Somalia must be stable and well organised by August 2011, UN envoy

Somalia must be stable and well organised by August 2011, UN envoy

afrol News, 13 October - A professional, well-organised security force must be established in Somalia by August 2011, the end of the mandate of the current Transitional Federal Government (TFG), if peace and stability are to be assured, the top United Nations envoy for the strife-torn country said yesterday.

“If well utilised, this is a reasonable period to rebuild the initial element of your country’s security forces,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah told a Joint Security Committee (JSC) meeting of Somali officials and interested partners in Nairobi, capital of neighbouring Kenya.

“We all are here to help, not to study or to delay our contribution to what is a joint undertaking between you and the international community… Security forces should be better organised and strengthened. What has been achieved since the 7 May attempted coup is great but more needs to be done,” he added, referring to a surge in armed violence targeting the TFG then.

The JSC was established in January under agreements signed in Djibouti between the TFG and some Islamist groups to strengthen the government’s security capacity. Its members include senior representatives of the TFG security institutions, the African Union and its peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the UN and other members of the international community, including the European Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in East Africa, the Arab League, Norway and the United States.

Mr Ould-Abdallah also singled out AMISOM for its work under such adverse conditions. “The courage of the AMISOM troops and their heroic conduct will never be fully appreciated at their true value,” he said.

He called on Somali leaders to continue their commitment to dialogue and working together more closely to achieve peace and stability in a country that as been ravaged by factional fighting and has not had a functioning central government since 1991.

He also urged the international community working in the country to remain focused on key priorities including security, humanitarian assistance, human rights as well as development, particularly job creation.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Somaliland President Rejects New Election Commission Members

Hargeisa — The leader of Somalia's separatist republic of Somaliland has rejected two new members of the election commission presented by opposition parties, Radio Garowe reports.

Somaliland President Dahir Riyale rejected two new members of the election commission, saying that the opposition representatives did not fulfill "selection criteria."

The two new members, Ms. Ilhan Mohamed Jama of Kulmiye party and Mr. Khadar Mohamed Guled of UCID party, were presented as the new opposition representatives in Somaliland's seven-seat election commission.

It was unclear what "selection criteria" the new candidates for the election commission failed to fulfill, but Kulmiye party chairman Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo issued a press statement responding to President Riyale's rejection Sunday and demanding an explanation.

"Mr. President, there is no clause in the laws of the country [Somaliland] giving you the authority to reshuffle the election commission," Mr. Silanyo's press statement read.

Further, Somaliland's opposition leader warned President Riyale to "avoid anything that can hinder the normal procedural process of the six-agreement."

Last month, Somaliland's political rivals signed an agreement ending the months-long dispute over delayed presidential election. The six-point agreement, which was brokered by foreign diplomats, called for new appointees to the election commission.

President Riyale's rejection of the new election commission candidates has raised concerns of a new and emerging dispute that could threaten the six-point agreement, said sources in Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital.

Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia, unilaterally declared independence from the rest of the Horn of Africa country in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally.

Copyright © 2009 Garowe Online. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).

Authorities Attempt Checkpoints to Curb Contraband Goods in Somali Region

Authorities Attempt Checkpoints to Curb Contraband Goods in Somali Region

Federal and regional authorities are establishing more checkpoints and opening more revenue and customs branch offices in the Somali Regional State in a bid to curb rampant contraband trade and encourage legal business. The Somali Regional State shares its border with Somaliland, Djibouti and Kenya, across which contraband trade has flourished for a long time. From rice, which is very commonly eaten in the region to manufactured goods, including many types of electronic wares, are smuggled across the border from the neighbouring countries. The neighbouring countries in turn get livestock, khat and other agricultural products. The people of the region are almost dependent on foreign products. Even in Jijiga, the seat of the regional government, there are few locally produced goods. Local business people do not hold many local products for fear that they will not compete with the smuggled products. That is now changing. The border is being patrolled by federal officers, which are making the smuggling very difficult both ways. “The federal government is establishing 11 new checkpoints in addition to the existing four,” said Mohammednaji Mohammed, head of the Somali Trade and Industry Bureau at Jijiga. “These will provide legal customs services to traders.” The parliament has approved for the regional Revenue and Customs Bureau, which has its only office in Jijiga, to open nine branch offices in the zones, he added. “This is going to happen soon as the officials have already been appointed,” Mohammednaji continued and mentioned that a major part of the work involved changing the people’s attitude towards contraband trade and encouraging them to embrace legal trading system. The bureau will create market links, provide access to regulatory services and at the same time encourage people to buy and sell local products and legally imported commodities and also put pressure on contraband. There was a big public discussion months ago in Jijiga about curbing contraband trade and encouraging legal trade involving the public, business people, representatives of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority, regional government officials and the regional chamber of commerce. Mohammednaji admitted that addressing the issue was a big challenge, but the participants had agreed that contraband trade was more harmful in terms of quality of goods and security. “It is much easier and nearer for our region to import goods from our neighbour Somaliland than having goods from the highland areas of the country,” said Hassen Usman, a businessman in Jijiga. “Besides, the people in this region are familiar with the goods that come from Somaliland. Therefore, the government has to create the means for the legal import of goods from Somaliland.” This problem has been recognized as valid, leading to the identification of 30 business people who will legally import goods from the neighbouring country. “The necessary preparations are done,” Mohammednaji said. “We are only waiting for the legal authorization from the Federal Customs and Revenues Authority.” “We are planning to talk with the federal government to allow goods like food to be imported duty free and to create the means to bring goods from highland areas,” said Haftay Dersta, head of the customer service at the branch office. “Currently, the Whole Sale Trade and Import Enterprise is selling the goods that it receives from us in Jijiga, instead of sending it to the highland area.” He hopes that this will help stabilize the market, which is experiencing fluctuating prices as a result of an inconstant supply of goods.

In Switzerland, fury over minaret ban poster

In Switzerland, fury over minaret ban poster
Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:06:18 GMT
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The Federal Commission against Racism said the posters defame Switzerland's peaceful Muslim population.


Zurich, the largest Swiss city, has permitted the use of a controversial poster which promotes a ban on the construction of minarets on mosques in Switzerland as a national referendum on the issue draws near.

The far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) is using the posters which show a veiled woman in front of a Swiss flag pierced by several minarets.

The anti-immigration party's campaign has prompted strong opposition in the central European state, with Basel and Lausanne describing the posters as racist and banning them in publicly-owned spaces, Euronews reported.

The SVP, condemned by rights activists for inciting hatred toward Islam, argues that the mosque towers symbolize ideological opposition to the country's constitution.

However, Zurich has chosen not to prohibit the poster. The mayor of the city, Corine Mauch, told CNN that although the city officials disapprove of the poster, the decision was taken on the basis of political freedom of speech in the run-up to the vote.

"We consulted the Federal Commission against racism and spoke to Muslim communities in the city, but decided banning the posters from public spaces would draw more attention to the issue."

SVP's controversial bid will be decided in a national referendum on November 29.

According to the latest opinion polls, most Swiss voters are against any ban on minaret construction, with the federal government and all the other major political parties recommending a 'no' vote.

Local Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders have also joined forces to reject a ban, AFP reported.

GHN/MD

Juggling increases brain power

The volunteers were taught to juggle with three balls

Complex tasks like juggling produce significant changes to the structure of the brain, according to scientists at Oxford University.

In the journal, Nature Neuroscience, the scientists say they saw a 5% increase in white matter - the cabling network of the brain.

The people who took part in the study were trained for six weeks and had brain scans before and after.

Long term it could aid treatments for diseases like multiple sclerosis.

Diffusion MRI

The team at Oxford's Department of Clinical Neurology used a diffusion MRI which is able to measure the movement of water molecules in the tissues of the brain.

It's extremely exciting to see evidence that training changes human white matter connections Professor Cathy Price, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging

The signal changes according to how many bundles of nerve fibres there are and how tightly packed they are.

Changes in grey matter, where the processing and computation in the brain happens, have been shown before, but enhancements in the white matter have not previously been demonstrated.

Three ball cascade

The scientists studied a group of 24 healthy young adults, none of whom could juggle.

They divided them into two groups.

One of the groups was given weekly training sessions in juggling for six weeks and was asked to practice 30 minutes every day the other 12 continued as normal.

After training, the 12 jugglers could perform at least two continuous cycles of the classic three ball cascade.

The red area shows the part of the white matter of the brain that is enlarged by learning to juggle It is in the intraparietal sulcus at the back of the brain

Both groups were scanned using diffusion MRI before and after the training.

At the six week point, a 5% increase in white matter was shown in a rear section of the brain called the intraparietal sulcus for the jugglers.

This area has been shown to contain nerves that react to us reaching and grasping for objects in our peripheral vision.

There was a great variation in the ability of the volunteers to juggle but all of them showed changes in white matter.

The Oxford team said this must be down to the time spent training and practising rather than the level of skill attained.

Dr Heidi Johansen-Berg, who led the team, said: "MRI is an indirect way to measure brain structure and so we cannot be sure exactly what is changing when these people learn.

"Future work should test whether these results reflect changes in the shape or number of nerve fibres, or growth of the insulating myelin sheath surrounding the fibres.

"Of course, this doesn't mean that everyone should go out and start juggling to improve their brains.

"We chose juggling purely as a complex new skill for people to learn."

Clinical Applications

Dr Johansen-Berg said there were clinical applications for this work but there were a long way off.

She said: "Knowing that pathways in the brain can be enhanced may be significant in the long run in coming up with new treatments for neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, where these pathways become degraded."

Professor Cathy Price, of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, said: "It's extremely exciting to see evidence that training changes human white matter connections.

"This compliments other work showing grey matter changes with training and motivates further work to understand the cellular mechanisms underlying these effects."

Iran to 'blow up the heart of Israel' if attacked

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A top official with Iran's most powerful military force—the Revolutionary Guard—says Tehran will "blow up the heart of Israel" if the Jewish state or the United States attacked Iran.

Cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the Guard, says that if a single U.S. or Israeli missile lands in Iran, Iranian missiles will hit Israel before the dust settles.

Zolnour's remarks were carried Friday by the state IRNA news agency.

Anti-Israeli stance is common for the hardline Guard, and President Mahmoud Ahmadienjad has often called for Israel's destruction.

But Zolnour appears to be ratcheting up the rhetoric ahead of the next round of talks with the West this month over Iran's controversial uranium enrichment.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Iran: Israel's threats inexplicable

Iran: Israel's threats inexplicable

Iran's ambassador to UN demands Security Council take steps against comments made by Ephraim Sneh, who said Israel would attack Iran if sanctions weren't in place by Christmas
Dudi Cohen

Iran's ambassador to the UN, Mohammad Khazaee, sent a letter of protest to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonin which he wrote that "there is no explanation for Israel's continuing threats against Tehran".

He was referring to an interview given by former Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh to the Sunday Times in which he said that if Iran were not further sanctioned by this Christmas Israel would attack the country.

Sneh told the paper that if Israel were forced to attack the Islamic Republic on its own it would do so, remarks the Iranian ambassador deemed "irresponsible".

He said he hoped the UN would take steps against such comments. "Remarks such as these, stated once in a while by Israeli leaders, are no more than sorry excuses aimed at avoiding supplying answers

regarding Israel's nuclear arsenal and deflecting public awareness from the crimes and terror Israel commits in the region," he said.

Khazaee once again stressed that his country's nuclear program was intended for peaceful purposes and said that "the only threat in the region is Israel's nuclear arsenal, which remains unsupervised to this day".