Saturday, November 3, 2012

The difficult art of stabilization in Somalia

 
 
Somali National military Somalia's army Abdulkadir Sheikh Ali Dini paid surprise Visits to kismayu Yesterday

The port city of Kismayo in the south of Somalia is the focus of considerable effort to build a political path to long term peace in today’s Somalia. Since the Islamist insurgency, Al Shabaab, was pushed out of the city by a combined force of African Union soldiers from Kenya and Somali militias at the end of September, Somali leaders and international partners have been scrambling to build on the fragile sense of peace in this clan-divided city.
Over a year since Somalia’s famine hit the headlines in the United States more than two million of the country’s estimated population of ten million remain remain dependent on food aid. Last month, the United Nations and Oxfam forecast a deteriorating humanitarian situation, worse in the southern regions near Kismayo. Tens of thousands reportedly fled in the lead up to the operation to remove Al Shabaab from the city. A population desperately worried about food and security makes for a difficult environment in which to generate stability.
A series of bombings in the city since September this week resulted in large-scale arrests by the Kenyan forces eager to maintain security. Underlying complex clan tensions and rival interests vying for control of the port’s revenue exacerbate the precarious security situation. Long term peace will depend on how different clan groupings see their prospects for political power and economic wealth around the port’s economy play out.
Stabilization, in recent years, has been the seemingly impossible art of trying to build a sense of confidence among people recovering from conflict through a range of security measures, early impact development projects and support to nascent government institutions. However, for an international force seeking to manage tensions in a newly liberated yet impoverished community it can often boil down to making the right call on a few pivotal issues; and just as much about what isn’t done as what is done.
In today’s Kismayo there is one significant hurdle to building a sense of peace. When Al Shabaab had control of this sizeable port it was extracting an estimated $25 million a year in funding for its activities from the export of charcoal, particularly to countries in the Gulf. In response, earlier this year the United Nations Security Council imposed a ban on the import of charcoal from Somalia though enough countries kept on trading for Al Shabaab to make money from the trade, and the local economy flourished.
Following the quick exit of Al Shabaab from Somalia’s second largest city, international actors are left with a difficult problem. Media who have visited the seaside city recently, and know Somalia well, have reported on growing dissatisfaction among the Kismayo population as the ban is enforced, the charcoal trade stops and, most importantly, sources of income dry up.
Thinly stretched around the country, with minimal force protection, the African Union troops are closest to the Somali people and have an interest in helping them rebuild their lives. Representatives from the countries that provide troops to the African force in Somalia have petitioned the United Nations for the ban to be lifted, at least temporarily. Nevertheless, the new Somali President concerned about proving his authority to international partners and keen to manage the power that flows from this lucrative trade, has publicly reinforced the continuing ban on the charcoal trade.
Charcoal production and trade is a significant part of the Somali economy though it is linked to deforestation, the degradation of fragile pasturing land and soil erosion. It is likely that some of the growing charcoal stockpile in the city continues to be traded illegally. Even with Al Shabaab apparently out of the city, the problem is that a lifting of the ban would still benefit the Islamist insurgency, as they retain links into the city’s economy and have control where the charcoal is harvested outside the urban center.
The United States and its international partners see blocking the flow international finance for terrorist organizations as an important measure in the fight against Al Qaeda and its allies, such as Al Shabaab. For communities trying to maintain a livelihood and put food on table amidst conflict it can mean the difference between life and death.
Where conflict and regular famine has been a way of life for decades, the intervention by the African Union force risks further upsetting what is already a complex web of relationships. Understanding the powerful interplay between vested interests and economic incentives is essential to steering a community towards long term stability.
When the United Nations Security Council discusses a resolution on Somalia next week what it decides will have a direct impact on the lives of people in Kismayo, whatever it does. The United States and its partners have an important role in understanding what is happening to Somalis, impartially arbitrating disputes and keeping the people on side. AMERICAN SECURITY PROJECT

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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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