USA to back Somaliland Independence?

In the following article, the Washington Post says the the US is losing patience with the TFG in Mogadishu, and may turn is dollars and support to the more stable north in Hargeisa. Supporing Somaliland may just be a ploy by the Bush administration to get the TFG to start working harder on reconciliation, or it may be their way to establish another presence in the Horn.

Whatever the case, such a move would embolden the Hargeisa government to annex more and more land between itself and Puntland. This would cause continued strife in this region, and lead to more death and future generations of revenge. This move would also set a precedent of a first-world country supporting a breakaway republic of a single clan from a larger nation. This may cause other groups around Africa and the world to declare independence. That may be a bad sign for the Ethiopian government.

================================================

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti - The escalating conflict in Somalia is generating debate inside the Bush administration over whether the United States should continue to back the shaky transitional government in Mogadishu or shift support to the less volatile region of Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, U.S. defense and military officials said.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates discussed regional issues during a visit to Djibouti on Monday, including Somalia and the presence there of about 8,000 Ethiopian troops, the officials said. Ethiopian forces intervened a year ago to install the fledgling government in Mogadishu and they continue to fight Islamic radicals in Somalia.

"My biggest concern about Somalia is the potential for al-Qaeda to be active there," Gates said on his first visit to the Horn of Africa as defense secretary. Asked about allegations of human rights abuses by Ethiopian troops in Somalia, Gates said: "We're obviously very interested in helping the African Union and Ugandans to try and exercise some constructive influence on the Ethiopians."

U.S. military officials say Somalia is the greatest source of instability in the Horn of Africa, leading them to seek new ways to contain the violence there.

One approach, Pentagon officials argue, would be to forge ties with Somaliland, as the U.S. military has with Kenya and other countries bordering Somalia. A breakaway region along Somalia's northwestern coast, Somaliland has about 2 million people and an elected president, and offers greater potential for U.S. military assistance to bolster security, even though it lacks international recognition, they say.

"Somaliland is an entity that works," a senior defense official said. "We're caught between a rock and a hard place because they're not a recognized state," the official said.

The Pentagon's view is that "Somaliland should be independent," another defense official said. "We should build up the parts that are functional and box in" Somalia's unstable regions, particularly around Mogadishu.

In contrast, "the State Department wants to fix the broken part first -- that's been a failed policy," the official said.

The official U.S. government position is that the United States should withhold recognition from Somaliland because the African Union has yet to recognize it. "We do not want to get ahead of the continental organization on an issue of such importance," said Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi E. Frazer in an e-mailed response to questions.

The issue is diplomatically sensitive because recognizing Somaliland could set a precedent for other secession movements seeking to change colonial-era borders, opening a Pandora's box in the region.

In Djibouti, U.S. military officials say they are eager to engage Somaliland. "We'd love to, we're just waiting for State to give us the okay," said Navy Capt. Bob Wright, head of strategic communication for the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. The task force is composed of about 1,800 U.S. troops who conduct military training and reconstruction projects such as digging wells and building schools in 11 countries

Meanwhile, the United States continues to back Somalia's weak Transitional Federal Government, set up in late 2004 with support from international organizations and the African Union.

Source: Washington Post

New Somali prime minister named

President Yusef finally makes his decision on the new PM. Below is a brief overview article of the decision. For more details on Nur Adde, click on this link to the Reuters article.

===========================

A new prime minister has been named in Somalia, three weeks after his predecessor was forced from office.

The new man is Nur Hassan Hussein, a former policeman, who heads the Somali Red Crescent humanitarian organisation.

Mr Hussein, also known as Nur Adde, said he would do his best in a "difficult" job.

He takes office amid a humanitarian crisis in Somalia, where the UN refugee agency says 1m people are now homeless following fighting in Mogadishu.

Islamist insurgents are battling the Ethiopia-backed government forces in the capital.

Some 200 000 people have fled their homes in the past two weeks.

Somalia is so unstable that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon say it is too dangerous to send peace-keeping troops there - even though the Security Council would like to.

Only Uganda has sent troops to an African Union mission but they have not been able to stop the violence.

After his appointment, Nur Adde said: "I pledge to do my utmost to perform the difficult obligations in front of me, by respecting the Somali federal charter."

He is from the Hawiye clan, the largest in Mogadishu, many of whom distrust President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, from the rival Darod group.

The previous prime minister, Ali Mohamed Ghedi, resigned amid intense diplomatic pressure to try to bring stability to the western-backed transitional government - and after losing a power struggle with President Yusuf.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Written By: claire wanja/bbc

Somali Religious Leaders Make a Long Overdue Statement

Things continue to progress or digress in Somalia. President Yusef has forced PM Gedhi to resign. He got the constitution changed so he can appoint a non-parliament member to the the PM office. We are still waiting. Meanwhile, Mogadishu continues to have outbursts of violence. The head of the UN says no to the idea of a UN peace-keeping force. But the UN security council disagrees. The AU is doing nothing and Ethiopia is expanding their aggression in the Ogaden. Ethiopia and the opposition-supporting Eritrea are make war noise, and Somaliland and Puntland are battling over borders too.

So apparently this is the point when a group of Somali religious leaders decide its time to meet and make a statement calling for peace. A little late. Better late than never? You decide. Below is their statement:

===========================================

Full text of a statement issued by Somali religious leaders at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Hargeisa, the capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland:

We religious leaders from Somaliland, Puntland, and South-Central Somalia meeting in Hargeisa, Somalia, on 17 - 19 November 2007, with support from the Religious Leaders Peace Initiative in the Horn of Africa, with a goal to discuss and find ways in which the religious leaders and women can contribute to resolving conflicts among the Somalis

We have challenged ourselves to use our talents and powers to help our people find effective solutions to the problems of poverty, hunger and diseases; contribute more actively to the removal of socio-political conflicts, civil wars and sub-regional disputes and displacement of the people, and work effectively to enhance human and people's rights, equality and justice.

We want to appreciate the various opportunities created by Islam for people to come together to share ideas and feelings to include at least five praying times a day, a weekly Friday prayer gathering, twice a year Eid meetings where people of Islam come together to integrate ideas, and the final Hajj that the Prophet made and the speech on the gathering emphasizing peace and security.

We commit ourselves to convey the message that Islam is a religion of peace, and accepts other religions, and further commit ourselves to have this message supported by concrete actions, and demonstrate true love and brotherhood among ourselves as Muslims and the Somali people, and to the protection of life and property.

We deplore that the East African region has faced turmoil and conflicts, and that these have impacted negatively on the Somali people who have remained poor, underdeveloped, have had to migrate from their homes into being refugees and IDPs. We further deplore that the conflicts have also generated psychological problems.

We further regret that because of the conflict, the Somali natural resources are being exploited and wasted, and toxic materials dumped on the land and seas, thus degrading the environment.

We pledge from now henceforth to be more active peacemakers and commit ourselves to the process of peace-building to reverse the conflict situation that has affected us as Somali people, by participating in peace processes, and make contributions that advance the cause of peace.

We accept the challenge to advocate for the voiceless and the vulnerable, the cause for peace, the plight of the displaced persons, the marginalized and excluded groups, and upholding human rights and dignity.

We commit ourselves to advance open dialogue, sharing of experiences and information and exchange of ideas on peace and coexistence to the benefit of all Somali people. We further commit to advocate and to raise awareness through the media, research and publications.

We appeal for support to establish, empower and build the capacity of structured regional institutions that target religious leaders from the Somaliland, Puntland, and South and Central Somalia, and further call for the empowerment of religious leaders in conflict resolution, meditation and reconciliation through seminars, workshops and trainings.

We seek to establish partnership and networking relationships with international organizations and agencies for the cause of peace.

We commit ourselves to mobilize our social, moral and spiritual resources, and further seek financial and human support from willing and interested partners as we move toward building substantial peace.

We strongly call for an end to tribalism that fuels conflicts and increases the suffering of our people. We further call all the concerned and relevant stakeholders to put public interests ahead of personal and vested interests.

In conclusion we express our deep appreciation and thanks to the peace and solidarity mission of religious leaders from Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya. We also thank ACRL-Religions for Peace, the working group of the Religious Leaders Peace Initiative on the Horn of Africa, and FCA Finland for their support and Government of Somaliland for providing space and opportunity for this historic meeting. We express gratitude to the International Horn University, Center for Community Development and Research, for hosting this event.

May the Almighty Allah help us!

Signed by Somali religious leaders and the leaders of the mission

---

Somali PM strikes deal with Mogadishu clan leaders

Here is the latest attempt by the Somali government to get the Hawiye on their side. I doubt it will work as long as ICU gunmen are on the loose.

------------------------------------------------

By Aweys Yusuf and Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's prime minister has reached a truce with Mogadishu's dominant clan, whose fighters had supported Islamist-led insurgents in battles with government troops and Ethiopian forces earlier this year.

Hawiye clan elders met Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi amid tight security on Monday in the capital, which has been rocked by insecurity since January when his soldiers and their Ethiopian allies routed a hardline Sharia courts group.

Some Hawiye militia have joined remnants of that movement to wage a rebellion since then. But speaking after the talks, Gedi said the clan leaders would now work with his administration to take on the insurgents.

"We agreed a truce and we agreed that we do something about their complaints ... We agreed we work together against anyone carrying out violence," Gedi told reporters late on Monday.

Responding to accusations that government troops have been heavy-handed in their hunt for rebels, Gedi called on his army officers to control their men, who he said should perform their duties with respect and discipline.

Gedi's government -- the 14th attempt to forge central rule in Somalia -- has struggled to impose its authority in the face of roadside bombings, grenade attacks and assassinations.

But rubble-strewn Mogadishu has been relatively calm in recent days, and the outcome of Gedi's meeting with the clan leaders was eagerly anticipated by many war-weary residents.

Hawiye spokesman Ahmed Diriye told Reuters the government and insurgents both had a responsibility to end the violence.

"If the truce gets enforced, I do hope that all people who have political agendas on their mind, opposing the government, will compromise with it," he said.

Story Here.

Debate over radicalism in religion in Somalia

The NRC continues in Mogadishu amidst continual failed efforts of Islamists to derail it. Today's news shows good efforts toward clan reconciliation and important discussion on defining what Islamic radicalism is. But it also shows the likelihood of continued intolerance of religious freedom in the new Somalia.

==================================

MOGADISHU, Somalia Aug 5 (Garowe Online) - Hundreds of delegates participating at Somalia's national reconciliation conference listened to speeches on Sunday regarding the controversial issue of radicalism in religion.

Before the debate, clan delegates said they had forgiven each other for misdeeds accrued over the past 17 years of civil war.

Spokespeople for major Somali clans Hawiye and Darod formally apologized to smaller clans who faced indiscriminate killing, robbery of property and land, rape and other unimaginable acts at the hands of Hawiye and Darod clan militias since 1991.

The interim government has billed the NRC as a "conference of clans" where each and every clan's voice is heard and respected.

The conference is aimed at ending years of civil war amongst various clans but critics doubt any tangible result will come out of the NRC unless important political actors, like the Islamic Courts movement, are included.

Remnants of Islamist fighters are suspected to be leading the insurgency raging in Mogadishu and other Somali towns.

Debate over exactly what constitutes radicalism was heated today at the NRC hall, a former police warehouse refurbished to seat more than 1,300 delegates.

Sheikh Ali Nur said the people of Somalia are 100% Muslim and belong to one faith. He said the use of the term "radicalism" needs to be defined clearly to fit conditions in Somalia, since every Somali cannot be a radical.

Mohamed Ismail, an intellectual, said radical elements must be identified and isolated in society. He accused radicals of being responsible for daily bombings, saying that they are opposed to peace and governance.

The Somali government accuses its Islamist rivals of being "terrorists" and "radicals."

American Muslim-convert sentenced for terror training

The Somali Reconciliation Conference proceeds as scheduled, despite efforts to derail it by the ICU and Hawiye extremists. In the meantime, an American Muslim-convert who fought with the ICU against the TFG, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Texas. See the details below:
======================

HOUSTON -- A U.S. citizen convicted of receiving training at a terrorist camp alongside al-Qaida members in his efforts to help overthrow the Somali government was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 28, a Muslim convert also known as Daniel Aljughaifi and Abu Mohammed, also was fined $1,000.

Maldonado admitted to traveling in December to a terrorist camp in Somalia, where he was trained to use firearms and explosives in an effort to help a group called the Islamic Courts Union topple the government and install an Islamic state. Members of al-Qaida were present at the camp.

Maldonado was captured by the Kenyan military while trying to flee Somalia in January and brought back to the United States in February.

In April he pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization.

Ten years was the maximum prison sentence Maldonado could have received. He faced a fine of up to $250,000.

Federal prosecutor Gary Cobe said after the hearing that the sentence was just.

"We're fighting a war against terrorism. We need to send a message that anyone who gets involved with terrorism will pay the price," he said.

Maldonado's defense attorney, Brent Newton, did not speak to reporters after the hearing.

But before the sentence was handed down, Newton said that while his client is not making excuses for what he did, he went to Somalia and the Middle East only to practice his Muslim faith in peace and not to join a terrorist group.

"He wants it to be known he never intended to hurt Americans," Newton said.

Maldonado declined to make a statement during the hearing.

Maldonado, who grew up in Pelham, N.H., lived in Houston for four months in 2005 before moving with his wife and three children to Cairo, Egypt, then Somalia. Just before his arrest as he and his family tried to leave Somalia and go to Kenya, they became separated. His wife, Tamekia Cunningham, later died of malaria. His three children are being cared for by his parents in New Hampshire.

Defense attorneys described Maldonado as a man who, driven by anti-Muslim sentiment in America after the Sept. 11 attacks, moved away with his family so they could live in peace as Muslims

HorseedNet.com
http://www.horseednet.com/horseednet.php?id=7867

Burundi Soon to Deploy the Long Awaited Forces

After endless delays, the TFG is going to get the long promised Burundi forces to help support the AU force. In related news, the AU voted to extend the peace-keepers mission there for another 6 months. The AU is also appealing to the UN to take oversight of the peacekeeping force.

===========================================

Burundi Réalités (Bujumbura)
18 July 2007

Bujumbura: On Saturday July 14th, 2007, France's Ambassador to Burundi, Joël Louvet, and the Burundian Minister of National Defence, Lt.-Gen. Germain Niyoyankana signed an exceptional aid convention of 500000 Euros to help convey troops and military equipments to Somalia.

France has made this promise in mid-June while the USA had promised to provide some military equipments including uniforms, boots and bullet-proof jackets and helmets. The promises by the USA and France followed a confirmation by the AU of the troops' technical preparedness for the peace keeping mission.

Burundi troops were ready since May, but were waiting for logistical support which was to be provided by the AU. In an exclusive interview with Burundi Réalités Agence Presse on May 23rd, Mr. Manirakiza Adolphe had stated that the only delay for the deployment was logistical support which was to be provided by the African Union. Many observers doubt whether the African Union has what it really takes to mobilize the troops needed for the mission, hence a probable UN takeover.

In fact, the UN Security Council met on June 14th, 2007 and stressed the urgent need for appropriate contingency planning for a possible UN takeover of peacekeeping in Somalia from struggling African Union (AU) troops.

BBC Bias Continues

Despite efforts against it Somali nationals, BBC's anti-government bias continues to rear its ugly head. See the article that follows to see the latest one-sided reporting, this time about the National Reconciliation Conference trying to get underway in Mogadishu. This article again shows the point of view from the side of anti-government forces. I believe their poor show of journalism is caused by one or more of the following factors:

* Lazy BBC journalists and editors who don't think both sides need to be represented.
* Ignorant non-Somali BBC journalists who have trusted sources that only feed them anti-government interviewees and story lines.
* Staff who don't think any of its readers will really care what they report about Somalia.
* Anti-government Somali BBC staff who have convinced their editors that their viewpoint is the correct viewpoint on the situation in Somalia.

Most appalling in the latest BBC story is the large quote by 'an opposition leader' that reads, "There is no clan conflict at the moment in Somalia but there is a political conflict." Is this really passing as for truth on the BBC? Clan conflict is in fact the MAIN reason why there still exists strife in Somalia. Leaders from around the world, from the AU, IGAD, and the UN all recognized this which is why they called on a clan-based reconciliation conference to be urgently held.

This shifting of the focus from the idea of clan-related to politically-related strife in Somalia by BBC journalism is giving a voice to falsehood and to the continued empowerment by a radical fringe of of Fundamentalists who are dominated by the Hawiye clan. For a more balanced article on the attempted reconciliation conference see the article from the International Herald Tribune here.
===========================================================

Somali peace conference postponed

Security has been stepped up around the conference

A national reconciliation conference in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu has opened - and then adjourned.

Organisers postponed the conference until Thursday to allow more time for all the delegates to arrive.

Several mortar shells landed near the venue on Sunday, injuring civilians, but President Abdullahi Yusuf said violence would not deter the talks.

The main Islamist opposition have refused to attend, saying the venue is not neutral.

Somalia has been without a functioning government for 16 years.

Clan focus

Hundreds of Ethiopian and Somali government troops are patrolling the streets in Mogadishu and guarding the former police warehouse where the talks will be held.

Over 1,000 clan elders, former warlords and politicians from across the country have been invited.

The opposition Islamic Courts, who were driven from the city by Ethiopian and Somali forces and who are now mainly in exile in Eritrea, say they cannot attend because of the presence of their Ethiopian enemies.

There is no clan conflict at the moment in Somalia but there is a political conflict Yusuf Hassan Ibrahim Opposition member

A number of delegates from the international community who had planned to attend the opening ceremony were unable to, when their flights were cancelled over security concerns.

When talks begin, they are expected to focus on clan reconciliation, disarmament and sharing natural resources.

But critics say clan conflict is not the major problem and the focus should be on reconciliation between political and armed groups.

"The conference would make sense if it was bringing rival politicians and armed groups to the same table," said Ahmed Diriye, a spokesman for the powerful Hawiye clan.

"But if the idea is to talk about a non-existent tribal conflict, it's a waste of money and energy."

"There is no clan conflict at the moment in Somalia but there is a political conflict," Yusuf Hassan Ibrahim, a member of an opposition alliance linked to the Islamic Courts told the BBC.

"We are calling for a national reconciliation conference which will deal with the differences between the Transitional Federal Government and the other stakeholders, including former parliamentary groups, the Islamic Courts, civil society and the Somali diaspora."