The United Nations Security Council has traditionally tried to cut off arms supplies to some of the world's politically troubled countries - including Somalia, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone - in order to restore peace and stability in post-conflict situations. But a move to lift the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia - as proposed by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which brokered that country's reconciliation process - has generated strong warnings from activist groups and Africa-watchers.

Somalia’s long civil conflict and lack of central governing institutions present an international security challenge, says the International Crisis Group. "Terrorists have taken advantage of the state’s collapse to attack neighbouring countries and transit agents and materiel. The country is a refuge for the al-Qaeda team that bombed a Kenyan resort in 2002 and tried to down an Israeli aircraft. Since 2003, Islamist extremists have been linked to murders of Somalis and foreigners. If governments are to counter the limited but real threat of terrorism in or from Somalia, they need to align closer with Somali priorities – the restoration of peace, legitimate and broad-based government, and essential services – and make clear that their counter-terrorism efforts are aimed at a small number of criminals, many of them foreigners, not the Somali population at large."

The World Food Programme has transported food aid to Somalia by road from Kenya, opting to take the land route after pirates earlier this year hijacked a WFP-chartered ship with food aid off the Somali coast. "It is 25-30% cheaper to bring our food aid in by sea and boats can carry much more, but we have had to resort to this land route because ship-owners feel it is too risky to sail to the south," WFP Somalia Country Director Zlatan Milisic said.

Reporters Without Borders has voiced growing concern about the unacceptable way the authorities in the autonomous northeastern region of Puntland have been treating radio STN editor Awale Jama Salad, who has been forced to go into hiding after being arrested and threatened several times by the police. The organisation has written to President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed of Somalia’s transitional federal government (TFG) reminding him of his responsibilities “as guarantor of the rule of law, the safety of citizens and the free practice of journalism in Somalia” and pointing out that his influence is still decisive in Puntland, of which he is the former leader, and nothing is done there without his consent.

The Somali Organisation for Community Development Activities (SOCDA) is a medium sized national Somali Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) founded in 1993 by a group of like-minded Somali professionals. Their newsletter is a watchdog of the Somali socio-political and economic landscape. Email [email protected] to subscribe.

The self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on Tuesday embarked on its first ever disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme designed to reduce the number of its military personnel, officials said. The DDR intitiative, which is supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is expected to cut the number of Puntland's security forces by 1,000 by the middle of 2006 and save funds to finance development projects.

The UN Secretary-General's special envoy for Somalia urged members of the split transitional government to exercise restraint last Thursday amid reports of militia movement in the town of Jowhar, where the president and the prime minister are based.
"I am concerned at the escalation of tensions in Jowhar and Mogadishu, and appeal for restraint from all parties whatever their differences," Francois Lonseny Fall, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Somalia, said in a statement.

The European Commission (EC) said on Thursday that access to basic education remained a major challenge in Somalia despite tremendous gains in literacy in recent years. "Much remains to be done to ensure that Somalis, especially the poor, have access to basic education and lifelong learning opportunities," the EC delegation in Kenya, which also handles Somalia operations, said in a statement on the occasion of the international literacy day.

The International Federation of Journalists has backed Somali journalists in their calls for the need to improve the security of media professionals in the country, according to an IFJ statement. During the opening of the 3rd General Assembly of the IFJ affiliate in Somalia, the Somali Journalists Network (SOJON) in Mogadishu, delegations from the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) of Somalia, Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and the IFJ discussed the troubled media landscape of this divided country with over 170 SOJON members.

This article, published by the Population Council, reports on a study which researched the practice of infibulation, the severest form of female genital cutting (FGC), among the Somali community of Northwestern Province, Kenya. The authors found that FGC is deeply rooted and widely supported within the community. Reasons used to sustain the practice include religious obligation, family honour, virginity as a pre-requisite for marriage, and aesthetic preference. The authors also found that the health sector in the region was poorly equipped to serve women who had been cut, particularly infibulated pregnant women. In addition, healthcare staff were increasingly being approached to perform infibulations or re-infibulations.

Dozens of people were feared dead and many more injured in clashes that broke out on Friday and continued over the weekend in the town of Boru-Hache, also known as El-Waaq, in southwestern Somalia's Gedo region, sources said. "Violations of human rights and international law occurred particularly with regard to the protection of civilians in time of war," Abdullahi Alas Jimale, chief investigator of the Mogadishu-based Isma'il Jim'ale Human Rights Centre (IJHRC), said. Boru-Hache is situated on Somalia's border with Kenya.

Nearly four years after 9/11, hardly a day passes without the "war on terrorism" making headlines, with Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia and now London holding centre stage. But away from the spotlight, a quiet, dirty conflict is being waged in Somalia, reports the International Crisis Group (ICG). "In the rubble-strewn streets of the ruined capital of this state without a government, Mogadishu, al-Qaeda operatives, jihadi extremists, Ethiopian security services and Western-backed counter-terrorism networks are engaged in a shadowy and complex contest waged by intimidation, abduction and assassination. The US has had some success but now risks evoking a backlash. Ultimately a successful counter-terrorism strategy requires more attention to helping Somalia with the twin tasks of reconciliation and state building."

In the last few months, residents of the dusty town of El Wak have had to accommodate 17,000 refugees who escaped fighting between the Marehan and Garre clans over the control of the trading town of Buro-ache, also known as El-Waaq, on the Somali side of the border.

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, which has been based in Nairobi since formed eight months ago, began relocating to the country on Monday. Somali government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said the relocation from Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, would be completed in a few days.

At least 20 people were killed, 50 wounded and hundreds more displaced during inter-clan fighting that began on Monday in the town of Beletweyne in south-central Somalia. The fighting broke out on Monday at around 5:00 p.m. [02:00 GMT] when militias from the Galje'el and Jajele sub-clans clashed on the west side of the town, local journalist Abdullahi Muhammad told IRIN on Tuesday.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the killing, on Sunday, of a radio journalist who was covering a protest by bus and truck drivers near the Somali capital, Mogadishu. "We mourn the loss of our colleague Duniya Muhyadin," Ann Cooper, the CPJ executive director, said on Monday from New York. "Somalia must find a way to end the climate of impunity and violence responsible for this tragic crime."

Five people were killed and over a dozen injured on Monday in fighting between rival factions in the Somali town of Baidoa, 240 km northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, local sources told IRIN. The fighting between rival factions of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), which controls much of Bay and Bakol regions in southwestern Somalia, erupted "at around 4:00 a.m. [local time] this morning [Monday]," a local journalist said.

Veteran journalist Abdallah Nurdin Ahmad was wounded Tuesday night in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, when an unidentified gunman fired three times at close range, according to Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) sources. Nurdin, a senior producer at the private radio station HornAfrik, underwent surgery at Medina Hospital and was recovering. Ali Iman Sharmake, HornAfrik's co-manager, told CPJ it was not clear why Nurdin was targeted, but it could have been for his work as a journalist. Nurdin also owns a snack bar, and some sources said a dispute over that business could have sparked the shooting. The attack occurred at the snack bar.

We are a Somali Local Organization which is non-political and non-profit making, known as Somali Human Rights Action. We work in the central zone and Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. We feel Pambazuka News is helping us particularly in the following areas: We receive all the news particularly about Africa nations and the latest highlights news which is common for all people who read Pambazuka all the time. We receive knowledge of writing in English in many different issues. There is also workshop information. We also use this reference in writing proposals, reports and letters .We try to follow all the news, particularly the Human Rights Information. We try to follow all details, but most of the time we are unable to because of the financial situation. The better part of it is that we have the information and we know that we have a chance to succeed. I cant even explain in this small letter how we feel Pambazuka News has been helping our growth as an organization.

But the only thing I can say is that Pambazuka News has been helping our growth in many ways. For example. I gave two organizations and  one friend in Dubai the contacts and the information of Pambazuka News. The organizations are also local organizations. They thanked me because they had no idea that there was anything like Pambazuka which really helped them. Pambazuka News helps by giving us more information particularly on the Human Rights programmes like workshops and contacts for donors. Pambazuka News is helping in the free information that we receive every time which is knowledgeable. Currently, our biggest problem is rent of our offices and communication costs in this year 2005 and also building capacity of our organizational staff. We hope that all we have told you will help you to help us to get donors who can help us. Your cooperation and help will be highly appreciated.

A peacekeeping force scheduled for deployment to Somalia will be delayed as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) attempts to iron out legal limitations and reconcile the divided transitional federal government (TFG), sources said. "IGAD's charter does not cater for troop deployment, and therefore efforts are underway to have it amended," a senior Uganda government official who preferred anonymity told IRIN on Monday.