According to Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday, the leader of autonomous region of Puntland, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, handed over two Arabs to American officials and then were flown out of the country. However, press reports from Bosaso said that they were delivered to Ethiopian military officials who flew them out. One man was from Syria, the other from Palestine. They had lived in Bosaso town for many years and ran a bottling water plant and electronic workshop. The reports said that Arabs were accused of being linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist group. The Puntland leader, Abdullahi Ahmed, has good relations with Addis Ababa. He has frequently said that some extremists have bases in his region and has shown his support for the international fight against terrorism.
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On Monday, the UN Resident Coordinator for Somalia Max Gaylard said in statement that it is time to look at fresh ways of tackling challenges facing the country. The statement noted that at least one in 10 Somalis was chronically vulnerable. These included returning refugees, minority groups, economic migrants and the urban poor, as well as more than 320,000 internally displaced souls. “This is a complex task, but I think the time has come to look at fresh ways of tackling the challenges,” Gaylard said. “We want to bring together everyone who can help.”
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The deputy chairman of the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA) Sheikh Adan Madobe, has declared himself as the interim RRA chairman, a Mogadishu’s Radio Banadir reported on Sunday. Madobe was quoted as saying that he will act as interim chairman for six months until elections are held. The RRA controls the entire regions of Bay and Bakol in southwestern Somalia.
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Four inmates have starved to death in Mogadishu Central Prison, a San’a newspaper reported on Sunday. The prison is controlled and administrated by Somalia’s Transitional National Government (TNG). The paper said that the most of the inmates, who are still waiting to start their legal proceedings, couldn’t afford the fees for lawyers. The TNG lacks funds for many of the basic social services. The prison service is one of the services suffering from this lack of central finance.
