https://youtu.be/uDADZxk8Xd8

US President Trump is at it again. Arab Nato. As Britain is to NATO, UAE will be for ARABNATO. That there is no doubt. What will be the place and role of Horn of Africa countries? The ARABNATO point man in the horn will be none other than Eritrea's Isayas. Who will be the members. Somalia again since is weak will pulled in both directions. ARABNATO maybe directed against Iran, but it is also against Turkey. It will reduce Turkey position dramatically. The Egyptians are hoping will be foot soldiers and recipients of the money. Since Saudi Arabia is not suitable to be base and UAE has no room, most likely Eritrea will compete for this base as well. This is very active project now and urgent.

سياسة قطر وفرماجو يغذيان الإرهاب لإشعال الحرب بأرض الصومال السبت 2018.5.26 12:12 صباحا بتوقيت أبوظبي 8597قراءة العين الإخبارية 396 قطر تغذي أذرعها الإرهابية في الصومال بالدعم والتمويل شنت قوات من ولاية بونت لاند التابعة لحكومة الصومال الفيدرالية، التي يتزعمها محمد عبدالله فرماجو، هجومين بالأسلحة الثقيلة على جبهتين في مناطق تمركز قوات أرض الصومال بمنطقة تكا-رق. هجومان خلال أسبوع واحد يستهدفان قوات أرض الصومال، في خرق جديد لمعاهدة السلام الموقعة بين البلدين، تدفع للتساؤل عن الأطراف التي تغذي هذه الهجمات وتشعل فتيل الحرب وتدعم الجماعات المتطرفة والإرهابية في الصومال. مؤتمر بباريس: السعودية والإمارات تقفان أمام مخطط قطر لـ"أفغنة" الصومال اتهمت حكومة أرض الصومال، الحكومة القطرية ووكلاءها في مقديشو بإشعال نيران الفتنة بينها وبين إقليم بونت لاند المجاور، مشيرة إلى أن النظام الحاكم في الدوحة يشرف على تسليح وتدريب مليشيات إرهابية تابعة لفرماجو تعمل بين الفينة والأخرى على تأجيج القتال بين الجانبين. وعلى الرغم من نجاح قوات أرض الصومال في صد هجمات قوات فرماجو المدعومة قطرياً وتكبيدها خسائر فادحة، إلا أن وزير الدفاع بأرض الصومال أبدى أسفه على وقوع جيرانه ضحية لتنفيذ أجندات الدوحة في المنطقة، قبل أن يذكرهم بما حققه من نصر، قائلاً:"تكبدوا خسائر فادحة، واستولت قواتنا على 10 عربات مسلحة". رئيس أرض الصومال للعين الإخبارية: قطر تقف ضد اتفاقيتنا مع موانئ دبي جمهورية أرض الصومال تعلن افتتاح مكتب تجاري في دبي وأشار فيصل علي واربي، رئيس حزب العدالة والتنمية بأرض الصومال، إلى أن حكومة فرماجو وولاية بونت لاند كسروا اتفاق السلام، متهماً الرئيس فرماجو بالوقوف وراء تجدد الحرب مع أرض الصومال "بإيعاز من دولة صديقة له"، في إشارة إلى قطر التي قامت بالتدريب والتسليح. وقال شهود وقائد عسكري إن عشرات الجنود قتلوا في اشتباكات بين إقليم بلاد بونت الصومالي شبه المستقل وأرض الصومال. ويتهم أرض الصومال إقليم بلاد بونت "ولاية بونتلاند" بمحاولة استغلال الفوضى في المنطقة الناجمة عن إعصار مداري أودى بحياة أكثر من 50 شخصاً وقضى على الماشية ودمر مئات المزارع، بسبب الأمطار الغزيرة والفيضانات التي اجتاحت منطقة القرن الأفريقي. وقال عبدالرحمن عبدالله فرح، وزير الإعلام في إقليم أرض الصومال، في بيان، إن الإقليم لن يتحمل العدوان المستمر من القوات الصومالية الاتحادية "على الحدود بين البلدين". ودعت بعثة الأمم المتحدة لتقديم المساعدة إلى الصومال والشركاء الدوليين للصومال، ومن بينها الولايات المتحدة والاتحاد الأوروبي، الطرفين لوقف القتال. وقال بيان للبعثة إن الاشتباكات زادت من معاناة الناس في المنطقة مع ما يواجهونه فعلاً من أوضاع إنسانية صعبة فاقمها الإعصار المداري ساجار. سياسة

Pakistan foreign minister disqualified by court for holding UAE work permit A three-member special bench of the Islamabad High Court announced the verdict on a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Dar, seeking disqualification of the foreign minister under Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution for holding an Iqama (work permit) of the UAE. PTI @moneycontrolcom Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif was today disqualified as a member of the parliament by the high court here for concealing details of his UAE work permit while contesting elections in 2013. A three-member special bench of the Islamabad High Court announced the verdict on a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Dar, seeking disqualification of the foreign minister under Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution for holding an Iqama (work permit) of the UAE. Dar, who lost election against Asif in 2013, had challenged the qualification of Asif, 68, as the member of parliament for not declaring his job and salary while contesting the polls. The bench unanimously ruled that Asif was not “truthful” and “honest”. Asif will be unable to hold public or party office after the verdict. The PTI leader had urged the court to disqualify Asif, stating that the Supreme Court has already disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last year for having an 'Iqama' of working in the company of his sons and not declaring his "receivable salary". The petitioner alleged that Asif had Unlimited Term Employment Contract with International Mechanical and Electrical Co (IMECO). He was hired as full-time employee in July, 2011 and held various positions. He claimed that Asif under the contract was to receive a monthly basic salary of AED 35,000 along with a monthly allowance of AED 15,000, which he did not declare. During the hearing, Asif had submitted a letter from the company that he was not full time employee and only worked as a consultant whose presence was not needed in the UAE, where the company is based. The bench, comprising Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, had reserved the verdict on April 10. Asif is one of top leaders of ruling Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz and his disqualification is considered a huge blow to the party ahead of election scheduled to be held after June.

Somalia’s federal government can do little to stop the project THE ancient port town of Berbera in Somaliland, a breakaway state in northern Somalia, is generally a sleepy place. The heat, which can reach 50 degrees Celsius in the summer, stifles even the dogs. Yet visitors will find it buzzing at the moment. Near the edge of town, sand and rubble fill the space where, until recently, there were 19th-century Ottoman traders’ houses. New buildings are springing up. A little out to sea, as half a dozen ships idle in the sun, a barge from Dubai hauls a colossal crane towards the shore. All of this activity relates to a new port being built by DP World, a company mostly owned by the government of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). At the moment, Berbera’s port is small—used mostly for the export of livestock to the Persian Gulf, and the import of goods to Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. However, over the next decade or so, thanks to DP World, it could turn into one of east Africa’s biggest. The port and another Emirati project, to build a military base in Berbera, are powerful reminders of how money from the Gulf is changing the Horn of Africa. It also risks exacerbating the struggle between Somalia’s weak, but internationally recognised federal government in Mogadishu and its restive, secessionist regions. The Berbera port, which will cost some $450m, is by far the biggest investment in Somaliland since the province declared independence from Somalia in 1991 (in practical, but not legal, terms it is a separate country). It has taken on a new significance since February, when DP World was thrown out of neighbouring Djibouti, where it had operated the main port since 2009. Djibouti currently handles over 90% of Ethiopia’s sea trade, and also hosts French, American and Chinese naval bases. Somaliland officials probably hope to steal some of that traffic. In March Ethiopia announced it had bought a 19% stake in the Berbera port. The project annoys politicians in Mogadishu, who fear losing more of their already meagre authority. So they have kicked back at the UAE. Last month parliament passed a law banning DP World from all of Somalia (something it cannot enforce). On April 8th the authorities in Mogadishu temporarily seized an Emirati plane carrying some $9.6m in cash, apparently intended for soldiers in Puntland, another autonomous state, being trained by the UAE. On April 11th the defence minister announced that Somalia would end a similar programme in which the UAE paid and trained soldiers in the national army, who will henceforth be paid by the (penniless) federal government. Officials in Somaliland are unruffled. The federal government “cannot control even ten square kilometres of Mogadishu”, says Liban Yusuf Osman, Somaliland’s deputy foreign minister, dismissing its objection to the port deal. But the dispute drives a big wedge between the two governments, says Rashid Abdi of International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based NGO. It does not help that many politicians in Mogadishu are thought to have taken money from Qatar, the UAE’s rival, or that Turkey, another rival, is one of Somalia’s biggest foreign investors. Indeed, the government in Mogadishu is a mess, thanks in part to constant manoeuvring by foreign-funded politicians. On April 9th the speaker of parliament, Mohamed Osman Jawari, stood down, having apparently lost a power struggle with the prime minister, Hassan Ali Khayre, and the president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known by his nickname “Farmaajo”. A few days before, African Union soldiers had to step in after Mr Jawari’s bodyguards stormed the parliament and ran up against troops loyal to the prime minister. Both sides ostensibly oppose the port in Berbera, but Mr Jawari saw an opportunity to seize more power for parliament by holding a (symbolic) vote on the deal, without consulting Mr Mohamed. The bickering does not help the cause of a unified Somalia. The government in Mogadishu has little to offer the country’s regions. That allows countries like the UAE to swoop in and fill the gaps. Al-Shabab, a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda, continues to mount successful attacks. On April 1st dozens of Ugandan soldiers were killed by the jihadists in the most deadly raid in over a year. The greater the chaos in the areas ostensibly controlled by federal government, the smaller the incentive for regions such as Somaliland to care what its politicians think. This article appeared in the Middle East and Africa section of the print edition under the headline "A storm over a port"

The minister of state for foreign affairs and international cooperation, Abdelkader Ahmed-Khair Abdi in his office at the ministry of foreign affairs today, received his Excellency Mohamed Ahmed Osman Alhammadi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates During the meeting, a number of issues took place, including the illegal agreement between the administration of Somaliland and the Dubai global ports company on the Somali port of Berbera and the legal issues that might result in violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia. The Secretary of state for foreign affairs and international cooperation said that the federal government of Somalia is distributing quotas and development programmes in all Somali territories without exception, and will not compromise its sovereignty and national ownership, and will not agree to any agreement that will be reached without it. For his part, the UAE Ambassador to Somalia stressed that his country was fully committed to protecting, respecting and supporting the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Somalia, stating that there was a need for continued coordination and consultation to broaden and deepen cooperation between the two countries, thereby ensuring Somali Somali

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has offered to mediate between the United Arab Emirates and Somalia after strained relations following the recent signing of the Berbera Port deal. A source confirmed to Radio Dalsan that Riyadh had made an initial communication with the government of Somalia seeking to mediate the two countries. Last week an alleged UAE government sponsored anti-Farmaajo campaign on social media strained the relations even further. Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo’s is set to tour Qatar this week a move seen by analysts as tactical. The Farmaajo administration had declined to cut ties with Qatar following the 2017 Gulf crisis. Mogadishu termed “null and void” the Berbera concession to Ethiopia and DP World saying it interfered with its sovereignty

Somali parliament on Monday banned the DP World from Somalia barely two weeks after Emirati ports operator unveiled its agreement with Ethiopia and Somaliland. In a hotly debated session, Somali lawmakers jointly declared the company a threat to the country’s sovereignty, independence and unity. “DP World had deliberately infringed on the country’s sovereignty there for it has been banned from operating in the country,” reads resolution issued after the session. The resolution said the agreement between Ethiopia, Somaliland and DP World was against the country’s Provisional Constitution . “Any agreement engaged in a country or organization which is not based on the provisional constitution of Somalia is null and void, therefore all the deals signed with Dubai Port World are invalid as they are against the country’s constitution, foreign investment regulations and other regulations of the country,” the resolution ruled. The move comes barely a day after Somali president warned the foreign countries and companies against breaching the country’s sovereignty. "Whoever wishes to engage investment in Somalia should seek the permission from the legal institutions of the government. Somalia's foreign policy is based on neutralism and mutual respect," he told the opening session of parliament. The ban will also affect the agreement between Puntland state and DP World's P&O ports which was granting the company to manage the port for 30 years. "I am warning companies and countries not to cross the line and put to question the sovereignty of Somalia". Early this month, Dubai announced a tripartite agreement dividing the Berbera port between DP World (51%), the Ethiopian government (19%), and Somaliland (30%). The Somali government‘s ministry ports had previous termed the deal as null and void.

http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/article/prince-eagle-bear

Pillaging Somalia: The Dubious DP World- Ethiopia Deal March 7, 2018 By Faisal Roble Baadida ninbaa kula deydeya, daalna kaa badane Oon doonahayn inaad heshana, daayin abidkaaye W/T. Qamaan Bulxan On March 1, 2018, the Dubai-owned DP World and the government of Ethiopia have concluded a dubious deal with the unrecognized secessionist region of Somaliland. This happened without notice to or approval from either the fledgling Parliament or the Executive branch of the Somali Federal Republic (SFR). Saamiga loo kala qeybsaday, sida uu dhigayo heshiisku Despite a Faustian pact between an African neighbor and a petrodollar Arab company across the Gulf of Aden, each being awarded 19% and 51% of the ownership of the Berbera Port, respectively, leaving only a trifling 30% for Somaliland, the deal is both illegal, and injurious to the stately interest of Somalia. The Ethio-DP World deal was signed in a makeshift office in Dubai. No one can have so far explained why and how Ethiopia garnered 19% of the ownership of a prime real estate (Berbera Port) that it neither owns nor invested any capital for the construction and modernization of said Port. The only public explanation thus came from Mohamed Hure Buba, a member of one of the opposition parties in Hargeisa, who in an interview said that DP World gave that 19% share to Ethiopia. The Ministry of Ports and Marine Transport of SFR issued a press release on March 2, 2018, declaring the dubious deal null and void, and warned that “the so-called agreement is defective and detrimental to the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia (SFR) and the unity of the country.” Moreover, the Prime Minister of Somalia, Hassan Khyre, issued a stern repudiation of the deal and pronounced it dead on arrival (DOA). In response to the SFR position, the acentric DP World CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin-Sulayem, burbled with unstately statements and said that Somaliland is “an independent country” that has the right to enter into bilateral agreements. Somaliland leaders have gone rogue on this matter and violated an understanding between Villa Somalia and Hargeisa, which was Somaliland will approach international agreements that seek economic development with the consent of the Federal government. As to the Ethio-DP World, their action is part of a web of foreign entities pillaging Somalia’s resources. For some time now, there have been credible anecdotal information that United Arab Emirates (UAE), the government behind DP World, has been sabotaging Somalia. There are credible security sources that affirm the financing of some ISIS operation by the UAE. Also, Ethiopia since 2006 had either invaded Somalia, undermined various transitional governments through its clients in regional governments and in the parliament, or even armed insurgents, including but not limited to Al-Shabab, all these while she is an AMISOM contributing country. Founded in 2005, DP World is a NASDAQ listed company with over $15 billion portfolios and employs over 36,300 in 103 counties (DP World Strategic Plan, 2017). Its revenue for 2017 was a whopping $4.2 billion. One of the pillars of the company’s strategy is to conduct business with “courage.” Whether the Berbera deal reflects a strategic “courage” or a risky investment, time will tell. The elephant in the house, though, is whether bin-Sulayem, who enjoys enoourmous confidence of the erratic Crown Prince, Mohammed bin-Zayed Al Nahyam, can change the fate of a five-century-old ambition held by Ethiopia towards the warm waters of Somalia. Making Ethiopian Imperial Ambitions Possible For Ethiopia, to reach its imperial goal and sustain a regional status quo where it freely accesses Somali ports for its wellbeing without Somalia’s buy-in is a pipe dream, especially when one looks at the long trajectory of history. The region had been and continues to be one plagued by conflicts. A prudent Ethiopia would have sought its ambitions through a more stately alternative, i.e., through a collaborative means with the legitimate and internationally sanctioned SFR. Call the Faustian pact between the EPRDF-led government in Addis and DP World nothing but a short-sighted policy in a volatile region. In a way, the current Ethiopian government’s posturing over Berbera is a complete repudiation of the late Meles Zenawi’s initial position towards Somalia’s resources. Following a meeting with the late Mohammed H. Ibrahim Igal in 1994, Mr. Zenawi (founder of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front) rebuffed any idea of his country taking advantage of Somalia. He underlined the immense contribution Somalia made to the Ethiopian revolution. In his concluding remarks, he affirmed to all sides that Ethiopia will only collaborate with Somalia, economically and politically, only when Somalia gets its bearing and reestablishes its unified state (Kindh Ethiopia, 1994). At the moment, we can arguably say that the post-Meles government in Addis’ Arat Kilo, controlled by young cadres who lack focus, are confused; they have put into motion a policy to pursue the dreams of ancient imperial Ethiopia – having unbridled access to the sea of Somalia even if it is through a dubious deal. Taking into consideration the endemic instability and ethnic strife in Ethiopia, the Berbera deal represents an infantile path for EPRDF to take vis-a-vis Somalia – perhaps a reflection of the beginning of the deterioration of a revolutionary regime in the Horn. It is titillating to argue that EPRDF is behaving as an unsophisticated government that has failed to learn lessons about the history of this region. Western Bias against Muslim Somalis The Ethio-Somali conflict on resources, in the past on grazing lands but recently on maritime resources owned by Somalis, goes back to the 16th century. It is to be recalled that the wars between Imam Ahmed Ibunu Khazali and Ethiopian Kings (Libna Dhingil, among others) marked the beginning of this regional conflict. Emperor Menelik himself never shied away from his dream of soaking his cold feet into the warm waters of the Indian Ocean by any means necessary. America’s preeminent Political Science scholar, the late Samuel Huntington, traces back the Ethio-Somali mistrust to distant days – back to the 16th century. In “The Clashes of Civilizations,” he situates the conflict between Somalis and Abyssinians in the war between Christianity led by the Portuguese and Islam by Turkish. He brings the import of these distant wars to present-day politics and openly sides with what he calls “friends” of the West, i.e., Ethiopia. In the conclusion of his controversial treatise, Huntington calls upon Western institutions (World Bank, IMF, USAID to defend Ethiopia and diminish the profile of Muslim countries. Somalia is one of those disfavored countries. In 1996, after he published another controversial book titled “Democracy’s Third Wave,” Huntington was commissioned by USAID to go and spend time in Addis Ababa to guide and advise the then-nascent revolution of Ethiopia. It was then that lessons on “The Clashes of Civilization,” and how to establish a one-dominant party system were inculcated in the Ethiopian body politic. As western Political Science has been shaped by the thoughts of Huntington and his predecessor, George F. Kannon, contemporary Africanist perpetuate the “inalienable” need of Ethiopia to have access to the sea; they advanced a narrative that is biased against Somalia, indeed overplaying the concept of Ethiopian being a Christian nation in a Sea of Muslims. Lately, nuanced narratives about Ethiopia’s rising military and economic power and how that takes primacy over the territorial integrity and sovereign state interests of Somalia is abound in Western media. Which is what a recent article, “Ethiopia, Berbera Port and the Shifting Balance of power in the Horn of Africa,” carried by a Western publication called Rising Powers Quarterly, argued. It stated that Ethiopia as a regional power should impose its “superiority” on its neighbors, i.e., Somalia. One is tempted to ask, why Somalia, and not Eretria? Didn’t Ethiopia historically claim Masawa and Assab – two ports that are close to the heartland of traditional Ethiopia? Of course, the obvious answer lies in the weak government in Mogadishu. To wit, what does Ethiopian economic growth as the largest market in the region has got to do with the sovereign rights of Somalia to be the sole guardian of its own country? In a reversed argument, would any western social scientist see it reasonable for Russia to take over the ports of Finland or Ukraine, because Russia is more populous and has a larger economic market than either Finland or Ukraine? Pillaging Somalia: The Dubious DP World- Ethiopia Deal Faisal Roble Email:faisalroble19@gmail.com

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2018/3/5/uae-still-supports-al-shabaab-through-somalias-illicit-charcoal-trade