Rambo styled raid foiled?

October, 2013 | The Americans are trying to barge into the Horn of Africa but they were beaten back by Al-Shabab fighters over the weekend. When a group of Navy Seals went guns blazing to attack a house in Barawe, the para-military group put up a stiff fight driving the Americans back into the sea. This, however, is not likely to deter the Americans from future mischief.

Washington DC, Crescent-online | October 7, 2013, 20:12 pm EDT

In what was billed as a gung-ho Navy Seals assault on Al Shabab safe house in the Somali town of Barawe over the weekend ended in disaster for the Americans. After a fierce gun-battle in which the lightly armed Al Shabab fighters held their ground, the Americans were beaten back and they fled the scene leaving some equipment behind.

The Pentagon admitted today (October 7) that the target of the failed raid was a Kenyan whom they accused of plotting attacks on parliament buildings and the UN headquarters in Nairobi.

CIA drone war - How has the US got away with it?

Published on Jun 17, 2013 : Over the past decade the CIA has launched hundreds of drone attacks on Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan, killing nearly 1,000 civilians, and making daily life a living hell for those on the ground. We explain exactly what drones are and how the US has been getting away with these attacks for so long.

Security Council Statement: on Somalia

Published on Oct 23, 2012 by GermanyUN - Security Council Statement: Ambassador Wittig on Somalia, 16 October 2012

Somalia - the reality on the ground?

Somalia's  elusive peace?..

For example, in the north, the unrecognized separatist “Republic of Somaliland” in northwestern Somalia claims to be an independent nation, and Puntla

nd State of Somalia in northeastern Somalia claims to be the first established state in the new Federal Republic of Somalia. In the south-central regions, the situation is generally more fluid and volatile: Galmudug State of Somalia controls a number of districts in southern Mudug region, while Ahlu Sunna Sufi militia group controls most districts of Galgadud region, although Al Shabaab group maintains a heavy presence in El Bur district of Galgadud region.

wiki Somaliland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland

wiki Puntland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntland

Key towns such as Beledweyne and Baidoa remain under the control of Ethiopian armed forces, while Mogadishu and Merka are dominated by African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) from Uganda and Burundi. In the deep south Jubba regions, Kenyan troops under AMISOM mandate are joined by Somali local fighters aiming to re-take the key port of Kismayo from the grip of Al Shabaab, a key source of revenue for the group's guerrilla and terrorist attacks against the country's internationally-backed government. In this land of complexities and intricate dynamics, any wrong move could shift things completely in an unintended direction, and if every step is not carefully planned and actions are undertaken in harmony between the center and the peripheral powers, the outcome could have devastating consequences for Somalia and the wider region.

Above are extracted from Garowe online (operating from Puntland?) http://goo.gl/z1fZ3

Maps on Youtube, (see below) showed 1Somalia = Somaliland + Puntland + the South of Somalia (3).

Al-Shabab rebels pull out of key Somali town 
  ..out of the southern port city of Kismayo, their last stronghold in the  country, after a military assault by Kenyan and Somali troops,  the rebels have said.

The Ogaden national Liberation Front (ONLF) fighting Ethiopia and their agenda is about joining Somalia is still very much kicking & alive - in the equation, see http://goo.gl/9K0G5

Profile: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somalia's determined new president

The 56-year-old peace activist and education reformer has found himself leading the war-torn nation after defeating former president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in a run-off election Tuesday. 

Sept 11,2012  |  During his country's 21-year civil war, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (pic), Somalia's determined new president, remained in his country while most other intellectual reformers fled.

Now the 56-year-old peace activist and education reformer has found himself leading the war-torn nation, after defeating former president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in a run-off election on Tuesday, the first of its kind in decades.

Both the new president — considered a moderate Islamist — and his predecessor hail from the Hawiye clan, which is based on Mogadishu. However, Mohamud's clan affiliations were said not to be the driving force behind his victory.

Instead, many said it is his commitment to the country, and particularly its educational system, that garnered votes, the BBC reported. His career in academia rather than in politics has also made him a less compromised contender than the rest.

On Tuesday, celebratory gunfire marked the election of the new president who won by 190 votes, against 79, in a secret ballot by members of parliament, Reuters reported.

Mohamud was born into a middle-class neighborhood in Somalia's Hiran province in 1955. He was educated at Somalia National University in engineering, and later went on to earn a graduate degree in India.

He returned to Somalia to take up a position in the education ministry before the government's collapse in 1991, said the BBC.

From there, he joined UNICEF to oversee its policies in Somalia, which inspired him to push for educational reform in the country.

Mohamud began one of the first primary schools in Somalia after the war had begun with the help of al Islah — considered the Somali franchise of the Muslim Brotherhood, said the BBC. He also helped negotiate peace between warring clans in the country.

Reuters said that the new president faces daunting challenges, given Somalia's troubled past and present.

Aside from being one of the poorest countries on the planet, Somalia is also one of the most corrupt, with only three out of every 10 dollars of revenue raised by the government actually reaching state accounts, according to a UN report cited by Reuters. AllAfrica listed several key problems the new president must tackle if he is to succeed, including corruption, weak institutions of governance and reconciliation.

In a recent interview with Voice of America, Mohamud spoke of the challenges ahead of him and his hopes for the new government.

“In a clan setting, you can only produce a clan leader; you cannot produce a national leader. Here, in the political parties, we intend to produce national leaders," he said. "Our main focus is that."

source here  >>

Somalia lawmakers to vote for new president

Published on Sep 9, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish : Somalia's parliament is preparing to elect a new president, marking the end of the country's transitional period.More than 30 candidates are running in the historic election.There have been accusations of vote buying.

AJE lied this is not the first time 'peace came' to Somalia.

There was a brief period of peace before under ICU.

New Somali parliament sworn in:

Published on Aug 20, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish : After years of turmoil, Somalia's first formal parliament in two decades has been sworn in.

It's hoped a new President can be chosen in the next few weeks.The transitional govt has been in power since 2004. It's been criticised for being corrupt and failing to improve security.

Eid passes peacefully in Mogadishu, Alhamdullilah!

WHEN ICU brought peace, they ferment war? Will they be able to bring lasting peace? With all the might of America backing up AU, the arms embargo & the drones?

Published on Aug 19, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish : Somalis enjoy a peaceful Eid even if life remains precarious for most in the country's capital.

Deadline looms for naming of Somalia's transitional government.

Published on Aug 18, 2012 by DuniyaKiKhabrain : The deadline set by the international community for Somalia's transitional government is Monday. Disagreements about who should be among the 275 members of the next parliament, is threatening to delay the political process and destabilise the country. One of the most controversial issues is over women and their role in parliament. It was agreed that a third of Somali MPs will be women. But elders say this is a step too far.

• MPs: There are 46,552 MPs in the world. The global average number of parliamentarians per country is 245. China has the largest parliament with 3,000 members in the Chinese National People’s Congress. 
• The world’s smallest parliament is in Micronesia, with just 14 MPs. Women: There are 8,716 women parliamentarians globally, which is 19.25 per cent of the total number of MPs. 
• Age: The global average age of an MP is 53. The average age for a woman MP is 50. Sub-Saharan African MPs have the lowest regional average age at 49 with Arab countries with the highest at 55. 
• Budgets: The U.S. Congress has the largest parliamentary budget at US$5.12 billion. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines spends least on parliament budget at 1.8 million.

Report from  >>

Somalia Elections & Presidential sElection draws near?

Published on Aug 14, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews : Mogadishu is visibly in election mood as the Presidential candidates are running their campaigns. Although the Somalian president is going to be elected by the MPs and not the public, the candidates still try to win popular support.

Somalia - Constitutional Assembly

Published on Jul 31, 2012 by MrNChoudhury | 26 July 2012 CNC, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is Somali President.

Somalia set to birth new government

Published on Jul 25, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish : Somalia is on the brink of creating its first legitimate government in more than 20 years. The National Constituent Assembly is meeting in Mogadishu and is due to vote on a new Constitution and it will also pick members of parliament - who, in turn, will choose Somalia's next President. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports from Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya.

UN corrupts Somali political transition

The Somali people desperately need miracles, as they hope for peace and an accountable government in their land.

The Somali Transitional Federal Government, headed by President Sheik Sharif Ahmed, expires in August [Reuters]

For over the two decades, sectarian Somali leaders and their international patrons dominated political transitions in the country. The end results of these affairs have been perpetual political instability, endless violence and the misery for the population without any one being held accountable.

Another transition is looming and the UN which is midwifing the process is enabling several Somali actors to gerrymander the process in order to predetermine the outcome to their advantage. The question that most Somalis are asking is: why is the UN’s Special Representative (SR) who dominates the process allowing sectarian agendas to control the transition and reproduce the mess?

This essay attempts to map this odious affair as it unfolds in Mogadishu. It demonstrates how the UN and its corrupt Somali partners are working the system to fabricate an outcome that will reproduce incompetence potentially stoking violence between and among communities.

Ending the long transition?

The life of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), ends in August 2012 and is to be replaced by a post-transitional order. Since the African Union military force (AMISOM) controls a small but growing section of the country, it is not feasible to conduct national elections which can morally sanction the formation of a new political system. Consequently, the TFG and SR have invented a process that they hope will usher in a new era that reflects their own ambitions.

This process guided by what they call the Road Map (RM) was thoughtlessly concocted and consists of the following steps:

(a) completion of draft constitution by the UN;

(b) formation and empowerment of the so-called seven signatories;

(c) selection of ‘traditional elders’ as foundational anchor of the new dispensation;

(d) convening of national constituent assembly to sanction the draft constitution;

(e) selection of members of parliament; and

(f) the election and appointment of a new speaker of parliament, president and prime minister.

read more :  AJE 30 July 2012

UN drone operations in Somalia

Jul 29, 2012 : The Washington Post in a report published on the 25th July says that drone operations over Somalia pose danger to air traffic citing a U.N Monitoring group report. The report said that the unmanned aircraft violate a long-standing arms embargo against the war-torn country. A former Somali military general however cautions that the UAV attacks pose a far greater risk.

Somalia prepares for presidential elections

Published on Jul 19, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish : Somalia is in the process of electing its first government in 21 years. A vote must be held by August 20 when the mandate for the UN-backed transitional government ends. But there are doubts as to whether this deadline can be met.

America's latest 'bailout'?

Published on Jun 8, 2012 by hjmanan : Back to wild west! Cash rewards offered 'dead' or 'alive' for alShabab heads.

US bank stops money transfers to Somalia.

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on 30 Dec 2011 - A US bank has stopped processing money transfers to Somalia. The decision by Sunrise comes as Washington is clamping down on financial dealings which could fund what it calls terrorist organisations in the country. It has angered many Somalis in the US whose relatives back home depend on remittances for survival.

After Libya, next stop Somalia!

Intervention tension: UK eyes 'failed state' Somalia

Uploaded by RussiaToday on 24 Dec 2011 - With the Libya campaign seen as mission accomplished, Britain appears to be eying another conflict-torn African country -- Somalia. The UK cites threats to its national security, but some analysts say this hides a self-interested strategic agenda. 

..relief foundation assists Somali displaced people.

Uploaded by presstvmobile on 22 Dec 2011 - Iranian Imam Khomeini relief foundation assists Somali internally displaced people. 

Who wants Somalia to be in disarray & why?

Uploaded by 108morris108 on 15 Dec 2011 - Thomas C. Mountain is the only independent western journalist in the Horn of Africa, living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006.