Ainashe.net

Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times sent a dispatch from the Somali caiptal and says:

The trouble started when government soldiers went to the market and, at gunpoint, began to help themselves to sacks of grain last week. Islamist insurgents poured into the streets to defend the merchants. The government troops took heavy casualties and retreated all the way back to the presidential palace, supposedly the most secure place in the city. It, too, came under fire. Mohamed Abdirizak, a top government official, crouched on a balcony at the palace, with bullets whizzing over his head. He had just given up a comfortable life as a development consultant in Springfield, Va. His wife thought he was crazy. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“I feel this slipping away,” he said.

By its own admission, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia is on life support. When it took power here in the capital 15 months ago, backed by thousands of Ethiopian troops, it was widely hailed as the best chance in years to end Somalia’s ceaseless cycles of war and suffering.

The TFG has been a life support for far too long…It is time for it to accept failure and disband.

Click here to view the article on NY Times.

According to the United Nations:

High levels of malnutrition and the difficulties of delivering aid make Somalia the world’s most pressing humanitarian crisis, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative there said on Tuesday. More than 1 million people have fled their homes in Somalia, which is convulsed by fighting between Ethiopian-backed government forces, Islamist insurgents and an assortment of warlords. “I’ve never seen anything like Somalia before,” Guillermo Bettocchi, representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said during a visit to London. “The situation is very severe. It is the most pressing humanitarian emergency in the world today — even worse than Darfur,” he told reporters, referring to the war in western Sudan, which has driven 2.5 million from their homes. A bomb attack which killed three foreign aid workers in Somalia on Monday underlined the difficulty in delivering aid in the anarchic country that has been wracked by clan violence for 17 years, he said. Fifteen percent of the population suffer acute malnutrition while health services are very limited and sanitation, water and shelters are extremely poor, Bettocchi said.

Source: UN News Wire

“The international community must put Somalia at the top of its agenda and press for change before it is too late. We call on all authorities in Somalia to help us reach those in need and urge donors not to give up on this country.”

Peter Goossens,
WFP’s Country Director for Somalia.

According to the United Nations News Srvice:

About 90,000 children in war-ravaged Somalia could die in the next few months without immediate supplementary nutrition and therapeutic feeding, an official with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today, calling for stepped-up international support.

Due to a lack of adequate funding, the agency – which is urgently appealing for $10 million for nutritional, water and sanitation programmes – said it maybe be forced to close its nutritional centres and cease delivering drinking water in two weeks.

Click here to view the full story on the UN News Service.

Xan Rice, East Africa correspondent of the Guardian News paper writes:

The Islamist-led resistance in Somalia is growing in scale and aggression, with insurgents openly taking on Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers in the capital Mogadishu, in fighting that has killed dozens, possibly hundreds, in the past three weeks.

Mr. Rice went on saying:

Few people believe that the situation is about to get better. Several experts interviewed by the Guardian say that the insurgents are becoming more powerful. A military analyst and a western diplomat to Somalia, neither of whom wished to be named, warned that the angry mood and conditions that allowed an Islamist movement to defeat a gang of warlords and take power in Mogadishu last year were returning. “We are on a merry-go-round and it’s back to 2006,” said the analyst. “The insurgents are gaining not only in physical strength, but in moral strength too.”

Mr. Rice concluded by saying:

Analysts say that the situation reflects a chronic miscalculation by the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, who sent his troops into Somalia late last year, and by the US, which backed that decision. The goal was to rout the Somali Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC), which had brought a measure of calm to Mogadishu for the first time in more than a decade, but which was accused by Washington and Addis Ababa of close links to al-Qaida.

Click here to view the full dispatch on the Guardian.

In an editorial the Dubai based Khaleej Times newspaper says:

WITH Ethiopian military incursions into the Somalian territory, in the name of fighting Islamic militants, the situation in the Horn of Africa is getting increasingly dangerous. Regional peace is under serious threat. And it looks like Somalia, one of the hotspots of the continent, would now be used for a proxy war between largely-Christian Ethiopia and its bitter rival, Eritrea, a nation that backs the Islamists.

The paper continued by saying:

Ethiopian incursions are now undermining these efforts. Amid the rolling in of the Ethiopian tanks and the air strikes that followed, the bitter memories of the past two wars have come to haunt the people. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s stand that his government has a ‘legal and moral obligation’ to support and defend Somalia’s government is dangerously flawed.

The paper concluded by saying:

The best solution to Somalia’s problems is allowing the country to solve its own problems. Interference from Ethiopia or other nosey neighbours and big powers will only exacerbate the crisis.

I could not agree more! I hope more Arab and Muslim papers will flow suite by highlighting the plight of our people.

Click here to the full editorial on Khaleej Times.

Simon Tissdall of the Guardian newspaper writes:

Watching Somalia right now is like standing on a beach, waiting for a category five hurricane to hit. The storm is approaching fast, there seems little that can be done, and the ensuing destruction will be terrible - and far-reaching. The looming Somali cataclysm threatens to spark a regional war, suck in east African and Arab actors, and create a dangerous new theatre in the polarising, global contest between western power and Islamist jihadism. Somalia has the potential to make Darfur look like a little local difficulty.

Mr. Tisdall went on by saying:

Three outcomes were possible at this juncture, the western source said. One was that UN-backed, on-off talks between the UIC and Baidoa government resumed, the African protection force deployed, and a “proper political process” got underway. Another, less improbable scenario was that Ethiopia used its military superiority to secure Baidoa and “clobber” some UIC training camps, enabling the government to negotiate from a stronger position. But a third, nightmare outcome was that “the Ethiopians do the full monty, go in in strength, and get stuck”, the source said. That could lead to spreading, al-Qaida-fuelled guerrilla warfare akin to Iraq, Sudanese-style Arab-African conflict, and ultimately, pressure for direct western intervention.

Click here to view the full analysis on the Guardian.

Sheikh Farah Mo’alim, the governor of Hiiraan was quoted as saying:

The floods have displaced around 80 percent of the population of the eastern part of the town and 20 percent of the western part.

The Governor continued by saying:

Most of those displaced are now camped at Jenta Kundishe, 15 km to the northeast of Beletweyne, which is on a higher elevation.

Click here to view the full dispatch on the AlertNet.

Fox News reports:

Floods caused by torrential rain in parts of southern Somalia have killed more than 23 people and displaced thousands over the past five days, aid workers and residents said Tuesday. The death toll is partly based on figures given by residents in different parts of southern Somalia contacted by The Associated Press by two-way radio, the most common means of communication in this Horn of Africa nation, which has had no effective central government for 15 years.

Click here for the full story.

To date contributors to WFP’s Somalia programme in 2006 are:

United States: US$26.2 million
UK Department for International Development: US$9.64 million
The Netherlands: US$5.3 million
Saudi Arabia: US$3 million
Canada: US$1.3 million
Ireland: US$1.2 million
Italy: US$1.17 million
Sweden: US$1.16 million
United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund: US$851,000
Australia: US$752,000
Belgium: US$643,000
Finland: US$605,000
African Development Bank: US$500,000
Switzerland: US$379,000
Turkey: US$300,000
Norway: US$206,000
US Friends of WFP: US$74,000
Private donations: US$55,000

WFP needs a total of US$37 million to assist 1.1 million people in Somalia until July 2007.

Click here for more on this. You may also click here to learn more about WFP.

Mogadishu is once again a key entry point for getting food stocks into the country. The reopening of the port makes it easier for us to reach more than one million people across the country who rely on our assistance.

Leo van der Velden
Somalia Acting Country Director
UN World Food Program (WFP)

Click here to view the full report (PDF).

The Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEW) paint a grim prospect for Somalia by saying:

Prospects for the 2006 main “gu” cereal crops, for harvest from August, are poor due to insufficient rains; the rainy season is complete, with patchy results. This would lead to the third consecutive season of below average harvest. Despite some heavy rains at the beginning of the season, large areas in Gedo, Bakol, Hiran, Bay, Lower Shabelle, Lower and Middle Juba, Galgadud, Toghdeer, Sool, Sanaag and Bari received below normal rains (see map). The gu is the main rainy season (April–June) with about 70 to 80 percent of annual cereal production in normal years.

Despite favourable rains in several drought-affected regions of Somalia, the food security situation of about 2.1 million drought-affected people thus remains precarious. Extremely high levels of malnutrition persist in many areas including Gedo, Bakool and Juba Valley. Recent nutrition surveys of these areas found unacceptably high rates of acute malnutrition between 16.2 and 23.8 percent (GAM), with corresponding severe malnutrition rates of 3.7 to 4.2 percent (SAM).

This is one of the tragedies of the Somali political conflict, while the so called “leaders” (Myopic triblists) are bickering among themselves, thousands of Somalis die everyday due to hunger and starvation!

Click here to view the article GIEW website.

David Gollust of VOA writes:

The Bush administration is again urging the main parties in the Somalia conflict to commit to dialogue for a unity government, and it is calling on Somalia’s neighbors to avoid any actions that might complicate those efforts. The U.S. appeal followed reports Wednesday that a Kazakh cargo plane carrying arms from Eritrea for Islamic militants had arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu, and news accounts last week that Ethiopia had sent troops to shore up the country’s transitional government based in Baidoa. Both Eritrea and Ethiopia have denied intervening in the long-running Somali conflict and officials here say they cannot verify the news reports. However, the State Department is taking the accounts seriously. At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said it is important that Somalia’s neighbors avoid any actions that would make the political reconciliation process in Somalia more difficult than it already is.

To me the Bush Administrations foreign policy regarding the Somali conflict is at best incoherent and it lacks strategic focus.

Click here to view the full dispatch on the VOA.

The Reuters’ AlertNet reports:

The United Nations warned of a looming food crisis in Somalia on Wednesday, brought on by patchy seasonal rains and rising military tensions. “Somalia is in deep crisis. Additional tension or conflict would be disastrous,” said Henri Josserand, a senior official at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

“We are watching the situation very closely.”

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The Kuweiti news agency (KUNA) reports:

The Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) announced on Saturday dispatching humanitarian relief aid to the Somali people, based on directives from the Kuwaiti leadership. Relief officer Msaed Al-Enezi told Kuna today that 10,000 one-month long subsistence (food and medical supply) family packs were distributed to the needy in the stricken areas. He described as difficult and hard the living conditions in the war-hit Somalia, noting that the KRCS coordinated with the Somali Red Crescent Society when distributing the aid for mitigating the sufferings of the Somali people.

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Antonio Guterres; chief of the UNHCR was quoted as saying:

What we appeal to the international community, both in Somalia as in everywhere else, is to do its best to create conditions for a peaceful settlement of the problems and an adequate political solution.

Click here to view article about Antonio Guterres press conference on the Pakistani Daily Times.

Jan Egeland, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, said in a statement:

At a time when people most need medical care and surgical attention, the occupation of Keysaney hospital by armed fighters constitutes a gross violation of international humanitarian law.

Mr. Egeland went on by saying:

The recent indiscriminate shelling in Mogadishu and spreading fighting in the environs of the capital have resulted in enormous human suffering.

Mr. Egeland concluded by saying:

This is a potential disaster area, at least from the humanitarian perspective, if it is not contained in the near future.

Following is the entire text of a Press Release by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Press release
01 June 2006
Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Press invitation: Annika Söder to meet Somalia’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation. State Secretary Annika Söder and Abdirizak Osman Hassan, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation in Somalia’s transitional government, will hold a press conference at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Friday 2 June at 12.30.

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Following is the text of today’s (May 31.06) Press Statement delivered by Acting Security Council President Pascal Gayama ( Congo):

The members of the Security Council received a briefing on 30 May 2006 from the Department of Political Affairs, related to the recent developments in Somalia. They strongly condemned the resumption of fighting in Mogadishu. The members of the Security Council expressed their deep concern over the loss of life, suffering and the renewed violence against the civilian populations.

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The CNN International reports:

Members of militias fighting for control of the Somali capital could face war crimes charges for attempting to prevent the wounded and civilians from receiving assistance during the conflict, a U.N. official warned Monday.

Eric Laroche, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia was quoted as saying:

Increasingly worrying reports from Mogadishu describe indiscriminate shelling of civilian populations and the city’s medical facilities, with dozens dead in the last few days. (…) Due to the intensity of the recent fighting, an increased number of civilian casualties have been unable to reach medical facilities.

Mr. Laroche went on by saying that:

(…) Any deliberate attempt to prevent wounded or civilians receiving assistance and protection during fighting in the city may constitute elements of future war crimes.

This warning seems to be directed to Muuse Suudi Yalaxow who is currently using a Hospital in Mogadishu as a hidding ground and keeping its entire staff as hostages.  Mr. Laroche’s warning is certainly a step in the right direction. However, what Mr. Laroche failed to mention is the fact that the main reason why the warlords are keeping a whole nation as a hostage is a direct result of United Nations’ confused and incoherent policy towards the Somali conflict. The problem of warlordism would have ended long time ago if the UN allowed the Somali Transitional Federal Government to carry out its main political objective which is to secure the country and bring law and order by lifting the Arms Embargo. The UN has as much Somali blood on their hands as the Mogadishu warlords if not more! It is time for the UN to do the right thing and act sensibly. The continuation of the arms embargo serves no purpose other than empowering the warlords to murder more innocent Somalis. The UN’s failure in Rwanda should not be forgotten!

Click here to view the full dispatch on CNN International.

William Ballamy; the United States Ambassador to Kenya whose his diplomatic mission also covers Somalia wrote a letter to the Kenyan Daily Nation newspaper and wrote the following: 

Fighting between rival militias in Mogadishu, which some press reports have wrongly blamed on the United States, has dominated recent news coverage of Somalia. The real story of American involvement in Somalia is a much different one. It is true that the US has encouraged a variety of groups in Somalia, in all corners of the country, and among all clans, to oppose the Al Qaeda presence and reject the Somali militants who shelter and protect these terrorists. At the same time, the US has offered strong moral and diplomatic support to the institutions of the newly founded and still struggling Somali Government. Lost in the diplomacy and politics is the fact that the US is reaching out in many ways to help improve the lives of ordinary Somalis.

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Following is the full text of a statement released by Swedish Foreign Ministry regarding the war in Mogadishu.

15 May 2006

Statement by Jan Eliasson on the situation in Mogadishu

I am greatly concerned about the fighting in Mogadishu in Somalia during the past week. These unacceptable acts of violence primarily affect the already suffering civilian population and have claimed the lives of a large number of people, including many children. We have today received reports of a ceasefire and I call therefore on all the groups involved in the fighting to respect the ceasefire and join the peace process. Sweden’s commitment to support the fragile peace and reconciliation process in Somalia will continue. We support the institutions that have been set up and can lead the country from chaos and conflict to peace and stability. I welcome the initiatives now being taken to encourage the groups involved in the fighting to join the political process for peace, reconciliation and reconstruction. 

Mr. Jan Eliasson,

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Royal Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs

The Associated Press reports:    

Islamic militiamen and secular fighters battled for control of Somalia’s capital Wednesday despite promises of a cease-fire. Six people were killed Wednesday, bringing the death toll to at least 96, with nearly 200 others wounded, according to officials. Heavy weapons fire echoed through the city as the fighting spread to another Mogadishu neighborhood. The battle between the Islamic Court Union and the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter Terrorism has centered on the northern neighborhood of Sii-Sii, with neither side gaining an advantage. Most of the victims in the most recent fighting were civilians caught in the crossfire.   

It saddens me to see so many innocent Somalis murdered senselessly every day. However, I believe the blame should go squarely on the shoulders of the United Nations that is refusing the deployment of peace-keeping forces under the auspices of the Arab League, the African Union and IGAD. It time for Mr. Francis Fall, the UN Special Envoy to Somalia to admit his failure and leave quietly. Indeed, I would go as far as saying that the entire staff of the United Nations political office for Somalia must be replaced as soon as possible. The fact is that they are doing more harm than good. 

My heart bleeds for my country and its people! Unfortunately, there is very little that I can do at the moment! However, I will keep SHOUTING on its behalf as much as I can so should every one else! 

Click here to view the full report on CNN’s website.

U.S. Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota was quoted as saying: 

I believe the United States has a vital security interest in helping Somalia succeed. (…) The lack of mature political institutions, protracted state of instability, porous borders and geographic location make it a potential location for international terrorists seeking a transit or launching point to conduct operations. As we saw in Afghanistan, failed states are a recipe for instability and terrorist activity. (…) Through interaction with my Somali constituents I have worked to be the voice of the Somali community in Washington, D.C. (…) I have made it a priority of mine to convey their concerns and ideas to various government officials and I will continue to facilitate dialogue among the different Somali political groups. The United States has an obligation to help put a stop to this chaos and I believe we can play a valuable role in establishing a stable, democratic government for the people of Somalia. 

Click here to view Senator Coleman’s statement. You may also here to click here to view the full text of the U.S. Senate resolution co-sponsored by Senator Norm Colman (R-MN), Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN). 

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has launched a two-month project to improve water availability and accessibility for thousands of drought-affected people in the Tieglow district and Hudur town of Bakol Region, South Somalia.  The ADRA Bakol Water Drought Response (BWDR) project impacts areas severely hit by drought and where ADRA has previously implemented water projects. Due to changes in population, water use in overcrowded villages has increased dramatically.

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The IRIN News reports:   

An outbreak of diarrhoea in Afmadow District in southwestern Somalia has claimed the lives of at least 12 people during the past week, medical sources said on Monday.  Some 80 people were arriving at the district’s main hospital to seek treatment for diarrhoea every day, said Hassan Mursal, a clinical officer at the hospital.

(more…)

The Famine Early Warring System (FEWS) says in its latest report that:

Despite the early gu rains in most of the drought-affected regions of Somalia, the food security situation facing 2.1 million drought-affected people remains precarious.  Prices of staple foods in most of the reference markets in the south are still much higher than normal for this time of year.  Humanitarian access problems coupled with impassable roads (due to rains) will likely hamper food aid deliveries during the coming weeks, thereby increasing vulnerability among food aid dependant drought-affected communities.  In the northeast and parts of the central region rains received so far are below-normal leading to serious water shortages.

Click here to view the full report on FEWS. The report is available as a PDF format.

Cabdullahi Yusuf Axmed; the President of the Somali Transitional Federal Government is currently on an official visit to Sweden and is hosted by the Royal Ministry for International Development Cooperation in Stockholm.   

I welcome President Yusuf’s visit to Sweden and the opportunity for bilateral discussions on the great challenges that Somalia faces. Ever since the peace talks started, Sweden has played a prominent role in the international dialogue with the Somali parties. International support is crucial in the difficulties that the transitional leadership in Somalia has to wrestle with, if the progress that has been achieved is to last. 

Sweden has provided active political and economic support to the peace process since 2003. Sweden expects to give humanitarian support and support for peace and reconciliation totalling SEK 160 million in 2006. If the peace process makes progress, there is a readiness for more extensive support, partly within the framework of the donor conference that is planned with Sweden and Italy as co-hosts. 

Ms. Annika Söder, Secretary of State for International Development Cooperation, Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden