Somali Pirate Vessel WARNING ALERT

MV SEA DIAMOND CRAWLS BACK FROM UNSUCCESSFUL WFP TRIP TO SOMALIA (SAP/ECOTERRA)
The UAE-owned general cargo ship MV SEA DIAMOND limped back into Mombasa port after developing mechanical problem at high seas while under way from Mombassa to Somalia to discharge WFP relief food. 
“This ship is one the many rust buckets and sub-standard ships allowed to call Mombassa port without being inspected by the Kenya Maritime Authority,” stated Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme and added: “Kenya Maritime Authority regulates the safety of all types of vessels, including foreign ships, within Kenyan territorial waters. Most of the ships in Kenyan coastal ports, at any time, are foreign-flag ships and are required to comply with a comprehensive system of safety standards issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The KMA imposes a system of port state control inspections to ensure substandard ships are denied the use of our waterways.The KMA has the authority to board and examine vessels, to detain them in port, or to order them out of port, if necessary, to ensure safe operation within our waterways.”
Sea Diamond is a sister ship to MV LEILA  which is being  held in Berbera  involved in a law suit between the owners of cargo which had been burned on MV MARIAM STAR, a sister ship to MV LEILA, which then was ensued in the legal tussle, involving also certain siding Somaliland officials.
Though a first court order set MV LEILA free in December last year, the ruling also contained a compensation payment to be made by the ship-owner, who so far had been reluctant to settle the bill, which is why the superior court ruled again to hold it.
Though some of the crew could meanwhile be evacuated to Nairobi and repatriated to India, the remaining crew is now held for over six months in a hostage-like situation and under the gun together with the ship at Somaliland ’s largest port.

WARNING: Suspicious Event, Somali Basin (06 Mar. 2010 at 06°18′S-044°22′E) 
At 0300 UTC 06 MAR 10 a report of a fishing beacon with anomalous movement in position 06 18S 044 22E moving at course 020, speed 8.5 knots. 
It is assessed that the beacon movement is linked to piracy.
 

A British yachting couple seized by Somali pirates and held in separate locations have been temporarily reunited after weeks apart, a doctor who treated the two said.
Paul and Rachel Chandler were suffering from severe anxiety brought on by their separation and captivity in war-ravaged Somalia, Dr. Abdi Mohamed Elmi Hangul told The Associated Press during an interview at Medina Hospital on Sunday. The two were seized from their yacht, the Lynn Rival, in October and have been held apart for most of their captivity. Hangul said the pirates had phoned him on Sunday and said the couple had been temporarily reunited.
“The two hostages were in different locations but I advised the guys to reunite the couple, because both of them were worrying about their separation but they now told me that the two people have reunited already,” he said.
Hangul treated the two hostages last month at the invitation of their kidnappers, in the camps where they were being held along the Somali coastline.
“The hostages are suffering from diseases … Paul was suffering just pain and coughs and (Rachel) Chandler was suffering from mental disorders, especially restlessness, palpitations and she was very anxious, because she was worrying about the separation between her and her husband,” he said.
“A new case of eye infection emerged later, (the pirates) informed me by telephone that Paul was taking eye drops, Paul told me that he finished the eye drops,” he said. He has not seen the Chandlers since.
A Somali politician last week expressed hope that pressure from Somalis in the diaspora could lead to the two being freed without a ransom being paid. But pirates have rarely, if ever, freed a vessel and crew without a payment. The Chandlers’ captors have repeatedly said they will not free the two without a ransom — money the family says it does not have. The British government says it does not pay ransoms to kidnappers.
“I advised the pirates, you have to release these people, they are old, they don’t have anything,” said Hangul. “I always say that to them but unfortunately they still insist the only option is ransom money.”
The Chandlers are highest-profile of more than 130 sailors held captive on the Somali coast. The couple’s plight has garnered more attention than that of hostages from developing countries like India and the Philippines, who make up the bulk of the captives. Furthermore, ship owners can leave them to languish for months before engaging in serious negotiations and families are often not kept informed of progress.
Experts say the pirate problem is a symptom of Somalia’s lawlessness on land. It has not had a functioning government for a generation and the current administration is too focused on fighting an Islamist insurgency to go after the well-armed and well-paid pirates.
The multimillion dollar ransoms are one of the few ways to make money in the impoverished country. Attacks about doubled between 2008-2009 and are becoming increasingly violent.
[N.B.: He, however, stated during his visit accompanied by an AFP journalist that he just was able to examine and had not administered any medication for any treatment.]

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

We exlusively reported the release of the fishing vessel already yesterday – here a FV Thai Union 3 roundup:

Thai Union 3 trawler crew feel well, to be sent home soon – RFFM (Itar-Tass)
The condition of the crew of the Thai Union 3 trawler that was released on March 7 is not causing alarm, the sailors will be soon sent home, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Monday.
On March 7, the efforts taken by the representatives of the company that owns the ship and the Russian authorities secured the release of the Thai Union 3 with predominantly Russian crew that has been held by Somalia pirates for several months. The pirates have left the ship, after that the Thai Union 3 sailed to an earlier determined ocean location where a Russian Navy ship met it and started to escort the vessel in order to protect it from another hijacks.
“Both vessels are sailing towards the Seychelles, the condition of the crewmembers causes no serious concern,” the ministry indicated. “In the first port on their way they are expected to pass an additional medical examination, after which will be airlifted to the homeland by a plane,” it said.
The Russian embassy to Thailand “is in contact with the leadership of the company ship owner and continues to follow the situation around the ship.” The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed “satisfaction with the release of the crew of the trawler.”
 

Somali pirates on Sunday freed a Thai fishing trawler, hijacked off east Africa in October last year, after the payment of a ransom, the EU’s anti-piracy mission said.
The Russian foreign ministry said when the boat was captured that it carried a crew of 23 Russian sailors, two Filipinos and two Ghanaians.
“EU NAVFOR can confirm that early this morning a Thailand flagged fishing vessel (Thai Union 3) was released by pirates from the port of Heradere after the payment of a ransom,” the mission said in a statement. [.. responding to an earlier, timely report sent by ECOTERRA Intl.]
It did not give details of the ransom payout.
Heradere, a fishing village 330 kilometres (205 miles) north of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, is considered a base for pirates who have captured dozens of vessels in one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.
The Thai Union 3 was hijacked on October 29 about 320 kilometres (200 miles) north of the Seychelles and 1,040 kilometres (650 miles) from the Somali coast, the mission said.
Somali pirates hijacked 68 ships in 2009 and raked in an estimated 60 million dollars (44 million euros) in ransom money.
Pirates also boarded and seized a Norwegian-owned chemical tanker on Friday, the ship’s owner said.
The UBT Ocean was captured off Madagascar and appeared to have been turned around to head north towards Somalia, said Norwegian shipowner Broevigtank.
The EU anti-piracy mission confirmed the hijacking and said the 21 crew were all from Myanmar.
On March 1 pirates captured a small Saudi tanker and its crew of 14 in the Gulf of Aden, Kenyan authorities said.
They are also holding an elderly British couple whose yacht was captured in October.
Turkey and France meanwhile announced at the weekend they had together captured 29 suspected pirates in the area.
The EU launched its Atalanta anti-piracy mission in a bid to secure the vital shipping lane, joining forces with US-led and NATO missions, as well as other warships dispatched by other naval powers.
But the unprecedented naval deployment failed to curb piracy as Somalia’s marauding ransom hunters moved south and started venturing further out in the less heavily-patrolled Indian Ocean, notably towards the Seychelles.
Ransom drops pose a dilemma for governments and companies which want to recover their ships and crews but acknowledge that payments encourage further piracy.

Somali pirates free Thai fishing boat for ransom (Xinhua)
Somali pirates freed a Thai fishing boat on Sunday after receiving a ransom, the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) said.
“EU NAVFOR can confirm that early this morning a Thailand flagged fishing vessel was released by pirates from the port of Heradeere after the payment of a ransom,” it said in a statement without revealing the amount of the ransom. 
The fishing trawler, Thai Union 3, was hijacked on Oct. 29 last year about 320 km north of the Seychelles and 1,040 km from the Somali coast.

Somali pirates release fishing vessel with Russian crew (RIA Novosti)

Somali pirates have released fishing vessel with Russian crew by Maria Velikanova (UkrainianGlobalist) 
Somali pirates have released Thai Union-3 for a ransom
Somali pirates have received a ransom of $3 million and then released the ship with the entire crew. Now Thai Union-3 is on the way to ta tow boat of the Russian Navy. 
Somali pirates have today released a fishing ship, the Thai Union-3, with more than 20 Russians onboard seized in October 2009. The boat has been released for ransom. 
The captain of the Thai ship, Sergey Harlan, was wounded in the arm during the hijacking. Pirates say that medical aid had been given to him in time. 
The ship belongs to the Thai company Thai Union occupied with deliveries of frozen fish and seafood. It has been seized by pirates on October, 29, 2009. Its crew consists of 23 citizens of Russia, 2 citizens of Ghana and 2 people from the Philippines. 

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Sri Lankans in Somali pirates’ custody: Talks begin with captors by Mohammed Rasooldeen (DailyNes.lk)
A senior member from a London-based insurance club will arrive in Jeddah today to initiate negotiations between the Somali pirates and the Saudi company, whose ship was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden last Monday.
Among the ships crew are 13 Sri Lankans. 
“An official from the London-based Protection and Indemnity Club (P&I), which is coordinating action between the pirates and the insurance company, will be in Riyadh on Monday to discuss matters with the Jeddah-based International Bunkering Company (IBCO) which owns the Saudi ship Al-Nisr Al-Saudi,” Sri Lankan Consul General Sabarullah Khan told the Daily News. 
“The Somali pirates have said they will not harm the vessel’s crew. 
No progress has been made for their release,” Khan told the Daily News. He hoped that something positive will happen after today’s meeting between the shipping company and the P&I official. 
It is anticipated that the talks between the two parties will focus on the ransom demanded by the pirates and arrangements made for the release of the ship and its crew. 
IBCO has been working with its insurer, the Saudi IACI Cooperative Insurance Company to facilitate negotiations with the pirates. 
Khan added that the shipping company had established contact with the pirates through satellite communication and that they had given reassurances that they would not harm the Sri Lankan crew. 
Al-Nisr Al-Saudi was hijacked with a 14-member crew aboard. 
The Sri Lankans are Jacob Xavier, Venis Robinson Parceloan, Hewa Pathage Ranga Jayasinghe, Wijemuni Elmo, Ansalam Soyza, Selvarasa Rajavel, Balakrishnan Jayarajan, Robert Joseph, Kanagasabapathy Thusyananthan, Arumai Sekeram, Basil Rajah, Lakshmikanthan Gajenthiran , Arockiasamy Pillai, Britto Lawrence, Saverimuttu Atputharajah and Rajagopal Jeyakumar. 
The ship’s captains is Georgios Skalimis, a Greeek. 
The tanker, owned by International Bunkering Co. (IBCO), was on its way from Japan to Jeddah when it was hijacked. 
The hijackers have demanded a $20 million ransom. The ship is anchored on the coast of Somalia . 
“We have held discussions with senior IBCO officials about the hijacked Saudi Arabian vessel and urged them to expedite the release of the 13 Sri Lankan crew members,” Khan said. Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Kenya Jayantha Dissanayake said the vessel was in the region of Gurey off the coast of Somalia.

Only 3 Pinoys still held by Somali pirates by Estrella Torres (businessmirror)
Onky three Filipino merchant sailors remain in the hands of Somali pirates on Monday after they released two, who were onboard the Thai-owned Thai Union-3 that was hijacked, reported the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

According to DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya, “The manning agency said the Filipino crew were all in good condition, and is currently arranging the crew’s repatriation to the Philippines.” He did not identify those freed and those who remain captive.

He added the three Filipinos still captive are crewmen on the MV St. James Park, which is still held by the pirates. “This is the lowest number of Filipino seafarers in the custody of Somali pirates in recent times.” In the past, as many as over 100 Filipino sailors were seized.

Meanwhile, the 17 Filipino fishermen seized when their Taiwanese fishing boat Win Far 161 was hijacked on April 4 also by Somali pirates arrived in Manila on Sunday.

Manila Economic and Culural Organization resident representative Antonio Basilio said they arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at 4:45 p.m. on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong.

The seamen who returned are Arnel de los Santos, Ruben Argallon, Sherwin Acosta, Roldan Andaya, Marlon Lagua, Jordan Mamaril, Pedro Calzada, Virgilio Ambabag, Mario Dulay, Honathan Gava, Allan Baltazar, Jayson Parinas, Sonny Aguilar, Felix Ifurong, Jorwel Oribello, Reynante Gava and Cecilio Labuguen.

They were met at the airport by Meco officials led by Arthur Abiera Jr., corporate secretary.

There were also 23 Russians and two Ghananians released with the Filipinos.

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 148 crew members (incl. the British sailing couple) plus at least 9 crew of the lorries 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 26 attacks resulting in 7 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: RED  (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 ——————–

Chinese Naval Fleet nears Somalia (China Daily)
The Chinese naval fleet sailed into the Strait of Malacca on Sunday, three days after its departure from China’s island province of Hainan on an escort mission against piracy off Somalia.
The fleet deployed its first anti-pirate operation on Saturday night and arrived at the Strait of Malacca the next morning. It is expected to reach the Indian Ocean on Tuesday. 
This is the fifth flotilla of Chinese ships sent on an overseas peacekeeping mission. 
It contains naval ships, helicopters and about 800 navy personnel. 
The naval forces will be on escort duties in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia. They will be stationed there for four months. 
Besides peacekeeping duties, the Chinese navy will also conduct humanitarian rescue operations and exchanges with foreign navies.

Halting Illegal Arms And Ammunition Supply To Militias 
African Union demands no fly zone over Somalia by Wolfgang H. Thome (eTN) 
The African Union, which maintains a peace keeping force in Somalia – incidentally with a very large contingent of Ugandan troops, over which radical Islamic militias have threatened reprisals against the country – has made it known that it asked the United Nations to impose a total no fly zone and harbor blockade against Somalia in order to finally halt the illegal supply of arms and ammunition to the militias. Much of the arms is alleged to be flown in from Eritrea, while shipments from further abroad are also said to regularly reach the Somali ports and harbors under control of the radicals. 
In addition to stopping these supplies, it will then also serve as an added deterrent against the Somali ocean terrorists, as their leaving harbor or returning with bounty from the open ocean will be made much more difficult once a naval blockade is in place, while the previously seen airdrops of ransom onto ships held or an agreed point on land will also be made impossible. 
An air embargo can be enforced through regular patrols of fixed-wing aircraft operating from neighboring Djibouti, where naval coalition partners have established bases, while the use of surveillance satellites and UAVs can also provide crucial intelligence in regard of unauthorized flight movements. 
One airline flying “miraa” into Somalia on a daily basis from Nairobi already objected to the move, however, while asking not to be named when the intention to publish became apparent during the call, claiming an air embargo would “ruin us” financially and “many others too,” whose daily flights to Somalia would then be made impossible. Miraa is a still legal drug, often grown in the Meru area of Kenya, and shipped fresh every day to Somalia where many men chew it, then staying dazed and unproductive for much of the day. 
The AU, however, is not likely to listen to such selfish interests when it comes to halting the supply of arms and ammunition to the radical militias as it would boost their own position and that of the shaky central government quite substantially. A shipping source in Mombasa also expressed delight over the news, saying on condition of anonymity: “If this is true and comes off, it could make shipping easier again. If these pirates can be kept on land through a blockade or they cannot return because there is a naval blockade, this menace could end soon.” 
Sources close to the naval coalition forces this correspondent is in touch with, however, declined to be drawn into a discussion over how likely it is that the UN would grant such a sweeping mandate and, in particular, how many naval assets would be required from the coalition members to effectively block the Somali coast line.

Frustrated Pirates Seek Valuable Information (strategypage)
The international Anti-Piracy patrol is winning the battle for control of the Gulf of Aden, but is still vulnerable in more distant waters. For example, on March 5th, a small tanker was taken north of Madagascar, over a thousand kilometers south of Somalia (and more than 1,500 kilometers from the pirate bases in Puntland). The tanker had travelled from the Persian Gulf, swung east of the Seychelles islands to avoid pirates, and was on its way to Tanzania (just south of Kenya), when it was seized. 
Most of the thousand or so pirates in Puntland are not willing, or able, to travel that far to find a vulnerable ship to capture. So most continue playing tag with the foreign warships that escort convoys and guard two shipping channels through the Gulf of Aden. The pirates, shadowed by UAVs and maritime patrol aircraft, are increasingly unable to get near a merchant ship not in sight of a warship. In one case, some four dozen pirate speedboats were closing in on 31 merchant ships being escorted by warships, apparently hoping to overwhelm the security. The warships are not allowed to fire on pirates who are not actually attacking. Chinese warships then showed up, demonstrating an intention to shoot first, and the pirates backed off.
Merchant ships are doing more to defend themselves. It’s increasingly common for commercial ships to carry armed security teams. So far this year, four ships so equipped fought off pirate attacks with gunfire. This caused the pirates to retreat.
In response, pirates are increasingly going after smaller, ocean going, fishing boats, to use as mother ships. Towing two or more speedboats behind them, these mother ships can travel to the Seychelles or Madagascar, looking for less well defended, or alert, prey. It’s believed that some of these mother ships have arranged to use spies within the shipping and insurance industry, to obtain location information for ships moving around the Seychelles or Madagascar. Shipping traffic is much less out there, compared to the Gulf of Aden, and without specific GPS coordinates, the mother ships could cruise around for weeks without finding suitable prey. In response, the anti-piracy patrol is looking for, tracking, and seizing, mother ships. 
It’s not easy being a pirate, but the money is still good for those that take a ship.

Kenyan shippers cry foul over piracy by Evelyn Njoroge (CapitalFM)
The Kenya Shippers Council has called on the government and the international community to urgently address the issue of piracy which has led to a huge rise in transportation costs.
Chief Executive Officer Gilbert Langat said on Friday that the threat of piracy has forced shipping lines to introduce a myriad of charges which are passed on to the end consumer.
“The shipping line has to recover their costs so freights rates have gone up by a substantial percentage and so have war risk charges, fuel adjustment factors, voyage time and a host of other costs,” he said.
The Gulf of Aden has over the last two years been invaded by Somali pirates who hijack vessels and demand huge ransoms from the shipping lines. It is estimated for instance that the capture of NV Delvina with 15,050 tonnes of wheat grains cargo led to the loss of production capacity and lack of sales and eventually resulted in a loss of $3.6million.
Mr Langat said the vice had also affected the competitiveness of East African businesses as well as the small scale farmers who lose contracts when they fail to deliver their fresh produce to the international markets on time.
“Our fresh produce which is moved by sea has lost market. We for example move a lot of avocados but they have a shelf life and if it used to take 21 days to get to the market and now it takes 43 days to hit the same market, then you will require controlled environment containers in which those fruits can stay fresh which is expensive to hire,” he explained adding that the containers which used to cost them $1,800 were now being hired at $4,800.
Such costs make the traders uncompetitive particularly when compared with those from Brazil who are able to deliver their products on time and at a much lesser costs.
While he acknowledged that a permanent solution to the issue would involve ensuring political stability in Somalia which would take a long time to achieve, he suggested that the government should consider providing escorts for their cargo to ensure that they reach their intended markets without any delays.
Mr Langat spoke during a press conference where the Council expressed concerns over the new motor insurance underwriting guidelines which they said if implemented would see insurance premiums go up by between 60 to 100 percent. This would translate into additional costs for cargo owners, it complained.
“The new guidelines will make the cost of insurance unbearingly high for road transporters. They will therefore have no option but to pass on these increases to consumers of their services through higher freight services,” he warned.
He further feared that unscrupulous transporters might result to using fake insurance certificates which will spell doom for the economy and therefore called on the Insurance Regulatory Authority to engage the stakeholders on the issue.

INDIA AND PIRACY (LokSabha)
The Indian Government has taken following steps to combat the incidents of piracy of ships/vessels.  
(i) The Directorate General of Shipping has issued various advisories to ships/vessels transiting through Gulf of Aden providing information relating to piracy in the area and also providing details of patrol convoy timing followed by the Indian Naval vessel patrolling in the region.   
(ii) Advisories and information obtained from various international forces present in the area are regularly forwarded to the Indian shipping fraternity.    
(iii) An Indian Navy warship has been deployed in the area from 23.10.2008 to escort Indian ships and other ships seeking assistance. 
(iv) The Indian delegation made intervention in the 101st Council meeting of the International Maritime Organization in London in November, 2008 and proposed a UN Task Force under a unified command to prevent the ever increasing piracy attacks off the Somali coast.   
Till date only one Indian seafarer is reported to have been killed by pirates and the flag state is Panama.  The death and injury compensation is the responsibility of ship owners who obtain insurance cover through Protection and Indemnity Club. 
Government of India has also raised the matter at various international fora including the International Maritime Organization in order to invoke the intervention of the world body to control and combat this menace.   
The details of hijacking of ships for the last three years and the current year are: 
 

  
This information was given by the Union Minister of Shipping, Shri G. K. Vasan in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
[N.B.: This statistic proves again the point that the various statistics floating around are biased and represent only the view of the statistician, who as national or organizational interests to keep.] 

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

SPANISH TUNA SHIPS IN ESCALATION OF FISHERIES WAR OFF SOMALIA by Venatrix Fulmen
Reportedly two Basque vessels were approached by alleged Somali pirates – the purse seiner FV INTERTUNA II and FV INTERTUNA III as well as the tuna supply vessel ARTXANDA. According to reports providing the position all vessels were at the time inside the 200nm zone of Somalia and 90° straight off the Somali coastal town of Brawa.
It has now transpired that Bilbao-built ARTXANDA – formerly named Gudari and still registered under both names with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) under Reg-Nr. IOTC003590, while it does neither have an IOM number nor an ITF agreement – was subsidized as European vessel with €395,413.
But the fishmonger ARTXANDRA, suspected of fish-laundering and so called transshipment of poached tuna, has as registered owner ATUNSA N.V. at KAYA W.F.G. (Jombi) in WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO, NETHERLAND ANTILLES, is Seychelles flagged and operated by ATUNSA INC., MAISON LA ROSIERE, P/O. Box 117, VICTORIA, MAHE.
Why, that is the question, should the European taxpayer have to subsidize a vessel which has an onion-routed, clandestine ownership and is allegedly doing funny, funny things in the Indian ocean. 
Interesting would also be to know if the Spanish government, as promised, is really and truly monitoring these vessels with home port Bermeo via an incorruptibly fixed transponder and to which extent the Spanish P3 Orion seaplane, which attacked the approaching Somali boats, is authorized to transmit data on findings of tuna shoals to these mainly Spanish crewed and heavily armed guards carrying tuna haulers, who are part and parcel to the given situation of overfishing in the Western Indian Ocean.

Spanish tuna vessel Alakrana got 4.3 million euro in subsidies by Jack Thurston (followthemoney.eu)

Find out how your taxes helped empty the seas by Jack Thurston (fishsubsidy.org) 
Today sees the launch of a new transparency website from the FollowTheMoney.eu stable. It presents data on 97,260 payments totalling 8.5 billion euro from 1994 to 2006. Of this 3.4 billion euro was paid to vessels and 5.1 billion euro to non-vessel recipients. Most of this money was paid from the EU budget with some ‘co-financing’ from national governments. 44 per cent of the money went to Spain.
The EU’s common fisheries policy (CFP) is a system of rules, fishing quotas, enforcement controls and subsidies that has failed to stop the decline of fish stocks. Up until 2004 a large share of the money was spent on building powerful new fishing vessels and subsidies continue to be paid for modernisation of vessels and other measures that increase the pressure on dwindling fish stocks. 
The data was provided by the European Commission and since the first disclosure in 2007, we have received a further three versions of the data, each time a little bit cleaner and with fewer mistakes. It has been a long process to obtain and verify the data and there are still errors and anomalies (for example misspellings, errors in location and date information and some completely blank fields). The data also fails to identify the owners of the vessels receiving subsidy or the companies and organisations who receive non-vessel fisheries subsidies. It is by no means a perfect data set but we think now is the right time to publish it on fishsubsidy.org. 
The common fisheries policy is currently undergoing a policy review and we hope that greater transparency will ensure that the debate about the future of the policy is informed by accurate, detailed and relevant information. We see the launch of the fishsubsidy.org website as just the start in a process of greater public scrutiny of subsidies paid under the CFP. 
A year ago Greenpeace confronted the Albatun Dos, a Spanish vessel said to be the ‘world’s biggest tuna destroyer’, while it was fishing in the Pacific Ocean. They made a video of the encounter, which shows the Albatun Dos at work. 
If you look up the Alabatun Dos on fishsubsidy.org, you’ll find the construction of this 116 metre long ship was financed by a 4.9 million euro taxpayer subsidy. But the Alabatun Dos isn’t the biggest recipient. That particular distinction goes to the Helen Mary, a German-registered vessel, whose owners received 6.4 million euro in handouts from the common fisheries policy. Take a look at the rest of the top recipient vessels. 
We intend to update the database with new data for subsequent years but it is a major cause for concern that from 2007 onwards, the data on fisheries subsidies is to be made available in a highly fragmented way – each member state having responsibility for the disclosure of its own data. This is an unwelcome departure from the previous arrangements where the Commission played a co-ordinating role and compiled data from all member states to release to us. The fragmented future system of discloser will make it much more difficult to locate, extract and compile the data and as a consequence, much harder to achieve a genuinely pan-EU overview of what is going on. 
Massive thanks to Simon Roe who built the fishsubsidy.org website and Richard Pope who made it look nice. Markus Knigge of the European Marine Programme of the Pew Environment Group was the first to obtain the data from the Commission and Nils Mulvad did the cleaning, structuring and analysis of the data. 
Visit fishsubsidy.org 
 

Five hundred were expected but more than 1,000 private and public sector participants from Africa and elsewhere turned out for the second Africa Carbon Forum, all hoping to tap the potential of greenhouse gas emission offset projects on the continent. 
Africa accounts for just under two percent of the 2,060-plus registered clean development mechanism (CDM) projects in 63 countries worldwide. However, the continent has seen a strong growth trend in the past few years. There are now 122 CDM projects in Africa that are either registered or in the pipeline for validation or registration. This up from 116 in 2009, 75 in 2008 and just 42 in 2007. 
“The offset project landscape is changing. Before when we talked about Africa it was all about the need to raise capacity and raise awareness about the potential for offset projects in Africa. Now we see a higher level of understanding, we see real eagerness to get involved, and plenty of business being conducted. It’s obvious the capacity-building is paying off and the message is getting out,” said John Kilani of the UNFCCC secretariat on behalf of the five UN organizations and two multilateral development banks that make up the Nairobi Framework, an initiative aimed at extending the benefits of the CDM, especially in Africa. 
Launched in November 2006 by then Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Nairobi Framework’s partners now include the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank, United Nations Institute for Training and Research, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the African Development Bank and the UNFCCC secretariat. 
“There is a growing number of projects in Africa and a growing number of countries hosting projects. What’s more, some project developers are even prepared to pay a premium for offset credits originating from Africa, no doubt because they are confident in the long-term growth prospects for CDM on the continent,” said Mr. Kilani, who is Director of the secretariat’s Sustainable Development Mechanisms programme. 
Under the CDM, projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to sustainable development can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits. These CERs can be used for compliance under the Kyoto Protocol. 
“Africa Carbon Forum 2010 has been a serious and businesslike meeting of people with African emissions reduction projects and people who want to invest in them. Africa’s slow start in the CDM business seems now to have been more about finding the right ways to structure projects in the sectors that are Africa’s national specialities than about a fundamental incompatibility,” said Henry Derwent, President and CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association, the Nairobi Framework’s private sector partner in holding the three-day Forum. 
“Investors in compliance and voluntary markets alike are seriously interested in good quality African emissions reduction projects, to balance their portfolios and meet their climate change strategies. Africa Carbon Forum has helped them and project promoters alike,” Mr. Derwent said. 
One of the new developments under the CDM is the option to establish so-called programmes of CDM activities, which allows for many individual project activities to be put together under a single programme, to reduce transaction costs and increase efficiency of implementation. 
“Programmatic CDM is clearly seen as a very attractive option by African countries and several programmes are under development in a handful of countries; but, it is also clear from the discussions that to make it a success there is a need for targeted capacity-building, both for DNAs and project developers,” said John Christensen from the United Nations Environment Programme. 
For two days prior to the carbon forum, some 85 delegates representing 44 African countries met in Nairobi to share their experiences and ideas on how to increase CDM projects on the continent. These CDM Designated National Authorities (DNAs) are responsible for, among other things, laying the policy groundwork for CDM in their countries and for attesting to the sustainable development benefits of each project prior to registration. 
The DNA Forum was established by the CDM Executive Board in 2006 to help build national and regional capacity. This most recent meeting of African members of the DNA Forum focused on overcoming barriers to CDM growth; how to mobilize resources for CDM; Africa-friendly methodologies and programmes of multiple CDM project activities; and raising capacity of CDM stakeholders, to name a few topics. 
Countries are eager to scale up and extend the benefits of the CDM to more countries. Gatherings like the all-Africa Carbon Forum, which bring together project developers, buyers, service providers, financial institutions, national CDM representatives and other private and public sector stakeholders, are an important part of that effort. Plans are being made now for a third Africa Carbon Forum, to be held in March 2011 in Morocco.

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

Piracy trials in Kenya beset by legal hurdles by Otto Bakano (AFP)
Rusty rifles and rounds of ammunition lay on a courtroom floor to back up piracy charges against seven Somali men on trial in Kenya: but today it was a prosecution witness who was under fire.

French frigate captures 35 pirates (Reuters/Israel News) 
A French frigate operating off the coast of Somalia has captured 35 pirates in just 48 hours, the French Defence Ministry said in a statement Sunday. It was the biggest such haul since European Union navies started patrolling the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean in December 2008 in an effort to end a spate of hijackings in the busy shipping lanes. 

France claims biggest haul of pirates off Somalia (AFP)
French frigate Nivose has seized 35 pirates in three days off of Somalia, the French military said on Sunday, claiming “the biggest seizure” so far in the vital shipping lane.
In the latest of four operations since Friday, eleven pirates were intercepted on Sunday with the help of other ships and a Spanish maritime patrol airplane participating in the European Atalanta anti-piracy mission.
Four mother ships and six smaller boats had been seized in the four operations since Friday, the French military said.
The European Union launched its Atalanta mission in December 2008 in a bid to secure one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, joining forces with US-led and NATO missions, as well as other warships from other naval powers.
But the unprecedented naval deployment has failed to curb piracy as Somalia’s marauding ransom hunters moved south and started venturing further out in the less heavily-patrolled Indian Ocean, notably towards the Seychelles.

France seizes 22 suspected pirates (UKPA)
A French frigate involved in an EU anti-piracy mission off Somalia has detained 22 suspected pirates from six separate boats in the Indian Ocean, France’s Defence Ministry has said.
The Nivose first captured 11 people from a “mother boat” and two accompanying skiffs about 180 nautical miles east of Mogadishu by tracking them after they tried to attack a French oceanographic vessel.
Hours later, the frigate “neutralised” three other suspected pirate boats about 90 nautical miles to the south.
The ministry statement late on Friday said the suspects were being held on board the Nivose.
EU naval authorities said they are bracing for more high-seas attacks with the end of the monsoon season in the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean.

What does a French Research Vessel Do in Somali Waters? by Venatrix Fulmen
The French exploration ship “Le Beautemps-Beaupré“, a hydro-oceanographic research vessel stuffed with sophisticated electronic underwater and seismic research equipment, was allegedly attacked off the coast of Mogadishu on 04. March 2010.
What a French research vessel actually has to do in Somali waters, the French should better explain to the Somali government and parliament as well as to the UN.
The French Ministry of Defence now even admits that the vessel was attacked at 180nm from the coast and thereby well inside the 200nm zone of Somalia. Co-ordinates provided by naval sources andlocal marine observers earlier reported the vessel was at a position 150nm off the coast. 
Somali parliamentarians like MP Awad Ahmed Ashareh and others stated that the vessel has no mandate whatsoever to be there, since it had not been authorized by the Somali parliament, which is an essential condition under which any of the foreign vessels could operate in the Somali waters under any of the UN mandates. It is a sensitive matter of national sovereignty and touches on vital interests of the Somali nation. In similar incidences like this, e.g. in  the case of a Greek research vessel on the coast of  Turkey both countries mobilized immediately for outright war. In the territory of oppressed Somalia, however, foreign forces feel they can do whatever they want.
French oil company TOTAL has since long eyed and allegedly already signed secret contracts concerning oil-exploration and exploitation off the Somali coast. 
The Somali law of 1973 delineates clearly the 200nm zone of the territorial Somali waters and Somalia has also ratified the United Nations Common Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), under which it declared a 200nm Exclusive Economic Zone. Somalia in addition followed the requirements of the International Seabed authority concerning its 350nm zone. To operate a foreign research vessel in the area is thereby illegal in every respect.
The office of French President Szarkozy publicly stated in 2009 that France would respect the 200nm zone of Somalia, but the reality looks different.
The presence of the vessel became only publicly know, because it was allegedly attacked. Though requested, EU NAVFOR until today did not provided more details and therefore is obviously protecting the French exploration interests, placing them above the Somali rights.
The French Frigate Nivose even captured 11 Somalis in the context of this incident, which certainly will make an interesting legal case and more headlines.

China Needs Multi-task Naval Force: Commander by Zheng Zhi (CRIENGLISH)
China’s escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia has set a new requirement for the Chinese navy, for which it needs to build a naval force capable of completing diversified military tasks, including disaster relief and anti-pirate missions. 
Zhang Huachen, a member of the National People’s Congress and a deputy commander of the East China Sea Fleet, made the comments Monday in Beijing. 
So far, the Chinese fleet has successfully escorted more than 1,660 vessels, about 500 of them foreign. The escort missions in Somali waters have demonstrated the capabilities of the Chinese navy and showed the world a positive image of China maintaining world and regional peace, deputy commander Zhang Huacheng told CRI during an exclusive interview. 
“During the escort mission, we have worked out many schemes to better guarantee the vessel’s safety. As a result, the pirates have failed to attack any of the ships that are within the range of our fleet, which means that the Chinese navy has been capable and confident in participating in international anti-terrorist and anti-pirate missions to ensure maritime safety,” Zhang said. 
A new Chinese naval task force has recently set sail to replace the fourth fleet escorting merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, showing that the escort mission is being carried out in an orderly and planned way, Zhang said. 
He also said the escort mission off the Somali coast marks the first Chinese participation in such operations under a UN framework, and it will help the Chinese navy learn from the experiences of other countries and enhance its own non-military capabilities. 
More than 20 countries are now participating in escort missions in the Gulf of Aden, and the Chinese task force has been coordinating with navies from several countries, Zhang said. 
He also said the exchange and cooperation have played a positive role in building a harmonious maritime environment, as it is difficult for a single country to solve the problems of maritime smuggling, trafficking and pirate attacks.

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

Somali President to reach Britain (Mareeg)
Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is expected to reach Britain where he will meet Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown and foreign secretary David Miliband. 
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday afternoon where he will stop one day and the will travel to London.
The president is accompanied by deputy prime minister and finance minister Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and the telecommunication minister Abdirisaq Jurille. 
Separately, two civilians have been killed when insurgents fired mortars to Aden Ade International airport to target the president. 
The president has safely departed and reached Nairobi. Al Shabaab militants often fire mortars to the airport when ever the president is travelling. 
The African Union troops have fired back heavy mortars to the areas controlled by the rebels. 

Deputy Speaker of the Somali national assembly censures UN agencies by Mohammed Omar Hussein (Somaliweyn)
The Deputy speaker of the Somali national assembly Professor Mohammed Omar Dalha has strongly condemned the United Nations Humanitarian Agencies.
“We are acquainted with the bad behaviours of the United Nations Humanitarian Agencies. We know that they are getting a hell of money in the name of the needy Somali population, and at the same time there is nothing tangible which these needy Somalis receive from these so called Humanitarian Agencies, and the money drops into the wrong pocket” said the deputy speaker of the Somali parliament Professor Mohammed Omar Dalha.The deputy speaker has urged the United Nations Humanitarian Agencies to change their bad behaviour, of stealing the rights of the needy Somalis.
The deputy speaker has denounced the Humanitarian Agencies of the United Nations in Nairobi for their extravagance in renting gigantic houses in the heart of Nairobi, buying luxury cars and employing hundreds of non-Somalis while the Somali government is every now and then complaining of an extreme financial crises.
“The Humanitarian Aid which is allocated for the needy Somali people comes via the United Nations Humanitarian Agencies, and these Agencies deal with this money the way they wish to deal with it, and they also do daily flights to parts of Somali which is also wastage of money and is not something convincing” added Professor Dalha. 
Finally the professor has said that there is no money which the Somali government has received from the international community apart from $3 million.

Somalia: Government Says It Completed Its Preparation for Offensive Against Rebels (ShabelleMediaNetwork)
Officials of the transitional government of Somalia have said that they are in the final stage for preparing the big offensive against the Islamist rebels in parts of the country, an official said on Sunday. 
Minister of the interior of the TFG Sheik Abdukadir Ali Omar held a press conference in Mogadishu on saturday afternoon saying that the government was commited to start its big war that the government had planned to take over control of the Somali capital Mogadishu in the coming days. 
The minister said that their main aim was to restore the peace and stability of southern Somalia, mainly Mogadishu.

The minister also said that the government had prepared well trained troops who would take action and restore security, and the statement comes as Washington said it would take part the fighting and support the troops of the government with war planes, logistical support and money. 

U.S. special forces to help the Somali government by M. O. (Ennaharonline) 
U.S. special forces could help the Somali government who is preparing a military offensive to regain control of Mogadishu and remove the Islamist insurgents, reported Friday the New York Times on its website. 

Citing a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity in Washington, the newspaper said that the government offensive could be launched in the coming weeks. 
“You will see air strikes and Special Forces operations,” said the anonymous source. 
U.S. advisers oversee several months training Somali forces to be involved in this offensive, says the NYT. 
Since late 2009, the very weak Somali transitional government (TFG), which controls only a small part of the capital, promises to end the Islamist insurgents Shebab and “liberate” the city. 
Shebab movement also controls much of central and southern Somalia, a country ravaged by civil war since 1991 and facing its worst humanitarian crisis since the famine of 1991-1992, with 3.64 million people, or half the population needing outside help, according to the World Food Program (WFP). 
Shebab Islamists, who claim al-Qaida on Sunday banned the distribution of aid from the UN agency. 

- see in this context the article: Why do journalists expect to have credibility? below.

US to Engage in ‘Hit and Run’ War in Somalia  (PressTV) 
The United States is involved in preparatory military operations in Somali for a ‘major’ offensive against Somali fighters, report says. 
US is providing military assistance to Somali government in order to retake capital Mogadishu from Somali fighters, a recent report in The New York Times indicates. 
The American military is conducting nighttime surveillance in the Al-Shabab-controlled areas of the capital and training Somali intelligence officers and forces in addition to providing logistical supports for the government, the report adds. 
All the preliminary efforts, including reconnaissance and logistic operations, are meant to help launch a major assault on what US government dubs the ‘al-Qaeda’ branch in Somalia within ‘a few’ weeks.
“It’s the Americans … helping us,” the US newspaper quoted Somali military chief General Mohamed Gelle Kahiye as saying. 
Meanwhile, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity was quoted in the report as saying that American ‘covert forces would get involved if the offensive fails to dislodge al-Qaeda terrorists.’ 
“What you’re likely to see is airstrikes and Special Ops moving in, hitting and getting out,” noted the official. 
The report also refers to secret US military and intelligence involvement in the Horn of Africa conflicts in the aftermath of the overthrow of Somalia’s junta leader Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. 
It also mentions the US Central Intelligence Agency’s failed collaborations with Somali warlords to stop the fighters in 2006 which led to a US-backed invasion of the impoverished African state by Ethiopian forces in the effort to kill top leaders of Somali fighters.
In summer 2009, the American government hastily shipped in millions of dollars of weapons in order to save the Somali government, it went on to say. 
Recently, there have been reports of the arrival of US defense contractors in Somalia in order to support ‘peace efforts’ there. 
American officials claim that between 6,000 and 10,000 trained Somalia troops would fight in the offensive against an estimated 5,000 Somali fighters.

US-Backed Somali Troops Prepare Major Offensive (democracynow)

Al-Shabab Vows They Will Defend Any Attacks From the U.S. and TFG (Shabelle)
Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage (Sheik Ali Dere), the spokesman of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahidieen has Monday held press conference in Mogadishu and said that they would defend any attacks from US and the transitional government troops reiterating that the World Food Program (WFP) will never operate in Southern Somalia.

The spokesman also talked more issues during his press conference in the capital saying that the US officials said that they would take part the big offensive that the government said it would take over whole control of the Somali capital Mogadishu asserting that they were ready and ready for defending themselves from both the US and the transitional government. 
“If they planned war, I think that there are no some things refusing them to start the fighting. The statements about the war and also threatens will not affect us,” said Sheik Ali Dere. 
He said that they knew that the US government said it would use air strikes and warplanes for the fighting and support the government troops with logistical and military support. 
Asked about a Statement from the TFG presidents Sheik Sharif which was that they would welcomes any dialogue with Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen and Hizbul Islam, he replied that they will never negotiate with the transitional government and the statement comes a days after the US government formally said it would take part the fighting in Somalia.

Is the U.S. Helping or Hurting In Somalia? (realclearworld.com)
In Afghanistan, the United States has chosen to combat an insurgency with connections to al Qaeda with a 100,000 troop strong counter-insurgency (not counting the tens of thousands of troops contributed by NATO allies and local Afghan forces). In Somalia, the Obama administration has taken a different approach to much the same problem:

Most of the American military assistance to the Somali government has been focused on training, or has been channeled through African Union peacekeepers. But that could change. An American official in Washington, who said he was not authorized to speak publicly, predicted that American covert forces would get involved if the offensive, which could begin in a few weeks, dislodged Qaeda terrorists. 
“What you’re likely to see is airstrikes and Special Ops moving in, hitting and getting out,” the official said. 
Over the past several months, American advisers have helped supervise the training of the Somali forces to be deployed in the offensive, though American officials said that this was part of a continuing program to “build the capacity” of the Somali military, and that there has been no increase in military aid for the coming operations. 
The Americans have provided covert training to Somali intelligence officers, logistical support to the peacekeepers, fuel for the maneuvers, surveillance information about insurgent positions and money for bullets and guns.

The Obama administration is reportedly worried about a Yemen-Somalia axis where al Qaeda fighters flow between the two countries, setting up training camps and a staging area for international attacks. It’s a legitimate worry, and if the choice is between an Afghan-style counter-insurgency/nation building effort, and the kind of assistance the administration is offering, I think the Somalia template is preferable, because it puts Somalis and not Americans, on the front lines. 
But we have to be on guard here as well. If we wind up enabling a government takeover, and that government is corrupt and brutal, it will not only galvanize further revolts, but it will direct the ire of Somalis against the U.S. That kind of blowback would take a bad situation and potentially make it much, much worse.

A Somali-based Islamic group that has tried to radicalize and recruit young Canadians has been listed as a terrorist organization in Canada.
Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews said Sunday that the government’s decision to ban Al-Shabaab was aimed at protecting Canadian families from the activities of this organization.
The listing prohibits all persons in Canada as well as every Canadian abroad from knowingly dealing with assets owned or controlled by Al Shabaab, Toews said in a news release.
Al-Shabaab, banned in many Western countries, is the most active group targeting Somalia’s impotent transitional government.
Toews said the government received reports from the Somali community that Al Shabaab has attempted to radicalize and recruit young Canadians.
Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating the disappearance of about 20 young Somali men who left Minneapolis over the last two years for Somalia, presumably to join Al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab listed by Canada as terrorist group author: Althia Raj (QMI-Agency)
The federal government of Canada is listing al-Shabaab as a terrorist group after members of the Somali community expressed fears it is trying to radicalize and recruit young Canadians. 
The move prohibits Canadians inside and outside the country from knowingly funding, participating in or enabling any of al-Shabaab’s activities. 
“There is reasonable and probable grounds to believe that this organization either facilitates terrorist activities or is involved in terrorist activities,” Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said. 
Al-Shabaab is an Islamist insurgency group waging war in Somalia where it controls much of the South. The feds listed it as a terrorist group Friday but made the announcement Sunday evening. 
Toews said the feds have received reports from foreign intelligence and members of the Somali community fingering al-Shabaab for its attempt to radicalize and recruit its youth, especially through the Internet. 
Toews said no action had yet been taken against the group and police might have a difficult time trying to freeze any of its financial assets. 
The U.S. government listed al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization in 2008. It says the group is to blame for the assassination of Somali peace activists, international aid workers and journalists. 
The last group placed on Canada¹s terrorist list was the controversial addition of the Tamil Tigers.

Government Readies Troops for Al Shabaab Assault by Murithi Mutiga (DailyNation)
Several thousand troops — some said to have been trained in Kenya — have been assembled in preparation for a major assault on Somalia’s al Shabaab militia which could start within weeks. 
The Transitional Federal Government is planning the assault on the al Shabaab at a time when the militia seems weakened by internal feuds and a number of high-profile defections.

But analysts warn there is no guarantee the military offensive against the al Shabaab will enable the TFG to assert greater control over the strife-torn country, which the United States says has become a haven for dozens of al Qaeda jihadists in recent years. 
“The Ethiopians were able to overrun the Islamic Courts Union within a week in 2006,” Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst at the International crisis Group, told the Sunday Nation. “But that did not translate into victory for them because the ICU was able to reclaim territorial control very quickly once the Ethiopians pulled out. The TFG must find a way to build political credibility for any offensive. They need to get clan elders to buy into the project. A military solution on its own will not work.” 
The current TFG administration was put in place following peace talks in Djibouti aimed at including members of the Islamic Courts Union who had been waging an insurgency against the government following their ouster from power after the Ethiopian invasion. 
A moderate Islamist, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, was installed as President as part of the Djibouti accord. But the deal served to intensify rather than halt the fighting. Analysts blame the failure to include all the factions of the ICU in the talks for the collapse of the peace deal. The exclusion from the negotiations of Sheikh Dahir Aweys, an influential figure seen as the father of the Islamist movement in Somalia, was seen as a mistake.

After being snubbed in Djibouti, Sheikh Aweys, who is on the US list of people “linked to terrorism,” formed the Hizb Ul Islam movement which joined forces with al Shabaab and nearly toppled the TFG last May. 
The TFG survived the assault thanks to the Americans who reportedly shipped in weapons worth millions of dollars. 
Washington is again involved in helping to plan the latest offensive by the TFG. The New York Times reported on Saturday that US surveillance planes have been over-flying the country gathering intelligence, possibly to help the TFG in the planned assault. 
“The Americans have provided covert training to Somali intelligence officers, logistical support to the peace keepers, fuel for the manoeuvres, surveillance information about insurgent positions and money for bullets and guns,” reporter Jeffrey Gettleman wrote from Mogadishu. 
“Washington is also using its heft as the biggest supplier of humanitarian aid to Somalia to encourage private aid agencies to move quickly into ‘newly liberated areas’ and deliver services like food and medicine to the beleaguered Somali people in an effort to make the government more popular.” 
Neighbouring countries are also playing a role in helping plan for the offensive. Mr Abdi of the ICG said Kenya and Ethiopia have helped train troops.

Multiple reports indicate 2,400 young Somalis mainly recruited from refugee camps in North Eastern province have received paramilitary training at the Manyani Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) training camp in Coast province. 
“The recruits are primarily from the Ogaden clan who are the dominant community in the area near the Kenya-Somalia border. It would appear the strategic objective for Kenya is to insert these youths into the theatre in Somalia to act as a buffer between Kenya and the al Shabaab,” said Mr Abdi. 
The analyst warned there are dangers to this approach. He said there was no guarantee the Somali youth who have received training abroad would achieve success over the al Shabaab militants, pointing out that these youth were essentially mercenaries fighting for pay while the al Shabaab fighters were ideologues who believe they are fighting for a holy cause. 
Mr Abdi also said there was a danger that the conflict would spill over into Kenya because members of the Ogaden clan are found in both Somalia and Kenya, and the fighters can easily slip back into the country. 
It is not clear when any offensive against al Shabaab would be launched. Some analysts say fighting could start “within weeks”, while other Somalia watchers say major fighting only occurs after the end of the rainy season which would place the timing of major military move in May. 
The plans to attack al Shabaab come at a time when the movement has been weakened by disputes between its top leaders.

A moderate faction of the al Shabaab led by Sheikh Mukhtar Robow seeks to establish an Islamic state in Somalia. Their aims are mainly local, and they view the conflict through a nationalist lens. The rival faction headed by Sheikh Ahmed Abdi Godane advocates the use of Somalia as a staging ground for a global jihad. These disputes as well as the dominance of the movement by foreign jihadists are said to have eaten into al Shabaab’s support among the population. 
The renewed impetus to launch an attack by the TFG follows a string of reports that dozens of Al Qaeda militants have shifted base from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Horn of Africa.The New York Times report says Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who is said to have played a central role in planning the US Embassy bombing in 1998 and the 2002 attack on the Paradise Hotel, could be operating in Somalia. 
It says Fazul is currently helping the Shabaab to assemble bombs to fight the TFG. The report said the Americans will not take a direct role in the planned TFG offensive but that Special Forces teams could move in and attack if Al Qaeda suspects are identified. 
Although Kenya routinely serves as the base through which the US coordinates efforts to stabilise Somalia, there is concern in government circles that the country does not benefit sufficiently from the relationship. 
This was the message taken to Washington recently by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka. Addressing diplomats, US government officials and academics at the New America Foundation, Mr Musyoka said Kenya carried a heavy burden as a result of the humanitarian crisis in Somalia and also served as a key US ally in the region. 
He said the country should be accorded special status and enhanced budgetary support in a fashion similar to other key US allies such as Egypt and Pakistan. 
Mr Musyoka said Kenya supports an inclusive peace process as a way to end the fighting in Somalia. All indications are the military option appears to have won the day and there will be significant fighting soon.

‘Somaliland Can Not Be Recognized As an Independent State’ – TFG  (Somalilandpress.Shabelle) 
The authorities of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia have said that the breakaway republic of Somaliland can not be recognized as an independent state, just as Israel said recently it gave identification to Somaliland administration, officials told Shabelle radio on Thursday. 
Abdiwahid Abdi Gonjeh, the deputy prime minister of the transitional government of Somalia told reporters in Mogadishu that Somaliland is one of the Somali administrations in the horn of African state saying that they can not break from the other Somalis.
Mr. Gonjeh said that there is no government or group that Somaliland or the other administrations in country could identify as a self-governing state disproving statement from a spokesman of foreign ministry of Israel who said that the Jews recognizes Somaliland.
“The news form Israel is baseless propaganda. It is not also clear that news from the foreign minister of Israel. I do not know where the journalists had quoted that news,” said Abdiwahid Gonjeh.
Lastly the deputy prime minister of the transitional government Mr. Abdiwahid Abdi Gonjeh said that there was difference between the Somali government and administrations saying that a mediating process was continuing to end the divergences.
Somaliland, a breakaway republic of Somaliland had announced a self-governing state in 1991 as the former Somali president Mohamed Siad Barre’s government collapsed and since then Somaliland was seeking a recognition which was not achieved yet.

Poverty pushes Bosasso children on to streets (IRIN)
A long civil war, frequent droughts, unemployment and high food prices have led to an increase in the number of street children in Bosasso, the commercial capital of Somalia’s self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, with NGOs and government officials calling for urgent steps to resolve the problem. 
“In the past, most of the children on the streets of Bosasso were from south-central Somalia,” said Muse Ghele, governor of Bari region. “Now we are noticing more and more locals both from urban and rural areas.” 
Between 4,500 and 5,500 children are on Bosasso’s streets, according to the governor. 
Abdulaziz Mohamed Hamud, child protection consultant with OxfamNovib, told IRIN: “You have to understand that numbers of street children are estimates and could be even higher. There are no exact figures but the numbers seem to be increasing daily.” 
Young providers 
The children, according to Abdihakim Farah Arush, chairman of the Bari Child Protection Network (BCPN), fall into two categories: those who work to help their families, mostly local and internally displaced (IDPs) who go home at night; as well as those who sleep on the street, mostly substance abusers. 
The reasons for the children being on the street vary, he said. Many of those from south-central Somalia were separated from their families on their way north while others end up on the streets to help their families, or fend for themselves. 
Shoe-shining and car-washing, serving as porters or washing sacks in the market are the jobs of most of the street boys in Bosasso. 
Arush said while most street children were boys, more and more girls were joining them, cleaning business premises or people’s homes. Some children as young as two or three were put on the streets to beg by desperate families. 
Hamud of OxfamNovib said most of the children suffered abuse and physical violence. “Many of them have the scars as proof. On the street at night they are easy prey with no one to protect them.” 
Risks 
Many have been infected with “all sort of diseases, such as TB, skin diseases; while many others suffer from malnutrition. Most don’t know what they suffer from,” Hamud added. 
Abdullahi Said, 12, is on the street because he has to help his mother with his three younger siblings. He collects garabo (leftover khat) and sells it to those who cannot afford the good khat or he shines shoes. On average, he takes home 30,000 Somali shillings (about US$1) a day. 
“What I make from garabo and shining shoes is what I take home to help my mother feed us,” he told IRIN. Said’s father died in 2009 so the responsibility of helping his mother care for the family fell on him. 
“My mother used to go to the market and do any job she could find but now she cannot even do that. She just had the baby,” he said. 
There are no agencies that help the street children directly, said Hamud. 
Arush’s agency is part of a child protection network in Puntland. “Unfortunately we cannot provide material support but we advocate for them and when we get information that they are in trouble we try to intervene,” Arush said. 
Hamud said a lot more was needed to help the children. “First, serious assessments need to be carried out to determine the extent of the problem,” he said. Many of the older children were turning to crime. “They not only pose a security, but also a social, risk. We need to address their needs as a matter of great urgency.” 
Legal intervention needed 
He said Puntland should have a separate juvenile justice system to deal with child offenders. “Now, children arrested by the police end up in the same cells as adults, where they are vulnerable to abuse.” 
He said those involved in child protection were trying to lobby the legislature for a Juvenile Justice Law, aimed at guaranteeing children’s rights, so that children would no longer be kept in jail with adults or tried in adult courts. 
“Agencies and local authorities should do everything possible to provide them with an alternative to the streets.” 
Governor Ghele said the authorities had identified a site to build a home for the children but did not have the financial resources to build and operate it. “We need a lot of support if we are going to put them in safe homes,” he said.

The EU marks International Women’s Day on 8 March recognising the essential role of Somali women in peace and development (EU)
March 8 is International Women’s Day and this year’s theme is Equal rights, equal opportunities:
Progress for all. Bearing this in mind, the European Union is fully committed to promoting and defending a real access for Somali women to equal rights and equal opportunities as the only way to progress for all in Somalia.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the European Union wishes to express its deep concern and strong condemnation of Human Rights violations in Somalia, in particular of those against women.
The European Union recognizes the essential role that women play in peace building and development in Somalia, and takes this opportunity to honour their critical contributions to Somalia’s political, economic and social advancement.
The challenges faced by Somali women are many and a comprehensive approach is needed:

• Somali women bear the brunt of years of conflict and are left with the responsibility of providing for their family, but are too often sidelined in formal peace talks. Over the past decade, the European Union has supported a wide variety of conflict resolution and local reconciliation initiatives ensuring women’s participation in these forums.
• An estimated one million Somali children are not in school and more than half are girls. While significant progress has been achieved, enormous challenges remain. Dedicated programmes extend girls’ access to education at all levels through scholarship schemes.
• Women are the primary ‘breadwinners’ and dominate petty trade, but capital assets are typicallyowned by men. The European Union backs women setting up their own businesses through vocational and on-the-job training and small scale projects for women entrepreneurs.
• Female circumcision is a widespread practice commonly applied against women’s will that disregards sexual freedom and jeopardizes health.

International Women’s Day is a celebration of Somali women’s resilience and a reminder of both achievements and challenges ahead.
By ensuring protection of their rights and freedoms, and providing Somali women with real help to acquire new skills and confidence, we can make a positive difference to both their lives and Somalia’s future.

Inter-clan clashes kill two in central region (Mareeg)
At least two people were killed and several others were wounded in clashes between militias from two rival clans in Bacadweyn village in Mudug region in central Somalia, witnesses said on Sunday.
Residents say the fighting started on Sunday afternoon in the village, where the two militias were confronting each other in recent days. 
The clashes were caused by a land dispute and the long standing hostilities between the two brotherly clans who reside in Mudug region.
Inter-clan fighting has recently killed 15 people in Amara Village in Mudug region between the Suleyman sub-clan of the Habargidir clan and the Qubeys sub-clan of the Dir clan.
Hawiye clan elders have called for immediate cessation of the hostilities between the two clans and urged them to solve their dispute through dialogue.

Islamist says they will fight with the Kenyan government by Mohammed Omar Hussein (Somaliweyn)
The spokesman the regional administration of Al-Shabab in the Jubbah regions in southern Somalia Sheikh Hassan Yakub has on Tuesday said that the Kenyan government has signed a new contract with the western countries to fight us.
“We have got very reliable tips that the government of Kenya has signed a new contract with the western countries to fight us, similar to previous contract which Ethiopia has signed with the western countries, but we assure you that Kenya will suffer a lot if it attempts to provoke us” said Sheikh Hassan Yakub speaking to Somaliweyn Website.
The spokesman has also added that the Kenyan government has been lately deploying its troops in the boarder between Kenya and Somali, and said that they have closely monitoring their movements.
“These maneuvers of theirs will take them to nowhere and they cannot scare us like that, we shall win over them and we know that there are militants from the Ogaden National Liberation Front who are in the frontier backing the Kenyan troops, these are all minor to us” added Sheikh Hassan Yakub.
Al-Shabab has some months back sized the entire of the Jubbah regions in Somalia from Hizbul-Islam another Islamist faction in Somalia after a deadly battle between the two.

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

Iman: Supermodel, Activist, Refugee (enough)
The world knows Iman as a supermodel, a successful businesswoman with her own cosmetics company and as a fashion icon alongside her husband David Bowie. That’s only half the story. Iman is also a refugee and a fierce advocate for human rights. In this exclusive interview in honor of International Women’s Day, Iman shares her incredible story of fleeing war in Somalia, being discovered by a fashion photographer while living in Kenya, and finding global fame.   Click  to watch the interview  
Enough Co-founder John Prendergast had this to say about her; “Iman has been a fierce advocate for the rights of women and children in Africa and around the world. Her own experience as a refugee and a mother has deepened her commitment to contributing to a world where violence against women and girls is one day a thing of the past.”
On International Women’s Day, as we celebrate the achievements of women and raise awareness of ongoing injustices against women, Iman’s success story is poignant, especially in light of the causes she fights for.
She is a Global Ambassador for Keep a Child Alive, raising awareness and funds to help African families affected by HIV/AIDS.
She was instrumental in the campaign against blood diamonds, terminating her contract with diamond giant DeBeers in protest over the diamond industry’s abuses in Africa. 
Iman is speaking up for the Congo as well, helping the Enough Project’s “Raise Hope for Congo” campaign spread the word about the new blood diamonds: “conflict minerals” from the Congo.
As Iman and John discuss in the video, the deadliest war in the world is raging in the Congo right now. Over five million people have died, but that’s just part of the horror.
Keep reading about Iman’s work with Enough, and learn more about conflict minerals.

Iran – Tehran calls for settlement of Somali crisis (ISRIA/MFA-IR))
Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Saturday voiced Tehran’s emphasis on resolving problems in Somalia.
The Iranian minister made the announcement in a joint press conference with his Kenyan counterpart Moses Wetang’ula.
Mottaki, who is in Kenya at the official invitation of Wetang’ula, expressed hope that the talks with his Kenyan counterpart would help resolve the Somali problems.
Referring to last year’s visit to Kenya of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he said the trip opened a new chapter in the two countries’ bilateral cooperation.
Expressing his satisfaction with the amicable ties between the two nations, Mottaki said Tehran and Nairobi share identical views regarding many international developments.
Referring to activities of Iranian companies in various development projects in Kenya, he said the Iranian investors have carried out road constructing projects in that African country.
For his part, the Kenyan foreign minister said the Iranian and Kenyan officials are studying the removal of visa between the two countries. Such a move would strengthen trade and tourist ties between the two nations, he added.
The volume of Iran-Kenya trade exchanges stands at dlrs 100 million, he said, announcing that the two sides are determined to increase the figure to one billion dollars in the future.
Kenya is in dire need of Iran’s crude oil, he said, adding that Iranian oil will help Kenya witness economic development.
He appreciated efforts made by the Islamic Republic to settle the Somali crisis.

Iran – FM: ties with Kenya growing and dynamic (PressTV)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki described ties with Kenya as good, growing and dynamic.
Making the remark in a meeting with his Kenyan counterpart Moses Wetang’ula in Nairobi on Saturday, he referred to the political will existing in the officials of the two countries to expand mutual ties.
He said the important agreements between the two countries reached during the last year visit of Iranian president to Kenya were currently followed up in different areas.
The foreign minister said Iran was working on plans to construct trade centers in Kenya in 2010.
On developments in southern Africa including the Somali crisis, he pointed to Kenya’s capacities and capabilities in solving such problems.
Mottaki further discussed latest developments in Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq with his counterpart.
Wetang’ula in the meeting referred to the historical relations between Iran and Kenya and termed as important and constructive exchange of views among officials of the two countries.
He urged upgrading the level of mutual cooperation and said the two countries should focus on trade issues as well as cooperation in oil areas, construction of power plants, roads, dams, trade centres and manufacturing of tractors.
He also said removal of visa between the two countries, once implemented, would strengthen trade and tourist ties between the two nations.
Wetang’ula further stressed Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology.

Iran Calls for Regular Multilateral Meetings on Somali Crisis (FarsNewsAgency)
Somalia, Kenya and members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) welcomed Iran’s proposal for attending regular meetings to solve the crisis in Somalia. 
According to the proposal, raised by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, was endorsed at a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Kenya and Somali and IGAD Secretary-General Mahmoud Ma’alemin in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday. 
During the meeting, Mottaki referred to Iran’s humanitarian aids to Somalia, and said the Islamic Republic has made extensive efforts to restore peace and stability in the country.
IGAD’s secretary-general, for his part, appreciated Iran’s efforts in this regard, and said, “These efforts are approved and supported by IGAD and we hope that IGAD’s efforts along with Iran’s supports would yield positive results.”
Also, Somali foreign minister urged IGAD member states to continue their consultations with Iran and utilize Iran’s views, positions and potentials in international bodies to soothe the crisis.
“Assistance of countries like Iran, given their rich and valuable experiences, is effective and useful for resolving this conflict,” he added.

Al Qaeda suspect tries to flee hospital in Yemen (TWTwashingtontimes)
An al Qaeda suspect tried to shoot his way out of a hospital in Yemen’s capital Sunday and killed a guard, authorities said, while security forces and separatists clashed in the south of the country with five wounded. 
The suspected al Qaeda militant snatched a gun from one of two intelligence agents guarding his room and opened fire, a hospital administrator said. One of the agents was killed and the other wounded, a security official said. 
A Defense Ministry Web site identified the suspect, who was apprehended, as a German citizen of Somali origin. More gunmen opened fire at the hospital gate as the al Qaeda suspect tried to escape, the administrator added.

NATO tires to address security challenges in the Gulf region (*) (ISRIA)
It gives me great pleasure to be in Manama today, and to be able to enjoy the warm hospitality of the people, and the Government, of the Kingdom of Bahrain. I am grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies and to Dr. Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar for inviting me to speak today, and I am particularly pleased to be sharing the podium with the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, Sheikh Khalid Al Khalifa.
The Gulf States are natural partners of NATO. And in my remarks tonight I should like to explain why our partnership is so important. I shall then briefly review what we have achieved so far in our cooperation, before sharing with you some of my ideas on the possible future evolution of our relationship.
First, why is our partnership so important? In a nutshell, because NATO and ICI countries face common security challenges and threats – challenges and threats , such as failed states, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, piracy and energy security. These are all security issues that cannot be successfully tackled by any one country alone – they require a multilateral and cooperative approach to security, including through the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. Therefore it is clear that the security of Bahrain, and of all our ICI partner countries, is of strategic interest to NATO.
We have a shared interest in helping countries like Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq to stand on their own feet again, and in preventing countries like Somalia, Yemen and Sudan from slipping deeper into chaos. And we all are seriously concerned about Iran’s nuclear ambition – and about the instability this could cause in a region that is pivotal for global stability and security.
There is one additional area where our common interests and concerns have become more and more apparent – and where we are also highly interdependent – and that is in the area of energy security.
And at a time when we have seen the resurgence of piracy off the coast of Somalia and the Horn of Africa leading to attacks against ships carrying oil and gas shipments, it is clear why maritime security in its broad sense, and counter-piracy in particular, are further areas where we share a common interest.
I am delighted that this common interest has already been translated into practical cooperation. And I should like to express my sincere gratitude to Bahrain for hosting the monthly meetings to coordinate and harmonise the various contributions to the international community’s effort to counter piracy off the Horn of Africa. It is a vivid example of Bahrain’s willingness to play its part in shaping the international environment in a positive direction.
It was because of these common threats and challenges that the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative was launched, almost six years ago. Since then, our partnership has gone from strength to strength, defying the sceptics who said that a strong relationship between NATO Allies and Gulf States was impossible.
The ICI was initially envisaged as a bilateral initiative between each participating Gulf State and NATO. This individual aspect remains important, since it allows each ICI member to tailor its cooperation with NATO according to its own specific interests and requirements. As we develop our partnership, let me reassure you that we will continue to recognise those specific interests and requirements.
But how should we develop our partnership? Allow me to share with you some ideas.
First – the practical dimension. The Menu of Practical Activities has already more than tripled in size and now contains some 600 activities and events for our ICI partners to choose from – ranging from counter-terrorism, through military education and training, to energy security and maritime cooperation. That broad menu represents a wealth of opportunities for each of our ICI partners. But it also represents a challenge: because partners have to make choices and decide what matters most to them.
It is precisely for this reason that we have suggested to our ICI partners to elaborate an Individual Cooperation Programme with the Alliance. Your country, Bahrain, has consistently been a real trail-blazer in the ICI framework. And so it is no surprise that Bahrain will probably be the first of our Gulf partners to complete an Individual Cooperation Programme. This will allow Bahrain to better define the scope and pace of its cooperation with NATO. At the same time, it will allow NATO to better focus its assistance and support, and it will, hopefully, also set an example for other ICI partners to follow.
If I were asked where I believe there is most potential for Gulf States and NATO to enhance their practical cooperation, I would immediately mention: the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the fight against terrorism, energy and maritime security. All are serious potential threats facing both NATO and its ICI partners. Terrorism is actually at the crossroads of many of these threats: a terrorist in possession of a radiological device is a dreadful prospect for us all; terrorists have also shown their determination to hit critical energy infrastructure. But tonight, I shall focus on energy and maritime security – after all, I am speaking upon the gracious invitation of the Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies.
We should start, I believe, by stepping up our exchange of information and best practices with respect to energy security issues. We have much to learn from each other – and we should look to exploit all opportunities for sharing our knowledge and experiences.
One way of doing this is by establishing concrete procedures for management of environmental accidents.
Let me explain what I mean. Regrettably, we have often seen that accidents, or indeed deliberate acts of sabotage, can lead to dreadful consequences – both for our populations, and for our environment. At NATO headquarters in Brussels, we have a staff dedicated to coordinating relief efforts in the event of disasters, and last summer NATO offered our ICI partners direct access to the centre. Let us explore the possibilities of enhancing further the involvement of our Gulf State partners.
We also need to look more closely at protecting our critical energy infrastructure. Far too often when we use this term, we think of the extensive highly visible infrastructure such as the extraction facilities, refineries, pipelines and so on. But as in so many other aspects of our modern age, the glue that binds all these elements together is the computerised control system. And everybody who has an interest in energy security needs to ensure that these complex computerised systems are adequately protected.
Here again, I believe there is scope for enhancing our practical cooperation. NATO is already focussing much greater attention on protecting its own communication and information systems against attempts at attack or to gain illegal access. We have a NATO Computer Incident Response Capability, as well as a cyber defence Centre of Excellence.
I think we should now look closely at how NATO’s experiences and lessons learned in this field can be shared with Bahrain and the other Gulf States, and how we can work more closely together in the future to ensure that this vital aspect of critical energy infrastructure is properly protected.
Another key element of energy infrastructure that needs protection is the means of transportation. Approximately 15 tankers a day pass through the Straits of Hormuz, carrying about 17 million barrels of crude oil. This represents almost 40% of the world seaborne oil shipments – but most significantly from a Gulf States’ perspective, it represents 90% of the oil exported from the region. There is a direct link between energy security and maritime security.
The Alliance has a maritime capability that no other organisation can match. NATO is currently conducting two distinct maritime operations – Active Endeavour, a counter-terrorist operation in the Mediterranean, and Ocean Shield, a counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa. With its presence, NATO is contributing to enhancing the security of energy shipments through these two vital sea lanes of communication.
I believe, there is scope for a strengthened cooperation between NATO and Bahrain and the other Gulf States.
First, I should like to offer our ICI partners the possibility of participating in NATO maritime operations in the region. This does not have to be necessarily with ships – there are other ways of contributing to these operations, such as with support in the fields of information, logistics, or exercises.
We will then need to develop an effective web of contacts. We should build upon the excellent relations that have already been established between our naval commands. NATO’s maritime commands – in Northwood in the United Kingdom, and in Naples in Italy – and your naval commands here in Bahrain, and in our other partner Gulf States.
In time, it might prove that the best way of maintaining and enhancing these contacts is through a system of liaison officers with the Allied maritime command structure – and I, for one, would welcome such an approach.
Taken together, these steps would demonstrate our joint commitment, and would be a major contribution to enhancing regional security and stability. They would also be fully in the spirit of the request for intensified regional and international coordination to fight acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, which was made by the Gulf Cooperation Council Supreme Council at its 30th session last December.
Let me now turn to the possible evolution of the political dimension of our partnership.
On Thursday, in Brussels, we will have a so called “NAC+4” meeting – a meeting between the North Atlantic Council and all four ICI partners. One major agenda item will be the security challenges in the Gulf region. It will give us an opportunity to share views on subjects such as Iran, Yemen and piracy off the coast of Somalia. In the future, I would like to see meetings of this kind becoming a more frequent feature of our partnership.
It makes eminent sense to have more regular meetings among all our nations to discuss current affairs. But I also see considerable merit in meetings where we would lift up our eyes to scan the strategic horizon – and try to develop a common assessment of medium and longer-term challenges, and their possible implications for our cooperation.
We are facing challenges that force us to be much more proactive, and to work together much more closely, across frontiers, cultures and religions. It makes perfect sense for us to deepen our practical cooperation, and to benefit from each other’s specific knowledge and experiences. It also makes perfect sense for us to conduct a regular political dialogue on issues of common interest. There is enormous potential in our partnership. I look forward to fulfilling that potential together.
(*) Speech by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the occasion of his visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Ritz Carlton Hotel, Manama, Bahrain

US, Britain behind terror in region: Iran (TheNewsPk)
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki charged on Monday that US and British forces are fomenting terrorism in the region. 
Mottaki’s comments came as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan ahead of a trip to Kabul by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 
“I accuse the US, Britain and their forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan of fomenting terrorist acts in the region,” Mottaki told a regional energy conference in Tehran. 
Ahmadinejad was to visit Iran’s eastern neighbour later on Monday to discuss with his counterpart Hamid Karzai how to stabilise the war-torn nation. 
The two leaders are to “examine solutions to Afghanistan’s problems” as Iran seeks to boost relations, a local news agency reported on Sunday. 
Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have repeatedly called for the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan, saying their presence is stoking the Taliban insurgency. 
The United States has made a number of efforts to involve all of Afghanistan’s neighbours, including Iran, in restoring stability to the country. 
But they have been complicated by the lack of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington and the standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme. 
Iran, which has close ethnic and religious ties with Afghanistan, has long suffered from the effects of opium production in its eastern neighbour, with easily available heroin fuelling a big rise in drug use at home. 
Afghanistan is the source of 90 percent of the world’s heroin.

Iran, US trade accusations afresh (MiddleEastOnline) 
Tehran says US behind terror in region while Petraeus accuses Iran of becoming ‘thugocracy’. 
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday that US and British forces are fomenting terrorism in the region.
“I accuse the US, Britain and their forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan of fomenting terrorist acts in the region,” Mottaki told a regional energy conference in Tehran.
Mottaki’s comments came as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad other Iranian officials have repeatedly called for the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan, saying their presence is stoking the Taliban insurgency.
Ahmadinejad is not visiting Afghanistan on Monday, an official at his office said, after local news agency Mehr reported he was scheduled to make a one-day trip to Kabul.
But despite their rivalry, Washington and Tehran are both sworn enemies of Taliban.
The United States has made a number of efforts to involve all of Afghanistan’s neighbours, including Iran, in restoring stability to the country.
But they have been complicated by the lack of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington and the standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran, which has close ethnic and religious ties with Afghanistan, has long suffered from the effects of opium production in its eastern neighbour, with easily available heroin fuelling a rise in drug use at home.
On Saturday Ahmadinejad dismissed the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States as a “big lie,” state media reported.
Ahmadinejad has on several occasions questioned the accepted version of the terror strikes on New York and Washington carried out by Al-Qaeda militants which killed nearly 3,000 people.
“September 11 was a big lie paving the way for the invasion of Afghanistan under the pretext of fighting terrorism,” he was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster.
Ahmadinejad also described the airborne attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers as a “scenario and a complex act of intelligence” services.
Meanwhile General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, charged Sunday that Iran is becoming a “thugocracy” in attempts to suppress popular anger over last year’s contested presidential vote results.
“I think you’ve heard it said by pundits that Iran has gone from being a theocracy to a thugocracy,” Petraeus, whose command stretches from Egypt to Pakistan and includes Iran, said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”
“And that is again because of the emergence of this reform movement of the citizens who are outraged at the hijacking of the election that took place back last summer.”
Petraeus said it was not clear whether Tehran had definitively decided to pursue nuclear weapons.
But he said such a decision was “a little bit immaterial at this point in time, because all of the components of a program to produce nuclear weapons… have been proceeding.”
The United States is working with its UN Security Council veto-wielding partners — France, Britain, China and Russia — as well as Germany, to come up with new sanctions against Iran. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Petraeus said Iranian actions were making it easier for the United States to build a coalition and added: “President Ahmadinejad is often our best recruiting officer.”
Iranian authorities have freed five men, including reformist journalists and aides of opposition leaders, on bail after some of them paid hefty sureties, an opposition website reported late on Sunday.
Abdollah Momeni, Mehdi Forzandehpour, Ehsan Mehrabi, Akbar Montajabi and Vahid Pourostad were behind bars after they were detained as part of a crackdown on supporters of opposition leaders.

Iran calls for regional convergence and establishment of Asian Union (ISNA)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki urged regional countries to increase convergence through establishment of the Asian Union. Foundation of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has paved the way for Asian countries convergence and these countries must now focus on establishment of Asian Union, Mottaki said on Monday while speaking at the inauguration of a conference on Central Asia and Caucasus in Tehran. 
Superpowers have tried to create critical situation in different regions and oppose increase of convergence among south-south countries, he said. 
“Such developments necessitate south-south countries to pursue their interests seriously, to preserve their common interests through regional structures and to solve inter-regional problems independently and peacefully,” he asserted. 
There is a long way to reach a satisfactory convergence and it needs extra efforts, he said and expressed Iran’s readiness to help achievement of the purpose. 
He also proposed establishment of a joint investment found among regional countries. 
Mottaki then referred to the terrorism phenomenon that threatens the region saying there are hidden hands that under the slogan of war on terrorism, nurture this phenomenon in the region. 
“I accuse the US and Britain and their forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan of encouraging terrorist measures in the region,” he said. 
He then called for “regional friends” to be vigilant about their agreements they sign with foreign forces in order to prevent influencing regional countries’ interests. 

UN Move Unjustifiable Ban Ki Moon comes under Colonial Pressure by Laksiri Fernando (AsianTribune)

A few days after the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, addressed the World Tamil Forum in London and the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, talked to the same Forum delegates, on Friday the 5th March, the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki Moon, telephoned the Sri Lanka’s President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to tell that he intends to appoint an expert committee to ‘advice him on and/or probe the alleged war crimes’ committed ostensibly by all parties at the last stages of the Eelam war to “ensure accountability on the part of Sri Lanka on human rights.” 
The connection between the Sri Lanka’s former colonial master, the British Government, and the UN pressure on Sri Lanka became more obvious when “a British High Commission official told The Sunday Island [7 March 2010] that Britain consistently supported the UN Secretary General’s call for an ‘accountability process.” It appears that the present move to probe war crimes is primarily a demand by the World Tamil Forum. It was a major facet discussed at the Forum in London as reported by The Times (24 February 2010). 
Accountability 
The claim for the so-called ‘accountability process’ is something that the UN and other anti-Sri Lankan forces have been twisting and turning overtime with the connivance of certain local personalities to suit their political agendas since the defeat of the LTTE terrorism decisively from the Sri Lankan soil in May 2009. The retired Army General and defeated presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka, has been the key personality who was provoking ‘war crime charges’ against the Sri Lankan government and its armed forces to suit a personal ambition for political power quite contrary to what he stood against the LTTE during the Eelam War IV. 
There are certain accountability processes on human rights that Sri Lanka has formerly agreed upon by virtue of its sovereign rights as a member state of the UN and those are the various Treaty Bodies in addition to its obligations under the UN Charter. While there are around seven key treaty bodies that Sri Lanka regularly report on various substantive aspects of human rights, the country also actively participates at least at three key Charter Based Bodies, the Human Rights Council now in session being the most key among them. 
Sri Lanka or any other ‘third world’ country should not allow the UN or any other such body to investigate human rights situations in its own country for the simple reason that it is an obvious abdication of its sovereign rights. If this principle was not so clear in the past, believing that the UN has been always working on good faith for the interests of all countries on an equal and a fair basis, the experiences since 1990s has proved that our assumptions were utterly wrong and the UN is mostly working on the interests of the big bullies in the world arena. 
The UN has no unilateral legal mandate whatsoever to intervene in domestic affairs of a country unless there is a great threat to international peace and security as a result of that particular domestic situation. Yet a decision has to be taken by the UN Security Council. This is what appears in Chapter VII of the UN Charter. If such a domestic situation arises then it would wholly mean the complete breakdown of state affairs, not to speak of sovereignty. Therefore, the question of abdication of sovereignty does not arise. 
Even under those circumstances the UN interventions have not proved very successful (i.e. Angola, Mozambique or Somalia) because of the vested interests of those countries that mostly engineer such interventions completely in contradiction to the national interests of the respective countries. The most reliable would be the assistance from friendly neighboring countries perhaps with some sort of mandate from the UN. After all, the UN is still the only international umbrella organization that exists today in the name of peace and security and this ‘some sort of mandate’ would be necessary and desirable on that score and only on that score. There is nothing wrong, on the other hand, if the UN intervenes completely on the request of the country concerned, like what happened in Cambodia in 1991; yet the results or forces behind would be utterly dubious. 
Sri Lankan Case 
The case of Sri Lanka has been completely different. While the UN should have unconditionally supported Sri Lanka in its struggle against terrorism as a great threat to human rights and also peace and development in the country, the UN role particularly at the Secretariat level and its agencies, including the Colombo Office, has always been dubious from being lukewarm on terrorism to aiding and abetting the LTTE organization in various ways and means quite detrimental to the sovereignty of the country. This is why there is a strong opposition to Ban Ki Moon’s proposition at present. 
The above behavior of the UN agencies in Sri Lanka has had no mandate whatsoever from the Charter or any other instrument of the UN, except that the organization happened to be completely or largely infiltrated by the anti-third world elements, INGO supporters and the so-called human rights careerists who do not seem to have an iota of realism on how human rights could be promoted and protected in countries in conflict or transition. 
As President Mahinda Rajapaksa has correctly pointed out “it was both unprecedented and unwarranted as no such action had been taken about other states with continuing armed conflicts on a large scale, involving major humanitarian catastrophes and causing the deaths of large numbers of civilians due to military action.” This is where the hypocrisy and double standards of the UN proposition to appoint a panel of experts on Sri Lanka lies. Ban Ki Moon has been completely silent on Iraq and Afghanistan where thousands of civilians are being killed by military action by foreign forces quite contrary to the very spirit of the UN Charter. 
In the case of Sri Lanka, if the UN had been cooperative with the government during the ‘humanitarian war against terrorism,’ without speaking and standing on behalf of the LTTE, obviously many more civilian lives would have been saved. The UN or its Office in Colombo unfortunately did not behave in that manner for several reasons. 
Apart from being prejudicial on ethnic and human rights issues in what they term as the ‘third world countries,’ the UN officials have been extremely influenced by the LTTE Diaspora. It is completely incorrect to call them Tamil Diaspora. These prejudices and pressures also coincided with their own self-interests of being human rights troubleshooters who earn their dollars without even proper academic qualifications. It is an undeniable fact that the UN officialdom is dominated by the Westerners. If the UN is a world organization this should not be the case. 
UN Culpability 
There is so much of circumstantial evidence to reveal that the UN officials who were particularly working in Sri Lanka were aiding and abating the LTTE terrorists. This is something that the government of Sri Lanka should investigate with or without the cooperation of the UN Secretary General. Some of the broad indicators are the following. 
• When the Sri Lankan armed forces were closing in on the LTTE in early 2009, the UN Officials were largely responsible for advising the Tamil civilians to move towards Mullativu where the LTTE could take them as human shields. 
• When the government of Sri Lanka declared a call for surrender in April 2009, the UN officials refused to support the government call virtually indicating the LTTE to continue to fight. 
• The UN officials in Colombo not only blatantly exaggerated the casualty figures but also leaked them to various dubious organizations strengthening the LTTE propaganda machine. They hardly corroborated with the government on the issue. 
• The UN from top to bottom tried its best to pressure the government of Sri Lanka to stop the final military action against the LTTE in May 2009 as a last ditch effort to save at least the top LTTE leaders. 
It is my concerned opinion that the UN is trying to investigate the so-called war crimes as a result of its failure to save the LTTE from military extinction. If this is not the case the UN should prove it, and prove it by cooperating with the government against the remaining remnants of terrorism. Any investigation by the UN will undoubtedly resurrect the LTTE both politically and militarily as the move towards such an investigation has already given some life to the LTTE Diaspora. 
What happened during the last days of the war is ‘essentially within the domestic jurisdiction’ (to use the UN jargon) and outsiders have no business whatsoever in investigating or intervening on the matter. Of course Sri Lanka could have a friendly dialogue with the UN or any other if the intentions are proved to be honorable. So far the UN intentions do not seem to be that honorable and Sri Lanka is completely justified in categorically rejecting such a move. 
The countries in our part of the world (to mean Asian, African, Middle Eastern, Latin American and East European) should not succumb to the unjustifiable UN pressures whether on human rights or conflict issues. It appears that the UN seems to be the greatest abuser of human rights by distorting the issues and misusing them for others’ vested interests. 
The mandate that the UN has is conditional. It has no mandate to violate sovereignty of nations. The progressive world should expose the current duplicity, hypocrisy and double standards of the UN. It is the officialdom that controls the UN at present. What we should look forward to is a reformed UN and not the one that serves the interests of dubious forces.
(*) Laksiri Fernando is Professor at the University of Colombo 

WHILE THE BOYS PLAY WITH THEIR TOYS IN A GLOBAL MILITARIZATION CAMPAIGN, WOMAN HAVE OTHER PROBLEMS

This year also marks 30 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women or CEDAW by the United Nations General Assembly. The seven countries that have not ratified the international treaty are the United States, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Nauru, Palau, and Tonga.
Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women. She is following discussions at the United Nations as the Commission on the Status of Women meets to review the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action that came out of the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.

International Women’s Day: Stop the ‘Harpocracy’ on women’s progress by Claire Tremblay 
The Alternative Report issued in response to the federal government’s report on women’s progress in Canada 15 years after the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is a refreshing counterpoint to the Harper government’s manipulation of the facts. 
The Alternative Report will be submitted by women’s groups at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March. The commission will discuss progress on women’s rights made by world governments including Canada since 1995. 
The Government of Canada should hang its head in shame. In 2006, Canada was ranked number 14 out of 150 countries (90 per cent of the world’s population) by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. It now ranks number 31. 
Women have been bound and gagged for the past four years. Held at knife point are pay equity, advocacy, universal child care, Aboriginal women and women in poverty — the Conservatives scrapped 134 women’s programs in 2006. Twelve of 16 Status of Women’s offices were shut, Canada’s universal day care plan abandoned and the Courts Challenges Program defunded as was Federal funding to women’s equality groups. The Alternative Report cites “senior policy advisors within the office of the prime minister with strong links to anti-feminist organizations,” as one explanation for the attack on pro-women groups. 
The official government report is nauseating reading. Take this gem: “Canada remains firmly committed to working with Aboriginal women to bring real improvements… to ensure Aboriginal women… feel safe and empowered.” The government isn’t firmly committed enough to investigate the 520 murdered and disappeared Aboriginal women in Canada – the Conservatives continue to stall discussion on the issue. 
Or this one: “Canada recognizes that families are the building blocks of a society and that child care is a priority for Canadian families.” The Conservative’s scrapping of a universal child care program for a $100 a month beer and popcorn allowance to parents with children under six would indicate otherwise. 
Refreshingly, the Alternative Report entitled “Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) On the Occasion of the 15th Anniversary of its Adoption (2010): A Canadian Non-Governmental Response says what is really going on: “there has been a sharp decrease in institutional and political support by the Government of Canada for the promotion and protection of the human rights of women and girls during the period 2004-2009.”

Fifteen years after Beijing, being born female in Canada is to be born a second class citizen. You earn $0.72 to a man’s dollar and live in a country that ranks behind Somalia in its representation of women in parliament. If you are female and aboriginal, elderly, disabled or from a visible minority, you are really out of luck. The poverty rate for Aboriginal women is 36 per cent; for women of colour 29 per cent for women with disabilities 23 per cent for single women over 65 it is 17 per cent.
This has to stop. This International Women’s Day on March 8, 2010 — make your voice be heard — help end the Harpocracy.
(*) Claire Tremblay, on behalf of the Ad Hoc Coalition of Women’s Equality and Human Rights.

UNESCO’s Sex Ed Guidelines: Controversial But Necessary Updates by Natalie Ingraham (M.P.H.) (kinseyconfidential)
A new draft of a United Nations sexuality education guidelines has riled some conservatives who find the comprehensive sexuality plan outlined controversial. 
In June, the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO), published a draft oftheir new guidelines for sexuality education around the world titled, International Guidelines on Sexuality Education: An Evidence Informed Approach to Effective Sex, Relationships, and HIV/STI Education (link is a PDF of the 98 page document). The guideline updates focus on HIV/AIDS prevention and reproductive healthcare throughout the world by recommending comprehensive sexuality education that includes topics such as gender equality, contraception, sexual orientation, masturbation and the difference between legal (safe) and illegal (presumably unsafe) abortions. The full document is expected to be published in October. UNESCO describes the guidelines as “an evidence-informed and rights-based framework to give children and young people access to the knowledge and skills they need in their personal, social and sexual lives.”
A number of media outlets and blogs have covered the controversy surrounding the published draft, although SIECUS (a trusted source of sexuality education information) says that the New York Times article [see below] in particular unfairly exaggerated the controversy and negative remarks surrounding the document. According to the NYT, the opposition to some of the topics and learning objectives seem to stem mainly from US-based anti-abortion and conservative sex education groups such as the Population Research Institute and Citizens for Responsible Curriculum, respectively. 
Nanette Ecker, a former SEICUS director who co-authored the guidelines said, ““Maths and science are valued as important knowledge for young people to have for their own sake. A sound sexuality education should be equally valued.” 
I couldn’t agree more. I wonder how many of the conservative groups have even read the guidelines in their entirety? Or if they are keeping in mind that these are guidelines, not rules or funding mechanisms but recommendations from a global agency that has looked at and considered mountains of quality research on a huge number of sexuality topics and decided that the facts and learning objectives contained in this document will help children and adults across the world by using education to help slow or stop the spread of HIV and other STIs as well as protect the rights of citizens around the world without regard to their gender, sexual orientation, or sexual behaviors.
U.N. Guide for Sex Ed Generates Opposition by Steven Erlanger (NYT)
A set of proposed international sex education guidelines aimed at reducing H.I.V. infections among young people has provoked criticism from conservative groups that say the program would be too explicit for young children and promote access to legal abortion as a right.
The guidelines, scheduled to be released by Unesco in a new draft next week, would be distributed to education ministries, school systems and teachers around the world to help guide teachers in what to teach young people about their bodies, sex, relationships and sexually transmitted diseases. They would address four different age groups.
“In the absence of a vaccine for AIDS, education is the only vaccine we have,” said Mark Richmond, Unesco’s global coordinator for H.I.V. and AIDS and the director of the division that coordinates educational priorities. “Only 40 percent of young people aged 15 to 24 have accurate knowledge” of how the disease is transmitted, he said, even though that age group “accounts for 45 percent of all new cases.”
But the conservative criticism has already caused one of the key participating and donor agencies, the United Nations Population Fund, to pull back from the project and ask that its name be edited out of the published material, United Nations officials said.
A Population Fund official, reached in New York, said Tuesday that the fund wanted changes to the text. “Discussions are ongoing to make the publication more effective and adaptable by countries, so it may better serve countries as guidelines for use in national educational systems,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the matter.
A draft issued in June has been attacked by conservative and religious groups, mainly in the United States, for recommending discussions of homosexuality, describing sexual abstinence as “only one of a range of choices available to young people” to prevent disease and unwanted pregnancy, and suggesting a discussion of masturbation with children as young as 5. 
“If you ever have a situation where kids need to be taught earlier than their adolescence, this is not the way to do it,” said Colin Mason of the Population Research Institute, an anti-abortion organization based in Virginia. “It’s very graphic and encourages practices like masturbation, which conservative Christians and others feel are wrong.”
The diversity of views around the world on these issues renders any universal approach “culturally insensitive,” Mr. Mason said. “We think it’s a kind of one-size-fits-all approach that’s damaging to cultures, religions and to children,” he said.
The barrage of criticism has put Unesco, the United Nations agency charged with advancing education and culture worldwide, on the defensive. The agency has removed the June draft of the guidelines from its Web site, and delayed the release of the final document. 
“Unfortunately, the way the guidelines have been presented by certain media has provoked some fairly aggressive reactions, mainly in the form of virulent comment on conservative American Web sites, but also via some very nasty e-mails directed at the two co-authors as well as certain Unesco staff,” said Sue Williams, the spokeswoman for the agency, which is based in Paris.
A team of experts at Unesco has been working on the guidelines for two years, drawing on more than 80 studies of sex education, at a cost of about $350,000. Coordinated with other United Nations agencies, like the World Health Organization and Unicef, the project is intended to help member countries improve sex education and sexual health, reduce H.I.V. and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as illegal abortions, especially in the developing world. 
According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, each year there are at least 111 million new cases of sexually transmitted disease among people ages 10 to 24; 10 percent of births are to teenage mothers; and up to 4.4 million women 15 to 19 seek abortions.
“The main effort is to try to empower young people with knowledge that could actually save their lives,” said Mr. Richmond, the Unesco H.I.V./AIDS coordinator. “We want to give them the opportunity for more informed choices than currently exist.”
But for some conservative and religious groups, the guidelines are too detailed and too uniform in their recommendations across different cultures, and they remove responsibility from parents. 
The guidelines suggest, for example, that teachers begin discussing masturbation with children ages 5 to 8, with a more extensive discussion for those ages 9 to 12. 
Michelle Turner, founder of the Maryland-based Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, says children that age should be learning “the proper name of certain parts of their bodies” but “certainly not about masturbation.” 
“I’m really concerned about what they want to teach 5- to 8-year-olds, and I have concerns about their position on abortion and the way they want to present it to youth,” she said. “Where are parents’ rights? It’s not up to the government to teach these things.”
But one of the guidelines’ authors, Nanette Ecker, former director of international education and training at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, said that given the extent of sexual abuse, unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, sex education has to start early in order to “provide young people with the specific information and skills they need to navigate safely from childhood to adulthood.”
Conservative groups have also criticized the draft guidelines for discussions of condom use, sexually transmitted diseases and the assertion that “legal abortion performed under sterile conditions by medically trained personnel is safe.” The guidelines suggest discussing “access to safe abortion and post-abortion care” and the “use and misuse of emergency contraception” with those ages 12 to 15. The guidelines recommend that “the right to and access to safe abortion” should also be discussed.
Unesco has responded to the onslaught of criticism by issuing a news release about the guidelines before their release, defending them as “evidence-informed and rights-based.” 
The guidelines themselves argue that sex education helps to delay the onset of sexual activity, reduce the number of sexual partners and unprotected sex. In fact, a whole section is devoted to justifying why they have been written and trying to answer the concerns of parents and religious leaders.
“The document is not a curriculum,” Mr. Richmond said. “It focuses on the why and what issues that require attention in strategies to introduce or strengthen sexuality education.”
The final document was scheduled to be released at a conference in Birmingham, England, on Monday. Now the agency says that it will present a new draft then, and that it hopes to produce the final guidelines by the end of the year.

Why do journalists expect to have credibility? by Glenn Greenwald (Salon)

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We do not send pictures with these reports, because of the volume, but picture this emetic scene with your inner eye:
A dying Somali child in the macerated arms of her mother besides their bombed shelter with Islamic graffiti looks at a fat trader, who discusses with a local militia chief and a UN representative at a harbour while USAID provided GM food from subsidised production is off-loaded by WFP into the hands of local “distributors” and dealers – and in the background a western warship and a foreign fishing trawler ply the waters of a once sovereign, prosper and proud nation, which was a role model for honesty and development in the Horn of Africa. (If you feel that this is overdrawn – talk to people who lived in Somalia in the 70s and 80s and come with us into Somalia and see the even more cruel reality today for yourself!) 
- and if you need lively stills or video material on Somalia, please do contact us.   

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