Following the Somalia Spring 2009 Chronicles, I herewith republish the Ecoterra press releases issued in the second half of 2009. I reproduce the integral version of all Ecoterra press releases in a recapitulative effort to provide the global readership with the most comprehensive collection of texts published worldwide about the most abominable Western postcolonial involvement in Africa, namely the systematic effort of extermination of the Somali Nation. The vast documentation provided serves as basic point of reference to students, researchers, analysts and intellectuals.
ECOTERRA Intl.
SMCM
Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor
ECOTERRA INTERNATIONAL - UPDATES & STATEMENTS, REVIEW & CLEARING-HOUSE
2009-12-28 * MON * 07h53:17 UTC
Issue No. 305
A Voice from the Truth- & Justice-Seekers, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or elsewhere, and who neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities or the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate attention, care and funding.
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell
The right to know the truth ought to be universal. Tom Paine warned that if the majority of the people were denied the truth and ideas of truth, it was time to storm what he called the "Bastille of words". That time is now."
EA ILLEGAL FISHING AND DUMPING HOTLINE: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: somalia[at]ecoterra.net
EA Seafarers Assistance Programme EMERGENCY HELPLINE : SMS to +254-738-497979 or sms/call +254-733-633-733
"The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream !"
Cpt. Florent Lemaçon - F/Y Tanit - killed by French commandos - 10. April 2009 / Ras Hafun
NON A LA GUERRE - YES FOR PEACE
(Inscription on the sail of S/Y TANIT - shot down on day one of the French assault)
We have the obligation to fight oppression and cruelty wherever it appears, and believe that anybody who is degrading other people and peoples has to be fought against with whatever appropriate tools people have available.
Thanks to all who really helped during the last year to free the seafarers, showed compassion also to innocent Somalis and did not just look for the money or the power.
Getting what you want is not nearly as important as giving what you have. -- Tom Krause
Clearing-House: Cut out the clutter - focus on facts !
(If you find this compilation too large or if you can't grasp the multitude and magnitude of important, inter-related and complex issues influencing the Horn of Africa - you better do not deal with Somalia or other man-made "conflict zones". We try to make it as easy and condensed as necessary.)
Breaking:
Chinese MV DE XIN HAI Freed by Pirates in Somalia
The Chinese bulk carrier, held by Somali sea-shifta for more than two months, was freed early on Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed. Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said the crew was rescued early on Monday morning. According to the reporting of the Chinese Marine Search and Rescue Center, the 25 Chinese crew members and the "De Xin Hai" vessel were safely rescued through combined efforts at 3 a.m. on December 28, 2009, Beijing Time, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Marine protection observers working with ECOTERRA Intl. reported that the last pirate left the vessel short after nightfall last night.
Sea-jacked on Oct. 19, 2009, the Chinese vessel with 25 Chinese sailors was en route from South Africa to carry about 76,000 tonnes of coal when it was hijacked in the Indian Ocean 550 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles and 700 nautical miles off the east coast of Somalia.
The bulker is owned by the state-owned Qingdao Ocean Shipping Co. Negotiations for the release were rather task-oriented with the Chinese Shipowners' Association secretary general Zhang Zuyue confirming that the Chinese side was paying a ransom.
The Shanghai Daily said, citing a pirate source, that the vessel was released after a helicopter dropped a $4 million ransom payment on the deck of the ship on Sunday. Officials in Beijing did not confirm the amount of the ransom. Other sources put the amount at $3.5 mio.
The vessel and crew was held slightly more than 3nm south of Hobyo at the central Somali coast, when an aircraft delivered the ransom on Monday.
The hijack was the first of a Chinese ship since China posted three warships to join the international anti-piracy force in the Gulf of Aden.
The De Xin Hia bulk carrier is now under Chinese naval escort after the rescue operation, the foreign ministry said.
"After the medical checkup of crew members and resupply of provisions, the fleet will escort the ship and the crew to a safe sea area, and then ensure their safe return to China as soon as possible," Xinhua said, citing Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
China's growing presence on global shipping lanes is obvious and brought warnings that Beijing could use military force against the pirates based in Somalia.
But Chinese warships, like those from other countries, provide protection mainly in the narrow and dangerous Gulf of Aden, not the much larger Indian Ocean.
It was the second seizure of a coal ship, and Indian coal traders warned at the time that this might encourage gangs to seize other coal ships. Experts say a higher risk of pirate attacks could disrupt an expected increase in the volume of South African coal heading to India.
Patrols by warships from many nations with different agendas only seem to have forced the pirates to hunt further from shore and escalated the violence of the attacks, while the international community has done nothing to improve the situation of abhorrent poverty ashore in Somalia and even not delivered the pledges made at a donor conference last year.
Pirate attacks in the area doubled in 2009 over a year before, despite the deployment of the European Union Naval Force in December 2008, the first international force specifically to counter Somali pirates.
Latest:
Status of Abducted Vessels and crews in Somalia
Summary: Today, 28th December 2009, at least 10 foreign vessels plus one barge are kept in Somalia against the will of their owners, while at least 234 seafarers - including an innocent and helpless, elderly British couple of sailing enthusiasts - suffer to be released.
Cases not completely closed:
MS INDIAN OCEAN EXPLORER and S/Y SERENITY - presumed sunken, wrecks not secured.
BARGE NN - an unnamed barge is held at Kulule (near Bendar-Beyla) since mid march. Ownership and circumstances not yet clarified. In the meantime local people have developed some ailments.
S/Y JUMLA or YUMLA ? - a mysterious yacht kept near Dinooda.
MT AGIA BARBARA: INDIAN AND SYRIAN CREW STILL WANTED FOR MURDER - vessel escaped from Somalia after the murder of a TFG policeman and the attempted murder of another to the UAE - unhindered by international naval forces. See our respective updates.
Cases in negotiations:
FV WIN FAR 161 - The Taiwanese fishing vessel was seized April 6, 2009 near the Seychelles. Said to have been observed earlier to fish illegally in Somali waters. It had after the sea-jacking been involved in the attack on MV ALABAMA. The crew of 30 (17 Filipinos, six Indonesians, five Chinese and two Taiwanese) is still together and on board, but in awful condition. The ship's skipper and first engineer are Taiwanese nationals and the 700-ton long-liner is owned by a Taiwanese company, which regularly sent their vessels into Somali waters from the Seychelles - a key transshipment point for poached tuna from the Indian Ocean to Japan. The Government of the Philippines seems to be pretty helpless to even find the manning agency, who lured the 17 Pinoy sailors into the fish-poaching operation. Naval fire damaged the vessel when it was moored.about 7 nm from Garacad at the north-eastern Indian Ocean coast for a long time, but it is said to still be able to sail. It can be moored on the heavy anchor obtained from another, former sea-jack hostage - the MV Hansa Stavanger. The governments of the crew members seem not to be able to push the owner to come to terms while the crew is in a horrible state. "Let's concentrate on getting the crew of WIN FAR 161 free," commented a spokesman from ECOTERRA Intl. after the release of MV Charelle and added "that crew suffers at the moment the longest and the most, whereby the US naval vessel close by is not helping in any way to ease the plight of the 30 sailors from five nations." Shortly thereafter the vessel sailed to Hobyo at the Central Indian Ocean coast of Somalia, where it is held now.
MV KOTA WAJAR: Seized on Oct. 15, 2009. The 24,637-tonne container ship, seized 300 nautical miles north of Seychelles, was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa from Singapore. It has a multinational 21 men crew on board, of which two are Singaporean 5 Sri Lankan and 4 Indian. It was used to lift a sea-jacked British couple, John and Rachel Chandler from their 38-ft yacht S/Y LYNN RIVAL, seized October,22 2009 en route to Tanzania and later recovered by the UK naval vessel Waveknight, which brought the yacht back to England. The boxship is held around 30nm south of Hobyo and negotiations continue.
MV AL KHALIQ: Seized on Oct. 22, 2009. The Panamanian-flagged 22,000 dwt handymax bulker MV AL KHALIQ was abducted around180 miles west of the Seychelles. The crew consists of 24 Indian sailors and two Burmese nationals. EU NAVFOR patrol aircraft confirmed the hijacking, with 6 pirates seen on board and two skiffs in tow. A third, the 'mother ship' had apparently already been winched onto the ship's deck. The vessel with over 35,000 metric tons of wheat grain is now moored near Harardheere and the crew is on board. Negotiations have started in ernest.
FV THAI UNION 3: Seized on Oct. 29, 2009. Pirates on two skiffs boarded the tuna fishing boat with a crew of 27 with 23 Russians, two Filipinos and two nationals from Ghana about 200 nautical miles north of the Seychelles and 650 miles off the Somali coast. During the attack the Russian captain was shot in the left elbow. The Russian and US navies tried to provide medical aid to the captain, while the captors themselves took him to hospital, had him treated and returned him to the vessel. The fishing vessel and its crew are held just around 1.5nm from where FV ALAKRANA was held at Ceel Huur, near Harardheere at the central Somali coast of the Indian Ocean. Negotiations are said not to go ahead well.
FV SHAXAR: As reported by the Yemeni coastguard and pirate sources from Eyl at the beginning of November the Yemeni fishing vessel, which had armed guards on board, was impounded by a Somali militia overnight on Friday October 30, 2009 near Ras Hafun after a gun battle, in which at least one Somali was killed and another one wounded. The vessel then teamed briefly up with the in the meantime released large cargo Dhow MV SHREE NAHYAR near Garacad but was taken again to the high seas to be used as mothership on a piracy mission. Present location unknown. The vessel carries the name SHAXAR in Arabic writing and has a crew of 4 Yemeni as well as 6 Indian sailors. It must have been seized on its way back to Yemen, because it was fully loaded with illegal charcoal and fish. Charcoal export from Somalia has been banned since long and since April this year all fishing licences for foreign vessels were withdrawn, because of fraudulent organized crime issuing illegal fishing licences.
MV FILITSA: Seized on Nov. 10, 2009. The 1996-built, 23,709 dwt cargo-ship has a crew of 22, including three Greek officers and 19 Filipinos. The Marshall Islands-flagged ship had been heading from Kuwait to Durban in South Africa when it was attacked 513 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles as it was sailing from Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the port of Durban in S. Africa loaded with fertilizer. The ship belongs to the Order Shipping Co. Ltd. and is held near Harardheere. Negotiations have started.
MV THERESA VIII: Seized on Nov. 16, 2009. The chemical tanker was hijacked in the southern Somali Basin, north-west of the Seychelles. The 22,294 dwt tanker has a crew of now only 28 North Koreans, since the captain of the tanker died from gunshot wounds sustained during the hijack. The vessel went last night to Garacad but then returned to Harardheere. The exact content of the vessel is not know and case is shrouded in secrecy.
VLCC MARAN CENTAURUS: Seized Nov 29, 2009. The tanker was sailing from Kuwait to the Gulf of Mexico when it was seized north-east of the Seychelles about 800 miles (1,300 km) off the coast of Somalia.. The dwt 300,294 tonnes tanker has a crew of 28 sailors with nine Greeks, two Ukrainians, one Romanian and 16 Filipinos on board. Negotiations are ongoing.
FV SHAZAIB (falsely reported as SHAHBAIG): Seized Dec. 6, 2009: The captors seized the Pakistani-flagged fishing vessel 320 miles east of Socotra, with a crew of 29 on board, thought to be in majority of Pakistani nationality. Rumours have it that 2 sailors are dead. No real negotiations have started.
MV NESEYA : Seized Dec. 6, 2009: Indian-flagged cargo vessel with 13 sailors of Indian nationality aboard. Abducted off the coast of Kismayo in southern Somalia. The incident took place some 170 nautical miles northeast of Mombasa / Kenya. It is assumed that the vessel is at the moment used as mother ship for further pirate activities. The present location of the vessel is not known.
News from sea-jackings, abductions, newly attacked ships as well as seafarers and vessels in distress
Somali Pirates to Release Chinese Ship (VOA)
Somali pirates say they will release a Chinese cargo ship seized two months ago far off the coast of Somalia.
Pirates say they have reached agreement to receive a ransom of nearly $4 million, and will free the carrier De Xin Hai and its crew in the coming hours.
The 25 crewmen on board are said to be safe. The pirates initially threatened to kill the entire crew if China's navy attempted to rescue them.
The Chinese cargo ship was seized in mid-October in the Indian Ocean, some 650 kilometers northeast of the Seychelles islands and about 1,300 kilometers off Somalia's east coast.
This was Somali pirates' first hijacking of a Chinese freighter since Beijing deployed three warships to combat piracy off the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
Somali pirates have hijacked dozens of ships over the past two years, often getting multi-million dollar ransoms for their release.
Helicopter delivers ransom to Somali pirates (Reuters)
A helicopter dropped a $4 million ransom payment on to the deck of a Chinese coal ship hijacked by Somali pirates in mid-October, a pirate source on board the vessel said.
The De Xin Hai and its 25 crew were carrying about 76,000 tonnes of coal from South Africa to the Indian port of Mundra when it was seized by gunmen in the Indian Ocean some 1,100 kilometres east of the Horn of Africa.
Sea gangs from Somalia have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by hijacking commercial shipping in the Indian Ocean and the strategic Gulf of Aden that links Europe to Asia.
Patrols in the area by warships from several nations only appear to have forced the pirates to hunt further from shore.
"A helicopter dropped the ransom money onto the ship. We have received $4 million," Hassan, one of the pirates on the De Xin Hai, told Reuters by telephone to cheers in the background.
"We hope to disembark in a few hours. The crew is safe and -- although they will not have their freedom for a few more days -- they are all happy now."
China sent three warships to Somali waters late last year with great fanfare after a ship carrying oil to China was attacked by pirates.
But Chinese warships, like those from other countries, provide protection mainly in the narrow and dangerous Gulf of Aden, not in the much larger Indian Ocean.
Chinese ship to be freed (AFP)
Somali pirates holding a Chinese cargo ship and its crew of 25 said on Sunday they would release the vessel after collecting a ransom of US$3.5 million later in the day.
The bulk carrier De Xin Xai, owned by Qingdao Ocean Shipping, was seized on October 18 northeast of the Seychelles as it was sailing to India from South Africa with a cargo of coal.
It was subsequently taken to the Somali coast, between the pirate lairs of Harardere and Hobyo, where it laid at anchor with other captured vessels and negotiations on its fate began.
'We have been discussing with the Chinese ship owners for several weeks and they finally agreed to pay 3.5 million dollars,' a leader of the pirates, Mohamed Rage, told AFP by telephone.
'The money will be brought today so that, we will free the ship within today once we get the money,' he said, adding that the all-Chinese crew has been treated 'humanely'.
'The pirates are releasing the cargo today after they get the ransom agreed", a second pirate, Abdi Yare, told AFP by telephone from Harardhere.
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 10 seized foreign vessels (11 cases since yacht SY LYNN RIVAL was abandoned and taken by the British Navy) with a total of not less than 234 crew members (incl. 54 Filipinos and the British sailing couple) are accounted for. The cases are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed too. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases for Somalia and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by the Indian naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 221 incidences (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 64 vessels seized for different reasons on the Somali/Yemeni captor side as well as at least TWELVE wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces. According to an U.S. statement the naval alliances had since August 2008 and until 21. November 2009 apprehended 613 suspected pirates, detained and kept or transferred for prosecution 351, killed 44 and wounded 20 Somalis. (New independent update see: http://bruxelles2.over-blog.com/pages/_Bilan_antipiraterie_Atalanta_CTF_Otan_Russie_Exclusif-1169128.html).
Not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (although not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail - like the S/Y Serenity, MV Indian Ocean Explorer. Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season in winter and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon season starting from mid February and early April every year.
Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: GoA: ORANGE / IO: RED (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely).
Directly piracy, abduction, mariner or naval upsurge related reports
Towboat provides fuel, food, technical assistance to freed Ariana vessel, says Ukrainian Foreign Ministry (Interfax-Ukraine)
On Saturday, December 26, at 05h00 Kyiv time, Kenya's Soland towboat docked with the Ariana vessel, which was recently freed after being held in captivity for seven months by pirates, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service has said.
"They were transferring potable water, food, and lubrication materials for two hours. At 1100, Kyiv time, they started fueling the vessel, which will last for around two hours. Meanwhile, scuba divers from the Soland ship are conducting a checkup and clearing the rudder and the screws of mud and seaweed and cleaning the flood valves," the Foreign Ministry said.
The Ariana is scheduled to depart today to an undisclosed port. "According to the preliminary assessment, it will take from five to eight days for the vessel to cover the estimated 800 miles, depending on the weather," the statement reads.
The ship's port of destination has been already determined but it will not be disclosed due to security precautions.
As reported, Somali pirates seized the Ariana, a Maltese-flagged ship operated by Greece's Alloceans Shipping Cо. Ltd, in the Gulf of Aden on May 2, 2009. All of the 24 crewmembers are citizens of Ukraine.
One of the two female crewmembers of the ship had a miscarriage while the ship being held hostage by pirates, and she is currently in a serious condition.
The pirates freed the Ariana on December 10. Chief of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service Mykola Malomuzh said that the company operating the vessel had paid a ransom of $2.8 million.
Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Consular Service Department Serhiy Borodenkov said that the Ariana would most likely sail to Mombasa, Kenya.
[N.B.: Fact is that after the MV ARIANA was freed it was left drifting without fuel now for two full weeks, without attention from the shipowner, without the help of the navies in these waters and especially without medical assistance to the still seriously ill female sailor on board. A scandal and case of maritime negligence never heard of before.
A full investigation by an independent body is warranted, which also has to look in the clandestine operations of Kenyan-flagged T/B SOLAND. The Tanzanian master and six Somali gunmen with weapons, were recently arrested from T/B SOLAND in Mombasa harbour and are still held at the maximum security prison, just before the vessel sailed again for this "Somalia-mission". Though illegal automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades with a launcher were found, which immediately would warrant for the arrest also of the vessel, the tugboat was allowed to sail again immediately after the arrest.
Local sources believe a tug of war has broken out between the different parties to the lucrative release operation concerning MV ARIANA and other vessels where private companies like aircraft operators or the owner of T/B SOLAND - the company Southern Engineering, headed by Italian M. Esposito, which reportedly is involved in illegal (IUU) fishing in Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania since many years - as well as Kenyan members of the armed forces, the shipowner and secret service agencies from Ukraine, Greece and Kenya are intermingling and usually hindering each other - with the result that the MV ARIANA was held in Somalia for over six month, while the necessary medical assistance to and evacuation of the nearly dying lady-sailor was made impossible.]
Somalia-based piracy remains an intractable problem
By Chris Kline and Rob Mudge (dw)
It's impossible to consider Somalia's pirates in a vacuum. The evolution of piracy in Somalia is inextricably linked to the collapse of Somalia as a nation state, ravaged by conflict between rebels and government troops.
The key pirate enclave is in northeastern Somalia, in a region known as Puntland where the pirates live as an autonomous presence. Among the five dominant seagoing criminal organizations based in Somalia who generate revenues of between $100 to 150 million (69 million to 104 million euros) a year, largely in ransom payments, many of the pirates were former clan fighters who discovered a far more lucrative form of armed capitalism.
Others were mere humble fishermen who claim their livelihood has been lost to the industrial methods of international fishing fleets that indeed poach an estimated $300 million worth of fish a year from Somali waters.
Poverty, lack of development and hunger as ever are key factors for conflict, violence and brigandage in Africa. Then there are the linkages to the outside world, the patrons, allies and benefactors, of what is a transnational business, so pirate arms come from Yemen, much of the money is laundered in Lebanon and there are other suspected but more opaque linkages in Dubai.
However, the international community has not pierced the internal network linked to the pirate trail deeply and is lacking crucial access in terms of its intelligence gathering capacities within the secret structures that partner piracy.
Limited military success against pirates
Where Somalia's pirates once confined themselves to the Gulf of Aden, they now launch raids and ship boarding as far away as the Indian Ocean on the Kenyan coast. There is UN resolution 1838 in place authorizing lethal military force to curb or counter Somalia's pirates in international waters. There is a multinational naval flotilla patrolling off the Horn, Combined Task Force 151, that deploys warships, aircraft and naval Special Forces ship boarding parties, from European, US, and Indian, Russian and Chinese contributors.
There have some successes scored by US and French special operations groups intercepting or eliminating pirates and freeing hostages and hijacked vessels, but with some 2000 miles (3,218 km) of coast to secure, it amounts to a bathtub navy, although the squadron is a powerful one, that seldom can take a proactive approach or deter much.
But when the waterway under threat plays such a crucial strategic and mercantile role, and it isn't merely yachts that are captured or threatened but oil tankers, chemical ships, weapons bearing cargo ships and all manner of large civil vessels that are under threat, why haven't naval efforts been massively increased?
Moreover, when there are only an estimated 1,000 pirates concentrated mostly in a single coastal harbor town, why hasn't the international community, as India has suggested, simply mounted a sharp amphibious assault? To be sure there are some hawks and one former European military and intelligence officer who spoke to Deusche Welle anonymously said bluntly "what we need now is one short, sharp stroke and just take them out."
The experience of the UN peacekeeping mission and the ferocity of the fighting then and now, when Somali violence reaches a crescendo, are cautiously remembered by many otherwise perhaps contemplating some sort of lethal strike, direct action in military terms against the pirates.
A combined sea, air and amphibious assault by marines and naval special forces comes to mind, but it would be a delicate and complex affair to orchestrate, plan and execute on a battleground that could draw in international forces into an unwanted quagmire or at least a costly battle. The potential for large scale civilian casualties would further exacerbate the chance for a disaster.
Political will lacking to back use of force
And not least political will may be lacking among some of the potential partners for a concerted use of force, where consensus would be necessary. In short, if a deeper military solution would be attempted to shut down Somalia's pirate problem, it must be on a unified front, on a greater scale than piecemeal efforts and with sufficient, overwhelming force and resources. But again when so much key intelligence gathering is lacking, any potential decisive campaign against the pirates is hampered by a lack of actionable knowledge.
Poor intelligence analysis led to earlier international fiascos in Somalia and the question of piracy poses as vexing a question to resolve as all else that ails Somalia and its larger, chronic state as a failed nation without the effective rule of law or much hope for far too long. For the present some of the most dangerous waters in the world off the Horn of Africa, will remain as treacherous as ever in 2010 precisely because Somalia is still a hungry, desperate and violent place.
Ecosystems, marine environment, IUU fishing and dumping, UNCLOS, ecology
Somali Fishermen grumbling over foreign vessels (somaliweyn)
The Fishermen in the semiautonomous region of Puntland are seriously complaining over the foreign vessels which are collecting the Somali marine resources in masses.
Abdulkadir Musse Isse the Chairman of the Fishermen in Eastern Somalia, giving an interview to one of the local radio stations in Mogadishu urged the authority of Puntland to react to the illegal fishing which the foreign vessels protected by warships are doing in the Somali waters.
"We have also great problems with the foreign warships which are in our waters. They are claiming that they are defending themselves against pirates, but the major problem is that they cannot differentiate who is a pirate and who is no. Whenever we go for fishing within the territory of our waters they attack us - also with large water cannons claiming that we would be the very pirates which they were assigned to fight. They chase us back and we can not fish, but I have also witnessed them taking fish in our water.
Their real mission in our waters is not to protect vessels from the pirates, but instead they are serving their own interests" said the chairman of the fishermen in north-eastern Somalia.
The West helped create the Somali pirate situation
By Simon Fairlie
What few have stopped to consider in the continuing 'battle' against Somali pirates is what industrialised nations have been doing to the country's fishing grounds for years.
One man's terrorist, so the saying goes, is another man's freedom fighter, and the same can be said for pirates.
Francis Drake was a war hero to the English, but a privateer to the Spanish. People who download music or films from the internet are no better than thieves in the eyes of corporate media, but others see them as liberators of the creative commons.
So it comes as no surprise that the pirates off the coast of Somalia who are causing such problems for international shipping magnates are viewed somewhat differently in their home country. According to a BBC report from the Somali town of Garowe, the pirates prefer to call themselves 'coastguards'.
Guard duty
The coast they are guarding straddles some 2000 miles, the longest national stretch on the African continent, and is under assault from two forces. The first of these was revealed to BBC World Service listeners late in 2008 when the twelve year old daughter of a BBC reporter based in London pleaded 'Mummy can I ring the pirates' and to everyone's surprise made contact with a Somali called Daybad talking from the bridge of the highjacked tanker Sirius Star.
Daybad claimed that Somalis were left with no choice but to take to the high sea:
'We've had no government for 18 years. We have no life. Our last resource is the sea, and foreign trawlers are plundering our fish'.
If the international media were more on the ball, and governments of rogue fishing nations cared more about the resource problems of the world's poor, then this matter might have been addressed before Somali fishermen turned en masse to piracy.
In 1999, the Somali Maritime and Fisheries Institute published a paper describing in detail how factory ships from developed and developing nations were pillaging Somalia's fishery:
'The illegal fishing vessels stay in deeper waters during the day but come closer to the shore at night. They apply their destructive fishing techniques, which reduce the local population's harvest and damage nets and traps set by local fishermen. . . . Some of these vessels are equipped with large purse seines while others set and haul their colossal nets from the stern, quickly processing and deep-freezing nearly all the fish they catch, working around the clock in all even the worst weather conditions . . . The draggers [North American term for trawlers] target huge aggregations of fish when they are spawning, a time when the fish population is highly vulnerable to capture and to the physical impacts of the bottom-trawling gear on the environment.'
The report gave a list of the countries of origin of the offending boats: China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Honduras, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Federation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Yemen. The authors warned: 'This is a critical time for the world at large, in particular international organisations, to integrate Somali people with their environment and safeguard their natural resources.'
Yet seven years later Somali fishing organisations were appealing to the UN and to the international community for action against what was now an estimated 700 foreign boats plundering their waters, some of them armed.
'It is now normal to see them on a daily basis a few miles offshore,' stated a fisherman called Jeylani Shaik Abdi. 'They are not only taking and robbing us of our fish, but they are also trying to stop us from fishing. They have rammed our boats and cut our nets.'
Toxic waste
But fishing isn't the only form of aggression into Somali waters. Since the early 1990s ships from industrialised countries have been dumping nuclear and chemical waste into Somali waters. A Swiss firm called Achair Parterns, and an Italian waste company called Progresso — allegedly contracted to respectable European companies — made a deal with Ali Mahdi, one of the warlords who took over power after the overthrow of Siyad Barre, that they could dump containers of waste material in Somali waters. Al Madhi was said to be charging about $3 a ton, whereas to properly dispose of waste in Europe costs about $1000 a ton.
In 2004, the Tsunami washed ashore several leaking containers, which according to Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for the United Nations Environmental Program, contained 'uranium, radioactive waste, lead, cadmium, mercury and chemical waste'. Locals in the Puntland region of Somalia started to complain of severe and previously unreported ailments, such as abdominal bleeding, skin melting off and a lot of immediate cancer-like symptoms. The dumping still continues to this day, according to UN Envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.
In the face of these assaults, it is hardly surprising that local fishermen should resort to direct action in order to guard their coastline, nor that they should enlist the assistance of former militiamen to provide them with firearms and expertise. Now, as one Somali writer puts it, 'deterence has become less noble, and the ex-fishermen with their militias have begun to develop a taste for ransom at sea. This form of piracy is now a major contributor to the Somali economy'. The pirates have become the new elite: 'They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns'.
As is so often the case with pirates, one is tempted to admire them for their spirit more than one condemns them for their avarice. But it is hard to feel any sympathy for the governments of the world and shipping fleets who have been so embarrassed by this marine resistance movement — they had it coming.
Useful links
Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hazardous Wastes Threaten the Development of Somali Fisheries and the Marine Environments
Somalia: Fishermen Appeal for Help over Foreign Fishing Ships, Reuters (IRIN News) 9 March 2006
Knaan, Why We Don't Condemn Our Pirates in Somalia, URB Magazine. April 14, 2009
5 years ago: Mega Waves Killed 230000 people in 11 countries and caused £6BN of Damage
An earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused the Boxing Day tsunami in December 2004. It is considered one of the deadliest natural disasters in history.
The quake, measuring a massive 9.3 on the Richter scale, lasted over eight minutes and released stored energy equivalent to more than 23,000 Hiroshima bombs.
It happened just off Simeulue Island, Indonesia, 30km below sea level, created a mega tsunami – giant wave – and triggered a few smaller earthquakes, one as far away as Alaska.
As the wave swept across the Indian Ocean, about 230,000 people were killed in 11 countries across two continents, with the last fatalities swept out to sea in South Africa, more than 12 hours after the quake.
Within 10 minutes, waves 25m-high started to strike the Nicobar and Andaman Islands.
About two hours on, both Thailand and Sri Lanka had been hit. The east cost of India was swamped shortly afterwards.
Three hours after the earthquake, the tsunami rolled over the Maldives and, more than seven hours after, hit the Somali coast.
Tsunami Anniversary Facts and Figures 15.12.09 (reliefweb)
- The earthquake that caused the tsunami started at 7.59am local time – just before 1.00am in the UK - and lasted nearly 10 minutes. - It was centred on a sea trench 19 miles under the ocean off the west coast of the northern end of the Indonesian island of Sumatra over an area the length of Italy.
- At 9.2 on the Richter scale it was the biggest quake for forty years and the 2nd largest ever recorded on a seismograph
- The earthquake caused the entire earth to vibrate by up to 1cm, setting off other quakes as far away as Alaska.
- The energy it released was equivalent to 23,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs and displaced billions of tonnes of water
- When the wave hit Indonesia it was as tall as a six story building and travelled two miles inland.
- The main aftershock was a huge earthquake in its own right at 7.1 on the Richter scale.
- The tsunami travelled across the Indian Ocean at the speed of a jet aircraft and hit the coast of Somalia seven hours later.
- There were 226,000 people killed in 13 countries. The bodies of 50,000 of the dead were never found.
- There were 1.8m people displaced and 470,000 homes and buildings destroyed.
- The damaged has been estimated at $US10.7 billion
Outlook
Five years on, and many charities have finally drawn their tsunami response to a close, whith many promises still to be delivered.
Looking back the huge lesson is that when moved to action, the ordinary people of the world can come together and do the right thing to support individuals they have never met thousands of miles away.
This Boxing Day morning many of our fellow citizens of the world face equally disastrous situations: such as the drought affecting millions across east African countries like Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. In Somalia alone 300 people were killed.
Charity sentences like: "Remember that sparing a thought for them this week can help them survive and change their life as well" actually do not help and unfortunately especially the residents of Ras Hafun in North-Eastern Somalia have received nothing of all the promises the UN and several of the large aid agencies made, when their coastal town and fisheries were destroyed by the Tsunami. The destruction and the many containers and debris from earlier dumping of toxic, nuclear and industrial waste can still be witnessed, while the people are forgotten in their abhorrent poverty.
Man held after tonnes of illegal e-waste are exported to Africa
By Cahal Milmo, Chief Reporter (Independent)
'Scavenger children' at risk from toxic fumes produced by broken equipment
The director of a British waste export company suspected of illegally shipping defunct televisions and electronic goods to Africa has been arrested after a joint investigation by The Independent and Sky News.
The 49-year-old man, a Nigerian national, was detained this week on suspicion of the illegal export of electronic waste from Britain in an operation by the Environment Agency and the Metropolitan Police as part of a wider crackdown on a trade which leaves thousands of tonnes of broken and contaminated electrical goods dumped in the developing world each year.
The investigation by The Independent, Sky News and Greenpeace showed how a television broken beyond repair was shipped from a municipal waste site in Hampshire to an electronics market in Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city. The TV set, which is hazardous waste under British and European law and could not have been exported legally, was bought by BJ Electronics (UK) Ltd and taken to its east London warehouse then sold for export despite being unusable.
Tonnes of defunct electronic equipment sent from Britain to countries including Ghana and Nigeria ends up each year on waste dumps where "scavenger children" pick through the detritus looking for bits of wire, circuit board and cathode-ray tube. The precious or heavy metals in the components can be extracted by setting light to their plastic and glass coatings but that produces a dense cloud of potentially toxic chemicals.
British investigators have arrested 12 people this year in swoops on suspected illegal exporters after inquiries by The Independent found that waste electronic and electrical equipment (Weee), much of which is deposited by householders at municipal dumps, was being bought by middlemen and sent abroad rather than being safely recycled in the UK.
An Environment Agency (EA) spokeswoman said: "As part of an operation by our national environmental crime team, a 49-year-old man who is the director of BJ Electronics (UK) Ltd was detained on Tuesday in Loughton, Essex, on suspicion of the illegal export of Weee." Companies House records show that BJ Electronics (UK) Ltd, which has its main warehouse in Walthamstow, east London, has a 49-year-old sole director, a Nigerian national named as Joseph Benson.
When contacted by The Independent, Mr Benson yesterday denied he had been arrested and insisted his company followed the relevant regulations. He said: "I have done nothing wrong. I operate a legitimate business and we operate within the rules. We dispose properly of anything that is broken."
There are about 200 companies and individuals in Britain who tour municipal waste sites buying up waste electronic and electrical equipment. Under European law, equipment which is still functioning can be legally exported to developing countries in West Africa to South-east Asia, where there is a thriving trade in second-hand computers and electronic devices such as DVD players. But any item which is no longer working is classified as hazardous waste and cannot be sent outside the EU.
Only 450,000 tonnes of the estimated one million tonnes of e-waste produced in Britain each year is recycled within the UK, leaving more than 500,000 tonnes unaccounted for. Government agencies admit that thousands of tonnes of electronic waste is leaving Europe each year packed in cargo containers to the developing world.
The EA said it was joining forces with environmental protection agencies abroad via Interpol to step up the fight against gangs responsible for the illegal dumping of electrical waste.
Investigators are increasingly targeting a new breed of "waste tourist", criminal fixers who come to Britain on tourist visas, spend a few weeks buying up waste electronics from operators and arranging for the illegal goods to be packed into cargo containers and exported. The fleeting nature of the visits means that catching these fixers is extremely difficult, the EA said.
Lord Chris Smith, chairman of the agency, said: "Investigations have found that each year thousands of tonnes of waste electrical equipment are shipped from Europe and America to developing countries to be stripped down – often by children in appalling conditions – to extract valuable metals such as gold, copper and aluminium. This is unacceptable. It is essential that we work with our counterparts in other countries to share intelligence and stamp out the growing problem of illegal waste exports."
Anti-piracy measures
China completes 150 naval missions in Somalia's seas (BNS)
The Chinese Navy celebrated the first anniversary of the Chinese fleet's escort mission on Ma'anshan frigate of the fourth Chinese naval flotilla in the Gulf of Aden. The Chinese naval fleet Saturday completed 150 operations after escorting 14 naval vessels in Somali waters which is a hub for pirate attacks.
According to the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, 11 Chinese vessels and 3 foreign ships arrived safely in the east of Gulf of Aden. They were escorted by Ma'anshan frigate (Type 054) and the Qiandaohu supply ship.
The Qiandaohu provides logistics support base to the Chinese naval escort taskforce. The Type 054 is the new-generation multirole missile frigate for the PLA Navy. Ma'anshan (525) is the first ship of the Type 054 frigate. It is in general equipped with medium-frequency sonar, suited for active-search operations.
On December 26, 2008, China deployed three warships to battle pirates off the coast of Somalia.
UK: Secret Seaborne Squad "Equal to SAS" (EXPRESS.co.uk)
An elite force has emerged from its cloak of secrecy to boast it has become equal to the SAS.
The Special Boat Service is playing a vital role thousands of miles from the sea in Afghanistan but while the SAS has established itself as arguably the world’s top special forces group, the Royal Marine force has maintained its tight secrecy rules.
In September, its men killed 21 insurgents and destroyed a massive Taliban bomb factory and, in an unprecedented insight into the unit, a former member has written in the Royal Marines’ magazine Globe And Laurel: "We are equal partners with our more published SAS colleagues."
Comment: If they are so good…..
• Posted by: Tommytcg 27.12.09, 2:08am
Then why dont they go in and sort out the criminal Somali pirates, holding Brits. to ransom, terrorizing the seas, etc?
Is it, maybe, because the `powers `need chaos in Somalia, so as to continue dumping toxic waste in its waters and illegally vacuuming the fish stocks?
Most probably, yes.
That really boils down to the simple fact that having these elite marine boys is a waste of money and training, as they can not be used where they are really needed.
Of course they can be used for war-crime- assassinations of suspected terrors. aka the SAS.
No real peace in sight yet
The Bomber is alive: - Shamo carnage revisited
By Abdikarim Haji Abdi Buh
As the dust settled and the emotions subsided the Somalis as well the other concerned people are out there to peace together the information that is coming out from different sources in their quest to get the real picture of how this horrendous action took place and who is to blame for the atrocity which shocked the nation and rocked further the security concerns of the already suspicious countries in the neighbourhood. The international as well as the local media is inundated with the scary news that a young Danish citizen of Somali origin disguised as a woman blew himself up and took with him so many innocent lives – parents, doctors, teachers, politicians and some friends and acquaintances of the graduates. The unprecedented carnage at the graduation ceremony in Hotel Shamo is captured by a recently released Somali song " Qaylodhaan" written by Abdi Shire Jamac.
A few hours after the explosion, as surviving graduates and other citizens were grappling with death and destruction the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) broke the news to the world that a Danish youngster was behind the bombing of the Hotel and then the government went mute. The government did not produce any significant evidence to support its claim other than a picture of what appears to be one of the casualties who was martyred as a consequence of the savage bombing. There were many pictures depicting the barbarity of the slaughter and the scale of the devastation was beyond description. Some of the bodies were completely shattered, others cut into half and some lost body parts.
The news so far collected from independent sources is in stark contrast to the claim of the government. Pictures rolled out from some of the survived cameras and published on the net and the witness statements from the survivors including Dr. Dufle who was at the podium at the time of the explosion paints completely a different scenario. The pictures taken just before the bomb went off shows the Danish youth sitting among the guest of honour dressed casually in black striped summer T shirt neither in black Burkah nor wearing anything that can conceal a suicide bomber’s vest.
We may not find the truth and the full truth for some time but one thing is certain – security lapse from the TFG side and false accusation of a dead man. It is not possible that the alleged bomber went out and came back disguised as women unless the congregation were all blind and dumb.It is also equally incomprehensible that no one saw the bomber in action as it is very unlikely to miss a person who is blowing out himself in front of every one. The information so far in hand only points to one cause – a planted bomb detonated by remote control.
In late May when the Colonel Hashi, the security minister, was killed by a suicide bomber the TFG claimed that the bomber was a foreign person but to their embarrassment the bomber turned out to be a local Somali man. The TFG claimed countless times that they captured foreign fighters but not a single one materialised. In the summer they claimed that they have killed a foreign fighter in one of their battles with the Islamists but it latter turned out that the youngster was a Somali of reer Hamar descent, and sadly one of the so called "missing boys" from Minneapolis. It was a shocking revelation for his family as they witnessed the dead body of their missing son being prated as a foreign fighter.
The TFG has taken the habit of giving out contradictory information which is as flimsy as the TGF itself and as such has overtime created a reputation of untrustworthiness as a source. But what is frustrating not to mention annoying for the public at large is how it pulled wool over our eyes. The Danish man seems to me to be a casualty of miscarriage of justice and I demand the TFG to prove his misdeeds or else pay compensation to his family and retract this premature statement which amounts to nothing more than defamation of character.
New Pictures challenges the TFG Version.
The news that a suicide bomber disguised as women in black Burkah was to blame; was aired by the TFG who are known to have maintained a track record of disinformation and misrepresentation. To add to , the TFG made available photos that didn’t show any veil or Burkah but a young man in a striped shirt , appearing more like a victim. This daring misrepresentation of information raised eye brows and added to the mistrust of an already weak TFG.
It takes weeks or some times more for the American Government, with all its facilities and specialities at its disposal, to identify a culprit or a cause of casualty but half a day is more then enough for the unsighted TFG to identify the alleged bomber. The American forces after they captured President Sadam Hussein didn’t release any information until they identified and established through DNA and other tests that he is really the president of Iraq but not a look alike.
As you can see from the picture that the guy who is supposed to be the bomber looks cool and relaxed at the front row which is reserved for the guests of honour. He also appears little sleepy or bored which is not the type of emotions one should rationally expect from a person who is sure to die in 20 minutes. He is wearing a thin sort of a casual black stripe shirt which is the same shirt his body was found in after the explosion. No suicide bombers’ vests or a veil was recovered from the scene and no one of the multitude of survivals so far attested to have seen the alleged women in black and even Dr. Dufle who was at the podium, which gives a full view of the venue, failed to conclusively point out whether it was a planted bomb or a suicide bomber - listen this Dr. Dufle’s witness statement. The Danish intelligence is still investigating the allegation made against their citizen but said to have already scrapped the TFG’s version as it can’t hold water.
The information from the alleged bomber’s father, a graduate from the Somali National University’s faculty of agriculture, and that of the hotel staffs are the only palatable information so far in the public domain. It is confirmed from different and independent sources that his wife was about to deliver a baby in Marka, that he was a guest at hotel Shamo and the picture demonstrates beyond any doubt that he was invited by a friend as his father repeatedly claimed.
The Bomb blast went off some time after the commencement started. Some of the activities were‐ a film showing the history of Benadir University, its faculties and their respective deans which received a standing ovation from the graduates and the other guests. There were many speakers of which the noted one was the speech delivered by the rector of Banadir University Dr. Mohamed Moalin Muse followed by troops of young singers who were decorated and trained to capture the day. Snacks and drinks which professor Addow declined to participate in as he observed a day of fasting were served. People were coming in and out of the venue and many reporters and camera men from various news agencies where at the scene. I hope the presence of these reporters would in the coming months shed light in to the spirit and soul of the gathering before the bomb was detonated.
It is a common knowledge that the alleged bomber’s body, Mr. Abdirahman, lay unclaimed for nearly a day as he was an unknown man in Mogadishu which also indicates that his friends to have died too in the explosion. It is also known that the Hotel Staff, not the security people, identified him as a guest from Qoryooley which is near Marka Town. The fallen man unknown to many due to the fact that he wasn’t a local person is transformed in to the ultimate suicide bomber – hate figure of the century with out taking stock of the situation. A dead man without relatives around is an opportunity the TFG media vultures can hardly miss to take advantage. Please do listen to Character reference of Mr. Abdirahman on a Radio based in Denmark made by the community leader of the Somalis in Copenhagen - Denmark.
Who was the real bomber? We will never know.
The fact that Mogadishu is the home of assassinations and the base of multitude of fronts fighting proxy wars with regional and international dimensions coupled by the total absence of government makes impossible to get a stout verdict which can withstand the test of the normal people.
The Al Shabab group who introduced suicide bombing to Somalia and who had never shied from claiming most of the previous suicide attacks disowned any connection to this operation and the TFG which is famous of being too economic in the truth also denied its involvement. Al Shabab was pointing its finger at no one other then General Abdi Qaydiid who they maintained was behind the bombing for his own personal benefits. The general has a very ugly résumé and his hands are immersed deep in to the blood of his foes and friends but suicide bombing and planting of bombs can’t fit comfortably in to his mode operands. The general is very selective in his trade and hunts down only the elite, who mostly hail from his tribe, that he suspects might in the long run turn to threaten or challenge his position.
In the aftermath of the bombing we see that the General was given a Ministerial post, Minister of minerals and water, to fill the post sadly vacated by professor Addow- the man of the people. The infamous 4.5 formula around which the TFG is shaped regrettably lumps the disreputable warlord Gen. Abdi Qaydid and the man of the people, Professor Addow, together in the same box. This golden hand shake has nothing to do with the bombing but is an opening that the General took with both hands.
Who ever executed this operation must have planted the bomb inside the premises preferably hidden in a disguised form under the tables set aside to accommodate TFG Ministers and officials or amalgamated in to the decorations of the hall. It is very likely that the operative detonated the bomb by remote control while he/she was sitting in the back rows or adjacent room to the hall where he/she can monitor with confidence the movement and seating of the participants – the rector was in one of those adjacent room with a reporter at the time the bomb went off.
It was a premeditated mass murder inflicted on the Somalis where it hurts most but can any one say who was behind it? The Al Shabab, Hisbi Al-Islam, Ahlu Sunna wal Jama, the TFG, Ethiopian intelligence operatives, CIA operatives, Israeli hounds and Iranian sympathisers to mention a few who have factions within factions to such a degree that the left of the faction doesn’t know what the right of the same faction is up to.
In conclusion I say; not everyone whom dogs bark at is a thief – we have only a word of mouth from one faction against the word from another faction with no material substance. The majority of the people are beginning to doubt the TFG’s version that the bomber is dead, and do think that the bomber is alive and laughing at us but only God knows who the real culprit is!
(*) Abdikarim Haji Abdi Buh is a political analyst based in London
Gunmen kill a charity organization official (Mareeg)
Gunmen have shot dead an official of a charity organization in Balad Hawo town in Gedo region near Kenyan border, witnesses said on Monday.
Osman Madey who was the head of a local charity organization operating from the town was killed in his house during the night from Sunday to Monday by the gunmen.
The gunmen have reportedly entered in the house of the deceased official and shot him dead.
The late official had returned from a journey to Nairobi, Kenya to Balad Hawo recently.
The town is under the control of al Shabaab militants but is no word from the group yet.
Trouble on Somalia’s Third Front: Galkayo
By Abduba Mollu Ido (*)
The blood feud in the Horn of Africa
Somalia can achieve peace. Much of the country already has the ingredients for it, but simply lacks a cohesive government with a unified strategy for security and development.
To make matters worse, many internationals who have the power to improve the situation in Somalia alongside local leaders tend to misdiagnose the ills and then prescribe the wrong treatments. This dilemma has become painfully clear again with this week’s renewed violence in the central city of Galkayo, which has forced hundreds of displaced families to flee for their second or third time.
Galkayo is Somalia’s third front, an issue associated with, but distinct from, the Islamic radical insurgency and the Somaliland-Puntland border dispute…
To clarify for those who relish detail, Somalia is in three parts: Somaliland (northwest, trying to be independent), Puntland (northeast), and southern Somalia (hit by insurgency). Galkayo is a city on the dividing line between Puntland and southern Somalia.
The Darod clans on the north side of town tend to feel bound to the Puntland state government to the north while the Hawiye clans on the south side of town feel connected to the Hawiye government in the self-made "Galmudug" state in southern Somalia.
During the past years’ fighing in Somalia’s deep south, thousands of people flooded north crossing through this divided town. Those who were Darod clan tended to look for aid agency help or family members to stay with on Galkayo’s north side. But other groups like the Rahanweyne also flooded there. Now, locals in north Galkayo apparently have heard rumors that families staying there in refuge, Darod or Rahanweyne or other groups, who have drawn low-wage jobs and aid away from the residents, may have had affiliation with the Islamic radical insurgents of the south.
Arguments over the rumors overwhelmed the capacity of local security. Shots were fired. Then many local residents began kicking out many of the families from displacement shelters. Most fled south to the Bay and Bakool regions where they will likely be an unwanted minority, as well. And another crisis is born.
The most painful foul against the peace process in Somalia is the UN and aid community’s continued habit of working exclusively with the state authorities, often neglecting the currently more powerful traditional leadership and Islamic leader networks because they are so complex.
The UN has done a fantastic job with aid agencies in planning improvements for security, health, and more. But with very little funding available in the Somali government and from donors for a full security force and citizen protection group for displaced families in camps, most families have to rely on their traditional leaders for protection. The best and brightest of the traditional leaders have fled far and wide, leaving the less capable to rule over their blood line.
What this means is that if a displaced "Rahanweyne" family’s boy gets punched by a "Darod" kid from town, then the displaced family, who does not trust the local "Darod" police, will seek help from their local elders. If the credentialed elders have fled abroad, then basically the oldest man in the group will likely be the decision-maker. He may then ask a group of Rahanweyne men to grab their rifles and go into town to talk to the accused Darod boy’s family to demand justice.
The Darod family may call the police to address the dispute, but the police are so thin they take hours or days to get to the scene. A fight breaks out. And there are not enough police available to break it up. This is what most of the conflict in Somalia is about.
As some leaders and aid agencies are figuring out, these feuds can rarely be resolved by the police. Elders from related clans need to come to talk to the elders who originally sanctioned the posses which started the fight. Then those impartial elders will total the damage to each side and have the one who caused the most damage compensate the other side for their losses.
(*) Abduba Mollu Ido is a Kenyan writer and development consultant
The UN in Somalia: Peacekeepers or peacekillers?
By Thomas C. Mountain
The United Nations via its proxies in the African Union supplied Ugandan and Burundi military have been randomly shelling civilian neighborhoods in Mogadishu in retaliation for guerilla attacks carried out by the Somali resistance.
The UN/AU has occupied a small "green zone" in Mogadishu after the expulsion of the Ethiopian military by the Somali armed resistance and claims to represent a "democratically elected" Somali government. In reality, this UN/AU band of "peacekeepers" is there to prop up the Western imposed puppet regime of allegedly Al -Queda linked "terrorist" Sheik Sharif.
The Somali resistance, an increasingly fractured bunch, has one thing in common, hatred for this Western imposed band of quislings. Small squads of fighters regularly attack the dug in UN/AU occupation forces and occasionally do some really significant damage. For many months now, the UN/AU army in Mogadishu has begun retaliation shelling of civilian neighborhoods after particularly effective attacks by the resistance.
Using hit and run mortar bombardment, as well as manned explosive attacks there is really no target for the UN/AU forces to respond to. In their frustration (along with not being paid their salaries for some six months now) the UN/AU occupation army randomly bombards the surrounding neighborhoods in Mogadishu. The following is a report from a well-known Somali web site.
"In the last three months alone the United Nations forces in Mogadishu have killed more than 160 civilians and have injured more than 400. On December 20, 2009, UN indiscriminate shelling killed 14 civilians and 33 wounded in Bakara Market and Elasha Biyaha districts. October 28, 2009, UN shelling killed 4 civilians and 11 were wounded in Wardhiigley district. On October 26, 2009, UN shelling killed 5 civilians and wounded 20 in Yaaqshiid district. On October 22, 2009, UN shelling killed 17 civilians and 60 wounded in Holwadag and Hodan districts. 29 September, 2009 UN shells landed busy Bakara market killing 12 people and wounding 30 people. These numbers are conservative numbers but the real toll is higher as many of victims die on the spot and are not carried to the hospital to be officially reported."
It would seem that the UN/AU forces are little more than hired thugs doing the dirty work on the behalf of the USA and its European allies whose main goal is to see Somalia in a state of continued conflict and chaos. Peacekeepers or Peacekillers? You be the judge.
(*) Thomas C. Mountain, residing in Eritrea, was in a former life an educator, activist and alternative medicine practitioner in the USA.
Somali parliamentarians told to arrive within ten days (Mareeg)
The Speaker of the Somali parliament Sheikh Aden Madobe called Saturday on all those parliamentarians who are out of the country to return within ten days.
Sheik Aden Madobe said it is very crucial for the members, who are abroad, to come into the country to fill the quorum of the coming parliament sessions to be held in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
He said that they postponed today’s session of the parliament, which was supposed to be held in the centre of the legislators in the capital, because not enough members gathered at the session. He warned those who are absent to be back to the country as soon as possible or drastic steps would be taken against them.
In addition, the speaker of the parliament urged the police forces at the checkpoints and the vehicle drivers to understand each other, in order to not allow for misunderstandings between the two sides. He named as example a case where one of the lawmakers was injured by the police forces of the TFG today as he was going to attend the meeting.
Most Somali legislators are currently out of the country and some of them suggested the parliament to be relocated to other towns safer than Mogadishu.
How Business Survives in the Anarchic Capital
By Olad Hassan
Mogadishu is the largest city and the capital of Somalia; it’s the commercial and financial center of the country, situated in the Southward of the country.
After the collapse of the central government in 1991, Mogadishu has been the stage for nearly 20 years of fighting which left many of its residents dead, others fled from the city to neighbouring countries.
Despite civil chaos, and daily Fighting, Mogadishu is a business growing city in the east Africa.
Both, its seaport and airport- controlled by African Union Peacekeeping forces, backing the weak Somali government- are functioning properly, supporting the business to improve.
In The City, Bakara Market is the biggest trading center in the country and a strong hold of anti-government Islamists, and a target of the government and the Peace keeping forces. Residents say, Islamists lob mortars from the market to the government controlled areas causing instant mortar reply from the peacekeepers that prevents the business to continue some hours or a day.
Telecommunication network companies play an important role in the city’s business. More than three private Mobile and land-line operators’ headquarters are located in the city. Hormuud Telecom is a private enterprise established in 2002 in southern and central Somalia, and located in Bakara Market business center. It’s the most used mobile operator in the country.
"Nearly 700 Somalis own shares, and more than 1000 people work in it’s headquartering in restive Mogadishu", Says Ahmed Saudi, the president of Hormuud.
Telecom Somalia is the first major privately owned company providing telecommunications in Somali territory. It’s headquarter is also in the city center. There are other telecom companies like Nationlink Telecom and Somafone, giving the people sufficient services of landline and Mobile in Mogadishu.
Fund transfer services is an other business factor in the city, more than 15 private money transfer companies run in the City. With an estimated nearly $1 million USD monthly remitted to the capital by the Somali Diaspora via Money transfer companies, known as HAWALA in the country.
Moreover, Industries are becoming in the city, nearly 10 private productive industries are also in Mogadishu.
Coca cola is the world’s largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates. It’s one of the important industries in the city. It distributes its product different directions of the city.
Other industries include; Afi Water Purification Company, Banadir Sweats Company, many detergent companies and other use full and productive industries for the residents in the city.
In the middle of Anarchy and daily fighting between the Somali federal Government and the Islamic militants in the capital, Mogadishu, business seems booming.
Rift between Ex-Premier Gedi and TFG sorted out (somaliweyn)
Officials from the Somali transitional federal government have on Saturday confirmed to Somaliweyn news that the recent issues which have caused tension between the Somali transitional federal government and the Ex-Somali Premier Ali Mohammed Gedi have been fully sorted out.
The suspicion was that the Somali transitional federal government has condemned Professor Ali Mohammed Gedi financially backing the insurgents who are fighting against the Somali transitional federal government, and the issue reached to the extent of a court case, though it was later finalized in a very diplomatic manner.
Since the case was raised the Somali government had tasked a panel to arbitrate, between them and Ex-Premier Gedi, and finally it was wrapped up in success in Chester House in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
The notable members who were set for the arbitration were the Shariff Hassan the Finance Minister, Dahir Mohamoud Gelle the Information Minister, Abdurahman Janaqow the Minister for Justice, Abdulkadir Osoble an MP, Hussein Arrale an MP and Abdullahi Gedi Shador an MP.
"The suspicions against me are entirely baseless I am a figure who has reputation in the Somali political arena, and I am willing sincerely to serve with the Somali transitional federal government, of which I am a legislator" said Professor Ali Mohammed Gedi the former Somali Premier.
The Ex-Premier who is in Nairobi has promised to go back to Mogadishu, and take part in the parliamentarians’ sessions, and provide input based on his diplomatic experience in the government.
Al-Shabaab Seize Islands Near Kenya (newstimeafrica)
The Al-qaeda inspired Al-shabab militants in Somalia have seized five islands near the Kenyan coast, the group’s spokesman in the southern Jubba regions told reporters on Wednesday after they had arrived with 20 battlewagons, 4wd vehicles with mounted machine guns - so called "technicals".. Spokesman Sheik Hassan Yaqub Ali said that the Mujahideens have peacefully taken the five islands including Raskamboni and Kudha both two important hideouts early on Wednesday morning.
