Somali cabinet ministers reshuffled
Listen Mogadishu (Alshahid)—Sources from the presidential palace told Alshahid that the cabinet ministers have been reshuffled on Monday. The sources say the former information minister, Farhan Ali Mohamoud lost his post and Dahir Mohamoud Gelle has been nominated as the new information minister. The foreign minister Mohamed Abdulahi Omaar has been changed to Water and [...]
Top Somali Islamist leader lashes U.S. policy
Listen MOGADISHU, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a radical Islamist leader in Somalia, on Saturday strongly attacked U.S. foreign policy towards the war-torn Horn of Africa country, two days after Somali President met with U.S. Secretary of State in Nairobi, Kenya. Aweys, leader of the Hezbul Islam (Islamic Party), condemned what he termed as the U.S.’s [...]
Eritrea denies deportation of diplomat
Listen Eritrea on Saturday emphatically denied that one of its diplomats and another national had been deported from Kenya for security reasons. Ambassador Salih Omar Abdu however confirmed the country’s Foreign Minister was in Kenya to deliver a special message to President Kibaki, just two days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed to [...]
Fighting kills at least 17 in Somali pirate port
Listen MOGADISHU – Gun battles between clan militiamen killed at least 17 people and wounded 30 on Saturday at a pirate stronghold on the coast of Somalia, witnesses said. Local man Farah Aden told Reuters by satellite telephone that the fighting began overnight and became heavier in the morning, forcing most of Haradheere’s residents to [...]
Seven killed in fierce fighting in Mogadishu
Listen At least seven civilians have been killed and twelve others have been injured in fierce fighting between government soldiers and Islamist forces in the capital Mogadishu, witnesses said on Monday. The fighting started after the Islamist insurgents launched heavy attack to bases of African Union troops in KM4 are in Mogadishu. Witnesses said seven [...]
Somaliland President Fires Two Cabinet Ministers
Listen Hargeisa — President Dahir Riyale issued a decree dated July 15 whereby he fired the Minister of Commerce and the Minister of the Presidency, Mr. Osman Hassan Kodah and Mr. Nur Amin Ismail, respectively. Mr. Abib Hassan Filfil was appointed as Somaliland’s new minister of commerce, while the current state minister for internal affairs, [...]
French hostages in Somalia are split up between two Islamist extremist groups
Listen Two French security consultants who were kidnapped in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, have been split up between Islamist extremist groups, one of which has been linked to al-Qaeda. The men were reportedly separated to resolve a dispute between Islamist factions over who would hold them, an unnamed official from the hardline al-Shabaab told [...]
Somalia, Outside the Violence Box
Listen Whether in Somalia or elsewhere, any attempt to tame religious extremism with violence leads to costly tragedies and disenchantments. And anyone who doubts this ought to simply reevaluate the miserable results of GWT — the global war on terrorism. So it goes without saying: a non-violent paradigm to solving problems is direly needed. And [...]