Three Latin American leftist leaders offer asylum to Snowden

Reuters/Reuters - Bolivia's President Evo Morales (L) and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro wave during a meeting in Cochabamba, July 4, 2013. REUTERS/David Mercado

By Daniel Ramos and Daniel Wallis | Reuters
 

LA PAZ/CARACAS (Reuters) - Bolivia offered asylum on Saturday to former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, joining leftist allies Venezuela and Nicaragua in defiance of Washington, which is demanding his arrest for divulging details of secret U.S. surveillance programs.

Snowden, 30, is believed to be holed up in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport and has been trying to find a country that would take him since he landed from Hong Kong on June 23.

Bolivian President Evo Morales had said earlier this week that he would consider granting asylum to Snowden. But he took a harder line on Saturday, angered that some European countries banned his plane from their airspace this week on suspicion it carried Snowden.

"I want to tell ... the Europeans and Americans that last night I was thinking that as a fair protest, I want to say that now in fact we are going to give asylum to that American who is being persecuted by his fellow Americans," Morales said during a visit to the town of Chipaya.

"If we receive a legal request, we will grant asylum," he said. Bolivia's Foreign Ministry was not immediately available to comment on whether a formal asylum request had been received.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also offered refuge to Snowden late Friday and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said his country had received an asylum request and could agree to it "if circumstances permit."

Russia has kept the former National Security Agency contractor at arm's length, saying the transit area where passengers stay between flights is neutral territory and he would be on Russian soil only if he went through passport control.

It was not immediately clear how Snowden would react to the new offers from Latin America, nor reach the countries if he accepted.

There are no direct commercial flights between Moscow and Venezuela's capital, Caracas, and the usual route involves changing planes in Havana. It is not clear if Cuban authorities would let him transit, however, and there was no sign of Snowden aboard the flight to Havana on Saturday.

To obtain refugee status in Bolivia, Snowden would have to submit a request to the Bolivian Embassy in Russia and would not have to be physically in Bolivian territory, said former Foreign Minister Armando Loayza. Ecuador, which also backs Snowden, has said it could only consider granting asylum once the fugitive landed on Ecuadorean soil.

Given the dramatic grounding in Vienna of Morales' plane, using European airspace could prove problematic.

RUSSIA IMPATIENT

Russia has shown signs of growing impatience over Snowden's stay in Moscow. Its deputy foreign minister said on Thursday that Snowden had not sought asylum in that country and needed to choose a place to go.

Moscow has made clear that the longer he stays, the greater the risk of the diplomatic standoff over his fate causing lasting damage to relations with Washington.

Both Russia's Foreign Ministry and President Vladimir Putin's spokesman declined to comment on Venezuela's offer.

"This is not our affair," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters.

But senior pro-Kremlin lawmaker Alexei Pushkov, head of the international affairs committee of Russia's lower house of parliament, said asylum in Venezuela would be Snowden's best option.

The White House declined to comment. But one U.S. official familiar with the matter, who asked for anonymity, said: "It's fair to say in general that U.S. officials have been pressuring governments where Snowden might try to go to do the right thing here."

WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization, said on Friday that Snowden had asked six more nations for asylum, bringing to about 20 the number of countries he has appealed to for protection from U.S. espionage charges.

WikiLeaks said on Twitter it would not reveal which six new countries Snowden had applied to for asylum, due to "attempted U.S. interference."

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous leader and a former union leader for the country's coca leaf farmers, and Maduro both condemned the U.S. spy programs that Snowden revealed and said he deserved protection.

"Who is the guilty one? A young man ... who denounces war plans, or the U.S. government which launches bombs and arms the terrorist Syrian opposition against the people and legitimate President Bashar al-Assad?" Maduro asked, to applause and cheers from ranks of military officers at a parade.

"Who is the terrorist? Who is the global delinquent?"

'COLONIES OF THE UNITED STATES'

Since narrowly winning a presidential election in April that followed the death of his mentor, Hugo Chavez, from cancer, Maduro has often lambasted the United States - even accusing the Pentagon and former U.S. officials of plotting to kill him.

But the former bus driver and union leader has at times also struck a much more conciliatory note, saying he is ready for better relations with Washington, based on mutual respect.

Already one of Snowden's most vocal supporters on the world stage, Maduro has sharpened his rhetoric in recent days.

Latin America's leftist leaders denounced the diversion of Morale's plane over European airspace as a disgrace and a serious breach of protocol, and Maduro said the CIA, the U.S. spy agency, was behind it all.

Snowden had revealed that the United States was spying on its European allies, Maduro said on Friday, and yet European leaders still caved under U.S. pressure to ground Morales' jet.

"The European people have seen the cowardice and the weakness of their governments, which now look like colonies of the United States," the Venezuelan president said.

Venezuela's opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, accused Maduro of making a fuss about Snowden to distract voters from a dismal economic picture at home, and a host of other problems including one of the highest murder rates in the world.

"Nicolas, you can't use asylum to cover up that you stole the election. That doesn't give you legitimacy, nor make the people forget," Capriles said on Twitter.

Speaking in Managua, Ortega said he would gladly give Snowden asylum in Nicaragua "if circumstances permit." He did not say what those circumstances might be.

Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, has benefited greatly from financial support from Venezuela, and Ortega was a staunch ally of Chavez.

A bid by Snowden for Icelandic citizenship hit an impasse on Friday when the country's parliament voted not to debate the issue before its summer recess.

(Additional reporting by Ivan Castro in Managua, Robert Robertsson in Reykjavik, Roberta Rampton and Mark Hosenball in Washington, Alexei Anishchuk, Steve Gutterman and Lidia Kelly in Moscow; Writing by Louise Egan and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Eric Beech)

Ethiopia: Big Nile dam could ease Africa power failures

Ethiopia: Big Nile dam echoes the Hoover Dam in scale and scope, offering the hope of a brighter economic future in Ethiopia and the Nile region. Ethiopia's big Nile dam – called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam – will cost $4.2 billion and be able to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity. 
 

Ethiopia's big Nile dam: A man walks over a bridge by the construction of Ethiopia's Great Renaissance Dam in Guba Woreda, some 25 miles from Ethiopia's border with Sudan. Tiksa Negeri/Reuters/File

By Kirubel Tadesse, Associated Press

The book, a history of Hoover Dam, fell from the dashboard as Simegnew Bekele drove through the rugged mountains where the engineer is leading construction work on Ethiopia's massiveNile River dam.

"This book," he said, picking it up, "I am reading it now ... It's a fascinating story. This dam too (has) a history one day someone will write about."

Simegnew's sentiment illustrated the great expectations of a dam that has raised tensions between this Horn of Africa nation and Egypt, which is concerned the ongoing project will diminish its share of Nile River waters. Reading the book, a gift from Ethiopians he met in New York recently, the engineer has come to see similarities between the Ethiopian dam-in-progress and Hoover Dam, the Great Depression-era project that in its time became an icon of American enterprise under difficult economic conditions.

"Hoover Dam was constructed when America was (in) depression," Simegnew said. "It was an enormous success. I am sure our dam too will herald a bright future for this country and also for the whole region."

Despite the concerns of Nile-dependent Egypt, Ethiopia —whose economy suffers frequent power failures —has vowed to proceed with the dam that would become the biggest hydro-electric power station in Africa. In May,Ethiopia started to divert Nile waters to make way for the $4.2 billion dam which, when it is finished, will have the capacity to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity. Ethiopia's national electricity corporation says potential buyers of Ethiopia's electricity will include the two Sudans, Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda and even wary Egypt.

In Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region near Sudan, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the capital, workers labor under intensely hot conditions and gigantic machines smash boulders in order to make the dama reality by July 2017. Even as Egyptian and Ethiopian diplomats talk over the dam's impact on the volume of Blue Nile waters flowing to Egypt, construction work is proceeding apace here in a sign of Ethiopia'sdetermination to resist Egyptian pressure. Some 5,000 Ethiopians, joined by 200 expatriates from 20 nations, work in shifts 24 hours a day. Visitors here have to go through multiple security checkpoints that are manned by soldiers wearing "anti-guerrilla" tags on their fatigues. The Italian construction firm Salini is building thedam while the Chinese company Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co. Ltd. is building power lines for it.

Simegnew, the engineer, told reporters last week that some of the diverted Nile waters are accumulating in a temporary coffer dam, and officials say that the filling of the reservoir will start next year. Power lines to connect the dam's output with the national grid are being put up, and cables from the national grid extend to Djibouti, Sudan and, later, Kenya.

"During the filling of the reservoir, which will take five to six years, we won't have any fixed impoundment rate to make sure the water flow downstream will not be significantly affected," Simegnew said.

Ethiopia's Nile project has won the support of upstream countries in East and Central Africa that have been meeting under the banner of the Nile Basin Initiative, which endorsed the new Nile River Cooperative Framework Agreement. That accord, ratified last month by Ethiopia's parliament, was conceived to replace the 1929 treaty written by Britain that awarded Egypt veto power over other countries' Nile projects. Sudan and Egypt signed a deal in 1959 splitting the Nile waters between them without giving other countries consideration. Egyptian politicians have suggested attacks against Ethiopia to sabotage the dam, and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi last month warned that "all options are open" to challenge the project.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said last week that, while he was willing to accommodate Egypt's concerns, the continued constructing of the dam and its size are "red lines" that will not be crossed by the negotiations.

If the dam is completed without incident, it would be a remarkable achievement for Ethiopia's leaders who dreamed of something big and wanted an equally grand name for the dam. Originally a secret project called X, the dam was later called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

David Shinn, former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia, said he doubted Egypt's dispute with Ethiopia over the Nile River would degenerate into armed conflict.

"Following long periods of silence, there are periodic outbursts as we have seen in the past month," said Shinn, who is now a professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. "I expect this trend to continue but not to result in conflict between the two countries."

The Ethiopian government, which secured a $1 billion loan from China for power lines for the Nile dam, says it will continue to raise more funds domestically. Government employees have for the second time paid their one-month salary to buy bonds the government is selling. Private banks are ordered by the central bank to buy bonds worth millions of the Ethiopian birr.

Yilma Seleshi of the Ethiopian Water Resource Institute says the dam would consistently bring in hard currency for at least a century, returning the massive investment it is requiring. In his study presented during a meeting at Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University last week, he estimated that Ethiopia would earn 2 million euros in daily income from power sales to neighboring countries.

Ethiopian Prime Minister make his 2nd Cabinet Reshuffle and Parliament Ups Defense Budget Amid Egypt Tension

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The Ethiopian government is set to increase defense spending by more than 15 percent, a rise that comes amid tensions with Egypt over the building of a new dam on the Nile River.

Cairo says the Ethiopian dam project, set to become Africa's largest, could diminish its share of Nile River waters, which provides almost all of the desert nation's water needs.

Ethiopia's parliament on last Wednesday debated the proposed budget, which would increase defense spending to $400 million, up from about $350 million. The parliament is scheduled to approve the budget on Thursday.

Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Hailemariam, insists the defense increase has nothing to do with the recent disputes with Egypt. Getachew told The Associated Press the increase corresponds to the country's growing economy.

On the other hand, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn appointed 10 new ministers on Thursday 4^th July, in his second cabinet reshuffle since taking office last year, including a new head of customs whose predecessor was arrested on corruption charges in May.

Hailemariam, 47, became prime minister in September after the death of long-serving leader Meles Zenawi, one of Africa's most influential political figures who ruled Ethiopia for 21 years and steered its economy into double-figure growth.

So far Hailemariam has shown no sign of a major shift in policy away from Zenawi, maintaining his predecessor's tight grip on the opposition and focusing on business and the economy.

Ethiopia wants to boost its manufacturing sector and has been wooing Asian economic powerhouses China and South Korea. It has carved out large plots of land for construction of industrial centres.

In parliament, Hailemariam announced Beker Shale as director general of Ethiopia's revenue and customs authority with the rank of minister, following the dismissal of Melaku Fenta.

Melaku's arrest in May was the country's most high-profile swoop against graft for more than a decade. He is one of dozens of revenue officials and businessmen now facing trial for corruption.

Businesses in the region regularly complain of corruption as an obstacle to their work. Transparency International ranks Ethiopia 113 out of 176 nations worldwide in its 2012 perception of corruption index, where No. 1 is considered least corrupt.

That ranking puts Ethiopia above most nations in the Horn of Africa and east Africa regions, although Rwanda is ranked 50.

Hailemariam also appointed Ahmed Abitew as minister of industry, replacing Mekonnen Manyazwel, who will now head a task force on economic planning.

"I have appointed the ministers because they have demonstrated sound political leadership in their work," Hailemariam told parliament before lawmakers swore in the officials.

Getachew Ambaye was named minister of justice and Shiferaw Shigute education minister, while Belete Tafere took over the newly-established ministry of environment and forestry.

The ministers of foreign affairs, finance, defence, agriculture and federal affairs were all retained.

Hailemariam appointed two additional deputies and new foreign and trade ministers in November.

Alums Play Key Role in Landmark Ruling Against Somali Colonel Abdi Aden Magan former NSS investigations chief

By Andrew Cohen

Christina Hioureas '07 and Kathy Roberts ’04

For Christina Hioureas ’07 and Kathy Roberts ’04, representing torture victim Abukar Hassan Ahmed offered a rare chance to achieve both justice and history. “No member of Somalia’s notorious National Security Service (NSS) had ever been held accountable for atrocities committed during that country’s 20-year military dictatorship,” Roberts said. “It was long overdue.”

In November 2012, the Southern District Court of Ohio ruled that Colonel Abdi Aden Magan—former NSS investigations chief—was liable for Ahmed’s torture; cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; and arbitrary detention. A constitutional law professor and human rights advocate, Ahmed says he was targeted by the military dictatorship after ignoring orders to stop defending political dissidents and to refrain from teaching his students about human rights. He gave a harrowing account of his treatment in court May 30; a damages award is expected by the end of July.

Roberts first spoke with Ahmed when he contacted the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA), where she is legal director. Ahmed had been vainly trying to track down Magan for years. The center’s Internet research showed that Magan—who fled Somalia in 1991 when the brutal regime of dictator Siad Barre collapsed—had found a safe haven in Columbus, Ohio.

In 2010, CJA filed Ahmed v. Magan in Ohio under the Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act. Hioureas joined the case when her firm, Latham & Watkins, was enlisted as pro bono counsel. Hioureas was a public international law attorney in the firm’s London office, and with Ahmed also living in London as well as several factual witnesses, she began steering the case with CJA.

“Representing Professor Ahmed alongside the Center for Justice & Accountability has been an honor; promoting justice, human rights, and the rule of law,” said Hioureas, who now works at Chadbourne & Parke in New York. At trial, she gave the opening statement and conducted a direct examination of Ahmed. “Kathy and I have become good friends over the course of the case. We had the Berkeley Law connection and a strong desire to achieve justice for our client.”

Magan was a key figure in the NSS, also known as the “Black SS” or “Gestapo of Somalia” because of barbarous techniques used to gain confessions. He did not present any evidence to dispute allegations that he directed subordinates to carry out human rights abuses under Barre’s regime. Magan failed to appear for his deposition, and is believed to now be living in Kenya.

Ahmed, 67, is currently the Legal Adviser to the President of Somalia. In this role, he is continuing to promote the rule of law and working to draft the Somali Human Rights Bill and Provisional Constitution. He is seeking more than $12 million in damages, alleging that Magan maliciously ordered the torture he endured, leaving him with chronic pain and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Regardless of what the court decides for damages, its ruling sends a message that this kind of egregious behavior will not be tolerated,” Roberts said. “As Professor Ahmed told us: ‘This case will be heard in Somalia and will tell people that no one can torture a Somali citizen. Justice has no national borders, justice is universal, and a human being will be held to account anywhere he is located.’”

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. The victims said they suffered severe repression—including torture and mass killings—under Barre’s regime. Roberts served as lead trial counsel on the case in her role with CJA.

Calling upon her international law background and “experience having attended a diverse university like UC Berkeley” for both her political science and law degrees, Hiroueas interviewed witnesses from all over the world, including some who spoke little or no English.

“You have to understand different cultural and religious norms, consider the manner in which you ask questions, and approach witnesses—many of whom themselves have endured so much—in a way that allows them to trust you and feel comfortable opening up about the brutality they witnessed,” she said. “It’s crucial to shed light on this dark time in history, and we were very careful and methodical in our approach.”

Having spent time in Somalia, Roberts used her contacts there to secure key witnesses such as Colonel Abdulkarim Shabel—the former head of finances for the NSS. Despite his position, Shabell was arrested multiple times because he came from a minority clan targeted by Barre’s military. Shabel submitted testimony relating to Magan’s command authority and his reputation for savagery.

“I knew how important this case was for the people in Somalia,” Roberts said. “We left no stone unturned and produced 962 pages of documentary evidence. It’s very difficult to get information about high-ranking people from the clandestine services, so the significance of this case is hard to overstate.”

While the case helped shed light on a dark period of Somali history, it also revealed Professor Ahmed’s persistence in promoting human rights and the rule of law. He said the victory is not just for him, but “for all of the silent survivors of torture, dead or alive.”

Nicholas Kay oo si cajiib ah uga hadlay arinka Xasan Daahir Aweys

Ergayga gaarka ah ee Qaramada Midoobay u qaabilsan Arimaha Soomaaliya Nicholas Kay ayaa si cajiic ah uga hadlay arinka Sheekh Xasan Daahir Aweys oo dowladda gacanta ugu jira.

Waxa uu sheegay in marka hore ay aad usoo dhaweynaayaan talaabada ay dowladda Soomaaliya ka qaadatay inay xabsiga dhigto Sheekha si wax badan loo baaro.
 

Sheekha ayuu ku sheegay inuu ku jiro Liiska argagaxisada, waxaana uu ku tilmaamay in dowladana ay sheegtay aqoonsi balaaran inay u hayso Qaramada Midoobay Sharciyadeeda.
 

Dhanka kale guul usoo hoyatay dowladda ayuu ku sheegay in wadaadkaan uu is soo dhiibo, laakiinse hadalkiisa ayaa u muuqda mid u muuqda in la doonaayo in lasii gudbiyo Sheekh Xasan Daahir Aweys.

African Union Suspends Egypt

Fifty-four member bloc suspends Egypt from all activities following President Morsi's ouster in a military coup.

Marthe van der Wolf

ADDID ABABA — The African Union announced Friday that Egypt’s membership has been suspended due to the military action in Cairo that deposed President Mohamed Morsi and suspended the nation's constitution.

The secretary of the African Union Peace and Security Council, Admore Kambudzi, says Egypt is barred from participating in any AU activity.

“The overthrow of the democratic elected president does not conform to the relevant provisions of the Egyptian constitution and is therefore false under the definition of an unconstitutional change of government. The council decides to suspend the participation of Egypt in AU activities until the restoration of constitutional order.” Kambudzi said.

The military toppled the Morsi government and declared the constitution suspended on Wednesday, saying the president had failed to meet demands of the Egyptian people. Egypt’s top judge was sworn in as the country'sw temporary leader on Thursday.

Egypt's ambassador to the African Union, Mohamed Edrees, defended the military's actions. He told the AU Peace and Security Council Friday there has not been a military coup.

“The military role in this is to support the people. The military did not instigate a coup or impose its own agenda against the will of the Egyptian people, on the contrary. The military supported the agenda of the people [and] the roadmap which was endorsed by the whole broad spectrum of the Egyptian society.” Edrees said.

The African Union says it is planning to send a high-level delegation to Egypt to consult with the ruling authorities and others.

The African Union currently has three other member states on suspended status, all as a result of what are considered ACTIONS CONTRARY TO THEIR NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS: Madagascar, Central African Republic and Guinea-Bissau.

‘Free from imperial persecution’: Venezuela offers Snowden asylum

By WILLIAM NEUMAN and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela said Friday that he would offer asylum to the fugitive intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden, who has been stranded in a Moscow airport searching for a safe haven.

 “I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American Edward Snowden,” Mr. Maduro said during a televised appearance at a military parade marking Venezuela’s independence day.

Mr. Maduro said he had decided to act “to protect this young man from the persecution unleashed by the world’s most powerful empire.”

It was not immediately clear, however, how Mr. Snowden could reach Venezuela or if Mr. Maduro was willing to help transport him.

Also on Friday, Daniel Ortega, the president of Nicaragua, said he was open to taking in Mr. Snowden. “It is clear that if the circumstances permit we will take in Mr. Snowden with pleasure and give him asylum in Nicaragua,” Mr. Ortega said in Managua.

Mr. Snowden has sought asylum from more than two dozen nations. Most countries have declined.

The offers from Venezuela and Nicaragua appeared to be linked to outrage in Latin America over the treatment last week of President Evo Morales of Bolivia, whose plane was denied permission to fly over several European countries because of what Bolivian officials said were unfounded suspicions that Mr. Snowden was aboard. Mr. Morales was on his way home from a meeting in Moscow.

Mr. Maduro had previously voiced sympathy for Mr. Snowden. He frequently bashes the United States, depicting it as an imperialist bully in Latin America. But at the same time he has shown a desire to improve relations with the United States, directing his foreign minister to start talks with Washington aimed at smoothing the rocky relationship with the top buyer of his country’s all-important oil exports.

Earlier on Friday, WikiLeaks said in a post on Twitter that Mr. Snowden, who is wanted by the United States on charges of revealing classified government information, “has applied to another six countries for asylum,” following up on similar applications to about 20 nations last week.

Supporters of Mr. Snowden clearly blame the refusals on pressure from the United States, and, as a result, WikiLeaks said it would not reveal the latest countries in which he is seeking shelter. “They will not be named at this time due to attempted US interference,” the group wrote on Twitter.

In Russia, officials have expressed impatience over Mr. Snowden’s continuing sojourn in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport. On Thursday, a deputy foreign minister, Sergey A. Ryabkov, told reporters that Mr. Snowden should pick a destination and leave as soon as possible.

Russia was apparently among the original countries to which Mr. Snowden submitted an asylum request, but a spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin, Dmitri S. Peskov, has said since that the request was withdrawn.

On Thursday, Mr. Putin sent a telegram to President Obama noting the Fourth of July holiday and restating his commitment to holding a summit meeting in Moscow in September, ahead of the G20 conference, which will be in St. Petersburg. American officials have signaled that Mr. Obama is unlikely to visit Moscow if Mr. Snowden is still holed up at Sheremetyevo airport.

María Eugenia Díaz contributed reporting from Caracas, Venezuela.

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs: Who Is Linda Thomas-Greenfield?

Linda Thomas-Greenfield

The next head of the State Department Bureau of African Affairs, which handles relations with 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, will be a career diplomat who has focused her career on Africa. President Barack Obama has nominated Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who has been director general of the Foreign Service and director of Human Resources since April 2012, to be the next Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Assuming she is confirmed by the Senate as expected, she would succeed Johnnie Carson, a former ambassador to Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda, who served from 2008 to 2012.


Born in Baker, Louisiana, circa 1952, Linda Thomas-Greenfield earned a BA in Political Science at Louisiana State University in 1974 and an MA in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin in 1976.

Thomas-Greenfield taught political science at Bucknell University before joining the Foreign Service in 1982. Her first assignment came that year as a consular officer in Kingston, Jamaica. In Africa, she has served in Nigeria (for two and a half years), Gambia (for three years) and Kenya.

Her sojourn in Kenya was not without incident. After just nine months there, in 1995 she told Keith B. Richburg of The Washington Post, that her home in Nairobi had been burglarized five times. An electric fence failed to stop intruders so the local police agreed to station two officers on her grounds. But then the officers began demanding side money for their services. “I've gotten to the point where I'm more afraid not to give them money,” she said. “They're sitting outside with automatic weapons.”

In April 1994 she was sent to Rwanda on an official visit to assess refugee conditions, but two days after she arrived, the plane of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down, and the Rwandan genocide broke out. Six-feet tall and black, Thomas-Greenfield was mistaken for a Tutsi. Hutu soldiers held a machine gun to her head, while she begged for her life, emphasizing her Louisiana accent: “I don't have anything to do with this. I'm not a Rwandan. I'm an American.” She then watched as the soldiers killed a Tutsi gardener. A few days later, she was allowed to leave Rwanda.

Other overseas postings have included stints in Pakistan and Switzerland, where she served at the U.S. Mission to the many UN organizations that have their headquarters there.

In Washington, Thomas-Greenfield served as a staff assistant in the Office of the Director General of the Foreign Service from 1991 to 1993; in the Bureau of Human Resources; as a deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration from 2004 to 2006; and as principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs from 2006 to 2008.

From 2008 to 2012, Thomas-Greenfield served as ambassador to Liberia. In 2005, she had led a State Department delegation that observed the Liberian national elections.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield and her husband, Lafayette, have two children, Lindsay and Lafayette II.

-Matt Bewig, David Wallechinsky

Killings, kidnappings highlight Somalia’s dangers

Denel Mechem CEO Stephan Burger. Picture: MARTIN RHODES

by Hopewell Radebe,

THE deadly assault by Islamists in Mogadishu last month, killing three Denel Mechem staff members, has highlighted the dangers of the United Nations (UN) humanitarian programme, says the company’s CEO, Stephan Burger.

Two South Africans and a Somali citizen serving in the UN compound died during the attack on June 20 threatening the security gains in that country that had allowed a slow trickle of foreign aid workers and diplomats to return to the beleaguered city.

The attack happened hardly a month after the kidnapping of its 12 demining staff members in Senegal in May.

The UN and Senegalese government are still battling to secure the freedom of nine employees who were taken hostage. Early last month the rebel group agreed to release three women.

"The tragedy of having our staff kidnapped or killed indicates some of the extremely dangerous situations that our dedicated personnel face in the fields.

"This is besides the fact that they are already out there to work with very unstable antipersonnel land mines possibly hidden in the ground for more than 15 years," he said.

Mr Burger said children were more vulnerable to land mines because they liked to explore fields and to play.

"I’m humbled by the dedication, sacrifices and loyalty of our personnel despite the harsh conditions in which they operate — some parts of Africa are very hot." He said it was part of policy to send a small specialised team to a host country and then hire locals and extensively train them in various related skills, including dog handling and demining.

Mr Burger said on Thursday that Mechem had been actively involved in demining services as the only African company to be accredited with the UN for more than a decade.

The firm employs experienced and highly skilled workers and also uses trained dogs to carry out the projects in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Angola, South Sudan, Libya, Benin and the Western Sahara territory.

It is estimated that more than 110-million active mines are still scattered in 78 countries. Buried land mines remain active for more than 50 years.

The UN peacekeeping operations launched a programme for Mine Action Services that entailed finding and destroying land mines, assisting victims and educating people to remain safe in land-mine affected areas.

The removal of land mines has cleared swathes of land, in particular for communities dependent on farming for a living.

Last year, Mechem recorded the highest sales in its history, surpassing R300m. Despite difficulties this year it targeted sales in excess of R360m. Its dog unit recently started training and deploying dogs and handlers in various game parks to assist in the fight against rhino poachers. It also participates in drug detection at the country’s ports of entry.

While Mechem’s main business is demining, the company is still selling one of its most respected Casspir NG 2000 vehicles for detonating antipersonnel land mines around the world. This year Denel signed a contract on behalf of Mechem to supply 45 Casspirs to the Angolan army.

Dalku Waa 3 Kun oo Nin oo Murmeysa iyo 5 Malyuun oo iyaga ka dhursugaya

Qalinkii Aqoonyahan Sare: Maxamed Cali Bile

Maxamed Cali Bile

Dadku waa kun dawladda ka tirsan oo ama xilhaya oo wasiiro ah, ama golayaasha ah ama “Darafu-Dawlo ah” oo difaacaya dawladda. Iyo kun kale oo ka soo horjeeda oo badankoodu ka tirsanayeen dawladihii hore iyo tanba oo hadafkooduna aanu dhaafsiisneyn xil loo dhiibo ama in xisbigoodu meesha qabsado, iyo kun sadexaad oo waxan uun ka faaloonaya oo an anigu ku jiro.

Saddexdaa kun oo intooda badani joogto Hargeisa marka ad la noolaato ama dhageysato maba moodin iney jirto umad kale oo hadhey oo la rabey in loo shaqeeyo. Kunkan dawladdu xoogooda iyo wakhtigooda intiisa badan waxa ay geliyaan sidii ay iskaga caabiyi lahaayeen ee ay uugu jawaabi lahaayeen kunkan mucaaridka ah, halka kunka mucaaridka ihina ay shaqadoodu ku soo ururtey eed iyo iney canbaareeyaan dawladda, kunka an anigu marmarka qaarkii ka mid aheyna waxa an nahay daawadayaasha oo kolba waxa labadan kun sameeyaan ayuunbaan ka faaloonaa. Sadexdaa kun ee nin waxa tala ka sugaya oo 5 malyuun oo shicib ah oo Ilaahey uun ogyahay intooda habeenkii casho la’aan ku seexata.

Ibrahim Mohamoud Abyan (AHUN) ayaa beri la weydiiyey oo la yidhi horta maxaa joornaalkan dawladda ee Xidigta Oktoobar xafiiskaaga loo keeni waayey aroortii waata la geeyo xafiisyada kale e dawladda oo dhan e? wuxu yidhi anigaa diiday oo idhi waxba ha ii keenina wakhtiga uunbey iga qaadeysaaye. Waxa kaluu yidhi, Joornaalkuba aroorkasta waxa uu ka sheekeynayaa 6 nin oo an jaar nahay oo labana dhooftey oo garoonka lagu sii sagootiyey, iyo laba dalka ku soo noqotey oo garoonka lagu soo dhaweeyey iyo laba kale oo siminaar ama shir meel ka furey. Lixdaba waa wasiiro anu jaar nahay oo an maalin kasta is aragno. Ma lixdan nin uunbaan kolba kii dhoofey iyo kii soo degey sheekadooda hayaa miyaaney jirin dano kale oo umadda beylah ka ihi?

Bal hadda ka bax Hargeisa oo tag tuulada Ceel-Gaal oo xaga jabuuti xigta ama haba fogaane kor u bax oo tuulooyinkan Hargeisa u dhow ee Daba-Baargo iyo Cunaqabad gaadh, ama woqooyi u bax oo Dawga-Cad booqo. Umadahaa dhulkaa ku nool oo dhan duruufo gaar ah ayaa heysta oo ay kaala hadlayaan oo aan aheyn waxan magaalada lagu xiiqey. Duruufaha iyo danaha heystaa sidaaba uuma weyna oo qaarkood taagtoodu waxa ay taagantahay biyo la cabbo halka qaarna ka hadlayaan dawada kaneecada. 5ta malyuun ee shicibka ah ee dalkeena ku nooli intooda badani dawladnimada wey niyeysteen oo wey aamineen sida aynu inaba diinteena la inoo soo gaadhsiiyey ee aynu qaadaney, balse manaafacaad badan kamey arag.

Marka ad magaalada joogto ee ad dhageysta xamasadda iyo waxa laga doodayo, waxa ad arkeysaa in umaddiiba ku soo ururtay 3,000 oo fadhi ku dirir ah iyo 5 malyuun oo shicib ah oo duruufi heysato oo toodii cusleysey oo aan waxanba la socon. Labada wasiir ee xilka kula kala wareegaya ee qaarkeen ka cadheysanyihiin sababta hebel loo bedeley, halka qaarkeena ku faraxsanyihiin ka cusub ee la saarey iyo kuweenna kale ee labadaa ka faaloonaya waxa ka maqan in dadka la rabo in loo shaqeeyo aaney aheyn waxan an mashquulka ku nahay ee ay yihiin dad kale oo taag yar oo aan awoodoodu gaadhsiin kareyn iney joornaal wax ku soo qoraan ama TV ka hadlaan ama mudahraadaan oo cabashadooda muujiyaan.

Annaga oo baabuur wadana goor habeenimo ah oo mareyna keyn cidlo ah oo u dhow tuulada Xeydaanle ayaan aragney gabadh ilmo yar dhabarka ku sidata oo ayda dhex mareysa. Baabuurkii ayaan joojinney oo an weydiiney waxay xiligan meesha la mareyso. Waxa ay noo sheegtey iney ku socoto reero meel dheer jira. Gabadhii ayaan soo qaadney waanan wareysanney oon nidhi maxaa xiligan ku socodsiiyey. Waxa ay noo sheegtey iney ninkeedii isasoo laayeen ka dib markii ay iyada iyo sodohdeed is af dhaafeen. Waxa ay sodohdeen isku afdhaafeen in yar oo biyo ah oo ay gabadho meel dheer ka keentey oo ay sodohdo malaha dhow goor darsatey, oo markaa ay ku tidhi biyo ma heysano berkedihii wey wada madahnyihiin intan yarna waxa an u heysanaa oo keliya in dhuunta uun lagu qooyo ee biyaha noo madhxi. Sodohdiina wey ka xanaaqdey ninkiina hooyaddii ayuu u hiiliyey, gabadhiina sidaasey reerkii kaga soo duday.

Ragayaga baaburka wata nagama qasna oo waxa an wadanaa dhowr kartoon oo biyo ah iyo shaqaab. Marka ad magaalada ka timid xaalkaagu sidaa yahay wey kugu adkaaneysaa inad fahamto in reero dhan oo caruur iyo sodoho lihi ay ku burburayaan daasad biyo ah awgeed, ama ay jiraan dad aan meydhan bilo biyo la’aan awgeed ama ay jiraan dad u dhimanaya xanuun fudu oo si sahlan loo daweyn karo haddii dawadiisii la hayo. Waxa an aad uuga fikirey umadda dalka ku nool iyo duruufaha heysta ee aan Ilaahey mooyee cid kale oo u gargaarta heysan, iyo inteena bariisku u bisil yahay ee shaqada ka dhigtey “kaaley ila Muran”. Waxa muhiim ah in la xuso in dawladnimada runta ihi ay tahay ta la rabo iney u adeegto masaakiinta, inta jilicsan, iyo kuwa caasimadda ka fog. Hargeisa waxa laga hadlayaa waa wadooyinka oo jajaban, xashiiskii oo soo batey, bilicdii magaalada. Haddaad hawdka 30 kiloomitir uuga baxdana waxa ad arkeysaa hablo yaryar oo caagad yar sita oo baabuurta dhaafeysa biyo weydiisanayaa. Banka giriyaad iyo Cali Xeydh haddaad martana waa la mid oo duruufo kuwaa la mida ayaa dadka heysta.

Waxa fiicnaan laheyn in 300 ee mumayaa ay bishiiba dhowr habeen tagaan reerohooda, gaar ahaan kuwa ka fog magaalooyinka oo ay dhow habeen la soo noolaadaan iyaga oo la cunaya waxa adadku cunayo, oo meel la seexanaya, la sheekeysanaya. Taasi waxa ay keeni laheyd xamaasad iyo qiiro aynu ku ogaano in umad badan oo jilicsani wax inaga sugeyso iyo ineynaan wakhtigeena ku dayicin hadal iyo muran ee an dadka wax u qabanno.

Inteenan murmaysaa waa intii waa kuweenii nasiibka helay. Waa inteena qootanyawmka heysata amaba soo heli karta ama soo shaxaadi karta. Waana inteena 5 ta malyuun rajada ka qabto iney maalin uun ka saaraan duruufaha iyo gaajada iyo jahliga. Maalinta la ina xisaabiyo ee la ina yidhaa dedaalkii dib dhiska dalka bilaash xoogle yahow xageebaad ku maqneyd? Maxaad ku jawaabeysaa? Ma waanigii hebel iyo xisbi hebel la murmayey ayaan ku jawaabnaa. Ma hebel markii uu Hadley kii u jawaabey ee caayay baan ahaa ayaan libin ka dhigana. Mise taariikhda ayaynu geli oo waxa an ku doodnaa intaas oo kun oo caruur ah oo faqiir ah ayaan jahliga ka saarey oo an siiyey hubkii ay gaajada kula dagaalami lahaayeen. Ama intaas oo deegaan amaan biyo macaan oo nadiif ah u qoday oo maanta harraadkii ka baxdey.

Saddexdeena kun ee nin ee murmayow, ogaada iney ina sugayaan 5 malyuun oo rag iyo dumar ah oo Ilaahey mooyee aan cid kale u maqneyn oo if iyo aakhiraba la inagula xisaabtami doono waxa an u qabanney.