Somali PM starts salary pay for the disabled national army troops
Listen Nairobi (Alshahid) -A change in tactics by Somali pirates has alarmed international maritime firms and triggered a rise in the price of insuring shipping sailing off the East African coast. Large numbers of Somali pirates are now reported to be operating from captured merchant vessels far out in the Indian Ocean, making the task [...]
Pirates’ Catch Exposed Kenya Route of Arms to volatile Sudan
Listen Khartoum (Alshahid) — It was September 2008 and a band of Somali pirates made a startling discovery. The Ukrainian freighter they had just commandeered in the Gulf of Aden was packed with weapons, including 32 Soviet-era battle tanks, and the entire arsenal was headed for the regional government in southern Sudan. The Ukrainian and [...]
The nomad’s way of doing business: A guide to Somali commerce
Listen By ABDI LATIF DAHIR: You step off the brightly-coloured matatus (minibuses); music is blaring and the touts are shouting for more passengers. Immediately you alight, a blast of hot air flashes across your face, then a wave of choking dust quickly replaces it. While you try to comprehend it all, drivers shout from their [...]
Neglect of Somalia will have high price
Listen By Justin Marozzi: The west is easily distracted. Just as the war in Iraq diverted attention from Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to regroup and consolidate its hold over much of the country, so the war in Afghanistan has blinded policymakers to the growing crisis in Somalia. Islamist rebels who on Tuesday killed more than [...]
The Relationship between Aid and Security in Eastern Africa
Listen In Africa, the United States (US) military since 9/11 has been involved in the provision of humanitarian and development assistance. This trend is being consolidated in the new US Command for Africa – AFRICOM – that advances a role for the US military in Africa’s development. One of the models for the new command [...]
The Relationship between Aid and Security in Eastern Africa
Listen In Africa, the United States (US) military since 9/11 has been involved in the provision of humanitarian and development assistance. This trend is being consolidated in the new US Command for Africa – AFRICOM – that advances a role for the US military in Africa’s development. One of the models for the new command [...]
Questions over Anti-Piracy Court in Kenya
Listen At the end of last week, Kenya opened a special court to try suspected pirates operating from Somalia in the Gulf of Aden The Court, which is funded by a number of international organizations and States including the UN, the EU, Australia and Canada, is a significant step in the fight against piracy. All States [...]
Somali pirate cook saves hostages, then disappears
Listen Constanta (Alshahid) – The pirate cook smuggled food to the terrified hostages held by his gang off the Somali coast. He bought them cell phone cards. And when the pirates started talking about harvesting their organs for cash, he sneaked them guns. The hostages killed the pirates and escaped. But now the life of [...]
Somalia mayhem: It is America’s fault.
Listen The piracy, persistent violence and general growth of illegal activity (including smuggling and Islamic terrorism) in Somalia have proved very difficult to cope with. In the past (before the European colonialists showed up in the 19th century) a form of order was imposed by having more reasonable (and often non-Somali) powers hold the coastal [...]
5 Somalis awaiting trial in a Ducth court.
Listen Rotterdam (Alshahid) – Five Somalis accused of attacking a freight ship in the gulf of Aden are awaiting their fate from a Dutch court which is to issue its verdict in the piracy case, the first such case in a Euiropean court. The five allegedly hijacked an Antilles-flagged cargo ship off the coast of [...]