Rights group says more than 100 Somalis were killed in September, more than 200 wounded - AP

MOGADISHU, Somalia: Fighting between Somali government troops and insurgents in the capital of Mogadishu killed 129 civilians last month and wounded another 217, a local rights group said Saturday.

The casualties resulted from explosions, shootings and planned assassinations, said Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of the Elman Human rights group.

"We urge the transitional federal government, Ethiopian forces and Islamic insurgents to stop the killings of innocent civilians and to protect the international human rights laws," he said.
Elman issues monthly report on the human rights situations in the country. It collects its daily reports from hospitals and residents of the capital and regions.

Mogadishu has been plagued by fighting since government troops and their Ethiopian allies chased out the Council of Islamic Courts in December. The Courts had taken control of much of southern Somalia for the previous six months, and vowed to fight and Iraq-style insurgency. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting this year so far.

Somalia has not had a functioning governments since 1991, when rival warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other.

Source: AP

Madaxweyne ku Xigeenka Maxamed case ayaa Iska Leh - Nazra Djama

Madaxwayne kuxigeenka Maxamed Case ayaa leh - Makaahiil waa laga daalay waxa aan hadalka' taagnayn in qoomiyada ugu da'da wayn umada afka Soomaliga ku hadasha oo dhan; ee uguna ilbaxsan; Gobolka Awdalna ugu badani in sida "Snuma-da" ay ugu guulaysanayaan doorashada madaxwayne ku xigeenka ee ay ka hadhay in ka yar 190 maalmood.

Hadaba Soomaaliyi waxay hore u tidhi "Nimaan talin jirin haddii uu taliyo nimaan tegi lahayn ayaa taga" xisbiga Kulmiye sida uu kor iyo hoosba u cadeeyey guushu waxay dul taala nin" Isaaqa bari ah iyo nin samaronka wadnaha gobolka awdal buuxiyey u dhashay oo ah Maxamed Case;Hadii aan waxoogaa ka yara taabto degaanka gobolka Awdal iyo Waqooyi Galbeed iyo Djibouti oo ay Qoomiya Maxamed Casuhu Degto;

waxa lama huraan ah inaan la moogaan sida siyaasadaha caalimiga ahi dhigayaan in dadka aad ka dhiganayso inay shacab keenaan aad si qotodheer uga fiirsato.

Wadanka Maraykanka haddii aan Tusaale ahaan usoo qaadano weligeed ma aysan dhicin in si dhib yar loo dhaafo madaxwayne ama madaxwayne ku xigeen aan ka iman gobolada koonfurta. sidaasi darteed nimaan maxamed case ahayn oo maanta kulmiye guul u keenayaa ma jiro.taasina waxa ka marag kacaysa sida Rayaale Awdal looga nacay;

haddii uu Makaahiil awood ku leeyahay Awdal Rayaale ayey booska ku celin lahaayeen markaa in Prof. Aare iyo Abdirahman Aw Cali probogaando loo faafiyo waa nafla'caarinimada Udub iyo xeeladii Rayaale oo uu rabo in uu dimuqraadiyada curdinka ah ee Somaliland ka dhigo Boqortooyo.

Hadaba labada nin ee diyaarka ah ee xaalada wadanka iyo siyaasada gobolka Awdal gacanta ku hayaa waa Aadan Jamac Hoori (Wasiir ku xigeenkii is casilay) iyo Eng. Abdirahman yusuf Wadaad (Saylici) oo labaduba qaydhiinka ku raamsanaya cidii carsho carshayn ka wada dalka Somaliland.

War la'aani ayey dad badan hodin ayaanse runta la'iska indho tirin; Gobolka Awdal ma'aha Borama oo kaliya; borame cid kaliyii ma degto waana caasimada baayacmushtarka ee gobolka Awdal; Habar-cafaan iyo Maxamed case cid kaga badani ma jirto Borame lafteeda. Baki waa caasimada gobolka Awdal, Lughaya, iyo Saylac iyo baadiyaha Bulaxar, Caada, ilaa Gabiley beeralayda iyo Xoolo dhaqatadii waa diyaar markan.doorashadii baarlamanka wixii ka dhacay waan ogayn in tuulo kasta maxamed case kasoo baaxay? where were Rayale? markii sida daadka loo jiidhay?

"where were Rayale iyo jufadiisu?" markii Maxamed Case iyo Habar cafaan ay isku raaceen in ay muwaadiniin yihiin dalka Somaliland degan; labada jufo ee jibril yonis iyo reer nuur na boqolkiiba sideetan ay reer Ethiopia yihiin; immika way dhamaatay probogaandadii; waa xaqiiqadii waxa socdaa; Rayaale iyo jufadiisu waa "History" shicibka haku biiraan.

"I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but i am realistic" (public domain).

Rayaale masoo noqonayo; Rayaale adeerkiina ma dooranayno. Dalku gurmad ayuu u baahan yahay.

Rayaale shirqoolada uu dhigay waxa ka mid ahaa inuu diiday in degaan lagu kala baxo; oo wuxuu aansixiyey in ninkastaa uu iska soo sharaxo degaan uusan shaqo ku lahayn;

weliba inta ka hadhay doorasha waa in qoomiyadaha gurmadka Somaliland u ihi ay Baarlamanka ka ansixiyaan in degaan lagu kala baxo.

Hadal iyo dhamaan - nin tuug ah ayaa wuxuu u yimid nin tukaan haysta markaasuu ku yidhi kaalay oo arag bishii way bilatee;

ninkii Tukaanka haystay wuxuu ugu jawaabay: "Bishuba hortayda ayey iman"
ee aniga ii waydaaran maysid tukaanka "adeere" ee iska sii tawakal.

Siyaasada Prof. Aar iyo Aw cali daba socdaan waa xaajo aanay waxba ka soconaynin ee ha'ina wareerinina; idunkuna umada reer soomaliland dhinac kasoo raaca.

Maalka dadwaynaha ee Rayaale ku "fund" garanynaayo loolanka siyaada kulmiye; Udub wax ha'kaga keeno. talo waxa iga ah: maxaa keenay in ay maanta Makaahiil noqdaan kulmiye? haddii ay tiro iyo tayo ay hayaan Rayaale booska haku celiyaan. Ninkaa dayixiisu dhacay.

Kur waayeel waa wado indho; nin daad qaaday xunbo cuskay ayey arintu ka noqon jufooyinka deganaashaha degaalkii 1977 dalka yimid ee siyaasad nadiif ah oo hufan aan iskula nimaadno. waa inoo goobta doorashooyinka;

ninkii magaciisa oo sadexan la garto ee xoolihiisu ceelasha ka cabayeen ayuunbaa iska soo sharaxi gobolka Awdal.

Wa bilaahi tawfiiq;

Nazra Djama
nasriin24@yahoo.com
nasriin24@yahoo.com

Hijackers release khat cargo plane in Somalia

BOSASSO, Somalia, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Gunmen in northern Somalia released a plane carrying khat on Friday, a day after seizing the aircraft and its lucrative narcotic leaf in a business dispute, an official said.

"The hijacked plane was freed this morning. It took off from Las Qorey safely after efforts from Puntland and traditional elders," Muse Gelle Farole, a regional governor, told Reuters.
The plane was headed back to Ethiopia, where it had arrived from on Thursday, when two armed men overpowered its three crew and forced them to land in the coastal town of Las Qorey.

The hijacking took place in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland province, usually known for its relative stability in a country plagued by lawlessness since warlords toppled Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Illegal in many Western nations, the green khat leaf -- which offers a mild amphetamine-like high -- is chewed throughout the Horn of Africa.

Such is its popularity in Somalia that it reappeared on the streets of Mogadishu just hours after the city was recaptured from hardline Islamists who had banned it.

Source: Reuters

Somalia sends troops to hijacked plane

By Mohamed Olad Hassan

Mogadishu, Somalia - Authorities in remote northern Somalia prepared troops Friday to surround an aircraft hijacked by gunmen holding three crew members hostage in a row between rival businessmen over ownership of its cargo.The chairman of Bari region, Muse Gelle Yusuf, said hijackers with pistols were holding the crew of unknown nationality in a dispute over the cargo of qat, a mildly stimulating type of leaf called chewed by most Somali men.

Yusuf said the troops were being sent to the area Friday to "surround and force the hijackers to release the plane, if ongoing negotiations for a peaceful release fail."

He did not specify the number of troops sent to the small town of Las Qorey.The plane started its flight from Ethiopia, and had been bound for the coastal town of Bossaso, about 1 500km north of the capital of Mogadishu. It landed at Las Qorey Thursday.Lawless Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when rival warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre then fought each other for power.Banditry is rife, and the impoverished country is awash with weapons. -

Source: Sapa-AP

Burundi: Troops Ready for Deployment in Somalia

5 October 2007
Bujumbura, Burundi

The two Burundian battalions that will be deployed to Somalia at the behest of the African union completed their six-week training course on this 4 October 2007.
More than a hundred trainers from the US army supervised this training on combat tactics. Ceremonies marking the end of this training took place in Camp Gakumbu yesterday.

The chief of Staff of the National Defence Forces, General Major Samuel Gahiro, thanked the United States of America for this training and praised the determination of the Burundian army to help other countries to find peace.

This training has resuscitated the military cooperation between Burundi and The United States of America which was suspended during the war that hit Burundi since 1993 after the democratically President was assassinated, sparking a wave of violence across the entire country. Theses two battalions composed of 1700 soldiers have also been trained by French soldiers.

The date for their deployment has not yet been set since the necessary logistical means necessary have not yet been collected.

The United States of America has promised to provide to these two battalions telecommunication materials while France has promised to provide transport support.

The troops' deployment was postponed early July of this year due to lack of transportation and telecommunication means.

Ten officers of the Burundian army made a short mission to Somalia in August of this year and concluded that Burundian troops could be deployed to this country located in the horn of Africa and torn apart by internecine wars.

The deployment of these two battalions will be the first large scale mission involving soldiers from Burundi. A few police and army officers are serving in Darfur under the African Union umbrella.

Source: AllAfrica

''Somalia's President Yusuf Loses His Grip on Power''

s PINR forecast on September 19, the failures of the two national conferences aimed at devising a political formula for Somalia -- the National Reconciliation Conference (N.R.C.) sponsored by the country's internationally-recognized Transitional Federal Government (T.F.G.), and the Somali Congress for Liberation and Reconstitution (S.C.L.R.) organized by the political opposition based in Eritrea -- have led to a continuation of Somalia's spiral into political fragmentation and conflict.

As an armed insurgency against the T.F.G. ratcheted up significantly in Somalia's official capital Mogadishu, rifts opened up in the transitional institutions, with conflict surfacing between the T.F.G.'s president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, and its prime minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi; parliament demanding accountability from Gedi's government; and the arrest of Somalia's chief supreme court justice, Yusuf Ali Harun, followed by the sacking of the public prosecutor who initiated the case by Gedi and the prosecutor's refusal to leave his post.

As the drama of the T.F.G. played out, forces loyal to the self-declared independent republic of Somaliland and the semi-autonomous regional state of Puntland in the north of post-independence Somalia engaged in military conflict in the disputed Sool region. For the first time, Puntland -- President Yusuf's power base -- seemed threatened with losing its integrity, and a war between Somaliland and Puntland became a genuine possibility.

Implosion of the T.F.G.

Determining the present moment of Somalia's political history is the fate of the T.F.G. Unpopular, weak and dependent on an Ethiopian occupation force for survival, the T.F.G. is nonetheless backed by the Western donor powers that sustain it, and the international and regional organizations that follow their lead, as the sole means of achieving stability in Somalia.

In PINR's judgment, the T.F.G. has now become too divided to be the vehicle of a coherent transition to permanent institutions scheduled to be in place for elections in 2009. There are signs that the international community has also reached that judgment, but that it cannot act on it because it has given itself no other option than support of the T.F.G. If the T.F.G. implodes, the external actors will be left without a policy.With a clan-based structure dominated by clan warlords, the T.F.G. has been weak and divided from its inception in 2004.

If there is a central figure in the transitional institutions, it is Yusuf, who is backed by Ethiopia, was the president of Puntland and retains a power base there, has militias from his Majerteen sub-clan at his disposal, and is a crafty political tactician. It is difficult to imagine a T.F.G. with any coherence without Yusuf; the fate of the T.F.G. is synonymous with Yusuf's fate, and he has succeeded thus far in trapping and finessing the external actors.

Yusuf's current embattlement, which has a high probability of breaking his grip on the tenuous power that he exerts, can be understood by putting his position in the context of the political systems of the three other states in the Horn of Africa -- Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti -- all of which share the common formula of a political machine run by a strongman or boss under the cover of a constitution. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea and President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti were all able to lead sectoral movements into control of the state and then to build machines based on their core support and to extend them outside that base to include just enough other political forces to maintain their rule. Successful bosses take care of their bases and avoid marginalizing outside groups sufficiently to provoke effective resistance from them.

At the root of Somalia's condition as a failed state was the absence of a movement that could take over power after the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre in 1991, rendering the emergence of a machine impossible. The successful resistance against Barre was popular, but it was also regional and clan based, and none of its components were strong enough -- as was Zenawi's Tigray People's Liberation Front, for example -- to form the nucleus of a machine. From then on, Somalia devolved into statelessness and power drained to local and regional warlords, despite 14 attempts by external actors to broker power-sharing agreements.

In 2006, after a successful insurrection against Washington-backed warlords in Mogadishu, the Islamic Courts movement quickly gained control of most of Somalia south of Puntland in an effort to create an Islamic state based on Shari'a law. Ethiopia, which is satisfied with a devolved Somalia -- after having fought two wars with irredentist Somali regimes over its ethnic-Somali Ogaden region -- and Washington, which seeks to prevent the emergence of Islamic states, moved to defeat the Courts militarily through an Ethiopian intervention in December 2006, leaving the T.F.G. formally in political control, but in fact powerless to prevent the devolutionary cycle from taking hold once again. Yusuf was in a better position than ever before, but he had no movement -- he had been placed in power by foreign occupiers and donors, and presided over a fragmented clan-based government, not a machine of his own making. Yusuf aspires to be a boss, but he does not have the resources to become one.

Through the period of the rise of the Islamic Courts and the immediate aftermath of the Ethiopian intervention, the T.F.G. executive spoke with one voice, as both Yusuf, representing the Darod clan family, and Gedi, representing the Hawiye clan family, but lacking strong support within it, made common cause first in resisting the Courts and then in attempting to gain a foothold for the transitional institutions and sponsoring the N.R.C., which had been imposed upon them by donor pressure.

In late July, with the N.R.C. still in session, open rifts began to surface in the T.F.G., when 100 members of the transitional parliament sought to hold Gedi's administration accountable for management of finances and a deteriorating security situation. Apparently an assertion of constitutional checks and balances by the legislature, the demand for accountability has proven to be the opening shot in a campaign by Yusuf to undermine Gedi.

At the heart of the struggle at the upper echelons of the T.F.G. is control over Somalia's unproven oil reserves. Yusuf had reportedly signed an exploration deal with China National Offshore Oil Corporation and then Gedi floated a national oil law that would void all previous agreements and give exploration rights to an Indonesian-Kuwaiti partnership. With the conflict out in the open, the power plays within the T.F.G. began in earnest.

[See: "China Invests in Somalia Despite Instability"]On September 20, Somalia's chief supreme court justice, Yusuf Ali Harun, and another judge, Mohamed Nur, were arrested at their homes under the orders of the T.F.G.'s attorney general, Abdullahi Dahir Barre, on charges of corruption.

Harun was accused of embezzling US$800,000 of United Nations Development Fund aid allocated to building the judiciary, among other counts of self-dealing. The arrests split parliament, with pro-Yusuf deputies backing the prosecutor and pro-Gedi deputies asserting that the attorney general's action was illegal.On September 23, the T.F.G.'s Council of Ministers removed Barre from office, but he refused to resign.

The transitional parliament's deputy speaker, Mohamed Omar Dalha, reported "hopeless disagreement between the top government officials," with Gedi backing Harun and Yusuf supporting Barre.

With the stalemate unbroken, local observers reported that the Harun affair was only a symptom of a deeper conflict between the president and prime minister, in which Yusuf was seeking to use a provision of the agreement issuing from the N.R.C. -- that would allow non-members of parliament to be appointed to ministerial positions in the T.F.G. -- to replace Gedi. That provision had been urged upon the N.R.C. by donor powers in order to bring technocrats into the T.F.G., but Yusuf has become a past master at finessing his patrons.

On September 25, Gedi, who had been attempting to mobilize support among the Hawiye, and Yusuf reportedly met and failed to reconcile, setting off reports that Ethiopia's foreign minister, Seyoum Mesfin, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer were preparing to go to Somalia's provisional capital Baidoa to attempt to mediate the dispute. Parliamentary speaker, Adan Madobe Mohamed, who is allied with Yusuf, announced that Gedi and Yusuf would be summoned to appear before parliament.As the crisis in the T.F.G.
deepened, the insurgency in Mogadishu led by the jihadist Youth Mujahideen Movement (Y.M.M.) spiked, with groups of several dozen fighters attacking police stations and T.F.G. and Ethiopian military bases with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, and fighting pitched battles with government and occupation forces.

The attacks peaked on September 29 when three police stations and two Ethiopian bases came under fire, resulting, according to some reports, in the deaths of 100 insurgents and 45 government forces, and the arrests of 700 people supporting the insurgency.

In response to conditions on the ground, Yusuf met with the T.F.G.'s Council of Ministers, with national police commander and former warlord Abdi Qeybdid, and Mogadishu's mayor and former warlord, Mohamed Dheere, in attendance, and Gedi chairing the session. Reuters reported that Yusuf expressed displeasure at the performance of government forces and demanded a census of troops and an accounting of their pay.

The meeting reportedly broke down in acrimony when the issue of appointing non-members of parliament to ministerial positions was raised and no consensus could be reached.As reconciliation eluded the T.F.G.'s leading figures, the transitional parliament revived the accountability issue, demanding that Gedi, who had been accused of embezzling aid funds from Saudi Arabia, present a budget for parliamentary review, on pain of "legal consequences" -- no budget had been submitted to the transitional parliament since the T.F.G.'s inception. Local media reported that the budget issue was serving as a "path" to a vote of confidence on Gedi.With Yusuf's and Gedi's marriage of convenience at an end and the warlords whom Yusuf co-opted into the T.F.G. asserting their independence, his power play appears to be likely to fail and the T.F.G. -- rather than healing or even papering over clan divisions -- is poised to be riven by clan conflict fueled by the desire of its officials for personal gain.
Puntland Begins to Fragment

As Yusuf loses his grip on the T.F.G., his power base in Puntland has begun to be threatened by weakness of the sub-state's machine coupled with pressure from Somaliland. Puntland, on which Yusuf has relied for military forces to back his position in the T.F.G., now faces severe security threats of its own.With Puntland having already suffered the secession of the disputed Sanaag region in late summer with the formation of the self-declared autonomous Makhir state, the disputed Sool region has now also come into play. On September 17, forces loyal to Puntland's government clashed with local pro-Somaliland militias near the Sool region's capital Los Anod.

The insurgents were reportedly linked to the former Puntland security minister, Ahmed Abdi Habsade, who had been fired in July by the sub-state's president, Mohamud Adde Muse, in an effort to consolidate his machine. Habsade distanced himself from the conflict, but admitted that forces from his sub-clan were involved in the fighting. In the aftermath of the incident, both Puntland and Somaliland were reported to be reinforcing their positions in Sool.

On September 20, new fighting was reported, between Puntland forces and regular Somaliland troops, with each side blaming the other for initiating hostilities, and each accusing the other of working with the anti-Ethiopian opposition to the T.F.G. Responding to the tensions and to the possibility that Somaliland would retake control of Sool, which Puntland occupied in 2003, the T.F.G., through its information minister, Madobe Nunow, took its hardest line toward Somaliland since the inception of the transitional institutions, stating that Somaliland has no right to create regional borders and that its independence "is not something possible.

"Heavier fighting broke out on September 24, and by September 28 the situation had become so fraught that the Coordination of International Support for Somalia, which is composed of representatives of the World Bank and United Nations, called for a pullback of forces and for dialogue between the antagonists.On September 29, force build-ups were reported on both sides and clan elders had reportedly appealed to Yusuf to ask Muse to reinstate Habsade in a bid to defuse the local conflict and to deprive Somaliland of a local support base.

On September 30, families were reported to be fleeing from Los Anod, as militias loyal to Habsade entered the city to confront Puntland forces already stationed there. On October 1, fighting broke out in Los Anod with up to 15 people reported killed.With many of its forces tied up supporting Yusuf in Somalia's south and soldiers having mutinied over pay in Puntland's capital Garowe in mid-September, the sub-state has become militarily vulnerable and appears to be shedding the regions claimed by Somaliland.

Although it is too early to forecast whether or not the clashes in Sool will escalate into full-scale war, it is clear that Puntland has come fully into play and that Yusuf's power base there is rapidly eroding. His alliance with Muse, a former adversary, is tenuous at best, and Muse, in any case, has been weakened by conflicts with Puntland's parliament that resemble those in the transitional institutions. Should Puntland plunge into a cycle of devolution, Somalia will be further destabilized and chances of a regional war in the Horn of Africa will increase.

Conclusion

With the T.F.G. currently in shambles and Puntland and Somaliland moving toward war, external actors, led by Washington, have continued calling for the T.F.G. to engage in outreach to the political opposition, which has already committed itself to militant resistance to the Ethiopian occupation and has organized a counter-government under the rubric of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (A.R.S.). Washington is also urging the T.F.G. to get to work on writing a constitution for Somalia in preparation for 2009 elections.

At the same time, Washington donated $97 million to Ethiopia in development aid -- in excess of its five-year plan -- in explicit recognition of the country's "strategic importance."As PINR stated in its September 19 report, the distance between the position of the external actors, with the exception of Eritrea, and events on the ground has widened to a gulf. There are signs, however, that the external actors are losing patience with the T.F.G.;

Washington's envoy to Somalia, John Yates, said in a Newsweek interview that confidence among Somalis in the competence of the T.F.G. is not on a "deep up-slope," and the new U.N. envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdullah, announced that having spoken with the T.F.G., he would have "no problem seeing any other Somali officials, whether they are in Somalia, in Asmara, or in Jeddah.

"The new twist in Somalia's devolutionary cycle is the erosion of the scant power that Yusuf had. Without him, the external actors have no one with whom to turn to anchor their policy. The inherent weakness of Yusuf's position as a boss in search of a machine who survives only by virtue of foreign military and financial support has now become obvious, as determined opposition to him mounts inside and outside the transitional institutions. He is a wasting asset for the external actors, but he has maneuvered himself into a corner and drawn them into it, and they have nowhere to go. Meanwhile, Somalia's devolutionary cycle accelerates.

Report Drafted By:Dr. Michael A. Weinstein

Source: PINR

Northern Somalia Fighters Claim to Capture Town

By VOA News 02 October 2007
The breakaway republic of Somaliland says it has captured a disputed town after clashes with fighters from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region.
Somaliland's defense minister said Tuesday that his fighters have captured the town of Los Anod and killed six fighters from Puntland.
The defense minster says Somaliland fighters wounded 20 Puntland soldiers and took 24 others prisoner.
The Associated Press quotes Puntland's deputy information minister as saying those claims are a "fabrication."

On Monday, residents of northern Somalia reported at least five people had been killed in Los Anod in fighting between forces loyal to the rival regional governments.
Puntland and Somaliand have engaged in periodic battles over which side controls the Sool and Sanag regions.

Last week, officials from the United Nations, World Bank and other institutions working in Somalia expressed concern about rising tension between the sides.

Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not been internationally recognized. Puntland has maintained formal ties to Somalia but generally runs its own affairs.
Both areas have remained relatively peaceful compared to the anarchy in southern Somalia since the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre 16 years ago.

Some information for this report was provided by AP .

sawiro guud

US Warns Somali Militants May Kidnap Americans From Kenya

By VOA News
30 September 2007
The U.S. embassy in Nairobi has warned that Somali-based militants may attempt to kidnap Americans and other Westerners from Kenya's tourist beaches.
An embassy statement Friday said there were indications that extremists might target Westerners at Kiwayu Island and other popular resorts along Kenya's northeastern coast, near the Somali border.

The warning is based on a tip Kenyan police passed along to embassy officials.
Kenya closed its border with Somalia in January during fighting that pitted Islamic militia against Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies.

The U.S. blames the al-Qaida terrorist network for the 1998 attack that destroyed its embassy in Nairobi and for a 2002 car bombing of a beachfront hotel in southeastern Kenya.

The U.S. military launched strikes on suspected al-Qaida targets in Somalia earlier this year.

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

Kulankii hoori iyo C/raxman aw Cali - "in maxamed case maanta kursiga lee yahay"

Khaatumada Ilaahay Khayr Ha kuugu Khatimo.
Boorama-(Lug)-Kulan balaadhan oo ay yeesheen 4maalmood ka hor Wasiirkii hore ee Wasaarada XanaanadaXoolaha Aadan Jaamac Hoori oo iscasilaadiisii ka dibKu biiray Xisbiga Kulmiye isaga iyo Beeshiisuba iyo C/raxmaan Aw Cali Faarax oo ka mid ahaa Madaxwayne kuxigeenadii soo maray Xukuumada Somaliland islamarkaana ka mid ahaa Madaxdii xisbiga Kulmiye horena ugu guul daraystay Musharaxnimadii Madaxwayne kuxigeenka inuu ku soo baxo Doorashadii Hore ee Madaxwaynaha;

ayaa shirkoodaasi waxay ku falanqaynayeenqaabkii doorashooyinka ay ugu diyaargaroobi lahaayeenxisbiga Kulmiye , reer Awdalna doorashooyinka Soosocda cidii madaxwayne ku xigeen noqon lahayd Awdalahaan. Kulankaasi oo qaatay mudo dheer waxaa laga wada hadlayin C/raxmaan mudo dheer looga tanaasulay gurigaMadaxwayne ku xigeenka balse aanu wax guul ah kakeenin taasina maanta doonayaan maanta in reer Awdalcid kale oo magac iyo maamuus u keenta Xisbiga Kulmiyeloo magacaabo booskaasi .

Mr.Hoori oo arintaasi ka hadlayay ayaa C/raxmaan usheegay in maanta ay diyaar u yihiin Beelaha Maxamed Case ee ku soo biiray Xisbiga Kulmiye in Kursigaasi loo daayo;
taasi oo runtu tahay inay magac iyo doorashada guul ka keenaan ay dhici doonto.

Mr.Hoori waxuu balan qaaday inay iyaguna intiikaraankooda ah Xisbiga Kulmiye sare u soo qaadidoonaan waxuuna C/raxmaan kula taliyay inuu maantaarintasi dib uga joogsado.

Wararkale oo aanu ka helnay Ilo Xog-Ogaalka ah oo uudhow dhow xisbigaasi Kulmiye iyo arimihiisa ayaaCadeeyey in C/raxmaan Aw Cali balan qaaday inuuarintaasi u daayay Beelaha Maxamed Case islamarkaasina uu dib uga joogsaday inuu isagu isku soosharaxo kursigaasi uun ku taageeri doono cid walba oo laga sharaxo Beelaha Maxamed Case,

waxuuna farta kufiiqay in cidkasta oo reer Awdal ah oo doonayso inaykursigaasi u hanqal taagto aan maanta diyaar loo ahayn, balse kulankaasi lagu xaqiijiyay in doorashooyinkansoo socda Musharaxnimada Madaxwayne ku xigeenka laisku raacay in Beelahaasi Maxamed Case loo daayo. Waxaana baryahanba socday kulamo balaadhan oo ayyeelanayeen Masuuliyiinta iyo taageerayaasha xisbiga

Kulmiye sidii ay ugu diyaar garoobi lahaayeenqabsashada shirwaynaha Xisbiga Kulmiye oo lagu cadayndoono cidii loo sharaxayo Madaxwayne iyo Madaxwayne kuxigeenka taasi oo baryahanba ay wadeen MasuuliyiintaHeer degmo,

Gobolkai iyo Qaran dalka Somalilandinkasta oo mudo badan shirwaynaha Kulmiye uu qabsoomiwaayay daruufo badan awgeed kuwaasi oo loo tiriyo inla isku diidanaa diyaarinta Ergooyinki ka qayb galilahaa oo ka imanaya degmooyinka gobolada dalka,laakiinse waxaa lagu rajo waynyahay in sida ugudhaqsaha badan shirwaynahaasi loo qaban doonowararkaasina waxaanu ka helnay dad xog-ogaal u ahXisbiga kulmiye oo ku dhex jira .

Source: Lughaya News On-Line

Troops forcing residents from homes in Somali capital, rights group says

MOGADISHU, Somalia: Somali and Ethiopian troops have ordered thousands to vacate their homes in Somalia's capital to allow them to conduct searches for arms and insurgents, a local human rights group said Saturday.

The order was issued Thursday, after an insurgent attack earlier in the week against a government base, said Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of the independent group Elman Human Rights.

Meanwhile, witnesses and police said insurgents attacked a police station late Friday in southern Mogadishu, and that two soldiers and three civilians were killed — a reminder of Mogadishu's near daily violence.

"The police station was briefly taken by the attackers, after forcing government soldiers to flee," witness Hassan Odawa said. "They also set free all the prisoners in jail," and burnt the station and a government house.

Cpl. Mohamed Iidle said the insurgents attacked his station, and that police killed several of them, but did not give any other details.

Madahey Barkhad said police had killed his two brothers without reason during the attack. "My brothers were deliberately killed by Somali police as they were in front of their home. I don't know why they kill innocents like my brothers," said Barkhad, screaming.

Government officials declined to comment on the reported evictions from Mogadishu. The rights group official said most of those evicted had either left the city or sought refuge with relatives or friends elsewhere in Mogadishu.

"I cannot give you precise numbers of displaced people, but I believe they are in the thousands, and they were forced by Ethiopian and Somali troops to vacate their homes," Ahmed told The Associated Press, basing the figures on interviews conducted with residents.

Asha Ali Jimuale, a mother of seven from a northern Mogadishu district, told the AP that soldiers had ordered her to leave her home, and warned that insurgents could use those who stayed behind as human shields.

The evictions this week were the first reported since April, when hundreds died in heavy fighting in Mogadishu, Ahmed said.

He said that when insurgents attack government positions, "the Ethiopians and government troops launch security operations, and the Islamists go to residential areas to use civilians as a shield."

Ahmed condemned both sides, saying: "They do not care about the lives of the civilians."
On Friday, the U.N. refugee agency said its staff reported that Mogadishu was divided in two — the deserted north, and a calm south.

"The streets of northern Mogadishu are so empty during the day ... literally only a handful of people can be seen," the U.N. refugee agency said in a statement. The capital's main market, Bakara, was barely functioning due to "fighting, assassinations and killings linked to robbery," it said.

It also said inflation was running high, with prices for staple items tripling over the past two months and counterfeit money available everywhere.

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. The current government, formed in 2004, has struggled to assert control.

A radical Islamic group ruled the capital and much of southern Somalia for six months last year, but was kicked out by Ethiopian troops who support the government. Since then, insurgents and government-allied troops have battled nearly every day, and thousands of civilians have been killed this year alone in Mogadishu.
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Associated Press writer Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia contributed to this report

Source: AP

Somalis May Kidnap Americans From Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — By KATHARINE HOURELD
The U.S. Embassy warned Friday that Somali-based extremists may try to kidnap American citizens from Kenyan beach resorts.

"There are indications that Islamic extremists based in Somalia may be planning to target Westerners, especially American citizens, in the Kiwayu Island tourist area and other beach sites frequented by Western travelers on the northeast coast near Somalia," the embassy, which is also responsible for Somalia, said in an e-mail to U.S. citizens.

An embassy official — speaking on condition of anonymity, citing embassy guidelines — said the warning was based on a tip from Kenyan security services this week.

Kenya shares a 400 mile border with Somalia, which is currently closed. Kenyan security forces have been regularly patrolling the border, which is sparsely populated desert, since a radical group controlling much of southern Somalia was ousted last December by Ethiopian troops supporting the weak U.N.-backed government.

Leaders of that group, the Council of Islamic Courts, are alleged to have links with the al-Qaida terror network. Remnants of the group have vowed to fight an Iraq-style insurgency and the transitional government and its Ethiopian allies come under daily attack in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Kenya, one of Africa's main tourist draws, is relatively peaceful. But in 1998, the U.S. embassies here and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were simultaneously hit, killing 225 people in an attack blamed on al-Qaida. The network was also blamed for another attack four years later on a beach-front hotel in southeastern Kenya, a region that is a key tourist attraction. The car bombing at the hotel killed 13 people and a near-simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner failed.

Source: AP