Ainashe.net

The Journal of Turkish Weekly Reports:

Somalia’s interim government is close to agreeing to relocate to the capital, at talks with rivals in Yemen. The president and speaker, who have been in dispute over the issue, initialled an agreement which could be finalised in Yemen on Wednesday.Yemeni officials say that if the deal is signed then ministers and government institutions would move to Mogadishu before President Abdullahi Yusuf. He will stay in his Jowhar stronghold until his personal safety is ensured. There is been no reported comments so far from the Somali representatives. President Yusuf was elected by the transitional parliament in 2004 but without a power base in Mogadishu he says it is too dangerous to move there and has been located in Jowhar, some 90km east of the capital.

Click here to view the dispatch on JTW.

The Reuters News Agency Reports:

Somalia’s president and parliament speaker have reached a final agreement to move the government to Mogadishu, ending a rift that has almost paralysed the administration, a Yemeni official said on Wednesday. President Abdullahi Yusuf and speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan have been holding talks in the Yemeni port city of Aden to try to resolve the dispute. The deal will be signed on Thursday, the official, who was close to the talks, said.

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In paper titled “State-Building and Strengthening of Civilian Administration in Post-Conflict Societies and Failed States” the Crisis Management Initiative writes:

More and more countries have governments that fail to govern. These governments are unable, or unwilling, to provide security and basic governmental services throughout their territories. Increases in population, declining economies, poverty, environmental degradation, injustice, and foreign debts tend to overwhelm local governmental institutions, and the results are often failed states that are in the grip of irresponsible warlords, ideological extremists, corrupt family clans, or brutal dictators. The list of failed states and those on the brink of failing is unfortunately long. Failed states are first and foremost humanitarian disasters, where the main victim is the local population. However, failed states are no longer “only” humanitarian disasters; they are also becoming an increased threat to international peace and security, since they destabilize neighboring states, and because they are increasingly becoming safe havens for international crime and terrorism. Nevertheless, despite all the technological advances and quick military victories, it appears that these wars cannot be won by military means. Winning wars against failed states can only mean making them into well-functioning states.

A must read paper for those who want to rebuild the collapsed Somali State.

Click here to view the full paper on the Crisis Management Initiative’s website. By the way, Crisis Management Initiative is run by the Finish former President; Mr. Martin Ahtisaari.

The Yemeni News Agency-SABA reports:

The Somali Parliament chairman Sharif Hassan Sheikh arrived here on Monday on an official visit for several days.In the visit, the Somali official will brief the Yemeni leadership on the last developments in Somalia in addition to discussing some issues related to the bilateral cooperation. The Somali official said that the visit comes in the framework of Yemeni efforts to unite Somalia and settle the conflict between the Somali corporations. He also appreciated efforts that Yemen exerts to reconcile between the Somali factions to make security and strengthen the government role in rebuilding the country.

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Click here for more news from SABA.

In article on today’s Guardian newspaper, Jon Snow of Channel 4 News in London writes:

The main obstacle to the eradication of malaria lies within Africa itself.

I agree with Jon! Armed political conflict, poor governance, economic mismanagement and corruption are the main causes of Africa’s demise. The sad thing is that I do not see any light in the tunnel any time soon!

Click here to view the full article on the Guardian. You may also click here for more info.

The Today Online reports:

Somalia’s transitional president appealed for 60 million dollars in urgent aid for some two million southern Somalis facing severe food and water shortages amid an increasing threat of famine across large swaths of the drought-stricken Horn of Africa. In a statement released as drought and pre-famine conditions have triggered dire warnings that many more millions are at risk of starvation in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed urged donors not to forget about Somalis in need. “There is a humanitarian emergency throughout southern Somalia,” he said, describing the situation as “volatile” among the mainly nomadic pastoralist population in the area. “All the livestock and an estimated two million people face that danger.”

The Somali people starve to death while the destructive Mogadishu warlords are bickering among themselves!

Click here to view the full dispatch on the Today Online.

The South Africa News24 reports:

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Sunday declared food shortages ravaging parts of the east African country a “national disaster” and for the first time used the word “famine” to describe the crisis. “To ensure that we have adequate interventions on the ground, I am declaring the famine a national disaster,” Kibaki said.

The future of the Somali Nation looks rather bleak due to the looming famine and food crisis facing Somali people in Somalia, in the Kenyan occupied region of Somali NFD and Western Somalia (Ogaden). The sad thing, which is rather more worrying is the fact that “ceelna umma qodna, ciddina umma maqna” !

Click here to view the full dispatch on the South African News24.