Writer's anger over Miss World deaths
ABUJA, 18 JAN 2003 (BBC)--The Nigerian journalist whose article about the Prophet Mohammed and Miss World contestants sparked deadly riots in Nigeria says she will probably spend the rest of her life in hiding.

Somaliland's upper house extends government term until 15th May
HARGEISA, 19 JAN 2003--The Upper House of Somaliland has today given a fresh lease of life to the government until May 15 to allow political parties to get sufficient time to prepare for the Presidential elections to be held on March 31. The extension was also in tune with the proposal of the Election Commission to postpone the elections from January 23 to March 31. The House said that it made the decision after extensive consultations with the national political parites. The goverment's original term was to expire by the end of January 2003.

Ethiopian police 'tortured Christians'
ADDIS ABABA, 17 JAN 2003 (BBC)--Ethiopia's federal police have been accused of illegally detaining hundreds of people following a religious demonstration three weeks ago.

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: REVIEW OF PEACE PROCESS 2002
NAIROBI, 17 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - The year 2002 marked a significant stage in the Eritrea-Ethiopia peace process with the announcement of a new border between the two countries, and demarcation expected to take place this year.

ETHIOPIA: Canada announces assistance
NAIROBI, 17 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - Canada has announced that it will contribute C $40 million (US $26.7 million) towards emergency assistance for Ethiopia. This is in addition to $6.6 million worth of food aid announced in October 2002, according a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) press release, issued on Thursday.

U.N. Condemns Spate of Child Murders in Somalia
NAIROBI, 17 JAN 2003 (REUTERS)- - The United Nations condemned on Friday a spate of child murders and kidnappings in Somalia, where gunmen have killed several school pupils in attacks on buses in the past month.

Last Bantus Leave Daadab for Kakuma
GENEVA, 17 JAN 2003 (IOM)--The last 807 Somali Bantu refugees scheduled for resettlement in the US will leave the Dadaab refugee camp near the Somali border for Kakuma in northwestern Kenya next week.

UNDP helps keep remittance lifeline to open
NEW YORK, 17 JAN 2003 (UNDP)--UNDP Somalia is helping to keep open a crucial financial lifeline -- remittance companies (hawala) -- that transfer US$750 million to $1 billion a year from Somalis abroad to families and businesses in their home country.

SOMALIA: REVIEW OF 2002
NAIROBI, 17 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - The year 2002 ended as it began, with Somalia still mired in conflict, insecurity and instability. Even areas which were hitherto relatively peaceful and stable, such as Baidoa in the south and Puntland in the northeast, became caught up in the violence. This created an acute humanitarian situation in some parts of the country.

The self-declared republic of Somaliland has been the exception to the violence which swept through Somalia in 2002. Despite the death of its president, Muhammad Ibrahim Egal, in May, Somaliland confounded all the sceptics who claimed that "Egal was the glue" that held it together. To the contrary, there was a smooth transition, with Egal's vice-president, Dahir Riyale Kahin, taking over without much fanfare. Somaliland has remained a haven of stability in a country convulsed by instability and insecurity. It capped the year with local elections, which by all accounts went smoothly. Somaliland is due to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in March 2003.

Hotel Services halted to Somali Peace Delegates over Sh30 million debt
NAIROBI, 16 JAN 2003--Hotels in Eldoret have resolved to stop providing services to delegates attending the Somalia National Peace and Reconciliation Conference and the Igad technical committee team from today over a Sh30 million debt.

Now Somali Delegates Face Eviction
NAIROBI, 17 JAN 2003--The controversy-ridden Somalia peace have been hit by several other hiccups which are now likely to cripple the conference.

Judge Blocks Deportation of Somalis Again
SEATTLE, 16 JAN 2003 (AP) -- A federal judge again blocked deportation of Somalis to their turbulent homeland and certified a lawsuit by five immigrants as a class action.

Smuggled Somali Children Abandoned in West-U.N.
NAIROBI, 16 JAN 2003 (Reuters)- - Somali parents are paying smugglers up to $10,000 to abandon their children at airports in Europe and North America in the desperate hope they will be educated abroad, according to a U.N. report published Friday.

Report: Somalis Pay to Get Kids to Europe
NAIROBI, 16 JAN 2003 (AP)- - Somali parents are hiring smugglers to bring their children to Europe and the United States, to protect them from the poverty and violence sweeping the African nation, a U.N. agency said Friday. More on Startribue

The mission of an ex-Muslim Somali woman
AMESTERDAM, 10 JAN 2003--As the campaign for the Dutch elections gathers pace, few stories are more remarkable than that of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Coming to the Netherlands from Somalia, she attracted much attention with her passionate pleas for the emancipation of Muslim women. More on Radio Netherlands.

SOMALIA: Puntland to crack down on boat people
NAIROBI, 16 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - The authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on Thursday said they would crack down on people trying to go to Yemen by boat.

Somali peace talks bounty
ELDORET, KENYA, 17 JAN 2003 (BBC)--For more than three months, the residents of Eldoret, in western Kenya, have been host to more than 1,000 Somali delegates attending the ongoing peace talks.

UN rights commissioner calls for sanctions on rebels accused of cannibalismKINSHASA, 16 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello on Wednesday demanded that sanctions be imposed on members of rebel groups which have engaged in cannibalism in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Somali crisis blamed on free flow of armsJEDDAH, JAN 16, 2003 (ARABNEWS)--A former chairman of the Disarmament Commission of Somalia’s Transitional National Government (TNG), Gen. Muhammad Nur Galal, said yesterday that the availability of arms in Somalia was the major impediment to the country’s reconciliation.

Arabs oppose partition of SudanKHARTOUM, JAN 15, 2003 (ARABNEWS)--Arab ministers meeting here expressed opposition yesterday to any partition of Sudan as part of a peace settlement with southern rebels and called on the United States to play a neutral role in the process.

Somalia talks: Call for consensus
NAIROBI, JAN 15, 2003(KNA)--The President of the Puntland State of Somalia Colonel Abdulahi Yusuf is asking his fellow Somalia delegates at the on-going Somalia National Reconciliation Conference in Eldoret to fully support the conference.

Arab Ministerial committee on Somalia
CAIRO, JAN 15, 2003 (ARABICNEWS)--The Arab Ministerial committees concerning Somalia stemmed from the Arab League, the UN, the African federation and IGAD met to draw an urgent program in order to restore back security and stability to Somalia through confiscating the weapons of the militias and remerging these militias in the state's establishments.

80 Feared Dead in Somalia Boat Accident
NAIROBI, JAN 15, 2003(ABCNEWS)--At least 80 people were feared dead after a boat from Somalia to Yemen developed engine trouble and capsized, a U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Somaliland President Returns home after a visit to three African countries
HARGEISA, JAN 15, 2003--Somaliland President Dahir Riyale Kahin and his delegation returned home today following a week-long visit to Senegal, Mali and Ethiopia. In a statement after arrival, Riyale said that he had fruitful talks with the leaders of the three countries. He also met some foreign and Arab Ambassadors in Ethiopia including British, French and American Ambassadors. Read more on Radiosomaliland.

Nigerian sleaze hits single currency plan
NIGERIA, JAN 14, 2003 (BBC)--Officials at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned West African nations against creating a single currency, over fears that Nigerian involvement would undermine its credibility.

Peace unlikely from Somali talks
NAIROBI, JAN 14, 2003 (BBC)--The chief mediator in the Somali peace talks said major progress has been made, but the conference held in western Kenya was not likely to result in a durable peace in Somalia.

Mwangale offers to quit over Somalia talks dispute
NAIROBI, JAN 15, 2003 (Daily Nation)--The chairman of the Somali peace talks in Eldoret says he is ready to step aside if the parties involved feel he is a stumbling block.

"Senegal accords Somaliland Presidential delegation state reception."
HARGEISA, JAN 12, 2003 (REPUBLICAN)--A motorcade befitting a visiting state delegation escorted the Somaliland delegation from the airport to the official state visitors’ palatial quarters, where about an hour and 30 minutes later HE Abdoulaye Wade, himself, came to personally welcome it. The two Presidents briefly went into a preliminary meeting, which lasted for about 40 minutes, the statement said. The Journey, Mr Idiris wrote, took about 30 on-flight hours with only brief stopover in Addis Ababa of Ethiopia and Frankfurt in between.

Somalia talks won't collapse, insists envoy
NAIROBI, JAN 14, 2003--Kenya's special envoy to the Somalia peace talks has played down chances the peace effort will be undermined by recent accusations of corruption.

One Woman's Fight to Rescue the Environment
JOHANNESBURG, JAN 14, 2003--Somalia lost many things as a result of having no government for over a decade during the 90s, but one of the least obvious was an ability to protect it's environment.

With no authority in Mogadishu to defend fish stocks, fragile coral reefs and already slender tree resources, it has been open season for international companies and private individuals to exploit and pollute as they wish. Waste dumping on Somalia's coast soared, as did the flushing of ship's waste tanks; in the north-east of the country, precious and scarce old-growth acacia trees were cut down by armed groups to make charcoal for export to the middle-east; environmental degradation and desertification intensified throughout the decade.

SOMALIA: Another faction leader leaves EldoretNAIROBI, 14 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - A prominent Mogadishu-based faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow left the Eldoret peace talks on Monday because he is unhappy over the progress of the meeting.

SOMALIA: Peace committees to conclude this month, says mediator
NAIROBI, 14 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Technical committees discussing core issues of the Somali conflict should conclude their work this month, Kenya’s special envoy for Somalia Elijah Mwangale announced on Tuesday.

Somalia peace process still on- EnvoyNAIROBI, JAN 13, 2003 (KBC)--Kenya’s Special Envoy to the Somalia peace talks that have been going on in Eldoret, says the talks are still on track. Mr. Elijah Mwangale denied press reports that the talks, known as Somalia National Reconciliation Conference, were on the verge of collapse.

Muse Yalahow flies home, says talks a failure.
NAIROBI, JAN 13, 2003--Nairobi - One of Somalia's principal warlords has pulled out of peace talks in Kenya, saying they have stalled, officials said on Monday.

ETHIOPIA: UN officials gain access to troubled campADDIS ABABA, 13 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - UN officials have made their first visit to a troubled refugee camp in western Ethiopia where more than 40 people were killed during ethnic clashes two months ago.

DJIBOUTI: Pro-presidential parties win pollNAIROBI, 13 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The pro-presidential coalition in Djibouti has taken all 65 seats in the national assembly, following the country's first full multi-party elections held last week, according to official results.

ETHIOPIA: Warning over high toll of AIDS orphans
ADDIS ABABA, 13 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - A quarter of children in Ethiopia could be orphaned by the HIV/AIDS virus within eight years, experts warned on Friday.

HORN OF AFRICA: "Stage set for success" in counter-terrorism, US says
NAIROBI, 13 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - US military commanders have said counter-terrorism activities in the Horn of Africa region over the last 30 days have "set the stage for success".

Protests counter neo-Nazi rally
LEWISTON, Maine, Jan 12, 2003- - As white supremacists preached their doctrine to a few dozen of the faithful yesterday, their neo-Nazi message was countered by an outpouring of about 4,500 people who converged on this city to promote tolerance.

Somalis caught in storm
LEWISTON, ME. JAN 12, 2003--Demonstration today shreds community. Nomads, the refugees moved from Atlanta to Maine; many fear they'll move again. The sudden arrival of more than 1,000 Somalis strained the resources and tolerance of Lewiston, Me., but the enduring story is how the town, built by French Canadians, is working out its differences

President ends visit to Senegal, leaves for Mali Jan 12 2003 Report we received today from the spokesman of the president of the Republic of Somaliland, who accompanied the president's delegation, say that the president's visit to Senegal ended in a good and