Washington: Puntland signs deal with lobbyist

[General Duke]

Duane Morris & Madaxweynaha Puntland oo heshiis wada saxiixday

Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

Horseed Media

News Desk

 

Maamul Goboleedka Puntland ayaa heshiis la galay Shirkad laga lee yahay Maraykanka taas oo uga ololeyneysa Washington, Shaqada ugu weyn ee Shirkaddan ayaa ah sidii dhaqaale looga heli lahaa dalka Maraykanka, dhaqaalahaas oo lagu macneeyay bur burinta Burcad Badeeda iyo yaraynta Aragaxisada Geeska Afrika.

 

Heshiiska uu la galay Madaxweyne Faroole Shirkadda la yiraahdo Duane Morris ayaa dhacay dhamaadkii bishii Feberaayo, sida

laga soo xigtey Wasaaradda Cadaalada ee Maraykanka.

 

Burcad badeeda ayaa noqdey mowduucyada ugu culus ee horyaala Maamulka Madaxweyne Barack Obama kadib markii Burcad badeedu ay weerar ku qaadeen laba markab oo uu ka babanayo calanka Maraykanka, afduubna ay u ugeysteen kabtan Maraykan ah.

 

Puntland ayaa ah mid kamid ah labada xarumood ee ugu weyn ee Burcadda Badeedu ka hawlgalaan, Burcaddas oo ka soo kala kala jeeda beelo kala duwan, sida laga soo xigtey Congressional Research Service,warbixin ay daabaceen bishii Feberaayo, inta badan Burcadda ayaa ah Kaluumaysato hore iyo Ciidamadii hore ee hogaamiye kooxeedyada.

 

Sida laga soo xigtey Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) ee wasaaradda Cadaalada ee Maraykanka Heshiiska Puntland & Duane Morris ayaa socon doona ilamaa iyo 29 May oo ku beegan dhamaadka bisha soo socota, intaa kadib Kontoroktiga ayaa noqon doona mid bilkasta la cusbooneysiiyo, waxa Puntland ay bixinaysaa bil katsa lacag dhan 10,000$ Toban kun oo Dollarka Maraykanka ah, taas oo lagu macneeyay khidmad ay qaadanayso Shirkaddu sidii ay ku gaari laahayd helida Malaayiin Doollar oo lagu soo qaado magaca ka hortaga Burcad Badeeda.

 

James Hill oo ah agaasimaha Shirkadda Duane Morris, ayaa safar ku tegay Dalka Kenya, halkaas oo uu kula soo kulmey Madaxweyne Faroole, Hill ayaa sheegay in isaga iyo Faroole ay wada saxiixdeen , heshiis ah ka hortaga Burcad Badeeda, iyo qorshahaas sidii lagu fulin lahaa, ilaa iminka wax war ah kama soo bixin dhanka Maamulka Puntland, taas oo ay uga hadlayaan waxa uu shegay James Hill.

 

Shirkadda Duan Morris ayaa ah shirkad ka shaqeysa arimaha sharciga,waxa ayna safka hore kaga jirtaa kuwa loo yaqaan Lobbyist, kuwaas oo kula shaqeeya dawladaha ama shirkadaha dano gaar ah oo khaas ah oo ay leeyihiin,waxa ay degantahay Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, waxa ay waqtigii doorashada Maraykanka taageero dhaqaale siisay Ninkii la tartamaayey Madaxwqeyne Obama ee John Maccain, si ay u hesho, danahooda gaar ahaaneed, Shirkaddan ayaa waxaa u muuqdey fursad ay ku heli karto dhaqaale taas oo ah la dagaalanka Burcad Badeeda waxa ayna ka shaqeeyeen sidii ay ku heli lahaayeen saxiixa Madaxweyne Faroole.

 

Xoghayaha Arimaha dibadda ee Maraykanka Hillary Clinton, ayaa sheegtay todobaadkii hore in ay arimaha burcadda kala

shaqeynayaan Dawladda Soomaaliya iyo Maamulka Puntland, ilaa iminka inta la ogyahay waxaa Kongoreyska Maraykanku ay ogolaadeen aduun dhan 5 milyan oo doollarka Maraykanka ah taas oo wax looga qabanaayo Burcad Badeeda.

 

Ma ahan markii u horeysey ee Puntland ay heshiis la gasho mid kamid ah Shirkadaha Sharciyaqaanada ee maraykanka waxaa sidaas si lamid ah Heshiis ula galay Madaxweynihii Hore ee Puntland Col.Cabdullaahi Yusuf Axmed sanadkii 2002diiwaxaana lagu magacaabi jirey shirkaddaas Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvellas Meeds, heshiiskan ayaa iska bur buray bilowgii 2003dii, waqtiyadaas oo Puntland uu ka jirey qalaalse siyaasadeed.

 

Waxaa taariikhdu markey ahayd 23.04.2009 oo ku beegnayd shalay lagu qabtey Magaalada Bruseless ee dalka Biljimka shir looga hadlaayey amaanka Soomaaliya, iyo sidii dhaqaale loogu heli lahaa shirkaas ayaa waxaa Soomaaliya u fadhiyey Wafdi ka socda Dawladda Soomaaliya waxaana hogaaminaayey Madaxweynaha Soomaaliya Shariif Shiikh Axmed, War aan ka helnay diblomaasi u dhashey dalka Yurub oo ku sugnaa Shirka deeq ururinta Soomaaliya ayaa noo sheegay in Madaxweyne Faroole uu codsadey in uu si rasmi ah uga qaybgalo shirka laakiin, Xafiiska qaramada Midoobey ee Soomaaliya iyo Midowga Yurub ayaa ka gaabsadeen in ay casumaad siiyaan Madaxweynaha Puntland.

 

Source The Hill & Horseed Media.

[General Duke]

Lobbyist hired to combat more Somali pirates

By Roxana Tiron

 

Posted: 04/22/09 07:04 PM [ET]

A region of Somalia that is home to many of the pirates who have made national news terrorizing area waters is seeking help from K Street to calm the troubled seas.

 

The Puntland State of Somalia, an autonomous region in northeastern Somalia formed in 1998, has hired a lobbying firm in Washington, hoping to make the case that lawmakers on Capitol Hill should send money their way to combat piracy and reduce terrorism in the chaotic Gulf of Aden region.

 

Puntland’s president hired Duane Morris at the end of February, according to Department of Justice records.

 

Piracy has become a high-profile issue in the United States after pirates attacked two U.S.-flag ships off the coast of Somalia this month. Lawmakers in the House and Senate are pressing for solutions to the problem, and the Obama administration is working with the international community to try to stabilize Somalia.

 

Most Somali pirates operate out of Puntland and are members of different clans, according to a Congressional Research Service report published in February. Many of the pirates are reportedly fishermen and former militia members of the Somali warlords. Though autonomous, Puntland said it wants to work with the government of Somalia.

 

Duane Morris, a law and government affairs firm, has agreed to represent Puntland in Washington and make the case in Congress and within the Obama administration to obtain assistance and funds for security, infrastructure, social services, healthcare, mass media and the democratization process.

 

According to documents filed with the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) at the Justice Department, Duane Morris is assisting Puntland for a period of three months, until May 29. After that, the contract will continue on a month-to-month basis at a consulting fee of $10,000 a month.

 

The managing director on the contract is James Hill, who joined Duane Morris in October 2008. At press time, Hill was traveling in Nairobi, Kenya, where he met with Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud Farole. Hill said in an e-mail exchange that Farole on Wednesday personally signed an anti-piracy statement and action plan.

 

Hill did not elaborate on the anti-piracy statement, and a spokesman for Duane Morris, Joshua Peck, said the firm would not comment further on the nature of its contract and activities with Puntland’s government.

 

Farole lived in Australia for 10 years before his election and attended the State University of New York at Albany. In his victory speech, Farole vowed to tackle the pervasive piracy problem off the Somali coast, including cracking down on local authorities who have reportedly collaborated with pirates in return for a share of the profits.

 

Farole, who has been in power for three months, was in Nairobi this week to plead for international assistance to set up a task force that could rein in soaring pirate attacks against ships in the region. He said he was drawing up plans for a special anti-piracy task force, composed of 2,400 men, according to Agence France Presse. International donors had been reluctant to pour cash into homegrown anti-piracy efforts for fear that senior officials had stakes in piracy. Farole, according to reports, denied such links.

 

Almost 200 representatives from around the world, including Somalia’s new president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, will attend an international donors conference in Belgium to help stabilize Somalia.

 

The struggling Somali government has also been presenting a plan to envoys from the European Union and the United States to fight pirates by building up military forces and establishing intelligence-gatheri ng posts along its coastline. Somalia’s coastline is 1,900 miles long, but the shaky Somali government controls only a few square blocks of the capital, Mogadishu, with the help of African peacekeepers.

 

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said last week that a State Department diplomatic team will meet with the Somali government and regional leaders in Puntland. Congress still has to approve a $5 million administration request to improve Somali security services.

 

As of Wednesday, pirates still held 17 ships and more than 250 crewmembers hostage, none of them American.

 

The only surviving pirate of a group that attacked the Maersk Alabama this month and held the U.S. captain hostage is facing trial in New York.

 

Experts say that in 2008, pirates launching from Puntland attacked more than 130 ships and hijacked close to 50. Ransom payments for the past year amounted to around $50 million, nearly matching the total budget of the Puntland government.

 

Puntland’s new contract with Duane Morris is not the breakaway region’s first foray into Washington lobbying. Puntland hired Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvellas Meeds for several months in 2002, but the contract was terminated at the beginning of 2003.

 

Also, Somalia’s former president,Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, comes from the Puntland region, which he led for years. He became the president of Somalia’s Transitional Federal government in October 2004 and stepped down at the end of December 2008. His government in 2006 signed a contract with Africa United States Friendship & Economic Development Group (U.S. FED Group). According to Justice Department records, that account is still active, but requests for comment were not returned by press time.

[Somali Pirate]

lobbyists?

 

that is a recipe for mismanagement and back dealings

[General Duke]

^^^Not really its to get the Puntland message across to the powers thaat be in Washington a good move in my books.

 

Puntland is an important state covering around 1/3 of Somalia and 800km of its coast.

 

Its central to the war on Piracy.

[Peace Action]

Good move and shows Farol's grasp of int'l determination to stop piracy. It is in the interest of Puntland and Somalia to cooperate in stopping this criminality. What will be better though is to have the Puntland and TFG to work together in fighing this problem.

[General Duke]

^^^Puntland needs to get direct assistance, this is whats required more support for the security and if the President plan is implemented our seas will be the new cash cow.

 

Good move more needs to be done by the huge Puntland diaspora..

[General Duke]

The solution to the Somali piracy scourge involved many elements, the official said.

 

They included more effort by shipping companies to protect their vessels and possible US assistance to the semi-autonomous northern Somali region of Puntland.

 

Puntland, where most of the pirates’ base camps are located, has a small coast guard which is not very effective and the United States is considering whether it could provide help to beef up that force, the official said.

[General Duke]

Among the steps are sending an envoy to attend the International Somali peacekeeping and development meeting in Brussels and calling for immediate meetings with U.S. partners in the international Contact Group on Piracy to develop an expanded multinational response.

 

Clinton said she tasked a diplomatic team to meet with Somali leaders from the transitional federal government and Puntland.

 

[General Duke]

source

[Mintid Farayar]

Faroole is attempting to put some bandages on that very poor international image of Puntland as "Pirateland".

 

As I told Duke last week, no funds are coming to Faroole or Puntland anytime soon and the whole trip to Kenya was for naught...

 

As much as I try to teach Duke, he's extremely hard-headed. In my father's time, that type of student was forced to sit at the last row in the Sheikh School

[General Duke]

Mintid: You sound desperate adeer and hence the jubilation on the fake news about “border closing”.

 

The President has made a master stroke and gained the support of The Barack Obama adminstartion.

 

When secretary Clinton & Gates mention Puntland in the same breath as the Federal government and when “Somaliland” is not even considered, what does that tell you?

 

When Newsweek a big political magazine interviews Faroole and the international community in Nairobi are lining up to meet him, what does that tell you?

 

But we have already concluded that your comprehension is awful and that you just don’t get this big game.