Sharia has become the closest thing to a set of rules governing Somali society and was passed as national law in parliament last week

TO BE NOTED: From the FT:

"President raises hopes for Somalia

By William Wallis

Published: April 27 2009 17:57 | Last updated: April 27 2009 17:57

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of Somalia since January, landed in office with a weak hand and a seemingly impossible task.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Mogadishu: he says there has been a lack of leadership in his country

He controls only fragments of Somali territory and even these are vulnerable to attack by Islamist militias (once his allies). To extend the writ of the trans­itional government and restore stability and services he must neutralise warlords, insurgents and now pirates responsible for turning Somalia since 1991 into the archetype of state failure. Yet he has few basic tools of state to hand.

Nonetheless, the 44-year-old former schoolteacher from a family of Sufi clerics notched up a breakthrough last week, securing $213m (€162m, £145m) of backing at a donor conference in Brussels both for African peacekeepers and for a new national security force. Hundreds of millions of dollars of humanitarian and reconstruction aid could follow.

The outcome of the conference has raised hopes that for the first time since the mid-1990s, when Mogadishu warlords forced UN peacekeepers into humiliating retreat, there are the makings of a concerted effort to reassemble Somalia’s broken parts.

“There has always been this issue of the international community not being forthcoming enough and not being forthcoming enough at the right time,” Sheikh Ahmed told the Financial Times. “Secondly, there has been a lack of leadership that has been ready on the Somali side to seize the opportunity ... Today we believe these two things have come together,” he said in an interview accompanied by his Oxford-educated foreign minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Omar.

The fresh impetus derives partly from Somali pirates. Their proliferating attacks on a busy trading route have defied a fleet of naval vessels from around the world, pointing up the need to act on land as well as sea.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of a country that has had 15 governments in the past 18 years, explains why his rule will last longer

It makes little sense, Mr Omar argued, that the pirates can earn as much as $150m a year in ransoms while the government has been unable to raise a fraction of that to curtail them. If that situation is beginning to change, it is partly thanks to budding confidence in Sheikh Ahmed.

His profile is very different from the warlords and politicians associated with 15 prior attempts to create a viable government since 1991. First stirred into opposing Somalia’s myriad profiteers by the kidnapping of one of his students, he rose to prominence as leader of an alliance of sharia courts, the Islamic Courts Union.

ICU militias captured Mogadishu in 2006 and for six months were able to restore order to much of southern Somalia, enforcing at times puritanical forms of Islamic rule. This virtually eliminated piracy.

However, Washington was preoccupied then with alleged links between al-Qaeda and extremists within the ICU and gave the green light to neighbouring Ethiopia (which had its own reasons) to oust them.

Events turned full circle when Ethiopian troops withdrew, their former warlord ally resigned as head of the UN-backed transitional government and Sheikh Ahmed emerged from exile in January as Somalia’s new leader, elected by parliament.

He has brought with him moderate elements of the Islamist resistance movement and is attempting to build further alliances within Somalia’s complex web of clans.

PIRACY GROWS

Somali pirates have demonstrated the growing threat they continue to pose to shipping with two attacks more than 500 miles off Somalia’s coast, writes Robert Wright in London.

On Saturday, the MSC Napoli, a cruise liner operated by Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company with 1,500 people on board, repelled an attack several hundred miles off the Somali coast.

Separately, on Sunday the Yemeni navy fought pirates who had attacked four of the country’s oil tankers at a point where the Gulf of Aden, which separates Yemen from Somalia, is about 700 miles wide.

The attacks highlight how Somalia’s pirates now regularly launch attacks far out of their traditional areas of operation. A large military presence in the Gulf of Aden since the end of last year and seafarers’ increasing knowledge about how to resist attacks had until recent weeks driven down the number of successful pirate operations.

But the government is still opposed by radical al Shabab militias active across southern Somalia with support from foreign jihadists.

Sheikh Ahmed says he is prepared to accommodate any willing party in reconciliation efforts, something that could yet make western donors uncomfortable. His reconstruction plans hinge initially on establishing Islamic sharia, something that is both “practically and psychologically” vital to “bringing people on board for the reconstruction of the state”, he says.

Sharia has become the closest thing to a set of rules governing Somali society and was passed as national law in parliament last week. Sheikh Ahmed wants to build up a national army, police and judiciary to enforce it and take on the pirates and other elements opposed to peace.

“Preparations in terms of the readiness of the public for peace are gathering pace. In parallel, if we are also able to get the security forces on the ground operational, we believe it will be almost a natural process for the rule of law and the administration to reach those parts where they don’t already exist,” he said. “There will come a time when those who act illegally either have to leave or ... give themselves up.”

Judging by the crowds who travelled across Europe to see him in Brussels, he carries significant goodwill from the Somali diaspora. Last month his government raised $1.5m in duties at the Mogadishu port. On Friday it passed a national budget, the first since 1991.

These are small beginnings. But there is a whiff of hope Sheikh Ahmed may succeed, where countless others failed, in converting them to something bigger.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009"

And:
Transcript of FT interview with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of Somalia

Published: April 28 2009 01:37 | Last updated: April 28 2009 01:37

There have been 15 attempts to create a functioning government in Somalia since the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre in 1991. None of them have come close to working. Overrun by warlords and Islamist insurgents, the country is in the grips of another potential famine.

Proliferating acts of piracy on one of the world’s busiest trading routes off the Somali coast have forced up shipping insurance costs and are affecting global commodity markets. But they are also focusing international attention on the need for stability on land as well as sea.

Before Ethiopia invaded in 2006 Sheikh Ahmed was the leader of the Islamic Courts Union, an alliance of Islamic militias that during a six month period came closer than any other body to re-establishing order. In January he returned to Somalia from exile, and was elected by a UN-backed transitional parliament to lead the country out of chaos.

Last week at an international donors conference in Brussels, he won $213m of backing for African peacekeepers and for his plans to build a national security force, raising hopes that finally a concerted effort to put Somalia back together again is under way.

William Wallis, Financial Times Africa editor, interviewed Sheikh Ahmed at his hotel in Brussels after the conference.

Financial Times: What is the significance of today’s events for Somalia?

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed: What happened today is very important for two reasons. Firstly, there has always been this issue of the international community not being forthcoming enough and not being forthcoming at the right time. Secondly there has been a lack of leadership on the Somali side to seize the opportunity and establish a partnership with the international community. Today we believe these two things have come together.

FT: How do you plan to go about using the goodwill that has been generated at an international level, and the cash that is now coming with it?

SSSA: The funds and the political support need to be translated into actions on the ground first and foremost with regards to security. Security has to be established. Then it is important to translate this security and political will into actions that affect the needs of the public and to help reconstruction, education, and all the elements that give normality to life. The public must feel the change and see the change.

FT: But how will you be able to expand the writ of your government from what appears to be the very small part of Somalia you control?

SSSA: There are already many provinces … where government support and structures are present. Where our administration and reach exists, the delivery of services and justice should be strengthened and reinforced. Where it does not exist yet, these areas we must stretch our reach to.

FT: Will this necessarily involve force?

SSSA: Preparations in terms of the readiness of the public for peace are gathering pace by the day, and are already substantially established. In parallel, if we are also able to get the security forces on the ground and operational and these two forces are able to come together we believe it will be almost a natural process for the rule of law and the administration to reach those parts where they don’t already exist.

FT: How formidable do you consider the forces your government are up against?

SSSA: We believe that in essence there is no logic and no sustainable basis for armed forces opposing the government. The only options open for these opposing forces will be to either come into the reconciliation process either as the government or as opposition. Or, to return to civilian life, into their homes and into normal livelihoods.

FT: They seem pretty determined from the outside and at least a minority of them have backing from another pretty determined bunch [of people] headquartered out of the tribal areas of Pakistan [al-Qaeda].

SSSA: Once the government is strong enough and is fully on the ground there will come a time when those who act illegally either have to leave or will have to give themselves up. That moment will come.

FT: How far are you prepared to accommodate these forces in order to absorb them into the reconciliation process?

SSSA: We are prepared in a major way to accommodate and negotiate but the essential factor is there must be dialogue; there must be negotiation for that to happen.

FT: Are you already talking for example to [radical Islamic cleric] Hassan Dawir Aweys, or some of the leaders of the al Shabab militia?

SSSA: Not directly but many well-intentioned and well meaning Somalis are busy and engaged explaining to them the need for dialogue and peace. From our side they know and we have stated that we are ready for dialogue and negotiation.

FT: What do you make of the arrival in Mogadishu today [after more than two years in exile] of Mr Aweys?

SSSA: I think his return today will remind him that he left at a time when there was conflict and war and show him that today we are rebuilding peace. We believe he will choose to take part and support the peace process and re-establishment of security in the country.

FT: Do you consider him someone who is important in that process?

SSSA: There is no one who is not needed for this process of reconciliation and peace. Everyone is needed.

FT: How signficant is the recent passage in parliament of Sharia law in re-establishing state authority?

SSSA: It is very important for several reasons. One Sharia is a normal part of Muslim life and Muslim culture and tradition. Secondly there were people for whom this was a major factor, necessity, and in passing the bill and putting it through cabinet and parliament this enables us to show goodwill and to take that element out of the conflict and ensure it does not become an obstacle. It is part of the reconciliation process but also bringing people on board for the reconstruction of the state. Both psychologically and practically it is very important.

FT: How quickly can you bring back the court system? Is it something you can do very quickly given your experience at the head of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006?

SSSA: The government is actually very busy with that issue. It will need to absorb and take on experienced and knowledgeable people in that field.

FT: In 2006 the administration you were involved in was very effective in fighting piracy. Is that something you can reproduce now and what was the secret before?

SSSA: This is part and parcel of the security infrastructure and policies that we have. We believe that this will also be effective in tackling that issue successfully.

FT: Some of the countries [US, Ethiopia] that seemed very happy to see the back of you in 2006 when the Ethiopia invaded Somalia are now applauding you. Are these countries you can trust?

SSSA: Without a shadow of doubt we have to look forward and not back."

"This largely man-made crisis, occasionally worsened by drought and erratic rains"

I don't know what to think when I read stories like this:

"In Zimbabwe, Survival Lies in Scavenging

By CELIA W. DUGGER

NZVERE, Zimbabwe — Along a road in Matabeleland, barefoot children stuff their pockets with corn kernels that have blown off a truck as if the brownish bits, good only for animal feed in normal times, were gold coins.( UNREAL )

In the dirt lanes of Chitungwiza, the Mugarwes, a family of firewood hawkers, bake a loaf of bread, their only meal, with 11 slices for the six of them. All devour two slices except the youngest, age 2. He gets just one.

And on the tiny farms here in the region of Mashonaland, once a breadbasket for all of southern Africa( SO SAD ), destitute villagers pull the shells off wriggling crickets and beetles, then toss what is left in a hot pan. “If you get that, you have a meal,” said Standford Nhira, a spectrally thin farmer whose rib cage is etched on his chest and whose socks have collapsed around his sticklike ankles.

The half-starved haunt the once bountiful landscape of Zimbabwe, where a recent United Nations survey found that 7 in 10 people had eaten either nothing or only a single meal the day before.( DEAR GOD )

Still dominated after nearly three decades by their authoritarian president( HE'S AMONG THE WORST RULERS EVER ), Robert Mugabe, Zimbabweans are now enduring their seventh straight year of hunger. This largely man-made crisis( TRUE ), occasionally worsened by drought and erratic rains, has been brought on by catastrophic agricultural policies( TRUE ), sweeping economic collapse and a ruling party that has used farmland and food as weapons in its ruthless — and so far successful — quest to hang on to power( SUCH A DISGRACE ).

But this year is different. This year, the hunger is much worse.

The survey conducted by the United Nations World Food Program in October found a shocking deterioration in the past year alone. The survey, recently provided to international donors, found that the proportion of people who had eaten nothing the previous day had risen to 12 percent from zero, while those who had consumed only one meal had soared to 60 percent from only 13 percent last year.

For almost three months, from June to August, Mr. Mugabe banned international charitable organizations from operating, depriving more than a million people of food and basic aid after the country had already suffered one of its worst harvests.

Mr. Mugabe defended( PEOPLE STARVING IS LESS IMPORTANT TO HIM THAN HIS STAYING IN POWER ) the suspension by arguing that some Western aid groups were backing his political rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, who bested him at the polls in March but withdrew before a June 27 runoff. But civic groups and analysts said Mr. Mugabe’s real motive was to clear rural areas of witnesses to his military-led crackdown on opposition supporters and to starve those supporters( OF COURSE ).

The country’s intertwined political and humanitarian crises have become ever more grave — with a cholera epidemic sweeping the nation, its health, education and sanitation systems in ruins and power-sharing talks at an impasse. Meanwhile, Mr. Mugabe has blamed Western sanctions, largely aimed at senior members of his government, for the country’s woes( UNREAL ).

His information minister even charged last week that Britain, Zimbabwe’s former colonial ruler, had started the cholera outbreak — spread by water contaminated with human feces — as an act of “biological chemical war force,” a charge widely derided as paranoid or cynical( DISGRACEFUL ).

But for all Mr. Mugabe’s venom toward the West, a central paradox rests at the heart of his long years in power. It was the failed policies of Mr. Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, including their calamitous seizure of commercial farms, that made this nation so utterly dependent on aid from the European and American donors he so reviles. And the same applies to Western leaders: Despite their scathing denunciations of him, it is their generous donations that have helped him survive by preventing outright famine among his people( A TOUGH CHOICE ).

“You’re acting to save lives, knowing that by doing so you are sustaining this government,” said one aid agency manager, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “And unfortunately, ZANU-PF is good at exploiting this humanitarian imperative.”

American-financed charities and the World Food Program have been feeding millions of Zimbabweans since late 2002, at a cost of $1.25 billion over the years. After a slow start this year because of the aid suspension, the United States and the United Nations are feeding almost half of Zimbabwe’s population this month( UNREAL ).

But the World Food Program is short of nearly half the food needed for January, said Richard Lee, a spokesman.

“You’re not looking at mass starvation yet,” said Sarah Jacobs, of Save the Children, adding that without an urgent infusion of food, “we may be reporting an even scarier, more horrible situation by January.”

No food aid has reached the village of Jirira in Mashonaland, near Harare, the capital. So each morning, people rise before the sun and stumble from their huts, beneath the arching canopy of a starry sky, to fill metal pails with the small, foul-smelling hacha fruit. Those who arrive as dawn breaks find the fruit has already been picked clean.

The sweet, fibrous, yellow pulp of the fruit has become the staple of the villagers’ diet. The fruit is now infested with tiny brown worms. Nevertheless, the women peel it, crush it and soak it in water. Some of the worms float to the surface and can be skimmed off. The mashed ones they eat.

Parents search for other sources of food as well. Bengina Muchetu tries to quiet her 2-year-old daughter Makanaka’s pangs with a dish of tiny, boiled wild leaves.

Maidei Kunaka grinds the animal feed she earns in exchange for her labor on a nearby ostrich farm — an unappetizing amalgam of wheat, soy bean, sand and what she calls “green stuff” — to nourish her three children.

“It’s not tasty, but we at least have something in our stomachs,” she said.

Villagers around here date the onset of Zimbabwe’s decline to the year 2000. It was then that Mr. Mugabe first felt the sting of political defeat, when a referendum that would have given him greater executive powers was defeated.

He took his vengeance, unleashing veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation war and gangs of youth to invade and occupy highly mechanized, white-owned commercial farms that were then the country’s largest employer and an engine of export earnings. In time, thousands of farms were taken over. Farm workers and their families — about 1 million people altogether — lost their jobs and homes, according to a 2008 study by Zimbabwean economists for the United Nations Development Program( THIS REMINDS ME OF STALIN ).

Land redistribution often turned into a land grab by the political elite, and frequently poor farmers who received land did not get necessary support. The annual harvest of corn, the main staple food, has fallen to about a third of its previous levels, the Development Program reported.

The narrow roads that threaded this part of Mashonaland used to be lined with beautifully tended farms, residents say. Now, much of the land is overgrown with grasses. Trees sprout in the fields.

In Nzvere, a group of scrawny men sat under a Musasa tree, rolling cigarettes in bits of newspaper and chewing over the central fact of life in rural Zimbabwe: It is impossible to make a living as a farmer anymore.

In the 1990s, these men said, they harvested a cornucopia of vegetables on their small farms and sold the surplus in Harare. Now their land doesn’t yield nearly as much. With the formerly white-owned, large-scale farms no longer productive, the economies of scale that kept prices low for hybrid seed and fertilizer are gone. These small farmers cannot afford the higher prices.

The dollars and cents of farming simply do not add up, they said. The government monopolizes the buying and selling of corn through the Grain Marketing Board. With inflation running officially at hundreds of millions of percent, anything the board pays them is worthless by the time they get it out of the bank.

The farm redistribution has done them no good, they said, instead benefiting those who helped the ruling party grab the land. Even when food aid has come, only those in the ruling party hierarchy have gotten any, the farmers said.

So they have become scavengers, living off the land and surviving on field mice and wild fruit, white ants and black beetles.

The story is much the same in Jirira. Hacha fruit has mostly sustained the villagers, but soon the season will be over. And then what? “Only God knows what will happen,” Gloria Mapisa, the mother of a 1-year-old girl, said.

The suffering is not limited to the countryside.

This month, the Mavambo Trust, a small charitable group that works in a suburb of Harare, had its Christmas party, with a lavish feast of cornmeal porridge, chicken, vegetables and soft drinks. It was ample for 250 children, but more than 500 showed up. As word spread, famished children arrived early in the morning to wait by the steaming, fragrant pots of food. “So many came we couldn’t even shut the gates,” said Sister Michael Chiroodza, a Catholic nun.

Mavambo also runs a daily lunchtime feeding program for children on the grounds of a Catholic church. One recent afternoon, Annah Chakaka drifted into the church courtyard with her orphaned grandsons, Bhekimuzi, 13, and Bekezela, 10. They had come to beg for cornmeal to take home.

The boys, their handsome faces chiseled by hunger, said they do little now but help their grandmother with chores — fetching water, washing clothes, sweeping the floor. That, and hunting for food. They usually walk three miles to a muhacha tree to collect its hacha fruit.

But on this morning, Mrs. Chakaka said it had been difficult to wake the boys. They just lay there, too weak to get up. “Today we were just too hungry to look for wild fruit,” she said.

They drifted from the church’s courtyard as they had come, empty-handed."

We have to find effective ways to deal with leaders like Mugabe. I know it's tough, but we can't give up.