Somali Judge and Lawmaker Gunned Down In Puntland

The Media Line Staff A Somali judge and lawmaker were gunned down Wednesday night in two separate incidents in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Somalia. Ibrahim Elmi Warsame, a lawmaker in the Puntland regional parliament, was shot dead in the Puntland capital Garowe by masked gunman. In a separate incident in the commercial capital Bossaso, Sheikh Muhammad Abdi Aware, a senior judge at a local court, was killed by masked gunmen as he left a mosque. The gunmen fled the scene in both cases. Aware, chairman of the higher court of Puntland, reportedly presided over trials of piracy suspects and members of the Islamist Al Shabaab organization, which is engaged in a civil war against forces of Somalia’s weak transitional government. Aware recently sent four members to jail, which could have been a motive for the killings. Somalia’s transitional government has been fighting Al Shabaab for several years since the group launched a military campaign to install Sharia, or Islamic Law, in the country. Basher Goth, a Somali analyst and former editor of Awdal news, said there could be three possible suspects in killing the officials. “The first is Al Shabaab, who want to make their presence felt all over country,” he told The Media Line. “They also see the Puntland and Somaliland administrations as secular regimes that are against their agenda of Islamization.” “Another possible suspect could be the Ogaden Liberation Front, whose members have been arrested by the Puntland government and handed over to Ethiopia,” he said. “The third could be the local moderate Islamic clerics who have strained relations with the government and a number of their members have been arrested and sentenced by Puntland courts.” “This is just preliminary speculation,” Goth said. “It could also be internal revenge by people connected to pirates or even tribal rivalry.” Somalia’s weak Western-backed interim government and the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM are located in pockets of the capital Mogadishu, while Al Shabaab controls many other parts of the capital and regions in southern Somalia. Puntland has become a launch-pad for pirates hijacking ships off the Somali coast and the Gulf of Eden and the regional court has meted out various jail sentences to convicted pirates. The local authorities there have come under criticism for not doing enough to fight piracy and illegal activities off the coast. “[Al Shabaab] want to undermine the stability of all the stable areas of Somalia, including Puntland and Somalia,” Goth told The Media Line. “They will put fear into people and show that they are present everywhere in the country. They’re flexing muscles and saying that ‘at the right time we can take over.’” The United States accuses Al Shabaab of being affiliated with Al-Qa’ida and is concerned that Somalia is turning into a safe haven for terrorists. Analysts say the conflict there could turn into a proxy war and spill over into the rest of the Horn of Africa, pulling in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Puntland is incapable of bringing stability to the rest of the country alone, Goth said. “They can’t do much. All Puntland can do is take care of the peace and stability of Puntland, and even in that area they’re not doing well because the piracy is from Puntland.” Both Puntland and neighboring Somaliland, relatively quiet areas of Somalia, have been plunged into the national conflict over the past two years. Puntland, home to a third of the Somali people, is a self-declared autonomous state which has been self governing since 1998. Unlike Somaliland, it does not seek independence from Somalia. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina Launches Senate Bid

Kris Alingod – AHN Contributor San Diego, CA (AHN) – Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who served as campaign adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in last year’s presidential race, officially began her campaign for the Senate on Wednesday with a concession to critics who had questioned her spotty voting record. The 55-year-old launched her 2010 bid with an op-ed with the Orange County Register that said, “Admittedly, I have not always been engaged in the electoral process, and I should have been. For many years I felt disconnected from the decisions made in Washington and, to be honest, really didn’t think my vote mattered because I didn’t have a direct line of sight from my vote to a result.” “I realize that thinking was wrong,” she added. “As I grew throughout my career, beginning as a secretary and eventually becoming a CEO, I saw how government impacted business… I now understand, in a very real way, that the decisions made by the Senate impact every family and every business, of any size, in America.” Fiorina also issued a volley against the incumbent she is seeking to unseat, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), a five-term congresswoman and three-term senator who is currently Chief Deputy Whip and chairperson of the Senate Environment Committee. “Does California have the representation we deserve? The clear answer is no,” Fiorina wrote. “Barbara Boxer has been a senator for almost 18 years. During that time, she’s only gotten three laws enacted – naming a river in Virginia, a courthouse in Fresno, and bringing bridge repair money to the Bay Area, where she is from. One piece of real work in 18 years isn’t much of a track record.” Fiorina had long been expected to throw her hat in the race, but she underwent surgery for breast cancer in March. In September, she launched an exploratory committee amid criticisms from State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, a conservative who launched his campaign in April, that she had voted only in a handful of the 18 state and national elections held since 2000. DeVore, who previously served as an aide to former Rep. Chris Cox and as Irvine city commissioner, on Wednesday said in a statement, “Fiorina’s arrival means Republican voters have a clear choice in this primary: between an establishment-picked, big-government moderate with lots of cash but little experience in public life — and a volunteer-supported, proven conservative with a long record of civic engagement.” The 47-year-old DeVore has received the endorsement of the Senate Conservative Fund and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), while Fiorina has the backing of five former California Republican Party chairmen. A Standford University graduate, Fiorina served as campaign surrogate and economic adviser to McCain. Despite having caused controversy by saying she “doesn’t think John McCain could run a major corporation,” she was said to have been shortlisted for Republican vice presidential nominee. She is a recipient of the 2002 Appeal of Conscience Award and the 2004 Leadership Award from the Private Sector Council. She was ousted out of HP in 2005, a year after she was appointed by the White House to the U.S. Space Commission. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved