3,500 Islamists said hiding in Somalia

NF Reporter · 01-04-2007, 08:27 AM

AP - Remnants of Somalia's Islamic movement still pose a threat in the capital, the interior minister said Thursday, a week after his government and Ethiopian troops chased most of the militiamen from Mogadishu.

Full Story...

waltky · 11-22-2007, 03:00 AM

Yea right, we 'concerned' about Darfur too...

US Concerned About Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in Somalia
21 November 2007 - The United States Wednesday expressed serious concern about the humanitarian situation in Somalia, where an estimated one million people have been displaced by civil warfare, mainly around the capital Mogadishu. The chief U.S. diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, says it is time for Somali moderates to come forward and work to end chronic violence.

Quote:

The relative optimism about the situation in Somalia that prevailed in Washington earlier this year has been replaced by deepening concern that civil strife is again spinning out of control. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said this week an exodus of Somalis displaced by fighting in Mogadishu has rapidly accelerated, and that a million people are homeless in a crisis that is in some ways more severe than the situation in Sudan's Darfur region.

In a written statement Wednesday, the State Department urged all parties in the Somali conflict to ensure unfettered delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected, and said the United States will work with international partners and aid donors to respond to the needs of Somalis. At the same time, it appealed for an effective cease-fire to reduce the level of violence, and it urged all Somali parties to renew dialogue and commit to a non-violent political process.

In an interview with VOA, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said blame for the surge in violence in Mogadishu is shared by political extremists as well as forces of the country's transitional government and the Ethiopian troops who intervened in its behalf at the end of last year. Frazer said the United States will continue to work for full deployment of the African Union peacekeeping force for Somalia authorized by the United Nations nearly a year ago, but which is still under-subscribed.

More VOA News - US Concerned About Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in Somalia

waltky · 04-29-2008, 12:50 AM

Somalis got more troubles...

Inflation adds more hardship to war-weary Somalis
Mon Apr 28, 2008 - As if 17 years of war was not enough, Somalis are also suffering runaway inflation that is leaving millions angry and hungry.

Quote:

Residents say unscrupulous importers have flooded the currency market with fake, locally printed Somali shillings to buy the large quantities of U.S dollars they use to purchase stocks from abroad. That has pushed up prices, adding to the negative knock-on effect of the global increase in food costs. "This bundle of Somali notes is made from A4 papers. Businessmen are now refusing to take them," said mother-of-three Marian Gelle, in a camp for internal refugees, after selling her ration of U.N.-provided sorghum to try to buy sugar in vain.

"I have nothing to feed my family. I am worried for their survival," she said, waving a bundle of new and old notes. The Somali shilling was trading on Monday at 33,000 shillings to the dollar -- more than double the rate of 15,000 a year ago -- in a totally unregulated market. Somalia has been without effective central rule since the 1991 fall of a dictator. The near-incessant violence, and piracy off the coast, are also factors driving runaway inflation. In the commercial port of Bosasso in northeast Somalia, businessmen try to avoid the shilling because it devalues so fast and because of the nuisance of carrying it -- forcing many to keep notes worth millions from previous transactions.

"If you change $1,000 you need sacks to carry the money," trader Omar Said said, sweating as he counted wads of U.S dollars and sacks of Somali shillings piled together at his shop in the dusty streets of the coastal town off the Gulf of Aden. "We only deal in the U.S dollar because the Somali shilling rate is changing every other minute. I have already lost 10 percent of a year's working capital because of the fluctuating rates," he said.

FAKE MONEY MINTERS

waltky · 11-02-2008, 12:36 AM

Silenced to cover-up the crime...

Militants stone to death Somali rape victim, 13
Sat., Nov. 1, 2008 - Amnesty: Stadium packed with 1,000 spectators watched horrific slaying

Quote:

A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said. Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo, Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. The Islamic militia in charge of Kismayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.

Initial local media reports said Duhulow was 23, but her father told Amnesty International she was 13. Some of the Somali journalists who first reported the killing later told Amnesty International that they had reported she was 23 based upon her physical appearance. "This child suffered a horrendous death at the behest of the armed opposition groups who currently control Kismayo," David Copeman, Amnesty International's Somalia campaigner, said in a statement Friday.

Somalia is among the world's most violent and impoverished countries. The nation of some 8 million people has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 then turned on each other. A quarter of Somali children die before age 5; nearly every public institution has collapsed. Fighting is a daily occurrence, with violent deaths reported nearly every day.

Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida have been battling the government and its Ethiopian allies since their combined forces pushed the Islamists from the capital in December 2006. Within weeks of being driven out, the Islamists launched an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians. In recent months, the militants appear to be gaining strength. The group has taken over the port of Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city, and dismantled pro-government roadblocks. They also effectively closed the Mogadishu airport by threatening to attack any plane using it.

Somali rape victim, 13, stoned to death - Africa