Somali Pirates Sea-Jack Norwegian Tanker off Seychelles

 (sap/ecoterra)  A Marshall Islands-flagged oil-product tanker with 21 crew was captured today in the Indian Ocean by presumed Somali pirates.

Parliament calls for immediate release of British couple (Mareeg)
Somalia’s parliament has called for the immediate release of a British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates on Thursday. 
The deputy speaker of the Somali parliament, Professor Mohamed Omar Dalha called for the unconditional and immediate release of the British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler.
“The Somali parliament and the public are deeply disturbed by the unlawful detention by pirates of the British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler,” said a statement by deputy speaker Professor Mohamed Omar Dalha. 
The British couple was abducted by Somali pirates near Seychelles in October last year are being held separately in Mudug region in central Somalia. 
The Pirates demanded ransom to free the British couple.

Call for pirates to release British hostages Paul and Rachel Chandler (AFP/HeraldSun)

British couple could be released within weeks (AP)
A retired British couple snatched last year from their sailboat by pirates could be released within weeks as Somali communities inside and outside the East African country work for their freedom, a Somali official said Friday.
Paul and Rachel Chandler were forced by pirates off their 38-foot yacht, the Lynn Rival, and onto an open skiff in October as they headed to Tanzania. Soon after, their pirate captors demanded $7 million to release the Chandlers. Britain’s government refuses to pay ransoms to kidnappers.
Mohamed Omar Dalha, the deputy speaker of Somalia’s parliament, told The Associated Press that Somali communities inside and outside the chaos-wracked country have been working to negotiate the “unconditional release” of the Chandlers. Dalha said Friday that he was hopeful they would be released within two weeks.
“We are hopeful that the British couple will be released as soon as possible without condition,” he said.
It is extremely unusual for pirates to release hostages without being paid ransom money — or what pirates sometimes label their “expenses” for costs incurred while holding hostages. Nevertheless, Dalha said he was discouraging that any ransom be paid, to discourage future hostage-taking.
The Chandlers are among about 130 sailors held hostage in Somalia, which has not had a stable government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
In the latest pirate attack, the EU Naval Force said it intercepted a pirate group of one mothership and two skiffs early Friday. The pirates earlier attacked a French vessel that had private security on board who repelled the assault.
An EU Naval Force helicopter tracked down the pirates and watched them throw a rocket launcher, grappling hooks and fuel barrels into the ocean. The EU Naval Force said it destroyed the mothership and one skiff and took 11 pirates into custody.
Pirate attacks have been increasing off East Africa the last several years. Pirates attacked ships 217 times in 2009, according to the International Maritime Bureau. That was up from 111 attacks in 2008.
Last year, the average ransom was around $2 million, according to piracy expert Roger Middleton of the British think tank Chatham House. This year, two ransoms paid were around $3 million and $7 million, he said, citing industry officials.
 

Professor Mohamed Omar Dalha, deputy speaker of the parliament in the East African state, has claimed that negotiations for the pair’s release were progressing quickly and pledged that they would be freed “within ten days”, according to the Daily Mail.
The gang that kidnapped the Chandlers from their yacht have said they want a £1.3million ransom and have threatened to shoot the couple if they don’t get the money.

“We have sent a representative to Haradheere [the district of Somalia where the Chandlers are being held] and for the past week talks with the pirates have been going on day and night,” he told the Daily Mail.
“We are appealing to them through their traditional and religious leaders, as well as their own brothers and sisters – people they know and trust – and at last they are listening.
“We are optimistic that the Chandlers will be released within a week or ten days at most, without condition. I am absolutely confident that by the end of next week they will be on their way home to Britain.”
Mr Chandler, 60, and his wife, 56, were captured on Oct 23 as they sailed from the Seychelles to Tanzania.

A senior member of the Somali government claimed Paul and Rachel Chandler would be freed “within 10 days”. 
News of the East African government’s intervention is the first sign that formal negotiations have been taking place. 
The pirates have demanded a £1.3million ransom for the pair and warned they would be shot this month if the money was not paid. 
But Professor Mohamed Omar Dalha, the Somali parliament’s deputy speaker, said the gang were on the brink of releasing the Chandlers because their health is deteriorating rapidly. 
“Talks with the pirates have been going on day and night,” he added. “We are appealing to them through their traditional and religious leaders, as well as their brothers and sisters, people they know and trust, and at last they are listening. 
“We are optimistic that the Chandlers will be released within a week or 10 days at most, without condition. I am confident that by the end of next week they will be on their way home.” 
Mr Chandler, 60, and his wife, 56, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, were captured last October when pirates boarded their 38ft yacht as they sailed across the Indian Ocean from the Seychelles to Tanzania. 
In a series of ang uished video messages and phone calls the couple have told of being beaten, starved and kept apart in makeshift tents.
In an appeal at the weekend Mr Chandler, who needs urgent treatment for an eye infection that could leave him blind, described his misery at being separated from his wife on their 29th wedding anniversary. 
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said he will not negotiate with the pirates.

Pirates ‘to free yacht couple in 10 days’ by Kiran Randhawa
The British couple held hostage by Somali pirates could be freed within 10 days, it emerged today.
Paul Chandler, 60, and his 56-year-old wife Rachel were kidnapped more than four months ago as they sailed from the Seychelles to Tanzania.
Their captors demanded a £1.3 million ransom for the release of the couple from Tunbridge Wells and warned without the money the pair would be shot.
But a member of the Somali government claimed negotiations with the gang were now progressing rapidly and that they could be freed soon.
Professor Mohamed Omar Dalha, deputy speaker of the parliament, said they had appealed to the pirates, who are holding the couple in Haradheere, to release them without condition.

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

Ship repels pirate attack (SAPA)
Armed, private security guards on a Spanish trawler repelled an attack by pirates in the Indian Ocean on Friday, the second such incident in two days, Spain’s fisheries federation said.
The attack on the trawler Intertuna II took place 350 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, the federation, Cepesca, said in a statement.
“There was an exchange of fire between the pirates and the security guards on board. The pirates finally fled.”
It said there were no injuries or damage in the incident. Another Spanish fishing boat, the Intertuna III, also fled the scene after spotting the pirates, it said.
On Thursday, security guards on another Spanish trawler also thwarted an attack in the Indian Ocean by pirates, who used rocket-propelled grenades.
Last year, 16 Spanish crew on a tuna trawler, the Alakrana, were held for more than a month by Somali pirates before a $4m ransom was paid.
Spain last April allowed Spanish-flagged vessels to employ private security guards to protect them against pirates in the Indian Ocean. It also later authorised the guards to use military-grade weapons.
But the government has refused to follow France’s lead in deploying troops to protect ships in Somali waters.

French warship team destroys pirate boats (CNN)

The European Union’s anti-piracy mission destroyed a pirate ship and a skiff in the Indian Ocean on Friday and took nearly a dozen suspected pirates into custody, the mission said. 
The mission intercepted the ship and two skiffs early Friday in the southern Indian Ocean between Seychelles and Mombasa, Kenya. The mission said the pirates were in an area where an earlier attack had occurred. 
A helicopter from the French warship FS Nivose then tracked the vessels and saw the suspected pirates throwing things overboard, the mission said. 
When a French team arrived at the scene, it found 11 suspected pirates and “pirate paraphernalia” in the skiffs: a rocket launcher, grappling hooks and several fuel barrels. 
The forces destroyed the pirate ship and a skiff and took the suspected pirates into custody. The fate of the second skiff was not immediately known. 
[N.B.: Reports speak of eleven arrested and two "missing" Somalis.]

Another Sri Lankan crew held by pirates by Rasika Somarathna
Thirteen Sri Lankans are reported to be among the crew of a Saudi Arabian oil tanker, hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, close to the Somali waters Monday. 
AFP news agency quoting Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program, yesterday reported that MT AL Nisr Al Saudi, a 5,136 deadweight-tonne tanker, was seized Monday by Somali Pirates, with its Greek Captain and 13 Sri Lankan crew members. 
The tanker was reportedly on its way from Japan to Jeddah. 
When contacted by the Daily News, a Foreign Ministry Official said that they were looking into the matter and added that a clearer picture would emerge by today. 
Last week three Sri Lankans including the captain of the cargo ship Ro-Ro MV Leila, being held off the Somali port of Berbera since September 15, 2009, were freed. [N.B.: Unfortunately they are free by law but still held hostage at the lawless port of Berbera and its the irresponsible manager as well as the ignorance of the vessel-owner.] The latest piracy attack on another vessel in the Gulf of Aden, considered one of the busiest trade routes in the world with reportedly 100 ships using the route daily, comes in spite of an unprecedented anti-piracy naval deployment in the area with the co-operation of several countries.

Somali pirates demand $20m for hijacked tanker (arabianbusiness)
Somali pirates have demanded a $20m ransom for a Saudi product tanker hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. 
Arab News reported that a spokesman for the owner of the vessel, International Bunkering had confirmed that a ransom had been offered, although he was unaware of the progress of negotiations. 
The Al Nisr Al Saudi, which has a deadweight of 5,136 tonnes, was returning to Jeddah after delivering its cargo to Japan. Among its 14-strong crew are a Greek master and a number of Sri Lankan sailors.
The European naval force confirmed on Wednesday that the vessel had been seized outside the Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor (IRTC) and taken to the pirate stronghold of Garacad, on the Somali coast. 
In December 2008, representatives of Saudi Aramco subsidiary Vela International struck a deal with Somali pirates to release the Sirius Star supertanker, which was carrying $100m worth of oil, in what was the world’s biggest ship hijacking.

Lanka hold talks with Saudi Arabia on hijacked Lankan seamen (Sri Lanka Guardian) 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that it is holding discussions with diplomatic quarters in Saudi Arabia on securing the release of the Sri Lankan crew members on board a Saudi ship which has been hijacked by Somali pirates.
A ministry spokesman said the Sri Lankan Consular General’s office in Jeddah has been instructed to hold discussions with the relevant shipping company and furnish the ministry with a report in that regard.
The ‘Al Nisa Al Saudi’ was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. The 14-member crew includes 13 Sri Lankans and one Greek.
The tanker was on its way from Japan to Jeddah when it was hijacked.
Jayantha Dissanayake, Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Kenya, speaking to Newsfirst said the vessel was now in the region of Garacad off the coast of Somalia.
Under the circumstances, the high commissioner has urged Sri Lankan nationals to refrain from seeking employment on ships that sail across Somali waters.

Pirates say they won’t harm crew by Mohammed Rasooldeen (ARABNEWS) 
Efforts stepped up for release of hijacked ship 

Somali pirates hijack ship owned by Saudi Arabia (Reuters) 
Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden early this week and said they had also seized a fishing vessel, in a sign the sea gangs are maintaining their lucrative business despite naval patrols. 
Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme said the Saudi-owned 5,136 deadweight tonne al Nisr al Saudi was seized on Monday and was now off the Somali coast. 
Emboldened by rising ransom payments, Somali sea gangs have stepped up attacks in recent months, making tens of millions of dollars by seizing vessels in the Indian Ocean and the busy Gulf of Aden shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia. 
Prior to the latest captures, at least six foreign vessels with 140 crew members were being held off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation. The biggest ransom so far is an estimated $7 million paid in January for a oil tanker laden with crude.  An official at the company operating the vessel said hijackers were demanding $20 million to release the small empty fuel tanker, which had been returning from Japan to the Red Sea port of Jeddah, Al Arabiya television reported. 
Mwangura said the ship had one Greek and 13 Sri Lankan crew. 
Pirates said they had also seized a fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean, but no further details were immediately available. 
Foreign navies have been deployed off the Gulf of Aden since the start of 2009, operating convoys and setting up safer transit corridors through the most dangerous waters. 
But the armed pirate gangs also operate far out in the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, dodging the warships by casting their nets as far south as the Seychelles. 
Even private yachts have been targets. 
A Somali legislator urged community elders to press pirates who have held a British couple since October to free them. 
Paul and Rachel Chandler, a retired couple from southeast England, were seized in the Indian Ocean aboard their 38-foot (12 metre) yacht soon after they left the Seychelles. 
“The couple are elderly and infirm,” the deputy speaker of parliament Mohamed Omar Dalha said in Nairobi. “We are really touched by their plight.” 
“We call upon our MPs, ministers, religious elders and traditional elders from the region where the pirates are holding them to seriously intervene and convince their captors to release the two on humanitarian grounds.” 
Piracy has thrived off Somalia because of the lack of a stable central government since 1991. The chaos now is driven by a three-year-old insurgency bent on toppling the Western-backed administration, which controls only parts of the capital. 
Many of the sea gangs also say they are acting as an informal coast guard by deterring the illegal dumping of toxic waste and unauthorised fishing in the tuna-rich waters. 
The UN’s special envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said piracy should be tackled by giving the government resources to improve security on land. 
“We have anarchy, and everyone is trying to make money out of it,” he said in an interview late on Monday, adding that pirates were making more than $100 million a year.

Freed Greek-owned bulk carrier arrives in Salalah by Conrad Prabhu (OmanDailyObserver)
A Greek-owned freighter that was released by Somali pirates earlier this week arrived at the Port of Salalah yesterday on a roughly four-day stopover in the Sultanate.
The Navios Apollon, a 52,000 DWT bulk carrier, was freed on February 27, just over two months after its seizure off the Seychelles in the Indian October on December 28, 2009.
According to maritime officials, the Panama-flagged cargo ship sailed into Salalah on its own power and docked at the transhipment hub’s General Cargo Terminal yesterday morning. The vessel’s Greek captain and 18 Filipino sailors are said to be generally in good health and excellent spirits.
During its Oman stay, the bulker is due to receive fresh supplies of water and provisions for the next leg of its journey to Rozy on India’s west coast where it is due to discharge its cargo of rock phosphate. It was not immediately clear if a crew change was on the cards during the ship’s Salalah stopover.
Owned and operated by Navios Maritime Partners of Greece, the 190-metre-long Navios Apollon was captured by an armed band when it was en route from Tampa (USA) to Jamnagar on India’s Gujarat coast. As with a majority of seized ships, the Apollon’s release followed a ransom payout.
Salalah — the Sultanate’s transhipment hub overlooking the Indian Ocean — is typically the first port of call for newly freed ships seeking a safe haven after prolonged periods in captivity at the hands of Somali based pirate gangs.
The Navios Apollon is the second such vessel to call Salalah this year. Earlier in January, the Maltese-flagged cargo ship, MV Ariana, chose Salalah as its first port of call following its release after roughly seven months in captivity.
Hijacked vessels that have made brief stopovers at Salalah, and sometimes even Muscat, during the past year include the German-owned cargo ship, MV Charelle, the chemical tanker Stolt Strength, CEC Future — a vessel operated by the Danish Clipper Elite Carrier, MV African Sanderling — a Panama-flagged bulk, the Turkish tanker MT Karagol, the Panama-flagged chemical tanker MT Action, and the Liberian flagged product tanker MV Biscaglia.
 

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 8 seized foreign vessels (10 sea-related hostage cases since yacht SY LYNN RIVAL was abandoned and taken by the British Navy) with a total of not less than 175 crew members (incl. 5 Filipinos on board of two vessels: two on board the Thai Union 3 and three on board the MV St. James Park; as well as the British sailing couple) plus now the lorry crews held for an exchange with imprisoned pirates, are accounted for. The cases are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed too. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases for Somalia and the mistaken sinking of one sea-jacked fishing vessel and killing of her crew by the Indian naval force. For 2009 the account closed with 228 incidences (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 68 vessels seized for different reasons on the Somali/Yemeni captor side as well as at least TWELVE wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces. 
For 2010 the recorded account stands at 25 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 ——————–

The British government has a firm policy that it does not negotiate with kidnappers. The problem is that negotiating is often the only way to keep people alive. 
“We judge that substantive concessions lead to more hostage-taking, not less,” the Foreign and Commonwealth Office says in a statement. “This is not an easy policy to follow – sometimes it is agonising – but it is right.”
Some security experts have criticised this stance, saying that it does not seem to act as a deterrent and that the government’s unwillingness to outsource negotiation is costing lives.  
“Kidnappers do it either to get money or a political concession,” says a security specialist with substantial experience of international kidnap, extortion and Iraq security issues post-2003, speaking under condition of anonymity. “They will not release hostages, unless they are forced to by an armed intervention or an unlikely fit of conscience, unless they get at least something. If you tell the kidnappers on day one that you will not talk or deal you are greatly contributing to the hostages’ demise” 
Canon Andrew White agrees. White, who is known as the vicar of Baghdad, has been involved in147 kidnap cases and recovered 43 hostages. 
“It’s not great,” he says. “But it’s better than anyone else.” He used to be dead against paying a ransom, but he has changed his mind. 
“If you pay you get them back alive, and if you don’t they get killed. Simple as that,” he says. 
The Italian embassy in Iraq, for example, gave White 40 million dollars (30 million euros) in cash to take to the kidnappers of two Italian aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta. But for British hostages there is no such easy way out. 
Hostage negotiation aims to transfer an unreasonable demand to a reasonable one – for example moving from the return of prisoners to a ransom, according to the security expert. 
“If you’re not prepared to negotiate with terrorists, it’s very simple: get someone else to do it for you,” he says. 
British IT expert Peter Moore was released from captivity at the end of last year. The Shia-Muslim group which kidnapped him along with his four bodyguards had two demands. The withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and the release of Laith and Qais al-Khazali, militia commanders of Asaib al-Haq. The release of the Khazalis was happening anyway as the US government started handing prisoners to the Iraqi government. 
White was told that Moore’s bodyguards were shot dead when an armed raid came to rescue them and the kidnappers needed to get out quickly. When hostage recovery is limited to armed intervention, the chances of rescue narrow dramatically. 
“They never know exactly where the kidnappers are,” said White. 
Of course, there is a danger that substantive concessions will lead to more kidnappings, although White says the practice would never disappear, even if no one ever negotiated with terrorists. 
Journalist Charles Glass was kidnapped by the Shia-Muslim armed group Hizbollah in Lebanon in 1987. He says he was a victim of the US policy of shipping weapons to Iran in exchange for hostages, which blew up into the Iran-Contra scandal. By the time Glass was kidnapped, this practice had been exposed and no one tried to negotiate his release. 
“They kidnapped me, I think in the hope that they could still get something, but in the event they didn’t get anything,” he says. “I have to say that every time the United States sent two missiles to Iran, a hostage would be released but then they would pick up two more.” 
But, he adds, the French and German governments, which negotiated for hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s, talked to Hizbollah and got almost all of their hostages back alive. South Korea refused and their man was killed. 
“The British government has a longstanding policy of hypocrisy,” says Glass, citing the case of Terry Waite who was kidnapped in Lebanon and apparently released after mediation from the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the event, some British tanks made their way via Switzerland to Iran. 
Now it seems the British government has gone too far the other way. In Somalia, a British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, have been held hostage by pirates since October. 
Nick Davis, the chairman of the Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre has negotiated with the pirates for a £100,000 (110,000 euro) ransom. This compared to the going rate for a merchant ship of three million dollars (two million euros). 
“The Somali diaspora is trying to talk to the clan elders. Yeah, great, very noble,” he says. “But that’s not how this business mechanism works, which is extortion for vessels and crew.” 
He stresses it is extortion rather than terrorism and says it should be thought of as expenses. It is costing the pirates to keep the Chandlers alive; they had thought a British yacht in their waters would contain rich people but, unfortunately for everyone involved, the Chandlers cannot afford a large ransom and, worse still, Davis needs the Foreign Office’s help to make the ransom payment. 
The only way to get them out is by sea, which means the Foreign Office needs to allow a naval warship to be in the right place at the right time to pick the freed hostages up. 
“It’s completely needless that they are continually being held and we’re in a stalemate situation,” says Davis. “The pirates won’t give in and won’t let them go for nothing and the Foreign Office is advising the family not to pay a ransom. It’s a ridiculous situation.”

Fresh Fears Of Maritime Terrorism by B. Raman (*) (ERS)
The years following the Al Qaeda attack on the US naval ship USS Cole in Aden in October, 2000, saw an increase in fears of sea-borne terrorism either on coastal targets or on sea-moving targets such as oil/gas tankers, container ships etc. There were also fears of a possible Al Qaeda-inspired attack to block maritime choke-points such as the Malacca Strait.
These fears were caused by the flow of human intelligence as well as by the interrogation of arrested suspects. These fears reached the zenith in the months following the US invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Consequently, there was increased international and regional co-operation in the form of exchange of intelligence and assessments, joint or coordinated naval patrolling, joint naval exercises, intensified action against piracy in the Malacca Strait etc.
Post-2005, these fears got diluted partly due to the absence of any terrorist attack from the sea, partly due to the preoccupation of Al Qaeda and its allies with land-based operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and partly due to the effective action taken against piracy in the Malacca Strait region.
In recent months, there has been a revival of the fears about a possible maritime terrorist strike due to the following reasons: Firstly, an increase in incidents of piracy by Somali/Yemeni pirates and the inability of the international community to deal effectively with the problem till now; secondly, an increase in the activities of Al Qaeda in Yemen and Somalia, both of which have a large number of sea-faring men who might be prepared to help Al Qaeda in sea-borne attacks; thirdly, the successful sea-borne terrorist strikes mounted by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) on land-based targets in Mumbai from November 26 to 29,2008, and the failure of the Indian Navy and other Navies operating in the seas of the region to detect the plans of the LET and the movement of the LET boat carrying the terrorists from Karachi to Mumbai; and fourthly, the strengthening of physical security for land-based targets, which has necessitated the terrorists once again turning their attention to sea-based targets.
The enormous publicity, which the LET got for its sea-borne attack in Mumbai, demonstrated the propaganda value of sea-borne attacks, where the surprise element is more. It is to be expected that not only Al Qaeda, but also other Al Qaeda allied elements such as those of the Jemmah Islamiyah and the Yemeni and Somali members of Al Qaeda might once again be tempted to think in terms of acts of maritime terrorism to prove that their capabilities are intact.
It is in this context that one has to see reports from Singapore that an unidentified terrorist group is planning attacks against oil tankers in the Malacca Strait. The Singapore Shipping Association has been quoted as saying on March 2, 2010, that it had received an advisory from the Singapore Navy Information Fusion Centre about “an indication that a terrorist group is planning attacks on oil tankers in the Malacca Strait.” It added: “This does not preclude possible attacks on other large vessels with dangerous cargo.” The Navy Centre’s advisory reportedly said: “The terrorists’ intent is probably to achieve widespread publicity and showcase that it remains a viable group.” It reminded shipping operators that the militants could use smaller vessels such as dinghies and speedboats to attack oil tankers. It recommended that ships should “strengthen their onboard security measures and adopt community reporting to increase awareness and strengthen the safety of all seafarers,” according to the Association.
It is necessary for the Indian counter-terrorism agencies too and the Indian Navy and Coast Guard to re-focus on the likelihood of fresh sea-borne terrorist strikes against Indian targets either on land or on the high seas in the waters to the west of India. Protection of sealanes against pirates and terrorists acting separately of each other or in tandem and prevention and countering of acts of maritime terrorism require close regional co-operation with the navies of countries such as the US, Japan, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Australia. Such co-operation should address issues such as intelligence collection and sharing, joint or co-ordinated operations, mutual assistance on the high seas, joint exercises etc. It is important for India to take the initiative in this matter.
The two joint counter-terrorism exercises between India and China held so far were land-based. The first was held in Yunnan and the second in Karnataka. The next Sino-Indian joint exercise should focus on coordinated action and mutual assistance against maritime terrorism with the involvement of the navies of not only India and China, but also the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. We should not allow the continuing differences with China over the border dispute to come in the way of evolving a co-operative mechanism against maritime terrorism and piracy.
Our adversarial relationship with Pakistan would not permit us to think in terms of joint maritime counter-terrorism exercises with Pakistan, but intelligence-sharing arrangements should be possible and advisable despite the continuing serious differences between the two countries on the issue of Pakistani inaction against terrorism. We must develop slowly habits of mutual assistance with Pakistan—-in the field of investigation of terrorism-related cases and prevention of maritime terrorist incidents.
(*) B. Raman is Additional Secretary ( retd), Cabinet Secretariat. Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. 

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

Somali pirates attack two other Basque vessels in the Indian ocean (eitb)
At least one of the vessels belongs to the Albacora fishing company. A tuna boat from the same firm escaped from a hijacking attempt on Thursday.
Somali pirates on early Friday morning attacked other two Basque tuna boats while they were fishing in the Indian Ocean. The two ships are from Bermeo (Biscay) and at least one company belongs to the Albacora firm. Both vessels managed to avoid the attempted abduction.
A tuna boat from the same firm, Albatun, escaped from a hijacking attempt on Thursday.
As Europa Press news agency informed on Friday quoting Cepesca sources, fishing boats are on high alert because the area is “full” of pirate ships. 
Those responsible for the vessels are in meeting in a makeshift cabinet crisis

FISHERIES WAR IN THE SOMALI BASIN HEATS UP

Nearly half the 47 ships hijacked off Somalia last year were taken in March and April — the most dangerous months of the year for ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
In the most serious skirmish Friday, six pirates attacked a vessel before breaking off and chasing the French fishing boat Torre Giulia, said Cmdr. John Harbour, spokesman for the EU Naval Force.
A French military detachment onboard a nearby ship fired warning shots at the pirates. The ship then approached the skiff and collided with it, sinking the skiff and throwing the pirates into the water. Four were rescued, but two others were missing, Harbour said.
A spike in attacks is likely in the coming weeks, said Harbour. This season, though, ship owners and sailors are more prepared to evade pirates, fight back, or they have armed security onboard, raising the likelihood of violence.
“We know the monsoon is over. We know they’re coming. We’re taking the fight to the pirates,” said Harbour.
Crews are successfully repelling more attacks, making it harder for pirates to capture ships and earn multi-million dollar ransoms.
In turn, the Somali gangs are increasingly turning violent. The International Maritime Bureau says only seven ships were fired on worldwide in 2004 but that 114 ships were fired on last year off the Somali coast alone. That’s up from 39 incidents off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden in 2008.
In a second incident Friday, the EU Naval Force intercepted a pirate group of one mothership and two skiffs that had attacked a separate French vessel. That attack was also repelled by military personnel onboard.
An EU Naval Force helicopter tracked the pirates and watched them throw a rocket launcher, grappling hooks and fuel barrels into the ocean. The naval force said it destroyed the mothership and one skiff and took 11 pirates into custody.
In the third and fourth attacks, pirates assaulted two Spanish tuna fishing boats off the coast of Kenya, Spain’s Ministry of Defense said. A spokesman said the boats had contacted Spanish navy forces in the area, who dispatched a plane. Between the air support and the private guards on the boats, they repelled the attack. The spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity because government rules don’t allow him to be identified.
Friday’s clashes followed a firefight Thursday between pirates and private security contractors onboard a Spanish fishing vessel. The pirates hit the ship with a rocket-propelled grenade and the guards returned fire. No one was hurt, but the International Maritime Bureau has expressed fears that the increased use of armed contractors could spark an arms race between fishermen and pirates, who are firing at ships with increasing frequency.
“The EU Navfor agrees with that recommendation because we don’t want an escalation of firepower,” Harbour said. “Also, there are lots of gas and oil tankers in the Gulf of Aden that wouldn’t benefit from grenades and bullets flying around.”
Pirate attacks off East Africa have dramatically increased over the past three years. Somali pirates attacked ships 217 times in 2009, according to the International Maritime Bureau. That was up from 111 attacks in 2008.
Many ship owners are investing in physical defenses like stringing razor wire and adding fire hoses that can hit attackers with streams of high-pressure water. Some ships are even having electric fence-style systems installed.
Crews have thrown everything from oil drums to wooden planks at would-be hijackers clambering up ladders. Last month a crew played the sound of dogs barking over an amplifier to frighten off attackers.
Last year, the average ransom was around $2 million, according to piracy expert Roger Middleton of the British think tank Chatham House. This year, two ransoms paid were around $3 million and $7 million, he said.
The original Somali pirates were fishermen aggrieved over the huge foreign trawlers depleting their seas — a complaint the international community has yet to address despite pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into anti-piracy patrols. Huge ransoms lured criminal gangs into piracy, though, and ransom inflation has made it more expensive to buy the freedom of the more than 130 hostages still being held.
Among those hostages are a retired British couple snatched last year from their sailboat, who a Somali official said Friday could be freed within weeks. Paul and Rachel Chandler were seized from their 38-foot yacht last October.
Mohamed Omar Dalha, the deputy speaker of Somalia’s parliament, told The Associated Press that Somali communities inside and outside the chaos-wracked country are working to negotiate the “unconditional release” of the Chandlers. Dalha was hopeful they would be released within two weeks without payment.
Somalia has not had a stable government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Indian Ocean tuna commission fails again on tuna, does better with sharks (WWF)
Closing the fishing in an area already largely closed by pirates is a long way short of being meaningful fisheries management, WWF said at the conclusion of the annual meeting of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) in Busan, Korea today.
“The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission continues to lag well behind nearly every other comparable fisheries regulator in its failure to introduce catch limits for the commercial fish species under its control,” said Dr Amani Ngusaru, head of WWF’s Coastal East Africa Marine Programme.
“We have agreement on a catch limit for bigeye and yellowfin tuna, as recommended by the scientists and this is a big step forward for the IOTC. And we have a non-binding commitment that catch limits for the tuna resources of the Indian Ocean will be considered at the 2012 meeting, which could be a big step nowhere.”
“In the meantime, we have this laughable measure that an area off Somalia which is already largely off limits due to piracy will be closed to long-liners for a month and purse seiners for a month. Are we really serious about limiting fishing pressure on our already overfished stocks?”
But the IOTC did rather better on protecting sharks and seabirds.
“The vote to adopt a ban on commercial landing of endangered thresher sharks is not all we wanted in relation to sharks and to the trade in shark fins but it is a major advance for the commission,” Dr Ngusaru said.
“It also illustrates the truth of our assertion for all the world’s Regional Fisheries Management Organisations that they make better decisions when they vote on recommended fisheries management measures than when they race to the bottom trying to achieve a consensus.”
With studies showing that several endangered albatross and petrels were highly vulnerable to longline fishing in the Indian Ocean during their critical juvenile phase, the commission hardened seabird catch mitigation requirements for longline boats operating south of 25 degrees south. 
Boats will now need to use two out of five recognised mitigation measures which include minimum light night operation, bird scaring lines, weighted branch lines and blue-dyed bait.
IOTC’s scientific community had warned contracting country parties that bigeye tuna catches should be limited to 110,000 tonnes and yellowfin tuna should be limited to 300,000 tonnes. But although the meeting accepted these recommendations, action to institute catch restrictions is to wait on a process of setting country allocations.
Another key measure not adopted was a Seychelles proposal for a ban on discards of Skipjack, Yellowfin and Big eye tuna from purse seine vessels. This would have reduced the carnage from the practice of trawlers “trading up” or discarding previous catches if better catches of higher value fish are found. 
“Developing Indian ocean states were rightly upset about the failure to pass this significant bycatch measure as it is a food security issue for them,” said Dr Ngusaru. “If it is good enough for fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean, why isn’t it good enough for fisheries in the Indian Ocean.”
A key development of the meeting was the growing assertiveness of Indian Ocean developing states in taking responsibility for their fish stocks, both in improving management of their own fishing industries and in seeking better practice from foreign industrial fleets in their waters. 
“This was illustrated in the Maldives signing up to the IOTC,” said Dr Ngusaru. “WWF is totally behind this new push for sustainable fishing in the Indian Ocean and will do all we can to support it as it benefits both the fisheries and coastal populations depending on them.”

Why the Somalis are right to refuse GMO contaminated WFP food and seeds:
Dawn of the Risky Stacked GMO Era: A taste of things to come (ACB) 
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has today released a new study titled “The GM stacked gene revolution: a biosafety nightmare”, which reveals some startling current and future trends concerning the advent of GM stacked varieties. 
Stacked GMOs are those containing more than one gene genetically engineered into a crop plant. A controversial stacked GMO, Smarstax containing 8 such genetically engineered genes, was commercially approved in the US, Canada, Japan and South Korea during 2009. Stacked gene varieties are highly complex, posing new biosafety risks that outpace the capacity of regulatory systems. “Stacked GM varieties also promise unprecedented scope for patents on life forms” said Gareth Jones, researcher for the ACB.
According to the study by Jones, from 2006 to 2007, the global area of stacked trait GMOs planted to cotton and maize grew by 66%, with maize alone increasing by over 100%, from 9 million to 19 million ha.
Plantings of stacked varieties ballooned between 2007 and 2008 at 23% compared with its single trait counterparts: 9% for herbicide
tolerance and a 6% reduction in planted area for insect resistance. A total of 26.9 million ha of stacked biotech crops were planted
globally in 2008 compared with 21. 8 million ha in 2007, with the US having planted 41% (26.7 million ha) of its total biotech area of 65.2 million ha to stacked varieties. 
Stacked GMOs deliver nearly twice the rate of profit compared to their single trait counter parts, often forcing farmers to pay for traits they neither want nor need. Increased profits further strengthen the dominant position of the world’s largest biotech companies; between 1996 and 2007 over 90% of all stacked events approval globally were owned by a handful of multinational companies,
with Monsanto leading the pack. 
In 2006, stacked GMOs accounted for 23.7% (approximately $1.4 billion) of the global GM market, worth $6.5 billion. Monsanto
expected 79% of its maize seed sales in 2009 to be triple stacked while Syngenta plans to make triple stacked maize account for 85% of its portfolio for 2011.
South Africa is a fervent supporter of stacked GMOs, granting a staggering 56 permits for stacked GM maize varieties during 2009
alone. Currently, 19% of South Africa’s GM maize area is planted to stacked GM varieties, representing a four-fold increase since 2007.
According to Jones, “If the adoption rate of stacked traits between 2005 and 2009 is projected forward, a colossal 81 million ha of
stacked GMOs could be planted by 2015 (an area larger than Mozambique or Turkey).” 
In 2008 Monsanto announced that it expected its profits to treble to nearly $3 billion by 2010 and that its new stacked trait releases
would account for the bulk of this. “Despite the rhetoric promising GM drought tolerant varieties for the poor and the marginalised, it is
clear from the current trends that the game is set for a stacked GM revolution” said Mariam Mayet, Director of the ACB.
The ACB briefing can be accessed at
http://www.biosafetyafrica.org.za/index.php/20100304290/The-GM-stacked-gene-revolution-A-biosafety-nightmare/menu-id-100026.html

Al Shabaab accused of ‘clan favor’ in WFP expulsion (garoweonline)
Former Mogadishu mayor who was also the Governor of Somalia’s embattled Banadir region has lambasted hardline rebel Al-Shabaab group over decision to ban the United Nations WFP from distributing food aid in the country. 
Mohammed Omar Habeb also known as Mohammed Dhere accused the group’s leader Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur of twisting the issue to suit his clan while inflicting misery to people from Mogadishu and other southern regions. 
“Sheikh Robow banned the aid agencies from operating in between Afgoye and Mogadishu because he wants farmers from his region to sell their grains in high profit,” he said. 
Al Shabaab is known as a multi-clan outfit of militants, and some foreign fighters, united by an ideology to establish an Islamic government in Somalia. The group has been accused of clan favors in the past. 
“The decision to ban WFP from Somalia is meant to starve the few survivors of Al-Shabaab brutal attacks,” he added. 
Commenting about the fragile Transitional Federal Government (TFG) led by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the ex-Mogadishu mayor said it is not different from its predecessors. 
“Sharif’s government is not different from other previous administrations, because it has not added anything new other than inflicting terror and fear amongst the population,” he said.  
The former Mayor, who returned to Mogadishu end of last year, was ousted from the office in early 2009 over claims that he misused the office, leading to his arrest by Ethiopian forces for allegedly planning to wage war against the government.


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

Ransom paid to pirates will lure extra pirates by Mohammed Omar Hussein (Somaliweyn)
The President of the war torn country Somalia President Sheikh Shariff Ahmed held on Thursday  a press conference at the Somali Presidential Palace in Mogadishu. 
During the Press conference the president talked at length  about the issue concerning the Somali pirates in Somalia.
“The activities of the Somali pirates against the foreign vessels and the foreigners touring the sea are something very embarrassing, and can achieve zero credibility for the Somali citizens both locally and internationally, and I am urging those pirates who are holding the foreign vessels, crew and as well as the Chandlers to immediately release them without any condition” said President Shariff of Somalia.     
Despite the presence of hundreds of EU anti pirates forces in the Somali waters the number of Somali pirates is day-by-day rapidly increasing, added president Shariff.   
The President urged the international community to wholeheartedly support the Somali government institutions, in order to overwhelm the Somali pirates.    
“The solution is not deploying hundreds of war ships on the Somali waters, but to boost the institutions of the Somali government” added President Shariif.   
In his press conference the Somali President has added that the fabulous sums of ransom paid to the Somali pirates is a danger to the stability of the country. 
“The huge amount of money paid to Somali pirates will redouble the insecurity in Somalia, and will additionally motivate many youngsters to turn their intentions towards piracy” added President Shariff. 
Finally the President said that a wide range of plans is needed to establish jobs for the thousands of the young idle Somalis all over the country, and advised parents to closely monitor the activities of their children.  
 

Destroyer Guangzhou and supply ship Weishanhu will set sail from the port of Sanya in Hainan province and will be joined by frigate Chaohu, which had been dispatched to the region in December to complement the fourth batch of ships, Zhang Wendan, senior colonel and deputy chief of staff of China’s South Sea Fleet said.
More ships are also likely to be deployed in future, as the threat posed by Somali pirates has not abated.
We have updated our equipment this time, and also intensified anti-piracy training,” Zhang told reporters at the port.
He said the Chinese fleet would in future take turns to escort trade vessels as the procedure has now become “routine”.
Pirates have changed their tactics and expanded their reach beyond the waters off Somalia to escape from escort frigates ordered by the UN over the past years.
The political commissar of the South Sea Fleet, Chen Yan, said the navy was prepared “to the fullest” and that the soldiers were “very confident” about undertaking the new mission.
“We will look after not only the physical but also mental health of the soldiers, and for the first time, several psychiatrists as well as doctors will be on board with the crew. We are very confident and ready.”
In order to communicate better with international naval forces, all Chinese soldiers are required to master a basic level of English. “We even prepared some English menus, with knives and forks, to prepare for future visits and exchanges,” Chen added.

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

Somali president urges armed groups to take peace (garoweonline)
Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Thursday reiterated his government’s readiness to engage the powerful insurgents in dialogue to end the escalating conflict in the war-torn country. 
Ahmed urged the two main groups, Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam to respect and adhere the teaching of Islam which calls for peace and tranquility. 
“I am urging Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam to take peace instead of war because that was Islam stands for,” he told reporters in Mogadishu, 
“The population is tired of war and anarchy. Lets put our differences aside and work towards peace for the seek our people,” he plead.
He called on the armed groups to allow aid agencies provide humanitarian assistance to millions of people faced with starvation.
“The aid agencies like WFP must be allowed to continue with the humanitarian assistance they provide to the destitute civilians,” he said in reference to recent Al-Shabaab on WFP food aid distribution in the country. 
Somali president also urged Diaspora to assist their fellow patriots who are languishing in camps after aid agencies were ordered out of the country by insurgents. 
Commenting about the rampant piracy in waters offshore Somalia, Ahmed requested Somali public to take part in the anti-piracy sensitization efforts and make sure youngsters are not drawn into the illegal lucrative business. 
He urged Somali pirates to release all the ships held against their will. 
The Somali President also commented about the recent agreement his fragile government reached with armed Islamist militia Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaa, terming it progress towards peace and reconciliation.

Sheik Sharif in bid to visit London by Hassan Abdi Guled
Somali Diaspora groups in London are already preparing for large scale demonstrations, if the President of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia Sheikh Sgariff Sheikh Ahmed would come to London in a bid to speak to the British Foreign Secretary.

Fresh clashes erupt in Mogadishu (Mareeg)
Fresh clashes between government Soldiers backed by African Union peacekeepers and Islamist rebels have erupted in Mogadishu on Friday.
Witnesses say at least three civilians have been injured in the fresh clashes in Mogadishu and several houses were destroyed in by mortars.
The clashes came after the African Union forces moved to former Digfer hospital in Mogadishu and made a base there.
Hawo Ali, a resident in Hodan district in Mogadishu said she saw African Union soldiers known as AMISOM with armoured vehicles moving towards Former Digfer hospital and ex Banadir secondary school where they have also made search operations.
She expressed concern about the movement of the African Union troops and the government soldiers. 
The situation is calm now and the areas of the clashes are under the control of the AMISOM troops and the government soldiers.

AU troops move to a new zone in Mogadishu by Mohammed Omar Hussein (Somaliweyn)
The African Union troops in Mogadishu have on Friday moved into Digfer the biggest hospital at Hodan district in Mogadishu which has been inactive since the collapse of the last effective central government of Somalia led by late President Mohammed Siyad Barre in the year 1991.
“It was during the daybreak of Friday when we have seen the African Union troops with their Armoured Personnel Carries in and around Digfer hospital. They told the public to be calm and minimize our movement,” said Muse Gelle a resident living just near Digfer hospital speaking to Somaliweyn Website.
During the time when the Ethiopian troops had occupied the Somali capital Mogadishu the hospital was a base for them, and after their withdrawal from the country it has become a base for a company of the Somali government soldiers and now it has become a base for the African Union troops.
The reason as to why the African Union troops have moved into Digfer hospital is not clear. Since the collapse of the last effective government of Somalia this hospital has been a place where hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons were dwelling.
The hospital is located in the front-line between the Somali transitional federal government soldiers and their armed Islamists rivals, and there have been speculations that the Somali government is intending to go into a fight with its armed rival.

Fighting Restarts in Mogadishu (Shabelle)
At least 3 people have been killed during heavy fighting between the transitional government troops backed by AMISOM and the Islamist forces in parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Friday. 
Reports say that the clash broke out as the African Union troops AMISOM made a new military base at the former Hospital building in the war zones “Isbitalka Xooga” and both sides exchanged very heavy gunfire.

Locals also said AMISOM troops had made new positions at Badir High School, Digfer hospital and Hoga hospital, all the flashpoint areas where most of the clashes continued in the past. 
“There is no more movement of people – traffic and businesses are at a standstill. We fear the fighting between the two sides and the new foreign  troops who positioned themselves around our houses,” said one of the women in area. 
The real aim why the African Union troops and the government soldiers formed new military bases in the area is unclear so far and the fighting seems following other clashes that continued in parts of Hodan district in Mogadishu recently.

Puntland Denounces Government’s Statement (Shabelle)
The administration of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland have denounced the statement of the transitional government about that the deal that the oil companies signed with the Somali regional administrations was illegal, officials said on Friday. 
A press released issued from the presidential palace of Puntland in Garow town had condemned the statement from one of the TFG officials who said that the agreements often signed by the regional administrations was outlaw.

The press release which was written in both English and Somali language was red for the journals and the officials of Puntland reiterated their condemn to the statement of the deputy PM of the TFG Abdiwahid Elmi Gonjeh and the statement of Puntland comes two days after the statement of the transitional government of Somalia.

The TFG of Somalia Cannot Deny Puntland’s Rights to State Resources (*)
Reference is made to a press conference held at the Deputy Minister’s Office in Mogadishu on March 3, 2010. 
Abdiwahid  Elmi Omar, Minister of Energy and Petroleum for the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia told reporters that ‘’regional authorities in Somalia are prohibited  from signing economic agreements with foreign partners that injected direct investments and development projects into local economies’’ 
We are very sorry that a TFG Deputy Prime Minister, who does control neither his own constituency nor his government’s headquarters, makes that irrelevant show-off of political plunder. 
(*) Press Releasee by the Minister of Information, Communication, Culture and Heritage of Puntland state Abdulhakim Ahmed Guled.

15 die in Somali rival clan feuds over water (AFP)

Businessman killed in Galkayo (Mareeg)
Armed militia have shot dead a businessman in southern Galkayo overnight, witnesses said on Friday.
Rage Abdi, the businessman who was killed in Galkayo in Mudug region in central Somalia was also the manager of Jubba airways and Dalo airlines offices in southern Galkayo.
The gunmen killed the businessman after he got out a mosque he prayed in evening prayers in the town.
The gunmen escaped after the incident, but security forces from Galmudug administration reached at the area. The security forces have not arrested any one so far.
The killing of the businessman is part of ongoing insecurity in Galkayo recently.

Hizbul official accuses colleagues of weakening Islamists (garoweonline)
A top official of Somalia’s Hizbul Islam has lambasted his colleagues over the war against Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.
Sheikh Farhan Abdi Ali Moge, who was recently appointed the groups chairman in Gedo region, accused his fellow group members Sheikh Ahmed Madobe and Sheikh Mohammed Maalin executing foreign-backed agendas to destabilize Somali Islamists.
“The war Sheikh Ahmed Madobe is waging was planned in Kenya and Ethiopia and backed by the Transitional Federal Government. It is meant to cripple the strength of Islamist in Somalia,” he said.
“I am also categorically pointing accusing fingers on Sheikh Mohammed Maalin, the groups Press Secretary who supports Sheikh Madobe agendas of putting the group at loggerheads with Al-Shabaab,” he added.
His remarks come days after Sheikh Ahmed Madobe described Al-Shabaab as his number one enemy, vowing to wipe it out of the country.
Al-Shabaab, which broke ranks with Hizbul Islam over the control of southern Somali regions, has all along being insisting that Madobe is an Ethiopian-backed individual has is out there to wreak chaos amongst the Islamists.

Somalia says no to Somaliland’s recognition bid (garoweonline)
Somalia’s third deputy prime minister said the fragile UN-backed government in chaotic Mogadishu is the only authority that represents the war-torn country, urging world not to recognize the break-away regions. 
Abdiwahid Elmi Omar, who is also Minister of Energy and Petroleum for the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia told reporters that no foreign country would recognize Somaliland, which he describe a regional authority formed in country, as an independent state. 
“Any country that recognizes Somaliland we see as one that wants to divide Somalia and we will hold them accountable,” he said, in reference to recent statement made by a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, who said that his government will recognize Somaliland, 
“The Federal Somali government is responsible for the affairs of the whole country and the existence regional authorities (Somaliland and Puntland) are part of it,” he added. 
On the other hand, Omar announced that the weak UN-backed is the only authority to sign agreement with foreign companies and that regional authorities have no authority to do so. 
“Regional authorities in Somalia are prohibited from signing economic agreements with foreign partners that injected direct investments and development projects into local economies,” he told reporters. 
However, Somalia’s state of Puntland quickly responded the minister’s announcement, saying the fragile TFG has no tangible authority in the ground. 
“We are very sorry that a TFG Deputy Prime Minister, who does control neither his own constituency nor his government’s headquarters, makes that irrelevant show-off of political plunder,” said Puntland’s government statement. 
The government of Puntland recently inked agreement with two foreign oil companies that would carry out oil exploration in region.

Somali Islamist rebels ban English, science lessons by Sahra Abdi and Abdiaziz Hassan (Reuters)
Somalia’s hardline Islamists have banned English and science studies in schools in the southern Afmadow town after the education centers there ignored the rebels’ call for fighters, residents and teachers say.Residents of the town near the border with Kenya said three schools had been given one month to comply with the order by al Shabaab rebels and switch the curriculum to accommodate Arabic and Islamic studies. 
“They asked us to contribute students to their militia so that they can fight for them, but we rejected their proposal,” said one teacher who wanted to remain anonymous. 
Al Shabaab, which Washington says is al Qaeda’s proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, wants to topple Somalia’s U.N.-backed government and impose its own strict version of sharia, Islamic law.

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

As UN Criticizes Media in Liberia, No Answers on Somalia or Afghan Censorship by Matthew Russell Lee (ICP)
The UN has reacted angrily to reports that its peacekeepers in Liberia’s Lufa County “acted partially in favor of Mandingoes when they (peacekeepers) mounted their tanks in front of the mosque to prevent angry Lormas from attacking it.” 
The UN’s top envoy in Monrovia Ellen Loj told a reporter that he should go to Lofa County before asking any question. 
At the March 5 noon briefing in New York, Inner City Press asked spokesman Martin Nesirky about the reports and about the envoy’s response to the media. Of this Special Representative of the Secretary General,Nesirky said he wouldn’t second guess “him, who is on the ground.” But what about the UN trying to discourage questions about its operations? 
Recently Inner City Press asked Nesirky if the UN has any response to Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s new prohibition on the media covering attacks by the Taliban. At first Nesirky said he hadn’t heard about it, but that “generally” the UN favors free press coverage. 
But when the UN’s top envoy to Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdallah criticized journalists who reported on the killings of civilians by peacekeepers in Mogadishu, and said there should be a one more moratorium on such reporting, the UN did nothing to discipline him. How then could it speak against Karzai’s censorship?
On March 4, Inner City Press asked Nesirky to explain Ould Abdallah’s recent call for UN agencies to return to Somalia when he himself can’t or won’t move to Mogadishu, but rather works out of Nairobi. Nesirky acknowledged it look contradictory and said he would get an answer. But thirty hours later, there was no answer.

Ethiopia’s Somali Region: “The moment I saved a child’s life for the first time will always stay with me” (MSF) 
Ongoing clashes between government and rebel forces, which began in the early 1990s, has left the people of Wardher, in the Somali region of Ethiopia, caught in the middle. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supports an Ethiopian Bureau of Health (BoH) center in Wardher town, delivering primary health care to the people in the area. The center’s antenatal unit, where MSF midwife Mali Ebrahami worked, is teeming with women receiving care for safe pregnancies and deliveries. Here, she describes the situation. 
Life in the Somali region is difficult, made more so by the sporadic violence. Many people lack the most basic things, like water and food, healthcare, and education. In Wardher Zone, health services are minimal, with few health posts and even fewer staff and drugs. That is why MSF works here in collaboration with the bureau of health. 
As a midwife it was my job to identify the problems related to women’s health. One of the main issues I came across was a limited understanding of what a woman’s body goes through and requires during pregnancy. Women in the Somali region marry at a relatively very young age and often bear numerous children in a short space of time. They have a poor diet, consisting mostly of staple foods like pasta and bread, and often carry out difficult physical tasks such as collecting firewood late into their pregnancy.  

I was concerned by the small number of people accessing medical assistance. My main objective quickly became to increase general awareness about public health and to let people know about the services that MSF and the bureau of health offer. I set out into the community to talk to people about their needs. That was the key to success: being among the people of Wardher and including them in discussions about their own health care. 
With the strong support of the hospital staff and community members, we have achieved a lot. The community grew to know what services we provide and to trust our assistance. People now come to us to seek medical help: pregnant women when they are bleeding or suffering from an obstructed labor; people bitten by snakes or attacked by lions, as happened recently; and other people with all kinds of general health needs. The numbers of people coming to the hospital are increasing by the day. 
The moment I saved a child’s life for the first time in Wardher will always stay with me. It was just two weeks after my arrival and I was in a meeting with the hospital staff. One of our community health workers ran into the room and said we needed an ambulance. When the woman arrived in mid-labor it was obvious that it was a breach birth, and that the baby was stuck inside of her. Most concerning, I could not feel a pulse. 
I finally pulled out the lifeless child. Unlike in the modern maternity rooms I was used to at home in Norway, there was only a little adrenaline and a small manual mouth-to-mouth tube at hand. Thankfully these worked. Nine months later I visited the baby boy to say my goodbyes. He seems in good health and is taking milk from his mother. 
It is not always easy to respond. We had one woman who arrived barely alive, having bled heavily after giving birth. She desperately needed a blood transfusion, but there are no blood banks here. Instead staff had to find a family member willing to donate. Then the blood had to be tested for its group and screened. The whole process took a few hours. Thankfully in this case we were successful and within two days the patient was up and walking. A week later we discharged a very happy mother and child. 
The best thing about working in the Somali region is the people. As part of my job, I worked closely with the health center’s staff, sharing knowledge and expertise. The trainings I gave were largely around complicated cases, such as how to care for women who are unconscious or bleeding during and after giving birth. Before I left, I stood back and observed my team successfully responding to a complicated case. I knew in that moment that I had achieved what I had come to Ethiopia to do. 
I am sure that our Ethiopian staff will do a good job providing medical care for the women of the Somali region in the future. I only wish that this health care could be extended to the many others in the region who do not have access to such care. Many women’s health needs remain unmet and there are very few organizations providing assistance.
(*) MSF has worked in Wardher, Somali region, Ethiopia, since 2007.  In Ethiopia, MSF also runs a kala azar treatment program, also providing treatment for HIV, tuberculosis, and malnutrition. In addition, the organization is ready to respond to emergencies as and when necessary. 

Twenty-five African states agreed Friday to step up efforts to regulate mercenary activity on the continent amid an explosion of private security companies on the continent.
The nations decided at the end of a two-day meeting with a UN working group in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to propose regulations at the September meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, participants said.
“Clearly a consensus has emerged, a willingness of the participating states to regulate more the activities of the PMSCs (private military and security companies),” one delegate told AFP.
Jose Luis Gomez del Prado, from the UN committee on mercenaries, told the meeting the largely US- and British-based industry, worth many billions of dollars a year, had boomed in African and across the world.
“With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we have seen this embryonic industry explode. There is a new dimension with the piracy in Somalia,” he said.
Private security “multinationals”, 70-80 percent of which were based in the United States or Britain, were recruiting around the world, he said, adding there was an “osmosis” between these groups and typical mercenaries.
“This market represents between 20 and 100 billion dollars a year,” Del Prado said, adding that these guns for hire posed a “great danger” to fragile governments.
In Africa there was “resentment towards private armies mainly because of the involvement of mercenaries in regime change in a number of African countries,” said African Union security expert Norman Lambo.
In one example, British-led mercenaries led a foiled coup in 2004 against the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.
“It is unfortunate that of late some groups have decided to move their mercenary activities to hide them under private security activities,” he told the meeting.
Nine African states are among 32 countries that have ratified a 1989 UN Convention against the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries.
The Organisation of African Unity, predecessor of the African Union, adopted in 1977 a convention on the elimination of mercenaries which was in turn adopted by 30 African countries.
However there were a number of loopholes in the document and it needed to be strengthened, del Prado said.
The head of the UN group, Shaista Shameem, said the current regulations were “largely inadequate”.
“Africa is also becoming an important market for the security industry as well as a supplier of personnel for the industry.”
“This new phenomenon is largely unregulated and has led to a situation which has impacted negatively on human rights,” she said, adding that these groups were “rarely held accountable” of they committed abuses.

African military experts prepare guidelines on civilian protection (Pana)

African military experts have embarked on the process of putting in place measures to ensure proper protection of civilians caught up in conflict zones across the continent, officials said in Addis Ababa Thursday.
The African Union (AU) is leading the process, aimed at putting in place guidelines on civilian protection in conflict zones, the officials, who sought anonymity, said.
The discussions underway in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, are aimed at putting in place relevant policy-guidelines on how African peacekeeping operations s hould be conducted to ensure maximum civilian protection.
‘There are several peacekeeping operations across Africa, from West, East and Central Africa. But the peacekeepers have no proper guidelines that are relevant to Africa,’ a diplomat, who attended the meeting in Addis Ababa, told PANA.
Tanzania’s Salim Ahmed Salim, the former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union, is chairing the Addis Ababa talks.
The officials said the UN and the AU peacekeepers, including those in Somalia and Sudan, lack specific guidelines on how to better protect the civilians.
‘The peacekeepers are still relying on the Geneva Convention, which provides broader frameworks on the conduct of war but these are sometimes not applicable to the African situation,’ said the diplomat, accredited to the AU, but who was not allowed to discuss the issue publicly.
The talks are focusing on developing specific guidelines that would ensure those caught up in conflict zones enjoy the maximum protection from the peacekeepers.
The fresh effort to streamline peacekeeping operations comes in the wake of calls for United Nations peacekeepers in Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to quit.
Chad agreed to a two-month extension of the UN mandate this week after weeks of foot-dragging on the issue.
African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping said in an exclusive interview with PANA in January, that increasing calls for the UN to withdraw its peacekeepers across Africa was a sign that the civilians and the various governments were not satisfied.
‘The calls for the UN peacekeepers in Chad and the DRC to withdraw suggests that the Africans are not satisfied with the way these operations are carried out,’ Ping said.
However, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and senior UN officials denied suggestions that the conduct of the UN peacekeeping operations were questionable.
Congolese President Joseph Kabila’s government is on record, asking the UN to limit its presence on the ground in Eastern Congo.
The UN has announced plans to withdraw from the DRC and it is currently working on narrowing its presence before May.
‘There are more requests for the UN to keep its peacekeepers in the various missions rather than requests to withdraw. The UN presence in many conflicts is being requested,’ Ban told journalists in Addis Ababa in January.
The meeting has drawn sharp divisions from military experts, civilian Non-Governmental Organisations and several military officers drawn from African states, on the nature of the guidelines that should be adopted to ensure maximum civilian protection.
The Australian Government is the official sponsor of the meeting, aimed at enhancing peace and security through civil-military collaboration in disaster and conflict management.

The widow of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose assassination triggered the Rwandan genocide, has been arrested in France.
Agathe Habyarimana is accused by the current Rwandan government of helping to plan the 1994 genocide, and has long been sought by prosecutors there. 
Mrs Habyarimana, who has been living in France for several years, denies the accusations. 
More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in the massacres of 1994. 
French officials said Mrs Habyarimana was detained in the Paris region by police executing a Rwandan-issued international arrest warrant. 
Mrs Habyarimana, who was flown out of Rwanda by the French military in the early days of the violence, has been seeking political asylum in France, without success. 
Her arrest follows a visit to the Rwandan capital Kigali last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, when he admitted that France – and the wider international community – had make “mistakes” over the genocide. 
His comments followed years of strained relations between the two countries. 
Extradition?
Diplomatic relations were restored late last year having broken down after a French judge said President Paul Kagame had been behind President Habyarimana’s assassination, and Rwanda accused France of arming the Hutu militias involved in the 1994 genocide. 
Mrs Habyarimana’s lawyer said her arrest was directly linked to Mr Sarkozy’s visit. 
“You can’t not draw a link,” said Philippe Meilhac. “The extradition request from Kigali dates back to November and was obviously re-activated.” 
Rwanda has welcomed her arrest. 
“We are encouraged by these new developments and the fact that the long arm of the law has finally taken its course,” said Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama. 
Mrs Habyarimana has now been freed on bail. 
The BBC’s Catherine Zemmouri in Paris says it is not clear if France will extradite her to Rwanda. 
She says that French magistrates have recently refused to send three suspects to Rwanda fearing they would not receive a fair trial – an argument repeated by Mrs Habyarimana’s lawyer. 
France has, however, extradited suspects to the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Arusha, Tanzania. 
President Habyarimana died in April 1994 when his jet was hit by a missile over the Kigali airport. 
Hardline ethnic Hutu supporters of the president then launched the apparently pre-planned massacres

German court orders stored telecoms data deletion (BBC)

Vast amounts of telephone and e-mail data held in Germany must be deleted, the country’s highest court has ruled.
The constitutional court overturned a 2008 law requiring communications data to be kept for six months. 
The law – designed to combat terrorism and serious crime – required telecoms companies to keep logs of calls, faxes, SMS messages, e-mails and internet use. 
But nearly 35,000 Germans lodged complaints against it, arguing that the law violated their right to privacy. 
Responding to the thousands of formal complaints, Germany’s constitutional court described the law as a “particularly serious infringement of privacy in telecommunications”. 
However, it did not rule against data retention in principle. 
The judgement was handed down even though the law specified that companies were not supposed to record telephone calls or to read any of the e-mail or SMS communications. 
But the records would include evidence of who got in touch with whom, for how long and how often – without requiring any evidence of wrongdoing. 
The BBC’s Oana Lungescu, in Berlin, says that the ruling did not overturn the European Union anti-terrorism directive on which the law is based, but may lead to its reassessment later this year. 
Having been spied on for decades, first by the Nazis and then by the Stasi, the notorious communist secret police, Germans take their privacy seriously, our correspondent says. 
The country’s minister for consumer rights recently criticised Google’s Street View project and urged people to object to the publication of pictures of their homes on the internet, which many did.

U.S. unveils cybersecurity safeguard plan by Ian Sherr and Diane Bartz (Reuters)

The move comes as Washington has become more vocal in opposing other governments’ censorship of the Internet and presses its argument that Internet access is a basic human right to express and gather online.
The U.S. State Department is planning a meeting on Thursday with tech companies and another will be held in the summer.
The move also comes in the wake of Google Inc’s announcement in January that it had faced a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” in December, allegedly from inside China, and said that it was no longer willing to censor search results in the country as required by Beijing.
To make its cybersecurity efforts more transparent, the White House released some initiatives, which had been classified when they were created in 2008 during the Bush administration.
The initiatives include steps to consolidate the government’s Internet access to improve security, improve detection and prevent intrusions into government networks and better coordinate federally funded research.
It also seeks to improve sharing of information about incursions between federal agencies, creating a government-wide cyber-counterintelligence plan and increasing the security of classified networks.
“We’re not going to end up beating our adversaries because they’re weak. We know that they’re strong and they’re getting stronger,” Howard Schmidt, President Barak Obama’s new cybersecurity coordinator, said in a speech in San Francisco. “We’ll beat them because we will become stronger.”
The initiatives also seek to define the government’s role for protecting U.S. electrical grids, water supply and other elements of critical infrastructure from cyber attack. The private sector owns and operates an estimated 85 percent of the nation’s critical infrastructure.
TECH COMPANIES’ ROLE IN HUMAN RIGHTS
In the Senate a key U.S. lawmaker on Tuesday said he plans to propose a bill that would make U.S. technology companies be subject to civil or criminal liability unless they take reasonable steps to protect global human rights.
At a hearing, Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on human rights and the law, said there were questions over whether repressive governments had used filtering software made by U.S. companies to censor the Internet.
Durbin and some other lawmakers are pushing U.S. technology companies to join the Global Network Initiative (GNI), a voluntary code of conduct that requires companies to take reasonable measures to protect human rights.
So far Google, Yahoo! Inc and Microsoft Corp have joined the standard-setting body. Some companies have balked, citing membership fees, which range from $2,000 to $60,000 depending on the company’s annual revenue.
Durbin provided few details of the legislation, but it may require technology companies to follow requirements similar to the GNI.
“This is an issue that will not go away,” Durbin said.
At the hearing, Google Vice President Nicole Wong said the world’s top search engine is not prepared to say who is carrying out cyber attacks from China due to an ongoing investigation.
“We do know such attacks are violations of China’s own laws,” Wong said in prepared testimony.
In January, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled an initiative to promote Internet freedom worldwide that includes grants to help citizens living under repressive regimes to access an unfettered Internet.
Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner told lawmakers on Tuesday that since 2008, the department has implemented $15 million in programing to support online freedom and another $5 million in funds will be decided in the next several months.

Former NYT Middle East bureau chief: ‘Obama lies as cravenly … as George W. Bush.” by: Mark Hemingway (washingtonexaminer) 
Chris Hedges, who was once a star Middle East reporter at The New York Times in the 1990s, has since become an ardent self-described socialist. However, the column he’s recently written is still surprising in its vicious condemnation of Obama: 

Obama lies as cravenly, if not as crudely, as George W. Bush. He promised us that the transfer of $12.8 trillion in taxpayer money to Wall Street would open up credit and lending to the average consumer. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), however, admitted last week that banks have reduced lending at the sharpest pace since 1942. As a senator, Obama promised he would filibuster amendments to the FISA Reform Act that retroactively made legal the wiretapping and monitoring of millions of American citizens without warrant; instead he supported passage of the loathsome legislation. He told us he would withdraw American troops from Iraq, close the detention facility at Guantánamo, end torture, restore civil liberties such as habeas corpus and create new jobs. None of this has happened.  
He is shoving a health care bill down our throats that would give hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to the private health insurance industry in the form of subsidies, and force millions of uninsured Americans to buy insurers’ defective products. These policies would come with ever-rising co-pays, deductibles and premiums and see most of the seriously ill left bankrupt and unable to afford medical care. Obama did nothing to halt the collapse of the Copenhagen climate conference, after promising meaningful environmental reform, and has left us at the mercy of corporations such as ExxonMobil. He empowers Israel’s brutal apartheid state. He has expanded the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where hundreds of civilians, including entire families, have been slaughtered by sophisticated weapons systems such as the Hellfire missile, which sucks the air out of victims’ lungs. And he is delivering war and death to Yemen, Somalia and perhaps Iran. 

Hedges goes on to approvingly quote from the IRS dive bomber’s manifesto, so caveat lector. Still, if this is a harbinger of things to come things look bleak for Democrats. If the far left activists and angry unionsare both unhappy with Democrats, the party is going to be dead in the water. 

Asked how the United States can encourage political and economic progress in Africa, the career diplomat said it can come about through political good will, positive encouragement, constant support for civil society and the principles of democracy, a constant dialogue with those who are part of the political elite, and support for civil society and an independent press. What is also needed, he said, is “a willingness to put our resources and money on the table to help reform — institutional reform that will strengthen democracy. We should come to the table with resources to help.”
Carson quickly cautioned, however: “If we see people not doing the right things, people who are undermining the values of democracy, people who are corrupt, we should not only step back, but we should criticize in a principled fashion. We should be engaged and we should encourage others to be engaged as well. That’s absolutely critical.”
On Nigeria, Carson said: “The Nigerian political elite made a strategic choice, and they made it in favor of democracy. They made it in favor of trying to work out a solution acceptable to the North and South, East and West, designed to create stability, constitutionalism and rule of law, including how a succession to the presidency is handled under an unexpected and adverse situation.
“We hope that this difficult period they’re going through now not only will test their young democratic institutions but will strengthen them and harden them like a piece of steel as they go forward.”
On the recent coup d’etat in Niger, Carson said: “All coups are bad, whether they are the extra-legal sort that President [Mamadou] Tandja carried out in December or a military coup of the type carried out last week by military officers. They both are designed to promote the interests of small segments of the population for their own interests.”
The United States was firmly against what President Tandja did in December by extending his term of office, Carson stressed. “If the individuals responsible for the intervention by the military really believe in democracy, they should set a swift timetable for an immediate return to democratic rule. And they should follow the AU [African Union] norms in that none of those involved in that coup d’état run for office. Those who tear down should not be allowed to benefit from the rebuilding.”
On Guinea, Carson said he is optimistic. “A civilian-led transitional government is in power. The military has moved off to the side. None of the individuals who were involved in the coup or in the violent events that occurred [during a pro-democracy demonstration] at the end of September in the stadium will be allowed to run for office, and there’s still a commitment to hold elections within the six months agreed to by all the parties.”
Everyone seems to be supportive of the Ouagadougou Accords that were worked out by President Blaise Compaore, he said. It is also important that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the international community continue to play a monitoring role in that country, he added.
Carson said he would like to see a small ECOWAS civilian and military observer force on the ground there. “It would provide additional diplomatic eyes and ears for the ECOWAS community. It provides confidence and reassurance to the civilian population, who has been betrayed before. And it provides a watchdog to let the military know that their actions will be seen by the international community.”
Asked about U.S. priorities in the Horn of Africa, Carson said the most important issue there is Sudan, where “we are looking for the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [CPA] between the North and South.”
Carson said the United States fully expects there to be a referendum in January 2011 that will allow the people of Southern Sudan the right to remain a part of Sudan or to vote for independence. “Making sure that the CPA is implemented, the referendum is held and that people are allowed to make a choice is a key priority in the area,” he stressed.
Also on Sudan, Carson said seeing an end to the humanitarian and political crisis in Darfur is also urgently needed. He also acknowledged “some significant and positive progress in the improvement in relations” between Chad and Sudan, and said the United States hopes that that will contribute to both stability and a return to a normal situation in Darfur.
A second major priority in the Horn Carson identified is Somalia. “We continue to support the Djibouti Process, the TFG [Transitional Federal Government], and Sheikh Sharif’s government. We think it is important to marshal as much support as we can behind this process to help strengthen it, and to give Somalia an opportunity to come out from a political nightmare and a security nightmare that has gone on for two decades. We support the AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia] effort and we hope that more countries would support it,” he added.
Third, Carson said the United States wants to see Kenya move forward, and he identified a fourth priority item: a more balanced, broad-based and comprehensive relationship with Ethiopia.
“Our relationship with Ethiopia on the security-sector front has been excellent. We want to ensure that we can have a dialogue with Ethiopia on critical issues concerning economic development, democracy and human rights. We want all of those areas to be as significant and as important and as good as that security relationship is. It’s not a zero-sum game. The pie is large enough to grow, but we want to see things happen there that are much more positive, especially on the economic front.”
(*) AFRICOM PAO note: The above article, by the U.S. Department of State, is provided for public awareness of U.S. policy in Africa. As a military organization, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) does not lead U.S. foreign policy but instead supports policies articulated by elected civilian leaders.
Read the AllAfrica interview with Johnnie Carson at http://www.america.gov/st/develop-english/2010/March/20100302171007SztiwomoD0.3874018.html?CP.rss=true.

Count Us Out by Ramla Bile (M’shale) 
Despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has time and again upheld the spirit and confidentiality of census information, issues regarding access and privacy continue to persist with communities across the state.
Members of the African immigrant and refugee community present unique challenges, ranging from fear of disclosing housing information to overcoming the legacy of brutal regimes in their home countries. Census workers and organizers working with this subpopulation will undoubtedly face these questions in the months leading up to the count on April 1st, 2010.
“Sacdiyo Isse,” a resident in the Skyline Towers, says her greatest fear concerning the U.S. Census is disclosing her current place of residence. Sacdiyo lives in a house with a relative who has more people living in the apartment than the lease allows. She fears that her participation in the census count will jeopardize her current living situation, and place this generous woman and the other inhabitants in a vulnerable position. “I can easily [opt] out of the count and not hurt anyone… I can’t displace the same person who took me in,” she said.
She says the idea of participating in the count brings her anxiety, as she believes this information will be shared with the landlord. When pressed about this fear, she simply said, “I’m one person, [the census count] is not worth all problems I can cause.”
The truth is, Sacdiyo is one of many who will perhaps not participate in the census count because they fear backlash from disclosing residence and occupancy information. For many, it is not far fetched to assume that U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security’s Immigration Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Census engage in a massive collaborative effort. 
New Americans from Liberia, Ethiopia, and Somalia also expressed concern that they could not confidently say they had faith in how the information would be used. Though neither sources could cite an incidence of institutional racism or seemed to suggest foul play, they often referred back to their experiences in their home countries. American immigrants and refugees from the aforementioned countries have experienced war, as well as harsh leadership. One woman said her mayor almost fatally shot her son for information disclosed in a news story. Since then, she maintains a strong mistrust of government and would rather share as little as possible, including basic information. “One question will lead to another until I find myself spilling my life story over tea – I’m not ready to put myself in that situation.”
Hannah Garcia, Project Director with the Minnesota Center for Neighborhood Organizing oversees census outreach to various communities, expressed that many immigrants and refugees mistrust the census because these communities have traditionally been undercounted, and do not trust the benefit factor of participating in the census.
“Too many communities feel like they have not yet reaped the benefits of being counted, and too often people will say, ‘we’re used to feeling like we don’t count, so there’s no point.’” Another organizer described this mentality as “a cyclical issue.” He added that the more communities fail to participate in the data collection process, the more they lose. “We anticipate better engagement this year because the last two census counts disproportionately missed ethnic minorities, but the organizing scene in 2010 is radically different from those years because more of those doing the count will represent the communities they will work with.”
The census campaign is centered on the idea of 10 questions over 10 minutes, a simple process that captures a snapshot of America. Even though the poster has been translated into different languages, it will perhaps take decades before communities are familiar and appreciative of this process. The census form which provides limited options for African immigrants and refugees to identify themselves as such will likely compound the feeling of exclusion. These groups will have to write in their hyphenated identity. The 2020 census will likely have to address emerging identity issues in order to provide options for people to self-identify. According to Representative Keith Ellison, organizing efforts will promote write-in opportunities for communities who find themselves unrepresented in the current format.
“New Americans are among the best citizens… they are knowledgeable on history and politics through the naturalization test and the pathway to citizenship. They are already invested in the engagement and activism, our job is to ensure that we carry out an inclusive count that addresses language and other barriers.” Ellison stressed that steps were being taken to build trust with under-counted communities, and his office worked to create a network of partners from different communities. Ellison says he believes the 2010 count will outperform our projected numbers and has hope that Minnesota will be able to keep it’s eighth congressional seat.
While community organizing efforts have heavily addressed language issues by hiring diverse staff and translating material, other questions remain. The Director of the U.S. Census, Dr. Robert Groves, said building trust takes time and that while it is difficult to erase the memories that people have of government either here or abroad, the U.S. Census is investing in diverse and capable staff to reach out to all communities. The challenge is, of course, communities vary and maintain unique challenges, as there is not a blanket solution to working with historically under-reported communities. For example, what happens when you have communities that come from countries that have a brutal history of intimidating its people? How do you provide relief and security to those with ambiguous immigration situations fearing deportation or those in compromising housing arrangements?

Iranian Foreign Minister Begins African Tour (FNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Kampala on Friday to begin his two-leg African tour to Uganda and Kenya.
While in Uganda, Mottaki will meet and confer with the Ugandan officials on a variety of subjects, including expansion of bilateral relations and the regionally and globally pertinent subjects.
Uganda’s role in the affairs related to East Africa, Somalia in particular, will be discussed during Mottaki’s talks with Ugandans. 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration has striven hard to maximize relations with the African continent. Ahmadinejad also said after a three-nation African tour on February 23, 2009 which took him to Djibouti, Kenya and Comoros, that expanding Tehran’s relations with the African countries sets a priority in Iran’s foreign policy. 

China says 2010 defence budget to rise 7.5 pct (Reuters)

… have a look how China views the arctic: www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-change/stories/china-set-to-gain-from-ice-free-warming-ravaged-arctic

EU NAVFOR hosts Chinese delegation (eu)

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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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