1 January 2012

Ethiopian troops invade key central Somalia town
San Francisco Chronicle
A mother from southern Somalia prepares some powdered milk mixture to feed her child on December 30, 2011 at a refugee camp located in southern Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces seized control of a key Somali city on December 31, …
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/31/MN6T1MJFVO.DTL

Five dead in Kenya New Year blast
AFP
GARISSA, Kenya — Five people were killed in a New Year’s Eve hand grenade
attack and shooting in a bar in the eastern Kenyan town of Garissa near the
border with Somalia, police said Sunday. “There was an explosion in a club
in town shortly before …
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hj2-4amb3G4hRDcj9yWGSiODT85Q?docId=CNG.68549e5b7090410afa9fad1feb23abf1.71

Somalia meets over federal Constitution
East African
The final draft of the Somalia Constitution will be completed in April 2012
to allow for elections in August, when the mandate of the Transitional
Federal Government ends. The decision to finalise the constitution by the
first quarter of next year, …
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Somalia+meets+over+federal+Constitution+/-/2558/1298498/-/85pfsm/-/

Somalia: Fresh Fighting Flares Up in Central Somalia
AllAfrica.com
Dhusamareb — Heavy fighting between rebel group of Al-Shabab and Ahlu
Sunna fighters, a pro-Somali Transitional Federal government TFG,broke out
in parts of Galgadud region of central Somalia on Sunday afternoon, reports
said. …
http://allafrica.com/stories/201201010028.html

SOMALIA: An open letter concerning “The Garowe Principles”
Raxanreeb Online
Signed on December 24th by six Somali politicians under the auspices of the
UN Political Office in Somalia (UNPOS), the pact was legally and
politically flawed. If its declared intention was to end the transitional
phase, and, as a result, …
http://www.raxanreeb.com/?p=125158
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=http://www.raxanreeb.com/%3Fp%3D125158&hl=en&geo=us

SOMALIA: Puntland officials narrowly escape IED attack
SomalilandPress
LAS ANOD — Farah Ali Shire, the Finance Minister of Somalia’s
semi-autonomous region of Puntland narrowly escaped a roadside blast on
Saturday in Bosaasso, reports. Officials said Mr Shire who was traveling at
the time with the governor of Bari …
http://somalilandpress.com/somalia-puntland-officials-narrowly-escape-ied-attack-25691

OIC/Press conference: OIC rejects military intervention in the Gulf and calls …
International Islamic News Agency
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) disclosed on Sunday, January 1, 2012 an initiative taken
by the OIC in order to achieve national reconciliation in Somalia in
parallel with its humanitarian …
http://iina.me/wp_en/?p=1006022

QC sets up 7 relief projects in Somalia
Gulf Times
Jassim al-Salem, executive director of international development at QC,
said that the projects aim to support the return of the displaced as well
as the reconstruction of areas affected by drought. The projects target
Bay, Bakool and lower Shabelle …
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=478463&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

Region awaits Kenya’s fateful election year
East African
As Kenya enters 2012, the country is facing three major internal challenges
that are political as well as a major security challenge posed by the war
in Somalia. The question is whether Kenyans are resilient enough to
overcome these challenges as a …
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/editorial/Region+awaits+Kenya+s+fateful+election+year+/-/434752/1298468/-/i2vqrn/-/

UN deplores killing of Somali refugee leader at Kenya camp
Channel 6 News Online
According to the UNHCR, conflict, violence against civilians, drought and
famine have forced an estimated 295000 people to flee Somalia this year.
More than half of that number have found shelter at the Dadaab refugee
camps in Kenya, while others …
http://channel6newsonline.com/2012/01/un-deplores-killing-of-somali-refugee-leader-at-kenya-camp/

Delegations of TFG and Somaliland ministers met in Cairo
Sunatimes
The meeting between the two sides talked about the conference which will be
held in London on 23-02-2012 after the British government has invited all
the Somali factions in Somalia. Cairo (Sunatimes) Meeting between
Delegations led by Somaliland …
http://sunatimes.com/view.php?id=1607

Shabab fighters surrender to Ahlu-Suna militias in central Somalia
Mareeg
Guri’el(Mareeg)-Ahlu-Suna Administration in Guri’el district of Galgudud
region told that three Shabab fighers surrendered to their forces at the
frontlines saying they would deal with humanity, reports said. Deputy
Chairman of Ahlu-Suna executive …
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=22419&tirsan=3

UPI NewsTrack TopNews
UPI.com
MOGADISHU, Somalia, Dec. 31 (UPI) — A central town in Somalia held by
al-Qaida-associated fighters was taken back Saturday by some 3000 Somali
and Ethiopian forces, residents said. The town of Beletweyn had been under
the control of the militant …
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/12/31/UPI-NewsTrack-TopNews/UPI-13071325350800/?spt=hs&or=tn

The Year We Lost Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and Most of the …
Canada Free Press
Left out of the picture is Somalia. Liberals fulminated when Bush helped
drive out Al-Shaab and its jolly Muslim lads with a habit of beheading
people who didn’t grow beards or watched too much soccer. Any number of
editorials complained that we had …
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/43608

US bank stops transfers to Somalia
Aljazeera.com
A US bank has stopped money transfers to Somalia, saying it is following US
laws. Sunrise Community Banks, the only one in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul
area, says it is merely complying with US laws on financing what Washington
calls “terrorist …
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/12/2011123117214432182.html

Hopes for better future
Arab Times Kuwait English Daily
There were also problems of hunger in Somalia and floods in Brazil. The
Arab Spring and riots in general showed that people who remained silent for
ages do have a say and want their demands to be prioritized. Also, a very
important lesson was learnt …
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/177907/reftab/36/t/Hopes-for-better-future/Default.aspx

Echoes of Biafra as ethnic angst boils in Nigeria
The Australian
The head of the US military’s Africa Command, General Carter Ham, has
warned that Boko Haram, al-Qa’ida in the Mahgreb and the al-Qa’ida-linked
al-Shabab movement in Somalia are working together and violently hostile to
Western interests. …
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/echoes-of-biafra-as-ethnic-angst-boils-in-nigeria/story-e6frg6ux-1226234367832

Hunger, cholera kill 55 kids in Somalia | SomalilandPress.com
By Hassan Ali
Cholera claimed as many as 35 children in the Bay region of southern
Somalia, located about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Mogadishu,
local physicians said on Saturday, the Press TV correspondent in the Somali
capital reported. …
http://somalilandpress.com/hunger-cholera-kill-55-kids-in-somalia-25749

H5N1: Hunger, cholera kill 55 kids in Somalia
By Crof
Via Somaliland Press, a PressTV report: Hunger, cholera kill 55 kids in
Somalia. Excerpt: Fifty-five children have died of cholera and severe
malnutrition in Somalia, which is currently experiencing a famine after
over two decades of war, Press …
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2012/01/hunger-cholera-kill-55-kids-in-somalia.html

Somalia: Govt Forces Seize Key Town as Residents Flee …
By agyateng
Beledweyne — Government forces loyal to Somalia’s Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) have attacked and seized control of a key town in central
Somalia, Radio Garowe reports. TFG forces launched a daybreak attack
Saturday on the …
http://www.ghanamma.com/2011/12/somalia-govt-forces-seize-key-town-as-residents-flee/

Aid group worried about 2 workers held in Somalia | Gubta News …
By gubta
Kenya (AP) – The director of Belgium’s chapter of Doctors Without Border
said Saturday he is increasingly concerned about two kidnapped workers
being held in Somalia following the shooting deaths of two other workers by
a disgruntled …
http://www.gubta.com/2012/01/01/aid-group-worried-about-2-workers-held-in-somalia/

SOMALIA: Rebuilding Among the Rubble – Care2 News Network
By Cal Mendelsohn
With vehicles and donkey carts packed with their belongings, Somalis are
returning, four years after they fled, to their partially standing,
bullet-scarred and mortar-shelled neighbourhoods in former Al-Shabaab
controlled areas of Mogadishu.
http://www.care2.com/news/member/193692282/3057652

Aid group worried about workers held in Somalia – KSN TV, Kansas …
The director of Belgium’s chapter of Doctors Without Borders says he is
increasingly concerned about two kidnapped workers being held in Somalia
following the shooting deaths of two other workers.
http://www.ksn.com/s/wXZgF4IMxUKtFUe1Zna_mg.cspx

Ethiopian, Somali troops take key city: witnesses – ModernGhana.com
But the hardline Shebab group denied it was defeated in Beledweyne, a
strategic town about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Ethiopian border in
the Hiran region of central Somalia. “The fighting started this morning
after our forces supported …
http://www.modernghana.com/news/369628/1/ethiopian-somali-troops-take-key-city-witnesses.html

Somalia: “Alarming increase” in women and girls who have been …
The Qur’an sanctions sex with captive and slave women: “And all married
women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands
possess …
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/12/somalia-alarming-rise-in-women-being-raped-as-spoils-of-war.html

AfricaNews – Probe civilian abuses in Somalia – HRW – The …
An international human right lobby group, the Human Right Watch (HRW) has
decried the continued civil right abuses inflicted on civilians in Somalia
following …
http://www.africanews.com/site/list_message/36682

Ethiopia troops enter Somalia, control border town – Yahoo! News
From Yahoo! News: Hundreds of Ethiopian troops poured into a western
Somalia border town on Saturday, opening a new front against the militant
group …
http://news.yahoo.com/ethiopia-troops-enter-somalia-control-border-town-092104879.html

SomaliaReport: MT Enrico Levoli Hijacked Off Oman – Somalia Report
On somaliareport – MT Enrico Levoli Hijacked Off Oman.
http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/2402/MT_Enrico_Levoli_Hijacked_Off_Oman

flandersnews.be: Belgian aid worker shot dead in Somalia
Fri 30/12/2011 – 10:22 Update: Fri 30/12/2011 – 15:59 A Belgian aid worker
has been shot dead in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The Belgian was in
charge of …
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/news/111220_AZG

US bank halts Somalia money transfers – Americas – Al Jazeera …
Move by Sunrise angers many Somalis in US whose relatives back home depend
on remittances …
http://aljazeera.co.uk/news/americas/2011/12/2011123181028281743.html