(June 19) Somali News Roundup

SW News

Title: [SW News] Sources - (June 19) Somali News Roundup
Posted by/on:[AAJ][20 June 2001]

Follow-Up to 'Constructive' Talks

Story Filed: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 3:20 PM EST

Jun 19, 2001 (UN Integrated Regional Information Network/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)-- The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that following talks in Addis Ababa between the Ethiopian government and a delegation from the Somali Transitional National Government (TNG), preparations were under way to facilitate talks between representatives of the TNG and the opposition Somali Reconciliation and Reconstruction Council (SRRC). Ethiopian official radio quoted the director-general of the ministry's African desk, Konjit Sinegiorgis, saying the talks with the TNG delegation had been constructive. She said they had focused on "identifying and solving the major hurdles for the establishment of a broad-based government", Ethiopian radio said on Tuesday. Efforts being made by Ethiopia on Somalia were in line with the resolution passed at the eighth Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) summit in Khartoum, Sudan, last November, the foreign ministry spokeswoman said. She said the outcome of the talks between the Ethiopian government and the delegation of the Somali government would be discussed by the IGAD subcommittee on Somalia. Talks with the SRRC representatives were expected to take place in the next few days, and there were plans for Ethiopian representatives to visit Mogadishu and other Somali regions, Ethiopian radio said.

Marehan Ugas Leader Killed

Story Filed: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 2:20 PM EST

Jun 19, 2001 (UN Integrated Regional Information Network/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)-- The Ugas (the highest traditional leader) of the Marehan, Ugas Siraj Ugas Farah Ugas Abdille, was killed on Monday evening by a lone gunman, sources in Abudwaq town, Galgadud Region, central Somalia, told IRIN. "The Ugas and a man who was with him were shot dead as they walked out of the maghrib prayers," Abdidahir Warsame said. The killer, who was identified only as Agey, also belonged to the Marehan clan, and his motives were unknown, Warsame said. The culprit and his brother were now in custody and awaiting a decision from elders, he added.

Clan elders have been constantly meeting since Monday night to try and calm the situation. The incident could create an all-out Marehan war, and, if not rapidly contained, "will have repercussions in Kismayo and Gedo regions", where there was a large Marehan presence, he said. Somali political sources told IRIN that it was "highly unusual" for an Ugas to be killed by members of his own clan, and revenge killings within the clan were likely to follow, targeting the most important clan and sub-clan figures.

Kismayo Gets New Regional Administration

Story Filed: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 2:20 PM EST

Jun 19, 2001 (UN Integrated Regional Information Network/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)-- The formation of a regional administration has been announced in the port city of Kismayo, 500 km south of Mogadishu. The new administration, which was announced on Monday, consists of an 11-member council, each member from one of the region's 11 "major sub-clans", a source in Kismayo told IRIN.

The talks which led to the establishment of the Kismayo administration were organised by the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA), which forcibly expelled the forces of General Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan from Kismayo in 1999. The JVA is a grouping of Marehan, Ogadeni and Habar Gedir clans. The talks brought together 84 delegates from all the clans of the area, and had been in progress for "the last month and half", Abdinadif Hashi, a Kismayo businessman, said. "We had decided that we could not go on the way we were going," Hashi, who was involved in the talks, told IRIN. Muhammad Dahir Ilmi, a Marehan, was appointed the new Kismayo district commissioner, and Colonel Ali Ilmi Moge, an Ogadeni, the new police chief, Hashi said.

Kismayo has been described as one of the most unstable places in Somalia; it changed hands many times during the civil war, Somali political sources pointed out. "The new administration is part and parcel of the TNG," Hashi said. He said the TNG had known about the talks and welcomed the outcome. A TNG delegation was present in Kismayo when the new administration was announced on Monday, Hashi said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for General Morgan warned 'Yool', a local paper based in Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, that the formation of the new administration would lead to further bloodshed in Kismayo, Bile Mahmud Qabowsade, the editor of 'Yool', told IRIN. Bile quoted Morgan's spokesman, Abbas Farah Mahmud Kilwa, as saying that the TNG would bear the responsibility for any consequences of the new administration. General Morgan's Majerten clan is the main clan in Puntland, and - like the Marehan and Ogadeni - comes from the Darod grouping.

Kidnapped Assembly Members Still Held

Story Filed: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 2:20 PM EST

Jun 19, 2001 (UN Integrated Regional Information Network/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)-- Two kidnapped members of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA) are still being held for unpaid debts, sources in Mogadishu told IRIN. Muhammad Abdi Gas, a TNA member from the northwest, who was kidnapped on 13 June, was still being held by his captors, who say his debt relates to livestock exported to the Gulf states on their behalf by one of his relatives, the source said. Muhammad Abdi is reportedly being held in south Mogadishu by militia loyal to Mogadishu faction leader Usman Hasan Ali Ato.

The second TNA member, Abdirahman Du'ale Ali, also from the northwest, was kidnapped in January, and is still being held in north Mogadishu. He was accused of failing to reimburse kat (Catha edulis) traders who lent him money while he was a member of the administrations successively set up by faction leader Ali Mahdi Muhammad and his rival General Muhammad Farah Aydid in the early 1990s, sources told IRIN. Du'ale reportedly acknowledges the debt, but insists it should be paid by Ali Mahdi Muhammad, who is now also a member of the TNA.

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