Our moral obligations in Somalia

Michael Shank

By Michael Shank,

When pundits and politicos in Washington think of Somalia, the first thing they likely think of is al-Shabaab, the violent rebel group that sprung from the military wing of the Islamic Courts Union that once ran the country.  That’s especially true in light of last week’s news that Doctors without Borders is pulling out of Somalia after 20-plus years in the country, due to an increase in violent attacks.  That’s also likely what the Department of Homeland Security was thinking when they detained me for questioning at JFK Airport after I returned from Somalia this week.

The al-Shabaab fit nicely into the characteristics of the West’s war on terrorism as well as the conservative’s narrative about Islam and violence. But there is much that is misunderstood about this movement and the country that is trying to quell it.

First, al-Shabaab, which means “youth” in Arabic, is largely made up of young persons who were previously unemployed, aimless and impoverished.  They are recruited with nothing more than a $20 gift or a cell phone.  Additionally, much of the mid-level leadership is filled by marginalized clans, persons who didn’t get to participate in the political process, at least not in a meaningful way like the handful of majority clans have historically.

My research, including this recent trip to the country, has shown that the majority of al-Shabaab is not composed of people who are inherently set with a sinister agenda for Somalia and the West, but rather people in search of job security and political power.  The good news here is that these needs can be met through more legitimate means; it’s up to the Somali government and the international community to make sure they’re met.

While this may not be an easy task, the outline of it is clear.  First order of business:  Ensure that Somalia’s president and prime minister’s spots, ministerial posts, and members of parliament are better balanced, more inclusive, and more representative, as they have, for decades, been dominated by a few clans only.  Second order of business: prioritize socio-economic development, something that has not been placed on the West’s agenda for the Horn.

As I walked the streets of Mogadishu, thousands of youth milled about, aimless, listless and jobless.  But in speaking with the women and youth organizations and coalitions operating throughout the country, the United States has not invested in strategies to get these kids off the streets and into jobs.  This is a missed opportunity, one that does not require much funding, and one that should be remedied 

immediately.  

That the U.S. Department of Justice’s Terrorist Watchlist creates obstacles to aid — e.g. support for socio-economic development and job creation for youth who are at risk of recruitment by al-Shabaab — is problematic.  Somalias most recent famine, in 2010-2012, which killed over 250,000 Somalis, is believed to be partially a result of the World Food Programme retracting its food distribution out of fear it would end up in the hands of al-Shabaab.

There must be a better way.  While I understand why policymakers wouldn’t want U.S. aid to end up in the hands of people who do violence, what about U.S. aid for preventing people from doing violence?  These Somali youth need our help and if we fail to offer it to them, they will go to the loudest local recruiter, who, in many cases, is the Shabaab.

Second, the Somali leadership, within the government and without, is categorically against the al-Shabaab’s agenda and the violence it is waging.  In their view, and mine, these are criminals doing criminal acts, and not representatives of Islam at all.  And while it is deeply unfortunate that the U.S. government dealt so poorly with the Islamic Courts Union in 2006, when they first emerged as a more mainstream and less violent movement, that is the past that cannot be undone.  What can be changed, however, is how we now engage the Somali government, its people, and its threats.

That path is clear; it is up to us to support it.  In meetings with Somalia’s Prime Minister, Ministers of Defense, Interior and National Security, and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Speaker of the Parliament and myriad members of the parliament, they discussed how the Shabaab can be dismantled on several fronts.  Whether it’s disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs and rigorous religious retraining and rehabilitation for former fighters — or, for future fighters, something more preventative like skills training and job placement to ensure that the Shabaab’s recruitment strategies (often a simple offer of a free cell phone) are ineffective – the West must be ready to reconsider how we prevent violence overseas because the current approach isn’t working.  We’re allowing new recruits to be swept up for something as simple as a cell phone.  Certainly we can do better.

Somalia needs America to do better. There’s incredible opportunity for engagement but we’re not seizing it, and, instead, sticking to our old ways in America’s so-called “war on terror.”   Ways that are military-focused, not socio-economically inclined, and engaging only segments of the population, not the disenfranchised and marginalized.  If we want to win over Somalis, an about-face is needed, and it is needed now.

This is a critical moment in Somalia’s national rebuild and we can help tip the scales towards something very positive.  But it requires a serious rethink on how we wage war.  In Somalia, a war on poverty and unemployment would go a lot farther in meeting our objectives than our current strategy – and for a lot less money.   The time for that rethink is now.

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Michael Shank, Ph.D., is director of foreign policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation and Adjunct Faculty at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

Amanda Lindhout book reveals Somalia captivity despair

Amanda Lindhout, after a year of being starved, beaten and sexually brutalized in Somali captivity, says she was on the verge of suicide.

A House in the Sky, a memoir by Amanda 
Lindhout and Sara Corbett, describes 
Lindhout's traumatizing months as a captive in Somalia.

By: Chris Purdy The Canadian Press,  

After about a year of being starved, beaten and sexually brutalized, Amanda Lindhout decided it was time to kill herself.

The Alberta woman, taken hostage in Somalia in August 2008, says she reached her breaking point after spending three days trussed up like an animal, her hands and feet pulled so tightly behind her back that she could barely breathe.

When her captors did untie her, they told her it was only a reprieve. They promised to use the same torture technique on her again each day until they got their ransom money.

Left alone, Lindhout resolved she was better off dead. She would take a rusty razor to her wrists.

But as she held the blade in her hand, a small brown bird flew into the doorway of the room where she was being held. It hopped on the dirty floor, looked at her and flew away. It was the first bird she’d seen since shortly after she was taken.

“I’d always believed in signs … and now, when it most mattered, I’d had one,” she writes. “I would live and go home. It didn’t matter what came next or what I had to endure. I would make it through.”

In her memoir, set for release next month, the 32-year-old details the brutal 15 months she spent in captivity along with Australian photographer Nigel Brennan. A House in the Sky is co-written with Sara Corbett, a contributing writer with the New York Times Magazine.

The book reveals how Lindhout and Brennan’s families eventually gave up on the Canadian and Australian governments and co-ordinated the pair’s release themselves. The final price: $1.2 million.

About $600,000 went as ransom to the kidnappers, who had originally asked for $3 million. The rest was spent on other costs, including a $2,000-per-day fee for a private hostage negotiator.

The two families split the bill evenly. While Brennan’s family was more well off, Lindhout’s parents needed donations to come up with their half.

Lindhout admits she was naive, travelling to a dangerous country for the thrill of adventure. The former cocktail waitress had saved her tips to backpack around the world before turning to freelance journalism to further fund her travels.

On earlier travels to Afghanistan, she had sold a story to her hometown newspaper, the Red Deer Advocate, and some photos to an Afghanistan magazine. She decided to take a chance on heading to Somalia.

“The reasons to do it seemed straightforward. Somalia was a mess. There were stories there: a raging war, an impending famine, religious extremists and a culture that had been largely shut out of sight.”

She knew it was dangerous but hoped it would launch her career. She called Brennan, a former boyfriend, and invited him to take photos while she did TV news.

They had only been in Somalia a few days when they got into a hired car and headed for a refugee camp outside Mogadishu. On the way, they were snatched by armed men.

Lindhout later learned the group had been watching their hotel and were actually targeting a writer and a photographer working for National Geographic. The kidnappers were surprised to end up with her.

Lindhout and Brennan had entirely different experiences in captivity. Brennan was kept in a room with windows, furniture and books to read. Lindhout was holed up in a dark room with rats. It was simple: he was a man; she was a woman.


Back in Canada, Lindhout’s family feared she was being sexually assaulted, but Canadian officials assured them Muslims were unlikely to do such a thing. However, she says one captor did routinely force himself on her.

Things got worse when she and Brennan tried to escape in early 2009. They ran to a nearby mosque for refuge but some of their captors caught up with them. No one there would help, except one older woman.

She clung to Lindhout as the men dragged her hostage out. Lindhout says she later heard a gunshot; she never learned the fate of her helper.

The kidnappers blamed Lindhout for the escape, even though it had been Brennan’s idea. The next day, in a prayer room, they put a sheet over her head, stripped down her clothes and took turns violating her body.

In November 2009, Lindhout was told she and Brennan were being sold to a rival group. As they were being passed over to strangers, Lindhout clung to a car door and had to be pulled away, screaming.

Moments later she realized they were actually being rescued. A ransom had been paid.

Lindhout was taken to a hospital in Kenya. She had broken teeth, aching ribs from being kicked and a skin fungus across her face. Her hair was falling out. She was malnourished and had trouble walking because she had been shackled for so long. Back in Canada she underwent extensive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

What kept her going for 459 days in captivity?

Lindhout writes she got through the most painful times by constructing, in her mind, a house in the sky where she got to eat whatever she wanted and embraced her friends and family.

She made a promise to herself that, if she were ever freed, she would try to honour the woman who tried to save her at the mosque. In 2010, she founded the non-profit Global Enrichment Foundation to help support education for women and girls in Somalia and Kenya.

Now living in Canmore, Alta., Lindhout says she still thinks about her kidnappers but tries not to hate them, recognizing they are products of a violent environment.

“Forgiving is not an easy thing to do. Some days it’s no more than a distant point on the horizon. … Some days I get there and other days I don’t.

“More than anything else, it’s what has helped me move forward with my life.”

Islamists Killed While in Custody, Egypt Confirms

Bryan Denton for The New York Times

Supporters of the deposed Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, marched in Cairo on Sunday, but several marches were scaled back or rerouted.

By ROD NORDLAND
CAIRO — The Egyptian government acknowledged that its security forces had killed 36 Islamists in its custody on Sunday, as the country’s military leaders and Islamists vowed to keep up their fight over Egypt’s future.

The deaths were the fourth mass killing of civilians since the military took control on July 3, but the first time so many had died while in government custody.

The news of the deaths came on a day when there appeared to be a pause in the street battles that had claimed more than 1,000 lives since Wednesday, most of them Islamists and their supporters gunned down by security forces. The Islamists took measures on Sunday to avoid further confrontations, including canceling several protests over the military’s ouster of a democratically elected Islamist-led government.

While confirming the killings of the detainees on Sunday, the Ministry of the Interior said the deaths were the consequence of an escape attempt by Islamist prisoners. But officials of the main Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, described the deaths as “assassinations,” and said that the victims, which it said numbered 52, had been shot and tear-gassed through the windows of a locked prison van.

The killings were the latest indication that Egypt is careering into uncharted territory, with neither side willing to back down, Egyptians increasingly split over the way forward and no obvious political solution in sight. The government is considering banning the Brotherhood, which might force the group underground but would not unravel it from the fabric of society it has been part of for eight decades.

Foreign governments also remain divided over the increasingly bloody showdown. United States officials said they had taken preliminary steps to withhold financial aid to the Egyptian government, though not crucial military aid, and the European Union announced Sunday that it would “urgently review” its relations with the country, saying the interim government bore the responsibility for bringing the violence to an end.

But the Egyptian military retains the support of the oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have pledged billions in aid to the new government.

Although it appeared that security forces were more restrained on Sunday — with no immediate reports of killings in the streets — Maj. Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the country’s military leader, spoke out on national television in defiant and uncompromising tones, condemning the Islamists again as “terrorists,” but promising to restore democracy to the country.

The government has been pursuing a relentless campaign to paint the Islamists as a threat, and has increasingly lashed out at journalists who do not echo that line, especially the foreign news media.

Acknowledging but rejecting the widespread international criticism of the security force’s actions, the general said that “citizens invited the armed forces to deal with terrorism, which was a message to the world and the foreign media, who denied millions of Egyptians their free will and their true desire to change.”

The Muslim Brotherhood had announced that it would stage nine protest marches in and around Cairo on Sunday as part of its “week of departure” campaign that began Friday to protest the military’s deposing of the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

All but three of the marches were canceled, and even those that continued were rerouted to avoid snipers who were waiting ahead, along with bands of government supporters, the police and the military, some in tanks. The authorities, too, appeared to avoid aggressively enforcing martial law provisions, including a 7 p.m. curfew, that would have led to clashes with the protesters.

Protesters who gathered at the Al Rayyan mosque in the Maadi area of Cairo had aimed to march from there to the Constitutional Court, Egypt’s supreme court, whose chief justice, Adli Mansour, has been appointed interim president by the country’s military rulers.

Marching in the 100-degree late afternoon heat, the protesters were fatalistic about the threats they faced. Mohammad Abdel Tawab, who said his brother was killed Friday at Ramses Square, had heard the reports of pro-government snipers and gangs ahead. “They will kill us, I know, everybody knows, but it doesn’t matter,” he said.

A woman, Samira, dressed in an abaya with only her eyes visible, marched holding her 1-year-old daughter, Sama. “Whatever will happen to us, will happen,” she said. “God has written it already.”

Protest leaders, however, were more cautious, and repeatedly rerouted the march at the last moment to avoid confrontations, turning down narrow lanes where residents in upper stories sprayed them with water — it was not always clear whether the gesture was in support or in contempt.

In the last mile, the leader of the march, Mohammad Salwan, ordered everyone to get on the metro train for the final approach to the court, and then the protesters dissipated instead of trying to breach barricades set up by pro-military factions.

“We know there are snipers along the route, and we want to avoid losing any more lives,” he said.

Similarly, a protest in Giza was called off after it was threatened by military supporters, and the only other one to be held was in a strongly pro-Brotherhood area, Helwan, in south Cairo. Another march, to the presidential palace in Heliopolis, was also canceled.

“The leadership decided things were getting out of control and they couldn’t afford more casualties,” said a Brotherhood member who writes for one of the group’s publications and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the organization.

Even on Saturday, which had seemed relatively quiet, 79 people were killed in violence around Egypt, according to the government press agency, MENA, in an announcement on Sunday. It provided few details.

Brotherhood leaders in particular have paid a heavy price, with the children of many top officials among the dead. They include Asmaa el-Beltagy, the daughter of a senior Brotherhood leader, Mohamed el-Beltagy, killed at Rabaa Square on Wednesday; Ammar Badie, 38, son of Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohamed Badie, shot during clashes on Friday in Ramses Square; Habiba Abd el-Aziz, 26, the daughter of Ahmed Abd el-Aziz, the media consultant to ousted President Morsi, killed at Rabaa from a bullet wound to the head on Wednesday; and the grandson of the movement’s founder.

There were scant details on the prison killings on Sunday, and no explanation for why the victims were inside a prison van and had reportedly taken a prison official hostage.

The Ministry of the Interior issued conflicting and confusing accounts of what had happened, at one point claiming the prisoners had taken a guard hostage, then saying militants had attacked the prison van to free the prisoners, who were killed in the process, and then saying tear gas being used to suppress the escape had caused the prisoners to suffocate. Later, the ministry claimed the deaths had happened in the prison, not in the van.

The violence came a day after a blistering speech in support of the Muslim Brotherhood by Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who likened Egypt’s military leader, General Sisi, to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

“There are currently two paths in Egypt: those who follow the pharaoh, and those who follow Moses,” he said. Speaking before the European Union’s announcement of a review of relations, he also criticized other countries’ position regarding the military government.

 “The Organization of the Islamic Conference and the European Union have no face left to look at in the mirror,” he said.

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Mayy El Sheikh, Kareem Fahim and David D. Kirkpatrick contributed reporting.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 18, 2013

An earlier version of this article misidentified Asmaa el-Beltagy, who was killed at Rabaa Square. She was the daughter, not the son, of a senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed el-Beltagy.

Egypt bloodletting rages with Islamic militants killing 25 police in Sinai Peninsula

Egyptian army soldiers take out barbed wire that was surrounding the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo ahead of planned demonstrations, Aug. 18, 2013. Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi canceled some Cairo marches today for 'security reasons', as the country's military chief vowed to face down violent protests following Egypt's bloodiest week in decades. / Getty

CAIRO - Islamic militants on Monday ambushed two mini-buses carrying off-duty policemen in the northern region of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing 25 of them execution-style in a brazen daylight attack that deepens the turmoil roiling the country and underscores the volatility of the strategic region.


The killings, which took place near the border town of Rafah, came a day after 36 detainees were killed in clashes with security forces. In all, nearly 1,000 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi since last Wednesday.

Tensions between the sides have been high since the army ousted Morsi in a July 3 coup, following days of protests by millions of Egyptians demanding the Islamist president leave and accusing him of abusing his powers.

But Morsi's supporters have fought back, staging demonstrations demanding that he be reinstated and denouncing the military coup.

How events play out in Cairo could largely determine whether Egypt can step back from the brink of chaos. It will also have significant bearing on the debate playing out in Washington over whether the U.S. government should end the lifeline of financial aid to Egypt's military. Of the $1.5 billion in aid the U.S. sends Egypt every year, $1.3 billion is earmarked for the country's security forces.

As CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues reported on the CBS Evening News, there is increasing pressure on the Obama administration from within the Beltway to cut off that aid.

In an attempt to counter the perception of undue force by state security personnel, Egypt's Foreign Ministry accused the foreign media on Sunday of telling only half of the story, and handed out photos showing what it purported to be armed men among the pro-Morsi protesters. It was a clear attempt, reported CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata, to label the Muslim Brotherhood and other Morsi backers as terrorists.

On Wednesday, the military raided two protest camps of Morsi's supporters in Cairo, killing hundreds of people and triggering the current wave of violence.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the country's military chief, said Sunday that the crackdown, followed by a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew imposed in Cairo and several other flashpoint provinces, is needed to protect the country from "civil war." El-Sissi has vowed the military would stand firm in the face of the rising violence but also called for the inclusion of Islamists in the post-Morsi political process.

Sinai, a strategic region bordering the Gaza Strip and Israel, has been witnessing almost daily attacks since Morsi's ouster — leading many to link the militants there to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which Morsi hails.

Egyptian military and security forces have been engaged in a long-running battle against militants in the northern half of the peninsula.

Al Qaeda-linked fighters, some of whom consider Morsi's Brotherhood to be too moderate, and tribesmen have used the area for smuggling and other criminal activity for years and have on occasion fired rockets into Israel and staged cross-border attacks. A year ago, 16 Egyptian border guards, a branch of the army, were slain in Sinai near the borders with Gaza and Israel in a yet unresolved attack that is widely blamed on militants.

In Monday's attack, the militants forced the two vehicles to stop, ordered the policemen out and forced them to lie on the ground before shooting them, the officials said. The policemen were in civilian clothes, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which also left two policemen wounded.

The officials initially said the policemen were killed when the militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the two minibuses. Such confusion over details in the immediate aftermath of attacks is common. Egyptian state television also reported that the men were killed execution-style.

The killings, which took place near the border town of Rafah, compound Egypt's woes a day after police fired tear gas to free a prison guard from rioting detainees, killing at least 36.

The deaths of the 36 and the 25 policemen take to nearly 1,000 the number of people killed in Egypt since Wednesday's simultaneous assaults on two sit-in protest camps by supporters of Morsi.

In the deaths Sunday of the prisoners captured during clashes the past couple of days in Cairo, officials said detainees in one of the trucks transporting them had rioted and managed to capture a police officer inside. The detainees were in a prison truck convoy of some 600 prisoners heading to Abu Zaabal prison in northern Egypt.

Somaliland: Cadowgaaga Dhabta ah Garo

Mohamed Ali Bile

W/Q Mohamed Ali Bile

Markii ay rabshaduhu ka socdeen waddanka Kosofo (Kosovo), sanadihii sagaashanaadkii ayaa dawladaha waaweyn ee dunidu ka sameysteen saldhigyo waddanka Albaaaniya (Albania). Saldhigyadaa waxa lagu diyaariyey raashin, gogol iyo agabkii ay u baahan lahaayeen qaxootiga la filayo iney ka soo qaxaan dalka Koosofo oo ka soo yaaci doona dagaalka sii xoogeysanaya. Sidii diyaar garowgaa loogu jirey ee caalamku iskugu diyaarinayey iney Albaaniya noqoto meesha lagu marti gelin doono 2 malyuun oo qof oo Koosofo ka soo qaxa, ayaa Albaaniya lafteedii burburtey oo dadkeedii qaxooti noqdeen. Waxa aan lagu xisaabtamin in Albaaniya lafteeda ay heysteen dhibaatooyin badan oo hoose oo siyaasadeed, shaqo la’aan iyo rajo xumo la soo gudboonaatey dhalinyaradii. Waxa lagu mashquulsanaa uun intii hore dagaalka muuqda ee Kosofo ka socda ee hoosba looma eegin dhibaatooyinka heystey shicibka Albaaniya. Waxa meeshii ka dhacdey dadkii oo Albaaniya ka qaxa, dagaal cusub oo ka bilaabma iyo dhibaato hor leh. Dibaatada uugu weyn ee Albaaniya ka dhacdey waxa horseedey farsamo xumo ay dawladeedu isku qufushey uun dhibaatada ka taagan Kosofo, balse aaney hoosba u eegin in dhibaatooyin nooc kale ihi ay ka taagan yihiin dalka gudihiisa, loona baahanyahay in hoos loo eego.

Sideedaba hoggaamintu kama soo hadho odoroska mustaqbalka iyo inu qofka hogaamiyaha ihi karti u yeesho inu sii maleyn karo ama ogaan karo waxa ku soo socda. Waxa maanta taagan waa wax soo bilaabmey wakhti tegey oo an iminka arkeyno uun natiijadii. Waxa berri dhici doona iyo xaaladda lagu sugnaan doonaana waa wax maanta bilaabmey ama bilaabmaya.

Haddii kartidaado la heer noqoto waxa markaa taagan, waxa ay la macno tahey inaadan umad u horseedi karin barwaaqo iyo mustaqbal wanaagsan.Dibaatada u weyn ee Somaliland la soo gudboonaan karta maaha in Muqdisho iyo koonfuri soo weerari doonaan oo ay dalka qabsan doonaan. Mana aha in cid kale oo sadeexaadi ay xoog ku muquunin doonto. Dhibka koowaad ee Soomaaliland ka hor iman doonaa waa mid ay abuurtey xaalad iyo dhibaato mujtamac oo haddaan iminka laga hor tegin dhowr sanadood dabadood qarxi doonta.

Hadaf umadi yeelato oo ay higsato waxa uugu muhiimsan HORUMAR ku saleysan Cadaalad, Sinaan iyo Madaxbanaani. Horumarku waxa uu keenayaa in dhaqaaluhu kor u kaco, nolosha mujtamucu wanaagsanato oo ay heer sareeya gaadho, aqoonta, farsamada iyo tignoolojiyadu sarreyso, caafimaadku wanaagsanaado, dadka wax soo saarkiisuna kor u kaco. Waxa kale oo uu keenayaa in daku, gaar ahaan dhalinyaradu hesho shaqooyin u qalma. Haddii horumar sareeya la gaadhi waayo, waxa badanaya jahliga, dadka xanuunsanaya ayaa iyana kordhaya, shaqo la’aanta ayaa badaneysa oo keeneysa in wax soosaarku yaraado, waxaana adkaaneysa inad dalkaaga ka difaacdo gardaro ku timaadda maadaama itaalkaaga iyo dhaqaalahaaguba hooseeyaan.

Haddii intaa an kor ku sheegey sax kuula muuqato, muxuu markaa yahay cadowgaagu? Jawaabtu waa horumar la’aan la soo gudboonaato dalka iyo ummadda oo ay keentay shaqo la’aan iyo awooddii dadka oo aaan laga faa’iideysan, niyad jab jiilba jiil la dul fadhiisto iyo is nac. Dawladaha ay xukumaan digtaatooriyiinta, gaar ahaan kuwii shuuciga ahaa, ayaa waxa ay shacabkooda ku mashquulin jireen in cadawga umaddu yahay isticmaarka iyo imbiriyaaladda (imperialism) iyo dhiigmiiratada oo ay ka wadaan dadka lacagta leh. Shacabkii ayaa colaad loo gelin jirey dawladaha hore u marey iyo dadka lacagta leh, oo looga dhigi jirey iney iyagu mas’uul ka yihiin dib u dhaca ku yimid dalkooda iyo nolol xumada. Dawaladaahaasi waxa ay meel kasta ka faafin jireen iney dagaal kula jiraan isticmaarka, waxaaney caruurta iskuulada iyo iyo shaqaalaha u akhriyiyaan khudbado ay ku abaabulayaan oo ay uugu sheegayaan inay dagaal isu diyaariyaan. Waxaas oo borobagaanda ah waxa ay uugu talo galeen iney dadka kaga indho tiraan in dhibaatada heysata iyo horumar la’aanta ay uugu wacanyihiin dawladahan hore u marey iyo dadka lacagta leh.

Waxa inta badan ad war baahinta ka maqleysaa iyada oo la leeyahay cadowga Somaliland ayaa sida yeeley iyo cadowgii ayaa ka naxey iyo cadowgii Somaliland ayaa sida fiinta uuga qeyliyey arrinkaas. Cadowgaa la sheegayaa waxa looga jeedaa Soomaliya iyo dadkeeda iyo dawladeeda. Dabcan, taariikh dheer ayaan jirta oo dagaal iyo dulmiba ku jiro oo laga tirsanayo dawladdihii Soomaaliya ka jirey, waana ta keentey in Soomaaliland ka tashato oo maamulkeeda sameysato dalkeedana dib u dhisato. Xitaa marka dib loogu noqdo taariikhda, cadowgu muu aheyn Somaliya iyo dadkeeda, manaha iney iyana yihiin dad xun inana dad wanaagsan. Cadowga runta ihi wax uu ahaa talo xumo horseedey horumar la'aan iyo burbur mujtamac, dhaqaalihii iyo xukunkii oo inaga wareega. Haddii la rabo in laga hor tago si aaney mar danbe wixii la soo marey mar kale u dhicin, waxa haboon in cadowga rasmiga ah laga hor tago oo aan lagu jaha wareerin dhaleeceynta iyo ku mashquulka Somaliya oo teedii heysato.

Hargeisa iyo Muqdisho waxa hor guuleysan doona labadii tii dhaqaaleheedu sareeyo ee u horumarka ay sameyso uuga faa’iideysata in dadkeeda gaar ahaan dhalin yarto shaqooyin hesho iyo adeegga bulshadu kor u kaco. Maalinta Somaliland iyo Somaliya isasoo hor fadiistaan ee wada hadal yimaado, waxa talin doona oo tiisa la maqli doonaa hadba dhinicii dhaqaalaha badan, dhinaca dadkiisu aqoonta sareeyo, dhinaca dhalinyartiisu baraarug sareeyaan ee ay ka qeyb qaadanayaan talada dalkooda. Haddii dhalinyarta dalku ay shaqo la'yihiin oo aaney si mug leh talada uuga qeyb qaadan, ama aaney heysan rajo wanaagsan oo ay mustaqbalka ku higsadaan, wey adkaaneysa inad ka fisho in ay dalkooda fadhiyaan oo horumarkiisa si buuxda uga qeyb qataan. 

Inanka iyo inanta ka tahriibaya Burco iyo Boorama ee u badheedhaya badaha waaweyn kama ordayaan weerar kaga iman doona xamar, balse waxa la soo gudboonaatey shaqo la’aan iyo iyaga oo rumeysan in qurbaha ay taalo nolol wanaagsan. Sidaa darteed, cadowga koowaad waa iyada oo mar labaad dagnaan lagugu qabto adiga oo aan dhaqaalahaagii kor u qaadin, adiga oo aan sameysan gaashan dhig adag oo ad umaddaada ku difaacdo iyo adiga oo aan shaqo gelin malaayiinta dhalinyarada ah ee miyi iyo magaalaba iska joogta ee jaha wareersan. Macno sameyn meyso colaad iyo naceyb umad gasha oo u gasha umad kale. Waxa iyana nuqsaan ah inad la tartanto qof kaa liitaa oo isaga laftiisu dulman, oo ad ku doodo inaga ayaa koonfur ka fiican. Somaliland 20 sanadood oo Soomaaliya dhib iyo dagaalo ku jirtey ayay dawlad laheyd.Faa’iido malaha inad la baratanto qof gurguuranaya adiga oo 20 sanadood orod ku jirey. Tartanka waa inad la gashaa qof qeyrkaa ah oo 22 jir ah. Maha inad 3 jir la tartanto.

DAAWO: Orodyahan Soomaali ah oo ku matagay Marathonkii shalay

Mosco - Mustafa Mohamed oo asal ahaan kasoo jeeda dalka Soomaaliya balse haysta dhalashada wadanka Swedan una ordayay ayaa wuxuu shalay kaalinta 22-aad ka galay tartankii shalay ee orodka Marathonka ee ciyaaraha caalamiga IAAF ee ka socda magaalada Moscow

Mustafa oo dadaal dheeri ah muujiyay, markii uu soo gaaray riijinta u danbeyso ee guusha ayaa mar qura uu istaagii ka dhacay, wuxuuna sii daayay matag iyadoo ay goobta soo gaareen shaqaalaha gurmadka deg dega

oo goobta ka qaaday.

Wuxuu sheegay Mustafa in uu xanuun adag qabtay, iskuna celin waayay

matag qabtay iyo wareer fara badan oo uu dareemay.

Orodyahankan asal ahaan kasoo jeeda Somalia ee u orda Swedan wuxuu

muujiyay karti iyo dadaal, wuxuuna kaalinta 22-aad ka galay tartankan oo ahaa mid ah.

Hadaba halkan ku dhufo si aad daawato ciyaaryahanka oo matagay 

Madaxweyne Siilaanyo Oo Soo Saaray Xeer uu Xayirraadii Kaga Qaaday Wargeyska Hubaal

 

Hargeysa - Madaxweynaha Somaliland Mudane Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (Siilaanyo) ayaa caawa soo saaray Xeer Madaxweyne oo uu xayirraadii kaga qaaday Wargeyska HUBAAL, isla markaana uu cafis ugu fidiyay masuuliyiintii wargeyskaasi oo maxkamadda Gobolka Hargeysa hore xukun xadhig iyo ganaax lacageed iskugu jiray ku riday.

Sidaasna waxa lagu sheegay war-saxaafadeed uu soo saaray Afhayeenka madaxtooyadda Axmed Saleebaan Dhuxul, ayaa u dhignaa sidan:-

“Madaxweynaha JSL, Mudane, Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (Silaanyo) waxa uu Xeer madaxweyne oo sumadeedu tahay JSL/M/XM/249-1981/082013 uu cafis u fidiyey Wargeyska Hubaal iyo Masuuliyeentii wargeyskaba oo ay Hore maxkamadu u saartay Xayiraad.

MADAXWEYNUHU:-

Markuu Arkay: Qodobka (90)aad, Faqradiisa (5)aad ee Dastuurka Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland;
Markuu Arkay: Qodobka (149)aad ee Xeerka Ciqaabta Guud;
Markuu Arkay: Xukunka Maxkamadda Gobolka Hargeysa MGH/DDL/598/013 ee 03/07/2013;
Markuu Tix-geliyey: Codsiga Cafiska ah ee ay soo gudbiyeen Guddida Suxufiyiinta Somaliland iyo Xukunsanayaashu;

Wuxuu Go’aansaday In laga bilaabo taariikhda maanta uu cafis gaar ahaaneed u fidiyo Xukunsanayaasha kala ah:

1.Maxamed Axmed Jaamac (Calooley), oo ay Maxkamaddu ku xukuntay Hal Sanno oo xadhig Ciqaabeed ah iyo Laba Milyan oo Somaliland Shillings oo ganaax lacageed ah.

2.Xasan Xuseen Cabdilaahi (Keef-keef), oo ay Maxkamaddu ku xukuntay Laba Sanno oo xadhig ah iyo Laba Milyan oo Somaliland Shillings oo ganaax lacageed ah.

3. Xayiraadii oo laga qaaday Wargeyska Hubaal.”

Maxkamadda Gobolka Hargeysa, ayaa 21 June 2013 xayirtay wargeyska madaxbannaan ee Hubaal, iyadoo 3 July 2013 maxkamaddu guddoomiyaha wargeyska Hubaal Mr. Maxamed Axmed Jaamac (Caloolay) ku xukuntay hal sanno oo xadhig ah iyo ganaax dhan hal milyan oo shillinka Somaliland, halka tifatiraha wargeyska Hubaal Xasan Xuseen Cabdillaahi (Keefkeef) lagu xukumay laba sanno oo xadhig ah iyo ganaax dhan 2 milyan oo shillinka Somaliland, kuwaasoo 4 July 2013 Maxkamadda Racfaanka Gobolka Hargeysa ku sii daysay damaanad.

Hasayeeshee, xubno Wasiirro ah oo ay ka mid yihiin Wasiirrada warfaafinta, Madaxtooyada iyo Arrimaha Gudaha Somaliland iyo xubno ergo ah oo ka tirsan masuuliyiinta saxaafadda Somaliland oo muddooyinkii u dambeeyey wadahalo la xidhiidha wargeyska Hubaal u socdeen, ayaa ku guulaystay in madaxweynaha Jamhuuriyada Somaliland ka aqbalo cod ay u gudbiyeen oo ku saabsanaa in saamaxaad loo fidiyo weriyeyaasha wargeyska Hubaal ee xukunka madaxkamaddu ku dhacay, isla markaana wargeyska laga qaado xayiraada maxkamadda Gobolka Hargeysa saartay, kadib markii ay raaligelin iyo xaal ka bixiyeen warar wargeysku hore u qoray oo wax lagaga sheegay safaaradda Itoobiya ee Hargeysa iyo arrimo khuseeya dalalka dariska ah ee la saaxiibka ah Somaliland, gaar ahaan Itoobiya, kuwaasoo dhaawac ku ahaa qaranimada Somaliland.

Masuuliyiin ka socday saxaafadda iyo ururrada bulshada rayidka ah ee oo uu weheliyey Guddoomiyaha wargeyska xayiraada laga qaaday ee Hubaal Mr. Maxamed Axmed Jaamac (Caloolay), ayaa maanta qasriga madaxtooyada kula kulmay madaxweynaha Somaliland Md. Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (Siilaanyo) oo ay weheliyeen wasiirrada warfaafinta Md. Cabdillaahi Maxamed Daahir (Cukuse), Madaxtooyada Md. Xirsi Cali Xaaji Xasan iyo xoghayaha gaarka ah ee madaxweynaha Mr. Cali Axmed Cali, kuwaaso madaxweynaha iyo dawladda Somaliland-ba raaligelin ka siiyey wararkii dhaawaca ku ahaa qaranimada Somaliland ee uu wargeyska Hubaal ka baahiyey safaarada Itoobiya, isla markaana waxay madaxweynaha ka codsadeen inuu saamaxaad u fidiyo weriyeyaasha maxkamaddu xukuntay, xayiraadana laga qaado wargeyska Hubaal, arrintaasoo madaxweynuhuna aqbalay.

Waxa kale oo masuuliyiinta kulankaas ka hadashay ee saxaafadda ka socday sheegeen inay saxaafad ahaan ka xun yihiin wararkii sababay in wargeyska Hubaal la xayiro, isla markaana xukuno lagu rido weriyeyaasha wargeyskaas, kuwaasoo madaxweynaha ka hor caddeeyey inay damaanad qaadayaan in aannu wargeska Hubaal baahin doonin warar ka baxsan xeerarka iyo anshaxa saxaafadda Somaliland, isla markaana aanay dib u dhici doonin in warar meel-ka-dhac ah laga faafiyo dalalka jaarka ee xidhiidhka saaxiibtinimo ka dhexeeyo Somaliland iyo wixii wax u dhimaya qaranida iyo masaaliixda guud ee Somaliland.

Waxa kale oo xubnahaasi madaxweynaha u sheegeen inay saxaafad ahaan diyaar u yihiin in dib-u-eegis iyo dib-u-habayn lagu sameeyo xeerka saxaafadda Somaliland, balse ay waajib tahay in saxaafaddu qayb libaax ka qaadato, tallo badana ku yeelato wax-ka-beddelka iyo dib-u-habaynta lagu samaynayo xeerka saxaafadda, kuwaasoo sidoo kale caddeeyey in bahda warbaahintu qayb ka tahay horumarka iyo hannaanka dimuqraadiyadeed ee ka hanno qaaday dalka Somaliland, iyagoo xusay in dawlad ahaan iyo saxaafad ahaanba ay waajib tahay in markasta la ilaaliyo danta guud iyo qaranimada Jamhuuruiyada Somaliland.

Wasiirrada Madaxtooyadda iyo Warfaafinta Md. Xirsi Cali Xaaji Xasan iyo Md. Cabdillaahi Maxamed Daahir (Cukuse) oo iyaguna madaxweynaha ka hor kulankaas ka hadlay, ayaa sheegay inay bahda saxaafadda kala shaqeeyeen sidii xal looga gaadhi lahaa arrinta wargeyska Hubaal, kuwaasoo sidoo kale xusay inay diyaar u yihiin sidii wadashaqayn fiicani u dhexmari lahayd saxaafadda iyo dawladda Somaliland, isla markaana saxaafadda loo madaxbannaaneeyo wax-ka-beddelka iyo kaabista xeerka saxaafadda Somaliland.

Madaxweynaha Jamhuuriyada Somaliland Md. Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (Siilaanyo) oo ugu dambayntii hadal ka jeediyey kulanka uu la yeeshay guddida ergada ah ee ka socotay bahda saxaafadda Somaliland, waxa uu caddeeyey inay xukuumad ahaan iyo dawlad ahaanba diyaar u yihiin sidii loo xaq-dhawri lahaa madaxbannaanida iyo xoriyatul-qawlka Somaliland, isla markaana aanay xukuumad ahaan dhibsanayn dhalliilaha toosinta ah ee saxaafaddu baahiso, balse waxa uu xusay in dawlad ahaan, saxaafada ahaan iyo dadweynahaba meel looga soo wada jeedsado ilaalinta masaaliixda iyo danta guud ee qaranida Somaliland, maadaama dalku leeyahay cadaw badan, isla markaana aannu wax icitiraaaf ah ka haysan beesha caalamka, isagoo xusay in aannu aqbali doonin wixii wax u qarinada Somaliland, waxaannu madaxweynuhu sheegay inuu aqbalay codsida ergayada saxaafadda ka socotay u gudbisay ee la xidhiidhay sidii saamaxaad loogu fidin lahaa weriyeyaasha xukunku ku dhacay ee wargeyska Hubaal iyo sidii xayiraada looga qaadi laha wargeyskaas.

Kulanka dhexmaray masuuliyiinta ka socday saxaafadda iyo madaxweynaha Jamhuuriyada Somaliland, ayaa muujinaya sawir tilmaan u ah in xubno aan xilal qaran hayn ay ka ergeeyaan, isla markaana waanwaan ka galaan arrin khilaaf abuurtay, socdaana ilaa halka ugu saraysa ee dalka looga talliyo, kadibna xal ka gaadhaan muran taagan, taasoo Somaliland mooyaane aan inta badan ka dhicin dalalka caalamka, iyadoo arrintaasi tilmaan u tahay hab-dhaqanka wada-tashiga ee Somaliland ku caano-maashay.

Is foreign aid just money down the drain?

By Andrew Gilligan

The Government’s programmes for developing countries sound impressive – but many
of its claims start to unravel under scrutiny

Once again last week, the Department for International Development (DFID) found itself fighting a small crisis in Africa. After The Sunday Telegraph revealed that £480,000 of British aid had been stolen by al‑Shabaab, the Somali branch of al‑Qaeda, emergency supplies of ministers had to be rushed into the trouble zone (BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and the pages of the London Evening Standard).\

Britain was sending £80 million a year to Somalia to “shape the world we want and to reap the rewards”, insisted the Development Secretary, Justine Greening. “Either we help foreign governments to deal with terrorists abroad, or we do nothing and face a future dealing with them at home or even on foreign battlefields.”

In the days that followed, however, DFID had trouble shaping even its story about the missing aid. Ms Greening said that the goods were “destroyed”, and her officials told reporters that they had been burnt by al-Shabaab in a single incident in November 2011.

But DFID’s own annual report, which described the loss, made no mention of any fire or destruction, speaking instead of multiple “confiscations” from multiple “offices” and “warehouses” over a three-month period from November to February. Late on Friday, after two days of asking, DFID admitted that its claim about the destruction was merely a “judgment, based on similar al-Shabaab incidents”, and declined to answer further questions about exactly what took place; where, when or how often it happened; how the department learnt of its loss; or whether there were any witnesses.

Three days after the theft story broke, DFID’s arguments suffered a more serious blow. Little reported in Britain, Médecins Sans Frontières, the famously tough international aid agency and one of the tiny few to have stayed in Somalia throughout the horrors of the past two decades, announced that it was closing its operation and pulling out all 1,500 of its staff on security grounds.

Dr Unni Karunakara, MSF’s president, said the “final straw” for the charity was discovering that several of Somalia’s own various official authorities had “actively supported or tacitly approved attacks, killings and abductions of humanitarian workers in Somalia”, adding: “It’s almost like a frog in boiling water. I think over the last 22 years we have accepted higher levels of risk and somehow absolved it and we’ve just reached our limit.” When Ms Greening talked about the Somali government dealing with terrorists, this probably wasn’t what she had in mind.

But Somalia is far from the only place where DFID’s record can be questioned. To answer critics of its growing budget – up by 35 per cent, even as most other budgets are being cut – the department’s latest annual report lists a series of spectacular, almost Soviet-style achievements, in what it calls DFID’s “year of significant delivery”.

By April 2013, according to the report, 19.6 million people had been given “access to a water, sanitation or hygiene intervention” thanks to DFID support – some of it direct, most of it channelled through multilateral agencies such as the EU. Almost six million new people got one or more of these things last year alone, the report claims – an incredible 112,000 new people every week, a 42 per cent rise in a single year. If real, it is a huge achievement; lack of safe drinking water and sewerage are two of the most basic causes of death and disease. But is it real?

It turns out that the hygiene and sewerage figure is just one of a number of DFID statistics that may be faintly smelly. Under pressure to justify its £11 billion budget, the department’s claims appear unreliable across a whole number of key policy areas. One problem, of course, is that it is often not enough simply to put in latrines, sewers or pumping stations. Tanks must be regularly emptied, pipes regularly repaired, pumps regularly refuelled. DFID’s statistics used to recognise this, counting only the number of people given “sustainable” access to better water or sanitation. Now, however, the definition used to produce the 19.6 million figure appears to have been changed. It no longer, by its own admission, includes any measure of “whether the water sources remain in use after a given period of time”. That might help bump up DFID’s numbers, but it is not so good for the Third World.

Earlier this year, the EU’s spending watchdog, the Court of Auditors, examined Brussels’ programme for water and sanitary improvements, which has received large amounts of DFID funding. Of the 23 major projects they looked at, which are meant to help many millions of people, only 10 were properly maintained and still operating; only four were covering enough of their running costs to ensure their future survival; and just two did regular checks to make sure the water they produced was actually fit for human consumption.

Lynne Featherstone, the DFID minister, now admits there was “culpable waste” in the project. Similar problems were found in a DFID-led programme in Sudan, though DFID insists that none have been identified with its other direct projects, saying permanent improvements have been delivered for the “vast majority” of its 19.6 million beneficiaries. For all the impressive numbers pumped out by DFID, sanitation is one of the development goals most seriously off track. Thanks to urbanisation and population growth, there are actually more people now without access to improved sanitation than there were 20 years ago.

Then there’s the tricky matter of what constitutes a “hygiene intervention”. This, it turns out, need not include any actual physical measures at all, simply “communication, social mobilisation, community participation, social marketing and advocacy to bring about behaviour change”. DFID insists this means more than just putting up notices asking people to wash their hands – but in its Sudan programme it seemed to include just that, along with the distribution of “hygiene kits and soap”. The definition adds: “Understanding whether hygiene promotion has in fact led to behaviour change… is not required.”

DFID’s education number – an impressive-sounding 5.87 million children “supported” in primary education a year – also starts to unravel under scrutiny. It’s a measure, it transpires, only of “enrolment”, not actual attendance, teaching or learning. In other words, you can turn up once, never come back and still be counted as a pupil “supported” in education by British taxpayers.

It’s often not the kids’ fault. They want to learn. But as a report by the official aid watchdog, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), into a DFID-funded, Unicef-run education programme in northern Nigeria found, many of the supposed “schools” in which they are enrolled are “without windows, desks, chairs, adequate roofing, toilet facilities and sources of water”.

When the researchers asked a group of girls about the state of their school, “they laughed”, the report said. “One said that, as could be seen, the corner of their classroom had fallen in, the sky was exposed through part of the roof and there were no windows or doors.”

In one Nigerian state covered by the programme, “it was not difficult to find rural schools where on average half the teachers had not worked the previous month… There is little evidence to indicate that substantial and sustainable changes… have been made to teacher performance and school infrastructure.” Yet this programme, GEP 2, has cost British taxpayers £41 million, with a further £103 million to come.

Across the top of DFID’s own official document about the programme, presumably not meant for public consumption but inadvertently published anyway, a civil servant has written: “Ian – activities log template a bit sparse. Unicef to fill this in.” GEP 2 has been going since 2004, so it might be a little late for that.

The entire basis of even the enrolment number, by the way, is almost certainly false. DFID takes it from official statistics for overall enrolment issued by the governments concerned, then divides it by the share of funding it provides for education in that country. That assumes two things: that the benefit DFID aid brings is always exactly proportional to the amount it has paid – and also that the overall statistics issued by countries such as Nigeria are reliable. In fact, as the ICAI report found, they can go up or down by as much as 40 per cent in a single year.

Another even more striking DFID achievement is the 30.3 million people “supported” to get “access to financial services”, such as microcredit – a soaraway increase of 18.7 million, or 161 per cent, in just one year. Once again, this is not quite what it seems. It includes not just “access made possible directly under DFID-supported programmes” but also “nationwide expansion in access to financial services resulting from the policy changes and improvements in the enabling environment made possible through DFID support”.

In Rwanda, the proportion of people with access to financial services has risen from below half to 72 per cent – a big success. But it hasn’t had much to do with DFID. Britain’s programme in the area, Access to Finance Rwanda, has been in existence since March 2010, spent £4.3 million and achieved, according to an official evaluation, virtually nothing. Its administration costs in 2011 made up 89 per cent of its budget.

The more you look at DFID, the more you realise that it is a last outpost of New Labour. Its spending on projects such as GEP 2, untroubled by eight years of failure, recalls the golden days of the London Underground PPP, the explosion in tax credits and other such boondoggles.

Actual progress towards its key policy targets, though not nil, is less than you might expect for the acceleration in spending. DFID works towards the seven Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on schooling, on water, on child mortality and others. These, unlike the department’s own figures, are independently assessed. And as The Sunday Telegraph reported last week, only 31 per cent of the MDG targets in DFID’s enduring priority countries are assessed as “achieved or on track”, down from 38 per cent in 2010. Fifty-four per cent were “offtrack” or “severely offtrack”, up from 49 per cent in 2010.

The huge numbers claimed for “children supported” in primary education, “hygiene interventions” and the like are the Coalition equivalents of the last government’s claims about massively falling GP waiting times and massively rising GCSE A grades – not fake exactly, but faintly manufactured and suspect.

When the beneficiaries are in remote, sometimes dangerous corners of the developing world, rather than housing estates in Leicester, the figures are even more vulnerable to manipulation and error.

Source: Daily Telegraph

Somaliland:UK BENT ON STEPPING UP SOMALILAND SUPPORT

Amb. Neil Wigen British ambassador to Somalia

By M.A.Egge

The British ambassador to Somaliland and Somalia has reiterated the UK’s continued efforts of fortifying relations with this country.

Amb. Neil Wigen who was speaking at the Hargeisa International Book-fair reminded the audience that Somaliland/UK relations was one that had been on for eons hence that his country is determined to pep up Somaliland’s development.

He said that the bilateral relation between the two countries was mainly focused on development and security.

He dwelt his speech on the wide range of help and support his country did for Somaliland.

Amb. Wigen noted that the UK and Somaliland had sound ties or all fronts which stood on strong pillars.
The conveners of the book fair and members of eminent personalities who were present appealed the British government, through the ambassador, to review the remittance issue which most of the western countries, (UK, US) are bent on suspending.

Ironically, the backbone of the GDP in this region, comes from money repatriation from abroad.

Source: SomalilanPress.Com