Aid Suspended

The UN World Food Program has suspended its aid operations in much of southern Somalia. The agency cited ongoing violence and unacceptable demands by rebels for the withdrawal.

The World Food Program has been central in international efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Somalia. But the agency said due to threats against its staff and unacceptable demands by al-Shabaab rebels, it was virtually impossible for it to reach the more than 1 million people in desperate need of aid. About three-quarters of the 3.76 million Somalis who require aid, are concentrated in central and southern regions. Most of those areas are controlled by the al-Shabaab rebel group, which Washington says is linked to al-Qaeda.

Peter Smerdon, Spokesman of UN World Food Program, said, “We are very concerned about the people of Somalia who need assistance, but we simply could not continue after a spate of escalating demands, harassment and problems with armed groups in the south. So we have temporarily closed about five offices, we have pulled staff out, we have pulled out virtually all the equipment and we need security to return.”

Oman

The Sultanate of Oman

The available evidence is that piracy, far from being a threat to Somalia, is transforming the economy of Central Somalia. Kenya is also enjoying a property boom, as Somalis invest their ransom money. In the period 2005-2010 property prices in Nairobi increased between two and three-fold.

Far from being isolated from the rest of the world, successful Somali businessmen (including those making money from piracy) are able to freely travel and invest their money abroad. The same air routes also deliver the navigation and communications equipment needed by the growing pirate “companies”.
This may sound counter-intuitive, but in fact we have been feed so much non-reflective analysis by the media, that we actually believe the conclusions. Typical of this is a comment by David Randall in The Independent, “Western security agencies say that Somalia has become a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, who are using it to plot attacks across the impoverished region and beyond. As many have pointed out, the only lasting solution to the problem of piracy on the high seas is a political solution to anarchy on dry land. Until then, the capture of ships and crews will continue.” The more balanced view may be that Somalia is a territory in which a number of groups are violently competing for control of the resources of the country, and that the conflict at a local level is still fundamentally tribal, whereas foreign elements, and those Somalis allied to them, including the agents of states, often express their desire for influence and control by the use of ideological language, including support for and opposition to Islamic extremist philosophies.

A political solution to the many problems of Somalia will not be possible until the inhabitants of the former Italian colony of Somalia decide that they wish to renounce violent conflict, something which Somaliland (the former British colony) has already done. Given the strength of the competing parties, which are variously supported by agents from the United States, Ethiopia, France, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Kenya, in addition to criminal elements from Italy and elsewhere, and individuals espousing “terrorism”, and the current commitment of the United Nations, and other international bodies, to an imposed political solution, it is extremely unlikely that any lasting political solution for Somalia will be forthcoming in the near future.

AU Mission Extended

The UN Security Council has unanimously voted for the extension of the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

The 15-member body approved the continuation of the mandate for another year.

The Security Council also called on African states to boost the mission’s troop numbers to up to 8,000 from its current 5,000 from Uganda and Burundi.

In a Thursday statement, the council also urged African countries to train Somali troops and support the government in Mogadishu.

The humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa nation has become worse, with international aid groups such as the World Food Program having to pull out due to security issues.

The fighting between government forces and local fighters in Somalia has escalated, claiming hundreds of lives and displacing thousands over the past weeks.

The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees says more than 100 thousand Mogadishu residents have fled the capital over the persistence of violence in the country.