Sixty women peace activists in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, have appealed for the restoration of peace and stability in the city. Their call was made during a women's forum held in Mogadishu, organised by the Centre for Research and Dialogue (CRD), an affiliate of the War-Torn Societies Project International, according to Maryam Mahmud Haji, a CRD gender officer.

Over 20 people were killed in the course of an outbreak of heavy fighting in the Middle Shabelle Region, south-central Somalia, according to sources in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The fighting in the village of Raghe-Eil, 95 km northeast of Mogadishu, pits militias loyal to faction leader Muhammad Dhere against those of the Abgal sub-clan Muhammad Muse.

Two Kenyan Army battalions are stationed on the Kenya-Somali border in a fresh attempt to counter terrorism. The soldiers will patrol the border, now the focus of the government's fight against terrorism, said National Security minister Chris Murungaru.

The main opposition party in the self-declared republic of Somaliland says it does not recognise the legitimacy of President Dahir Riyale Kahin, according to a statement issued by the party on Sunday.

Karti News is released every two weeks and contains the latest news and information about Somalia, Somaliland and the Horn of Africa. The newsletter has sections on the peace process taking place in Kenya, human rights, health and education, women and gender and civil society. Karti News forms part of a project whose overall objective is the achievement of permanent respect for human rights, justice through rule of law, pluralism, good governance and sustainable peace in Somalia and Somaliland. To subscribe, send an e-mail to [email protected] with only the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body of the message.

Somali communities have reacted with shock and dismay over a decision to close the Saudi-based Al-Haramayn aid agency after the US government accused it of links with terrorists. The Islamic agency closed its doors in Somalia on Saturday after the Saudi government ordered its international staff to leave the country, Nur Alasow, a Somali employee of the agency told IRIN.

The administration in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland and opposition forces signed a peace deal on Saturday aimed at ending conflict in the region, a local journalist told IRIN on Monday.
Related Link:
* Kahin sworn in as Somaliland president
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34167

The first batch of 2,880 Somali refugees who have been accommodated at Dadaab and Kakuma camps in northern Kenya, this week began returning to Somalia, more than a decade after they fled their war-torn country.

The European Commission has approved a major project to support the second phase of a nationwide landmine impact survey for Somalia. In a statement on Wednesday, the EC said it had allocated US $1.73 million to the project. An EC official told IRIN that this second phase - to be implemented by the UN Development Programme and the UN Office for Project Services - will be carried out in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland and southern Somalia, particularly in the Baidoa area, "security and access permitting".

Karti News is released every two weeks and contains the latest news and information about Somalia, Somaliland and the Horn of Africa. The newsletter has sections on the peace process taking place in Kenya, human rights, health and education, women and gender and civil society. Karti News forms part of a project whose overall objectives is the achievement of permanent respect for human rights, justice through rule of law, pluralism, good governance and sustainable peace in Somalia and Somaliland. To subscribe, send an e-mail to [email protected] with only the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body of the message.

When a mentally ill Somali man was shot and killed by police in March 2002, Omar Jamal was there. When a 66-year-old Somali was beaten to death at a bus stop in Oct. 2001 and the FBI was hesitating to investigate it as a hate crime, Omar Jamal was there. When brawls were breaking out between African-American students and Somalis at a large high school in Sept. 2001, Omar Jamal was there. And when the FBI began investigating Somali charities and currency transfer businesses after Sept. 11, he was there as well.

The prime minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia, Hasan Abshir Farah, has admitted there are "minor differences" between himself and the TNG president, but stressed this did not amount to a split within the interim administration.

The United Nations has said it is concerned over the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout Somalia. In a open letter last week to Somali leaders attending the peace talks in Kenya, Maxwell Gaylard, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, expressed "increasing concern about the often appalling conditions in which internally displaced persons in Somalia live".

The London-based rights group Amnesty International (AI) has called for human rights to be at the forefront of discussions at the Somali peace conference now being held in Kenya. In a statement issued this week, AI said a new interim government was likely to emerge from the talks within few months if obstacles to an agreement could be overcome. For that reason, "strong international support for human rights reconstruction is now needed more than ever".

Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan are among the world's most repressive regimes, according to the US-based independent advocacy group, Freedom House. In a report to the UN Human Rights Commission session underway in Geneva, the group has listed 16 countries and three territories it considers as the worst offenders in terms of civil liberties and human rights - among them China, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

There will be no elections in the disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag when Somaliland holds its presidential polls next week, according to the neighbouring self-declared autonomous region of Puntland.

Somali women attending the ongoing peace conference in Nairobi, Kenya, have called for women's rights to be included in all stages of the peace process. Their call came at a three-day workshop for women delegates, supported by the regional body Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

A spokesman for TNG Prime Minister Hassan Abshir Farah said on Monday that Somalia's Transitional National Government was not planning to leave peace talks in Nairobi, Kenya, despite a meeting in Mogadishu at the weekend between the TNG and faction leaders. Ahmed Isse Awad, head of the prime minister's office, told IRIN the meeting was not an alternative to the Kenya conference. He described it as a consultative meeting to discuss ways of bringing stability to the Somali capital.

The Somali peace talks currently underway in Kenya have achieved very few tangible results, members of Somali civil society said on Tuesday. According to a statement, received by IRIN, the group listed a range of objectives it said had not been met. These included "peace and national reconciliation, agreement on a provisional charter and other core issues, as well as the establishment of a national government".

The judiciary component supports social development based on the rule of law and respect for human rights. UNDP intends to recruit a Technical Advisor for a period of 12 months.