In Somali port no more Shebab, but no more business

    BURGABO, Somalia — The transport helicopter whips up clouds of fine white sand as it lands in Burgabo, the Kenyan army’s foremost position on its southern route towards the Shebab stronghold of Kismayo.  The village of mud huts with tin roofs swelters on a turquoise inlet where the Bushbush river meets the Indian Ocean. The…

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      The Somali Business Community Meeting / Dubai, 12 December 2011 – Communique

      MOGADISHU, Somalia, December 15, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A Meeting of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the Somali business community and the international community took place in Dubai from 11 to 12 December 2011 organized by the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) and facilitated together with the United Nations Country Team and…

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        Somali rebels block ICRC food aid convoys

        MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Islamist militants in Somalia have blocked two International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) convoys carrying emergency food aid for drought victims this month, contractors and a senior rebel said. Residents of Baidoa, a stronghold of the al Shabaab rebel group, told Reuters they had seen the militants loading food aid from…

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          Somali Parliament Speaker Rejects Ouster Effort

          The speaker of Somalia’s parliament has rejected an effort to oust him from power, in the war-torn country’s latest political crisis. Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan spoke to VOA’s Somali Service a day after fistfights broke out in parliament between his opponents and supporters. Adan said Thursday that the vote had no legitimacy because he…

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            Somali pirates sentenced to life in prison

            NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A former Somali police officer and an electrician whose job it was to bless their expedition were sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for their roles in the hijacking of a yacht that left all four Americans on board dead. Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali was the commander of a band…

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              Somalia: Comprehensive strategy to tackle Somali crises

              UN Security Council urges comprehensive strategy to tackle Somali crises – The UN Security Council on Wednesday stressed the need for a comprehensive strategy to address the political, security and humanitarian challenges in Somalia through collaborative efforts. In a statement issued after the Council members listened to a briefing by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,…

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                Terror suspect Mohamed Hersi to head directly to trial

                A Toronto man accused of plotting to join a Somali terrorist group will proceed directly to trial, with no preliminary hearing. The decision came down in a Brampton courthouse Wednesday morning, nearly nine months after Mohamed Hersi was arrested at Pearson airport as he awaited a flight to Cairo. Police allege this would have been…

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                  Punches fly in chaotic Somali parliament session

                  MOGADISHU — A rowdy parliament session in war-torn Somalia degenerated into fistfights and kicks Wednesday after disagreements over the sacking of the speaker, lawmakers said. Supporters of speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, who was dismissed on Tuesday by 280 MPs, loudly protested the election of his replacement, arguing that Adan’s impeachment did not follow procedure….

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                    We have no famine, says Somalian prime minister

                    Mr Ali, who leads Somalia’s officially recognised government, chose the week when the United Nations has appealed for $1.5 billion to help his country’s people to deliver a stinging attack on relief workers. A Harvard-educated economist, he believes they have become an “entrenched interest group”, exaggerating the scale of suffering in order to drum up…

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                      Somali House ‘sacks’ absent Speaker

                      Somali legislators have elected Mr Madobe Nunow Mohamed as temporary Speaker. The 283 MPs Tuesday started the business of the House in the absence of the Speaker, Mr Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, and his two deputies. One of the MPs present in the chambers, Mr Omar Islow, had stated that the legislators had invited the…

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                        Kenya troops to drive deeper into Somali rebel territory

                        RAS KAMBONI, Somalia — Kenyan forces and their Somali allies battling Islamist Shebab insurgents said Tuesday they plan to advance deeper into rebel-held regions. Two months after Kenya sent troops to fight the Al Qaeda-linked rebels, the fores have made little progress due to bad weather, while the insurgents have multiplied grenade and landmine attacks…

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