Raysut board clears terminal, grinding expansion projects

The estimated cost to be contributed by Raysut Cement for these projects is $24 million. This development and expansion will have positive impact on the performance results and profitability of the company in the future. Picture is used only for illustrative purpose. Photo – Times file photo

by Times News Service

Muscat: The board of directors of Raysut Cement Company, the Sultanate's largest cement producer, has approved four expansion projects at an estimated cost of $24 million, which will be funded by the company.

These projects are one each modern cement terminal at Duqm port and Somaliland's Berbera port, a grinding plant in Mukulla (Yemen) and enhancing production capacity of its sister firm Pioneer Cement Industries based in Ras Al Khaimah.

The Duqm terminal, which will have two silos with a capacity of 4,000 tonnes each, is for storing, packing and distributing cement. The terminal is coming up at the world class Duqm port, which is 2.25km long.

"The Duqm terminal expected to commence operation in the second half of 2014," said Mohamed Ahmed Al Dheeb, group chief executive of Raysut Cement, in a statement. 

The cement terminal in Berbera Port will be in joint venture with one of the local partners. This terminal is also for storing, packing and distributing cement, with all the facilities and equipment, including three silos in the capacity of 4000 tonnes each.

Financial support
 
The board of directors also approved a proposal to establish grinding plant in Mukulla, Yemen, through Mukalla Raysut Company (which is a sister concern) as a joint venture with a local partner with the capacity of 0.5 million tonnes per annum. This grinding plant will carry out grinding and packing of cement in Yemen.

Another proposal to expand the production capacity and production processes of Pioneer Cement Industries in Ras Al Khaimah, a subsidiary firm, was also approved. The projects include additional cement silo, upgrading of cooling system and environment management systems.

The estimated cost to be contributed by Raysut Cement in these projects is $24 million. This development and expansion will have positive impact on the performance results and profitability of the company in the future. 

The company's board also approved a proposal to provide financial support to Al Wafa'a Centre for Handicapped Children Education — Salalah to the tune of OMR100,000.

This represents part of the total amount previously approved by the annual general meeting regarding the social responsibility of the company.

Raysut Cement Company's consolidated profit before tax soared  33 per cent to OMR9.13 million for the first quarter of 2013, from OMR6.84 million for the same period last year. The group's revenue also edged up by 2 per cent to OMR25.22 million from OMR24.64 million during the period.

Egypt warns 'all options open' on Ethiopia dam

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. PHOTO/FILE  AFP

In Summary

• Ethiopia has begun diverting the Blue Nile 500 metres (yards) from its natural course to construct a $4.2 billion (3.2 billion euro) hydroelectric project known as Grand Renaissance Dam.

CAIRO

Egypt will demand that Ethiopia stop construction of a Nile river dam and warned "all options are open" if it harms its water supply, advisers to President Mohamed Morsi said on Wednesday.

"It is Egypt's right to defend its interests," said Ayman Ali, one of Morsi's advisers, in comments carried by the official MENA news agency.

"Other people have a right to seek their own interests. But there must be guarantees that the Ethiopian dam will not harm Egypt, otherwise all options are open," he added.

Presidential adviser Pakinam El Sharkawy said Egypt would demand that the upstream country end its construction of the dam.

The presidency has said the dam is a "national security" issue for Egypt.

"Demanding of Ethiopia to stop construction of the dam it intends to build on the Blue Nile will be our first step," MENA quoted her as saying.

Egypt believes more studies are needed on the dam's impact on its water supply which is almost entirely dependent on the Nile, although far more on the flow down the White Nile from the Great Lakes of East Africa, than that down the Blue Nile from the Ethiopian highlands.

Ethiopia has begun diverting the Blue Nile 500 metres (yards) from its natural course to construct a $4.2 billion (3.2 billion euro) hydroelectric project known as Grand Renaissance Dam.

The Blue Nile joins the White Nile in Khartoum to form the Nile which flows through Sudan and Egypt before emptying into the Mediterranean.

The first phase of construction is due to be finished in three years, with a capacity of 700 megawatts. Once fully complete, the dam will have a capacity of 6,000 megawatts.

Egypt believes its "historic rights" to the Nile are guaranteed by two treaties from 1929 and 1959 which allow it 87 percent of the Nile's flow and give it veto power over upstream projects.

But a new deal was signed in 2010 by other Nile Basin countries, including Ethiopia, allowing them to work on river projects without Cairo's prior agreement.

The United States is urging Cairo and Addis Ababa to work to resolve the issue, saying it has "seen good cooperation" over the past year "to jointly examine the impacts of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam."

"We encourage both countries to continue working together constructively to minimize the downstream impacts of (the dam) and develop the Blue Nile for the benefit of all the people in the region," a State Department statement said.

Torture of Human Rights Defenders in Somalia Under the Siad Barre Regime

Colonel Abdi Aden Magan, Somali War Criminal

Yesterday, 05/30/2013, in a federal court in Ohio, CJA client Professor Abukar Ahmed testified about his torture and unlawful detention during the brutal Siad Barre regime in Somalia. The defendant, Colonel Magan, was head of the notorious NSS Department of Investigations which was widely known to inflict psychological terror and physical torture against political prisoners and civilians. For press on the testimony click here and for more on the case click here.

From the left Professor Abukar Hassan Ahmed, torture victim, Kathy Roberts CJA leading Attorney

IN BRIEF

After discovering that his torturer resided in Columbus Ohio, on April 21, 2010, Professor Abukar Hassan Ahmed, a former constitutional law professor and human rights advocate in Somalia, contacted CJA and filed a case against Colonel Abdi Aden Magan for torture, cruel treatment, and arbitrary detention.  On May 30, 2013, nearly 25 years after his torture, he finally had his day in court.

Read the AP’s exclusive interview with him here.

On November 20, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio found the former investigations chief of the Somali National Security Service (NSS), Colonel Abdi Aden Magan, liable for the torture and arbitrary detention of CJA’s client, constitutional law professor and human rights advocate, Abukar Hassan Ahmed. The court’s decision in Ahmed v. Magan is historic in that it is the first judgment ever in a court of law to hold a member of the notorious and widely feared Somali NSS accountable for human rights violations committed under the brutal military dictatorship that ruled Somalia for 20 years, the Siad Barré regime. .

BACKGROUND

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In 1969, the Somali Armed Forces, led by Major General Siad Barre, toppled the democratically elected government of the new nation of Somalia. The National Security Service (“NSS”) was created as part of a series of measures designed to suppress and punish opposition to the Siad Barre regime. During the 1970s and 1980s, the NSS, carried out widespread atrocities against suspected opponents of the military dictatorship. Human rights reports implicate the NSS in the systematic use of extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and arbitrary and prolonged detention.



The torture of Abukar Hassan Ahmed, a constitutional and international law professor at Somali National University detained for possessing a copy of an Amnesty International report, is an emblematic case of the brutality and impunity of the NSS during the Siad Barre regime.  Mr. Ahmed was an outspoken critic of the regime’s abuses of the Somali Constitution’s protections of human rights and freedom of expression.



Colonel Abdi Aden Magan, (“Magan”), served as Chief of the NSS Department of Investigations based at NSS Headquarters in the north of the capital city of Mogadishu from approximately 1988 to 1990.  As a member of the same favored Marehan sub-clan as Siad Barré at the head of the NSS Department of investigations, Magan directed the interrogation and torture of civilians perceived as opponents of the Siad Barre regime in order to terrorize the civilian population and deter it from supporting the growing opposition movements.



Magan came to the U.S. in 2000. He has lived openly in Columbus, Ohio since then.

 The plaintiff in this case was subjected to brutal torture under Magan’s direct orders:

Abukar Hassan Ahmed was arrested by NSS officers under Magan’s command, who confiscated the copy of an Amnesty International report he was carrying and transported him to the NSS Department of Investigations in the unventilated basement of NSS Headquarters.  He was held in solitary confinement in a small, windowless cell and his left wrist was tightly handcuffed to his right leg for twenty-four hours a day, except during interrogations.  The NSS officers first accused him of being a writer for Amnesty International and threatened to kill him if he did not confess. Magan subsequently interrogated him personally.  During this interrogation, Magan accused him of being a member of an opposition group established while he was in detention.  Magan told him that if he did not confess to being a member of this group, the NSS would torture him and obtain his confession through torture.  Mr. Ahmed was brutally tortured that same night.  Read more . . .


LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

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Complaint & Pre-Trial Motions

Read the Complaint

Ahmed v. Magan was brought before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District Court of Ohio on April 21, 2010.  The complaint accuses Magan of command responsibility and personal responsibility for torture; cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; and arbitrary detention.  This civil action was brought under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). The case was filed jointly by CJA and the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP.  Latham & Watkins became co-counsel for Mr. Ahmed in the spring of 2011, working on a pro-bono basis.

Magan was initially represented by counsel, who filed a motion to dismiss on June 11, 2010.  We filed an opposition to the motion to dismiss on July 6, 2010.  On December 6, 2010, the judge invited the State Department to provide its opinion, before January 31, 2011, as to whether Magan is entitled to common law immunity.  CJA attorneys met with representatives from the State Department Office of Legal Advisor on January 18, 2011 to explain why we do not think that Magan is entitled to common law immunity.  Following our meeting, on January 26, 2011 the State Department filed a Notice of Potential Participation and asked the court to extend the filing deadline to March 15, 2011.  The court granted the additional time and administratively stayed the case until the U.S. submitted its position.  On March 15, 2011, the U.S. filed a Statement of Interest stating that Magan was not entitled to immunity in the case.  In April 2011, Magan filed a response challenging the U.S. Statement of Interest and Plaintiff filed a reply in support of the U.S. Statement of Interest.

On November 8, 2011, the Court denied the Defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint.  Judge Smith converted the motion to dismiss to a summary judgment motion and concluded that our client had timely filed the case and that there were no remedies available elsewhere, thereby precluding Magan from raising those defenses again.  Magan filed an Answer to the Complaint on December 6, 2011.

In December, 2011, the court granted Magan’s lawyer’s motion to withdraw from the case and granted Magan a twenty-eight day stay of the case during which time Magan was required to inform the Court and Plaintiff of whether he intended to seek new representation or proceed pro se.  On January 20, 2012, Magan filed a motion to stay the case for an additional three months to provide him additional time to procure counsel.  In the motion, he alleged that he was in Kenya caring for his ailing mother.  On January 23, 2012, the Magistrate denied Magan’s motion to further stay the case, but gave Magan the opportunity to renew his motion within 14 days supported by the following information: (1) a letter from Mr. Magan’s mother’s treating doctor describing her medical condition and giving a prognosis; (2) that doctor’s office telephone number and email address; (3) the efforts Mr. Magan has made to retain new counsel; and (4) his financial ability to retain counsel. Magan did not renew his motion to stay the case with the requested information and has since remained incommunicado with the Court and Plaintiff’s counsel. 

On April 10, 2012, in defiance of a court order, Magan failed to appear for his deposition.  In all, Magan ignored no less than five Court orders before the close of discovery.  On August 6, 2012, the court granted Plaintiff’s motion for evidentiary sanctions, deeming a number of key facts to have been conclusively established. Read the order here.   We presented our evidence in a case-dispositive motion for summary judgment  on August 9, 2012.  On November 20, 2012, the Court granted our motion for summary judgment.

On May 30, 2013 in Columbus, Ohio, CJA client Professor Abukar Hassan Ahmed finally shared his story in federal court; it is an all too common story of persecution and torture under the brutal Siad Barre dictatorship that once ruled Somalia. We await the court’s damages award.

Wafti Culus oo uu Hogaaminayo Taliyaha Ciidanka Qaranka Somaliland oo u Kicitimay Ethiopia iyo Khuburo ka tirsan Gaashaandhiga Masar oo Muqdisho ka Degay

Taliyaha Guud ee Ciidamada Qaranka Somaliland Sareeyo Gaas Ismail Mohamed Shaqale

Hargeysa – Taliyaha guud ee Ciidamadda Qaranka Somaliland Sareeyo Gaas, Ismaaciil Maxamed Shaqale iyo wafti saraakiil ah oo uu hogaaminayo ayaa shalay safar ugu kicitimay Magaaladda Adis-ababa ee xarunta dalka Ethiopia, kuwaas oo iyagu shalay ka duulay Madaarka Magaaladda Berbera ee xarunta gobolka Saaxil. Sida ay Wargeyska Haatuf u xaqiijiyeen Ilo wareedyo lagu kalsoon yahay ayaa sheegay in Taliyaha Ciidanka Qaranka Somaliland Sareeye Gaas Ismaaciil Shaqale oo ay weheliyaan Saraakiil ka tirsan hogaanada ciidanka oo uu ka  mid yahay hogaanka tababarka Ciidamada Korneyl Axmed Tansaani in socdaalkoodu ka dhashay marti qaad rasmi ah oo qaada doona mudo 4 maalmood ah ay ka heleen Wasaarada Gaashaandhiga dalka Ethiopia.

Warku waxa uu intaasi raaciyay in waftiga uu hogaaminayo Taliyaha Ciidanka Qaranka Somaliland mudada uu joogo Magaaladda Adis-ababa kula yeelan doono kulamo xasaasi ah Madaxda sarsare ee Ciidamadda Ethiopia isla markaana ay ka wada hadli doonaan xidhiidhada iyo cilaaqaadka dhinacyada iskaashiga amaanka, difaaca iyo guud ahaan sugida amniga mandaqada ee u dhexeeya labadda dal. Sidoo kale waxa ay xogahaasi intaasi ku darayaan in Socdaalka Taliyaha Ciidanka Qaranka Somaliland Sareeye Gaas Ismaaciil Shaqale uu ku tagay dalkaasi inay la xidhiidho sidii ay labada wadan sii kobciyaan xidhiidhkoodii dhinaca amniga maadaama oo mandaqadu gashay wakhti aad u xasaasi ah xaga amniga. Dhinaca kale kulankan xasaasiga ah ee Madaxda Ciidamada Somaliland iyo Ethiopia ee wakhtigan ayaa ku soo beegmay xili Xiisad cakirani oo ka dhalatey biyaha Webiga Niilka ay ka dhextaagan tahay dalka Masar iyo Ethiopia.

Dhinaca kale wararka aanu ka helayno dalka Somalia ayaa daboolka ka qaadaya in  Magaaladda Muqdisho ay maalintii shalayto 5/6/2013 ay soo gaareen Saraakiil Miratani oo ka socda wasaarada Gaashaandhiga Dalka Masar, waxaana Garoonka Diyaaradaha ee magaalada Muqdisho ku soo dhaweeyey Faarax Sheekh Cabdilqaadir, oo ah Wasiiru Dowlaha Madaxtooyada xukuumada Federaalka Somalia iyo Saraakiil ka tirsan Wasaaradda Gaashaandhigu Somalia oo loo xil saaray soo dhawaynta khuburada Miratani ee ka socda dalka Masar.

Sarkaal u hadley Dowladda Soomaaliya ayaa sheegay in Jeneraalada dalka Masar ay gacan ka geysan doonaan dib u dhiska ciidanka Qaranka Somalia, hase yeeshee Booqashadan ayaa ku soo beegmeysa xili ay sii adkaaneyso xiisadda u dhexaysa dalalka Itoobiya iyo Masar kadib markii Itoobiya bilowday in ay biyaha Webiga Niilka uga faa'iidaysto dhinaca tamarta iyadoo ka dhisaysa  Biyo-xidheenkii ugu weyn Qaarada Afrika. Madaxwaynaha Dalka Masar ayaa labo maalmood ka hor ugu hanjabey in ay dagaal la geli doonaan Itoobiya haddii ay xidho ama leexiso biyaha Niilka oo inta badan nolosha dadka Masaarida ah ay ku tiirsan tahay, waxaana ay hoosta ka xariiqdey in heshiisyada caalamiga ah ay u oggolaanayaan in ay dagaal la geli karto dalka biyaha ka xidha. Heshiis la gaadhay sanadkii 1929 muddadii Gudmeystaha ayaa xaq u siinaya Masar iyo Suudaan xuquuqda Biyaha Webiga Niilka Sadex meeloodow laba.

Dalka Masar ayaa hore loogu eedeyn jirey in Soomaaliya ay u haystaan qafaal ay ku cabsi geliyaan dalka Itoobiya, isla markaana u isticmaalaan siyaasadda Biyaha Niilka.

Maalintii shalay ayaa Younis Makhyoun, ee hoggamiya mid ka mid ah ururada Islaamiga ah ee dalka Masar, sheegay haddii Biyaha Wabiga Niilka ay Itoobiya ku yarayso Masar, in markaasi ay waajib ku noqonayso dalka Masar in uu taageero buuxda siiyo Jabhadaha ka soo horjeeda xukuumada dalka Itoobiya.

Madaxweynaha dalka Masar ayaa u saarey guddi gaar ah oo baadha saameynta ay ku yeelan karto Biyo-xidheenka weyn ee Itoobiya ay dooneyso in ay ku leexiso biyaha Niilka ee dalkeeda ka soo bilowda.

Itoobiya ayaa dhankeeda xasaasiyad weyn ka qabta galaangalka cusub ee Masar ay ku bilowdey Dowladda Soomaaliya, waxaana dadka qaarkiis isweydiinayaa in ay dib u bilaaban karto Proxy War, kaas oo ah Dagaal Soomaaliya aan dan ugu jirin oo loo isticmaalo dano kale.

Online Dating Success Stories From Married Couples

A recent study funded by eHarmony suggests that as many as 35 percent of Americans now meet their spouses online. What's more, the study suggests that those marriages are less likely to end in divorce than those that begin offline.

On Wednesday, we decided to put this statistic to the test by asking our followers on Twitter and Facebook to share their online dating love stories. Click through the slideshow below for 18 beautiful romances that started behind a computer screen and eventually led to marriage. Then, share your story in the comments!

Yet Another Analyst Thinks A Fingerprint Scanner Is Coming To The iPhone

 

The Huffington Post  |  By Alexis Kleinman

If you're sick of punching in a passcode to keep your iPhone secure, one Apple analyst has some good news for you.

Topeka Capital's Brian White became the latest Apple rumormonger to talk up fingerprinting technology may be coming to the iPhone 5S, Business Insider reports. "Our research suggests that users will simply place their finger on the home key of the iPhone 5S and this will automatically unlock the device, nullifying the need to enter a four-character Apple ID Password," White says.

If this James Bond fantasy sounds familiar, it should. This rumor has been floating around for quite a while, since Apple bought security firm AuthenTec in July 2012. AuthenTec has done a good deal of research on fingerprinting technology, and Apple's purchase of the company stipulated that AuthenTec was no longer allowed to license out its technologies to other companies, leading many to believe that Apple is making it an exclusive feature of its products.

Respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities predicted fingerprint hardware for the "iPhone 6" in January. At the time, HuffPost made the case for why Apple will add print scanning to its next devices.
Although he is often trying to anticipate Apple's next moves, Brian White doesn't have the best prediction history. As we noted last year, White has wrongly predicted Apple's stock price and the iPad Mini release date, among other things. He did, however, get the iPhone 5's release date right, so he's got that going for him.

If you're anxious for answers, don't worry. Everything may be clear soon enough. Apple's World Wide Developers Conference is starting in just a few days, and the company is expected to clear up a lot of rumors and make some important announcements. However, if it keeps the lid on any new iPhone or iPad this June, as expected, we'll likely have to wait until the fall.

Ethiopia official labels Egyptian attack proposals over new Nile River dam ‘day dreaming’

By Associated Press,

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Egyptian officials tried to cool tensions with Ethiopia Wednesday over the new Nile River dam project by highlighting its “neighborliness” as the Ethiopian prime minister’s spokesman insisted that nothing would stop the dam from being completed upstream from Egypt, which is wholly dependent on Nile River water.

Egypt fears a diminished flow from Africa’s largest dam and hydropower station but Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said Egypt respects Ethiopia and will not engage in any aggressive acts against the East African nation. Egyptian politicians had suggested the country should sabotage the project in a meeting with the president Monday.

Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, said late Tuesday that Egyptian leaders in the past have unsuccessfully tried to destabilize Ethiopia.

Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Ethiopian Prime Minister

Ethiopia a week ago started diverting the flow of the Nile toward the $4.2 billion hydroelectric plant dubbed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The project is about 20 percent complete.
“The Renaissance Dam is here to stay. It is advisable for all actors of the political establishment in Egypt to come to terms with this reality,” Getachew said in an interview.

Since Ethiopia announced it was going to build the dam in March 2011, it has insisted the water flow to Sudan and Egypt will not be affected. It has initiated a tripartite Egypt-Sudan-Ethiopia experts panel to study the impact of the dam.

The 10-man panel, which includes four international experts, submitted its report to the countries last weekend. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water and Energy said the report concluded the dam “will not significantly affect” either Sudan or Egypt.

Egyptian political leaders on Monday met Morsi to discuss the report. Apparently unaware their discussion was being televised live, some of them proposed hostile acts including aiding rebels inside Ethiopia and destroying the dam itself. Ethiopian officials long have accused Egypt of backing anti-government rebels in Ethiopia. More than a dozen rebel groups exist in the East African nation, some wanting more autonomy, others a separate state.

“There are on the one hand people who still think that they can turn the clock back on Ethiopia’s development endeavors including of course the construction of the Renaissance Dam,” said Getachew. “Second you have people like President Mohammed Morsi, who according to the reports, said to have stressed that there is no point in trying to force Ethiopians, but the best solution would be to engage to Ethiopians.”

Experts estimate that already water-starved Egypt could lose as much as 20 percent of its water in the three to five years that it would take to fill the massive reservoir. Ethiopia diverted the course of the Blue Nile to make way for ongoing dam construction. The Blue Nile has its source in the Ethiopian mountains and is responsible for 85 percent of the water that reaches Egypt.

The live transmission of the politicians’ comments has kicked off an uproar in Egypt’s independent media, with many government critics saying that carrying the meeting live on TV has shown the extent of Morsi’s mismanagement of a national security issue.

Somaliland: Edna Doing a Lot with a Little in Somaliland

Dear Friends,

I have just returned home from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I was invited by WHO, UNFPA and the International Confederation of Midwives to attend and speak during theSecond Global Midwifery Symposium. It feels like I haven’t been home very much in 2013 but I have been greatly honored to share with the world how, with few resources, we have been able to achieve so much progress, particularly in the training of midwives.

Here is an alternate way of donating

If you would like to help support Edna Hospital, we ask that you make your donation through The Raise For Women Challenge sponsored by the Huffington Post. This fundraiser runs until June 6. If we come out on top then we’ll be awarded an additional $40,000.

The charity with the most unique donors during this week wins a bonus $6000 so your donation of even $10 is much appreciated!

In Kuala Lumpur I was very honored to join other midwives and healthcare professionals to exchange thoughts on keeping mothers and babies alive because although I now run a full service hospital, I will always be a midwife first and foremost, and maternal and child health will always be my priority.
My country, Somaliland, is one of the poorest nations on Earth. At this symposium, I was asked to share with the participants how it is that we’ve accomplished what we have in the face of such overwhelming obstacles. A mere fifteen years ago when I retired from the UN, Somaliland had just emerged from a devastating civil war. Our infrastructure was shattered, and many of the professionals to whom we would have looked to help us rebuild had been killed or had fled the country. We literally started from scratch.

Edna with a graduating class of Community Midwives

As I listened to other speakers, I began to realize how isolated, how alone, Somaliland is. The other nations represented at the symposium were countries with long histories and stable governments, with international recognition and support, with better school systems and higher literacy rates, with natural resources that they could exploit. Their governments have the capacity to play a central role in their healthcare systems. I heard a representative from an African nation lament that despite their best efforts, skilled birth attendants were present at “only” 70% of all births. I thought “Wow. Only 70%. I’d be happy with 17% in my country.”

Edna Adan and Diane Lane at Half the SkyIn Somaliland, we have a severe lack of financial and human resources. Since we are not a recognized nation, our country does not receive foreign aid. The majority of our people are nomads who cannot read or write. Every day we fight not only disease and death, but also ignorance and superstition. So how was it that I found myself at an international forum being asked to discuss our accomplishments?

I realized that the answer is this: What we lack in education, training and technology, we make up for in sheer determination. This is the way we pulled ourselves out of a brutal civil war – by our sheer determination to live in a peaceful and democratic society. We set our mind to it and we accomplished it.

And we are doing the same in healthcare. As part of our collective resolve to build a safe and secure community, we are finding a way to rebuild our hospitals, clinics and health centers. I started training our next generation of nurses and midwives even before construction was finished on the hospital. Today we’re still leading the way, training not only nurses and midwives, but also pharmacologists, laboratory technicians, anesthesiologists and public health workers. We’re also a teaching hospital where young Somaliland doctors learn to practice their profession.

In Somaliland, we’re doing a lot with very little. I appeal to you all to help me maintain this momentum, to help me pioneer and train midwives and other healthcare workers to provide assistance to our remote regions. Continue to show me the generous support that you have shown me for the past 11 years. In short, please help me to continue to help save lives.

Blessings,
Edna

Somali torture victim: Ohio court hearing a relief

Paul Vernon/AP Photo

In this Friday, May 31, 2013 photo, Abukar Hassan Ahmed talks about the civil court case against former Somali Col. Abdi Aden Magan during an interview at The Associated Press bureau in Columbus, Ohio. Ahmed is seeking damages against Magan, who was found responsible last year for torturing Ahmed in the 1980s.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/06/04/2831850/somali-torture-victim-ohio-court.html#storylink=cpy

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
AP Legal Affairs Writer

 

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/06/04/2831850/somali-torture-victim-ohio-court.html#storylink=cpy

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Torture victim Abukar Hassan Ahmed was living in London when he decided several years ago to search again for the man he says crippled him during interrogations in Somalia in the 1980s.

It took just a half-hour Internet search in 2005 to locate the former government official then living in Ohio.
Ahmed finally got the chance to tell his story in court last week after a federal judge ruled in his favor in a lawsuit against the official, Abdi Aden Magan.

"Justice is universal," Ahmed told The Associated Press after the hearing. Those "who try to torture a human being will be brought to justice anywhere he is. That is my message."

Ahmed, a former human rights advocate in Somalia, alleged in a 2010 lawsuit that the beatings he endured at Magan's direction make it painful for him to sit and injured his bladder to the point that he is incontinent. He is seeking more than $12 million in damages, though he's unlikely to ever see the money. Magan is believed to be living in Kenya, where even if he had the funds, he would be out of reach of U.S. courts.

Ahmed says the torture occurred when Magan served as investigations chief of the National Security Service of Somalia, a force dubbed the "Black SS" or the "Gestapo of Somalia" because of techniques used to gain confessions from detainees.

Magan, who lived for several years in Columbus, didn't present any evidence to dispute the allegations that he directed subordinates in carrying out human rights abuses under the regime of former dictator Siad Barre, federal judge George Smith ruled in November.

Abdi Aden Magan, top Somali Security Officer during Siad Barre Gov.

Magan declined to comment to the AP when the lawsuit was first filed by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, which has brought a number of similar lawsuits against overseas government officials accused of torture.

Magan fought the allegations in court filings for a while but stopped responding to additional court motions last year.

His former Columbus attorney said Tuesday that Magan was caring for his sick mother in Kenya. Court documents list Magan as representing himself. An email requesting comment sent to the address listed for Magan on the court docket bounced back.

Initially, Magan argued that the lawsuit was filed in the wrong country and too long after the alleged abuse. He also said he was immune from prosecution as long as he was acting within his official capacity and on behalf of the government.

The fact that he stopped fighting the case doesn't outweigh the due process he received, said Kathy Roberts, a Center for Justice and Accountability staff attorney.

"When you think about the hundreds and thousands of Somalis who were denied due process under his command and under his rule, then it seems incredibly fair in this case," she said. "He just simply realized he was going to lose and preferred to lose in absentia."

Ahmed, 67, now legal adviser to the president of Somalia, divides his time between London and Mogadishu, Somalia's capital.

Last year, a federal judge in Virginia ordered the former prime minister of Somalia, Mohamed Ali Samantar, to pay $21 million in compensatory and punitive damages to several members of the minority Isaaq clan, who said they suffered brutal repression - including torture and mass killings - under the Barre regime.

Even though Magan has no money, "these types of suits are important for the victims who are able to have their day in court, tell their story, and have an authority recognize their suffering," Michael Scharf, a professor of international law at Case Western University in Cleveland, said in an email.

Paul Vernon/AP Photo

In this Friday, May 31, 2013 photo, Abukar Hassan Ahmed talks about the civil court case against former Somali Col. Abdi Aden Magan during an interview at The Associated Press bureau in Columbus, Ohio. Ahmed is seeking damages against Magan, who was found responsible last year for torturing Ahmed in the 1980s.

Paul Vernon/AP Photo

In this Friday, May 31, 2013 photo, Abukar Hassan Ahmed talks about the civil court case against former Somali Col. Abdi Aden Magan during an interview at The Associated Press bureau in Columbus, Ohio. Ahmed is seeking damages against Magan, who was found responsible last year for torturing Ahmed in the 1980s.

Paul Vernon/AP Photo

In this Friday, May 31, 2013 photo, Abukar Hassan Ahmed talks about the civil court case against former Somali Col. Abdi Aden Magan during an interview at The Associated Press bureau in Columbus, Ohio. Ahmed is seeking damages against Magan, who was found responsible last year for torturing Ahmed in the 1980s.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/06/04/2831850/somali-torture-victim-ohio-court.html#storylink=cpy

Q&A: Somaliland leader Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo

The president of the self-declared republic discusses regional stability, aid, and African affairs.

Somaliland President H. E. Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo wants international recognition for Somaliland [EPA]

Somaliland, a self-declared republic inside Somalia, celebrated 22 years of "independence" last month. Somalia has recently again called for unity, but Somaliland's leader says his region is doing better than other parts of Somalia.

Sitting on the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland is officially regarded as an autonomous region of Somalia. The two were, however, separate until 1960. During a civil war in the 1980s, 40,000 people from Somaliland were killed, and nearly half a million fled.

Somaliland, which is more tribally homogeneous than the rest of Somalia, has been striving for international recognition since it broke away in 1991.

Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri spoke with Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo, Somaliland's president, about the challenges the area faces.

Nazanine Moshiri: President Silanyo, it has been 22 years since Somaliland declared independence, but you still haven’t managed to gain the recognition of the world. Are you any closer 22 years on?

Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo: Well, we may not have been recognised, that’s true. We realise recognition is not an easy thing - but the international community engages with us and works with us. It doesn’t mean we are cut off from the international community. On the contrary, we are very well-connected with the international community: they work with us, engage with us. I have just been travelling almost throughout the world, and meeting with governments. Governments and delegations come to us, they have aid programmes here, they support the democratisation programs here, and we deal and co-operate with the world.

NM: You refused to go to the recent conference on Somalia in London. Can you tell us why?

AS: I would like to say that we have very good historical relations with Britain. And much as we would have liked, it did not become possible for us to go because the London conference was held and chaired for Somalia.

The prime minister and the president of Somalia chaired it. After consultations with different parties and different groups, we decided that it was not acceptable to us. We attended many meetings before, where talks were being held for Somalia and Somaliland, but this one was different.

NM: A lot of money was pledged at that conference to Somalia. Do you think some of that money should go to Somaliland too?

AS: Well, I think the international community has been helping us - we receive a lot of assistance from Europe. Of course we would like to see a commitment as far as development is concerned.

NM: On your recent trip to the US, did they promise you they would recognise your statehood?

AS: No, they did not tell us they would accept [or] recognise our statehood. They said they would continue their support and development programmes, that they would continue that commitment.

NM: What do you think is behind this? The African Union is very clear on this. Do you think that if they give you and your country independence, then many other unstable regions would just flare up?

AS: Whatever the reasons maybe, Somaliland and Somalia historically have been two different countries - you know the history of Africa and many other parts of the world. They emerged from the colonial period. As a matter of fact, at the time of independence many countries offered their recognition to Somaliland. But at that time, there was so much enthusiasm to unify all Somali-speaking people in the Horn of Africa, including Somalis in Ethiopia, Somalis in Kenya and Somalis in Djibouti. [Unity] was the ambition of young people.

But that was not possible, because of the policies of the powers of the world. Eventually the principle was accepted that Somalis in Ethiopia should live as part of Ethiopia. The people of Djibouti have established their own state: it used to be called French Somaliland, and has become independent and accepted by the international community. Those parts which were part of Kenya have remained part of Kenya.

So why shouldn't Somaliland, a former protectorate, also be accepted by the international community? After the union with Somalia during Siad Barre’s regime, the type of treatment that has happened to Somaliland [was terrible]. You see the planes now in the middle of town - those were the kinds of planes that were taking of from the airport of Hargeisa and bombarding the population, including women and children, when they went out of Hargeisa to the Ethiopian border. These crimes were committed by the regime and Somaliland has ever since been struggling to become independent.

NM: You have talks going on with Somalia brokered by the Turks in Istanbul. Can you tell us how those talks are going?

AS: We held talks in Istanbul before, and the talks in Turkey are part of programme by the international community to establish reconciliation between Somalia and Somaliland. We are not against the talks; we accept them as long as they are on equal terms, and we were equally happy about the results.

NM: What did you agree on?

AS: We agreed to agree to more talks, and to respect each other and continue to co-operate in other ways.

NM: But the president of Somalia has been clear: he says he wants to unite Somalia.

AS: Well, I think I have been very clear too that we are going to return our independence. We would like to remain friends and co-operate. It is not I who decides, nor my government, but the history of Somaliland decided it will continue to be and has always been a different country.

Source: Al Jazeera 

Computer Hacker to Testify in Manning Court-Martial Trial

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

FORT MEADE, Md. — Adrian Lamo, the former computer hacker who alerted federal authorities that Pfc. Bradley Manning was the likely source for vast archives of leaked diplomatic and military documents to the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks in 2010, is expected to testify on Tuesday during the second day of the court-martial trial of Private Manning, an Army intelligence analyst.

 Mr. Lamo is the third witness scheduled to testify on Tuesday, a government lawyer said. In an initial morning session, prosecutors introduced two forensic computer analysts — one former, one current — with the computer crimes investigative unit of the Army’s criminal investigative division. The two, David Shaver and Mark Johnson, examined hard drives and other electronic evidence used by Private Manning and are expected to return to the witness stand repeatedly throughout the trial.

In addition to establishing his role and expertise, Mr. Johnson also testified that he examined an external hard drive taken from Private Manning’s bunk area in Iraq and found a text file with contact information for WikiLeaks that was created in late November 2009, among other matters. Under cross-examination, Mr. Johnson said he had not found any materials suggesting that Private Manning hated America, sympathized with terrorists, or had received any unusual fund transfers.

The trial opened on Monday with dueling high-concept opening statements: the prosecutor offered a portrayal of Private Manning as a traitor who recklessly endangered his fellow soldiers, while the defense said he was a naïve idealist who was trying to make the world a better place.

The second day began with a sharp drop-off from Monday in the presence of news organizations and protesters, as the trial shifts toward chain-of-custody issues and other evidentiary matters, though Mr. Lamo’s testimony about his online chats with the person who turned out to be Private Manning — and his decision to turn him in — could be a highlight.

The trial, which could last 12 weeks, is highly unusual because Private Manning confessed in detail in February to being WikiLeaks’ source and pleaded guilty to nine lesser versions — and one full version — of the charges he is facing, which has exposed him to up to 20 years in prison.

But the plea was not part of any deal, and the government is pressing forward with a trial because it wants to convict him — based on essentially the same facts — of 20 more serious versions of the charges, like espionage and aiding the enemy, which could result in a life sentence.

Private Manning has admitted being the source for archives of front-line incident reports from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, dossiers on detainees being held without trial at the Guantánamo Bay prison, State Department cables from American diplomats around the world and a video of a 2007 shooting by an American helicopter of a group of mostly unarmed men, including two Reuters staffer members, in Baghdad.

Still, a small number of facts remain in dispute. Among them, prosecutors have accused Private Manning of also being the source for some 74,000 e-mail addresses and other such personal data about American troops in Iraq that someone sent to WikiLeaks after the group solicited military e-mail addresses on Twitter; it is less clear what the “whistle-blower” rationale for that leak would be.

Private Manning has pleaded not guilty to that charge and did not mention the database in his confession. His defense lawyer, David Coombs, also did not mention it in his opening statement, which portrayed his client as carefully selecting what to release out of a desire to help the public better understand the world — including the realities of war and secret diplomatic dealings — while avoiding documents whose disclosure could cause harm.

In the prosecution’s opening statement on Monday, Capt. Joe Morrow said the forensic evidence would show that the e-mail address database had been downloaded on a computer Private Manning had used.

Egypt Warns Against Loss of Nile Water to Ethiopian Dam

President Morsi and the officials during the meeting (Photo: Presidency Official Facebook Page)

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has warned he will not allow a large Ethiopian dam project to reduce his country's share of water from the Nile River.

In comments carried on Egyptian state television Monday, Morsi said the country can not let "one drop" of water be affected, and vowed to take steps to ensure water security.

Ethiopia says there is no reason for Egypt to worry about the hydroelectric dam, which is being built on the Blue Nile, a main Nile River tributary.

Ethiopia's water minister says the dam's construction poses no threat to Egypt or Sudan, which both depend heavily on the Nile.

Both countries have expressed concern that the dam will leave them without enough water to support their populations.

The construction of the dam in Asosa region Ethiopia, Apr. 2, 2013. Ethiopia started to divert the flow of the Blue Nile river to construct a giant dam, according to its state media, in a move that could impact the Nile-dependent Egypt.

Last week, protests erupted at the Ethiopian embassy in Cairo after Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile to allow for construction of the nearly $5 billion dam.

More than two-thirds of the Blue Nile originates in Ethiopia. However, colonial-era treaties gave Egypt and Sudan the majority of water from the tributary.

Ethiopia began constructing the dam two years ago with a goal of becoming a main power producer in Africa.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.


HOW EGYPTY'S MEDIA REPORT THIS NEWS

AhramOnline 

Egypt's Morsi, top officials mull response to Ethiopia dam move

Egyptian officialdom awaits outcome of tripartite commission's report on Ethiopian dam project – expected on Sunday – before deciding on appropriate response

 President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday met with Defence Minister Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim and General Intelligence head Rafaat Shehata to discuss recent developments in Sinai and Egypt's position regarding Ethiopian plans to build a series of dams on the Nile.

According to presidential spokesman Ehab Fahmy, meeting attendees discussed the options available to Egypt to deal with Ethiopia's 'Renaissance Dam' project and the project's potential impact on Egypt and its share of Nile water.

Fahmy also stated that talks were ongoing with Ethiopian officials in an effort to reach an agreement to the "mutual benefit" of both countries.

President Morsi, Fahmy said, had also discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Omar and Water Resources Minister Mohamed Bahaa El-Din.

At a press conference held earlier on Thursday at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Fahmy said that the presidency would "not allow anyone to threaten Egypt's supply of Nile water."

Egypt supports development projects in Africa "as long as they don't affect Egypt's national security," the presidential spokesman stressed. He went on to note that President Morsi was keen to cooperate with "all African states" on water-sharing issues.

At a press conference convened following the meeting with the president, Bahaa El-Din declared that the Egypt had ruled out a military response in the event that Ethiopia insisted on going ahead with its dam project.

The minister added that a report on the dam project by an international tripartite commission – consisting of representatives from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia – would be issued on Sunday.

If the report concluded that the Ethiopian dam project would adversely affect Egypt, Bahaa El-Din said that Egypt would prepare "a number of scenarios."  

 

Egypt warns Ethiopia about Nile dam

Cairo - President Mohammed Morsi on Monday warned that Egypt would not allow its share of the Nile to be diminished by "one drop" after Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile as part of a giant dam project.

"We cannot let even one drop of Nile water be affected," Morsi said during talks with political and religious leaders broadcast live on state television.

The talks revolved around a report of a tripartite Egypt-Sudan-Ethiopia commission on Ethiopia's decision to divert the Blue Nile for a massive dam project, sparking fears of a major impact on downstream states Egypt and Sudan.

"It is necessary that we take steps to ensure Egyptian water security," Morsi said on his official Twitter account without elaborating.

"The current situation necessitates unity among our ranks to prevent any threat against Egypt."

Egyptian officials estimate that Ethiopia's move is largely technical and will not alter the water flow that is vital for both Egypt and Sudan.

National security

But Khaled al-Kazzaz, an adviser to Morsi, said the issue was one of "national security" for Egypt, with the cabinet last Wednesday reiterating that Cairo was opposed to all projects which could affect the flow of the Nile.

The Blue Nile joins the White Nile in Khartoum to form the Nile river which flows through Sudan and Egypt before emptying into the Mediterranean.

Ethiopia has begun diverting the Blue Nile 500m from its natural course to construct a $4.2bn hydroelectric project known as Grand Renaissance Dam.

The first phase of construction is expected to be complete in three years, with a capacity of 700MW. Once complete the dam will have a capacity of 6 000MW.

Egypt believes its "historic rights" to the Nile are guaranteed by two treaties from 1929 and 1959 which allow it 87% of the Nile's flow and give it veto power over upstream projects.

But a new deal was signed in 2010 by other Nile Basin countries, including Ethiopia, allowing them to work on river projects without Cairo's prior agreement.

- AF

Contextualising Somaliland Elections: Clan, Ethnicity and Parties

Date:            11 June 2013

Time:            17:30 - 20:00 

Location:      Room G.01, Central House. 14 Upper Woburn  

                     Place. WC1H 0NN. London

^{Photo by ©Kate Stanworth}

Panel discussion, report launch and photography exhibition.

Background

Somaliland's record in organising elections is impressive and widely reported. Over the past eleven years, they have organised two presidential elections, one parliamentary and, on 28th November 2012, their second local council. In each case, the exercise was predominantly peaceful and marked by enthusiasm of campaigners, candidates and voters. Donors have also responded favourably. As impressive as the process has been to date, though, the inevitable tensions of representative democratic processes are also evident, and becoming more so as the system becomes increasingly established, including delays, political standoffs and attempts at multiple voting.

These are the successes and challenges involved in a transition to a system of representative democracy. In some ways, they are unique to the context in which they take place. It is equally true, however, that many of the challenges and successes experienced in Somaliland are similar to those elsewhere.

Panel discussion and report launch

This event seeks to display the colour, vitality and vigour of a process that is, in many ways, healthy and progressive, as well as looking at some of the key challenges that Somaliland faces. It also aims to do so, in part, by presenting the Somaliland experience in the context of parallel experiences in Sub-Saharan Africa. There will be a panel discussion presenting differing geographical perspectives, followed by a reception and exhibition of photographs from Somaliland's 2012 local elections. This event marks the public launch of the report of the International Election Observation to the 2012 local elections in Somaliland.

Exhibition of photographs by Kate Stanworth

Kate Stanworth is a London-based photographer who travelled to Somaliland in November 2012 to document the local elections. She has worked on documentary projects in Europe, South America and Africa.

This event has been put together by the DPU with the support of Progressio

Everyone is welcome to attend!