty and Discrimination Causes New HIV/Aids Infections

By: Liban H Rabi & Yusuf M Hasan

Hargeisa (THT) - Proper Welfare to people living with HIV/Aids is the best way of deterring new infections in the country.

Ms Hodan Dahir positive mother

women living with HIV/Aids have asked the government to enhance the support of those infected and affected by the virus as prelude to reducing the growing rate of new infections reported which stands at around 58 on a monthly basis.

The plea was made by Ms Hodan Ibrahim and Hodan Dahir during a visit to the Dawan Media Group offices in Hargeisa where they informed that they are both infected and mothers who are disturbed by the increasing number of reported new infections in the country.

The two who informed that poverty among people infected with Aids and the prevalent massive discrimination practiced by the community against PLWAs needs urgent redress thus reduce the ever increasing number of new infections in the country.

"Poverty and discrimination pushes PLWAs to engage in acts that exacerbate new infections nationwide" said MS Dahir

While justifying her argument Ms Dahir a mother of two and a member of a local Community based organization fronted by PLWAs in Hargeisa informed that when she was diagnosed as HIV positive a three years ago she was registered as PLWA #468 while a recent visit to the hospital revealed that current registration at the Hargeisa group hospital shows over 5000 infected.

While terming proper welfare and cessation of discrimination as the only remedy against new HIV infections Ms Hodan Ibrahim the other infected single mother of six said "I'm sure that HIV/AIDS will affect every household in the country if our officials don't act now"

She further argued that the government ruled by President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmud Silanyo which knows how to solve conflicts between clans can easily solve the current trend as pertains to the livelihoods of people living with Aids as well reverses the prevalent high rate of new infections nationwide.

The mother of six pleaded with all stakeholders to act informing saying, "we can't get any jobs among the society, and we are very weak and poor people who are enable to provide for our children'
.
The two infected motHealth Minister Dr Hussein Hog hands $500 to a PLWA beneficiary during WAD 2012hers who spoke on  behalf of their group pointed out that the First Lady Hon Amina Haji Mahmud "Amina Waris" was their best ambassador as she is the mother of the nation and the country,

While addressing the first lady Ms Amina Weris the two infected mothers said "you are the one who can feel our problems, we want to you to play a great role for in order to assist we feed our children as well as prevent the increasing spread of HIV/AIDS in the country".

While thanking the PLWA organization of RAHMA and Talowadag coalition two mothers castigated the Somaliland National Aids Commission-SOLNAC for failure to fulfill its mandate thus the lack of welfare to those infected and affected by HIV/Aids as well failure to address discrimination and the spread of new infections.

"The head of SOLNAC is completely unresponsive to HIV/Aids related issues in the country" Said Ms Ibrahim

They also thanked the Committee for the promotion of good deeds and deterrence of vice, a nationwide religious body which they termed as having been very helpful especially with psychosocial support.

On the other hand the SOLNAC Director of Admin Mr. Abdikarin Ahmed Hinif whom we queried on the accusations of disregard by his body said SOLNAC always assist people living with HIV/AIDS in all parts of the country with favour.

He informed that SOLNAC plays a great part in the ensuring availability and distribution of the ARV drugs used by the HIV/Aids infected while trying to harmonize activities of the various local and international organizations whose activities are geared towards supporting PLWAs.

Mr. Hinif also pointed out that SOLNAC is at the fore front of ensuring the welfare of the PLWAs and their families through the solicitation and subsequent distribution of food and other donations.

Though the national HIV/Aids prevalence is 1.3% the Somaliland National Aids Commission-SOLNAC reports that the country records an average of 58 new HIV/Aids infections on a monthly basis.

According to the Executive director of SOLNAC Mohamed Dahir these figures are derived from Voluntary Counseling and Testing-VCT that have seen an intensified campaign with a specific focus on males since most of the data has always from women who secure the services during pre-natal check-ups.

Since inception in 2004 of the free VCT services that are provided in most public heath institutions in the country 1,572 case of HIV/Aids infection have been discovered out 20,738 citizens tested. Of the 20,737 voluntarily tested persons 13,271 were women who incidentally have the lion's share of infections.

During commemorations of the world Aids day on December 1st 2012 whose theme was "Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero deaths from AIDS-related illness. Zero discrimination." The following proclamations were made

 the government reiterates its commitment to ensure effective leadership and support in halting and reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in tAmina an infected person pleads for Zero discrimination at WAD 2012 meeting in Hargeisahe country- Dr Hussein
Hog, minister of health

 58 new infections monthly-SOLNAC

 Information ministry committed to continued HIV/Aids awareness- Mohamed Osman Mire Sayid

 We plead for none discrimination of people living with Aids-Amina (PLWA)

 SAHAN is committed to the zero tolerance on discrimination of PLWAs- Anwar A Warsame

Speaking on behalf of people living with Aids-PLWAs at the WAD 2012 function Miss Amina who is herself infected and the chairperson of Rahma a local organization formed by PLWAs said that those infected or affected by HIV/Aids continue to encounter massive discrimination from members of society especially the youth.

Pleading to the youths to stop this discrimination Miss Amina (not her real name) who is the leader of Al-Rahma a local NGO whose membership of is of 36 women infected with HIV/Aids, said, "We request the youth to stop mistreating us because we are your sisters who happen to have the misfortune of being infected with HIV/Aids"

While commenting the Somaliland HIV/Aids Network-SAHAN for continued support since inception Miss Amina lamented the lack of support from donor organizations who pour millions of dollars into other local organizations dealing with Aids while neglecting Al-Rahma which is the best conduit for such support.

She also wondered why Talowadag a local organizations that supports PLWAs provides its beneficiaries with half the food supplied by donor organizations, while wondering where the other half is used for or given to. She also revealed that the WFP rations availed PLWAs at the group hospital are always expired and thus not consumable.


In conclusion the Al-Rahma organization said that People living with HIV/Aids in fully support this year's World Aids day theme of "Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero deaths from AIDS-related illness. Zero discrimination" for the attainment of these objectives is significant as it will lessen the number of Somalilanders who have to persevere the difficulties related to the infection.

Amina an infected person pleads for Zero discrimination at WAD 2012 meeting in Hargeisa

First paper factory opens in Hargeisa, Somaliland

By Barkhad Dahir in Hargeisa

A factory that produces paper, boxes and student notebooks -- the first such industry to be in operation in Somalia in two decades -- opened in Hargeisa this past weekend.

An employee works at the newly opened AADCO Paper Factory in Hargeisa. [Barkhad Dahir/Sabahi]

Employees assemble books, office paper and packaging cartons at the AADCO Paper Factory.


Establishing the AADCO Paper Factory has been in the works since 2009, owner Aden Barado said at the opening ceremony on Saturday (January 5th).

"It took so long because we are in a country that was destroyed," Barado said, adding that it is difficult to start a factory in Somalia where there is little support to ease the process.

The factory began construction in January 2012 and finished in December.

The factory has 50 employees, including women, and more people will be hired soon, according to Director of Technology Mohamud Abdullahi Ahmed, who said some of the workers had been trained in China.

Every 16 hours, the plant produces 70,000 books that are ready to be sold in the market, he told Sabahi. The factory is environmentally friendly and uses a system that limits excess noise and smoke, he said.

This is the first factory of its kind to open in Somalia since the collapse of the central government two decades ago, factory General Manager Hassan Nur said. The total cost of the project was about $5 million.

During the first phase, the factory is slated to print exercise books for students, factory General Manager Hassan Nur told Sabahi. Within the first few months of 2013, it will also produce A4 office paper, notebooks and packaging cartons, Nur said.

In an effort to stop importing factory materials from abroad, the company will at the end of the year manufacture its own materials to make paper. "We want to be self-sufficient with the printing materials that our production requires, which we currently buy from China," Nur said.

"Our aim is to sell our products across Somalia and to neighbouring countries such as Djibouti and Ethiopia," he said.
Improving conditions for local manufacturing

The new paper plant will help people in the region save a lot of money that they spend on imported books and office paper, said Mohamed Shukri Jama, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.

"It will increase job creation, knowledge and investment, and we welcome it," he said.

From 2000 to 2012, he said his agency licensed 58 factories in Somaliland that produced various goods, but only 18 of them currently operate. He said the defunct factories each received between $1 and $5 million from private investors, but failed to be profitable and eventually closed.

He said negative conditions, such as lack of government support, loan access and technological support, can hinder local production. To support local manufacturing, taxes should be increased on imported products so that people will buy locally produced goods, he said.

Minister of Commerce, Industries and Tourism Abdirizak Khalif Ahmed, who addressed the opening ceremony, said his ministry is planning to do just that. Ahmed said he recently forwarded to the Ministry of Finance a plan to increase taxes on imported products that are similar to locally manufactured goods in order to support and protect local manufacturing.

Somaliland regional President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo cut the ribbon at the ceremony, promising that his administration is committed to promoting investment in the region and increasing job creation through policy and technical support.

Aaron Swartz dead: Internet activist and programmer was 26

Internet activist and computer prodigy Aaron Swartz, who helped create an early version of the Web feed system RSS and later played a key role in stopping an online piracy bill in Congress, has committed suicide at age 26, authorities said on Saturday.

Internet activist Aaron Swartz, pictured at a Wiki Meetup in Boston in 2009, has reportedly committed suicide. (Flickr/Wikimedia Commons / January 12, 2013)

Police found Swartz's body hanging in his Brooklyn apartment on Friday, according to the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, which ruled the death a suicide.

Swartz, a native of north suburban Highland Park, is widely credited with being a co-author of the specifications for the Web feed format RSS 1.0, which he worked on at age 14, according to a blog post on Saturday from his friend Cory Doctorow.

RSS is a format for delivering to users content from sites that change constantly, such as news pages and blogs.

Online tributes to Swartz have been posted at a number of top websites in the technology world.

"Aaron had an unbeatable combination of political insight, technical skill and intelligence about people and issues," Doctorow wrote on his blog at Boing Boing.

Swartz also played a role in building the news sharing website Reddit, but left the company after it was acquired by Wired magazine owner Conde Nast.

In 2011, he was indicted on computer fraud and other charges related to the unauthorized download of academic journal articles at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He pleaded not guilty. His trial was due to start in April.

Doctorow wrote that Swartz had "problems with depression for many years."

Swartz himself described his struggles with dark feelings.

In an online account of his life and work, Swartz said he became "miserable" after going to work at the San Francisco offices of Wired after Reddit was acquired by Conde Nast.

"I took a long Christmas vacation," he wrote. "I got sick. I thought of suicide. I ran from the police. And when I got back on Monday morning, I was asked to resign."

Swartz later founded the group Demand Progress and led a successful campaign to block a bill introduced in 2011 in the U.S. House of Representatives called the Stop Online Piracy Act, which generated fierce opposition in the technological community.

The bill, which was withdrawn amid public pressure, would have allowed court orders to curb access to certain websites deemed to be engaging in illegal sharing of intellectual property.

Swartz and other activists objected on the grounds it would give the government too many broad powers to censor and squelch legitimate Web communication.

Swartz also had been a fellow at a Harvard University research lab on institutional corruption, according to his website.

Tim Berners-Lee, who is credited as the most important figure in the creation of the World Wide Web, commemorated Swartz in a Twitter post on Saturday.

"Aaron dead," he wrote. "World wanderers, we have lost a wise elder. Hackers for right, we are one down. Parents all, we have lost a child. Let us weep."

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Doina Chiacu)

France on alert for backlash as air assault on Mali rebels kills 100

French pilot among dead as Hollande puts country on terror alert and warns of more fighting to stop Islamist advance
Peter Beaumont, Cass Jones and Kim Willsher

French troops in Chad prepare to be airlifted into Mali yesterday. Photograph: Nicolas Vissac/AFP/Getty Images

French troops in Chad prepare to be airlifted into Mali yesterday. Photograph: Nicolas Vissac/AFP/Getty Images

The French president placed his country on terror alert as his military stepped up their operations against Islamist rebels in Mali with an air assault that is believed to have killed at least 100 people.

François Hollande warned of a heightened risk of retaliation in Europe following France's escalation of a military intervention that was launched on Friday to recapture the north of Mali from rebels acting against the country's government. "We have already held back the progress of our adversaries and inflicted heavy losses on them. But our mission is not over yet," Hollande said.

The latest air strikes led to the death of a French pilot, Damien Boiteux, and, according to witnesses, those of more than 100 rebel and government troops following fighting for the strategic town of Konna. Malian officials said they had wrested the town from rebel control.

The intensification of hostilities came after western governments voiced alarm following the capture of Konna by Islamist rebels on Thursday in their first major drive towards the capital, Bamako, since seizing control of the north last spring.

David Cameron, who backs the French intervention, spoke of his "deep concern" about the latest developments. His remarks came as the west African regional economic bloc, Ecowas, authorised the immediate deployment of troops to Mali a day after French forces began their operations.

The intervention in Mali represents Hollande's biggest foreign policy test since becoming president in May. He has so far enjoyed widespread political support at home and abroad for his actions in Mali.

France's defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said hundreds of French troops and aircraft had been involved in fighting at three locations in the centre of Mali, including against an Islamist command centre.

A French army unit also attacked a column of rebels heading towards the town of Mopti. He insisted that France was compelled to act quickly to stop the Islamist offensive, which he said could allow "a terrorist state at the doorstep of France and Europe".

In a separate military operation in Somalia, a French soldier was killed during a botched commando raid on an Islamist compound to rescue a captured secret service agent. The hostage is also believed to have been killed in the operation.

Another commando is listed as missing amid claims that he was injured and captured by fighters belonging to the Islamist al-Shabaab movement.

The operation had failed "despite the sacrifice of two of our soldiers and without doubt the assassination of our hostage", Hollande said. But he said it confirmed "France's determination not to give in to the blackmail of terrorists" and reiterated his commitment to pursuing military intervention in Mali.

Although officials denied there was any connection between the rescue effort and the operation launched in Mali, the French military escalation would have complicated the position of the hostage in Somalia.

The secret service agent, "Denis Allex", is believed to have been killed by his captors during a failed helicopter raid in Bula Mareer, 70 miles south of Mogadishu. The assault faltered after resistance at the compound, which was reinforced by fighters at a neighbouring training camp who heard the helicopters.

The agent and a colleague were kidnapped in 2009 while assigned to the international effort to assist Somalia's transitional government in Mogadishu. His colleague escaped a month later.

Residents of the town described explosions and gunfire while an al-Shabaab official said that the fighting began after helicopters had dropped off French commandos.

The French ministry of defence said that the decision to launch the raid to rescue Allex had been taken after there had been no progress in three years of attempted negotiations to secure his release.

"Faced with the intransigence of the terrorists, who refused for three years to engage in all negotiations, and who were holding Denis Allex in inhuman conditions, an operation was planned and set in effect," said a spokesman.

French soldiers killed in botched Somalia hostage raid

By Agence France-Presse
Saturday, January 12,

 

Denis Allex

 

Two French soldiers died and 17 “terrorists” were killed in a failed bid to free a French hostage in southern Somalia from Islamists holding him since 2009, the French defence minister said Saturday.

The overnight operation was launched by France’s elite DGSE secret service, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement, adding that the raid was sparked by the “intransigence of the terrorists who have refused to negotiate for three and a half years and were holding Denis Allex in inhuman conditions.”

But the Shebab extremists denied Le Drian’s assertion that they had killed the hostage, a secret agent whose alias is Denis Allex, adding that they would decide his fate in two days and issuing a stern warning to Paris.

Two French soldiers “lost their lives (and) 17 terrorists were killed” in the battle, Le Drian said, offering the “most sincere condolences” to the dead soldiers’ families and praising the men for their “courage and remarkable work”.

He said the families of the dead soldiers had been informed.

A Shebab statement said “in the end, it will be the French citizens who will inevitably taste the bitter consequences of their government’s devil-may-care attitude towards hostages.”
Sheikh Mohamed Abdallah, a local Shebab military commander, told AFP: “Mujahedeen fighters defeated the so-called commandos of the French government who tried to rescue a hostage, and they (the commandos) left the bodies of several of their own at the site of the attack.”

Abdallah is the commander of Bulomarer, where the raid allegedly took place.
The Shebab statement said the French carried away “several” of their dead.

“The helicopters attacked a house … upon the assumption that Denis Allex was being held at that location, but owing to a fatal intelligence blunder, the rescue mission turned disastrously wrong.

“Several French soldiers were killed in the battle and many more were injured before they fled from the scene of battle, leaving behind some military paraphernalia and even one of their comrades on the ground.

“The injured French soldier is now in the custody of the mujahedeen and Allex still remains safe and far from the location of the battle.”

A Bulomarer resident, Idris Youssouf, told AFP: “We don’t know exactly what happened because the attack took place at night, but this morning we saw several corpses including that of a white man.

“Three civilians were also killed in the gunfight,” he said.

The French secret agent was kidnapped in Somalia in July 2009 along with a colleague who was freed the following month.

Four military helicopters were used in the raid in Shebab-controlled Bulomarer, some 110 kilometres (70 miles) south of the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses said.

The Al-Qaeda linked Shebab lost their main strongholds in the south and centre of the country following an offensive launched in mid-2011 by an African Union force, but they still control some rural areas.

Allex is among nine French hostages in Africa of whom at least six are held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

He appeared in a video in June 2010 appealing to Paris to drop its support for the Somali government.

He last appeared in another video in October looking gaunt and calling on French President Francois Hollande to work for his release.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991. However, a new administration took office last year, ending eight years of transitional rule by a corruption-riddled government.

Over a million Somalis are displaced inside the country while over a million are refugees in neighbouring nations, according to UN figures.

The United Nations this month appealed for $1.3 billion to support 3.8 million people — about half the population of the war-torn country — it said are in need.

In 2011, famine in the country caused by extreme drought exacerbated by conflict claimed tens of thousands of lives and affected more than four million people, according to the United Nations.

Britain to host Somalia conference in May

British Prime Minister David Cameron

LONDON: Britain is to host a new international conference on the future of war-torn Somalia on May 7, the office of British Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Friday.

A spokeswoman for Cameron's Downing Street residence said the meeting would build on the major conference held in London last Februrary, when international powers pledged to boost aid for Somalia to fight Islamist militants and pirates.

"The UK and Somali governments will co-host an international conference on Somalia on 7 May in the UK," the spokeswoman said.

"This will build on last year's successful meeting in London to help sustain international support for the progress being made by the Somali government."

Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991. However, a new administration took office last year, ending eight years of transitional rule by a corruption-riddled government.

In recent months, a 17,000-strong African Union force, fighting alongside government troops and Ethiopian soldiers, have wrested a string of key towns from the country's Islamist Shebab insurgents.

The United Nations launched a $1.3 billion humanitarian aid appeal for Somalia last month as the country struggles to recover from the famine and drought that killed tens of thousands of Somalis in 2011.

The number of displaced people in Somalia, a country of nine million people, is estimated at 1.5 million, while a million refugees have also fled the conflict and famine.

Downing Street said Cameron had spoken with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday and discussed the retreat of Shebab forces, as well as Hassan's priorities in restoring stability in Somalia.

"The Prime Minister also said that he would use the UK's Presidency of the G8 this year to reinforce further support for the efforts of the Somali government to build a strong, prosperous and democratic country," the spokeswoman said.

Representatives of some 50 governments and international organisations attended the first Somalia conference in London, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

A follow-up conference, attended by 54 countries, was held in Istanbul in June.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jan-12/201959-britain-to-host-somalia-conference-in-may.ashx#ixzz2HqJkd5Ef
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)