Globe and Mail: Baird, Clinton oppose Somalia intervention
Canada and the United States oppose military intervention in Somalia despite evidence the Islamic militant group al-Shabab is blocking famine relief in parts of the drought-ravaged nation that are under its control.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emerged from their first bilateral meeting on Thursday united in their approach to ending the humanitarian disaster in Somalia...
“At this time, we are not contemplating military action” in Somalia, Mr. Baird said.
If they are strategizing military intervention you can be sure it won't be for humanitarian purposes, though they would probably use that as the pretext in the same manner as Operation Restore Hope before it. However, the problem this time is that those looting and diverting food aid are primarily the very forces that Washington and the rest of 'the international community' are trying to prop up in Mogadishu.
AHN:
At least seven people have been killed and dozens more injured as starving refugees and government soldiers looted food aid at a Somali camp for those fleeing drought conditions in the interior of their country,
clearpxl
The Badbado camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), recently established in Mogadishu by the transitional federal government, was the scene of the bloody incident, according to Deqo Hussein, who noted that at least two trucks were driven by Somali soldiers to loot the supplies.
Hussein said the firefight broke out after other government forces tried to stop the looters from taking the loaded trucks.
“For three days, the WFP (World Food Program) chartered trucks loading aid food had been at the Badbado IDPs camp; because of security concerns, the aid food distribution was delayed for days” she said.
“Early Friday morning, the drought committee there started to distribute the aid food, but the situation got worse after some soldiers drove several trucks to loot,” she explained.
Minutes after the incident, more government forces were deployed to stop the looting. Police and military officers declined to give further details about the looting, but said an investigation is underway.
Reuters:
Government troops fired shots and fought amongst themselves as they loaded wheelbarrows and minibuses with emergency food provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) at the Badbaado camp on the outskirts of the city, the witnesses said, forcing hundreds of displaced Somalis to flee the camp.
Some Mogadishu residents also escaped with food on their shoulders.
"(Government forces) looted all the trucks. I'm lucky that my family is safe. I do not know where I'm heading to. I'm running for my life," Aliyow Hussein, a 40-year-old father of three, told Reuters on a street outside the camp.
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Sacdia Kassim, a Somali aid worker working for a local charity in partnership with the WFP, told Reuters looting was becoming a common occurrence in Mogadishu.
"We often witness government forces and residents looting food for displaced people," Kassim said.
"We knew those trucks of food would be looted one day. They were mouth-watering for the government militia. Unfortunately, I saw fleeing IDPs and others running away with the aid food on my way to the camp," she added.
The WFP, one of several agencies working to bring aid to Somalis struck by the worst drought in decades, confirmed an incident at the makeshift Badbaado camp, home to nearly 30,000 refugees.
WFP spokesman David Orr told Reuters food distribution at Badbaado had begun some time after at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) and carried on smoothly for about two hours.
"By all accounts, it got out of hand. It got a bit chaotic and looting of the food started."
"It seems that all the remainder was lost," he said, adding there had been 290 tonnes of maize and oil available for distribution.
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Government troops and residents generally sell the aid to local markets for cash. Many displaced Somalis feel vulnerable in a city which is not their own or where they have no strong clan links, therefore choosing to flee the camp when fighting breaks out.
"All Somalis are hungry. What else would you do if you saw food being looted? You carry what you can to survive," 30-year-old Mogadishu resident Hashim Ibrahim, told Reuters as he rushed outside the camp with a wheelbarrow of rations.
"Government forces started the game and we pop in where there is unexpected chance. I will sell half of this food to get some cash. It is not a surprise."
Shabelle Media:
After some Somali soldiers clashed themselves over aid food looting in Mogadishu on Friday, death toll rose to 11 people, reports said.-- -- --
Source said that at least 20 people mainly drought displaced people at Badbado IDPs camp in Mogadishu have been wounded.
Somali prime minister, Dr. Mohamed Ali has visited to Badbado IDPs camp to witness what had happened there.
Mr. Ali said that the soldiers who have been involved in the looting of aid food will be harshly punished, adding that they had established an investigative committee which will be tracking the perpetrators.
Buffalo News: Return 'home' surreal after Somalia sojourn
Less than two months ago, he was prime minister of Somalia. He battled terrorists, pirates and warlords. He addressed dignitaries from the United Nations.-- -- --
Now, Mohamed A. Mohamed is back at his old job at the state Department of Transportation downtown, back to his little cubicle with a window overlooking Swan Street.
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Behind the scenes there were tensions between the Somali president and the speaker of parliament.
The two adversaries were under pressure to get along or face losing financial support from the international community, so they struck a deal. Part of the pact was that Mohamed would go.
...
While Mohamed agreed to bow out, rather than remain part of the problem, he had a condition of his own: His deputy from Amherst would succeed him.
The new prime minister, Abdiweli M. Ali, is an economics professor at Niagara University. Mohamed trusts him. The two shared many a coffee together at Tim Hortons in Amherst and Grand Island talking about Somalia in theory.
Now, they talk about the reality by phone.
"I've known him for a long time," Mohamed said.
Shabelle Media: Al shabaab deserts Mogadishu
The Al shabaab movement, which controls much of southern and central Somalia, has deserted many parts of Mogadishu, the capital of war ravaged horn of African nation.
The withdrawal comes as heavy fighting between Somali government forces allied with AU troops and moderate Sufi group of Ahlu Sunna Waljama ASWJ from one side and Al shabaab on the other side rocked Mogadishu on Friday night, according to witnesses.
Most of the battles, which were launched by Al shabaab fighters, took place in the districts of Hodan, Howlwadag, Wardhigley, Daynile and parts of northern Mogadishu.
At least ten people have been killed and dozens more injured during overnight’s battles, according to sources who talked to Shabelle Media Network.
Al shabaab apparently encountered heavy losses in Mogadishu armed confrontations and that has precipitated to withdraw from seaside Mogadishu.
Reports say that the group’s fighters fled from Bakaara Market, Daynile district and many key positions in the capital following Friday night battles.
Shabelle Media: Al shabaab admits its withdrawal from Mogadishu
The spokesman of Al shabaab movement Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage on Saturday admitted that their fighters have abandoned Mogadishu, the capital of conflict ridden Somalia.
Speaking to the local media, Rage said they made tactical move to hit and break the backbone of AMISOM and Somali government forces.
He accused the United States and France of backing and helping AU forces in Mogadishu battles that prompted their failure.
The spokesman of the Al shabaab reiterated they will never neglect the Somali people in the capital.
He threatened they will launch heavy offensives on Somali and AMISOM forces in the hours to comes and recapture the areas they have retreated.
NYT:
Mogadishu residents said that emissaries of various warlords were beginning to identify bases in the neighborhoods that the Shabab had just vacated, which could spell another problem for the troubled government.
Reuters:
A Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the militants’ withdrawal had caught the Somali government and peacekeepers off-guard.
New Vision: Somalia asks Uganda for more troops
SOMALIA leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has asked President Yoweri Museveni to allow the UPDF to pursue the al-Shaaab militants beyond Mogadishu.
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A security source, on condition of anonymity, said: “After al-Shabaab fled from Mogadishu, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) do not want to see a security vacuum in the capital, so government leaders made clear the importance of more troops at this time.”
Foreign affairs state minister Henry Okello Oryem said the two leaders yesterday held discussions on the AMISOM troops currently serving in Mogadishu.
According to Oryem, Sheikh Sharif hailed President Museveni for the role in pacifying Somalia.
The meeting took place at Museveni’s country ranch at Kisozi, Gomba district.
Oryem added that the two presidents discussed the steps to take after al-Shabaab have vacated their bases in Mogadishu.
The steps included the possibility of pursuing the rebels beyond Mogadishu.
However, the task of pursuing al-Shabaab beyond Mogadishu and consolidating the gains would require bolstering the numbers of troops in Somalia.
UPDF commander of land forces Gen. Katumba Wamala on Sunday said: “It is time for countries that promised us troops to come in and support the mission. We need more troops and other forms of assistance to pacify the whole of Somalia.”
According to Oryem, pursuing al-Shabaab would require the approval of the UN Security Council to extend the AMISOM mandate, which presently limits the troops to Mogadishu.
It would also mean changing the mandate from peacekeeping because it would be a war situation.
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Somali media yesterday reported that Sheikh Sharif wants Uganda to send an additional 3,000 troops into Somalia to bolster the precarious peace in Mogadishu.
According to Oryem, Museveni said there was need for the transitional government to take charge of public places in Mogadishu such as markets, hospitals and schools.
Somalia Report:
At least two Transitional Federal Government (TFG) soldiers died and two others were injured as TFG and African Union peacekeeping (AMISOM) troops fought against al-Shabaab militants in Yaaqshid district of Mogadishu on Sunday, witness said.
The conformation erupted after the al-Shabaab militia launched an attack on TFG and AMISOM bases in Baar-Ayaan junction, Yaqshiid police station, Hotel Towfik and a former German technical college, which TFG seized on Sunday.
"Al-Shabaab attacked TFG and AMISOM bases using heavy gunfire. They killed two TFG soldiers and took the body of one soldier," said a Yaaqshid resident on the condition of anonymity. "The insurgents did not desert from the capital. They are in every house in Yaaqshid and Gubta districts".
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"Some elements from al-Shabaab are still hiding themselves in the houses, but we understand all their tactics," [deputy Commander of Somali National Forces, Abdikarin Yusuf Dhego Badan] said. "They wanted us to think they vacated from the capital, but we know they have left fighters behind to launch attacks."
"We will reach all their bases, but carefully, because they left every village 30 or 40 fighters to fulfill their plan," he added.
Whether H.S.M.'s retreat from most districts in Mogadishu is a tactical move in the face of increasing heavily-armed foreign fighters or on account of strategic defeats, differing agendae and/or logistical limits, the net effect now is that Mogadishu is almost entirely under the control of foreign forces hellbent on propping up an unpopular & incompetent puppet govt. Don't expect things to stabilize any time soon.
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AP:
Somalis with new uniforms and guns they say were bought by Kenya's government are supposed to be guarding the Somali-Kenya border against al-Qaida-linked militants. But many don't get paid, and some sell their weapons or prey on refugees fleeing famine.-- -- --
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Aid groups operating around the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya say many refugees have been attacked by gunmen, some of whom may have come from the so-called Jubaland militia that guards the Somali-Kenya border.
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"About 60 percent of us get paid," said Mohamed, who was guarding the border on a recent day as a convoy of Kenyan government vehicles thundered past, escorting a local militia leader in a vehicle flying the blue-and-white Somali flag.
"The rest must share, or go without," he said.
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In recent months, the Kenyan army has begun trying to tackle some of the problems of the border militia, said a Kenya-based security official. This includes keeping a tight control on ammunition, screening applicants and tracking down deserters, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
But despite the recent efforts, militia members said they did not know who was paying them, how much or how often. They said wages were irregular and there was little tracking of weapons or ammunition.
"Sometimes we get paid and sometimes not," said Said Dahir, a 23-year-old militiaman. "We only get rice for food, so sometimes we go to the refugee camps (to eat) and come back."
Six deserters interviewed by AP said they left because they were not paid and food was scarce. Commanders pocketed most wages and only paid men from their clan, said the men, whose last names were withheld to protect them from retribution.
The deserters said rifles were changing hands for less than $100, a dramatic fall from the $230 they commanded just six months ago. Some attacks on refugees were carried out by fellow deserters and others were by bandits who bought the weapons, they said.
Ali, who said he deserted after two months, described a commander who was compiling a list of men who had deserted with their guns. The list was very long, he said.
But most deserters were not thieves, he added. They just wanted food and their guns were their only possession of value.
Abdi, a tall, thin 25-year-old, said he had received no pay and little food when he belonged to the guard force.
It had taken him 10 days to find someone to buy his gun because the market was so flooded with weapons. After he finally sold it, he said he used half the money to buy a bus ticket to a refugee camp.
But on the way, gunmen stopped the bus and robbed him of the rest.
ICRC:
In close cooperation with the Somali Red Crescent, the ICRC is expanding services in existing health-care facilities and outpatient therapeutic feeding centres. Ten new centres will be opened in Bakool, Gedo and the Afgoye corridor. Additional mobile teams will visit people in the most affected areas to offer nutritional assistance to severely malnourished children. In addition, the ICRC is distributing high-energy biscuits to breast-feeding and pregnant women, who are vulnerable to malnutrition. A new feeding programme supplementing the regular therapeutic feeding is being launched for moderately malnourished children and breast-feeding and pregnant women. Some 49,000 malnourished children and 24,000 women will benefit from the supplementary and the therapeutic feeding programmes.-- -- --
This week, the ICRC completed a first round of food distributions that covers the needs of 162,000 people in central and southern Somalia for the coming month.
Besides this emergency response, the ICRC is also providing sustainable aid that will ultimately enable people to meet their needs on their own.
Most farmers in Somalia depend on rainfall to water their crops. Irrigation is possible only along the rivers, and modern agricultural techniques are not widely known. For many years, the ICRC has been striving to help Somali agriculture to stand on its own feet again. Last year, an estimated 23,000 metric tonnes of grain was produced in Somalia with ICRC support – an amount that corresponds to 5.2 per cent of the country's current shortfall in grain production. Although that is a huge achievement, the ICRC continues to emphasize long-term development. Our priority is to enable the Somali farmer to earn a living without outside help.
FEWS.net/FSNAU: Famine thresholds surpassed in three new areas of southern Somalia
New evidence indicates that both the prevalence of acute malnutrition and rates of crude mortality have surpassed famine thresholds in the agropastoral areas of Balcad and Cadale districts of Middle Shabellei, the Afgoye corridor IDP settlement, and the Mogadishu IDP community. Food access indicators in these areas surpassed the famine threshold earlier this year. As a result, FSNAU and FEWS NET have now classified these areas as IPC Phase 5 – Famine. These three areas join the Bakool agropastoral livelihood zone and the Lower Shabelle region, where famine was declared on July 20th. ... famine is expected to spread across all regions of the south in the coming four to six weeks and is likely to persist until at least December 2011.-- -- --
From a Red Emperor Resources Puntland Drilling Update
Red Emperor Resources NL is pleased to announce that its joint venture partner and Puntland PSA operator, Africa Oil Corp is currently in final preparations to commence a two well drilling campaign in the Dharoor Valley Block, with the first well planned to spud in the fourth quarter of 2011. Drilling locations have been selected over two robust prospects each targeting gross best estimate oil in place of circa 900 million barrels. Contracts for a drilling rig and third party services are in advanced stages of negotiations with contract execution scheduled for early August.
The Puntland Government and Dharoor Valley communities are fully supportive of the drilling project and have ensured they will do all to allow the project to move forward safely and expeditiously.
Specific milestone target dates have been adjusted by the Puntland Government allowing the joint venture to move the drilling start-up to the fourth quarter of 2011. In addition, partial relinquishments in both the Dharoor Valley and Nugaal Valley agreements have been finalized and approved.
As previously announced, Africa Oil has entered into a letter of intent for the creation of a new Puntland focused oil exploration company to be named Horn Petroleum Corp. (“Horn Petroleum”). Horn Petroleum will be created as a result of the sale of Africa Oil’s subsidiaries that hold its oil and gas properties in Puntland, Somalia.
On 2 August 2011 Horn Petroleum completed a US$41 million capital raising, with assistance from Africa Oil. These proceeds will be used to fund Horn Petroleum’s share of costs associated with the drilling of two exploratory wells in the Dharoor Valley Block. Africa Oil subscribed for US$10 million of the private placement and will have an approximately 50% interest in Horn Petroleum when the transaction completes. It will also provide certain management and technical services under a service contract.
The Puntland Government has also given its approval for the formation of Horn Petroleum and the impending transaction with Africa Oil.
Range Resources Ltd: Horn Petroleum to Commence Drilling Program in Puntland
Range announced that its Puntland Joint Venture partner and operator, Africa Oil, through its newly created company Horn Petroleum is currently in final preparations to commence the historic and highly prospective two well drilling campaign in the Dharoor Valley Block in Puntland, with the first well scheduled to spud early in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The drilling locations have been selected over two robust prospects and each well is targeting gross best estimate prospective resources of 300 million barrels and 375 million barrels recoverable for the two prospects (with net attributable prospective resources to Range of 60 million barrels and 75 million barrels respectively).
From Africa Oil Corp's press release:
The Company and Denovo Capital Corp. ("Denovo") have entered into a letter of intent dated May 11, 2011 for the creation of a new Puntland focused oil exploration company to be named Horn Petroleum Corp. ("Horn Petroleum"). Horn Petroleum will be created as a result of the sale, to Denovo, of the subsidiaries of the Company that hold its oil and gas properties in Puntland Somalia. Certain management and technical services are expected to be provided to Horn Petroleum by the Company under a service contract.
On August 2, 2011 Horn Petroleum completed a $40.98 million private placement financing, with assistance from Africa Oil. These proceeds will be used to fund Horn Petroleum's share of costs associated with the drilling of two exploratory wells in the Dharoor Valley Block. Africa Oil subscribed for $10 million of the private placement and will have an approximately 50% interest in Horn Petroleum when the transaction completes. Completion of the acquisition of Africa Oil's interest in Puntland, Somalia by Horn Petroleum remains subject to, amongst other things, TSX Venture Exchange approval.
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