By Heidi Vogt Wall Street Journal NAIROBI, Kenya—A United Nations report published Wednesday paints a dark picture of rampant corruption within Somalia’s fledgling government, a portrait that could turn off donor countries that bankroll the country’s budget. The almost one-year-old Somali government still controls only sections of the country around the capital of Mogadishu and...
By Craig Whitlock In MINNEAPOLIS — Two days after he became a U.S. citizen, Abdiwali Warsame embraced the First Amendment by creating a raucous Web site about his native Somalia. Packed with news and controversial opinions, it rapidly became a magnet for Somalis dispersed around the world, including tens of thousands in Minnesota. The popularity...
National security reporter Michelle Shephard on her 2006 interview with Somalia’s foremost islamic militant, who is once again at the centre of a political storm By: Michelle Shephard The call for the interview came just minutes before we were to meet. “Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys will see you. Now,” an intermediary told us by phone. We...
HE newly-appointed British ambassador to Somalia says he will look into claims a Dartmouth man’s son is living in Hargeisa. Neil Wigan, who only took up his post at the start of this week, was responding to email sent by this newspaper. He said that prior to taking up his post he had been briefed...
A judge said he respected religious beliefs but that the law of Ireland had to be observed as he sentenced a Somali man for slaughtering four goats in Halal fashion in a house in Tralee. By Anne Lucey Judge Carroll Moran imposed a one-year prison sentence on Somali asylum-seeker Rashid Kibaga for cruelty to animals,...
By Matt Shea There are a great many people in the UK who won’t have heard of khat. It’s not a drug that’s ever been glamourised in popular music or film; there is no khat Trainspotting or “Ebeneezer Goode”. Sure, the Mail may have linked it to terrorism and street attacks carried out by immigrants, but what haven’t the Mail linked to...
By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – An Iranian ship laden with arms seized by Yemeni authorities in January may also have been bound for Somalia, according to a confidential U.N. report seen by Reuters on Monday. Yemeni forces intercepted the ship, the Jihan 1, off Yemen’s coast on January 23. U.S. and...
Nairobi (AP) – A terror suspect is killed in what police describe as a gun battle. Recovered weapons are displayed for the news media. Hours later another suspect accused of terror links is dead in what police call a shootout. Witnesses and the family of the dead tell a different story: That the suspects were...
BY PROSPER MAKENE The government has refuted the claims that there are some Al-Shabaab terrorists among the 1,300 Somali refugees who have been granted full Tanzanian citizenship. The Somalis entered the country as refugees and were accommodated at Chogo settlement in Tanga Region. They are still in the process of being naturalised. Speaking in an...
Juba, – South Sudanese soldiers have unlawfully detained and ill-treated more than 130 civilians since February 2013 in response to armed violence and inter-communal fighting in Lakes state, Human Rights Watch said today. Soldiers rounded up dozens of young men, often detaining others if they couldn’t find the suspects they were seeking, and held them...