Central African Republic president flees as rebels enter Bangui

François Bozize leaves the capital as armed rebels seize presidential palace amid heavy gunfire

François Bozize took power in 2003 following a rebellion and his rule has been marked by armed conflict with rebel groups. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP

Central African Republic's president, François Bozize, fled the capital early on Sunday, hours after hundreds of armed rebels threatening to overthrow him invaded the city, according to an adviser.

The rebel alliance, known as Seleka, reached the outskirts of Bangui late on Saturday. Heavy gunfire echoed through the city early on Sunday as fighters made their way into the city centre and seized the presidential palace, though the country's leader of a decade was not there at the time.

"Bozize left the city this morning," said Maximin Olouamat, a member of Bozize's presidential majority. He declined to say where the president had gone.

Rebels from several armed groups that have long opposed Bozize joined forces in December and began seizing towns across the country's sparsely populated north. They threatened at the time to march on Bangui, but ultimately halted their advance and agreed to go to peace negotiations in Libreville, the capital of Gabon.

A peace deal was signed on 11 January that allowed Bozize to finish his term, which expires in 2016, but the rebels soon began accusing the president of failing to fulfil his promises.

They demanded that Bozize send home South African forces who were helping bolster the country's military. And they sought to integrate 2,000 rebel fighters into Central African Republic's armed forces.

The deal unravelled more than a week ago, with the rebels taking control of two towns and threatening to advance on the capital.

Late on Saturday, Bangui was plunged into darkness after fighters cut power to much of the city. State radio went dead, and fearful residents cowered in their homes.

"For us, there is no other solution than the departure of François Bozize," Eric Massi, a rebel spokesman, said from Paris by telephone on Saturday.

Massi said the rebels were securing the city, and he called on residents to remain calm and avoid looting amid the chaos.

The growing unrest is the latest threat to the stability of Central African Republic, a nation of 4.5 million people that has long been wracked by rebellions and power grabs.

The president himself took power in 2003 following a rebellion, and his tenure has been marked by conflict with myriad armed groups.

Somaliland: The Suspect UNSC Technical Assistance Mission Arrives

By: Yusuf M Hasan

HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – The anticipated Technical Assessment Mission-TAM from the united Nations Security Council-UNSC has arrived and rearing to start its yet to be known mission.

The six member TAM team which is led by a female Chinese delegate is made of two representatives from the UNPOS office of Amb Mahiga in Mogadishu (one Briton and one Zambian) and the remaining four members are directly from the UNSC in New York.

The itinerary of the not yet clear assessment mission by TAM will see it meet and hold discussions with

• UN agencies operating in the country-UNHT ,

• foreign and interior ministries,

• Civil Society organizations and

• The vice president respectively

According to reliable sources the TAM team whose mission objectives remains a secret that has not been divulged even to highest levels of authorities in Hargeisa will not meet with the president H.E Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo due to other more important national commitments pertaining to a working visit to the UAE.

While discussions between TAM and the Civil society organizations is expected to be stormy, the encounter during a yet to be arranged press conference is highly anticipated by journalists who are anxious to ensure that the hidden agenda of the suspect UNSC appointed technical mission are divulged

It is believed that after the secretive TAM clears up its mission in the country, it shall then be split into two teams to be dispatched to both Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and the Kenyan capital Nairobi for consultations with numerous Somaliland stakeholders and more specifically donor organizations based there.

The final technical assessment report shall then be utilized as part and parcel of the Somalia conference slated for the 7th May in London.

Following a plea of support to the UN for the six pillars base of his government by Somalia president Hasan Sheikh in January this year The UNSC hastily formulated and assembled the TAM with the mandate to ensure that the Mogadishu government's six-pillar policy plan is fully backed by the republic of Somaliland.

While the UNSC is reported to have been planning this mission for sometimes next week the recent announcement by president Silanyo that the country is boycotting the forthcoming Somalia conference to be held in London is thought to have hastened the TAM arrival thus try to cajole the Hargeisa administration to recant the boycott plans.

After all is said and done and in view of the last of the six- pillar policy plan (Uphold the unity and integrity of Somalia) of the Hasan-Shirdon government with its consequences for Somaliland's oft stated irrevocability and non-negotiability of its sovereignty , it remains to be seen in which side the TAM dice shall fall.

source: somalilandsun.com

Somaliland: Anti-Terror Pact with Puntland in Place

By: Latifa Yusuf Masai

NAIROBI (Somalilandsun) - a joint security cooperation meeting Somaliland and the Somalia regional administration of Puntland in Nairobi has ended in an anti-terror pact.

This unprecedented meeting and subsequent pact between the two entities with the objective to battle terrorism, piracy and organized crime collaboratively came after the private Nairobi meeting, where the agenda was the how to share intelligence thus help eliminate terrorism, piracy and organized crime in the region.

High ranking officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Security, Ministry of Interior and National Security agencies represented Somaliland while the Somalia region of Puntland was represented by officials from the enclave's Intelligence Agency, Ministry of Security and Ministry of Interior.

Under the hawk-eyed shepherding of British, Swedish and American diplomats the two sides agreed to actively share intelligence on Al Shabaab agents operating in their respective countries and around the shared common border in addition to assess suspected Al Shabaab agents in the custody of either for interrogation.

While the main focus of discussions was the war on Terrorism that is increasingly engulfing the two neighbours from the on-the-run the Al-shabaab the anti-terrorism pact agreement is reported to have also provided for cooperation in the combat on piracy and organized crime which are other menaces the share in common.

The unprecedented nature of this pact between the two hitherto arch-enemies which is as a result of Puntland laying claim to parts of Somaliland's eastern regions of Sanaag and sool ensued earlier this month after Somaliland handed over to Puntland a man accused of assassinating a prominent religious leader in Garowe last month.

Scientists call for development goals to protect Earth

Photo: dvidshub/Flickr

Development is also about making life possible for the coming generations

JOHANNESBURG, 21 March 2013 (IRIN) - Development can no longer focus exclusively on improving people’s lives. Countries must now link poverty eradication to protection of the atmosphere, oceans and land, said a group of international scientists in a comment piece published today in the journal Nature. They propose six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that do just that.

The UN has committed to developing a set of SDGs to build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which come to an end in 2015. But the UN’s first meeting on defining the SDGs has just ended in New York, with countries still undecided on the way forward.

“It is not enough simply to extend MDGs, as some are suggesting, because humans are transforming the planet in ways that could undermine development gains,” write the 10 scientists in their article, Policy: Sustainable development goals for people and planet. The group is led by David Griggs, the director of the Monash Sustainability Institute in Australia and the former head of the scientific assessment unit of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Co-author Johan Rockström, director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, said in a statement, “Mounting research shows we are now at the point that the stable functioning of Earth systems is a prerequisite for a thriving global society and future development.”

"It is not enough simply to extend MDGs, as some are suggesting, because humans are transforming the planet in ways that could undermine development gains"  

Their proposed SDGs aim to ensure: thriving lives and livelihoods; sustainable food security; sustainable water security; universal clean energy; healthy and productive ecosystems; and governance for sustainable societies.

A new model

The authors assert that the classic model of sustainable development, which has served the world since 1987- three integrated pillars: economic, social and environmental - is flawed because it does not reflect reality.

“As the global population increases towards nine billion people, sustainable development should be seen as an economy serving society within Earth’s life support system, not as three pillars,” said co-author Priya Shyamsundar, of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics in Nepal.

The scientists have proposed redefining sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present while safeguarding Earth’s life-support system, on which the welfare of current and future generations depends”.

But many of the MDGs have not yet been achieved, and some developing countries are concerned that a new focus on the SDGs could divert aid and add additional responsibilities that they are unable to handle.

In discussions in New York last week, a Botswana representative said all possible goals should be treated with equal value, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s reporting services. Botswana's representative added that if a scheduled stocktaking of the MDGs in September 2013 “shows unfinished business, then completing pending issues should be the first priority”. 

But the authors say that the MDGs are the driving force of their proposed SDGs. For instance, the goal on thriving lives and livelihoods seeks to “end poverty and improve well-being through access to education, employment and information, better health and housing, and reduced inequality while moving towards sustainable consumption and production.”

“This extends many targets” of the MDGs, they say, while working towards the longer-term goals of reducing the vulnerabilities of coming generations.

“Goals on food, water and energy security would be designed to deliver long-term - sustainable - provision of these basic needs,” co-author Owen Gaffney, of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, told IRIN. “They must reduce vulnerability and improve resilience.”

Sustainability efforts growing

There is greater awareness of the need for sustainable development than a decade ago, prompted partly by climatic shocks that have become intense and frequent. Increasingly, global forums - such as a recent international meeting on drought - have begun to focus on sustainable development as a way of dealing with these shocks.

"There is a growing realization that adaptation will increasingly become part of development," said Gaffney." There could be more joined-up thinking here. We will see more and more impacts from climate change, and this will hit developed nations and developing countries alike."

A variety of scientific initiatives have emerged to help develop the SDGs, including projects by the UN Environment Programme and the International Human Dimension Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The authors of the Nature comment, for example, are part of Future Earth, a 10-year international research programme that works with scientists and policymakers to generate sustainable development solutions.

And last week, a new international alliance of research institutes, the Independent Research Forum, identified eight major shifts that must take place for sustainable development to be achieved. They are shifts:

- From donor/beneficiary country relationships to meaningful international partnerships
- From top-down decision-making to processes that involve everyone
- From economic models that do little to reduce inequalities to those that do
- From business models based on enriching shareholders to models that also benefit society and the environment
- From meeting relatively easy development targets - such as improving access to financial services - to actually reducing poverty
- From conducting emergency response in the aftermath of crises to making countries and people resilient before crises occur
- From conducting pilot programmes to scaling-up the programmes that work
- From a single-sectoral approach, such as tackling a water shortage through the water ministry, to involving various sectors, like the agriculture and energy sectors, which also depend on water

The abundance of initiatives has sparked concern that the processes are uncoordinated and could lead to a duplication of efforts. To better synchronize the parallel processes, Gaffney said the International Council for Science and other organizations are holding meetings in New York this week.

"More coordination is essential,” he said, “but the process is happening very rapidly."

jk/rz

Xadgudubyada Qaramada Midoobay ku hayso dalka Somaliland iyo Shacbigiisu waa qaar mudan in la dhaleeceeyo.

WAR DEGDEG AH: QARAX GALABTA KISMAAYO KA DHACAY

In ka badan 15 ruux ayaa dhaawac soo gaaray sida lagu soo waramyo kadib markii uu haleelay qarax miino oo galabta ka dhacay xaafadda Calanley ee magaalada Kismaayo ee xarunta gobolka Jubbada hoose.

Qaraxa oo goobta uu ka dhacay ay hayd goob lagu shaaho ayaa dadka ku dhaawacmay waxay isugu jiraan ciidamada maamulka KMG ah ee Kismaayo iyo dad rayid ah.

Dhaawacyada ayaa iminka lagu daweynayaa isbitaalka Kismaayo, wuxuuna agaasimaha Agaasimaha isbitaalka Dr. Sheekh Cali sheegay inay jiraan dad qaba dhaawacyo halis ah.
Dhinaca kale, ciidamada dowladda iyo kuwa AMISOM ayaa howlgal miino-baaris ah oo ay ka sameeyeen waddada Somali Star ee xaafadda Calanley waxay ku soo saareen miinooyin iyo bambooyin aan qarxin oo hareeraha waddada lagu aasay.

Somalia advised to reform its laws to combat maritime crimes

According to a maritime organization, called Oceans Beyond Piracy, piracy in the coast of Somalia costs the world economy around 7 billion dollars. Of these 80 % of all costs are borne by the shipping industries while governments account for 20%.

The impact of this maritime crime on Somalia itself is greater since it has greatly hindered the economic development of the country.

International anti piracy experts meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia are recommending that Somalia hastens reforms of its legal system to include anti piracy laws that will have the pirates arrested, convicted and imprisoned in Somali.

At the moment it is reported that 1200 pirates have been arrested and are being held in 21 different countries globally yet majority of them are of Somali origin. Only a third of these are being held by the Somali government.

Anti piracy experts say that although only two piracy cases have been repotted so far this year, this doesn’t mean that maritime crime as a whole has been faced off.

The Somalia government has taken the first step towards combating maritime crimes by developing a strategy, they call the Kampala process.

The Kampala process is an intense discussion held by the Somali people themselves. It involves them working out a maritime strategy for the whole of Somali, looking at the legal issues and trying to harmonize Somalia’s laws. This is what the international community will use as a guide to provide necessary assistance against maritime crimes.

As Somalia looks to reduce crimes at sea it is also being advised to consider reaping from the wealth it has on land.

The anti piracy experts aiding Somalia come from different countries and are grouped into four contact groups, each tackling specific agenda towards ensuring maritime security off the coast of Somalia.

IOM distributes aid to displaced families in Somaliland

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 22, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ – IOM has distributed 103 non-food relief item kits including clothes, kitchen utensils, shoes, and jerry cans to some 462 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the State House Park IDP camp in Hargeisa, the largest town in the Autonomous Republic of Somaliland.
The distribution follows a fire that destroyed a section of the camp earlier this month, leaving several hundred residents without shelter and in desperate need of basic humanitarian support.

The State House Park IDP camp, one of the six major IDP camps in the country, was established some 20 years ago by Somali returnees from refugee camps in Ethiopia and Somalia, following Somaliland’s Declaration of Independence in 1991 and the end of the inter-clan strife. It is now home to some 30,000 IDPs.

“These people have lost everything that they had,” said the Director General of Somaliland’s Ministry of Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Ali Mohamed Abdalla, who attended the distribution.

The distribution was funded by Japan and implemented in close collaboration with the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Somaliland Red Crescent and Islamic Relief.

SOURCE

International Office of Migration (IOM)

Africom still struggling to win SA's blessing

The United States Africa Command says it will respect African countries that do not wish to have American soldiers operating from their countries.

Mmanaledi Mataboge

United States Africa Command (Africom) is a combatant organ of the US defence department established specifically to work with militaries of African countries to strengthen their defence capabilities through skills training, joint exercises and sometimes conducts military operations when requested to by an African country.

In an interview with South African journalists touring Africom's headquarters in Stuttgart Germany, the organisation's commander, General Carter Ham, said Africom and the US government are yet to successfully change the hostile attitude some Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have against Africom, particularly South Africa – one of the key countries in the continent that advocates for an African solution for African challenges.

"There remains a high degree of skepticism within South Africa," Ham said. "And we too believe in an African solution for Africa, but we think we can help. When invited by governments we think we can work together well."

The outgoing Africom Commander however said the organisation respects South Africa's position on the presence of America's forces on the continent.

"We don't have to go where we are not wanted. We recognise sovereignty. We've got no intention of pushing ourselves into a place where we're not wanted."

Ham said though the US has "not officially" succeeded in changing South Africa's attitude and that Africom has got "a good relationship with the South African National Defence Force [Sandf]. When South Africa says not so, fast we'll maintain the military-to-military relationship that we have with the Sandf."

Botswana willing host

Throughout the week Africom leaders told of how they regard the Sandf as one of their key strategic partners in Africa because of the defence force's capability and South Africa's influence in Africa.

As Ham was giving an interview in Germany, ambassador Chris Dell, the Africom civilian deputy commander, was in South Africa.

Key SADC countries including South Africa are uncomfortable with having United States forces based in Africa for fear that the US might be seeking to take control of the continent. The hostility has spread to Botswana which has for years been suspected of willing to host an Africom military base.

Last year former ANC deputy secretary general Thandi Modise was quoted as having told the Botswana National Front that there are some leaders within SADC who "want to host people who want to hurt us. They think as long as they can get funding from these western people they are fine. But I can tell you that we are not happy at all".

The diplomatic cable that Wikileaks published two years ago claiming that Botswana was interested in hosting Africom troops also increased concern among SADC countries.

On Thursday Ham strongly denied that Africom is seeking to build a home in Botswana.

"We have been in Botswana and Botswana is a very good partner of ours, but there are absolutely no discussions about setting up a military base there."

Relationship with South Africa

Africom appears to have a good relationship with east and west African countries, with it's largest force of around 2 000 troops based in Djibouti, where Ham said they are helping to strengthen east African defence forces.

The relationship with SADC is however yet to blossom into what Africom wishes to have.

"Broadly in the [SADC] region I'd like to see the relationship growing. That's tough for us right now because of Zimbabwe, but I think we are on a pretty positive trajectory with most of SADC countries," said the outgoing Africom commander.

As for an Africom relationship with South Africa, Ham believes there is an opportunity for an improvement.

"We are not always going to agree, we are two big countries, but that's okay," he said.

He however said for the majority of big issues such as democracy and human rights the US and Africom are happy with the relationship with South Africa.

Africom's general objective is to protect US interests in African countries. Ham however said the US is not competing with other countries that have taken military interest in Africa such as China.

"We are competing for economic position and influence, but I don't see competition in a military way. I wouldn't see it as adversarial relations, it's more economic and diplomatic relations. "