Friday, April 23, 2010

Women and children are suffering in Somalia

Women and children are suffering in Somalia

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Somalia: Al-Shabab bans bell rings for schools | Before It's News

Somalia: Al-Shabab bans bell rings for schools | Before It's News

13 Plants That Could Kill You | Before It's News

13 Plants That Could Kill You | Before It's News

Human Trafficking: Putting a Stop to Modern-Day Slavery | Before It's News

Human Trafficking: Putting a Stop to Modern-Day Slavery | Before It's News

Somalia: Al-Shabab bans bell rings for schools | Before It's News

Contributed by Abdulkarim Jimale (Reporter)
Thursday, April 15, 2010 8:04
Mogadishu, Thursday, April 15, 2010 (BIN) – Al-Shabab the Somali militant group banned bell rings for schools in southern Somalia on Thursday, because they say it sounds too similar to those of Christian churches.
Al-Shabab, the Al-Qaeda wing in Somalia has ordered schools in Jowhar town of middle Shabelle region about 90km north of capital to stop using bells to signal the end of classes. The group said the bell ring sounds like those of Christian churches.
According to Reuters teachers and a school headmaster in Shabaab-controlled Jowhar town, said an Al-Shabaab member had ordered schools to silence their bells because the sound was too similar to those in Christian churches.
"We were called by Sheikh Farah, the head of Al Shabaab's education, and he told us that we can't use bell sounds from now on. He said any school heard using bell sounds after now will be brought to Islamic justice," a school teacher in Jowhar told Reuters by telephone.
The militias are the most powerful rebel group in Somalia and controls large parts in south and central regions including large parts of the restive capital Mogadishu.
The group is fighting UN-backed government to control Somalia.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 when clan warlords overthrown Siad Barre’s administration.

Somalia's Al Shabab Recruits Holy Warriors for $400 - ABC News

Somalia's Al Shabab Recruits Holy Warriors for $400 - ABC News

Thursday, April 15, 2010

US sanctions target Somali fighters

News Africa

The executive order will target individuals seen as aiding insecurity in Somalia [AFP]
Barack Obama, the US president, has issued an executive order to freeze assets of individuals with ties to Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab movement.
Obama's directive allows the US treasury department to sanction or freeze the assets of individuals with suspected links to the piracy off Somalia's coast or those who have in any way been involved in threatening Somalia's stability.
The piracy and eroding security in Somalia "constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," Obama said in his executive order on Tuesday.
The decree specifically targets anyone who threatens the peace, interferes with the delivery of humanitarian assistance or violates the United Nations arms embargo in the lawless nation.
Target
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a prominent Somali opposition figure, is one of those targeted by the new sanctions.
Last year Aweys said he was working to unite his Islamic Party with al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab is battling to overthrow the US-backed Somali government. Somalia has not had an effective government for about two decades.
US authorities say they are increasingly concerned that Somalia has become a safe haven for Islamic extremists and a sanctuary for al-Qaeda-linked training camps.
Meanwhile, al-Shabab fighters are claiming to have gained full control of the city of Baidoa in southern Somalia, which they have declared to be an Islamist province.
According to reports, the group's fighters last week disarmed guards at a UN World Food Programmes (WFP) base in Wajid, near Baidoa, and also seized control of the nearby airstrip.
The WFP, however, said that its base was empty and the move would not affect its operations.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Somalia Islamists al-Shabab ban BBC transmissions

Somalia Islamists al-Shabab ban BBC transmissions                                                                                          By Peter Greste
East Africa correspondent, BBC News

The Somali Islamist movement al-Shabab has banned the BBC and closed down transmitters broadcasting the Somali language service inside the country.
Al-Shabab accused the BBC of fighting against Islam and supporting the transitional federal government, which the rebels are fighting to overthrow.
The group said the BBC had been broadcasting the agenda of crusaders and colonialists against Muslims.

The BBC said it was strictly impartial and spoke to all sides in the conflict.
The BBC has been broadcasting its services in Somali, Arabic and English across the country on a series of FM frequencies for at least a decade, and surveys suggest it is one of the most widely listened-to news services in Somalia.
'Strict standards'
Al-Shabab ordered all of the BBC's transmitters to be shut down.
A statement by al-Shabab demanded that any organisation transmitting the BBC, or the Washington-based Voice of America, should cancel their contracts.
Al-Shabab and its allies control most of southern and central Somalia and all but a few districts of the capital, Mogadishu.
They have been fighting to establish an Islamist administration of their own in place of the current government.
The BBC's broadcasts have been taken off the FM bandwidth, but are still available on shortwave and the internet.
In response to the statement, the head of BBC Africa, Jerry Timmins, said the organisation spoke to all sides in the conflict, including al-Shabab, adhered to strict standards of impartiality and editorial independence and rejected any suggestion otherwise.

BBC

Sunday, April 4, 2010

The lawlesness in Somalia couse the death of so many children.

HARGEISA, Somalia, 8 December 2009 - In Somalia, more than 40 per cent of children exhibit signs of chronic nutritional deprivation. This can be a life-threatening condition if appropriate interventions are not provided.At the clinic in Hargeisa one of 200 UNICEF supported Outpatient Therapeutic Facilities in Somalia UNICEF and partners have been distributing a new ready-to-use food, Plumpydoz, to vulnerable children aged 6 to 36 months. To date, more than 130,000 young children in Somalia have benefited from this product, which is rich with minerals, high quality proteins and fats.UNICEF also supports 30 in-patient stabilization centres where children with the most severe cases of undernutrition receive round-the-clock medical care.I sometimes dont have work and cant provide for my children, so they get malnourished, said Derer Muse, whose daughter is receiving treatment in the stabilization centre. I have another child who was malnourished too, but was treated in this clinic and will be discharged soon.
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/somalia_52031.html