History
With a population of 7.7 million in 2006, and an income per capita estimated in 2002 to be $226 (compared to $515 in Sub-Saharan Africa), Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world. The UNDP’s Human Development Index ranked Somalia 161 out of 163 countries in 2001. The civil conflict, continuing insecurity in many parts of the country, and poor access to services and infrastructure have made conditions worse than they were before the civil war.
Economic Developments
GDP per capita is estimated to have declined from US$280 in 1989 to US$226 in 2002 as a result of the consequences of the civil conflict. Absent or weak administrative structures provide minimal interference with trade or private sector activities. As a consequence, the private sector has flourished, trading with neighboring and Asian countries, processing agricultural products and manufacturing on a small scale, and providing services previously monopolized or dominated by the public sector. There has been significant (but unmeasured) private investment in commercial ventures, including in trade and marketing, money transfer services, transport, communications, airlines, telecommunications, construction and hotels, education and health, and fishery equipment, largely funded by the large remittances from the diaspora. The remittances, amounting to about $1 billion per year, have partially offset a larger drop in per capita output for Somalia. However, persistent insecurity threatens further growth of the private sector and the absence of provision of key public goods is hurting both rural and urban households and the private sector.
Social Developments
The civil conflict, absence of government, continuing insecurity in many parts of the country, and inadequate access to basic services and infrastructure worsened welfare and poverty compared to pre-civil war times. Extreme poverty (less than $1 PPP) is estimated at 43 percent. It is 10 percentage points higher for rural and nomadic populations. General poverty (less than $2 PPP) afflicts 73 percent of households, but reaches 80 percent in rural and nomadic populations. Income inequality is significant with the poorest 10 percent of the population receiving only 1.5 percent of total income.
Education
There have been modest gains in education indicators in recent years, but all are still extremely low. Gross primary school enrollment of 22 percent remains the lowest in the world. One in five Somalis is illiterate. Twice as many boys as girls attend primary and secondary school. Twice as many men as women are literate.
Health
Health indicators are also among the worst in Africa. Life expectancy is 47 years, and under-five and maternal mortality rates are a staggering 156 and 1013 per 100,000 live births, respectively. A majority of the population (71%) does not receive minimum dietary energy. Only 29% of the population has access to an improved water source and 25% to improved sanitation facilities.
Political developments
A Somali National Reconciliation Conference was opened in October 2002. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) sponsored the conference to show international support for a peace-building process. On January 29, 2004, all the key faction leaders signed a declaration on a framework for a five-year transition period.
As part of these efforts, a transitional parliament of 275 members was inaugurated in August 2004. The parliament elected Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed president of the new Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and a cabinet was nominated in January 2005. The government officially relocated to Somalia on June 2005.
Since June 2005, when the TFG officially relocated to Somalia, it has been unable to exert full control over the territory and has experienced internal tensions to its authority. In June 2006, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) managed to take control of Mogadishu and some strategically important locations from the traditional factions.
The dramatic change in power balance, however, was only temporary. In December 2006, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) aided by Ethiopian troops pushed back the UIC. In January 2007, the TFG President, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, entered Mogadishu for the first time since he became the President in 2004. Public resentment of the continued presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia created a volatile situation, seriously constraining humanitarian delivery and emergency operations in the centre and south of the country. Meanwhile kidnappings and piracy in the north-east region of Puntland has also led to a deteriorating security situation there.
A National Reconciliation Congress (NRC) conference in Mogadishu in August 2007 produced no breakthrough. In September 2007, some opposition (including UIC members and former TFG Parliamentarians and members of the TFG) held their own conference in Asmara, Eritrea, denouncing the TFG and the NRC and formally established the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS). A national reconciliation process - proposed by the international community led by the U.N., and with the participation of both TFG and ARS - was held in Djibouti in June 2008 towards establishing peace. An 11 point agreement was signed in August between the TFG and an opposition ARS, calling for "end all acts of armed confrontation" within 30 days, and withdrawal of Ethiopian troops within 120 days after a UN peacekeeping force is deployed. The two sides continue to meet under this Djibouti Agreement with progress being reported on all matters under the Agreement.
Security
An escalation of armed hostilities and kidnappings in South Central Somalia and Puntland resulted in the UN relocating staff from Mogadishu and other locations and to raise the security level in Mogadishu to Phase V. In addition, piracy of vessels has increased dramatically in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off the coast of Puntland The EU, USA and other countries have committed to provide vessels to combat piracy in 2008 to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.
WBG Portfolio and Partnerships
The Bank's Program. The Bank’s activities are limited by the current circumstances of the country and are at the request of the international community. In 2007, the Bank approved an ISN for Somalia to cover the period FY08-09. Most of the activities focus on governance, institution and capacity building (public financial management), decentralized service delivery and local governance, improving the business climate and contributing to the collective international efforts to support the transitional process in Somalia. Most recently, the TA on PFM reform in all three areas of Somalia has been launched. In October 2005, the Bank allocated US$2 million for the health and fishery sectors from the special “Tsunami Recovery” window of the Japan Social Development Fund.
In 2008, the World Bank approved three grants amounting to US$10.19 million to support (i) Somalia’s urgent need to increase crop and livestock production in rural areas adversely affected by the drought and the current global food crisis through the Rapid Response Rehabilitation of Rural Livelihoods Project (US$7.0 million) funded under the Bank’s Global Food Crisis Response Program); (ii) the issuance of 60 community block and social access grants Somaliland and Puntland through the Community Driven Recovery and Development Project (US$2.49 million) funded under the LICUS Trust Fund; and (iii) private sector development through the Somalia PSD Re-Engagement Program – Phase I (US$0.7 million) funded under the LICUS Trust Fund. Three additional programs amounting to about US$3.5 million are being developed to support public financial management, phase II of the Somalia PSD Re-Engagement Program and PRSP preparation.
IFC. IFC’s strategy in Somalia will focus on advisory work. PSD activity has been curtailed by civil war and collapse of the Somali state. PEP Africa will be looking into opportunities to assist in capacity building of private sector associations. An IFC strategy for Somalia could also focus on improving the investment climate when political stability is achieved. IFC is working jointly with IDA on a private sector development initiative noted above.
WBI. Since FY03, WBI has been working closely with the Somalia Country Team to provide support to its capacity-building efforts within the framework of the CRN. Two capacity-building projects have been implemented by UNDP with WBI oversight. The first project “ Capacity Building for Somali Planners” seeks to develop the capacity of financial planners in Somalia as a means of fostering economic growth. The second project aims at providing improved connectivity and associated technical and pedagogical support to institutions in partnership with the African Virtual University. Somali officials have also continued to participate in various training programs conducted by WBI in the region. Donor Coordination. Through its engagement, the Bank has been coordinating closely with the United Nations and other donors. The Bank is an active member of the Somalia Donor Group and the Somalia Aid Coordination Body. In addition, the Bank jointly co-chairs the Joint Planning Committee, where donors strategize on development assistance for Somalia. Consistent with the implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, Bank support has also been guided by the OECD/DAC Principles for Good International Engagement in Fragile States , which seeks to foster a longer-term vision for engagement aimed at building legitimate, effective and resilient state institutions. Somalia is one of the pilot countries for this, with the Bank and DFID as the lead donors
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Starving poor of Somalia now suffering thirst
The impoverished people of Somalia are being forced to surviv e on three containers of water a day for drinking, cooking and washing, Oxfam has said.
Increasingly large numbers of people are dying from dehydration on 40-mile treks to fetch water in scorching temperatures of up to 40C.
"The situation will get worse unless swift action is taken," said Mohamed Elmi, Oxfam's regional programme manager. Somalia is one of the poorest African nations and campaigners are deeply concerned that the drought in the south of the country, which has already struck neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania and Burundi, will hit the nation, disrupted by wars, particularly hard.
The price of containers used to transport water has rocketed to more than a day's wages for most Somalis, said Brendan Cox, an Oxfam spokesman . A water canister that used to cost at least 1p now costs 70p in a region where residents live on pennies a day.
The latest UN report on Somalia said 1.7 million people - 710,000 of them experiencing acute food shortages - needed food assistance of some kind in addition to the 410,000 refugees who depend on food aid.
Increasingly large numbers of people are dying from dehydration on 40-mile treks to fetch water in scorching temperatures of up to 40C.
"The situation will get worse unless swift action is taken," said Mohamed Elmi, Oxfam's regional programme manager. Somalia is one of the poorest African nations and campaigners are deeply concerned that the drought in the south of the country, which has already struck neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania and Burundi, will hit the nation, disrupted by wars, particularly hard.
The price of containers used to transport water has rocketed to more than a day's wages for most Somalis, said Brendan Cox, an Oxfam spokesman . A water canister that used to cost at least 1p now costs 70p in a region where residents live on pennies a day.
The latest UN report on Somalia said 1.7 million people - 710,000 of them experiencing acute food shortages - needed food assistance of some kind in addition to the 410,000 refugees who depend on food aid.
`m not a pirate, I`m the saviour of the sea`
Who are the pirate bands menacing commercial and tourist shipping off Somalia? Our writer meets one of the leaders
Boyah is a pirate. One of the original “Old Boys”, he quietly pursued his trade in the waters of his coastal home town of Eyl, years before it galvanised the world`s imagination as Somalia`s infamous “pirate haven”. Boyah is dismissive of the recent poseurs, the headline-grabbers who have bathed in the international media spotlight and it shows; he exudes a self-assured superiority.
Pirates are easy to spot on the streets of Garowe, the regional capital: their Toyota 4x4s cluster around equally new white-washed mansions on the edge of town. But to approach them, I am warned, is to invite kidnapping or robbery. In Somalia, everything is done through connections, be they clan, family, or friend, and Mohamed, my interpreter, was on and off the phone for almost a week to coax his network into producing Boyah.
Our meeting takes place at a virtually deserted farm 15km outside Garowe. Mohamed is the son of the newly elected president of Puntland and does not want to be seen in public cavorting with pirates. Moreover, Boyah has recently contracted tuberculosis and Mohamed insists that we meet him in an open space.
As we step out of our vehicles, I catch my first glimpse of Boyah. Immensely tall and disconcertingly menacing, he is wearing a ma`awis, the traditional robe of a clan elder, and a cimaamad, a decorative shawl. On his feet is a pair of shiny onyx leather sandals. He weaves his way around the tomato plants and lemon trees, before settling in a shady clearing, where he squats down. Other than the farm`s owners, there is no one near by, yet the two AK-47-toting police escorts, who accompany me wherever I go, stand guard with an amusing military officiousness.
Asking my first question through my interpreter, I hesitate to use the word “pirate”. Somali pirates are aware enough of themselves in the international media that the word has become part of their vernacular but its closest Somali translation is burcad badeed, which means “ocean robber”, a political statement I am anxious to avoid. Boyah likes to refer to him and his comades as badaadinta badah, “saviours of the sea”, a term that is most often translated in the English-speaking media as “coastguard”. Boyah jokes that he is the “Chief of the Coastguard”, a title he evokes with pride. To him, his actions have been about protecting his sea; his hijackings, a legitimate form of taxation levied in abstentia on behalf of a defunct government that he represents in spirit, if not in law.
His story is typical of many who have turned to piracy since the onset of the civil war. Fourteen years ago, he was still working as a lobster diver in Eyl - “one of the best”, he says. Since then, according to Boyah, these reefs off Eyl have been devastated by foreign fishing fleets - mostly Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean - using steel-pronged dragnets. He says that there are no longer lobsters to be found locally, a claim partially corroborated by a 2005 UN Development Project report into the depletion of local stocks.
From 1995 to 1997, Boyah and others captured three foreign fishing vessels, keeping the catch and ransoming the crew. He boasts that he received an $800,000 bounty for one ship. When the foreign fishing fleets entered into protection contracts with local warlords, making armed guards and anti-aircraft guns fixtures on ships, Boyah and his men went after commercial shipping vessels instead.
Boyah says that there are about 500 pirates operating in the area, over whom he serves as “chairman”. Eyl`s pirate groups function as a loose confederation, and Boyah is a key organiser, recruiter, financier and mission commander, rather than a traditional crime boss, but he claims that all applicants for the position of Pirate (Eyl Division) must come to him. Boyah`s sole criteria for a recruit are that he has to own a gun, and that he must “[be] a hero, and accept death” - qualities that grace the CVs of many local youth.
Turnover in Boyah`s core group is low; when I ask if his men ever use their new-found wealth to leave Somalia, he laughs: “The only way they leave is when they die.” He adds that a member of his band departed last night, dying in his sleep of undisclosed reasons.
When it comes to targets, Boyah`s standards are not very exacting. He says that his men go after any ship that wanders into their sights. He separates his prey into “commercial” and “tourist” ships. The commercial ships, identifiable by the cranes on their decks, are slower and easier to capture. Boyah has gone after too many of these to remember. He claims to employ different tactics for different ships, but the basic strategy is that several skiffs will approach from all sides, swarming like a waterborne wolfpack. If brandishing their weapons fails to frighten the ship`s crew into stopping, they fire into the air. If that doesn`t do it, and if the target ship is incapable of outperforming the 85 to 150 horsepower engines on their skiffs, they pull alongside their target, toss hooked rope ladders on to the decks and board the ship. Resistance is rare.
Boyah guesses that 20 to 30 per cent of attempted hijackings succeed. Speedy prey, technical problems, and foreign naval or domestic coastguard intervention account for the high rate of failure.
Captured ships are steered to Eyl, where guards and interpreters are brought to look after the hostages during the ransom negotiation. Once secured, the money - often routed through banks in London and Dubai and parachuted directly on to the deck of the ship - is split: half goes to the hijackers, a third to the investors who fronted cash for the ships and weapons, and 20 per cent to everyone else, from the guards to the translators (occasionally high school students on a summer break). Some money is also given as charity to the local poor; such largesse, Boyah tells me, has turned his merry band into Robin Hood figures.
When I ask where his men have obtained their training, he pithily responds that it comes “from famine”. This isn`t the whole truth. Beginning in 1999, the government of Puntland launched a series of ill-fated attempts to establish an (official) regional Coastguard, efforts that each time ended with the dissolution of the contracting company and the dismissal of its employees. The new generation of Somali pirates - better trained, more efficiently organised and possessing superior equipment - can be traced in part to these failed experiments. When pressed, Boyah confirms that some of his men are former coastguard recruits, and he reveals another detail of the interwoven dynamic between pirates, coastguards and fishermen. He claims that the Puntland Coastguard of the late 1990s and early 2000s worked as a private militia for the protection of commercial trawlers in possession of official “fishing licences”, alienating local fishermen. Sometimes the situation escalated into confrontation and Boyah recounts that in 2001 his men seized several fishing vessels “licensed” by President Abdullahi Yusuf and protected by his coastguard force. Almost a decade before the rise in pirate hijackings hit the Gulf of Aden, the conditions for the coming storm were already recognisable.
Boyah`s moral compass, like his body, seems to be split between sea and shore. “We`re not murderers,” he says, “we`ve never killed anyone.” He warns me, half-jokingly, not to run into him in a boat, but assures me that he is quite harmless on land. He insists that he is not a criminal but that he knows what he is doing is wrong.
Boyah hasn`t been on a mission for more than two months, for which he has a two-pronged explanation: “I got sick and became rich.” He has called for an end to hijackings albeit from a position of luxury that most do not enjoy. I ask him whether his ceasefire was motivated by the recent deployment to the region of a Nato task force. “No,” he says, “it has nothing to do with that. It`s a moral issue. We realised that we didn`t have public support.” That support, according to Boyah, took a plunge last summer when a delegation of clan and religious leaders visited Eyl and declared that dealing with pirates is haram - religiously forbidden. Nato deliberations regarding possible missile strikes on Eyl, though, do not worry Boyah: “Only civilians live there, it would be illegal for them to attack. If they do...that`s OK. We believe in God. Force alone cannot stop us,” he says vehemently, “we don`t care about death.”
Throughout our interview, Boyah has looked uninterested but when I ask him to recount his most exhilarating raid, he brightens up, launching into the story of the Golden Nori. In October 2007, he captured the Japanese chemical tanker about eight nautical miles off the northern Somali coast, only to be surrounded by the US Navy. Boyah recalls seven naval vessels encircling him. He recites by rote the identification numbers marking the sides of four of the vessels: 41, 56, 76, and 78 (the last being the destroyer USS Porter). Fortunately for them, the Golden Nori was carrying volatile chemicals, including the extremely flammable compound benzene.
The stand-off dragged on for months and he claims that they “almost abandoned the ship so we wouldn`t start eating the crew”. Eventually, Boyah ordered the ship into the harbour at Bosasso, Puntland`s big port and most populous city. In case the Nori`s explosive cargo proved an insufficient deterrent, Boyah added the defensive screen provided by the presence of the city`s civilian population.
His perseverance paid off. After extensive negotiations, a ransom of $1.5million was secured for the ship and its crew. The US military guaranteed Boyah and his team safe passage off the hijacked ship and Puntland`s security forces could only watch as US gunships escorted the pirate skiffs to land and allowed them to disembark. Why did he and his men trust the Americans? “Because that was the agreement,” Boyah says. But I already know the real answer. Like many Western nations, the Americans wouldn`t have known what to do with Boyah and his men if they had captured them. According to international law - to the extent that international law has any meaning in an utterly failed state - the Americans were not even supposed to be in Somali territorial waters.
The Golden Nori hijacking took place before the international community had become aware of the piracy problem, when foreign navies tended to give them a slap on the wrist. More recently, concerned states have begun to use the international legal instruments available - particularly a UN Security Council Resolution allowing entry into Somali waters - more rigorously. Foreign warships are increasingly excluding, detaining and rendering suspected pirates to neighbouring countries to face justice.
In April 2008, Boyah`s gang seized a French luxury yacht on route from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean - what he refers to as a “tourist” ship. Boyah calls it the “Libant,” a clumsy fusion of its French name, Le Ponant. After delivering a ransom and freeing the hostages, French helicopters tracked the pirates to the village of Jariban. On the orders of President Sarkozy, French commandos laun ched “Operation Thalathine”: Special Forces snipers disabled the pirates` getaway vehicle and captured six men, later flying them to Paris to face trial. Such a determined pursuit was once a rarity but that incident, along with US use of navy SEAL snipers to kill pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage this week, illustrates that the international community is now taking piracy more seriously. But a military solution alone is incapable of completely eradicating piracy off the Somali coast-certainly not one which is economically or politically feasible. Boyah`s men have been captured or killed with increasing frequency (his brother is sitting in a local prison), yet imprisoning them is almost useless: for each pirate captured, there are dozens of young men desperate to replace them.
If there is a solution to the problem, it lies in economic principles: the cost-benefit analysis for these men must be shifted from piracy to more legitimate pursuits. Naval battle fleets can do their part to boost the “cost” side, but without the “benefit” of meaningful occupations on land, there will be no permanent resolution.
Boyah may have accumulated a small fortune, but how long his current state of affluence will last is unclear - he announces with pride how he has given his money away to his friends, to the poor and how he didn`t build a house or a hotel like many of his more parsimonious co-workers. When asked about his future plans, Boyah is evasive. “That is up to the international community,” he says, “they need to solve the problem of illegal fishing, the root of our troubles. We are waiting for action.”
Boyah is a pirate. One of the original “Old Boys”, he quietly pursued his trade in the waters of his coastal home town of Eyl, years before it galvanised the world`s imagination as Somalia`s infamous “pirate haven”. Boyah is dismissive of the recent poseurs, the headline-grabbers who have bathed in the international media spotlight and it shows; he exudes a self-assured superiority.
Pirates are easy to spot on the streets of Garowe, the regional capital: their Toyota 4x4s cluster around equally new white-washed mansions on the edge of town. But to approach them, I am warned, is to invite kidnapping or robbery. In Somalia, everything is done through connections, be they clan, family, or friend, and Mohamed, my interpreter, was on and off the phone for almost a week to coax his network into producing Boyah.
Our meeting takes place at a virtually deserted farm 15km outside Garowe. Mohamed is the son of the newly elected president of Puntland and does not want to be seen in public cavorting with pirates. Moreover, Boyah has recently contracted tuberculosis and Mohamed insists that we meet him in an open space.
As we step out of our vehicles, I catch my first glimpse of Boyah. Immensely tall and disconcertingly menacing, he is wearing a ma`awis, the traditional robe of a clan elder, and a cimaamad, a decorative shawl. On his feet is a pair of shiny onyx leather sandals. He weaves his way around the tomato plants and lemon trees, before settling in a shady clearing, where he squats down. Other than the farm`s owners, there is no one near by, yet the two AK-47-toting police escorts, who accompany me wherever I go, stand guard with an amusing military officiousness.
Asking my first question through my interpreter, I hesitate to use the word “pirate”. Somali pirates are aware enough of themselves in the international media that the word has become part of their vernacular but its closest Somali translation is burcad badeed, which means “ocean robber”, a political statement I am anxious to avoid. Boyah likes to refer to him and his comades as badaadinta badah, “saviours of the sea”, a term that is most often translated in the English-speaking media as “coastguard”. Boyah jokes that he is the “Chief of the Coastguard”, a title he evokes with pride. To him, his actions have been about protecting his sea; his hijackings, a legitimate form of taxation levied in abstentia on behalf of a defunct government that he represents in spirit, if not in law.
His story is typical of many who have turned to piracy since the onset of the civil war. Fourteen years ago, he was still working as a lobster diver in Eyl - “one of the best”, he says. Since then, according to Boyah, these reefs off Eyl have been devastated by foreign fishing fleets - mostly Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean - using steel-pronged dragnets. He says that there are no longer lobsters to be found locally, a claim partially corroborated by a 2005 UN Development Project report into the depletion of local stocks.
From 1995 to 1997, Boyah and others captured three foreign fishing vessels, keeping the catch and ransoming the crew. He boasts that he received an $800,000 bounty for one ship. When the foreign fishing fleets entered into protection contracts with local warlords, making armed guards and anti-aircraft guns fixtures on ships, Boyah and his men went after commercial shipping vessels instead.
Boyah says that there are about 500 pirates operating in the area, over whom he serves as “chairman”. Eyl`s pirate groups function as a loose confederation, and Boyah is a key organiser, recruiter, financier and mission commander, rather than a traditional crime boss, but he claims that all applicants for the position of Pirate (Eyl Division) must come to him. Boyah`s sole criteria for a recruit are that he has to own a gun, and that he must “[be] a hero, and accept death” - qualities that grace the CVs of many local youth.
Turnover in Boyah`s core group is low; when I ask if his men ever use their new-found wealth to leave Somalia, he laughs: “The only way they leave is when they die.” He adds that a member of his band departed last night, dying in his sleep of undisclosed reasons.
When it comes to targets, Boyah`s standards are not very exacting. He says that his men go after any ship that wanders into their sights. He separates his prey into “commercial” and “tourist” ships. The commercial ships, identifiable by the cranes on their decks, are slower and easier to capture. Boyah has gone after too many of these to remember. He claims to employ different tactics for different ships, but the basic strategy is that several skiffs will approach from all sides, swarming like a waterborne wolfpack. If brandishing their weapons fails to frighten the ship`s crew into stopping, they fire into the air. If that doesn`t do it, and if the target ship is incapable of outperforming the 85 to 150 horsepower engines on their skiffs, they pull alongside their target, toss hooked rope ladders on to the decks and board the ship. Resistance is rare.
Boyah guesses that 20 to 30 per cent of attempted hijackings succeed. Speedy prey, technical problems, and foreign naval or domestic coastguard intervention account for the high rate of failure.
Captured ships are steered to Eyl, where guards and interpreters are brought to look after the hostages during the ransom negotiation. Once secured, the money - often routed through banks in London and Dubai and parachuted directly on to the deck of the ship - is split: half goes to the hijackers, a third to the investors who fronted cash for the ships and weapons, and 20 per cent to everyone else, from the guards to the translators (occasionally high school students on a summer break). Some money is also given as charity to the local poor; such largesse, Boyah tells me, has turned his merry band into Robin Hood figures.
When I ask where his men have obtained their training, he pithily responds that it comes “from famine”. This isn`t the whole truth. Beginning in 1999, the government of Puntland launched a series of ill-fated attempts to establish an (official) regional Coastguard, efforts that each time ended with the dissolution of the contracting company and the dismissal of its employees. The new generation of Somali pirates - better trained, more efficiently organised and possessing superior equipment - can be traced in part to these failed experiments. When pressed, Boyah confirms that some of his men are former coastguard recruits, and he reveals another detail of the interwoven dynamic between pirates, coastguards and fishermen. He claims that the Puntland Coastguard of the late 1990s and early 2000s worked as a private militia for the protection of commercial trawlers in possession of official “fishing licences”, alienating local fishermen. Sometimes the situation escalated into confrontation and Boyah recounts that in 2001 his men seized several fishing vessels “licensed” by President Abdullahi Yusuf and protected by his coastguard force. Almost a decade before the rise in pirate hijackings hit the Gulf of Aden, the conditions for the coming storm were already recognisable.
Boyah`s moral compass, like his body, seems to be split between sea and shore. “We`re not murderers,” he says, “we`ve never killed anyone.” He warns me, half-jokingly, not to run into him in a boat, but assures me that he is quite harmless on land. He insists that he is not a criminal but that he knows what he is doing is wrong.
Boyah hasn`t been on a mission for more than two months, for which he has a two-pronged explanation: “I got sick and became rich.” He has called for an end to hijackings albeit from a position of luxury that most do not enjoy. I ask him whether his ceasefire was motivated by the recent deployment to the region of a Nato task force. “No,” he says, “it has nothing to do with that. It`s a moral issue. We realised that we didn`t have public support.” That support, according to Boyah, took a plunge last summer when a delegation of clan and religious leaders visited Eyl and declared that dealing with pirates is haram - religiously forbidden. Nato deliberations regarding possible missile strikes on Eyl, though, do not worry Boyah: “Only civilians live there, it would be illegal for them to attack. If they do...that`s OK. We believe in God. Force alone cannot stop us,” he says vehemently, “we don`t care about death.”
Throughout our interview, Boyah has looked uninterested but when I ask him to recount his most exhilarating raid, he brightens up, launching into the story of the Golden Nori. In October 2007, he captured the Japanese chemical tanker about eight nautical miles off the northern Somali coast, only to be surrounded by the US Navy. Boyah recalls seven naval vessels encircling him. He recites by rote the identification numbers marking the sides of four of the vessels: 41, 56, 76, and 78 (the last being the destroyer USS Porter). Fortunately for them, the Golden Nori was carrying volatile chemicals, including the extremely flammable compound benzene.
The stand-off dragged on for months and he claims that they “almost abandoned the ship so we wouldn`t start eating the crew”. Eventually, Boyah ordered the ship into the harbour at Bosasso, Puntland`s big port and most populous city. In case the Nori`s explosive cargo proved an insufficient deterrent, Boyah added the defensive screen provided by the presence of the city`s civilian population.
His perseverance paid off. After extensive negotiations, a ransom of $1.5million was secured for the ship and its crew. The US military guaranteed Boyah and his team safe passage off the hijacked ship and Puntland`s security forces could only watch as US gunships escorted the pirate skiffs to land and allowed them to disembark. Why did he and his men trust the Americans? “Because that was the agreement,” Boyah says. But I already know the real answer. Like many Western nations, the Americans wouldn`t have known what to do with Boyah and his men if they had captured them. According to international law - to the extent that international law has any meaning in an utterly failed state - the Americans were not even supposed to be in Somali territorial waters.
The Golden Nori hijacking took place before the international community had become aware of the piracy problem, when foreign navies tended to give them a slap on the wrist. More recently, concerned states have begun to use the international legal instruments available - particularly a UN Security Council Resolution allowing entry into Somali waters - more rigorously. Foreign warships are increasingly excluding, detaining and rendering suspected pirates to neighbouring countries to face justice.
In April 2008, Boyah`s gang seized a French luxury yacht on route from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean - what he refers to as a “tourist” ship. Boyah calls it the “Libant,” a clumsy fusion of its French name, Le Ponant. After delivering a ransom and freeing the hostages, French helicopters tracked the pirates to the village of Jariban. On the orders of President Sarkozy, French commandos laun ched “Operation Thalathine”: Special Forces snipers disabled the pirates` getaway vehicle and captured six men, later flying them to Paris to face trial. Such a determined pursuit was once a rarity but that incident, along with US use of navy SEAL snipers to kill pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage this week, illustrates that the international community is now taking piracy more seriously. But a military solution alone is incapable of completely eradicating piracy off the Somali coast-certainly not one which is economically or politically feasible. Boyah`s men have been captured or killed with increasing frequency (his brother is sitting in a local prison), yet imprisoning them is almost useless: for each pirate captured, there are dozens of young men desperate to replace them.
If there is a solution to the problem, it lies in economic principles: the cost-benefit analysis for these men must be shifted from piracy to more legitimate pursuits. Naval battle fleets can do their part to boost the “cost” side, but without the “benefit” of meaningful occupations on land, there will be no permanent resolution.
Boyah may have accumulated a small fortune, but how long his current state of affluence will last is unclear - he announces with pride how he has given his money away to his friends, to the poor and how he didn`t build a house or a hotel like many of his more parsimonious co-workers. When asked about his future plans, Boyah is evasive. “That is up to the international community,” he says, “they need to solve the problem of illegal fishing, the root of our troubles. We are waiting for action.”
Somali Pirates Form Unholy Alliance with Islamists
Warships have done little to deter Somalia`s pirates. But following the latest spate of hijackings, the West plans to take a more robust approach to protecting shipping. Intelligence agencies are alarmed at the pirates` increasingly close ties to Islamist groups.
A sack filled with $1 million (770,000 euros) in $100 bills weighs just under 15 kilos (33 pounds). Occasionally $3 million in ransom money is paid to Somali pirates for a hijacked freighter and its crew. That`s nearly 45 kilos.
Delivering millions of dollars to the pirates is a hell of a job, says Jack Cloonan, a security expert from New York. "Remember, they`re sitting there and they`re all armed to the teeth," he says. "And you`re sitting there in your rubber raft: `Here`s one for you, and one for you ... `"
Throughout his career, Cloonan has dealt with his fair share of nasty characters. As a FBI special agent, he tracked down Warsaw Pact spies and, in the wake of 9/11, al-Qaida terrorists. But transferring the money to Somalia`s often drug-addled pirates is "an extremely difficult" maneuver, he says. "It would be nice if the Somali pirates would accept a wire transfer -- but they don`t."
Cloonan has quit his government job and joined a booming industry. Shipping companies call on him for help when the pirates off the Horn of Africa have hijacked one of their ships.
He and his team organize negotiations -- and they know all the traps and tricks. They figure out a way to get the ransom money to Africa and ensure that the crew and freighter reach their home port safe and sound. Cloonan has liberated a number of ships over the past few months -- and there`s plenty of potential for growth in his line of work.
Ever since the weather improved in early March, Somalia`s barefoot pirates have seized seven vessels, including Germany`s Hansa Stavanger, a container ship with five German officers and 19 sailors on board.
With their small fiberglass boats, the pirates are making fools of the world`s most powerful countries. No less than four international fleets of high-tech warships are patrolling the waters off Somalia`s coasts, and there are frigates and destroyers from countries like China and Russia that are working independently. All of these ships have cannons or missiles, helicopters and satellite support; some could lay waste to entire cities. But this has done little to deter the pirates, with their bashed-up outboard boats and Kalashnikovs. It`s a fight between David and Goliath -- except in this case, the bad guys are playing the role of David, and the good guys are Goliath.
But now Goliath is taking a harder line. Military officers are frustrated and their governments have had enough of coughing up for boats. Every million-dollar ransom bolsters the pirates. It`s a dilemma: Countries that pay up will end up paying more and more.
The Americans and the French have changed course and started shooting at the pirates. Even the Germans considered freeing the Hansa Stavanger by force. Some of the strategies which experts in Washington, London and Berlin are developing resemble battle plans for a new military campaign -- and that in a war-torn country like Somalia, which has already been the site of a number of military debacles. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says: "We may be dealing with a 17th-century crime, but we need to bring 21st-century assets to bear."
And there`s no time to waste, now that a new threat is emerging. Intelligence agencies have managed to deeply penetrate the pirate clans. They have inside information about the bosses, arms caches, alliances and arrangements. Experts also have reason to believe that the pirates are increasingly working hand-in-hand with Islamists, who are allies of Osama bin Laden`s al-Qaida. It`s a terrifying alliance: The pirates supply money and arms, while the Islamists have troops and the power on land.
But it is also a highly unlikely alliance. Up until recently, the pirates and Islamists have been mortal enemies. When fighters loyal to the radical Council of Islamic Courts seized power in Somalia in 2006, they immediately put the pirates out of business because piracy violates Islamic Sharia law.
Half a year later, an invading army from US-backed neighboring Ethiopia swept aside the Islamists -- and the pirates quickly headed out to sea again in search of new booty.
The Ethiopians have meanwhile largely retreated, but the new government in Mogadishu, which was elected in January, controls only a fraction of the country. The rest is ruled by Islamist groups, like the al-Shabab militias and a new faction called Hizbul Islam (Party of Islam).
The pirates want money and the Islamists want power -- but these interests can overlap at times. In November of last year, conflict erupted once again after the pirates seized the Sirius Star. That wasn`t particularly clever. The supertanker belongs to the Saudis, who are also Muslims, and the Islamists naturally objected to the raid. A few shots were fired.
However, that couldn`t really shatter the alliance and, ironically, one reason for this is that the infidels are making inroads into Somalia`s coastal waters. The enemy from the outside is welding together the old adversaries. The pirates are "mujahideen because they are at war with the Christian countries," says Sheikh Hassan Turki, the leader of Hizbul Islam. And Mukhtar Robow of the al-Shabab militias praises the pirates, saying that they are defending "the coast against Allah`s enemies."
Ever since American snipers shot dead three pirates to rescue the captain of the US-registered freighter Maersk Alabama on Easter Sunday (12 April), the pirates have been calling for revenge -- and they suddenly sound very much like the Islamists. The US is now "our number one enemy," says Jamac Habeb, a pirate from Eyl. "We`re now out to get Americans," says a pirate named Ismail from Harardhere. "And when we have them, we`ll slaughter them."
If the "fragile alliance" between the pirates and the Islamists grows stronger, writes the intelligence journal Jane`s Intelligence Review, this will "increase the threat from pirate groups." According to an analysis by the intelligence experts, the pirates are far better networked than was previously thought.
One example of this can be found in the pirate town of Harardhere, close to where the hijacked Hansa Stavanger was forced to drop anchor. The gang members in this stronghold include men from all the main clans along the coast, allowing the group to move freely everywhere. The Suleyman clan calls the shots in this region, but one of the Harardhere commanders -- whose main profession is selling charcoal -- is a Saleebaan.
The gang maintains two main bases of operations along the coast, and from here it sends raiding units, each one divided into four groups. The planners prepare the hunt -- and this group reportedly also includes Sudanese and Pakistanis. Former fishermen help out with their nautical experience, while young fighters go on board the ships. The fourth group consists of negotiators who haggle over the ransom with adversaries like Jack Cloonan. Dealing with Pirates Inc.
For more lucrative hauls, the Harardhere pirates like to team up with gangs from other towns, primarily with their associates from Kismayo, 800 kilometers (500 miles) farther south. The Kismayo gang reportedly seized the Sirius Star, for instance. All negotiations were then conducted by the men from Harardhere.
It`s a regular "Pirates Inc.," says Cloonan, who describes it as "organized crime" on the high seas. The ship owners and the pirates start out with widely diverging negotiating positions. The gangsters demand $15 million, the shipping company offers $1 million -- and the war of nerves begins.
The pirates often use the ship`s satellite telephone to call the crew`s relatives and threaten to execute the hostages. "We`ve had cases where they have threatened people on the phone, where they`ve certainly fired off guns and told us they`ve executed somebody."
Sometimes the pirates threaten to ram the ship at full speed against the coast. Or they let the sailors go hungry because food supplies have supposedly run out. Or they simply break off all contact for days. "This is where the shipping companies go crazy," says Cloonan.
Once Cloonan and the pirates have agreed on a sum after weeks or months of negotiations, it`s time for the ex-agent to deliver. Initially, he chartered deep-sea tugs in Mombasa to bring the bags of money to the agreed coordinates. When the hijacked ship came into sight, an unarmed man would climb into a rubber dinghy to transfer the ransom money at the side of the vessel. "And then you hope that the pirates do the right thing." These days the bags are often dropped with a parachute from an airplane -- because the pirates even seize the tugboats.
Sometimes Cloonan`s team also has to check on board if the crew is complete and in good health before paying for their release. On one occasion, they knew that a seaman on board was seriously ill. Before handing over the cash, they searched for him -- and found his body in the refrigerator of the hijacked ship. He had jumped to his death from the upper deck.
The pirates are not stupid, and they`re fairly self-assured, says Cloonan. "They know that it`s a successful business model. They know that they can operate in this wide swath of area almost with impunity."
Most groups have established their logistical operations in Garoowe and Gaalkacyo, two towns in the breakaway region of Puntland. This is where many bundles of dollars disappear into the Islamic hawala financial system, which is based on personal contacts.
But in April of last year the pirates were painfully reminded that, despite their excellent organization at sea, they are poorly equipped for fighting on land. They had just seized the French luxury yacht Le Ponant, and were about to make off with the $2 million ransom near the pirate stronghold of Eyl, when suddenly French helicopter gunships came roaring over the plain and elite units opened fire. Six pirates were taken into custody and are currently being held in France -- and at least a small portion of the ransom was recovered by the military.
Afterwards, the pirates asked the Islamists for help. Some pirate gangs now pay al-Shabab units 5 to 10 percent of the ransom in exchange for protection services on land. There`s enough to go around for everyone. Last year alone, Somalia`s swashbucklers took in $30 to $100 million in ransom money.
Other pirate gangs would rather defend their land bases themselves. Starting last July, al-Shabab militiamen reportedly put a group of pirates through a 45-day series of boot camp exercises near the town of Hobyo. The sea raiders received basic infantry training and practiced tactics and communications on land. Informants working for Jane`s Intelligence Review estimate that the pirates paid $1 million for the training package.
The Islamists receive more than just money from the pirates. The pirates also smuggle weapons into the country for them -- and often bring along useful equipment for themselves. During a run last October, for instance, the pirates took in four ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns -- highly effective weapons that, wherever they are, could make life extremely difficult for Western helicopter pilots.
The freighters themselves are practically defenseless against the much better equipped pirates. They can sail full speed ahead or take evasive action, "but every speedboat is faster than we are," says an officer of a German container ship. He adds that the ships of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom have actually created an additional problem. The Americans demand that commercial ships provide information over the radio on their origin, course and destination -- and the pirates hear every word.
An equally compromising situation is created by the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which was introduced in 2004 to prevent collisions by continuously broadcasting detailed information on one`s own ship to all other ships in the same waters. Receivers can be purchased on the open market. German suppliers sell them starting at 360 euros apiece.
Since the beginning of the year, warships have been able to protect vessels that pass through a protected corridor in the Gulf of Aden. But the pirates have immediately reacted to this move. They are increasingly using mother ships to tow their small attack skiffs far out into the Indian Ocean. No navy in the world has enough ships to cover that area.
Nevertheless, last Wednesday Clinton unveiled a four-point plan to stop piracy. All four points concern conducting talks, in other words, only meetings. But she indicated that it may also be possible to "take action" against pirate bases on land.
US Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, who commanded US naval forces in the Middle East until last year, has named two options. One is to "go ashore light," where US Marines would destroy the pirates` boats, fuel and bases. The other option is to "go ashore big" and conduct sustained land operations against the pirates and their clan leaders -- a tactic with incalculable risks, says the vice admiral.
A clever alternative might be what is known as "containment," which has been proposed by the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners. Pirates need ports and they have very few suitable locations in Somalia, mainly Harardhere, Hobyo, Eyl and Boosaaso. A warship stationed off each port could prevent armed boats from sailing. That would be much easier than monitoring an entire ocean.
(Description of Source: Hamburg Spiegel Online in English -- English-language news website funded by the Spiegel group which funds Der Spiegel weekly and the Spiegel television magazine; URL: http://www.spiegel.de/)
A sack filled with $1 million (770,000 euros) in $100 bills weighs just under 15 kilos (33 pounds). Occasionally $3 million in ransom money is paid to Somali pirates for a hijacked freighter and its crew. That`s nearly 45 kilos.
Delivering millions of dollars to the pirates is a hell of a job, says Jack Cloonan, a security expert from New York. "Remember, they`re sitting there and they`re all armed to the teeth," he says. "And you`re sitting there in your rubber raft: `Here`s one for you, and one for you ... `"
Throughout his career, Cloonan has dealt with his fair share of nasty characters. As a FBI special agent, he tracked down Warsaw Pact spies and, in the wake of 9/11, al-Qaida terrorists. But transferring the money to Somalia`s often drug-addled pirates is "an extremely difficult" maneuver, he says. "It would be nice if the Somali pirates would accept a wire transfer -- but they don`t."
Cloonan has quit his government job and joined a booming industry. Shipping companies call on him for help when the pirates off the Horn of Africa have hijacked one of their ships.
He and his team organize negotiations -- and they know all the traps and tricks. They figure out a way to get the ransom money to Africa and ensure that the crew and freighter reach their home port safe and sound. Cloonan has liberated a number of ships over the past few months -- and there`s plenty of potential for growth in his line of work.
Ever since the weather improved in early March, Somalia`s barefoot pirates have seized seven vessels, including Germany`s Hansa Stavanger, a container ship with five German officers and 19 sailors on board.
With their small fiberglass boats, the pirates are making fools of the world`s most powerful countries. No less than four international fleets of high-tech warships are patrolling the waters off Somalia`s coasts, and there are frigates and destroyers from countries like China and Russia that are working independently. All of these ships have cannons or missiles, helicopters and satellite support; some could lay waste to entire cities. But this has done little to deter the pirates, with their bashed-up outboard boats and Kalashnikovs. It`s a fight between David and Goliath -- except in this case, the bad guys are playing the role of David, and the good guys are Goliath.
But now Goliath is taking a harder line. Military officers are frustrated and their governments have had enough of coughing up for boats. Every million-dollar ransom bolsters the pirates. It`s a dilemma: Countries that pay up will end up paying more and more.
The Americans and the French have changed course and started shooting at the pirates. Even the Germans considered freeing the Hansa Stavanger by force. Some of the strategies which experts in Washington, London and Berlin are developing resemble battle plans for a new military campaign -- and that in a war-torn country like Somalia, which has already been the site of a number of military debacles. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says: "We may be dealing with a 17th-century crime, but we need to bring 21st-century assets to bear."
And there`s no time to waste, now that a new threat is emerging. Intelligence agencies have managed to deeply penetrate the pirate clans. They have inside information about the bosses, arms caches, alliances and arrangements. Experts also have reason to believe that the pirates are increasingly working hand-in-hand with Islamists, who are allies of Osama bin Laden`s al-Qaida. It`s a terrifying alliance: The pirates supply money and arms, while the Islamists have troops and the power on land.
But it is also a highly unlikely alliance. Up until recently, the pirates and Islamists have been mortal enemies. When fighters loyal to the radical Council of Islamic Courts seized power in Somalia in 2006, they immediately put the pirates out of business because piracy violates Islamic Sharia law.
Half a year later, an invading army from US-backed neighboring Ethiopia swept aside the Islamists -- and the pirates quickly headed out to sea again in search of new booty.
The Ethiopians have meanwhile largely retreated, but the new government in Mogadishu, which was elected in January, controls only a fraction of the country. The rest is ruled by Islamist groups, like the al-Shabab militias and a new faction called Hizbul Islam (Party of Islam).
The pirates want money and the Islamists want power -- but these interests can overlap at times. In November of last year, conflict erupted once again after the pirates seized the Sirius Star. That wasn`t particularly clever. The supertanker belongs to the Saudis, who are also Muslims, and the Islamists naturally objected to the raid. A few shots were fired.
However, that couldn`t really shatter the alliance and, ironically, one reason for this is that the infidels are making inroads into Somalia`s coastal waters. The enemy from the outside is welding together the old adversaries. The pirates are "mujahideen because they are at war with the Christian countries," says Sheikh Hassan Turki, the leader of Hizbul Islam. And Mukhtar Robow of the al-Shabab militias praises the pirates, saying that they are defending "the coast against Allah`s enemies."
Ever since American snipers shot dead three pirates to rescue the captain of the US-registered freighter Maersk Alabama on Easter Sunday (12 April), the pirates have been calling for revenge -- and they suddenly sound very much like the Islamists. The US is now "our number one enemy," says Jamac Habeb, a pirate from Eyl. "We`re now out to get Americans," says a pirate named Ismail from Harardhere. "And when we have them, we`ll slaughter them."
If the "fragile alliance" between the pirates and the Islamists grows stronger, writes the intelligence journal Jane`s Intelligence Review, this will "increase the threat from pirate groups." According to an analysis by the intelligence experts, the pirates are far better networked than was previously thought.
One example of this can be found in the pirate town of Harardhere, close to where the hijacked Hansa Stavanger was forced to drop anchor. The gang members in this stronghold include men from all the main clans along the coast, allowing the group to move freely everywhere. The Suleyman clan calls the shots in this region, but one of the Harardhere commanders -- whose main profession is selling charcoal -- is a Saleebaan.
The gang maintains two main bases of operations along the coast, and from here it sends raiding units, each one divided into four groups. The planners prepare the hunt -- and this group reportedly also includes Sudanese and Pakistanis. Former fishermen help out with their nautical experience, while young fighters go on board the ships. The fourth group consists of negotiators who haggle over the ransom with adversaries like Jack Cloonan. Dealing with Pirates Inc.
For more lucrative hauls, the Harardhere pirates like to team up with gangs from other towns, primarily with their associates from Kismayo, 800 kilometers (500 miles) farther south. The Kismayo gang reportedly seized the Sirius Star, for instance. All negotiations were then conducted by the men from Harardhere.
It`s a regular "Pirates Inc.," says Cloonan, who describes it as "organized crime" on the high seas. The ship owners and the pirates start out with widely diverging negotiating positions. The gangsters demand $15 million, the shipping company offers $1 million -- and the war of nerves begins.
The pirates often use the ship`s satellite telephone to call the crew`s relatives and threaten to execute the hostages. "We`ve had cases where they have threatened people on the phone, where they`ve certainly fired off guns and told us they`ve executed somebody."
Sometimes the pirates threaten to ram the ship at full speed against the coast. Or they let the sailors go hungry because food supplies have supposedly run out. Or they simply break off all contact for days. "This is where the shipping companies go crazy," says Cloonan.
Once Cloonan and the pirates have agreed on a sum after weeks or months of negotiations, it`s time for the ex-agent to deliver. Initially, he chartered deep-sea tugs in Mombasa to bring the bags of money to the agreed coordinates. When the hijacked ship came into sight, an unarmed man would climb into a rubber dinghy to transfer the ransom money at the side of the vessel. "And then you hope that the pirates do the right thing." These days the bags are often dropped with a parachute from an airplane -- because the pirates even seize the tugboats.
Sometimes Cloonan`s team also has to check on board if the crew is complete and in good health before paying for their release. On one occasion, they knew that a seaman on board was seriously ill. Before handing over the cash, they searched for him -- and found his body in the refrigerator of the hijacked ship. He had jumped to his death from the upper deck.
The pirates are not stupid, and they`re fairly self-assured, says Cloonan. "They know that it`s a successful business model. They know that they can operate in this wide swath of area almost with impunity."
Most groups have established their logistical operations in Garoowe and Gaalkacyo, two towns in the breakaway region of Puntland. This is where many bundles of dollars disappear into the Islamic hawala financial system, which is based on personal contacts.
But in April of last year the pirates were painfully reminded that, despite their excellent organization at sea, they are poorly equipped for fighting on land. They had just seized the French luxury yacht Le Ponant, and were about to make off with the $2 million ransom near the pirate stronghold of Eyl, when suddenly French helicopter gunships came roaring over the plain and elite units opened fire. Six pirates were taken into custody and are currently being held in France -- and at least a small portion of the ransom was recovered by the military.
Afterwards, the pirates asked the Islamists for help. Some pirate gangs now pay al-Shabab units 5 to 10 percent of the ransom in exchange for protection services on land. There`s enough to go around for everyone. Last year alone, Somalia`s swashbucklers took in $30 to $100 million in ransom money.
Other pirate gangs would rather defend their land bases themselves. Starting last July, al-Shabab militiamen reportedly put a group of pirates through a 45-day series of boot camp exercises near the town of Hobyo. The sea raiders received basic infantry training and practiced tactics and communications on land. Informants working for Jane`s Intelligence Review estimate that the pirates paid $1 million for the training package.
The Islamists receive more than just money from the pirates. The pirates also smuggle weapons into the country for them -- and often bring along useful equipment for themselves. During a run last October, for instance, the pirates took in four ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns -- highly effective weapons that, wherever they are, could make life extremely difficult for Western helicopter pilots.
The freighters themselves are practically defenseless against the much better equipped pirates. They can sail full speed ahead or take evasive action, "but every speedboat is faster than we are," says an officer of a German container ship. He adds that the ships of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom have actually created an additional problem. The Americans demand that commercial ships provide information over the radio on their origin, course and destination -- and the pirates hear every word.
An equally compromising situation is created by the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which was introduced in 2004 to prevent collisions by continuously broadcasting detailed information on one`s own ship to all other ships in the same waters. Receivers can be purchased on the open market. German suppliers sell them starting at 360 euros apiece.
Since the beginning of the year, warships have been able to protect vessels that pass through a protected corridor in the Gulf of Aden. But the pirates have immediately reacted to this move. They are increasingly using mother ships to tow their small attack skiffs far out into the Indian Ocean. No navy in the world has enough ships to cover that area.
Nevertheless, last Wednesday Clinton unveiled a four-point plan to stop piracy. All four points concern conducting talks, in other words, only meetings. But she indicated that it may also be possible to "take action" against pirate bases on land.
US Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, who commanded US naval forces in the Middle East until last year, has named two options. One is to "go ashore light," where US Marines would destroy the pirates` boats, fuel and bases. The other option is to "go ashore big" and conduct sustained land operations against the pirates and their clan leaders -- a tactic with incalculable risks, says the vice admiral.
A clever alternative might be what is known as "containment," which has been proposed by the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners. Pirates need ports and they have very few suitable locations in Somalia, mainly Harardhere, Hobyo, Eyl and Boosaaso. A warship stationed off each port could prevent armed boats from sailing. That would be much easier than monitoring an entire ocean.
(Description of Source: Hamburg Spiegel Online in English -- English-language news website funded by the Spiegel group which funds Der Spiegel weekly and the Spiegel television magazine; URL: http://www.spiegel.de/)
Secretary-General, addressing international donors` conference, spells out priorities for international efforts to enhance security in Somalia
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gives a speech during a donor conference to raise funds for Somalia, in Brussels April 23, 2009. Ban urged international donors on Thursday to provide more funds to help Somalia fight piracy and restore order after two decades of anarchy.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon`s remarks to the International Conference in Support of the Somalia Security Institutions and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), in Brussels today, 23 April:
On behalf of the United Nations system, I want to express my deepest thanks to all who have worked to make this Conference a reality ‑‑ the Government of Somalia, the African Union and the European Union.
Many actors are here with one common purpose: securing peace for the people of Somalia. In a larger sense, the issues before us highlight the inter-connected nature of the challenges of our age. Unattended problems rise and reverberate in various corners of the globe. They spill into the seas.
I speak here of lawlessness and insecurity; State collapse; the crisis of refugees and the internally displaced; the economic and ecological crisis; and, of course, piracy. All have an impact beyond borders. All are linked.
After all, piracy is not a water-borne disease. It is a symptom of anarchy and insecurity on the ground. Dealing with it requires an integrated strategy that addresses the fundamental issue of lawlessness in Somalia. That is why we are here ‑‑ to get beyond the headlines and write a new chapter for Somalia`s future.
Despite the obstacles we know well, there is hope in the Horn of Africa. Somalia is at a crossroads. The UN-sponsored Djibouti peace process has produced a broad-based Government. That Government is taking the hard road to peace. It is reaching out to forge national reconciliation, making difficult but necessary concessions, broadening the base of support.
We should give strong credit to the progress the new Government has made in two short months. As a result, the Somali people have the best chance in a generation to end their suffering and move toward a better and more stable future. We must push open this window of opportunity.
Somalia needs support in key areas: first, to establish the Transitional Federal Government`s authority throughout the country; second, to rebuild State institutions; third to address the humanitarian emergency; and to facilitate economic recovery.
This will not happen overnight. Today we take a vital step by helping the new leadership meet the first responsibility of any Government: keeping its people safe and secure. This requires a prudent political strategy. I urge all parties to work with the Government to solidify the consensus for reconciliation. Let us show those Somalis still outside the Djibouti process that the time for peace has come.
At the same time, the Somali people must see the clear dividends of national reconciliation reflected in their communities and in their lives. Our support ‑‑ and this Conference – is, therefore, designed first and foremost to enhance the security of Somalia. It is based on two pillars: strengthening Somalia`s security institutions and supporting AMISOM`s ability to help the country.
First and most critically, the development of Somali security institutions: with the assistance of international partners, the Government has begun the process of building the National Security Force and the Somali Police Service. This is crucial to the future of Somalia. It is also central to providing the safety and security needed for humanitarian workers to continue their lifesaving activities. The Somali Government has presented a specific and credible action plan for the next three months. We should encourage them and help them succeed.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (R) and Somalia`s President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed (L) address a news conference at the end of the International Somali donors conference in Brussels April 23, 2009. International donors have pledged more than $250 million to help Somalia boost security and restore order, a senior European Union official said on the sidelines of a donors conference on Thursday.
Today I call on donors to contribute, through the United Nations Trust Fund, to Government efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Joint Security Committee. I also urge bilateral partners to step forward with support for training and development for Somali security forces. At the same time, the Government must establish solid procedures to ensure that these forces are inclusive, and that they protect civilians and respect human rights and the rule of law.
The only lasting solution for security in Somalia is one that is owned by the Somalis. This process will take time. It will be costly. But above all, it will be an investment ‑‑ a vital investment at a crucial time to nurture a fragile process and secure a long troubled part of the world.
Let me turn to the second pillar of this Conference: strengthening AMISOM. African Union troops in Somalia are serving bravely under very difficult and even dangerous conditions. They are there to help the people of Somalia develop their own security. They come from countries which have themselves suffered conflict. Many soldiers have lost their lives in service.
The United Nations provides logistical assistance. But help is also urgently needed to pay allowances for troops and police, and acquire essential equipment such as tents and armoured vehicles. We must ensure that AMISOM has what it needs to fulfil the mandate authorized by the African Union and the UN Security Council.
The support we are offering today must not, however, come at the cost of humanitarian assistance. Nearly half of the Somali population is now facing a humanitarian emergency or acute food and livelihood crisis. I, therefore, take this opportunity to remind all Member States of the critical funding shortage for the World Food Programme`s (WFP) Emergency Operation, which still requires $168 million through the end of 2009.
In the eyes of some, Somalia may have become synonymous with hopelessness and lawlessness. Yet the same might have been said not long ago about Sierra Leone or Liberia. Change can happen, but not on its own. It takes determined leadership and international partnership. By showing strong, tangible, practical support, the international community can help the new Somali Government advance from a position of strength. By acting together, we can show the people of Somalia that dialogue delivers clear returns in their daily lives.
Our strategy for Somalia is based on a new partnership among the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the donors and the Somalis themselves. Strong coordination is critical. I urge all to work together to ensure that we maximize investment, minimize gaps and avoid duplication of effort. By helping the Government gradually extend its authority, we are taking direct aim at global challenges such as piracy.
The equation is clear: more security on the ground will mean less piracy on the seas. In this connection, I wish to thank Member States who, in cooperation with the Government of Somalia, have provided and continue to provide naval escorts for ships carrying WFP humanitarian food to Somalia.
I look forward to the day when we focus on the longer-term ‑‑ creating livelihoods and rebuilding infrastructure. To get there, we here today must act. The risks of not supporting the new Government are too high and the costs of failure too enormous.
We have a unique opportunity to support leaders who have shown a commitment to building peace and rebuilding the Somali State. By opening the space for security, we open the door to a better life for Somalia`s people. Now is the time. Let us make the investment.
International conference on SomaliaBrussels, April 23, 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (L) and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso address a joint news conference ahead of the International Somali donors conference in Brussels April 23, 2009. Ban urged international donors on Thursday to provide more funds to help Somalia fight piracy and restore order after two decades of anarchy.
"We will not end piracy on the high seas of Somalia unless we bring development to the towns and villages"
José Manuel Durão Barroso
President of the European Commission
I am delighted to welcome you to the European Commission for this most important conference. Important for Somalia; important for the region; and important for the international community as a whole.
The eyes of the media are upon us, not least because of the piracy crisis. The recent acts of piracy – which I condemn unreservedly, on behalf of the European Commission - are a major wake up call to the international community.
But it would be wrong to limit our response simply to the piracy itself: we must remember that it is the symptom, not the cause, of a much deeper problem in Somalia. My message to you today is that we will not end piracy on the high seas of Somalia unless we bring real and sustainable development to the towns and villages of Somalia.
If you open any world newspaper in these days, you could be forgiven for believing that there is no good news at all in Somalia. I applaud the efforts of the Somali Administration to ensure that the government is truly inclusive and representative of the people of Somalia, and I admire the President for taking the government back to Mogadishu. It was great to see the inaugural session of the Parliament just last month in Mogadishu for the first time since 2002. Your Excellency, the determination of your President to take command of the process gives us hope for the future.
So following Security Council Resolution 1863, there are positive developments, and here let me also here pay tribute to the efforts of UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon; to your Special Representative Ould Abdallah, and – if I may – also to Louis Michel and others in the European Union for their unstinting efforts. The European Commission is in fact the single major donor at $85 million, and the European Union as a whole contributes almost half of the total aid.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana (L) talks with Somalia`s President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed (R) during a joint news conference at the end of the International Somali donors conference in Brussels April 23, 2009. International donors have pledged more than $250 million to help Somalia boost security and restore order, a senior European Union official said on the sidelines of a donors conference on Thursday.
Of course, a lot of what has happened is not positive, and it would be wrong to pretend otherwise. Piracy, violence and lawlessness continue to plague the land and of course the seas of Somalia. Those that choose this path must not succeed. They must not stand in the way of the best chance in two decades - to give Somalia a future.
The immediate objective of the conference here today is the full funding of Somalia`s security sector for the next 12 months. This conference will be primarily judged on this – and here, let me assure you, the EU in general and the European Commission in particular, will not be found lacking. We can and must fund security, development, and humanitarian needs. We must have effective Somali security forces, we must have an effective Somali police force. We will support the re-creation of the Somali state and the renovation of its institutions.
But to be very frank with you, the high level participation at this conference makes it evident that we have a deeper purpose in being here. We are here to put Somalia back on track in the longer term, and I fully support this objective. The Somali people, grossly abused, deprived of their fundamental human rights, deserve a better deal.
The presence of the Somali Government here today at senior level is a powerful signal of the transitional government`s intention to take command of this process. Across all Somalia, there must be responsible government, of the people and for the people. An end to warlordism, and an end to piracy, an end to years of profiteering by a self- appointed politico-military caste.
So let today`s conference also begin to respond, in a fundamental way, to the daunting challenges faced by the Somali authorities in bringing back stability and peace to their country. Security is the starting point, but it cannot be the end-point. Pledges made today to meet the needs in the security sector should not overlook the needs for development. The only real and viable solution is to help Somalia from within: by pooling international efforts and supporting the new Government to build security, peace and stability.
Today`s conference must lay the foundations for a brighter future for the people of Somalia. A Somalia where universal human rights are respected in law, and applied throughout the land. A land where sailors profit from fishing and legal trade, not from piracy. A land where both the highways and the high seas are safe. A Somalia which is a strong and responsible regional player in a peaceful Horn of Africa. A democratic and proud Somalia which we look forward to welcoming back as a full member of the international community.
Of course there is a long way to go before we reach these bold objectives, but the path to that destination starts here.
So thank you all for coming today. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, thank you for your tremendous work in uniting with the African Union and the League of Arab States to call this meeting today. I declare this meeting open, and invite you, Sir, to address us with your vision for the future of Somalia.
Thank you.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon`s remarks to the International Conference in Support of the Somalia Security Institutions and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), in Brussels today, 23 April:
On behalf of the United Nations system, I want to express my deepest thanks to all who have worked to make this Conference a reality ‑‑ the Government of Somalia, the African Union and the European Union.
Many actors are here with one common purpose: securing peace for the people of Somalia. In a larger sense, the issues before us highlight the inter-connected nature of the challenges of our age. Unattended problems rise and reverberate in various corners of the globe. They spill into the seas.
I speak here of lawlessness and insecurity; State collapse; the crisis of refugees and the internally displaced; the economic and ecological crisis; and, of course, piracy. All have an impact beyond borders. All are linked.
After all, piracy is not a water-borne disease. It is a symptom of anarchy and insecurity on the ground. Dealing with it requires an integrated strategy that addresses the fundamental issue of lawlessness in Somalia. That is why we are here ‑‑ to get beyond the headlines and write a new chapter for Somalia`s future.
Despite the obstacles we know well, there is hope in the Horn of Africa. Somalia is at a crossroads. The UN-sponsored Djibouti peace process has produced a broad-based Government. That Government is taking the hard road to peace. It is reaching out to forge national reconciliation, making difficult but necessary concessions, broadening the base of support.
We should give strong credit to the progress the new Government has made in two short months. As a result, the Somali people have the best chance in a generation to end their suffering and move toward a better and more stable future. We must push open this window of opportunity.
Somalia needs support in key areas: first, to establish the Transitional Federal Government`s authority throughout the country; second, to rebuild State institutions; third to address the humanitarian emergency; and to facilitate economic recovery.
This will not happen overnight. Today we take a vital step by helping the new leadership meet the first responsibility of any Government: keeping its people safe and secure. This requires a prudent political strategy. I urge all parties to work with the Government to solidify the consensus for reconciliation. Let us show those Somalis still outside the Djibouti process that the time for peace has come.
At the same time, the Somali people must see the clear dividends of national reconciliation reflected in their communities and in their lives. Our support ‑‑ and this Conference – is, therefore, designed first and foremost to enhance the security of Somalia. It is based on two pillars: strengthening Somalia`s security institutions and supporting AMISOM`s ability to help the country.
First and most critically, the development of Somali security institutions: with the assistance of international partners, the Government has begun the process of building the National Security Force and the Somali Police Service. This is crucial to the future of Somalia. It is also central to providing the safety and security needed for humanitarian workers to continue their lifesaving activities. The Somali Government has presented a specific and credible action plan for the next three months. We should encourage them and help them succeed.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (R) and Somalia`s President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed (L) address a news conference at the end of the International Somali donors conference in Brussels April 23, 2009. International donors have pledged more than $250 million to help Somalia boost security and restore order, a senior European Union official said on the sidelines of a donors conference on Thursday.
Today I call on donors to contribute, through the United Nations Trust Fund, to Government efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Joint Security Committee. I also urge bilateral partners to step forward with support for training and development for Somali security forces. At the same time, the Government must establish solid procedures to ensure that these forces are inclusive, and that they protect civilians and respect human rights and the rule of law.
The only lasting solution for security in Somalia is one that is owned by the Somalis. This process will take time. It will be costly. But above all, it will be an investment ‑‑ a vital investment at a crucial time to nurture a fragile process and secure a long troubled part of the world.
Let me turn to the second pillar of this Conference: strengthening AMISOM. African Union troops in Somalia are serving bravely under very difficult and even dangerous conditions. They are there to help the people of Somalia develop their own security. They come from countries which have themselves suffered conflict. Many soldiers have lost their lives in service.
The United Nations provides logistical assistance. But help is also urgently needed to pay allowances for troops and police, and acquire essential equipment such as tents and armoured vehicles. We must ensure that AMISOM has what it needs to fulfil the mandate authorized by the African Union and the UN Security Council.
The support we are offering today must not, however, come at the cost of humanitarian assistance. Nearly half of the Somali population is now facing a humanitarian emergency or acute food and livelihood crisis. I, therefore, take this opportunity to remind all Member States of the critical funding shortage for the World Food Programme`s (WFP) Emergency Operation, which still requires $168 million through the end of 2009.
In the eyes of some, Somalia may have become synonymous with hopelessness and lawlessness. Yet the same might have been said not long ago about Sierra Leone or Liberia. Change can happen, but not on its own. It takes determined leadership and international partnership. By showing strong, tangible, practical support, the international community can help the new Somali Government advance from a position of strength. By acting together, we can show the people of Somalia that dialogue delivers clear returns in their daily lives.
Our strategy for Somalia is based on a new partnership among the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the donors and the Somalis themselves. Strong coordination is critical. I urge all to work together to ensure that we maximize investment, minimize gaps and avoid duplication of effort. By helping the Government gradually extend its authority, we are taking direct aim at global challenges such as piracy.
The equation is clear: more security on the ground will mean less piracy on the seas. In this connection, I wish to thank Member States who, in cooperation with the Government of Somalia, have provided and continue to provide naval escorts for ships carrying WFP humanitarian food to Somalia.
I look forward to the day when we focus on the longer-term ‑‑ creating livelihoods and rebuilding infrastructure. To get there, we here today must act. The risks of not supporting the new Government are too high and the costs of failure too enormous.
We have a unique opportunity to support leaders who have shown a commitment to building peace and rebuilding the Somali State. By opening the space for security, we open the door to a better life for Somalia`s people. Now is the time. Let us make the investment.
International conference on SomaliaBrussels, April 23, 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (L) and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso address a joint news conference ahead of the International Somali donors conference in Brussels April 23, 2009. Ban urged international donors on Thursday to provide more funds to help Somalia fight piracy and restore order after two decades of anarchy.
"We will not end piracy on the high seas of Somalia unless we bring development to the towns and villages"
José Manuel Durão Barroso
President of the European Commission
I am delighted to welcome you to the European Commission for this most important conference. Important for Somalia; important for the region; and important for the international community as a whole.
The eyes of the media are upon us, not least because of the piracy crisis. The recent acts of piracy – which I condemn unreservedly, on behalf of the European Commission - are a major wake up call to the international community.
But it would be wrong to limit our response simply to the piracy itself: we must remember that it is the symptom, not the cause, of a much deeper problem in Somalia. My message to you today is that we will not end piracy on the high seas of Somalia unless we bring real and sustainable development to the towns and villages of Somalia.
If you open any world newspaper in these days, you could be forgiven for believing that there is no good news at all in Somalia. I applaud the efforts of the Somali Administration to ensure that the government is truly inclusive and representative of the people of Somalia, and I admire the President for taking the government back to Mogadishu. It was great to see the inaugural session of the Parliament just last month in Mogadishu for the first time since 2002. Your Excellency, the determination of your President to take command of the process gives us hope for the future.
So following Security Council Resolution 1863, there are positive developments, and here let me also here pay tribute to the efforts of UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon; to your Special Representative Ould Abdallah, and – if I may – also to Louis Michel and others in the European Union for their unstinting efforts. The European Commission is in fact the single major donor at $85 million, and the European Union as a whole contributes almost half of the total aid.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana (L) talks with Somalia`s President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed (R) during a joint news conference at the end of the International Somali donors conference in Brussels April 23, 2009. International donors have pledged more than $250 million to help Somalia boost security and restore order, a senior European Union official said on the sidelines of a donors conference on Thursday.
Of course, a lot of what has happened is not positive, and it would be wrong to pretend otherwise. Piracy, violence and lawlessness continue to plague the land and of course the seas of Somalia. Those that choose this path must not succeed. They must not stand in the way of the best chance in two decades - to give Somalia a future.
The immediate objective of the conference here today is the full funding of Somalia`s security sector for the next 12 months. This conference will be primarily judged on this – and here, let me assure you, the EU in general and the European Commission in particular, will not be found lacking. We can and must fund security, development, and humanitarian needs. We must have effective Somali security forces, we must have an effective Somali police force. We will support the re-creation of the Somali state and the renovation of its institutions.
But to be very frank with you, the high level participation at this conference makes it evident that we have a deeper purpose in being here. We are here to put Somalia back on track in the longer term, and I fully support this objective. The Somali people, grossly abused, deprived of their fundamental human rights, deserve a better deal.
The presence of the Somali Government here today at senior level is a powerful signal of the transitional government`s intention to take command of this process. Across all Somalia, there must be responsible government, of the people and for the people. An end to warlordism, and an end to piracy, an end to years of profiteering by a self- appointed politico-military caste.
So let today`s conference also begin to respond, in a fundamental way, to the daunting challenges faced by the Somali authorities in bringing back stability and peace to their country. Security is the starting point, but it cannot be the end-point. Pledges made today to meet the needs in the security sector should not overlook the needs for development. The only real and viable solution is to help Somalia from within: by pooling international efforts and supporting the new Government to build security, peace and stability.
Today`s conference must lay the foundations for a brighter future for the people of Somalia. A Somalia where universal human rights are respected in law, and applied throughout the land. A land where sailors profit from fishing and legal trade, not from piracy. A land where both the highways and the high seas are safe. A Somalia which is a strong and responsible regional player in a peaceful Horn of Africa. A democratic and proud Somalia which we look forward to welcoming back as a full member of the international community.
Of course there is a long way to go before we reach these bold objectives, but the path to that destination starts here.
So thank you all for coming today. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, thank you for your tremendous work in uniting with the African Union and the League of Arab States to call this meeting today. I declare this meeting open, and invite you, Sir, to address us with your vision for the future of Somalia.
Thank you.
Jaamacada Carabta oo qabaneysa shir ku saabsan dib u dhiska Soomaaliya
Masuul sare oo ka tirsan Jaamacada Carabta ayaa wakaalada wararka ee Al-sharqalawsat u sheegay in dawlada boqortooyada Sucuudi Carabiya ay ugu deeqday dawlada Soomaaliya deeq lacageed oo gaaraysa 18 malyuun oo doolar, iyadoo sidoo kalena ka qabqaadanaysa kaalmadii dhaqaale ee lagu balan qaaday shirkii Doha.
Samiir Xusni madaxa iskaashiga wadamada carabta iyo Africa isla markaana ah masuulka jaamacada carabta u qaabilsan arimaha Soomaaliya ayaa sheegay in dawlada boqortooyada Suucidigu ay keligeed deegdaas lacageed bixinayso.
Masuulkan waxa uu sidoo kale sheegay in taasi ay muujinayso sida jaamcada carabta ay uga go’antahay in ay taageeraan shacabka Soomaaliyeed ee dagaalada ku soo dhexjiray ilaa sanadii 1991-dii.
Samiir Xusni ayaa sidoo kale sheegay in wadamo kale oo ka tirsan jaamcada carabta sida Libya, Aljeeriya, Masar iyo Imaaraatka carabta ay diyaar la yihiin deeq lacageed oo ay ugu yaboohaan dawlada Soomaaliya.
Wakiilka Jaamacada carabta ee dalka Soomaaliya Samiir Xusni oo ka qabgelayay shirkii deeqda lacageed loogu ururinayay dalka Soomaaliya ee lagu soo gebagebeeyey magaalada Brussels ee dalka Biljam ayaa ku tilmaamay shirkaas mid muhimad u leh shacabka Soomaaliyeed iyo dawlada cusub oo ay beesha caalamku u aragto in ay tahay mid isbedel kasamayn karta gudaha Soomaaliya.
Samiir Xusni waxa uu sidoo kale ka hadlay xiriiro ay jaamacada carabtu la samaynayso QM, midawga Yurub iyo midawga Africa sidii loo qaban lahaa shir dib loogu dhisamayo dalka Soomaaliya oo ay jaamcada carabtu qabanqaabinayso, iyadoo shirkaasina uu ka dhacayo xarunta jaamcada ee magaalada Qaahira.
Shirkaas ayaa la filayaa in la qabto sanadkan gudihiisa iyadoo ay gacan wayn ka gaysanayaan Bankiga Islaamka iyo ururka isutaga islaamka.
Masuulka jaamacada carabta u qaabilsan dalka Soomaaliya Samiir Xusni ayaa ka hadlay halka ay ku danbayn doonto deeqda lacageed ee lagu ururiyay shirkii lagu soo gebagebeeyey magaalada Brussels ee dalka Biljam.
Samiir Xusni ayaa sheegay in ay khaladtahay in la sheego in deeqdaas lacageed ee gaaraysa $250 malyuun gacanta laga saari doono DKMG ah ee Soomaaliya.
Waxa uu sheegay in deeqdaas lacageed loo gudbin doono QM halkaas oo ay iyadu ay ku bixin doonto ciidamada AMISOM ee nabad ilaalinta u jooga magaalada Muqdisho iyo ciidamada DKMG ah ee Soomaaliya.
Dhinaca kale madaxa ciidamada nabad ilaalinta u jooga magaalada Muqdisho Jeneral Francis Ocilla, ayaa sheegay in ciidamada nabad ilaalinta ee ku sugan Muqdisho oo tiradoodu gaarayso 4,000 ee askari ay sii wadi doonaan hawsha ay joogaan magaalada Muqdisho.
Madaxa ciidamada nabad ilaalinta ee magaalada Muqdisho waxa uu sidoo kale sheegay in ciidamadu aanay si deg deg ah uga bixin doonin dalka Soomaaliya isla markaan ay gacan siinayaa dawlada uu madaxwaynaha ka yahay Shiikh Shariif Shiikh Axmed.
Hadalka masuulkan ka tirsan ciidamada AMISOM ee magaalada Muqdisho ayaa imanaya iyadoo hogaamiyaha mucaaradka Soomaaliya Shiikh Xassan Daahir Aweys uu ku baaqay in ciidamada Africa ay ka baxaan dalka Soomaaliya.
Shiikh Xassan Daahir Aweys oo mudo labo sano ah dalka diba uga maqnaa ayaa shalay dadka reer Muqdisho meel fagaare ah kula hadlay.
Jaamacada carabta ayaa dhiniceeda soo dhowaysay dib ugu noqoshada Shiikh Xassan Daahir Aweys ee magaalada Muqdisho, waxayna ugu baaqday in uu ka qabqaato dib u dhiska dalka Soomaaliya.
Shiikh Xassan Daahir Aweys oo ahaa madaxii golaha Shuurada ee midawgii maxkamada islaamka ayaa dalka iska baxay dhamaadkii sanadii 2006-dii markii ciidamadii Ethiopia ee gacanta siinayay DKMG ah ee Soomaaliya ay gudaha dalka Soomaaliya soo galeen.
Friday, 24 April 2009
Monday, 20 April 2009
Noocyada Iyo Micnaha Erayga Qabyaalad
Marka qabyaalad la soo qaado waxa Soomaalida badankeeda qalbigooda ku soo dhacaya “qabiil.” Haddaba su’aasha jawaabta u baahani waxa weeye : Maxay kala yihiin qabiilka iyo qabyaaladdu?” Malaha haddii xarafka “Qa” ay ka wada kacaan waa isku mid. “Oo haddana kuye “Badbaado iyo baa’ba ba” xaraf bay ka wada kacaane side wax yihiin? QabiilkaQabyaaladda iyo qabiilku waa laba wax oo kala gaar ah. Qabiilku waa sumad ama astaan cid lagu garto. Tusaale ahaan: qof kaasi waar reer hebel ama waa reer Bosaso ama waa reer Muqdisho iwm ahi waa sumad la isku tilmaansado. Weliba sumadda qabiilku wey ka faa’iido badan tahay mararka qaar sumadda degaanka(gobolka, xibsiga, degmada iwm ah.) Waayo magaca qabiilku waa ciwaan aan qofka ka hadhin meel kasta oo uu tago.Haddii adiga oo London jooga aad qof tuulo u dhaw Hargeysa jooga lacag u dirayso, marka qofka seddexdiisa magac la qoro haddii la raaciyo “waar eer Hargeysa,” taasi waa hubaal inaan lacagtaasi sahal ugu tegaynin qof kaas. Waxa kale oo dhici karta in qof kaasi magaaladii lagu ogaaba ka guuro, taasina waxay meesha ka saaraysaa sumaddii degaanka ee qofka lagu asteeyey. Laakiin haddii la raaciyo qofka magaciisa sumadda qabiilka “waar reer hebel” waxa la sheegay ciwaan si sahal ah qof kaas lacagta u gaadhsiinaya. Waayo waxa magacii lagu ladhay ciwaan qofka meel kasta oo uu aado aan ka hadhaynin. Markaa magaca qabiilku waa ciwaan qofka la guur-guura oo hadba meesha qofku aado u raaca. Sumaddaa faa’iidadeeda Quraanka ayaa inoo qeexay inay tahay wax la isku garto oo keliya, inay taasi dhab tahayna waxa og oo si cad u soo taabtay shirkadaha xawaaladaha. Dad badan oo Soomaali ahina wey ka markhaati furayaan. Maskaxda ku hay waxa keliya ee la sharxayaa waa waxa u dhexeeya qabiilka iyo qabyaaladda. QabyaaladdaWaa maxay qabyaaladdu? Jawaabta su’aashan waxa dhici karta in siyaabo kala duwan loo arko. Qabyaaladdu ma qabiil baa? Ma marka qabiil wax lagu dulmiyo oo keliya baa qabyaalad ah? Mise siyaabo badan oo wax loo dulmiyo ayaa qabyaalad ah? Adduunyada dadka ku nooli siyaabo kala duwan bay wax u qabyaaladeeyaan. Noocyada qabyaaladda ee dunida ka jiraa way faro badan yihiin, waxaynu se tusaale u soo qaadan karnaa: Qabyaaladda midabka, ta diimaha, ta qabiilka, ta gobolaysiga iyo ta xisbiyada. Dad badan baa laga yaabaa inay ka xanaaqaan markay arkaan gobolaysigii iyo xisbiyadii oo qabyaaladda ka mid ah. Waa hubaal in qofka Soomaaliga ahi isweydiinayo “Waar ninku miyuu waashay, ma meelihii aannu rabnay inaanu qabyaaladda uga guurro ayuu qabyaalad ku sheegay?” Waa gar in qofka ku jaahwareeray qabyaaladda reernimada ah uu miciin bido siyaabo kale. Micno weyn malaha inaad meel ka guurto oo meel kale u guurto, waxa se micno leh farqiga u dhexeeya faa’iido ahaan halka laga tegay iyo halka loo bedeshay. Ha u qaadan inaan caayayo xisbiyeysiga, degaamaysiga iwm ah oo aan ujeedo in qabiilka lagu fara-adaygo, maya, xaasha taas uma jeedo qoraalkayga nuxurkiisuna kaas maaha. Bal se waxaan doonayaa inaan isku dayo inaan siyaabaha la isku qabyaaladeeyo wax ka iftiimiyo. Haddaan qiso yar oo dhacday oo gobolaysiga ku saabsan tusaale u soo qaadanno. Beri baa waxa socday ciyaarihii gobolada, maalin baa waxa ciyaartii iskaga hor yimid laba gobol oo ay u kala safan yihiin laba wiil oo walaalo ahi. Ciyaartii baa markay muddo socotay wax isku xanaaqay labadii kooxood oo gacanta isula tegay. Labadii wiil ee walaalaha ahaa mid walba waxa gaadhay dhaawac. Gobolka loo martida yahay waxa deggan qoyska wiilasha dhalay, odaygii wiilasha dhalay ayaa loo keenay labadiisii wiil oo dhaawac ah, oo weliba aan midna mid la hadlaynin cadhada ay isu qabaan darteed. Odayga waxa guriga u sii joogtay gabadh yar oo uu dhalay oo ay carruur yaryar oo isku reer ahi intay isugu tageen la dakhray. Odaygii waxa ka soo hadhay “Waar qabyaalad “reer” baa cid kaa dili mooye, qabyaalad “gobol” baa carruurta kaa laynba miyaan meesha soo dhigtay.” Tusaale 2 : Laba nin baa jago isku qabsaday, ka dibna dagaal bay faraha isula tageen, halkaana waxa ka dhashay dagaal safeyn ah oo nin walba reerkii uu ka dhashay baa u soo gurmaday, hubka dhaqanka ee ulaha, bakooradaha iyo ableyda ayaa la isu adeegsaday. Dhimasho iyo dhaawacba waa yimid. Qofkasta oo dhacdadaa maqlaa wuxuu odhanayaa “meeshaa qabyaalad baa ka dhacay?’ Waa run biyo kama dhibcaan ah.Tusaale 3: Haddii taageerayaal labo xisbi ku kulmaan fagaare laga khudbadaynayo, ka dibna laba taageere inta afku ka xumaado ay gacanta isu qaadaan, halkaana taageerayaashii labada dhinac dagaal foodda isku daraan oo khasaare dhinac walba ahi dhaco. Dadka halkaa ku dhinta ama ku dhaawacma waa xaqiiq inay hiil ku dhinteen. Haddaba qofkii hiilka dhulka ku dhintay iyo qofka hiilka xisbiga u dhintay ma aakhiro ayey xisaabtoodu kala duwan tahay? Maxaa se hiil kaga duwan yahay hiil, mar haddii mid waliba dhimasho iyo dhaawac keeni karo? Anigu waxaan odhan lahaa hiilka qabiilka iyo hiilka xisbigu waxay la mid yihiin birtii marna “toorey”la yidhi marna “abley” loogu yeedhay.Tusaale 4: Waagii hore dhulkeenna waxa ka jiri jiray labo kooxood oo waddaaddo ah (Saalixiya iyo Qaadiriya), waxaana ka dhexeeyey xifaaltan. Dood, muran iyo marar la is faro-saaraba arrintu wey ka gaadhay Qaadiriya iyo Saalixiya. Sida aan taariikhda ku hayo waqti ka mid ah xilligii gumaysiga Ingiriiska ayaa Qaadiriya iyo Saalixiyi Burco isu gacan qaadeen, malaha dhaawacyo aan hore uga dhex dhici jirin baa ka dhex dhacay. Sida aan taariikhda ku hayo Xaaji Muuse Igarre ayaa u yeedhay labadii nin ee madaxda ka ahaa labada dhinac. Wuxuu ku yidhi: Waar yaadheheen maxaa maalin walba dadkan walaalaha ah isaga horkeenaysaan? Malaha xaajigu wuxuu la yaabay laba nin oo walaalo ah oo aabbo wada dhalay oo dhiiggu kaga daadanayo u kala hiilinta Saalixiya iyo Qaadiriya. Ogow arrintu qabiil meelna raad kagama laha, maxaa kuu caddeynaya? Labadii wadaad ee ka madaxda ahaa markaa Qaadiriya iyo Saalixiya waxaan filayaa in dadka taariikhda yaqaan ama xilligaa joogay garanayaan, haddaan hoos ugu daadego midkoodna qabiillada Isaaqa ee Burco dega kama soo jeedin. Taasina waxay kuu muujinaysaa sida arrinta Qaadiriya iyo Saalixiyi uga xalayd (fogeyd) qabiil. Qaadiriya iyo Saalixiya uma soo qaadan inaan dhalliilo culimadeenna sharafta leh. Waa iga caariye inaan guud ahaan iyo gaar ahaanba culimada afkayga iyo qalinkayga toona wax kaga sheego. Waxa se keliya ee aan ujeedaa inaan sharxo midabyada qabyaaladdu leedahay.Dadka gobolaysiga iyo xisbiyada wax fiican u haystaa waxay ka fekeraan inta badan dhanka wanaagsan, ee dhanaca xun xisaabta kuma daraan. Fikirka dadkaasi qabaan waa mid wanaagsan. Laakiin goorma ayaa hiilka noocaas ah guul lagu gaadhi karaa? Marka hiilka gobolaysiga, degaan-degaanka, reer-reerka, xisbi-xisbiga ama bahbahda lagu saleeyo hirgelinta caddaaladda iyo xaqa waa guul, waana sax iyo sida loo baahan yahay. Waxa doodda u baahani waxa weeye in laga hadlo sida loo ogaan karo nidaam weliba khasaaraha uu leeyahay iyo sida loo khafiifin karo dhibaatadiisa.Waa la odhan karaa “qabyaaladda gobolaysigu way ka dhib yar tahay ta reer-reerka” waana lagu doodi karaa, laakiin lama odhan karo qabyaaladda (dulmiga) gobolaysiga ama kooxaysigu waa xalaal. Samaantuna waa samaan jidkii la doono ha lagu hirgeliyo’e.Haddaba qabyaalad micnaheedu waa hiil, hiilna waa dood ama ficil iska soo hor-jeedda oo ay sameeyaan tiro labo qof ka badan. Waxaana la odhan karaa hiilka dulmiga ahi waa cudur aanay keenin bakteeriya, fayras iyo noole-yaasha kale ee bukto-keenka ah midna. Waa se qalbi-qallayl iyo damiirka oo ka caydhooba hodantinnimada dhabta ah ee quluubta deeqda iyo garashada saxa ah.Markaa waxaynu odhan karnaa qabyaaladdu waa dulmi, ciddii gashaana waa danbiile. Sidaa darteed waa xumaan ka mid ah kuwa Illaahay xarrimay, qabiilkuna waa astaan ka mid ah kuwa Illaahay xalaaleeyey. Farqiga u dhexeeya qabiilka iyo qabyaaladdu waa kaas.Nuxurka qoraalkaMuhimadda qoraalkani waa in qabiilka, degaamaysiga, kooxaysiga, xibiyeysiga iyo wixii la mid ah loo adeegsado sida saxa ah ee faa’iidadu ku jirto.
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Aayaha danbe ee dhalinyarada qurbha kudhalatay?
Tan iyo markii ay burburtay dowladii dhexe soomlia waxaa umadii soomalied kudhacday burbur aad ubaaxad wayn dhinacwalba. sidaasdaraadeed umadii waa ay kalayaacday wxanay no qotay inbajaac ujarmaad nin walba waxa uu ukacay meeshii u islahaa ku baadbaadso naftaadasidaas owgeed dad aad ubadan oo somalied ayaa uqaxay wadamada shiyaye sida wadamada qaarada urub iyo qaarada America hadaba dadkaas uqaxay qurbaha ayaakunool hada 17sano kabacdi burburkii walow ay umada soomlied kusii qulqulaayeen sanadba sanadka kadabeeye hadana wali lamahayo cidkasoonoqota dadkaasi ookusoonoqota dalkiiho waayo dalkii wali dhibbaakataagan hadaba aan idiingaleesheekada gunteeda wxa kudhashay dhalinyarasoomalied dalka qurbha gaarahan qaarada europe iyo america dhalinyarada qurbha kudhalatay wxaalasoo dersay dhibaata aad uwayn waxaa meesha kabaxay dhaqankii soomaleid wxakaloo meesha kabaxday diintii somalied maxaayeelay tobanaalkun oo ubad soomaleied ayaamaaanta farhakabxay oo lagaalaysiiyaay
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Shariif Axmed oo Muqdisho dib ugu soo noqday
adaxweynaha Dowlada Midnimo Qaran ee Soomaaliya ayaa maanta dib ugu soo noqday magaalada Muqdisho ee caasimada dalka Soomaaliya, halkaasi oo ay ku soo dhaweeyeen madaxda dowlada ee Xamar ku sugan.
Shiikh Shariif Axmed ayaa dib uga soo noqday safarkii uu ku tagay magaalada Doxa ee Qatar, halkaasi oo uu ka dhacayey shirweynihii Jaamacada Carabta.
Shariif Axmed Madaxweynaha Soomaaliya ayaa waxaa Airporka Muqdisho kusoo dhaweeyey Ra’iisul Wasaaraha Soomaaliya Cumar Cabdirashiid, Guddoomiyaha Baarlamaanka, Wasiir iyo Xildhibaano badan.
Madaxweynaha iyo Wafdigiisa ayaa la geeyey Xarunta Villa Soomaaliya, halkaasi oo uu Shiikh Shariif Axmed warbixin kaga dhageystay Ra’iisul Wasaaraha Soomaaliya oo ka waramay xaalada uu dalka ku sugan yahay.
Learning and skills
Learning and skills is very important for us if we want to learn education or an thor things, we must know how to learn. for example if you want to learning language it is need to you to learn it is skills such as reading, writing, and speaking so but if you don’t know any skills and you want to learn the language actually you will be lose you ambition. Inaddtion
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