By Hassan M. Abukar The passing of Professor Said Samatar, 71, was sad and sudden. I never met the good professor in person, but we had exchanged several emails. I was very familiar with his research and books. In fact, his book, Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism: The Case of Sayid Mahammad Abdille Hassan (Cambridge,...
By Glenn Kessler “Somalis have made my city of Wilmington, Del. [their home] on a smaller scale. There is a very identifiable Somali community. I might add if you come to the train station with me you’ll notice I have great relationships with them because there’s an awful lot driving cabs and are friends of...
NAIROBI—Regional carriers Daallo Airlines and Jubba Airways profited independently for years in one of the world’s toughest markets, competing on routes to war-torn Somalia that most avoided. Yet as the guns fall silent, the rivals face a new battle that has pushed them to merge: competition from big international carriers such as Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian...
BY SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI Relatives of Islamic State captive Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh hold pictures of him as they join students during a rally calling for his release, at Jordan University in Amman February 3, 2015. CREDIT: REUTERS/MUHAMMAD HAMED Islamic State militants released a video on Tuesday appearing to show a captured Jordanian pilot being burnt...
By Ali H. Abdulla I would like to recall an incident that happened to me when I was a kid attending Sheikh intermediate school in Northern Somalia. It was in the early 1970s during the early years of the military coup that ousted the elected civilian government and plunged the country into dictatorship that eventually...
By Wonderboy Dlamini Following their alleged unresolved grievances against the ministry of home affairs, Somali nationals, who have been at loggerheads with government, have since resolved to return to their war-torn country by foot. At least seven Somali asylum seekers have recently been making headlines in local newspapers after they complained of living conditions at...
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is to go to Addis Ababa on Jan. 22 as part of his scheduled visits to several African countries, including Ethiopia and Djibouti, with a large group of ministers, bureaucrats and businessmen. During his visit to Addis Ababa, Erdoğan will meet with Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome Wirtu and Prime Minister Hailemariam...
By Ahmed Khalif When, “President” Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was selected on September 2012, Somalis everywhere were hopeful that he will be the savior of their country. People were optimistic about him, among others, for the following reasons: (a) he was the first Somali president elected in the Somali soil since 1967; (b) it was said that during the civil war,...
BY CHRISTINE MUNGAI If we were to redraw Africa’s borders to have each ethnic group in their own country, we would have at least 2,000 countries Sign in Botswana: turn left for Namibia, right for Zimbabwe and Zambia. (Photo: Flickr/ Guitarfish). AFRICA’S arbitrary borders have done much to foment strife and instability on the continent. Partitioning...
by: MILA KOUMPILOVA Expatriates return to Somalia from Minnesota and elsewhere to help their country emerge from anarchy and chaos Halima Ibrahim’s husband, Abdullahi Anshoor, was assassinated in Mogadishu in November. He was consulting on water projects. Photo: RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER , Halima Ibrahim’s adult children pleaded with her not to go back to Somalia....