Mystery About Sea-Jacked Tanker at Somali Coast Solved

Anniversary plea for kidnapped couple Paul and Rachel Chandler (KentNews)
“I’m obviously very tormented and very, very lonely and worried.” 
Those are the heartbreaking words of Rachel Chandler, the woman kidnapped by Somali pirates and separated from her husband Paul. 
The couple from Tunbridge Wells were seized more than four months ago while sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania. 
In a telephone interview with a Somali television station shown on last night’s
ITV News At Ten, Mrs Chandler said she’d spoken to her husband a few days ago, but they weren’t allowed to see each other. 
She said she was grateful to the Somali community for helping to secure their release. 
Mrs Chandler added: “It’s very nice to know that the
Somali community and the UK are concerned about me, I am very grateful.”
The British Government has refused to pay a ransom for the couple and called for their immediate release.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said the Government is working hard to secure their release.

A Kent couple being held hostage by Somali pirates will not be reunited for the foreseeable future, a spokesman for the pirates has said.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, 60 and 56, were kidnapped four months ago while sailing in the Indian Ocean. 
The couple, who are being held apart in captivity, recently spent their 29th wedding anniversary apart. 
Ali Gedow, a spokesman for the pirates, said the group would not allow the couple to spend time together. 
Anniversary torment
Speaking through an interpreter, he told BBC Radio Kent: “For security purposes and reasons we will not be able to put them together.
“No further comment on that. We cannot do it in terms of security.” 
The Chandlers, of Tunbridge Wells, were captured while sailing towards Tanzania on 23 October. 
Their captors have threatened to kill the couple if their demands for $7m (£4.4m) are not met, but the Foreign Office has said it does not pay ransoms or give substantial concessions to pirates. 
In a recent television interview, the couple spoke of their torment at being separated as their anniversary approached.

A British couple held hostage by Somali pirates have told of the mutual torment of their separation as their wedding anniversary approaches.
Paul Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and his wife Rachel have been detained for more than four months after they were captured while sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.
In a telephone interview with a Somali television station shown on ITV News At Ten, Mrs Chandler, who has recently appeared gaunt in pictures, said: “I’m obviously very tormented and very, very lonely and worried.”
She added: “I spoke to him six, seven or eight days ago but they don’t let us, we’re not together, we’ve not seen one another for five weeks now but I was allowed to speak to him.”
During the interview, recorded approximately two weeks ago, Mr Chandler described their forced partition as “torture”.
He said: “I don’t understand this. This is torture and we have never in our married life been apart this long and we have our anniversary next Sunday. We will have been married 29 years.”
After being told that the Somali community in the UK is doing what it can to help aid their release, Mrs Chandler added: “It’s very nice to know that the Somali community and the UK are concerned about me, I am very grateful.”
The British Government has refused to pay a ransom for the couple and called for their immediate release.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband earlier said the Government was “working very hard” and nobody would be satisfied until the couple returned home safely.
Officials are in contact with the couple’s family.

Being kept apart is tore, say British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates by Katherine Faulkner (DailyMail)
The British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates have told of the ‘torture’ they feel at being forbidden from seeing each other. 
Paul and Rachel Chandler have spent five weeks apart, speaking to each other only sporadically. 
In a phone call their captors allowed them with a Somali TV channel, both spoke of the toll being apart is taking on their abilities to cope.
Mr Chandler said that being forbidden from seeing his wife was ‘torture’. In the call, the 60-year-old added: ‘We have never in our married life been apart this long. 
‘We have our anniversary next Sunday, we will have been married 29 years.’ 
‘His wife Rachel said: ‘I spoke to him [Paul] six, seven or eight days ago but they don’t let us … we’re not together. 
‘We’ve not seen one another for five weeks now but I was allowed to speak to him.’ 
The 56-year-old added she was ‘very tormented and very, very lonely and worried’. 
The recordings  -  believed to have been made a fortnight ago  -  were broadcast by ITV News last night. 
Mr Chandler, who is understood to be in desperate need of medication for an eye infection which could leave him blind, did not mention his condition. 
His wife added the couple were ‘grateful’ the British Somali community were trying to help them. 
‘It’s very nice to know that the Somali community and the UK are concerned about me,’ she said. Somali community leaders in Britain have tried to persuade the hostage-takers to let the Chandlers, from Tunbridge Wells, go free.
A series of high-profile Somalis have also spoken on TV channels in the country to press the case. 
Concerns have grown in recent weeks about the Chandlers’ health. 
The last footage of them showed they had lost dramatic amounts of weight and were gaunt. 
Last week it was revealed that Mr Chandler was suffering from the bacterial infection trachoma. 
The disease makes the eyelids turn inwards, so that the eyelashes cause scratching on the surface of the eye. This causes unbearable pain and eventually loss of sight. 
The infection is spread by flies or human contact in areas with poor sanitation and no clean water. 
Last night the Foreign Office insisted it was doing ‘everything it could’ to free the couple. 
‘We are monitoring the situation closely and doing everything we can to help secure a release,’ a spokesman said. 
‘We have raised Paul and Rachel’s situation with key Somali contacts from the outset and the diaspora community has shown considerable goodwill. We repeat our call for their safe and swift release.’ 
Mr and Mrs Chandler were kidnapped in October while sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania in their 38ft yacht, the Lynn Rival, and taken hundreds of miles to Somalia. 
The British Government was embarrassed as it emerged armed Royal Navy personnel had watched as they were taken from their yacht to a pirate launch and not been given orders to intervene and save them. 
The pirates had threatened to kill the couple if they did not receive a £4.5million ransom. 
Although they have now cut the demand to £1.3million, there are fears the couple could be sold on to militant Islamist groups in the war-torn and effectively ungoverned country.

—-  news from sea-jackings, abductions, newly attacked ships as well as seafarers and vessels in distress  —-    

A piracy alert has been raised by the Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa
Date of alert   : 02/03/2010 16:59:00 
Alert type      : Pirate Attack 
Location        : In vicinity of Port of Aden
No further detail provided by Operation Ocean Shield
TANKER APPROACHED BY SUSPICIOUS CRAFT NEAR BAB AL MANDEB (ecoterra)

On 28.02.2010 at 03h50 LT the Duty Officer on board a product tanker noticed on radar two crafts sailing parallel to his vessel. 
The crafts then started approaching the tanker at position 12°32’5″N–043°26’0″E at the Southern tip of Red Sea near the strait of Bab Al Mandeb, the IMB/ICC reported.
Alarm was raised and the crew mustered on the bridge. Anti piracy measures including the use of floodlights to track the crafts and playing recorded sounds of dogs barking were activated.
Master took evasive manoeuvres, increased speed and transmitted mayday messages. A naval vessel announced that they are proceeding to the location. At 04h15 LT, the crafts aborted the attack.

TANKER EXPERIENCES PIRATE APPROACH IN ARABIAN SEA (ecoterra)
On 02. March 2010 at 05h30 UTC five presumed pirates in a skiff approached a chemical tanker near position 15°33′N–059°53′E, 230nm in the Arabian Sea off the coast of the Sultanate of Oman and allegedly attempted to board her, the IMB/ICC reported. 
The Master raised alarm, took evasive manoeuvres and contacted coalition forces for assistance. Pirates aborted the attack due to the evasive manoeuvres and anti-piracy measures taken by the ship.

NO RELIEF FOR NAVIOS APOLLON CREW !
18 kidnapped Pinoy seafarers coming home [-but when?] by Madel Sabater (ManilaBulletin) 
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines said Wednesday that the 18 Filipinos released by Somali pirates are expected to be home in two to three weeks time. 
DFA spokesman J. Eduardo Malaya said that the manning agency and the ship’s principal are making arrangements for the repatriation of the released seafarers. 
“They are expected to be home in the next few weeks, maybe in two to three weeks,” Malaya said. 
The 18 Filipino seamen as well as a Greek captain, onboard Greek-owned and Panama-flagged MV Navios Apollon, were released Monday by Somali pirates. The vessel’s local manning agency had confirmed that all the seafarers are in good health and are on their way to a port in Oman. 
MV Navios Apollon was hijacked on December 28, 2009 some 240 nautical miles east of Seychelles, as it headed for Rozy, India from the Tampa, Florida, USA with a cargo of fertilizer. 
At that time, the number of Filipino seafarers in the hands of Somali pirates was 71. 
But Malaya said that following the release of the 18 Filipino seafarers, the number of Filipino seamen still being held captive by Somali pirates is now down to five in two vessels: Two in Thai Union 3 and three aboard MV St. James Park. 
“This is the lowest number of Filipino seafarers in custody of Somali pirates in recent times,” he said. 
The United Nations (UN) International Maritime Organization (IMO) has dedicated 2010 to the 1.5 million seafarers, 30 percent of whom are from the Philippines. 
“For seafarers, the world over deserve our respect, recognition and gratitude and, during 2010, we at IMO are resolved to ensure that the world does take notice of your exceptional role and contribution and of the special debt that all of us owe to you,” UN IMO Secretary General Efthimios Mitropoulos had said.

18 FILIPINO SEAMEN FREED IN SOMALIA; REMAINING CAPTIVES DOWN TO 5 (NNN-PNA)
Eighteen Filipino crew members of the Greek-owned, Panama-flagged M/V Navios Apollon were released from captivity in Somalia and their repatriation to Manila is underway, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported Monday. 
The Filipinos are in good physical condition, DFA said. 
M/V Navious Apollon was heading for India from the United States when hijacked by Somali pirates some 240 nautical miles east of Seychelles in Indian Ocean on Dec. 28 last year. The vessel was loaded with fertilizers.

With Sunday?s release, only five Filipino seafarers — two belonging to the FV Thai Union 3 and three on the M/V St. James Park – remain captives of Somalian pirates.
DFA said this makes it the lowest number of Filipino seafarers in custody of Somali pirates since vessels with Filipino crew were hijacked on the high seas in the past three years. 
Ransom issues generally delay the release of captives and though DFA reiterates its no-ransom policy, it is known that vessel owners and/or their manning agencies pay multi-million dollar sums to the pirates.

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 7 seized foreign vessels (9 sea-related hostage cases since yacht SY LYNN RIVAL was abandoned and taken by the British Navy) with a total of not less than 154 crew members (incl. 5 Filipinos onboard two vessels: two on board the Thai Union 3 and three on board the MV St. James Park; as well as the British sailing couple) plus now the lorry crews held for an exchange with imprisoned pirates, 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 sea-jacked fishing vessel and killing of her crew by the Indian naval force. For 2009 the account closed with 228 incidences (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 68 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. 
For 2010 the recorded account stands at 21 attacks resulting in 6 sea-jackings. 
The naval alliances had since August 2008 and until January 2010 apprehended 666 suspected pirates, detained and kept or transferred for prosecution 367,  killed 47 and wounded 22 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.Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: GoA: ORANGE / IO: ORANGE (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely). Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon. Starting from mid February until early April every year an increase in piracy cases can be expected. 
For further details and regional information see the Somali Marine and Coastal Monitor at www.australia.to 

—————- directly piracy, abduction, mariner or naval upsurge related reports ——————–

From 26th of February to 01st of March, the EU NAVFOR Warship ESPS NAVARRA successfully completed the escort for the WFP Chartered dhow FAIZE SULTANE KWHAJA from SALALAH Port (Oman) to Boosaaso, in the northern Somali coast, EU NAVFOR stated, the naval command centre reported.
While the legend of unnecessary WFP escorts has been torn apart since long, it becomes now clear that the dhow-type vessel – chartered by the World Food Program Office in NAIROBI (Kenya) – carried only 35 tons of humanitarian aid in support of UN famine relief of Somali displaced persons.
This is the first time the Indian flagged dhow is escorted by a EU NAVFOR Warship. FAIZE SULTANE KWHAJA is a 558 gross tonnage dhow, a type of cargo vessel which is very common to come across in these waters. The 35 tons of humanitarian aid that safely got to the destination was mainly promalein oil enriched in vitamins A and D, a Canadian contribution to the UN World Food Program project in Somalia.
Both ships sailed together across the Gulf of Aden, transiting some areas where the merchant vessel community experienced many attacks from Somali pirates, the statement narrated and said that the ESPS NAVARRA maintained a sharp look out at close distance that allowed her to manoeuvre rapidly to protect the vessel, the cargo and the crew. After three days of escort, the WFP vessel reached “his” destination and entered safely the port of Boosaaso.
Berbera and Bosaso seem to be the only harbours left where WFP can enter since the ban of the organization by Al-Shabaab a radical Islamist movement, which outlawed the organization from operating anywhere in Somalia.
Small consignments like these 35 tonnes certainly do not warrant the gigantic costs for a naval escort, critics from humanitarian NGOs say. While donors since long do nowadays only finance very rarely humanitarian deliveries by air, it would have come cheaper to fly the 35 tonnes with one flight to Bosaso (like the Russian delivered medical equipment to Mogadishu) instead of having European taxpayers to foot the bill for a naval escort by a 4,244 t Spanish vessel for the delivery of some vitamin pills.
Real help is needed for Somalia and not the spending of millions for such a peanuts-delivery.

New land tactics being employed by Somali pirates may be a cause for concern, a UN spokesman told the BBC. 
Peter Smerdon said three trucks and their drivers were being held in the pirate town of Eyl after delivering food aid last week in central Somalia. 
He said they were hijacked on Thursday when travelling without an escort in the first incident of its kind. 
Pirates have seized several ships carrying food aid and such boats are now brought in by naval escort. 
War-torn Somalia has had no functioning government since 1991, allowing pirates to operate along the lawless coast, almost with impunity. 
Most of the country is in turmoil, with the interim government and African Union peacekeepers limited to a few key areas of the capital as they battle hardline Islamist militants who control much of the south. 
Long-term impact? 
The World Food Programme uses overland routes from northern ports for delivering aid to central areas of the country as roads from the capital, Mogadishu, are too dangerous. 
Mr Smerdon said five other trucks were also attacked and were being held by “local communities”. 
Most ships held off the pirate stronghold of Eyl are released after the payment of large ransoms. 
But earlier AFP news agency quoted a pirate spokesman demanding the release of pirates jailed by the authorities in Somaliland, which is run independently from the rest of Somalia. 
“We are concerned, but it’s too early to say whether it’s going to have an impact on our bringing food down from Berbera and Bossasso to central Somalia, which is the region greatest in need,” Mr Smerdon told the BBC. 
Over the weekend the agency said Islamist al-Shabab militants were stopping convoys of food reaching people living in displacement camps outside Mogadishu. 
In January, the WFP pulled out of large parts of southern Somalia because of militant threats.

Interpretation of actual and constructive total loss under the Marine Insurance Act 1906 by Brian Green, M Machua Millett, Victoria Anderson and Jeanne Kohler (Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge)
Masefield AG v Amlin Corporate Member Ltd [2010] EWHC 280 (Comm) concerned the interpretation of actual and constructive total loss under the Marine Insurance Act 1906.
In 2008, the vessel Bunga Melati Dua (the vessel), a chemical/palm oil tanker, was seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and taken to Somalia waters. The claimant, Masefield AG, was the owner of two parcels of bio-diesel which had been shipped onboard the vessel. The defendant, Amlin Corporate Member Ltd, was the insurer of the cargo under an open cover contract. During negotiations for the release of the vessel the claimant served a notice of abandonment on the defendant. It was the claimant’s primary case that the capture and removal of the vessel to Somali waters constituted an actual total loss under section 57(1) of the Marine Insurance Act 1906. In the alternative, the claimant asserted that the events constituted a constructive total loss under section 60(1) of the same Act.
The High Court, in drawing a distinction between a claim for actual total loss and a claim for constructive total loss, found that the claimant failed in proving either claim. First, in dismissing the alternative claim, the High Court stated that the criteria for proving constructive total loss under the Act were that (1) the subject matter must be abandoned and (2) an actual total loss must appear unavoidable. On the facts before it, the High Court found that that cargo was not abandoned in the relevant sense as the vessel and cargo owners “had every intention of recovering their property and were fully hopeful of doing so“. In addition, there was no reasonable basis for regarding an actual total loss to be unavoidable (for the same reasons set out below).
For the claimant to prove an actual total loss it had to pass the objective test of being ‘irretrievably deprived’ of their cargo. This was to be assessed on the true facts as at the date of the commencement of proceedings, whether or not known or apparent to the claimant. The High Court found that for the purpose of establishing irretrievable deprivation an assured must establish that the recovery of the property is impossible. The High Court stated that an assured is not “irretrievably deprived of property if it is legally and physically possible to recover [that property]…even if such a recovery can only be achieved by disproportionate effort and expense“. 
Again, on the facts before it, the High Court found that much was known about the modus operandi of Somali pirates. It was clear that they take vessels in order to receive a ransom, at which point they release the vessel. The defendant’s expert, a consultant providing security advice to the international shipping community, concluded that “it was more likely than not” that the vessel would be released and that there was a “high expectation” that upon the vessel being released the cargo would be released also. For this reasoning the High Court found that the claimant was not ‘irretrievably deprived’ of its cargo.

——– ecology, ecosystems, marine environment, IUU fishing and dumping, UNCLOS ———— 

Foreign vessels dump Somali fishermen at the coast by Mohammed Omar Hussein (Somaliweyn)
The foreign vessels on the the Somali waters have overnight dumped at least 22 men which are believed to be all ordinary local fishermen along the coast of Haradere at Mudug region in central Somalia.
Reports which Somaliweyn Website has received from the immediate exact location of Fah where the Somalis were dumped says that there were 22 Somalis who were unloaded at the coast.
“In fact some of these men were identified by the local residents and they termed them as local fishermen and not pirates. Some of them their bodies had bruises, and seemed to have been tortured” said Mahad Ali a resident in Fah location where these people were dumped speaking to Somaliweyn Website.
One of the victims who spoke to Somaliweyn Website in a low unclear voice said that they had their boats in the sea trapping fish, but unfortunately they were mistaken us as pirates, and the entire of their fishing materials including their 5 boats were burnt in front of the European thieves’ view.
The district commissioner of Adado district in Galgadud region in central Somalia honorable Abdi Elmi has as verified that those victimized people were not pirates, but ordinary fishermen.  

“Pirates” in Somalia are Violated – Justice and Constitution Minister (somaliweyn)
Abdurrahman Mohamoud Farah Janaqow the Minister of Justice and Constitution in the Somali Transitional Federal Government, has strongly criticized, how the world deals with the local Somali “pirates”.
The Minister has in a loud voice said that the world violates the sovereignty of the country.
“The so called mission against the local Somali pirates is an absolute violation against them, and the country as well the Somali pirates have not committed any sort of crime against the world, which have now become predators of the Somali pirates. The pirates are still all over the Somali waters, and if at all the pirates have committed any crime they have committed it against their own country and not the rest of the world . It is upon the Somali government to prosecute the pirates” said Janaqow speaking to Somaliweyn Website.
In his statement honourable Janaqow added that the only solution to overcome and curb the pirates is for the world to wholeheartedly support the Somali transitional federal government to control the entire country.
“Currently there are several foreign vessels and their workers who are in the hands of Somali Pirates, and I am sure these vessels have for the Somali “pirates” been illicitly trading, and have been as well collecting the Somali marine resources” added Janaqow.
Somali pirates have received for the last couple of years lucrative sums of ransom from foreign vessels voyaging off the coast of Somalia, while Somalia has not had an effective central government since late president Mohammed Siyad Barre was ousted from power in the year 1991.
Background:

[N.B.: Though neither NATO nor the Danish Navy have provided full information, it has more or less become clear that in the first incident the two groups of 5 and 6 men with two open fishing boats (a 12m inbord diesel and a skiff with outboard engine) have been taken out of the water at around 20nm from the coast by the Danish Navy, the larger one destroyed and the 11 men sent back to to coast in the skiff. Further clarification from NATO and/or the Royal Danish Navy is still expected, especially because local reports speak now of 5 boats having been destroyed and 22 fishermen victimized.]

According to a NATO press release, Absalon, a Danish attack support ship engaged in NATO’s counter-piracy efforts, “disrupted a piracy attack in the Somali basin on Sunday and then scuttled a mother ship.”
The statement said the vessel sank Sunday was used as a mother ship by Somali pirates for transportation of speedboats employed to carry out attacks on commercial ships. It added that the mother-ship was sunk after the Danish forces on the warship evacuated the pirates from the vessel.
The Somali coast, particularity the Gulf of Aden, has been infected with piracy in recent years. More than 160 pirate attacks have been reported in the waters off Somalia last year. The pirates have managed to hijack at least 34 vessels, and are currently holding some 10 ships and 200 hostages. Generally, the crew and the vessels are returned unharmed on receiving the demanded ransom.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre’s government in 1991. Currently, a weak UN-backed interim government under President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is trying to enforce its authority in the country, most of which is controlled by various Islamist insurgent groups.
Pirate attacks off the Somali coast have continued despite the presence of several warships, deployed by navies of the NATO, the European Union, Russia, China, South Korea and India, in the region to protect cargo and cruise ships against piracy.
The UN Security Council has approved four resolutions since June to promote international efforts in fighting the escalating piracy problem off the coast of Somalia, and has authorized countries engaged in anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast to conduct land and air attacks on Somali pirates after obtaining prior permission from the Somali government.
[N.B.: So far the Somali government  has not in a single case given any such legally correct permission, because the Somali parliament has never consented or approved such measures or bestowed into the Somali President or other officials the power to authorize such attacks in violation of the Somali sovereignty.]

Gentle Giants Face Massive New Threat (IFAW)
A massive new threat against whales has just surfaced – a proposal for a ten-year plan to legalize commercial whaling!
This proposal, unveiled last week, is the result of a series of closed-door meetings of fisheries bureaucrats from various countries active in the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
From March 2nd, member countries of the IWC gather in St. Pete Beach, Florida, to discuss and debate this proposal. IFAW is leading the fight to stop this proposal to legalize commercial whaling, and we need you to urge your Member of Congress to support the Whale Conservation Act immediately.
Click here now to take action!
IFAW’s whale team will be on the ground tomorrow, protesting this dangerous decision and urging these governments not to harpoon thirty years of conservation progress. We can’t match these governments dollar for dollar, but with your help, we CAN stand up to them and we CAN win critical protections for whales, just as we did ten years ago…
On This Very Day…
Incredibly, tomorrow also celebrates the ten year anniversary of one of IFAW’s greatest victories for whales, an achievement the media called “the most important environmental victory in a generation.”
Laguna San Ignacio, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, is the last unspoiled birthing lagoon of the California Gray whale. However, ten years ago, it was in danger of being turned into the world’s largest industrial salt facility.
IFAW supporters around the world joined with other concerned individuals and organizations – including IFAW honorary board members Pierce and Keeley Brosnan – to protest the destruction of the birthing lagoon.
And on March 2nd, 2000, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo announced his decision to cancel the industrial project.
The birthing grounds were saved, and thanks to our vigilance and commitment over the past decade, majestic mother gray whales can gently nurse their newborn calves in the lagoon we protected.
IFAW continues to work with local and national groups, the Mexican Government and others, to secure permanent conservation status for this very special place. Sadly, in the ten years since the gray whale nursery has been protected, threats to whales up and down the Pacific coast and around the world have continued to grow.
New Threats to Earth’s Great Whales
>From habitat destruction to marine pollution, from underwater noise to climate change, whales face more threats today than ever before in history.
Now this new whaling threat puts thousands of these gentle giants of the deep in the gunsights of Japan, Norway and Iceland, the last three countries still killing whales for commercial purposes in 2010.
So while we celebrate the ten year anniversary of a historic victory, let’s renew our commitment to saving whales in crisis around the world and stop the plan to legalize the killing over the next decade.
Take action today to urge your member of Congress to support the Whale Conservation Act to strengthen US leadership at the IWC.

Farmers in southwestern Somalia welcome ban on WFP operations (ShabelleMedia) 
Farmers in Baardheere District of Gedo Region, southwestern Somalia, have said they will start to cultivate their farms knowing that their harvest will fetch them good money. The farmers welcomed Islamist Al-Shabab’s decision to ban WFP operations in the region, reports independent leading broadcaster Radio Shabeelle.
The farmers described the ban as a positive move to enhance agricultural produce in the country.
Al-Shabab administration recently took over WFP stores in the region and distributed food aid to hundreds of vulnerable people in the region.
WFP had suspended its operations in southern and southwestern Somalia in January after it received threats from Al-Shabab.

Shabab urges farmers to produce more food (SimbaNews) 
Al Shabab Movement officials in middle Shabelle urged farmers in the region to redouble food production a day after Shabab reiterated their ban on wfp which they accuse of harming Somali farmers.In a statement shabab warned Somali people against working with wfp and threatened to take measure against anyone who works with WFP.
Shabab officials told participants to produce food that can cover the needs of the people in the region as well as other regions to make up for the suspension of food rations by WFP. “Wfp food distribution has been fully banned, so you should rely on yourselves and produce the food we need” said senior shabab commander who did not want to be named. “We told them to buy food from Somali farmers”.
Meanwhile farmers who participated the meeting welcomed shabab decision and accused wfp of harming Somali farmers by importing large quantities of food during the harvest seasons. “We are ready to redouble our food production but we are facing many problems“. 
Wfp accused shabab of imposing difficult and unacceptable conditions on them, a move that forced them to suspend rations Shabab controlled areas of the country.

Here is a link (again) to the FSNAU’s Post Deyr ’09/10 Analysis [pdf] for an idea of local food production figures across the various regions.

————————— anti-piracy measures ———————————

Pirates Inc.
As pirate attacks become better organized and funded, Egypt still isn’t ready to commit ships by Ali El-Bahnasawy (EgyptToday)
On the coast north of Mogadishu, the Somali city Haradheere used to be a poor fishing village. Now, the local stock exchange is on the rise, and employment opportunities abound. What’s its secret? Haradheere’s business is piracy, and piracy appears to be recession-proof. There’s a booming market for rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. The first half of 2009 was rocky, with ‘companies’ posting zero acquisitions, but business has rebounded with the hijacking of three ships in the first 35 days of 2010. 
A coalition of United Nations members are making their own significant anti-piracy investments. A number of countries have committed military ships to protect commercial interests in the increasingly treacherous Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. But Egypt, which derives substantial income from the Suez Canal, has thus far opted out of the UN-led armada, taking instead a more diplomatic approach.
Taking Stock 
Haradheere is the de facto capital of the pirate gangs terrorizing the waters off Somalia since 2007. According to the International Maritime Bureau, 2009 saw 214 attacks by Somali pirates, up from 111 in 2008. Out of the 214 attacks, 47 ships were hijacked and a total of 867 crew members held hostage. 
In 2008 alone, Somali piracy netted $150 million (LE 825 million) for the gangs, according to a BBC report. Once ragtag outfits of maritime marauders, Somali pirates are now organized, well-equipped and even looking for investment opportunities. 
In January, Charles Petrie, the UN’s deputy special representative for Somalia, confirmed what many news organizations had already reported: People in Somalia can now invest their money in the first criminal stock exchange to finance pirate attacks. In an interview with Reuters, an unnamed ex-pirate and current investor said that the exchange started with 15 crews, and reached 72 crews in December 2009. In the same report, 22-year-old divorcee Sahra Ibrahim, claimed to have made $75,000 (LE 411,375) in just 38 days, telling Reuters, “I am waiting for my share after I contributed a rocket-propelled grenade for [an] operation.”
The Pirate Hunters
The UN-led coalition against the pirates haven’t seen nearly as positive returns. The European Union currently has five ships in the Gulf of Aden. Other countries — including the United States, Russia, Japan, India, Iran and Saudi Arabia — have added their own naval firepower. In total, 35 warships are out hunting pirates, but have thus far failed to eliminate the problem.
The pirates have proven a savvy and tenacious foe. They have extended their range to nearly 1,000 kilometers off the Somali coastline, using GPS to hone in on prey. The aggressors are typically armed to the teeth with AK-47s and RPGs. Their tactics adapt quickly. Previously, a single boat would launch an attack; now, three-pronged offensives, with two small attack boats and a support ship are common. 
Commander John Harbour, the spokesperson for the European Union Navy Forces in the Gulf of Aden explains the challenges facing the pirate hunters: “The problem is the huge area the pirates work in. It is about 2 million square miles.” The hunting zone is roughly the size of Western Europe; nonetheless, Harbour says that the current force of 35 warships is enough.
One nation notably missing from the naval roster is Egypt, despite it being one of the countries most economically affected by Somali piracy. According to a July 2009 report by the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, receipts from the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Aden via the Red Sea, dropped 30 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to the first half of 2008. The report named piracy and the global financial crisis’ impact on trade as the two main factors that led to the drop. 
Though Egypt is wary of a military response, it has by no means taken the option off the table. “We are still studying the military option in Egypt,” says Majed Abdelaziz, Egypt’s permanent representative to the United Nations. 
Instead of committing its military, Egypt chairs the fourth working group, labeled Public Information of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). Formed in January 2009 by a UN Security Council resolution, CGPCS is a coalition to combat maritime piracy on military, political and social fronts. 
Egypt is in charge of raising public awareness about the issue of piracy and of leading the campaign for public information both within and outside of Somalia. A key component of the campaign is explaining exactly how supporting piracy negatively impacts Somali society. For instance, Abdelaziz says that Cairo’s Al-Azhar is preparing materials to distribute to its Somali students and the larger community within Somalia. 
When it comes to the canal, Egypt cooperates with the EU to raise awareness and prevent attacks. In January 2010, the Suez Canal Authority began distributing maps, charts and pamphlets to all ships headed towards the Gulf of Aden. The materials highlight an international safe corridor and tips on making it harder to get hijacked. 
One of the issues keeping Egypt’s navy out of the coalition, Abdelaziz says, is how to deal with the pirates captured at sea. “Participating in the forces has many considerations. One is, what is the legal responsibility toward those pirates who will be arrested? Will we send them to Somalia to be prosecuted or bring them to Egypt? And how will this reflect on the good relationship between Egypt and Somalia? How can I prosecute them in Egypt on crimes they committed in their country? It is a very sensitive matter.”
The EU has found its own solution, in which Kenya will prosecute captured pirates in its courts with the EU financing the trials.
More countries have joined the multinational effort, including China, which had previously protected its own ships before signing on to the UN coalition in January 2010. But it remains to be seen if naval force can fix the problem or merely stem the tide. 
For investors and ‘companies’ on Haradheere’s pirate stock exchange, greater risks promise greater rewards. Toward the end of 2008, the average ransom netted by pirates for a captured vessel was around $1.5 million (LE 8.3 million). With commercial vessels better protected, the average ransom has jumped to $3.5 million (LE 19 million). Meanwhile Somalia’s political turmoil and economic straits mean that crews have plenty of new recruits. The pirates have a lot of incentive to stick to their guns.

US wants more African states to prosecute pirates (Reuters)
The U.S. envoy to Tanzania urged African nations on Wednesday to prosecute Somali pirates apprehended in the Indian Ocean as a way of tackling the continent’s growing piracy problem.
“Right now, Kenya and Seychelles [N.B.: .. he forgot that Somaliland, Puntland and actually even the Shaabaab-controlled Jubaland regions in Somalia do prosecute pirates] are the only two countries in Africa that are prosecuting pirates,” said U.S. Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt. “More countries need to come forward. That’s how to stop it.”
The coast off Somalia is among the world’s most dangerous for merchant shipping. The number of attacks worldwide jumped by 40 percent last year, with gunmen from the failed Horn of Africa state accounting for more than half the 406 reported incidents.
The issue of jurisdiction to prosecute cropped up after a U.S. Navy warship prevented an attack on a ship flying the Tanzanian flag last month and apprehended eight suspects.
He said the ship saved by U.S. forces was actually a North Korean vessel flying the flag of the east African nation and the United States now was deciding who might prosecute the suspects.
“The law allows some prosecution only when Tanzanian citizens or Tanzanian ships are attacked,” Lenhardt told a news conference. “The Tanzanian government has to decide what it wants to do and how it is going to deal with this problem.”
“The international threat of piracy puts everyone at risk. By the fact that pirates are out there, goods and services cost more because ships have to skirt around them and insurance costs go up,” he said.
“It is to everyone’s benefit to keep those sea lanes opened.”

Following Best Management Practices Essential for Safe Transit by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs

Major ocean security conference set for Seychelles by Wolfgang H. Thome (eTN)
The Seychelles will host a regional ports security conference between May 26-28 this year in order to extensively discuss and devise strategies on how to better secure the sea lanes and offer shipping protection from the marauding ocean terrorists, aka Somali pirates.
There is lingering suspicion that the pirate ranks have been infiltrated by figures from the radical Islamic militias fighting in Somalia, adding a hidden agenda to their ordinary pirating on the open seas and a new dimension to the fight of the naval coalition members.
Participation will be global, as the members of the naval coalition will be represented, including representatives of the US Coast Guard, all of whom are already extending training and equipment support to the Seychelles coast guard and other security organizations dealing with the menace.
Meanwhile, calls were renewed in Eastern Africa for closer security cooperation among the EAC member states in regard of joint ocean patrols and better coordination of resources and activities, as the impact on trade and shipping for the East African ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam is becoming more evident. Cruise ship arrivals, compared with just two or three years ago, are said to be only half now, as more shipping lines are moving their vessels to safer cruise waters, but this has a severe impact on the respective tourism businesses in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Kenya.
The EAC secretariat in Arusha has been called upon to create a platform for consultations and cooperation in this regard, also involving the International Maritime Organization, IGAD, the African Union, and relevant international bodies. It is expected that all of them will attend the Seychelles conference either as outright participants or in an observer capacity.
In closing, these added activities and measures further belie the article of the Independent of two weeks ago, which portrayed the holiday paradise of the Seychelles as a pirate paradise in their sensationalist article, but it was clearly thin on facts and full of negative speculation and smacked of a hidden agenda against the Seychelles.

————– no real peace in sight yet —————–

Somalia MPs to table no-confidence vote against PM (garoweonline)
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke will face a vote on a motion of no confidence that some 200 Somali lawmakers are planning to table against him in the parliament.
The members of parliament accuse Omar’s government of not doing enough to change the worsening security situation in country, urging to him to face the parliament and get its confidence.
“If Sharmarke’s government gets vote of confidence from the parliament, then it can continue with its work. But if it fails, then the president is required to appoint a new premier who forms a new government,” said one of the MPs.
The MP said that the current government is more preoccupied by foreign trips without a giving a thought about the current situation in the country.
However, some other lawmakers have drumming up support for the current government, arguing that it has done wonderful job compared to the parliament, which they was lurked behind.
They are said to be preparing also a motion against Speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe, whom they accuse of the bickering in the parliament.
President Sheikh Sharif is said to be confused by the turn of the events.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s Constitution and Federalism minister Madobe Nunow Mohamed announced that the current Transitional Government would be the last one to govern the Horn of African nation if the ongoing new constitution is finalized and passed.
“The formation of the political parties is the major issue in the constitution which my ministry is working on it right now,” he said.
He adds, “The new constitution would be based on Islamic law, and the committee involved in making is independent.”
He argued that the country would move from one group dominance to civilian oriented government.
The minister of constitution and federalism appointed a committee, which consist of 30 members from the civil society and the government and it will gather ideas from population and orientation.
However, Somalia’s Puntland state, which maintains to remain in a federal Somalia, says it would not take part in any constitutional reform for the country because it was not consulted in the matter and is a unilateral decision.
Representatives of both governments on November failed to agree to harmonize an accord which its first phase was signed by Somali PM and Puntland President on August 23 in central Somali town of Galkayo.
If passed, the new constitution will change the national charter of Somali TFG, which was formed six years ago in neighboring Kenya. It would allow Somali citizens to elect their representatives directly rather than pin pointed by the clan.

PR for peacekeepers in Somalia by Lauren Gelfand (monocolum on monocle.com)
Besieged in a tiny corner of one of the world’s most dangerous capital cities, peppered with sniper and rocket fire, a few thousand Burundian and Ugandan troops are protecting a rickety transitional government against Islamist insurgents in the name of African unity.

What, you might wonder, would be at the top of the African Union Mission to Somalia’s (AMISOM) peacekeeping wish list? Helmets, check. Armoured personnel carriers. Roger. A peace process? Hmm. It’s complicated.
 
Meanwhile, how about half a million dollars-worth of services every month from a top-flight British PR agency? Thanks to the taxpayers of the UN member states, it’s theirs.
 
Since November 2009, heavy hitters Bell Pottinger have led a consortium on a year-long $7.3m (€5.3m) strategic communications contract to, among other things, open a radio station and supervise a major public information “hearts and minds” campaign to make the mission (AMISOM) more welcome in Somalia.
 
Simon Davies, overseer of the project on behalf of the UN’s support office for Somalia, envisions the radio station, above all else, as the foundation of “a public broadcast system [for Somalia] not dissimilar to [America’s] NPR”. 
The UN’s idea of investing in this is that it will hugely improve communications around the country – a benefit to ordinary Somalis but also a major asset to AMISOM in improving its own security and operational effectiveness.   
There are legitimate reasons to use a contractor for public diplomacy. In the four months since the contract was signed, a full complement of staff has been recruited from Kenya and inside Somalia and work is already under way in both places, says Bell Pottinger’s chief of staff in Nairobi, Stephen Harley.
Shootings and kidnappings have made security rules so tight that UN staff can’t travel freely in most of Somalia, but contractors can make their own arrangements. The Bell Pottinger consortium’s international team has actually spent time in the country. The vast majority of UN international staff working on Somalia spend most, if not all, of their time sitting safely in Nairobi.
 
But given the dire humanitarian and security threats (Somalia’s Islamist insurgents have been linked to al-Qaeda) and the shortage of funding for the aid operation (nearly half the population needs emergency aid and thousands are fleeing to neighbouring countries every month) is a PR plan really the best thing for the African Union’s peacekeeping force to invest in right now?  
Wouldn’t it be more worthwhile spending money on training and equipment for the 5,000 Ugandan and Burundian force currently holding the front line in Mogadishu? 
 
The UN member states paying for this contract are certainly beginning to wonder about their investment in AMISOM, supporting a government that is considered the last, best hope for Somalia. A review by the UN’s budgetary watchdog in late October 2009 – even before the consortium began its work – expressed concern about the “proliferation of structures for the support of AMISOM”. 
Also disquieting is the apparent failure by AMISOM to really take advantage of the PR experts at its disposal; only one press conference has been held since November, the mission does not have a proper website and there has been no systematic output of credible information. So far, there is no sign of warming public opinion in Mogadishu towards the peacekeeping force.
 
Bell Pottinger’s best-known foray on African soil was in representing oil trader Trafigura, which paid out more than $150m (€110m) in compensation to Côte d’Ivoire last year following the dumping of a shipment of its waste in the West African country.
 
Defending AMISOM peacekeepers against charges of indiscriminately shelling civilians in Mogadishu may be their next task.

President Farole of Puntland reshuffles his cabinet Ministers by Mohammed Omar Hussein (Somaliweyn) 
The President of the semi-autonomous state of Puntland honorable Abdurrahman Mohammed Mohamoud Farole has on Monday evening reshuffled his cabinet of Ministers. 
In a press conference at the national assembly in the capital of Garowe the president has officially announced that he has reshuffled his cabinet of Ministers in this manner. 
Some of the Ministers who missed their Ministerial posts are General Abdullahi Sacid Samatar the security Minister, and was substituted by General Yusuf Ahmed Khery who was earlier the assistance Minister for Internal Affairs. 
Abdirizak Hussein Gaceyte was substituted with Sacid Mohammed Rage, who was a former Minister in the government of the former President of Puntland Adde Muse. 
The Minister for Health Bashir Ali Bihi was substituted with Dr. Abdullah Warsame. 
The Minister for National Planning Farah Adan Dhalac was substituted with Dr. Daud Mohammed Omar.   
“I have been for along time doing for assessment to verify who is eligible, and who is not eligible to the post of Ministerial in my government, and in doing this reshuffle I have consulted with my vice President, we are representing a whole population, and actives should be the first priority, and to dormant does not sounds good” said President Farole speaking to Somaliweyn Website on Tuesday morning. 
The President has just recently returned from tour of duty to some countries in Africa, and was worried by the insecurity which lately been experienced in some parts of Puntland. 
Puntland has been one of the most reliable region in Somalia in terms of security despite been the main hub for Somali pirates.  

The Bullets Find Us No Matter What! by Abdul Kareem Muhammed Jimale (*) (IOL)
In south and central Somalia, there is nowhere to escape from the worsening conflict between the rebels and the pro-government forces, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women and children. People hoping for a new life during the new year were killed, maimed, and injured; aid agencies and offices were robbed; houses and hospitals were destroyed by mortar shells. 
Beledweyne, a strategic town in central Somalia, turned one morning into a war zone. It was on January 21, 2010; the crowded streets became empty, and thousands of the residents, including the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Mogadishu vacated their home.
A number of people simply live under trees, with no shelter from the scorching sun and the heavy downpour. The situation can only be described as the nastiest ever in the history of the town. 
“It’s like going from the frying pan into the fire for the displaced people from Mogadishu. A number of them died, and others were injured after the warring groups fought inside the town,” said Ilyas, a journalist based in Beledweyne. 
“Most of those injured in the clashes were women and children,” he added. 
Ilyas said the people are now living under the trees with no clean water, sufficient food, shelter, sanitation, and medical facilities. 
Deadliest Month Since August 2009 
Early 2010 in central Somalia, the New Year was marked with deadly clashes between pro-government Islamists and Al-Shabaab rebel group. January was the deadliest month since August 2009. Approximately, 258 people died, and 253 others were injured. Thousands of families were displaced, according to a report released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Andrej Mahecic UN refugees’ spokesman said, violence in Somalia sharply escalated in January 2010, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths, and widespread destruction. 
Andrej adds the fighting displaced over 80,000 Somalis during that month, including 18,000 who fled their homes in the capital Mogadishu. 
From Bullets to Bullets 
“I fled from my second home in Beledweyne. I don’t know where to go; I am in misery,” Shukriya Yahye a 29-year-old, mother of five, told IslamOnline.net. 
Shukriya said she fled from the restive capital Mogadishu, and now lives under a tree at the outskirt of Beledweyne town with her five children. Shukriya lost some of her relatives in the restive capital: 
“I would like to go back to my home to get my sister and relatives, but I can’t go back; I don’t have any clue as to how to find them.| 
“Schools were closed; there was no business and lack of food. I lived under constant fear, wondering when mortars would hit my home, but Allah saved me,” Asli Hashi , another displaced person from Beledweyne told IOL. 
“I witnessed six of my neighbors dying; I was unable to help them because the militias who were fighting in the town were roaming outside my house.” 
She added that the militias had no regard for the civilians. 
“Imagine your neighbors are dying, and you can’t assist them in any way. What kind of life is this?” Hashi asked in desperation. 
You would always hear the bullets, and then everyone would try to escape. When you return to your house, you will find everything diminished.
No Hope for Education in Central Somalia 
Somalis want their children to go to school like most parents, get educated, and have a bright future to help themselves and their country, but this dream was cut short when the central government collapsed in 1991. Central Somalia was calm compared with the chaotic capital, allowing conducive learning environment for the youngsters 
“We thought our children would have an education, but that was wiped out by the events of 21st January,” Mohamed an elder in Beledweyne told IOL. 
Amina Adow, a mother of seven and one of the IDP’s in Hiran region, said she wanted her children to go back to school, but her dream was shuttered after the deadly fighting broke out in the town. 
“My children haven’t gone to school since early this year. We fled to a village near Beledweyne town,” she said. 
Omar Abdi Jelani, a displaced person from Mogadishu hoped that he would join the secondary level and continue with his study. 
“I was very happy to join form one this year; I had hope to finish my secondary school in central Somalia, but now I don’t know what to do! I am one of the IDPs on the outskirts of Beledweyne town,” he said, adding that his hopes were shattered. 
No Food and Water 
“My kids haven’t had clean water for the last three weeks. We left our homes in central Somalia after heavy fighting erupted,” Duale Farah in Dusamareb camp told IOL by phone. 
“After we fled, we ate once a day, but Allah helped us survive from the difficulty. We pray to get peace, we hope Allah will accept our prayers,” she concluded. 
Fighting has forced many families to seek refuge with relatives, but some families have become overstretched, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
“Unfortunately, most families can no longer sustain the burden of hosting additional family members,” said Andrea Heath, the ICRC’s assistance coordinator for Somalia. 
This has left many displaced families living in deplorable conditions — sleeping in makeshift huts, and lacking even the most basic items needed for daily survival, as most lost all their belongings and are without money or work. 
“All warring parties in central Somalia don’t obey the rules of the international humanitarian law,” an aid agency worker who requested not to be named told IOL. 
Hussein left his home and some of his children in Wadajir district in Mogadishu; he fled to Galgadud region in central Somalia. 
“I had a small shop in Mogadishu, but it was reduced to ashes by mortars. I left for Beledweyne town, where some of my relatives live,” Hussein told IOL. 
Few days later, he says, his house came under shelling, forcing him, his wife, and children to flee again. 
“Now I am at a village about 90 km to the west of Beledweyne; we don’t have enough meal and water. We live in makeshift house,” he added. 
“The life here is very difficult; the sun is very hot, no clean water and food.” 
No one can help them… 
The desperation situation is compounded by the withdrawal of almost all aid agencies from the region due to the nature of the hostility from the warring sides. 
“To work in central Somalia as an aid agency worker is very hard; you can risk your life. You must be ready every minute to die because the militias don’t like aid workers,” an aid worker told IOL. 
Somalia is one of the world’s most dangerous places and it’s very hard to work for the affected war civilians 
“So far, the deteriorating security conditions have made it hard, if not impossible, for humanitarian workers to access the needy population,” said Mahecic, the UN refugees’ spokesman. 
According to the UN, Somalia is currently experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years of almost uninterrupted civil strife and one of the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian tragedies. 
More than 1.4 million people are displaced in Somalia, while another 560,000 Somalis have sought refuge in neighboring countries, according to the UNHCR.
(*) Abdul Kareem Muhammed Jimale is a correspondent for IOL based in Kenya. He is also a correspondent for Radio Shabelle, and the Somali Garowe Online.

Somalia Shelling Kills Nine People, Wounds 34 in Mogadishu by Hamsa Omar (Bloomberg)
At least nine people were killed and 34 others wounded in an overnight shelling in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, between Islamist rebels and government soldiers backed by African Union peacekeepers, witnesses and officials said. 
The shelling began after government soldiers in the city were pushed back from positions they had taken by reinforcements sent in by the Islamist militia, witnesses said. 
“The government soldiers were reinforcing newly taken positions when they came under attack from Islamist fighters,” Mowliid Abdifatah Igal, a local elder in the Hodan district, said by phone today. “Later, heavily armed Islamists streamed through the district and both sides started shelling each other.” 
Somalia’s Western-backed government has been battling Islamist insurgents since 2007 after the Islamic Courts Union was ousted from power when troops from neighboring Ethiopia invaded. The Horn of Africa nation hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre, the former dictator, in 1991. 
Members of the al-Shabaab Islamist militia stopped the advance of government forces, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Hussein, al- Shabaab’s spokesman, told reporters in the city today. 
“We admitted 34 wounded people and four others died of their wounds while being treated, including a two-year-old boy,” Dr. Mohamed Yususf, director of Medina Hospital, said by phone. Five other corpses were found in the streets, Ali Muse Sheikh, a paramedic who works for Lifeline Africa and the Nationlink ambulance service, said.

Sa’id Ahmed told The Associated Press that the fighting erupted in the capital Mogadishu Tuesday after government forces moved into an insurgent-held neighbourhood. 
He said government troops killed four al-Shabab fighters during the gunfight. Al-Shabab, a group of Islamic insurgents in Somalia, has been accused of building ties with al-Qaeda and leading violent attacks against the weak UN-backed government. 
Ali Muse, who works with Mogadishu’s ambulance service, said his team collected the bodies of 10 civilians after the fighting. He said 39 wounded people were also taken to hospital.

5 died in a daylight combat in Mogadishu, scores of others wounded by Mohammed Omar Hussein (Somaliweyn)
There were sounds of heavy weapons echoing across the Somali capital Mogadishu at noon hours on Tuesday.
The fighting which took place at Hodan district in the Somali capital Mogadishu, and had effects in some other districts in the city was between the armed Islamists factions in Somalia and the Somali government soldiers gaining military support from the African Union troops in Mogadishu.
“The fighting has commenced when the rival Islamists have attacked a Somali government soldiers base in Hodan district and as the fighting has exceeded the African Union troops joined to beef up the government soldiers” said Jamal Noor who is among the few residents of Hodan district speaking to Somaliweyn Website.
Some of the heavy weapons which were coming from the government controlled areas have landed in Bakara market where they have killed two people.
In another mortar which has landed in the courtyard of a famous remittance Company in Somalia called Dahabsiil there were scores of the employees injured and a pedestrian was killed.
“Several mortars have landed in our vicinity and so far only one person was killed and three others seriously wounded” said Bashir Ali a resident in Kasa populare who also spoke to Somaliweyn Website.
Day-to-day combat in the Somali capital Mogadishu has become a habitual issue in the city, and the endless fighting in Somalia has resulted millions to die, millions to flee, and millions to go hunger.

Russia extends more humanitarian assistance to Somalia (APA)
In response to a special request by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, Russia has accepted to extend more humanitarian medical aid to the people of Somalia, APA learns from Russian Foreign Ministry sources on Tuesday. 
The sources said that in the past several days, 26 tonnes of Russian medical supplies, drugs and first aid were delivered to the Somali capital, Mogadishu. 
« Their distribution has already begun. The second lot of Russian humanitarian delivery will arrive in Mogadishu within a week. However, the situation in Somalia remains extremely complex. The threat from international terrorism has been added to sharpen internal armed opposition which continuous in this country for a period of almost 20 years, » the statement said. 
Most of Somalia is in ruins, millions of refugees and internally displaced persons are deprived of elementary medical aid. Russian humanitarian assistance is highly valued by the government of the poverty-stricken country and it is more than timely, the ministry said in its statement. 
The Prime Minister of Somalia, on behalf the government and people, has expressed appreciation to the Russian government and people for the help given. He said Russia’s contribution to the efforts for the normalization of the situation in Somalia has a positive bearing on the achievement of peace, security and stability. 
Last year, Russia helped Somalia with medical and humanitarian assistance worth $1million. 
A civil war in Somalia since 1991 has destabilized the situation in the country with rebel forces largely seizing control of most parts of the country.
Russian Humanitarian Aid to Population of Republic of Somalia (PR MFARF)
As previously reported, in response to an urgent request from the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, the Government of the Russian Federation took decision to send Russian humanitarian medical aid to the population of Somalia. 
Over the last few days, 26 tons of Russian medical equipment, medicines, and first aid kits were delivered to the Somali capital Mogadishu. Their distribution has begun. A second consignment of Russian humanitarian supplies will arrive in Mogadishu within a week. The situation in Somalia remains extremely difficult. A threat posed by international terrorism is now added to the severe internal armed confrontation continuing in the country for nearly 20 years. Economic dislocation reigns in Somalia, millions of refugees and internally displaced persons are deprived of rudimentary medical care. 
The Russian humanitarian action has been highly appreciated by the leadership of impoverished Somalia and ordinary Somalis and was, in their assessment, more than timely. Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke on behalf of his government and people expressed gratitude to the Russian leadership and all citizens of Russia for the assistance, stressing that it is a confirmation of the friendly relations between our countries, and a further contribution by Russia to efforts to normalize the situation in Somalia and achieve peace, security and stability there.

Journalist Beaten By Guards in Semi-Autonomous Somalia Region of Puntland by Naomi Hunt (*)
IPI Calls on Puntland Authorities to Punish Anyone who Assaults a Journalist

A Somali correspondent was allegedly beaten by court security guards last Wednesday in Puntland, the semi-autonomous region of Somalia, according to a 25 February statement by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). 
Ahmed Ibrahim Nor from Mogadishu-based Radio Simba was recording proceedings in the high court of Bosaso, capital of Puntland, when he was allegedly attacked by the court’s chief security officer and other guards, NUSOJ reported. Nor and other journalists were reportedly told to stop recording, but were attacked even after they had turned off their equipment. 
“IPI condemns the attack on Ahmed Ibrahim Nor,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “The Puntland authorities must take action against anyone who attacks a journalist. In doing so, they will be ensuring that no one is above the law. If security guards are found to have been involved in an assault on a journalist, they should be prosecuted. Attacks on journalists should never be tolerated.”
This is the second courtroom attack on a journalist in Puntland in a year. Last July, Aweys Sheikh Nur, a reporter for the Netherlands-based broadcaster, Horseed Media, was allegedly attacked by five guards at a Bosaso courtroom, who beat the journalist with the butts of their AK-47 rifles.  Nur was beaten for having taken photographs despite an order not to do so, which was reportedly given while the journalist was outside the courtroom.  The judge and other guards failed to intervene during the beating, and Nur subsequently checked himself into a local hospital for treatment. 
“The problem in Puntland is that the armed forces have absolute protection,” NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman told IPI by phone. “They do whatever they want, and no one talks to them,” he added, citing as an example an attack on a senior Radio Galkayo reporter that occurred in December, when a well-known Puntland police officer allegedly fired shots at Hassan Mohamed Jama as he arrived at the local airport to pick up a friend.  
Jama managed to escape unharmed. The police officer has not faced any disciplinary proceedings for his actions.
Several Puntland journalists were attacked, arrested, jailed or suspended last year under criminal defamation and other laws, as a result of their critical reporting. In November 2009, Voice of America (VOA) reporter Mohammed Yasin Isak was shot in the shoulder in Galkayo while exiting a Puntland police checkpoint, IPI reported at the time.  
Elsewhere in Somalia, kidnapped radio correspondent Ali Yusuf Adan, who was detained on 21 February by Al Shabab militia soldiers, continues to be held incommunicado.
(*) Naomi Hunt, Press Freedom Adviser for Africa & the Middle East

Floods displace thousands in Somalia-Ethiopia border area(IRIN)
Around 1,000 families have been displaced by flooding after heavy rains in an area straddling the border between Ethiopia and the self-declared independent republic of Somaliland, according to officials. 
“The floods occurred in the last 24 hours. About 1,000 families were displaced, and they are with their relatives in other parts of Allaybaday and Tog-wajale districts in Gabiley region,” regional governor Said Mohamed Ahmed Aw Abdi, known as Habib, told IRIN on 3 March. 
Habib said three people died in the floods which also destroyed dams used for water storage by farmers and agro-pastoralists. Hundreds of buildings in the border area, including private homes and government buildings such as customs and immigration offices have been evacuated, according to one official in the area. 
“My house was about several hundred metres away from the seasonal river of Tog-Wajale, but the water reached us yesterday evening,” Wajake resident Said Abdifatah Mohamed Hassan, told IRIN by phone. 
“I evacuated my three children and their mother to a relative’s family far away. While I locked the house and left, everything in the house was lost in the flood, but by Allah’s mercy we are saved,” he added. 

Torrential rain in Bardere district cause damages by Mohammed Omar Hussein (Somaliweyn)
Heavy downpour at Bardere district in Gedo region southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu has caused sever damages to both mankind and other properties in the district.
“The rain has commenced on the injury hours of Tuesday morning and has been continuing for 5 consecutive hours, there were floods everywhere so far 4 houses were destroyed by the floods, 7 people were sustained different categories of injuries due to the floods” said Ishmael Adan a resident in Bardere district speaking to Somaliweyn Website on Wednesday morning.
The rain has as well damaged the electricity lines in the district and the water pipes which were running beneath the ground.
But this morning after the rain has subsided there were maneuvers of the town traders’ organizing means to repair the damaged streets and help out the people whose houses were destroyed by the downpour. 

Somali Composers Hand U.S.$1000 Support from Germany to a Weak Somali Family (shabelle)

The Somali composers’ council has Tuesday handed US $1000 from a Germany community to a weak Somali family whose 6 children perished in a landmine explosion happened in central Somalia last year.
The Somali composers said that the money was directly from the Germany citizens and reached the administration of Shabelle Media Network who lastly decided  to hand the the composers‘ money to the family who recently got first newly born baby since they lost their six children in a land mine blast that exploded as the children were cooking food around the mine, which exploded and kill all the six children of the Family.
Sharif Aden Roble, the father of the poor family has received the money from Harari Hassan Barre, the district commissioner of Balanbal and the representative of the composers. The community in Galgudud region thanked the German community and people who sent the support money for them reiterating his thanks to those who gave them US $1000 as charity by a time they are in a very difficult situation.
Shabelle’s representative for the region had visited the hut of the family and covered their images saying that he had seen the father Sharif Aden Roble and the mother with the only days old baby sitting under the their hut in the area.
“We received $1000 Dollar. It was from abroad, especially Germany. The District commissioner had handed it to us, he told us it was from the Somali Composers. So we thank to those who gave us this support of money. Look all these people are glad today for getting this money,” said Sharif, “we bought a donkey as you see and more than 16 goats, food and we have some other, but this is not enough and enough, we need more support. My wife and I live in a desert area. She has got newly born baby. She is also sick. We do not have a shelter so we need a shelter,” said Sharif.
Sharif Aden Roble, is the father of a Somali pastoralist family and he evacuated from Adado village in the north and lived outside Balanbal district in Galgudud region before losing his children in the blast in 2009 saying that the situation of the family was very weak.
Harari Hassan Barre, the district commissioner of Balanbal expressed happiness about the charity money that the family received saying that his administration was busy helping the weak people in the region.
“We are very happy for the support money. The family bought a big donkey to use as transportation and several goats and ration. It is good,” said Hareri.
Osman Abdullahi Gure, the spokesman of Somali composers thanked Shabelle radio for handing them the charity from the community in Germany and to give it to the family and also to be witnesses for that adding that it was very important role pointing out that the family had directly received the support. “My brother, the family got the money already. They were very weak family and experienced difficulties as they lost their children in blast that occurred in Galgudud region. The money was from Germany, which a Germany community collected as they saw and read the news of the family from the website of Shabelle radio. The money had directly arrived at the centre of Shabelle. Then we had put pressure on how the family would get the money without problems and we did. So we are calling for anyone who can try supporting that family to help those people weak people,” said Osman Abdullahi Gure.
It is the first time that such humanity support or charity received by the family whose children lost their lives in big land mine explosion that occurred at Balanbal district in Galgudud region in central Somalia.

K’naan So Ungrateful to Hospitality in Somaliland by Yousif (Somalilandpress)
The Observer/Guardian newspaper is a quality Sunday broadsheet that is published in the UK, and had an article/interview with K’naan in its supplementary pages on its issue of 28th Feb 2010.
Among many other things, The artist has talked about pirates and politics, his life journey from Mogadishu, north America and the ups and downs with his music career as well as his recent trip to Somaliland.
He was asked if he had ever been back to Mogadishu since he fled there at the age of 14, and confessed that he never did, but instead went to the north part of the country namely Hargeisa…
I was not surprised with the fact that he did not mention that Somaliland is an oasis of peace and tranquillity that is divorced from Somalia in every sense of the word, as I thought that he is not a supporter of Somaliland’s successes.
However, I was somewhat surprised and taken aback to his hostility to Somaliland and its people and even to the degree that he bluntly said that he did not feel save and was lucky to survive a planned car bombing. Furthermore, I couldn’t comprehend (neither will any Somaliland will do) why K’naan resorted in carrying a pistol around with him in Hargeisa?
In summary and in my understanding, he has been an ungrateful guest to a proud and honourable nation as well as failing to mention their unparallel success stories in an honest and more in depth ways.
Read the full interview here, K’naan’s Interview

At 74, a former Somali prime minister, may face war-crimes lawsuit by Brigid Schulte (WashPost)
Mohamed Ali Samantar, now of Fairfax City, is the focus of a case coming to the Supreme Court.
Mohamed Ali Samantar, whose name will be brought before the Supreme Court this week as that of a war criminal in his native Somalia, has a hard time getting up from the couch in his tidy split-level home in Fairfax City.
Dressed in a pressed charcoal-colored suit for his first interview in many years, Samantar, 74, stiffly hauls himself halfway up from the threadbare brocade sofa. Some of his 13 sons and daughters rush in to help. He stays them with a single gruff word. Slowly, the man who was defense minister and prime minister of the last functioning regime in Somalia stands up on his own.
 His five accusers in a civil lawsuit call him a war criminal, a monster living out his golden years with impunity in a quiet suburban neighborhood. This man, they say, was responsible for the unjust torture that they or members of their families suffered in the 1980s. They say Samantar administered a regime of repeated rape, abduction, summary execution and years-long imprisonment in solitary confinement. The accusers want someone, finally, to be held accountable for the well-documented human rights atrocities of that era. Samantar waves his hand impatiently. The accusations, he says in a deep, throaty voice, are “baseless allegations, with no foundation in truth.”
They come from a time when the country was in the midst of the first of many brutal civil wars, pitting north against south, clan against clan. A time when no one’s hands were clean. “I served the people rightly and justly,” he says. “I always respected the rule of law. I am no monster. I am not going to eat anyone.” 
With that, his 3-year-old granddaughter, one of the many grandchildren screeching gleefully throughout the house for their traditional Sunday dinner, comes up and kisses him on the lips. 
The case before the justices is not about whether Samantar is a war criminal, but whether his accusers, with no viable legal alternatives in their homeland, can sue to make him answer their allegations. The question to be decided, which has potentially powerful policy implications for the United States and its foreign relations, centers on immunity.
Samantar says he has immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, which protects foreign states from lawsuits. His lawyers argue that, although that law does not mention individuals, it protects his official actions just the same. His accusers, in a suit first filed in federal district court in Virginia in 2004 by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, say the law does not shield individuals, especially those who’ve been out of office for years.
The case has divided courts. A federal judge in Alexandria ruled that even if the immunity law does not mention individuals, such protection is the “practical equivalent” of immunity offered to a state. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond overturned the lower court, pointing to the law’s silence on individual immunity.
Samantar’s attorney, Michael Carvin, says that a decision against Samantar would open U.S. officials to lawsuits in other countries. The accusers’ attorney, Patricia Millet, says that Congress and the executive branch “have expressly determined that” it is in the United States’ interest to deny “foreign officials who engage in torture and killing a safe haven within the United States.”
A hero or a criminal?
Talk to Somalis about Mohamed Ali Samantar and the lawsuit, or cruise through Somali chat rooms on the Internet, and you will find vehement, dizzyingly divergent opinions. Samantar’s a war criminal who should be brought to justice, or he’s a nationalist hero being scapegoated. He’s a demon. He’s an Abraham Lincoln.
To understand that divide, Somalis say, you must know a Somali’s clan and how that clan fared when Samantar and the brutal regime of Mohamed Siad Barre were in power — from 1969, when the generals took over a weak and corrupt government in a bloodless coup, to 1991, when they fled and the country devolved into the violent anarchy that has reigned since.
To understand the lawsuit, Somali experts say, one must understand the history, from the 19th-century colonial division of the country into northern and southern pieces ruled by Britain and Italy, to the 20th-century Cold War dynamic, in which superpowers propping up friendly regimes averted their glance from human rights abuses.
In 1977, Somalia went to war with Ethiopia seeking to annex an area where a Somali clan called the Ogaden lived. When thousands of Ogaden refugees fleeing that conflict poured into Somalia’s north, the clan living in that region, the Isaaq, responded to the influx and what they viewed as harsh government policies. With help from Ethiopia, the Isaaq began an armed rebellion.
Members of the Isaaq clan, such as Bashe Yousuf, one of Samantar’s five accusers, see him as the last remnant of a regime bent on destroying not only the rebels but the entire clan.
Yousuf and the others say that even though Samantar didn’t perpetrate torture directly, he should be held responsible. “He is the highest-ranking person of that regime,” says Yousuf, who spent six years in solitary confinement and is a U.S. citizen living near Atlanta. “He gave the commands.”
Aziz Mohamed Deria, another of the plaintiffs, holds Samantar responsible for the day in 1988 when the Somali military burst into his family home and took his father, younger brother and cousin, who were never seen again. “The ones who took them, I don’t know where they live, their names,” says Deria, now a U.S. citizen and commodities broker in Portland, Ore. “What I know is that Mr. Samantar . . . was in charge of what was happening. If I know the big fish and I know where he lives, why go after the small ones?”
Samantar makes no apologies for the army and its conduct during the civil war. “The people bringing these allegations were, by their own admission, part of a movement that came as invaders from another country and wanted to secede,” Samantar says in Somali as one of his sons translates. “In the army, your primary function is to defend the nation from foreign invaders. The army did what it was meant to do — protect the nation from splitting in two.” The plaintiffs deny they were part of the rebellion.
After the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, the Isaaq in the north declared independence and sought to establish the nation of Somaliland, dividing the country in two.
Building a new life
Samantar barely escaped Somalia with his life in 1991. Armed bandits, he said, shot his young daughter in the back four times and his 15-year-old son in the legs as they raced to the border. A bullet grazed the back of Samantar’s skull. He lived in Rome with three of his children until 1997, when his wife, who had come to the United States earlier with their four youngest children and then received political asylum, sponsored him.
Since then, he says, he has lived in Fairfax “in relative peace.” The living room is adorned with family photos, an elaborate Arabic embroidery of the 99 names of Allah in gold, and a black-and-white photo of a much younger Samantar shaking hands with Margaret Thatcher.
He is a private man, friends and family say, who plays chess, has a warm sense of humor and prays regularly. He is supported, he says, by his 13 children.
David Rawson, the U.S. deputy chief of mission in Somalia from 1986 to 1988, says he has been puzzled why Samantar, of all Somali officials of that era, is the one being sued. Real power, he says, was concentrated in President Siad Barre and a small group of his clan members.
“Samantar was so far out of the decision-making loop,” Rawson says. “But Samantar comes from a small clan. There’s no political cost to going after someone vulnerable like that, as opposed to going after someone who comes from a significant family or important clan.”
Samantar’s clan, the Tumaal, is one of a handful of small clans considered outcasts.
Asked whether he feels remorse for the brutality of his era in power, Samantar’s answer is abrupt. “It’s in the past,” he says, pouring Splenda from a yellow packet to sweeten his bitter chai tea.

US Supreme Court to hear Somali case with broad implications (Somalilandpress)
Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Samantar v. Yousuf case. The Supreme Court will weight in whether former foreign government officials are liable under US laws for human right violations committed while in power. The case has far-reaching international implications because the outcome will determine if accused foreign government officials acting in their official capacities are protected by diplomatic immunity that is provided by 1976 Act of Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act or FSIA . 
The case involves Former Somali defense minister Mohamed Ali Samantar and five plaintiffs presented by Basha Yousuf. The plaintiffs are presented by the Center for Justice and Accountability, which is based in San Francisco. This case has wide international connotation that will lead ordinary citizens to seek compensations for human right violations by political figures and foreign officials. The key issue under review by the Supreme Court is whether former Somali Defense Minister Mohammed Ali Samantar can be held accountable under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) – or whether he is immune under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act from civil suit in the U.S. for human rights abuses committed in Somalia. 
The TVPA, passed by Congress in1991, provides that the U.S. will not be a safe haven for perpetrators of human rights abuses. Torture Victim Protection Act allows victims to file lawsuits in U.S. federal courts against a person who, acting under “actual or apparent authority or color of law, of any foreign nation,” in violations of human rights. 
Plaintiff, Basha Yousuf says he was tortured and kept in solitary confinement for six years in campaign of terror under the regime of Siyyad Barre headed by former Somali Minister Samantar. He denies having been part of a rebellion or political group. Basha says he was part of group of students who cleaned hospitals and took care of neglected clinics of Hargeisa. Mr. Yousuf adds that Mr. Samantar was one of highest-ranking figures in Siyyad Barre regime, which committed heinous crimes in Somaliland including ethnic cleansing in late 1980s. 
Mr. Youssuf and his lawyers argue that Torture Victim Protection Act, passed by Congress in 1991 after the immunity Act, would be null and impractical to enforce if individuals accused of war crimes and human rights abuses could claim immunity because usually most of perpetrators are government officials who enjoy diplomatic immunity, and in some cases illegitimate immunity like dictators. 
Because of the foreign relations consequences of the case, number of powerful governments including the United States government and lobbying groups are keeping closer look. If the Court sides with Mr. Yousuf, alleged torturers from other countries can find themselves within reach of lawsuits and criminal cases while visiting the United States. This can places the United States government in difficult position with countries. Retired political figures can be held accountable for human rights violations. 
The Somaliland community in the United States hopes to see the Court’s decision will present a symbolic justices and victory to millions of Somalilanders who were displaced and traumatized by violent war that left tens of thousands dead and wounded. On the other hand, some of the Somali community sees this case as going back in history and focusing on wrongdoings of small number of individuals, which can lead to more division and fuel the ongoing clan conflicts.

————–  reports, news and views from the global village with an impact on Somalia ——————- 

UN Security Council Will Decide on Expansion of Somali Sanctions Monitoring
consideration of mandate expansion for the Somalia Sanctions Monitoring Team on 18 March. 
The status of implementation of sanctions against Somalia would be discussed in consultations on 16 March.

Columbus Teacher Named New Somali Envoy to the U.S. (AP)
The new Somali special envoy to the United States says his top priority is rekindling the diplomatic relationship between the two countries nearly two decades of civil war in the African nation.    
Abukar Arman is the first person to hold such a position since the country deteriorated into clan warfare that tore Somalia apart in the early 1990s.    
The 49-year-old Arman, a resident of the U.S. since 1980 and most recently a teacher in Columbus, was appointed envoy Feb. 6 by Somali president Sheik Sherif Sheikh Ahmed.    
The Somali government controls just a few blocks of the capital city of Mogadishu and is under siege from the al-Shabaab terrorist group.
Arman says he recognizes the job is a tall order but says someone has to be willing to do it.

Full_Report (pdf* format – 77.6 Kbytes)

125 years of the Berlin Conference (NEW AFRICAN REVIEW)
THE BERLIN CONFERENCE
“There is no single event in modern African history whose consequences have been as dire for the continent as the Berlin Conference of 1884-85,” reports New African. With 26 February, 2010 marking 125 years since ‘the end of this abominable conference’, New African presents “an in-depth look at the conference and its impacts on Africa and her people.”
Carving up Africa
It was the Berlin conference, [referred to as the Kongokonferenz in official German records] that led to, and formalized, the scramble and eventual carving up of Africa into blocks [for France, Germany, Portugal, King Leopold II of Belgium, Spain, and Italy] that were broken down to 53 countries.
“For three months, between 15 November 1884 and 26 February 1885, thirteen competing European powers and the USA met in Berlin, Germany to share Africa amongst themselves. No African was invited to the conference.” This conference was such a sacrilege that one African artist, Yinka Shonibare, MBE represents it as a gathering of full-size bodies of headless men, one for each of the
powers, seated round a big long ovoid table, haggling over the map of Africa–a continent they could not see, they knew little about, whose people they barely understood.
These powers were indeed headless–devoid of humanity, but full of hunger and thirst for commercial and economic gain–raw materials.
Ironically, Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck who hosted and presided over the conference had just until 14 years previously fought so hard to unite Germany.
The Berlin Act of 1885
New African highlights some clauses from the Berlin act which was to govern how these powers were to conduct their affairs in relation to the acquired territories. Above all the powers were to guarantee the other powers freedom to trade within their territories. That the p owers, through the act, bound themselves to “preserve the native tribes and expressly guarantee their freedom of conscience and
religious toleration is ridiculous indeed–history shows that this never was, so it can only surmise to say it was purely a diplomatic fa?ade. The powers could only keep the colonies if they actually possessed.
The spoils of the Berlin Conference
The Berlin conference was a haggling forum, shrouded in diplomatic mischief and chicanery, the end of which was the formalization, among competing European powers, the eventual partitioning of Africa–a process brought to a close in 1902.
Britain got present day: Egypt, Sudan, British Somaliland [part of present day Somalia], Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria Ghana, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia. Brain’s scheme was to acquire a “Cape-to-Cairo territory” and it almost succeeded.
France got present day: Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Chad, Benin [collectively these formed French West Africa] Gabon, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville [ collectively French Equatorial Africa], French Somaliland [preset day Djibouti] and Madagascar. Portugal got the area under present day Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. However, in 1890, five years after the Berlin conference, Britain threatened Portugal with war if Portugal did not surrender Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe to her. Portugal gave in.
Germany got what are present day Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi Cameroon, Togo and Namibia. Germany lost all these after loosing the First World War. Italy got Italian Somaliland, and part of Ethiopia, while Spain got modern day Equatorial Guinea, and later Western Sahara. King Leopold II of Belgium got the area under modern day Democratic Republic of Congo. In the spirit of the Berlin Act, New African laments that “the colonial economies were not designed to develop these colonies, but to create wealth for the colonial powers.”
Beyond the Berlin Conference
Having come through the colonial era, where is the African society today, and where could we take it tomorrow? This is the point of reflection that New African, considers as it sums up the story on the Berlin conference. In the words of Ayi Kwei Armah, one of Africa’s renowned writers, New African examines Africa, its people, their attitudes and manner of proceeding in general; and the emergence of an ever growing feeling among post independence generation of Africans that if “we are to wake up from its [the Berlin conference and subsequent events] spell and remake our society and continent, we ill have to retrieve our suppressed ability to conceive of our wholeness…our suppressed history, philosophy, culture, science and arts.”
It will “take practical political and social reforms”, but which are not possible without “a preparatory process of cultural rebirth”, itself only possible “when a significant number of our population have enough real information of our history, philosophy, and culture to understand our potential.”
A point of concern is that the African situation as it is now, in practically all aspects, is a ” breeder of conflicts, famine, wars, and all sorts of instability,” that while it contains abundant natural and human resources, Africa lies at the bottom of the world.
New African proposes that to move forward, Africans will have to “conceive Africa as one continuous space, as opposed to the imprinted colonial mental geography that has Africans growing up “in administratively separated territories thinking of themselves as Kenyans, Ugandans…and so forth, but linked with Portugal [Britain, France, etc] in such a way that the first impulse they have when in need “would be to think of going [turning] to Lisbon [London, Paris...] and not to any place in Africa.
So “we are caught in the smaller frame of reference. That is the dilemma…”

The Road to Self Determination and Independence On the 18 February celebrations by Halifa Sallah (foroyaa)
Independence is not an event. It is not an emotive or sentimental construct. It is a by product of an evolutionary epoch making process which spreads over decades of historical engagements. It constitutes the harmonisation or weaving of diverse communities and social entities into a complex social organisation that we call a Nation. It is a vision and a Mission to affirm the right of a people to self determination in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural domains. Independence has two fundamental features.
First and foremost, it aims to affirm and assert the right to Nationhood, that is, the right of a people to a homeland that they could collectively call their own; a homeland endowed with National rights to Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity, and political Independence and safeguarded by a united, free and indomitable people or citizenry. 
Secondly, it is designed to guarantee the sovereignty of each citizen and affirm their equal power to determine how their destiny is to be managed to ensure the fullest realisation and protection of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Hence as the Nation commemorates 18 February as Independence Day it is necessary to map out the road which led us to where we are today, identify the challenges which confront us at this very moment and indicate where we are to go from here. This is the task imposed on us by necessity and common sense. We must fulfill it before we could make any movement forward. This is the only way we could give meaning to the remembrance of a date like 18th of February.
History is the teacher of all those who wish to learn from the past in order to be able to shape the future. It is therefore important to put the record straight before we could draw the right lessons that could be relevant to our cause to make our right to self determination a reality. It is often repeated that we have been colonised for 400 years. Some claim that Gambia was reduced from the size of an elephant to that of a snake. Some claim that a Nation conceived to be improbable has now proven its viability to the credit of its architects.
History is born out of facts and not fiction. If Gambia was colonised for 400 years why did Captain Grant sign a treaty with the King of Kombo in 1816 to establish the settlement of Banjul? Why would he be compelled to renew the Treaty they signed with the King of Nuimi to continue to settle at the James Island in the same year? Why would they seek the permission of the King of Lower Niani to settle in Maccarthy Island in 1823? Why would they seek authorisation from the King of Nuimi to settle on a landscape measuring one square mile at Barra point in 1826? Why would they seek authorisation from the King of Wuli to settle at Fatatenda in 1826? Why would they seek authorisation from the King of Lower Niani to occupy the land referred to as the Ceded Mile in 1844? If the territory of The Gambia was under British domination for 400 years why were armies under the command of indigenous rulers or religious leaders in control of many areas in between 1850 and 1894. In short, how could Maba’s forces impose their will on the inhabitants of Baddibu, Nuimi and Sine Saloum? How could could Foday Kaba’s forces impose their will on Jarra, Kiang Niamina and Foni? How could Foday Sillah’s forces change the face of Kombo? How could Alfa Molloh’s forces impose their will on inhabitants of Jimara, Tumana and Fulladu? Why would the French sign a treaty with Musa Molloh as late as 1894 to establish a settlement in Fulladu? Why would the British sign a treaty with him as late as 1901? It is therefore a falsification of history to claim that Gambia has been colonised for 400 years.
In fact there was no country or Nation with a territorial integrity and sovereignty called The Gambia prior to the establishment of the internal and external boundaries of the country which began in earnest in 1889 and was finally completed in 1902. Prior to the external construction of the boundaries now known as The Gambia and its internal consolidation, there were different sovereign states and communal societies which struggled for dominance. These wars undermined the trade of the settlers. In between 1850 and 1890 the war was so intense that the imports and exports of the settlers dropped respectively from 153,000 pounds and 162,000 pounds in 1839 to 69,000 and 79,000 pounds in 1886. This is what compelled the British settlers to intensify their negotiation with the local rulers who were ready to collaborate with them in exchange for military support when ever they were attacked by their neighbours. They also intensified their negotiation with the French to have effective control of the territories relevant to their trade.
History teaches that movement towards colonial domination could only be possible when sufficient alliances were made with the weaker rulers against the stronger ones and when more indigenous people considered it safe to move into the established British settlements like Banjul . British settlement in Banjul grew in population as a place of refuge for those displaced by war and those freed from slavery. As trade and businesses grew, institutions, laws, administrators and education grew along with them. Once their settlement in Banjul became consolidated the British settlers had to define the territory they wanted to transform into the colony of The Gambia. The settlers decided to define the external personality or identity of today’s Gambia on 10 August 1889 by establishing a boundaries commission comprising French and British Officials. Once the external identity of the Gambia was drawn the French and British administrations in Gambia and Senegal combined their forces to combat those who resisted their attempt to impose their will to transform their settlements into colonies. Once Faday Kaba was martyred in 1901 and Musa Molloh contained, the British colonial administration came up with the Protectorate Ordinance of 1902 to divide the territory, whose boundaries had been agreed upon by the two colonial powers, into a colony proper and a protectorate. All the people who resided in the demarcated territory became British subjects. Hence there is no historical evidence to give legitimacy to the claim that Gambia was colonised for 400 years or was reduced in size from that of an elephant into a snake. The Gambia was externally considered to be under colonial rule in 1889 but was effectively put under British colonial domination in 1002. This is the fact of history and is incontrovertible.
However, the objective is not to live in the past. The objective is to draw relevant lessons from the past in order to use them as raw material to construct the future. 
Compatriots the road to self determination and Independence was fraught with many struggles, challenges, concessions, reforms and transformations. The book entitled “The Road to Self Determination and Independence -The Gambia” which is waiting for publication will give the interested party the details.
The relevant lesson to draw is that colonialism was a fetter to the affirmation and assertion of the civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of our people. At the advent of colonialism our people were reduced to subjects without a home land. They owed allegiance, obedience and adherence to a foreign power and state. They were banished for any sign of disobedience to such power in words or deeds. They had no right to nationhood, no people’s rights, and no right to self determination and no human rights. They had no right to manage the affairs of their country directly or through chosen representatives. However, they paid taxes, duties, licenses and fees of diverse nature but did not have right to public services in equal measure. This alienation of the people gave rise to disaffection and resistance. The resistance started with the creation of associations, the convening of sub regional congresses, the establishment of newspapers to agitate against colonial domination, the formation of trade unions, rate payers associations and farmer’s cooperatives. The demands were both economic and political. The clarion call of the National Congress of British West Africa reverberated in the Gambia as Edward Francis Small called on the people to rely on awareness and organisation to build a people’s power base that could make the colonial administration to concede to popular democratic demands. ‘No taxation without representation’ was the clarion call. Rate payers called for the establishment of local councils to manage their money. Farmers’ cooperatives called for farmers’ participation in determining producer prices. Workers’ Unions called for minimum wages which could guarantee existence above the poverty line. Newspapers tackled injustices and maladministration. Allow me to mention in passing that after 45 years of Commemoration of 18th February where are the rate payers associations which demand services for rates paid? Where are the trade unions which demand for wages above the poverty line? Where are the farmers’ cooperatives which demand for fair producer prices? 
It did not take long for the colonial administration to yield to popular demands. It adjusted wages according to periodic demands. It established local councils and gradually introduced the elective principle, as demand intensified, until it became the dominant way of determining representation in the Urban Council.
The demand for political representation went from the local to the National level by calling for reforms of the advisory bodies, which had no relevant executive or legislative powers, known as the executive and legislative councils, through the introduction of the elective principle. By 1947 the colonialist conceded to the election of one member of the Legislative Council. Edward Francis Small became such a member. The demand for the right to have elected representatives to manage national affairs intensified as political parties emerged after Small’s victory. This led to multi party contest in the Urban area to fill seats in the legislative council in 1951.The seats increased to 14 in 1954 and were hotly contested. The separation of urban and rural areas in both infrastructural development and representation to the detriment of the rural dwellers gave rise to agitation in the rural areas. This agitation is what propelled the PPP to the political stage with the promise to redress the marginalisation of the rural areas.
Again let me ask in passing, after 45 years has the uneven development between rural and urban area been redressed? Have the differences in administrative structures which placed the people in the rural areas at the mercy of unwritten laws and arbitrary justice been redressed? Despite all the promises of ensuring balanced and proportionate development of the urban and rural areas all became fairy tales of by gone years.
The liberation of Ghana gave impetus to the struggle for the liberation of all British colonies in West Africa. In the Gambia the Constitutional Conference of 1959 gave rise to the 1960 Constitution which gave birth to participation of all the people in the Gambia in determining representation and a house of representatives. This introduction of universal suffrage was the beginning of the process of attaining the right to self determination and Independence. The protest of the leader of the PPP against the decision of the colonial authorities in selecting the leader of the UP as Chief Minister gave rise to the 1961 Constitutional conference which gave birth to the 1962 Constitution which introduced a second pillar in the quest for self determination and Independence .
It created the office of Governor as the Commander-in-Chief of the Gambia, an executive council comprising the Governor as the President, a premier and Ministers who were to be appointed from elected members in the House of Representatives. It created a house of representatives comprising a Speaker, an Attorney General and 36 elected members and not more than 2 nominated members. The Constitutional evolution took place without the people having full understanding of what was taking place. The Gambia was gradually moving to attain the right to self determination without the people being enlightened to know what that meant. There were changes of instruments and institutions without real change of status. Notwithstanding, Nigeria had been declared Independent in October 1960 and Sierra Leone in April 1961. Gambia was the last on the queue among the four British colonies in West Africa to be declared Independent. Its process towards the declaration of Independence had to be accelerated. Hence in October 1963 internal self Government was granted and the position of premier was transformed into that of Prime Minister. However the Prime Minister was still a British subject and owed allegiance to the British crown.
The claim that Gambia was seen as an improbable nation which could not attain Independence is exaggerated. It has no place in law or fact. In short, since 1902 Gambia had a Governor representing the British Crown who had effective control of the colony. Secondly, the Constitutional conferences which led to the gradual attainment of the right to self determination were demand driven. Thirdly, the OAU had established that the old colonial borders would serve as the borders of Independent African States. Gambia was only improbable in the minds of those who had no knowledge of international law and regional agreements at the time. The Gambia had to be declared Independent because of the wind of change which had already blown over three British colonies in West Africa . 
A Constitutional Conference had to be held in 1964 to prepare the ground for the 1965 Constitution which is referred to as the Independence Constitution. This is the Constitution which has given rise to the day the Nation is commemorating today. Allow me to refer to some of the provisions of the constitution to enable you to have the mental food to determine for yourself whether we did attain the right to self determination and Independence in 1965 or not. 
Section 29 of the 1965 Constitution creates the office of Governor General. It states categorically that “There shall be a Governor General who shall be appointed by Her Majesty and shall hold office during her majesty’s pleasure and who shall be her majesty’s representative in the Gambia.”
The oath for the due execution of the office of governor general is as follows:
“I name……..,do swear (or solemnly affirm) that I will well and truly serve Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the second , her heirs and successors, in the office of Governor General of The Gambia.so help me God.”
This confirms that the Governor General owed allegiance and obedience to the British Crown. In fact, the 1965 Constitution gave her Majesty executive power in the Gambia which could be exercised on her behalf by the Governor General.
Section 62 states that “The Executive authority in the Gambia is vested in her Majesty.”
Section 32 creates a Parliament. It states that, “There shall be a Parliament which shall consist of Her Majesty and the House of Representatives.” 
Section 60 empowers the Governor General to suspend or dissolve parliament. It states: “The Governor General may at any time prorogue or dissolve Parliament.”
Section 66 defines the role of the Cabinet as follows:
“The function of the Cabinet shall be to advise the Governor General in the Government of the Gambia and the Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to parliament for any advice given to the Governor General by or under the general authority of the cabinet and for all things done by or under the authority of any Minister in the execution of his office.”
The judges under section 89 were appointed by the Governor General. Section 70 categorically states that “The Prime Minister shall keep the Governor General fully informed concerning the general conduct of the Government of the Gambia and shall furnish the Governor General with such information as he may request with respect to any particular matter relating to the Government of the Gambia.”
Now I may ask: How Independent and Sovereign were we in 1965? How could national leaders who owed allegiance, obedience and adherence to a foreign power be conceived to have brought about the right to self determination of the Gambian People in 1965. The whole truth is that 1965 was just one more phase in the struggle to attain the right to self determination and Independence. It was the decisive phase precisely because the era for colonial domination had passed and it was left to our own national will and resolution to determine our own pace for the attainment of our right to self determination and Independence. The external personality of the country had been redefined. Gambia was seen as an Independent Nation everywhere around the globe. Our leaders had the duty to Construct the instruments, institutions, administrative and Managerial practices to ensure that the internal personality of the country did conform to the external personality of Nationhood, especially when it came to our membership of the OAU. This was the task of Nation building.
This task had six fundamental features, that is, Juridical, civil, political, social, economic and cultural. It was necessary for the political leaders, irrespective of party affiliation, to expose the defects of the 1965 constitution and its inadequacies as the Juridical instrument of a sovereign Nation and Sovereign people who were expected to have attained the right to self determination. 
In short, political leaders should be able to distinguish party interest from National interest. A law provided for the holding of a referendum to decide whether the country would continue to be a constitutional monarchy under the British Crown in accordance with the 1965 Constitution or become a Republic under a Republican Constitution. Hence, regardless of their political differences all political leaders should have made it their role to explain the content of the 1965 constitution to the people, clarify why Governor John Paul was still in The Gambia as Governor General after Independence was supposedly attained on 18 February 1965 and indicate why the Constitution handed over to them in 1965, fell short of a genuine Independence Constitution. They should have enlightened the people to know that genuine Independence would require sovereignty to reside in the People; that authority to govern should be derived from them and them alone and should be exercised with transparency and accountability to promote their liberty and prosperity. The lesson is now as clear as noon day.
The making of a modern Nation starts with the making of its Juridical instrument, its Constitution. It constitutes the architectural sketch plan for building the nation. Contrary to the views of elites, that these are not matters for illiterates, historical science has taught that people could only take full ownership of a country if they take part in its making and the first civil act a people could take part in nation building is the building of its juridical instrument or constitution. This is why a referendum is held to approve Constitutions. In 1965 a referendum was held to determine whether the Gambia should remain a constitutional Monarchy or become a Republic without putting the two Constitutional Instruments before the people to compare. The referendum should have been about accepting or rejecting a Republican Constitution which would repeal the 1965 Constitution once approved and put into force. In short, if the political leaders in the Gambia had made it their duty to explain what self determination and Independence meant in 1965, exposed the content of the Constitution to the people and then projected what a Constitution that reflects their right to self determination and Independence entailed they would have seen the need to transform the country from a Constitutional Monarchy under the British Crown into a Republic with a Republican Constitution which makes them sovereign. If they voted for the new Constitution to create the Republic we could have genuinely commemorated that day as our Independence day. 
In 1965, reason was drowned in a sea of euphoria. Myth was substituted for reality. Party loyalty ruled over National interest. Consequently, even though we were the last British colony in West Africa to be granted the right to determine our own destiny at our own pace, the political leaders kept the people ignorant and as a result they chose the slowest pace to attain self determination and Independence. The referendum which was held in 1965 was designed for Gambians to decide whether they wanted to remain under the executive authority of the British Crown or move to a Republic managed by their elected representatives. The people did not know what was written in the 1965 Constitution. They did not know the content of the proposed Constitution which would bring about the Republic. The referendum therefore failed to succeed and the Gambia remained a Constitutional Monarchy for five years before it became a Republic on 24th April 1970. This is the price we had to pay for declaring a country Independent without raising the awareness of her people. We cannot have an Independent Nation without an awakened people.
It is important to mention, in passing, that since the people did not take part in the making of the 1970 Constitution they remained largely ignorant of its content until its demise in 1994 and its ousting in 1997. Suffice it to say that the attempts made to involve the people in the making of the Constitution of the Second Republic in 1995 and 1996 were, at best, cosmetic. The people did not enjoy freedom of expression and association under an Armed Forces Ruling Council which abrogated all political rights. In the same vein, the Council had authority to overrule the wishes of the people. Hence the 1997 Constitution could only be said to be the best constitution which could be made under a military regime but falls short of the best Constitution a sovereign people could make, if there is no fetter to their freedom of expression and association, in order to safeguard their right to self determination and Independence. This is why this 45th anniversary is so significant. It must be taken as an opportunity to emphasise that the Genuine Juridical Instrument, which should affirm sovereignty of the people and ensure the attainment of our right to self determination and Independence, is yet to be made 45 years after Independence was declared. It is therefore our duty to make a resolution to make it in 2011. In order to create a spring board for such a mission I will launch two books on the 24 April 2010, the “The Road to Self Determination and Independence, The Gambia” and “The Juridical Foundation of the Third Republic” to serve as resource material for Nationwide debate on the nature of the Constitutional instrument we need to assert and safeguard our right to self determination and Independence.
The building of a Republic is a non partisan Affair. This is why I continue to emphasise the need to have a transitional arrangement in 2011 so that we could involve every one in the construction of the Nation we have never been able to construct for 45 years. 
Many countries like Kenya, South Africa, etc have had the opportunity to make a new start but have not exploited it to the maximum. A transitional arrangement is always necessary which would leave no one behind in making a new start. This requires a provisional government structure which would be inclusive, consensual and temporal and whose members would not be part of the next following Government arrangement. This is important for every one who relies on some form of alliance or unconstitutional means to put a government in office. This is the new start which had not occurred in countries emerging from war like Liberia and Sierra Leone, DRC and Cote d’Ivoire. This is the new start that is needed in Sudan, Somalia, Guinea, Niger or even outside of Africa like Afghanistan .There is no doubt in my mind that many countries could have a new start as model Nations if the purpose of a provisional government is well defined and its mandate restricted to just one term so that it could bring every one on board in the form of National Convention at the Local and national level to debate on and construct the constitution, involve everyone in its review and adoption, work together to build institutions to safeguard the rights and general welfare of the people and prepare the ground for free and fair election which excludes the members of a transitional Government. This is a way forward for most African Countries. It is my conviction that it is way forward for the Gambia in 2011.

Gone largely unnoticed a couple of weeks ago was a statement issued by Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al-Asheikh, chairman of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars, who condemned terrorism in all forms and the bloodshed of innocent people.
Al-Asheikh’s statements were released just as a workshop was getting underway in Riyadh. The workshop was sponsored the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the Middle East and North Africa and Saudi Arabia’s Commission for Investigation and Public Prosecution. A number of terrorism experts participated.
“Terrorism is criminal and spills the blood of innocents. It attacks security, spreads terror among people and creates problems for society,” Al-Asheikh said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency. 
“Such acts are forbidden by Islamic law. It is necessary to fight the attempts of some to attach terrorism to Islam and Muslims with the goal of distorting the religion and assailing its leadership role in the world.”
Al-Asheikh’s comments come at a time when Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is beginning to stir again, this time in Yemen, after it got a thrashing from Saudi security forces in 2004 and Al-Shabaab seems to have a stranglehold on Somalia.
So there is no better time for antiterrorism compaignto focus on developing international cooperation and a better equipped judicial system to deal with this lethal breed of criminal.
It’s curious, though, just how little attention Al-Asheikh’s remarks received outside Saudi Arabia, and for that matter the minimal publicity the workshop generated. The Saudi government deserves some blame for its refusal to open the sessions to more Western media scrutiny. 
That said, however, I think that Al-Asheikh’s opinions on terrorism and his citations from the Qur’an to emphasize the non-Islamic behavior of murderers hiding behind Islam have been ignored by Western observers. Al-Asheikh’s comments just don’t fit into the Western perception of what is important in the fight against terrorism.
>From what I gather that important fight appears to be waged against the image of Islam. You know, the hijab “oppresses women” and is a symbol of “an out-of-control patriarchal society”; “creeping” Shariah because nobody understands it or takes the time to learn; and minarets because they are the symbol of the “Islamization” of Europe rather than simply some nice examples of architecture that look strikingly similar to Renaissance Russian architecture.
The images of Islam are far easier to deal with than those nagging questions of why terrorism is waged in the first place. No one wants to understand the making of a terrorist and how to intervene, they just want him dead. If a Labour or Conservative MP in the UK seeks to pass legislation banning school teachers from wearing the hijab, they think they have struck a blow against the ideology of a terrorist. But not the guy wearing the bomb belt.
Frankly, terrorists have done a magnificent job of manipulating Western politicians into doing what terrorists do best: Driving a wedge between the West and Islam. Western leaders are more than happy to play the game. 
Every time some ninny tries to set off a bomb, news reports trace the perpetrator’s radicalism to his student days in the United Kingdom, but not how and why he was radicalised. The pattern seems to be that once the brouhaha over a failed bombing subsides, Westerners turn their rage to some American Muslim congressman and ask the poor guy whether he’s a fifth columnist for Al-Qaeda. Or maybe some bank manager in Smallville will decide it’s too dangerous to allow a hijabi to cash her McDonald’s pay check at the teller’s window.
No one should minimize the threat of terrorism. The massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, is a sober reminder of the true dangers Muslims and non-Muslims face. Yet American and European lawmakers appear to have little inclination to see beyond their own noses. They haven’t kept their eye on the ball and fall prey to Al-Qaeda’s shell game. 
Terrorists want the West to remain preoccupied with the superficial issues of the hijab and Islamic architecture. But instead of rising to the bait of terrorists, perhaps US state and federal lawmakers should leave their hermetically sealed districts and participate in antiterrorism workshops in the Middle East and meet people like Al-Asheikh who speak for Muslims worldwide.
Perhaps then the nonsensical spotlight on minarets and hijabs can be put to rest.

Isamic scholar Tahir ul-Qadri issues anti-terrorism fatwa by Dominic Casciani (BBC) 
An influential Muslim scholar Dr Tahir ul-Qadrihas issued a 600-page global ruling against terrorism and suicide bombing.
Dr Tahir ul-Qadri, from Pakistan, says his 600-page judgement, known as a fatwa, completely dismantles al-Qaeda’s violent ideology. 
The scholar describes al-Qaeda as an “old evil with a new name” that has not been sufficiently challenged.  
The scholar’s movement is growing in the UK and has attracted the interest of policymakers and security chiefs.  
In his religious ruling, delivered in London, Dr Qadri says that Islam forbids the massacre of innocent citizens and suicide bombings. 
Although many scholars have made similar rulings in the past, Dr Qadri argued that his massive document goes much further by omitting “ifs and buts” added by other thinkers.  
He said that it set out a point-by-point theological rebuttal of every argument used by al-Qaeda inspired recruiters. 
The populist scholar developed his document last year as a response to the increase in bombings across Pakistan by militants. 
‘Heroes of hellfire’   
The basic text has been extended to 600 pages to cover global issues, in an attempt to get its theological arguments taken up by Muslims in Western nations. It will be promoted in the UK by Dr Qadri’s organisation, Minhaj ul-Quran International.  
Dr Qadri spoke for more than hour to an audience of Muslims, clergy, MPs, police officers and other security officials. 
“They [terrorists] can’t claim that their suicide bombings are martyrdom operations and that they become the heroes of the Muslim Umma [global brotherhood]. No, they become heroes of hellfire, and they are leading towards hellfire,” he said. 
“There is no place for any martyrdom and their act is never, ever to be considered jihad.”  
Acts of vengeance   
The document is not the first to condemn terrorism and suicide bombing to be launched in the UK. 
Scholars from across the UK came together in the wake of the 7 July London attacks to denounce the bombers and urge communities to root out extremists.  
But some scholarly rulings in the Middle East have argued that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is an exceptional situation where “martyrdom” attacks can be justified.  
Dr Qadri said he rejected that view saying there were no situations under which acts of vengeance, such as attacks on market places or commuter trains, could ever be considered a justifiable act of war.  
Although Dr Qadri has many followers in Pakistan, Minhaj ul-Quran International (*) remained largely unknown in the UK until relatively recently.  
It now has 10 mosques in cities with significant Muslim communities and says it is targeting younger generations it believes have been let down by traditional leaders.  
The organisation is attracting the attention of policymakers and security chiefs who are continuing to look for allies in the fight against extremists.  
The Department for Communities, which runs most of the government’s Preventing Violent Extremism strategy, has tried building bridges with a variety of liberal-minded groups, but often found that they have limited actual influence at the grassroot.

We owe Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney an apology. They were right about Barack Obama. They were right about the corporate state. They had the courage of their convictions and they stood fast despite wholesale defections and ridicule by liberals and progressives.  

 
The hypocrisy and ineptitude of the Democrats become, in the eyes of the wider public, the hypocrisy and ineptitude of the liberal class. We can continue to tie our own hands and bind our own feet or we can break free, endure the inevitable opprobrium, and fight back. This means refusing to support the Democrats. It means undertaking the laborious work of building a viable socialist movement. It is the only alternative left to save our embattled open society. We can begin by sending a message to the Green Party, McKinney and Nader. Let them know they are no longer alone.
(*) Chris Hedges is a frequent contributor to Global Research.  Global Research Articles by Chris Hedges

No Sign Of Improvement In Strained U.S.-China Relations 
Strained relations between USA and China by Andrei Ptashnikov (Voice of Russia)
According to the reports of the U.S. and Chinese media, a top-level U.S. delegation has arrived in Beijing. The main objective here is to try to settle thorny issues, which have become visible in recent times in the relations between the two countries. 
The level of the U.S. administration delegation is high.  It includes an adviser to the U.S. President and the U.S. Undersecretary of State. They were instructed to discuss with their Chinese colleagues essential differences, which emerged between the two countries practically in all spheres of bilateral relations. Since what is meant here are the world’s two leading states, let’s analyze them in detail. 
So let’s begin with the military field, which is very important. The differences between the USA and China have gone so far that some time ago Beijing announced that all contacts with Washington in this field would be stopped. 
The reason is the U.S. administration’s plan to supply Taiwan with new types of armaments to the tune of 6.5 billion dollars. 
China has already started delivering on its decision. It has cancelled the planned visits to Washington by two of its delegations and said that the arrival in Beijing of an American general would be of no avail. The visit to China by Pentagon’s Chief Robert Gates, which was set for the first half of this year, is also put into question. Besides, the bilateral consultations on strategic security were also delayed on Beijing’s initiative. 
And now a few words about the trade relations between the two countries. They are also difficult enough. The two sides do not stop accusing each other of protectionism and, as a result, introduce sanctions against each other, be that the supplies of Chinese tires for cars to the USA or U.S. poultry to China.  
And these are not all the goods that are under sanctions. It would be good to mention here that Beijing is one of America’s main creditors. Besides, China has recovered from the world financial crisis with fewer losses too. Therefore, China’s positions today are strong as never before. The White House understands this perfectly well and pays paramount attention to Washington’s relations with Beijing. And U.S. President Barack Obama does not stop mentioning this at every opportune moment. 
This is all true. Only close cooperation is yet to be achieved. Washington and Beijing have many political differences too. For the time being, the most visible are the following:  
China was very much irritated to learn that in the middle of February the U.S. President received Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama in the White House. 
As is known, Beijing does not recognize him, believing that he seeks to tear away Tibet from China. 
And, perhaps, the two countries’ positions on Iran are the main stumbling stone today. To be more exact, the difference in their positions. 
For the time being, Beijing is strongly opposed to the introduction of tough international sanctions against Tehran because of its nuclear programme. Just like Russia, China believes that it is possible to settle the situation by means of talks, while Washington is pressing for sanctions. 
But it understands perfectly well that only the UN Security Council can introduce such sanctions by a unanimous decision. And China, as a permanent member of the Security Council, has a veto right, which the USA is unable to bypass. 
All the above-mentioned problems will probably be discussed at the talks in Beijing. So the participants will have hard work to do. But it’s still rather doubtful whether they will be able to resolve all differences in the relations between the USA and China.

Collapse Of The G-2 Myth: Stalemate In U.S.-China Relations 
Collapse of the G-2 Myth, or Stalemate in China-US Relations (I) Roman Tomberg (StrategicCultureFoundation)
This winter has been a cold one for China-US relations. So many serious disagreements between the two countries have not surfaced simultaneously for decades: the US is exerting unprecedented pressure on China to revalue the Yuan, a cyber war erupted between Google and the Chinese administration, Washington intends to sell weapons worth $6.4 bn to Taiwan, China dumped US bonds worth $34.2 bn, both sides threaten to introduce punitive import tariffs, and US President B. Obama received the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso in the White House. 
In the past China and the US avoided taking harsh measures against each other serially, but evidently things have changed beyond recognition over the past several months. 
Notably, the round of tensions came as a surprise – just recently US analysts used to churn out totally different predictions concerning relations with China. 
US economist and the director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics Fred Bergsten coined the term G-2 as the new global economy formula in his The United States and the World Economy (2005). In the early 2009, the concept was upheld by such US foreign politics gurus as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former White House National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. Their idea was that China should shoulder the burden of global hegemony jointly with the US, which implied that the Obama administration would be steering a course generally benign to the country. 
***
Visiting Beijing in November, 2009 US President Barack Obama suggested establishing the G-2, but the offer was accompanied by rather imperious recommendations that China revalue the Yuan and join the regime of sanctions imposed on Iran. 
China declined on the grounds that its statehood was not yet sufficiently mature and needed serious modernizations and that, in foreign politics, Beijing’s creed would be to maintain independence and to stay away from whatever alliances. 
By the time of Obama’s visit, China had enough time to get familiarized in detail with the G-2 concept, and the official rejection of the offer to become a minor partner of the US was a product of a broad consensus reached beforehand. 
Obama’s November, 2009 visit should be regarded as the starting point of the chill between China and the US. 
The Iranian dimension deserves special attention in the context. China is the only remaining obstacle in the way of the crusade against Iran, and it depends on Beijing’s position whether the resolution of the “Iranian problem” will follow the US blueprint. 
It is highly unlikely, though, that under any combination of circumstances China would refrain from vetoing in the UN Security Council the US proposal to impose sanctions on Iran. The explanation behind the stance is that Iran is a major commercial and strategic partner of China’s. Over 15% of China’s oil import (a total of some 450,000 bpd) are supplied by Iran, with only two countries – Angola and the Saudi Arabia – supplying greater amounts. China took two important new steps to boost its cooperation with Iran in the energy sphere in the late 2009. China’s state-owned Sinopec signed a contract with Tehran to develop the first phase of the Yadavaran oil field, one of Iran’s largest, and to invest $6.5 bn in the upgrade of Iran’s refining capacities. 
Beijing reckoned it made no sense to scrap the plans in the name of taking the role of a minor partner in a duet with the US. 
The revaluation of the Yuan is a recurrent theme since the beginning of the current decade. China agreed to a compromise over the issue in 2005 when it set a flexible rate for the Yuan synchronized with a pool of currencies, and the Yuan actually added 21% by July, 2008. 
The process came to a halt on the eve of the global economic crisis. 
Currently the exchange rate is about 6.82 Yuan per US dollar compared to 8.2 Yuan in the early 2005. Industrialized Western countries absorbing the majority of China’s exports are unhappy with the arrangement: US President Barack Obama and several other Western leaders believe that the artificially underrated Yuan shields the Chinese market from Western imports while giving Chinese exporters an unfair advantage. 
Western analysts maintain that China should revalue the Yuan to cap its breakneck economic growth. Though the strengthening of the Yuan would cause China’s exports and the corresponding revenues to shrink, it would carry the beneficial effect of impeding the inflow to the country of speculative investments which drive up inflation. Last February, Goldman Sachs analysts anticipated a 5% revaluation of the Yuan to follow shortly, but Beijing remained unresponsive. 
Beijing found an alternative approach to curbing financial risks – according to the US Department of the Treasury, in December, 2009 China sold $32.2 bn worth of US bonds and thus reduced its stockpile of US bonds to $755 bn. As a result, currently – for the first time since August, 2008 – Japan, not China, is the world’s largest holder of US bonds (with a total of $769 bn). 
The official version is that China dumped the US bonds in an effort to diversify its currency holdings. To avoid excessively injecting liquidity, China will not likely opt for quick cuts of investments in US bonds. They continue to play an important role in the Chinese currency reserves – US securities account for some 70% of China’s total which has topped $2.3 trillion. Still, China’s getting rid of a fraction of its dollar assets had repercussions worldwide and may be indicative of the country’s long-term strategy. 
***
A new problem in Chinese-US relations emerged this winter as Google charged China with flooding the world with spyware….
Chinese officials, army, and academic circles deny involvement in the cyber attack, automatically switching the suspicion to Baidu, the main domestic company posing competition to Google. Analysis International says Baidu’s market share was roughly twice that of Google in the second half of 2009 – 61.6% vs. 29.1%. While the disparity persists, the gap between the two companies is steadily growing narrower year by year. 
At the moment Google’s withdrawal from the Chinese market and its compromise with the Chinese administration – that is, the reinstatement of censorship – seem equally possible. Considering that China is home to some 20% of the world’s Internet surfers, it is clear that the US company would hate to lose grip on such a market.
… to be continued

Haiti: From Shackles To A Wrecked Land 
From Shackles to a Wrecked Land by Mateja Lekic 
The country of Haiti was hit with an earthquake on a scale of seven on January 12, 2010. 
However, being left in ruins is not only a by-product of a natural disaster, it lies within a history of imperialistic savagery and exploitation by the powerful – namely France and the US.  
One can trace the beginnings to the independence of the country in 1802-1804, which came after a costly and brutal war.   
The slave revolt led to the creation of a new state, a state which was only illusory in terms of actual sovereignty.   
France did not leave without making sure the Haitians paid for their disobedience. “Nor could the infant US, a land of slave owners, cope with the idea of such a nation at its gates. There was only one solution: to forbid it to exist. The plan succeeded thanks to the cooperation of Haiti’s elite. They agreed in 1825 to pay France a gigantic sum to concede independence and indemnify themselves” (Wargny, Le Monde Diplomatique) .   
The Napoleonic invasion was merely a first step; Woodrow Wilson’s Marine intervention started from 1915 and lasted till 1934, an occupation that was filled with torture, oppression, and rampage in an impoverished country.  
It was also the introduction of an economic design destined to prevent the country from developing.  Carl Lindskoog explains the twentieth century progression: “From 1957-1971 Haitians lived under the dark shadow of ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier, a brutal dictator who enjoyed U.S. backing because he was seen by Americans as a reliable anti-Communist.  
“After his death, Duvalier’s son, Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ became president-for- life at the age of 19 and he ruled Haiti until he was finally overthrown in 1986. It was in the 1970s and 1980s that Baby Doc and the United States government and business community worked together to put Haiti and Haiti’s capital city on track to become what it was on January 12, 2010” (Lindskoog, Common Dreams).   
Haiti has been called the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the poorest countries in the world.  
The people live off a meager two dollars a day with surrounding environmental conditions that are sordid, unbearable and inhuman and should bring people to the point of revulsion.  
Interestingly enough, certain media outlets give viewers the impression that the present circumstances come from improper building infrastructure and design, no birth control availability, and the lack of education.  
Now, one can argue that these issues are relevant and need to be seriously discussed, which they should, but it distracts from looking at what caused some of these conditions to surface.   
Professor and author Peter Hallward states, “Decades of neoliberal ‘adjustment’ and neo-imperial intervention have robbed its government of any significant capacity to invest in its people or to regulate its economy. Punitive international trade and financial arrangements ensure that such destitution and impotence will remain a structural fact of Haitian life for the foreseeable future.” (Hallward, The Guardian).  
The neoliberal agenda that has been carried out since the 1970s and 1980s needs to be stressed. Its basis lies in no humanitarian need or concern, but instead on privatization, deregulation, and deadly investments that drive a population into plight.  
These corporate influences in a country have no role for human sympathy, but only for maximizing their profits which are achieved by completely ignoring the demands of the population.  
Hallward continues … “[The] assault on Haiti’s agrarian economy has forced tens of thousands of small farmers into overcrowded urban slums. Although there are no reliable statistics, hundreds of thousands of Port-au-Prince residents now live in desperately sub-standard informal housing, often perched precariously on the side of deforested ravines.” (Hallward, The Guardian).   
Therefore, attributing the death toll from the earthquake to just the factor of houses being built substandardly or that the overpopulated cities are slums is an understatement, and it omits important information.  
Namely, what is the cause? A question not often heard. The cause is that the situation and awful conditions came from foreign occupation and foreign business interventio n that simply did not care about the effects that they would wreak on the country.  
The peasants had no choice but to migrate to the cities, where they were now supposed to take up manufacturing jobs and leave their agricultural backgrounds behind.  
“However, when they got there they found there weren’t nearly enough manufacturing jobs to go around….Slum areas expanded. And to meet the housing needs of the displaced peasants, quickly and cheaply constructed housing was put up, sometimes placing houses right ‘on top of each other’” (Lindskoog, Common Dreams).  
The IMF, World Bank, and others have been among the architects and abettors of the neoliberal program that has been in place. 
 “Thirty years ago, for example, Haiti was self-sufficient in its staple of rice. In the mid-90s the IMF forced it to slash tariffs, the US dumped its subsidised surplus on the country, and Haiti now imports the bulk of its rice. Tens of thousands of rice farmers were forced to move to the jerry-built slums of Port-au-Prince. Many died as a result last week” (Milne, The Guardian).  
These destructive consequences may look like a game for those in Washington – those who never experience the consequences of what they create – but to any sensible human being it is sufficient to drive one to the point of rage and anger.  
President Obama’s military response is another example of wilfully ignoring the past.  
“By sending 4,600 ground troops and 10,000 more on support vessels, the US deployed a better-equipped but equal force to that of Minustah (UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti). US involvement has been welcomed by all sides… putting in place the huge logistical machine that only the US has at its disposal. This is the third such military intervention in 16 years. The previous ones resolved nothing.” (Wargny, Le Monde Diplomatique) .  
Can a military intervention  achive success? Is it necessary to block “medical equipment and emergency supplies from organizations such as the World Food Programme” and to prioritize troop entrance over a people in dire need of aid? In also begs the question of what any military occupation should do, what motive does the deployment present?  
The US has a long history with this small fromer colonial country.  
In the year 1990, Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide was the first democratically elected President in Haiti.  
The other candidate, Marc Bazin, was easily beaten in a contest that overwhelmingly favored the non-US backed candidate Aristide. 
The US did not allow a democratically elected President to stay in office since socialistic tendencies need to be discouraged at all times.  
What right does this small country have to decide which individual should represent them? The US supported a coup that overthrew Aristide in 1991, and again in 2004.  
Aristide’s coming into office was actually a great example of a democratic and social movement, one which came from a popular grassroots organization, known as the Lavalas (The Flood), and is inspiring to those concerned with actual democracy.  
But the present state of affairs, which some portray as altruistic, should be viewed as questionable.  
If anything “another motivation has become clearer as the US has launched a full-scale naval blockade of Haiti to prevent a seaborne exodus by refugees seeking sanctuary in the United States from the desperate aftermath of disaster. So while Welsh firefighters and Cuban doctors have been getting on with the job of saving lives this week, the 82nd Airborne Division was busy parachuting into the ruins of Haiti’s presidential palace.” ( Milne, The Guardian) 
This is a good lesson to highlight. No matter what the powerful do to the weak, the consequences should never be evaluated. Why is this case? The reason is straightforward: We never reflect on our crimes because our crimes do not exist. All our intentions are noble and righteous.  
 Al Jazeera reports that the Haiti’s government “has raised the death toll from the January 12 earthquake that destroyed much of its capital, to at least 230,000.”  
The after effects are going to get even worse. With improper sanitation and diseases escalating rapidly, this atrocious event will leave a scar very deep within Haitian society. If the proper medical equipment is not made rapidly and comprehensively  available, the death toll is sure to keep increasing.  
Onome Akpogheneta from the Faster Times informs, “Haiti has the highest childhood mortality rates (80 deaths per 1,000 children under 5 years) and lowest life expectancy (61 years) in the Americas. Current elevated disease risks also reflect the low rates of vaccination (51% in 2006 for children in the first year of life). A vaccination program began on 2nd February to provide measles/rubella and diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccinations to children under 7 years, and diphtheria and tetanus vaccines for all over 8 years.  (Akpogheneta, The Faster Times).  
Nonetheless, Haiti still has another problem waiting – rain. “With the rains will come increased risk of mosquito borne diseases malaria and dengue, and water borne diseases including typhoid and cholera. The rainy season will be succeeded by the hurricane season, which will bring new challenges for Haiti.” (Akpogheneta, The Faster Times).  
All of these issues pose tremendous challenges that need to be taken seriously, and it would not be fair to ignore the heroic efforts of various NGOs that are doing that and more.  
Dr. Paul Farmer of Harvard Medical, and co-founder of Partners in Health (PIH), has been working in Haiti and other third world countries for the past twenty years. Farmer’s work and contributions for humanity should stand as a great example of hope and courage.  
PIH is an organization that responded to the call from and addressed the needs of Haiti and helped many. “The nonprofit employs about 4,000 people in Haiti, more than half of them community health workers who have built a network of services reaching villages across the Central Plateau. When the quake hit, Partners in Health became the go-to international group for coordinating the emergency medical response.” (Smith, Boston Globe).  
The only question left to ask is, what can we do? Haiti has sustained a lot. It has been destroyed, pillaged, and left in ruins, but it is not hopeless.  
Hallward states in his article that this crisis should be a time of long reflection. It means looking in the mirror and seeing what we have caused.  
“The international community has been effectively ruling Haiti since the 2004 coup. The same countries scrambling to send emergency help to Haiti now, however, have during the last five years consistently voted against any extension of the UN mission’s mandate beyond its immediate military purpose.” (Hallward, The Guardian).  
Another point to observe is the contrast that is evident when comparing Haiti with another country in its geographical vicinity. The contrast is striking with  “Haiti which has taken its market medicine, with nearby Cuba, which hasn’t, but suffers from a 50-year US economic blockade. While Haiti’s infant mortality rate is around 80 per 1,000, Cuba’s is 5.8; while nearly half Haitian adults are illiterate; the figure in Cuba is around 3%. And while 800 Haitians died in the hurricanes that devastated both islands last year, Cuba lost four people.” (Milne, The Guardian).  
It provides one with a startling distinction.  The US has been involved in Haiti’s demise for a long time now, and if Washington follows the same foreign policy it will only bring it down further.  
The New York Times described a conversation between President Obama and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, in which the former presidents “each asked the same simple question: ‘How can I help?’”(Smith, The New York Times).  
The irony lies in the fact that it was these two former presidents who supported coups to bring down a democratically elected government in Haiti; these two same presidents were part of the downfall of the country and instituting a vicious reign of terror. But democratic elections are not tolerated in Washington, and must be eliminated at once. If we really are serious about changing the fate of Haiti, it must start here. The choice is ours, the choice is yours.  
Sources 
Akpogheneta, Onome. “Haiti After One Month of the Quake.” The Faster Times. February 13, 2010.   
Cooper, Helene. “A Presidential Triple Plea for Haiti Fund.” The New York Times.  January 16, 2010.  
Hallward, Peter. “Our Role in Haiti’s Plight.” The Guardian.  January 14, 2010. 
Lindskoog, Carl. “What You’re Not Hearing about Haiti (But Should Be).” Common Dreams.  Janaury 14, 2010.  
Milne, Seumas. “Another Nobel peace prize for Obama? The Guardian.  January 20, 2010.  
Wargny, Christopher. “Starting Over.” Le Monde Diplomatique. February 2010.  
Al Jazeera. “Haiti still desperate one month on.” english. aljazeera. net/news/ 2010/02/20102121 34228827506. html 
Smith, James F. “Haiti expert shares a vision at Harvard.” The Boston Globe. February 12, 2010.

———–