SOMALIA: Amnesty urges "central role" for human rights activists
NAIROBI, 17 July 2003 (IRIN) - The rights group Amnesty International (AI) has called for human rights defenders to be given a central role in the ongoing peace process in Somalia.

"Civil society in Somalia, and particularly human rights defenders with a track record of activism, must be supported and empowered, and given a strong participatory role in the transitional period," it said in a statement issued on Thursday.

"Faction leaders must be pressed to affirm and demonstrate commitment to human rights," it added.MORE

SOMALIA: Frontline states say they are united
NAIROBI, 18 July 2003 (IRIN) - The frontline states, bordering Somalia, are united in their support for a successful outcome to the Somali peace talks currently underway in Kenya, according to a Kenyan foreign ministry statement. MORE

Faction leader rejects "flawed" agreement

NAIROBI, 16 July 2003 (IRIN)-- Mogadishu-based faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow rejected a peace agreement signed earlier this month by delegates to the peace talks in Nairobi, saying it was "flawed".

"We are for peace but this agreement was signed by people who have no weight or influence on the ground," he told IRIN on Wednesday.

"Most of those who signed cannot make any difference to peace or war on the ground," he added. "What is needed is a peace deal agreed to by all those who can contribute to the peace process." MORE

Somaliland's baby-delivering minister
HARGEISA, 9 July 2003(BBC)--Somaliland's Foreign Minister Edna Alda Ismail loves delivering babies at her hospital in the capital, Hargeisa.

When she is not at the foreign ministry or representing her country abroad, she spends her time at the hospital she established with her own money.

"I am still a nurse and a midwife. I was doing my midwifery at three o'clock this morning. There was an emergency," she told the BBC's Network Africa programme. MORE

Somali leader lambasts Ethiopia
By Peter Biles
MAPUTO, 12 July 2003 (BBC)--The leader of the transitional government in Somalia has made a strong attack on his country's neighbour, Ethiopia.

Speaking at the African Union summit in Mozambique, President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan accused Ethiopia of destabilising Somalia.

African heads of state have made conflict resolution a top priority at this summit in Mozambique. MORE

SOMALIA: Confusion at peace talksNAIROBI, 7 July 2003 (IRIN) - Delegates to the Somali peace talks, taking place in Kenya, signed what was termed an "historic" agreement on 5 July to set up a federal government, but confusion was created when some political groups denounced the agreement the following day.

The president of the Transitional National Government (TNG), Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, rejected the agreement, signed by his prime minister, Hasan Abshir Farah, at a press conference on Sunday. Abdiqassim said that it would divide the country and the TNG would "not be party to a process that is flawed and aimed at the dismemberment of Somalia".MORE

SOMALIA: Medical workers halt work in MogadishuNAIROBI, 7 July 2003 (IRIN) - Hundreds of medical workers in the capital, Mogadishu, held a one-day work stoppage on Sunday to protest against the killing of a prominent doctor in the city last week, one of the organizers told IRIN on Monday.

Dr Husayn Muhammad Nur, one of the best eye specialists in Mogadishu, and younger brother of faction leader Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, was gunned down in front of his clinic by unidentified gunmen on 3 July.

The work stoppage was called by the Somali Medical Association (SMA) and supported by all civil society organisations, including groups from the education sector, religious organisations and the business community, association member Dr Abdullahi Farah Aseyr said. MORE