The Unrepentant Sheikh Sharif: Promised Peace, Brought Disaster, Chaos, and Pestilence in Somalia

Every document, every piece of news, and every development helps convince even the most hesitant and the most reluctant Somali about the calamitous role played by the Ominous Sheikh Sharif in Somalia.

He promised peace, concord and improvement; with his pathetic hatred of the greatly popular patriotic opposition, with his inane reliance on Somalia’s worst enemies, and with his incredible cynicism, Sheikh Sharif delivered disaster, death, chaos and pestilence.

In this article, I republish four convincing documents from the IRIN portal that certainly cannot be accused of pro-Opposition bias. Yet, all the IRIN reports show very well that the common denominator of all the calamities befallen on the Somali Nation is one person: Sheikh Sharif.

The earlier he resigns the better for Somalia – and for him.

Somalia: Inflation hurting livelihoods in Beletweyne
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84264

Nairobi, 7 May 2009 (IRIN) - Prices of basic commodities and house rents have rocketed in the town of Beletweyne in Somalia's Hiiraan region, due to insecurity and large influx of displaced people.

"Everything is going up, whether it is rent, water, food or even bus-fare," said Abdirashid Abdullahi, a trader in Beletweyne.

He said his rent went up from the equivalent of US$10 five years ago to $75 in May. He added that the cost of transporting goods had also risen dramatically in the past few months.

"This has forced me and many other traders to increase our prices," he said. "Unfortunately everyone is affected."

A local journalist, who requested anonymity, told IRIN the economic situation was affecting all sectors of society.

"In the past it was the urban poor and the displaced that fared the worst; now even families from Beletweyne are affected," he said.

He said families were resorting to sending their children to the market to look for work. "It is becoming normal to see children carrying stuff for people or doing odd-jobs to help the family."

Cost of roadblocks

Abdullahi Ali, a businessman, told IRIN that insecurity in the capital, Mogadishu (also the area's main port), roadblocks and seasonal port closures were disrupting the importation of food and non-food commodities.

"We use the port of Mogadishu or Bosasso [in Puntland, the semi-autonomous region in the northeast]," Ali said. "The problem is that there are so many roadblocks to pay that by the time you get your goods they cost nearly twice as much. There are also times when the entire consignment is lost to bandits on the highway."

He said the losses were often passed on to customers.

Ali said many of his customers were buying less than before. "If someone was buying a 50kg bag of rice last month they are now buying half that."

Many small businesses were closing down. "Things are really getting bad and if the situation in the country does not improve soon we may all end up on the street," Ali said.

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Somalia: Thousands flee Mogadishu shelling
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84342

Nairobi, 12 May 2009 (IRIN) - Thousands of people have fled five days of fighting between government troops and insurgents in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a human rights group told IRIN on 12 May.

At least 27,500 people fled their homes between 7 and 11 May, according to Ali Sheikh Yassin, deputy chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organisation (EHRO).

With no let-up in the fighting, more families were fleeing, he said.

"Last night [11 May] saw some of the heaviest shelling in both the north and south of the city," Yassin said, adding that he feared the city could soon be empty.

The displacement has been fuelled by indiscriminate shelling.

Yassin said Mogadishu had not witnessed "anything like this even when the Ethiopians were here; they are fighting right in the middle of the civilians".

Hassan Mahamud, a local journalist, told IRIN: "Today [12 May], there are families on every street looking for shelter, taking advantage of a lull in the fighting."

He said the districts of Hodan, Hawl-Wadag, Wardhigley [south Mogadishu], Huriwa, Yaqshid [north] and parts of Dayniile [southwest] had experienced the heaviest shelling and most displacement.

He said many of those fleeing had returned from camps in the past few months.

Awil Ali, a father of eight, who returned to his home in Huriwa from a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) on the outskirts of Mogadishu, said: "I have had to flee again after only three months; what we witnessed last night was too much. They [the fighting groups] are shelling everywhere."

Ali said some of his neighbours who had never left their homes before were now leaving.

"I honestly cannot say that we have witnessed anything like this before," he added.

Ali, like many of those displaced, was headed towards the Afgoye road, where there are camps for hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Injured treated "under trees"

Medical sources told IRIN that hospitals in the city were overwhelmed by the number of people seeking treatment since fighting began.

"We are receiving more injured people than we handle; we have twice as many people as the hospital can accommodate," said a medical source. He said many people were being treated "in the corridors and under trees".

More than 100 people have been killed in the latest fighting and close to 300 reportedly wounded, according to sources.

Mogadishu was reported to be quiet on 12 May but the adversaries were reported to be preparing for another round. "This is just a lull," a source said.

Yassin of EHRO said both sides had turned a deaf ear to pleas from civil society groups, elders and religious leaders to stop the fighting.

"We have appealed to them to stop the carnage but no one seems to be listening," Yassin said.

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Somalia: Heavy rains aggravating conditions for "poorest of the poor"
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84383

Nairobi, 14 May 2009 (IRIN) - Heavy rains have compounded the already difficult conditions for thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), who fled fighting in Mogadishu for camps outside the Somali capital, civil society groups said.

"The rains have made their living conditions even more difficult; almost all the new arrivals are staying under trees with nothing to shelter from the rains," Ahmed Dini of Peaceline, a Somali civil society group, who was visiting the IDPs at the Ceelsha camps (15km south of Mogadishu), told IRIN on 14 May.

He said many of those displaced by the latest fighting were first-time IDPs, residents of some of the poorest neighbourhoods of Mogadishu.

"These are people from the Siina'a, Arjantiina and Tookiyo [all slums in the north of the city]; they are the poorest of the poor," Dini said.

He said they had stayed put during previous clashes in the capital because they did not have the means to escape.

"It is an indication of how bad things are," he said. "This current displacement is affecting mainly minorities and others who have no clan support."

Dini said the civil society community was appealing to Somalis and donor agencies, "particularly to the United Nations, to urgently come to the assistance of these people who are living in the open and under trees".

Nadiifo Hussein, one of the displaced, fled her home in the Siina'a slum on 13 May following heavy fighting and shelling. She went to the Ceelsha camps where she is caring for eight orphaned relatives.

"I left my house with nothing except what I am wearing and these children," said Hussein.

She said they had taken advantage of a lull in the fighting to escape but she was worried about how she would feed the children. "I had a small stall in the market and that was our food; now I don’t know what I will give them."

Dini, whose group monitors children, said 60 of the 150 dead and 125 of the more than 300 injured were children.

Daily exodus

Despite a lull in fighting on 13 May, many people were still leaving the city.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said the rate of displacement was increasing on a daily basis.

"Between yesterday [13 May] and the day before, 10,000 people were displaced," said Roberta Russo, spokeswoman for UNHCR Somalia.

Russo said the agency had partners on the ground who were preparing for the immediate distribution of shelter material and sleeping mats, blankets and kitchen sets.

"In the warehouse in Mogadishu, we already have sets for over 100,000 people," she said. "We are also planning to appeal to all parties through radio and other mass media to spare civilians."

Renewed fighting

Meanwhile, the fighting in Mogadishu resumed on 14 May in the northern part of the city, according to a local journalist who requested anonymity.

"There are clashes going on at Afarta Jardiino [north Mogadishu]," he said. "It is not as bad as it was three days ago but it is forcing people out of the area," he added.

The UN Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has accused those who launched the recent attacks on Mogadishu of carrying out "an attempted coup d’état to topple a legitimate government using force.

"These extremists know that they do not have the support of the Somali people and that is why they have to bring in foreign fighters who are not connected to the situation in Somalia in any way," Ould-Abdallah said.

Forces loyal to the Government of National Unity are fighting an alliance of the militant al-Shabab group and elements of the Hisbul Islam alliance.

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Somalia: Al-Shabab's pyrrhic victory?
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84450

Nairobi, 19 May 2009 (IRIN) - Somalia's Al-Shabab militia have recently captured several strategic towns near Mogadishu, but the group has yet to gain popularity among locals, observers said.

The onslaught has sent thousands of displaced civilians on the run again and crippled aid operations in the southern regions.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that 40,000 people have been displaced since fighting intensified on 7 May. Other aid workers say at least 150 people have been killed and more than 400 injured.

"The capture of Jowhar goes to the heart of the problem in Somalia and demonstrates that indeed the government in Mogadishu is by and large extremely weak," Timothy Othieno, an analyst at the London-based Overseas Development Institute, told IRIN.

"The government needs to engage with the people who matter, including hardliners, who include Al-Shabab," he added.

Al-Shabab has continued to expand its control of southern and central Somalia and captured Jowhar, 90km north of Mogadishu, on 17 May.

According to a political observer in the capital, however, the capture of Jowhar may be a sign that Al-Shabab has peaked.

"In my opinion this is as far they will reach," he said. "They have entered hostile territory, where they are less popular than even the Ethiopians [troops] were." The Ethiopian soldiers were invited by the Transitional Federal Government in December 2006 to help oust the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

Pointing to the recent defection of prominent opposition figure Sheikh Yusuf "Indha Cadde" to the government side, which he described as a boost, the observer said Mogadishu's apparent weakness "may in fact work to the benefit of the government by galvanising supporters to take the offensive".

Separately, a regional analyst, who requested anonymity, said: "The fall of Jowhar is less a sign of Al-Shabab's strength than the government's apparent disarray and paralysis.

"Either the opposition will maintain the initiative, fatally eroding the government's authority and cohesion; or the crisis will provoke a determined and unified reaction from the government."

Al-Shabab is a militant Islamist group that was part of the UIC and gained prominence during the Ethiopian military presence.

Farhan Ali Mahamud, the Minister of Information, told IRIN the government promoted reconciliation and would pursue dialogue. "We will not undertake any action that will add to the suffering of our people," he said.

"Their [Al-Shabab’s] actions have led to the population rallying around the government. Elders, religious leaders and ordinary people are coming forward to defend their government," he added.

The current fighting has had a devastating impact on the population and the fall of Jowhar will make it even more difficult to access those needing assistance, aid workers said.

"For those who depend on them [aid workers] it means no help for now," one Somali civil society leader said.

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Note
Picture: the situation in the surroundings of Mogadishu