The Somali Piracy Epiphenomenon about to End. VII – The Advance of the MV FAINA Negotiations

The progress in the negotiations and all the Somalia – related news of last week are to be found in the Ecoterra 128th Press Release Update that I herewith publish integrally.

128th Update 2009-02-03 23h19:44 UTC

Ecoterra Intl. - Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !

Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates and related news.

We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past - with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!

New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme - Media Officer: +254-733-385868
EA Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hot line: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed)

Day 132 - 3153 long hours into the MV FAINA Crisis - Update Summary

Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the over four months long stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship MV FAINA is not yet finally solved. Contacts and direct negotiations had been arranged and commenced after the Israeli owner first refused to negotiate. The talks are said to have now been concluded, but the vessel is not free yet and the FAINA saga always has been full of surprises.

Somali pirates who have been holding a Ukrainian ship with military weapons on board have announced their intention to immediately release the ship along with its 20 crew members. Andrew Mwangura, East Africa's Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) said the pirates may very soon release the MV FAINA which was captured in September with its 20-man crew and a cargo of Soviet-era T-72 tanks. "We have heard that the pirates are willing to release the ship. This may be possible because the pirates are in direct contacts with the ship owners", Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone on Tuesday. The development came after Ukraine's foreign ministry urged the owner of the FAINA vessel to publicly report on progress made in the talks to free the crew. The Ukrainian ministry said the ship owner is in talks with the pirates and is informed of the details of the negotiations.

Iran's PressTV already reported that the Israeli-owner of the arms-laden ship held by Somali pirates paid 3.2 million dollars in return for the vessel's release and stated that on Tuesday, a plane from South Africa carrying $ 3.2 million dropped the demanded ransom onto the FAINA upon an agreement between the pirates and the ship's owner, according to a report by a Press TV correspondent, who added: "The pirates said they will release the ship in a few hours, as soon as they count the sum and confirm there are no warships to hunt them". This "done-deal"-report was, however, not confirmed by sources on the ground, who only reported a kind of a test-drop of some money [200,000.- USD] further inland from where the vessel is held by her captors and constantly watched by US naval vessels. Russian sources speak of 1.5 mio plus 200 Tsd USD going to the pirates.

It is, however, obvious that only after public pressure was mounted and the families could no longer be intimidated, the owners finally came also under political pressure to engage in straight negotiations. But how the FAINA saga finally ends remains to be seen.

There is no limit to what a person can do or how far one can go to help - if one doesn't mind who gets the credit !

The Somali as well as the Ukrainian/Russian/Israeli sides must come to terms now and set the innocent seafarers free with first priority ! And in order to avoid the destruction of the vessel and its cargo by anybody as well as to avert the subsequent humanitarian, health and environmental horror-scenario, such can only be achieved together with the release of the ship, where also the body of deceased Capt. Vladimir Kolobkov is still kept.

If the stand-off can not be resolved within the next days Ecoterra Intl. demands immediate humanitarian assistance to be allowed, facilitated and dispatched to the vessel and the body of deceased Capt. Vladimir Kolobkov transferred to his family with respect. Ecoterra Intl. also calls for human rights protection to be provided for all crew members, their families in Russia, the Ukraine and Latvia as well as for all well-meaning people assisting in solving the case, many of whom have been subjected already to serious threats, acts of intimidation and persecution.

Ecoterra Intl. repeats its call to solve the FAINA case now with absolute top priority and peaceful in order to avert a human and environmental disasters at the Somali coast. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed by the captors and facilitated by the owners. Anybody encouraging hot-headed and concerning such difficult situations inexperienced and untrained gunmen or those, who believe they would be capable to try an attempt of a military solution, must be held fully responsible for the surely resulting disaster. The saga and secrecy surrounding MV FAINA must not - like in the MS ESTONIA case, which is the worst naval disaster in Europe since WWII - become the shroud for its 20 seafarers. "The environment and its natural resources are all too often forgotten as the long-term casualty of war. Environmental security must no longer be viewed as a luxury but needs to be seen as a fundamental part of a long-lasting peace policy". - UNEP

The FAINA is one of at least 49 ships that pirates seized last year off the Horn of Africa during a surge in piracy driven in part by Somalia's growing poverty and instability. The multimillion dollar ransoms are believed by many to be one of the only ways to "make money" in the impoverished nation. But while the many cases of sea-jacked merchant vessels on innocent passage (sailing even outside the EEZ e.g. in the Indian Ocean) constitutes clear piracy, Somali actions against illegal fishing or against any transport of illegitimate or clandestine goods has a legal standing. Ecoterra advocates to end all destructive, detrimental, criminal and illegal activities in Somali waters.

Raising public awareness through legitimate criticism of government actions is a fundamental part of human rights work. We know the Ukrainian authorities don’t welcome facts or information about allegations, but governments trying to prevent torture or other internationally outlawed human rights violations or crimes should encourage reporting of complaints, but not retaliate against human rights defenders. Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs. The UN Human Rights Committee has stated that, "Citizens also take part in the conduct of public affairs by exerting influence through public debate". States also have obligations specifically relating to protecting and ensuring the right of human rights defenders to do their work. The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders states that everyone has the right to promote the protection and realization of human rights and that individuals or groups have the right to articulate criticism and make proposals for improving the work of government bodies, among other rights. Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantee free speech. Government officials are expected to be more receptive to criticism than private citizens, especially when it concerns the carrying out of their official duties.

Clearing-house:

News from other abducted or newly attacked ships --------

Games Crazy People Play: Kidnapping, Pirating, and War & Naval War-games to protect Fish-piracy and to cover the real agenda

Somali pirates who recently hijacked a German gas tanker have demanded 6 Million dollars to free the ship and its crew, sources said on Monday.

Five Somali pirates have been on board the Danish warship Absalon for more than a month without being brought before a judge, despite agreement from the Netherlands several weeks ago that they could be tried under Dutch jurisdiction. Under Danish law, the five should have been presented before a judge under habeas corpus rules within 24 hours. The pirates were detained on December 31 after attempting to hijack a Dutch Antilles-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

Ecoterra Intl. had been told that the 5 would be handed to Denmark and not to Yemen, like in an earlier case against which Ecoterra had been protesting. Although Denmark and the Netherlands have agreed that the five could be tried in the Netherlands, the two countries have been haggling since the detention on the international legal ramifications of where and how to hand the five over to Dutch authorities. "Insecurity as to what is to happen to them is difficult for the five", says Amnesty Press Chief Ole Hoff Lund. Amnesty International is demanding a solution to the issue within a few days. The Absalon is currently in Bahrain, and was to have continued its operations guarding shipping off Somalia against pirate attacks. The vessel is, however, unlikely to leave port with the five Somalis still on board.

A day after we reported the release, the Ukraine's Foreign Ministry confirmed that eight Ukrainian crewmembers on board a Turkish-owned ship, captured in the Gulf of Aden on December 16, have been released. The Antigua-flagged Bosphorus Prodigy, a cargo vessel built in 1985, with eight Ukrainian and three Turkish nationals on board, was captured by Somali pirates. "According to statements made by representatives of the Isko Marine Shipping [Company], the vessel is currently on route to the nearest port", the ministry said.
A Comoros-registered cargo ship was reported missing off Somalia with 14 Indian crew aboard. A Kenyan maritime official said Tuesday he feared it had been seized by pirates. Andrew Mwangura, East Africa's Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said the MV Jaikur II, owned by Al Rashid Shipping Dubai went missing while sailing into Somali waters from Kenya. "The vessel left Mombassa more than a week ago. We fear the pirates might have seized it", Mwangura said. In Dubai, an official at Al Rashid Shipping declined to comment on the report. "It has been reported that the vessel ... is missing or has been detained in Somali waters on account of a commercial dispute between the owner and other interested parties", Andrew Mwangura said in an email.

Sources at the port of Mombassa stated also that the shipping papers do not really match with the registration of the vessel. The vessel, described by marine observers earlier as "Indian vessel" had been seen and reported as held near Dhanane - north of Eyl in Somalia's breakaway region of Puntland.

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 14 foreign vessels with a total of 243 crew members accounted for (of which 56 are Filipinos) are held in Somali waters and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. the presently held) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 15 averted or abandoned attacks and 6 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as one wrongful attack by friendly fire on the side of the naval forces. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures.

Directly related news --------

Meanwhile, Somali President Sheikh Sharif continued his summit activities with a speech to fellow heads of state. Speaking in Arabic through an interpreter, he pledged to counter the lawlessness and piracy that has characterized Somalia's position as a failed state. "We would like to assure our full cooperation with the international community to do away with piracy, which has really damaged the Somalis more than anyone else", he said. "Yet we believe the solution is on the territory and not on the sea. And the Somali forces will carry out this job".

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday welcomed the new Somali government of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and urged him to reach a political settlement in the decades- long conflict in the Horn of Africa nation. Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was sworn in as Somalia's new president on Saturday. His predecessor resigned last month, allowing for a peaceful transition in the war-torn country. The Security Council urged the new president to move promptly to form a government of national unity 'at the earliest possible date’.

The United Nations Security Council today voiced concern over the growing violence in Somalia, while it commended the Horn of African country’s lawmakers on the recent election of their new President. "Council members expressed their concern regarding the humanitarian situation in Somalia and condemned the violence directed at civilians, AMISOM [the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia] and humanitarian personnel", Ambassador Yukio Takasu of Japan, which holds the rotating Council presidency for this month, said in a press statement. Welcoming the election of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the Council called on the new leader to act quickly to establish a government of national unity and advance the peace process. Under the 2007 Djibouti Agreement the Transitional Federal Government (TGF) and opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) – led by the new President – agreed to end their conflict. "The members of the Council expressed their strong support for the peace process and for this important step towards political settlement in Somalia", stressed Mr. Takasu. The Council also called on all Somalis to support transitional federal institutions as peace and reconciliation efforts go forward and commended AMISOM along with UN Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, for their important work.

Like many international security concerns, Somali piracy cannot be fully combated by force alone. The problem is merely a symptom of a country on the brink of humanitarian disaster, writes the Baltimore Sun. Solving the Somali piracy crisis will thus take a combination of a robust international naval presence, a mechanism to prosecute captured pirates, a political settlement between warring Somali factions and solid intelligence work. Without meaningful consequences, Somali pirates have little incentive to change their behavior. More nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia should offer naval and intelligence assistance to the coalition already in place. Coordination by the U.N. contact group is essential to effectively prevent and respond to pirate attacks. Recently, Washington and Britain reached agreements with Kenya to transfer pirate suspects for trial in Nairobi. This positive step should be duplicated by other nations whose navies are involved in anti-piracy operations near Somalia. The political aspect of ending Somali piracy is unfortunately more difficult - and more important. The United Nations must make tough decisions about what it is prepared to do. The most obvious answer is to bolster the existing African Union mission in the lawless nation. Beyond boosting training and logistical support as well as adding reinforcements to the mission, Washington and its allies must at a minimum ensure that relief supplies can safely reach Somalia's ports. An international coalition patrolling the Horn of Africa's waterways is not a long-term solution to Somali piracy. However, it may prevent the problem from reaching epidemic proportions and buy time for Washington and other concerned nations to finally broker and implement a deal to bring peace and stability to Somalis, who increasingly barely remember it.

The maritime rescue coordination centre in Mombassa is bracing for heightened activity after Kenya signed an international code of conduct aimed at repressing piracy off the coast of Somalia. The code, signed last week in Djibouti by Kenya and nine other regional countries, commits signatories to fully co-operate in the arrest, investigation, and prosecution of persons who have committed piracy or are reasonably suspected of having committed the crime besides seizing suspect ships and the property on board such ships as well as rescue ships, persons, and property subject to acts of piracy. "The adoption of this instrument shows that countries in the region are willing to act concertedly and together, contributing to the ongoing efforts of the broader international community to fight the scourge of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the area", Mr Efthimios Mitropoulos, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), said. The code of conduct is open for signature by the 21 countries in the region, of which nine — namely, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Seychelles, Somalia, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Yemen — signed the document during the closing ceremony of the high-level meeting. The code became effective from January 29. The deal provides for shared operations, such as nominating law enforcement or other authorised officials, to embark on patrol ships or aircraft of another signatory.

Jeroen Meijer, vice president and national practice leader for crisis management at the Washington, D.C., office of London-based Control Risks Group, said Naval ships face a daunting task in protecting merchant ships from attack by smaller, faster pirate vessels. "If the situation on land doesn't change, this will remain an issue. They operate with total impunity", Meijer said. "Each country has different rules of engagement. They're not after the crew or cargo. They are willing to let a ship and cargo go, if they (ship operators) pay the ransom. Crews have been treated relatively well", he said. Meijer said merchant ships should travel in packs and with military escorts. Companies must train their crews to be prepared for hijacking incidents, he said. But, Control Risks Group said it believes crews shouldn't try to fight pirates. "We are very strongly against arming a vessel", Meijer said. "It's so difficult to say that is a pirate or that is a fisherman. You don't know". He said the consequences of killing an innocent fisherman could result in a serious reaction. "Operationally, the challenges are enormous. There are laws about how you can engage", said Jim Lawrence, publisher emeritus of Marine Money magazine in Stamford.

Somalia's newly-elected President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed has been hailed at the opening ceremonies of a summit of African leaders in Addis Ababa. The session was dominated by Libya's leader Moammar Gaddafi, who vowed to push ahead with his idea of a continental government. Outgoing chairman Kikwete interrupted summit business Monday to pay tribute to the new U.S. President Barack Obama. As his last act in the chair, Mr. Kikwete said the African Union attaches great importance to what most people here feel will be a new chapter for U.S. Africa relations during the Obama administration.

Somalia's new President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his neighbours in the Horn of Africa agreed Monday to work together for peace, in a remarkable political change for the region. A statement issued after a meeting in the Ethiopian capital marked a turnaround in regional affairs, two years after Ethiopia invaded Somalia to drive out Sheikh Sharif. When Ethiopia, a US ally, sent in its troops in late 2006, their main target was Sheikh Sharif's forces, which were then seen as extremists who had gained control of most of the country. After two years of deadly guerilla war, Ethiopia withdrew just one week ago having made little real progress, while new radical groups emerged and made Sheikh Sharif appear like a moderate. He was elected president by a parliamentary vote on Friday, in a move welcomed by the region as well as the United States as a step towards bringing stability to a country without an effective central government since 1991.

Sheikh Sharif met with leaders of five other nations in the Horn on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, where the young cleric was welcomed with rousing applause. After meeting with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which groups six nations in the Horn including Ethiopia and Somalia, the leaders released a statement vowing to work together to solve Somalia's security problems. Sheikh Sharif said in the statement that his priorities included "developing peaceful and friendly relations with the neighbouring countries based on international law and AU principles". The six countries agreed to "keep close liaison with the government of Somalia... and continue to render it the necessary political support as the latter continues its endeavour for peace and national reconciliation". They also called on the international community to provide training to Somali forces and humanitarian aid for the people. Although Sheikh Sharif briefly controlled large parts of the country before the Ethiopian invasion, his government now has little power outside the capital Mogadishu.

Sheikh Sharif is Somalia's 7th president since the country won independence from Britain in 1960. Born in 1964 in Shabeellaha Dhexe province in north-eastern Somalia, Sheikh Sharif belongs to the Abgaal branch of the Hawiye clan, one of the country's two largest and prominent clans. Sheikh Sharif, whose family follows a Somali Sufi group called Al-Idressiya, received religious education at a school run by Al-Azhar, the highest religious seat in the Muslim world. As a deadly civil war broke out in 1991, he left to Sudan to complete his academic education. After studying for two years at the Kurdufan University, Sharif left for Libya where he obtained a degree in Islamic Shari`ah in 1998. He returned to Mogadishu where he worked as a geography teacher for some time. In 2002, Sheikh Sharif co-founded the Islamic Courts Union, which briefly ruled Somalia in 2006 and restored a rare peace and security to the war-torn country. Previously, Sharif was the leader of the political wing of the Supreme Islamic Courts Council (SICC), which briefly controlled southern and central Somalia during the second half of 2006.

After Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia in December 2006, Sharif first fled into the bush of southern Somalia, where he was captured; he was then taken to Kenya, where his interrogators included U.S. Embassy officials. Sharif was subsequently released into exile in Eritrea (though he has also traveled to Yemen and has been in touch with the Saudi government), where he became a leader of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS). Ethiopia invaded Somalia to oust his ruling group and to install a weak interim government, the TFG. In 2007, Sheikh Sharif was elected the leader of the opposition Alliance of the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS). In October 2008, ARS signed a power-sharing deal with the interim government, paving the way for the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops.

A month later, Sheikh Sharif returned to his stronghold of Jowhar, located some 90 kilometers north of Mogadishu, for the first time in two years after Ethiopian troops vacated the town. On January 31, 2009, Sheikh Sharif was elected Somalia's 7th president by the Djibouti-based parliament. Sharif, having been in exile since January 2007, is taking over a de facto government-in-exile. His supporters are also parliamentarians in exile — the vote in which they elected him was taken in neighboring Djibouti. They have not convened parliament in Somalia, and it is not clear whether they will be able to, as the parliament building is occupied by hard-line Islamist al Shabab fighters, who are opponents of Sharif.

The Somali government has reportedly ordered military to take back the transitional administration's final stronghold from opposition fighters. The country's soldiers started advancing towards the central town of Baidoa on Monday, after the government officials held talks in the southern town of Huduur to discuss the details of the move, a Press TV correspondent reported. The town, which is the seat of the Somali parliament, recently fell into the clutches of Al-Shabaab fighters. The gunmen have been opposing the country's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) on behalf of their superiors - the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). Following the fall of Baidoa Somali lawmakers, gathered in neighboring Djibouti in an attempt to shape a unity government in the Horn of Africa country under a UN-brokered plan. Earlier in the day, the UIC voiced its opposition to the lawmakers' Saturday election of popular opposition leader Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed as the country's new president. The fighters "see the result of the conference of conspiracy in Djibouti as one that does not concern us and we do not recognize it", said Sheik Muse Abdi Arale, a top UIC official, Xinhua reported.

A spokesman for the extremist Somali Islamist group Al Shabab which is accused of having links with Al-Qaeda on Tuesday called on its fighters and supporters to be ready for a Jihad against the African Union peacekeepers in the Somali capital. Sheikh Muqtar Robow Abu Mansur who talked to reporters in Baidoa on Tuesday said that although the Ethiopian troops have left the country, insurgency has not come to an end and all Mujahideens (holy fighters) are now preparing themselves for taking the biggest attacks on the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). "Late on Monday, they (AMISOM) have committed mass killings against Somali civilians, so do we wait for them to come and kill all of us in our homes? No we have to attack them and let no one of them escape from our bullets", the militant leader said during his press conference in Baidoa on Tuesday. He said that the newly elected government is not an Islamic one and so the Mujahideens will continue fighting until they succeed to reach their target of forming an Islamic administration in Somalia and the entire world. His statement comes a day after when the Somali government leaders including Mogadishu’s deputy mayor said that AMISOM forces opened fire on buses and killed nearly 30 civilians a little while after a remote controlled explosive device targeted one of their vehicles along the high Maka Al Mukarrama way south of the capital.

But AMISOM spokesman Major Ba-hoku Barigye who was reached for comments by APA said that his men were targeted by a remote-controlled mine and then they came under fire. "Those who attacked us killed the civilians. We work here as peacekeepers and our forces are ashamed of killing innocent people", he told APA by telephone. "One of our soldiers was wounded in the brutal attack" he replied when APA asked if there was any casualty on the AU peacekeepers. The AU has nearly 3,400 peacekeepers in Somalia from Uganda and Burundi, while other countries including Nigeria are due to send peacekeepers to the war-ravaged nation which has lacked a functioning government for nearly two decades.

As already reported, Somali officials now confirmed that at least 18 people died after African Union troops opened fire in response to a roadside bomb targeting their convoy in southern Mogadishu. However, the peacekeeping force's spokesman denied the charge. The officials and a witness said the soldiers opened fire on buses after an AU vehicle hit a landmine on Monday. The incident happened on a road in southern Mogadishu linking the presidential palace and the airport. Both are among the government installations the AU force guards as part of its mandate in Mogadishu. Yusuf Dhumal, a police commander, said the troops killed the civilians when they opened fired in response to the blast. "I counted 18 dead civilians who were killed by them after spraying fire on the buses", he told the AFP news agency.

Abdifatah Ibrahim Shaweye, deputy mayor of Mogadishu, said more than 20 civilians were killed in the shooting. "The African Union forces committed mass killings today after an explosion hit their convoy. The number of innocent civilians they killed after the explosion exceeded 20", and added: "The peacekeepers fired at three minibus taxis carrying civilians after the land mine damaged an AU vehicle in the Somali capital, Mogadishu". Major Bahuko Baridgye, a spokesman for the AU forces, denied the charges and said that three civilians died in the explosion that also wounded four others. "The information we got indicates that three civilians died in the explosion and one of our soldiers was lightly injured. The vehicle was also slightly damaged", Bridgye told AFP. "Our forces did not open fire on people". The peacekeeping force is made up of Ugandan and Burundian soldiers. It has been in Mogadishu for about two years and is charged with protecting key government installations. The AU peacekeepers have often been targeted by anti-government fighters since the first Ugandan contingent deployed in the country in March 2007. A Somali journalist, Abdi Kaamil, who was at the scene said, "I saw 12 bodies inside a bus at the pavement". "I was told that other bodies were taken before I arrived the scene, but don’t how many they were". "There was a huge explosion, which blew up one of the Ugandan military vehicles, lifting it off the road", said Mohamud Abdisamad, a resident of the Waberi district where the violence happened. "Afterwards, Ugandan soldiers started shooting at people in the three buses wildly".

Ali Muse, one of the coordinators of Mogadishu's ambulance service, said the service transported 18 dead and 11 people wounded from the scene of the violence. Muse said the dead and wounded had gunshot wounds. A senior police officer, Gen. Yusuf Hussein Dumal, accused the AU peacekeepers of intentionally shooting the civilians. "It is unfortunate for both the Ugandan government and for the Somalis as well. What happened here was a clear massacre against civilians", Dumal said. "This is not peacekeeping". Barely a week ago 30 civilians were killed by AU troops in a similar incident. The spokesman of Hawiye traditional elders, Ahmed Diriye Ali has Tuesday denounced the Ugandan soldiers for massacring more than 30 Somali civilians after one of their military trucks targeted landmine explosion yesterday (Monday) in Maka al Mukarama road in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The elders have expressed sorrow for what had happened to the Somali civilians and regretted their previous decision in over the past weeks for not attacking the AMISOM peace keepers in Mogadishu adding that the Ugandan soldiers have deliberately opened fire to innocent people of Somalia traveling on a road near their base after the explosion attack. "We are very sorry for the shocking accident which took place yesterday afternoon which AMISOM soldiers killed many Somali people and we are sending condolence message to all the relatives of the people killed by the Ugandan troops" Mr Diriye told Shabelle radio.

Abdi Fatah Shaweye, the deputy governor of Banadir region also condemned AMISOM soldiers specially the Ugandan troops and said that they have intentionally opened fire against Somali civilians killing more than 40 and injuring more in Mogadishu. "AMISOM did not come to the Somali country for peace and we will not tolerate such brutal action of the foreign troops. We will not endure the killing of our people because the people are not goats so we call for the foreigners to refrain from the action of killing Somali people", Fatah said.

Meanwhile the highest-ranking U.N. official for Somalia has angrily denounced reports of a civilian massacre by African Union peacekeeping troops in Mogadishu, saying the story is designed to distract attention from positive developments in the country. U.N. Special Representative Ahmedou Ould Abdallh, however, admitted that he does not know the exact details of Monday's incident in Mogadishu, since he is in Addis Ababa. But Ahmedou Ould Abdallh is already receiving harsh criticism for his statement, since he was calling in an interview with VOA for a moratorium on reports written outside Somalia based on information supplied by local Somali journalists. This is seen as an attempt to whitewash atrocities committed by AU troops, which have clearly been documented also concerning earlier incidences. And even if Ethiopia is not preparing a fresh attack into Somalia, it seems pretty clear, from witness testimony and through the nonchalant admission to maintaining high troop levels on this not-exactly-hard-and-fast border, that Ethiopian troops are doing something in Somalia. Whether that is extorting a "tax," readying an assault, or just causing general mayhem, doesn't seem as important as their evident ability to move back and forth across the border, even after their much-anticipated withdrawal. For all the problems raised by the Ethiopian occupation, at least everyone knew that they were there; the current shady situation does not bode well for Somalia's new president, who has pledged to craft a "good relationship" with his country's erstwhile regional rivals. The row comes at a time when also the UN office for Somalia is under internal oversight investigation by UN headquarters.

Witnesses reported that Ethiopian troops have returned to a border town in Somalia, just over a week after they ended their unpopular two-year presence in the nation. The Ethiopian government on Tuesday denied the claim. The Islamists who control most of Somalia and have used the foreign presence to rally recruits vowed to fight any Ethiopian troops who did not leave. Somalia's newly elected president told fellow African leaders, however, that he wants to improve relations with Ethiopia after having previously characterized it as an enemy. In the Somali town of Kalabeyrka, a few miles (kilometers) from the border, resident Farhan Dheere said that Ethiopian troops in 17 military vehicles arrived Monday and set up a checkpoint. Truck driver Botan Ali said his vehicle was searched by Ethiopian troops in Kalabeyrka on Tuesday and Somali militiamen working with the Ethiopians demanded he pay some money that they described as "tax". Ethiopian Communication Affairs Minister Bereket Simon denied there are any Ethiopian troops in Somalia. "We're within the bounds of Ethiopian territory and we have no intention of crossing" the border, Bereket told The Associated Press. Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government called in the Ethiopian troops in December 2006 to oust an umbrella Islamic group that had controlled southern Somalia and the capital for six months.

The Islamists launched an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians. The last Ethiopian troops withdrew Jan. 25 in a move widely welcomed by Somalis who had viewed the troops as an occupying force. The chairman of the Council of Islamic Courts in the Somali region of Hiran, where the two witnesses reported seeing Ethiopian troops, urged them to leave. "We, the authorities in the region, will not accept it. If they do not leave within 24 hours we will fight with them", Sheik Abdurrahman Ibrahim Ma'ow told The Associated Press by telephone. Somalia and Ethiopia have been rivals for decades, and fought in the late 1970s over a southeastern region of Ethiopia populated principally by people of Somali origin. The Ethiopian army, one of Africa's largest, was viewed by many Somalis as abusive and heavy-handed. Ethiopia long said it wanted to pull out after stabilizing Somalia, but opponents said Ethiopia — a mainly Orthodox Christian country — was interested in preventing an Islamist regime in neighboring Somalia. In his first speech to his fellow African leaders, Somalia's new president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, said his country will lay aside its decades-long animosity for Ethiopia. It was unclear if he was aware of reports of Ethiopian troops being in his country. "I have a commitment to create a peaceful life for my people", Ahmed said, speaking in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. "I will do my best to create a good relationship between Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti. I think all of them, they are doing well to create a peaceful life in the Horn of Africa. And we have to respect each other and to respect our sovereignty. Ahmed was a key leader of the Council of Islamic Courts that ran Mogadishu for six months in 2006 before Ethiopian soldiers drove them from power. Since his election Saturday as president, he has vowed to part with his former extremist allies and pursue a moderate Islamic policy.

Impacting news from the global village ----------------

During the 12th AU summit the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) have signed a Financing Agreement for the new Africa Peace Facility (APF) which amounts to 384 million U.S. dollars, according to the AU's website. The AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra and Director General for Development of the EU Stefano Manservisi on Monday signed the agreement, which will amount to 300 million euros (384 million dollars) and will cover the period 2008-2010. It will include an Early Response Mechanism, which will strengthen the flexibility and rapidity of the APF response, according to the website statement. The launch of the new APF is a major deliverable of the Partnership on Peace and Security, as provided for under the Lisbon Joint Strategy. It will provide funding for Africa-led Peace Support operations and will support the African Peace and Security Architecture as well as the EU-Africa dialogue on peace and security. A number of Africa-led peace support operations, including the AU operations in Sudan, in Somalia and the peace support operations of the Economic Community of Central African States in Central Africa Republic, have been supported by the APF. In addition, an ambitious capacity building program for the AU and the Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution is underway as part of the capacity building component of the APF.

End of Ecoterra 128th Press Release Update