Kilil 5 Editorials

OP/ED by Abdullahi Dool. The mistreatment of a Somali is a matter which concerns not only the individual but all Somalis! The deportation of Somalis on Somali soil is illegal and unacceptable. Somalis have been deported to Ethiopia by both Somaliland and Puntland. A Somali should feel at home on home turf. It will amount to violation of human rights to deny a Somali to live in any Somali territory. Puntland and Somaliland are Somali regions and every Somali has God-given right to be there. It is an irony if Somalis are rounded up and treated as aliens on Somali territories. Our communities are in almost every country and Somalis live in peace and security in those nations. Somalis too should be able to make a home in any Somali territory without persecution.

Ed/Op- From the president of the region Abdullahi Hassan Lugbur, to his cabinet members, to region politicians, to academicians, all the way down to the average person in the region, no one and I mean no one is spared from pervasive fear that has gripped everyone living in the Somali regional state. Whether this fear is perceived or real, people living in this region are scared out of their wits and seem to be acting out of fear paranoia. The fear and the negativity hanging over everyone from leaders to regular citizens these days is so high that it makes it hard for anyone to a risk of any kind or speak the truth or even answer your questions. As a reporter, I have the first hand experience of being able to talk to leaders, security officers, regular regional bureaucrats and regular people. The level of fear and the fear-producing culture of the region are making me to question whether this level of fear is real or perceived.

Disgruntled former elites of Ethiopia have in collaboration with American liberal groups, taken their opposition fight against the Ethiopian government to the streets, city halls and legislative branch of United States, the U.S Congress. Some U.S lawmakers are bent of punishing Ethiopia on the advice of Ethiopian opposition, whose majority consist of nothing less of former military officers, former elitist, and a majority of Amharas who can't let go of their lost elite status and the sole rulers of Ethiopia.

Somalia has been let down by the African Union and the United Nations for failing to provide sufficent funds to fund large peace keeping force and re-constructing the country after decades of clan feuds and neglect. Somalia's Prime Minister traveled to Washington to urge the world body, the United Nation, which has been considering if the small AU peacekeeping force, mainly from Uganda, could be expanded by authorizing a hybrid of UN-AU force, was met with a mute response and indifference by the World body.

The ruthless, mindless, cowardly massacre that was carried by ONLF and its terrorist allies Eritrea on Ethiopian and Chinese workers in outskirts of Cobole, Dhagaxbur province has shocked the Somali State citizens. The ONLF has massacred innocent citizens of the Somali region over the years, but, this barbaric act has shocked the people of this region who have endured endless terrorist attacks in the hands of the ONLF, both because of its magnitude and horrific nature.

Op-Ed DAily Star Editorial. Almost on cue, one more Arab land is defaced by intense fighting in its capital city, as hundreds of thousands of civilians are displaced and thousands others are killed or wounded. This season, the venue for showcasing dysfunctional modern Arab statehood is Somalia, and not for its first time, either. The pattern is similar throughout the region: local warlords, tribal leaders, gangsters and militias compete for power, and ultimately fight it out on the streets; neighbors side with the various antagonists and foreign powers send in a regular flow of money, arms and diplomatic fuel.

Washington Post editorial. AT THE END of last year, a slender opportunity opened to stabilize Somalia, a failed state in the Horn of Africa that has become a haven for members of al-Qaeda and for other Islamic extremists. With the assistance of U.S. Special Forces, troops from neighboring Ethiopia launched an offensive that overturned the Taliban-style Islamist government that had controlled the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the southern half of the country. A transitional government backed by the United Nations took over, while diplomats scrambled to arrange for an African peacekeeping force to replace the Ethiopians. Many of the extremists scattered; some were reportedly killed in U.S. airstrikes while others were captured at the Kenyan border.

The Somali region of Ethiopia is rich in natural resources in oil and gas,though, there isn't a large scale industrial production yet. Most of the companies awarded contracts in the Ogaden basin which is about 350,000 square kilometres, are in the exploration or survey stage.

Factional violence has again become a feature of life in Mogadishu since last month when Somali government troops with crucial support from Ethiopian soldiers, tanks and warplanes ousted the Islamic movement. Violence and Bombings have become a daily occurrence and life in Mogadishu seems to have returned to the era of warlordism.

Prime minister Zenawi has declared the second time in two weeks that Ethiopian troops will start withdrawing Somalia, a country that has known nothing but chaos for the past twenty years. The prime minister has told the BBC that Ethiopian troops will start withdrawing from Somalia within days but in three phases. This will be a big mistake because Ethiopia’s declared mission is half done.