Sunday, January 31, 2010

Habar-Gidir Hawiye Kidnap British hostages poorly treated, need urgent help

AMARA, Somalia — A British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates in October said they were not being well treated and needed urgent help, according to an AFP reporter who met them in captivity."Please help us, these people are not treating us well," said Rachel Chandler, captured by pirates with her husband Paul as they sailed their yacht, the Lynn Rival, in the Indian Ocean on October 23.They were brought ashore and have been held in separate locations in central Somalia.Rachel Chandler made her plea to a surgeon who was allowed to briefly examine the pair on Thursday, accompanied by an AFP photographer, the first journalist to see the Chandlers since their capture.The surgeon, Mohamed Helmi "Hangul", said she was in poor mental and physical health."She is sick, she is very anxious, she suffers from insomnia," Hangul told AFP.
"But I think she's mainly mentally unwell, it seems. She's very confused, she's always asking about her husband -- 'Where's my husband, where's my husband? -- and she seems completely disorientated," he added.
The pair are being held in separate locations in rugged areas between the coastal village of Elhur and the small town of Amara, further inland.During the visit Chandler looked pale, tired and distraught and pleaded to be reunited with her husband."I'm old, I'm 56 and my husband is 60 years old. We need to be together because we have not much time left," she said.She spoke to the doctor in the presence of the AFP photographer, the first journalist to see the hostages since their kidnapping, from a tent where she is being guarded by pirates armed with assault rifles.Surrounded by trees, her tiny hideout consists of orange netting, tarpaulin and a few rugs.For his part Paul Chandler appeared psychologically more robust than his wife but admitted the conditions of their separate detention were difficult and he also pleaded for help."Please help us, we have nobody to help us, we have no children... We have been in captivity for 98 days and we are not in good condition," he said, also on Thursday.Hangul said Paul Chandler "had a bad cough and seemed to have some fever".The surgeon, who had initially travelled to his hometown of Hobyo in early January to start building a hospital there, explained that it took him three weeks to obtain an authorisation from the kidnappers to visit the Chandlers.
Hangul, a respected figure in the Somali clan to which the kidnappers also belong, said he was not allowed to bring drugs with him but left a prescription with the captors."I gave them some advice and told them: 'Your hostages can die, all you want is money so treat them well, let them re-unite'," the doctor said. "They said that they agreed but I cannot be sure what they've done."Neither the Chandlers nor their kidnappers made any reference to a ransom."We do not know what is happening right now, we have spoken to people and we are still waiting," Rachel Chandler said, without elaborating.A Foreign Office Spokesman did not comment on the status of the negotiations but stressed that Britain was actively trying to secure the couple's freedom.
"We are monitoring the situation very closely and doing everything we can to help secure a release. We remain in regular contact with the family and are providing support. We call for the safe and swift release of Paul and Rachel," he said.The hundreds of Somali sea bandits plying the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden generally hijack merchant vessels among the 20,000 ships that sail each year off the Somali coastline on one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes.Those ships -- which have included supertankers worth hundreds of millions of dollars -- and their crews are generally released for a ransom after a few weeks or months.
But in the relatively rare occurrences of small sailing yachts being taken, with no insurance companies and wealthy maritime operators to foot the ransom bills, the crew is the pirates' only bargaining chip.
Copyright © 2010 AFP.

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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