VOA News
Unidentified gunmen have killed a top Somali intelligence official in the latest attack on figures from the country’s interim government.
Authorities say the official, Ahmed Mohamed Odaysge, was shot in Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne neighborhood Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a gunman shot and killed the chairman of a court in central Somalia who was visiting the capital.
The government has been unable to fully stop the violence in the Somali capital despite declaring victory over Islamist insurgents last month.
Meanwhile, witnesses in the central town of Beledwenye say at least four civilians were killed Wednesday when Ethiopian troops opened fire on a crowd of people.
The witnesses say the Ethiopians fired indiscriminately into the crowd after a land mine went off under their military convoy. Officials say several Ethiopian soldiers were injured in the blast.
The Somali interim government is struggling to impose its authority in the Horn of Africa nation, which has gone 16 years without an effective central government.
The government has scheduled a national reconciliation conference for June 16. But the government has warned the conference may be postponed for a second time because of insufficient funding from Western nations.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
Tony flies in
Wednesday May 30, 2007
The Guardian
After Washington, it is Africa’s turn to bid farewell to Tony Blair. His parade started in Libya yesterday, will gather steam in Sierra Leone and will finish in South Africa. Libya’s abandonment of its nuclear programme must count as a coup for British intelligence and diplomacy, and the military intervention in Sierra Leone in 2000 was equally decisive. Mr Blair can safely bask in the reflected glow of both success stories.
But a look at the countries that Mr Blair is not visiting on his final tour is instructive. Ethiopia, the country where Mr Blair launched his campaign against poverty, is off the itinerary. The shine has worn off its prime minister, Meles Zenawi, a member of Mr Blair’s Commission for Africa, after elections two years ago ended in mass arrests and Ethiopian tanks rumbled into Somalia to oust the Islamic Courts, opening fire on civilians in Mogadishu. There will be no visit to Uganda either, after its president Yoweri Museveni, another Africa commission member, changed the constitution to remain in power indefinitely. Both leaders found it easier to talk about the principles of good governance for other countries than actually applying them to their own.
By making his tour, Mr Blair is inviting the question that all G8 leaders gathering next week in Heiligendamm on the Baltic coast will be challenged with: what did the commitments made to Africa at the G8 conference in Gleneagles actually achieve? The legacy is mixed: 18 countries in Africa have benefited from debt cancellation, and in Ghana and Malawi it has made a real difference. The money saved has respectively made education free and trained 4,000 extra teachers. Oxfam has no hesitation in calling this a significant victory. But 17 of the world’s 41 poorest countries are still struggling to meet the G8’s conditions, and other countries with crippling debts, such as Kenya, remain excluded. Even now the world’s poorest countries still pay the richest $100m a day in debt repayments.
The gap between promise and delivery remains wide in the field of aid. Oxfam calculated that the G8 will miss its target of increasing annual aid levels by $50bn by 2010, with a shortfall of $30bn. This is not Mr Blair’s fault. Since 1997 British expenditure on aid has more than doubled and, with 0.47% of GDP now spent on aid, Britain is moving credibly towards the UN-agreed target of 0.7% by 2015. But aid from Italy and France is falling, and aid from Germany, the US and Japan far short of what was promised. If G8 countries were like priests, most would have to retake their vows.
Aid works where it is properly delivered, but giving the cotton farmers of Mali access to world markets would be even better. Hot on the heels of the G8 meeting comes a critical decision by trade ministers – the last chance to conclude WTO talks by the summer and to agree cuts in agriculture subsidies and tariffs. This round of talks risks being hijacked by a familiar row between Europe and the US about whose subsidies should be cut first. On his first visit to Brussels as French president, Nicolas Sarkozy signalled that he would protect the interests of French farmers and resist attempts to cut supports while US farmers benefited from the same policies. Mr Sarkozy said it was “goodbye to naivety”. It could also be goodbye to a good deal on trade for Africa.
There are other areas of the Gleneagles agenda where the outcome has fallen short of expectation. Both Darfur and Zimbabwe remain woeful, questioning Africa’s ability, either military or diplomatic, to sort out its problems. That should not be a reason for the G8 to walk away from its commitments, or to move on to other agendas. Mr Blair, along with Gordon Brown, has put African poverty on the international agenda and kept it there. That does not mean that he is leaving with the task of solving it anything like finished.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,2090813,00.html
30 May 2007 08:55:49 GMT
Source: IRIN
SANA’A, 30 May 2007 (IRIN) – The Oromo people in Yemen have called on international organisations and rights groups to guarantee their rights and ensure their security in the country. Their representatives told IRIN they lead miserable lives in Yemen and live in fear of deportation. Mohammed Mousa, 27, an Oromo who has an ID card from the Somali community, is able to work in a sewage plant in Sana’a. He told IRIN that in April a group of young Yemeni men attacked him after he received his salary. “They beat me harshly until my head bled. They took all my salary [about US $50] and fled. Had I run away and refused to give them the money, I would have been accused of theft. And if I’d gone to the police station, they would have arrested me as I don’t have a card. It’s a life of degradation,” he said. Mona Tareq, a 35-year-old woman from the Oromo community in Sana’a whose husband died a few days ago of kidney problems, said they did not have enough money for the surgery he needed. Mona now lives alone and said she knows nothing about her five children in Ethiopia. “I am cut off from my family. And if I return home, I will be killed [by the Ethiopian government] because I am opposed to it,” she added. Persecution Oromos say they come to Yemen because the Ethiopian government is persecuting them. “We have come to Yemen in order to escape persecution, torture and killings by the Ethiopian government,” Jamal Abdowaday, an Oromo leader in Sana’a, told IRIN. The Ethiopian authorities, however, deny this, saying the Oromos in Yemen are economic migrants. Deportation Ameen Mohammed, an official at the Yemeni Immigration Authority, told IRIN the Yemeni government does not treat Oromos the same as they treat Somali asylum seekers. “They [the Oromos] are economic migrants. The authorities deport those who come to Yemen illegally,” he added. Very few Oromos have refugee cards. Most carry cards issued by the Somali community in Yemen, Abdowaday said, adding: “Oromos live in fear of being deported to Ethiopia by the Yemeni authorities because they are not treated as refugees.” He said that when Oromos arrive in the country, the authorities arrest them and then deport them, which is why they prefer not to go to refugee camps. According to him, the Oromos – like the Somalis – come to Yemen by sea. “They are smuggled in. Some are arrested by Yemeni coastguards and others disembark from boats and go unnoticed,” he said. Discrimination allegations Oromos say they are mistreated by the locals. “We are subject to harassment, arrests, and discrimination,” Abdowaday said. “Our children can’t go to school. They are deprived of education… They have become like animals confined in small rooms. They can’t play in the streets for fear of being beaten or harassed by local children,” Abdowaday added. When they are abused they are scared to complain to the police for fear of deportation, as they have no official documentation or refugee cards. Even when they want to rent a house, landlords ask for ID or refugee cards, which most of them lack. Ameen Mohammed denied there was discrimination against Oromos: “There is no discrimination against them. We apply the law to them if they violate it. When they get into trouble we apply the law, and they receive justice if they are harassed. Also, when they are detained after arriving here illegally, we check to see if they really qualify for refugee status. If they do, we grant it to them.”
Tue May 29, 2007
By Guled Mohamed
MOGADISHU, May 29 (Reuters) – Gunmen killed a court official in Mogadishu in the latest rebel attack targeting authorities in the chaotic Somali capital, witnesses said on Tuesday.
Sheikh Mohamed Muse Duale, the head of a court in the central town of Baladwayne, was shot dead as he waited for a bus late on Monday at Mogadishu’s Bakara Market.
“Someone shot him twice in the head,” resident Omar Rageh, who witnessed the shooting, told Reuters by telephone. “This was definitely an assassination since he was not robbed.”
Insurgents from an ousted militant Islamist movement have increasingly adopted the tactics of Iraqi guerrillas since the interim Somali government and its Ethiopian allies forced them out of the seaside capital in December after a brief war.
At least two people died on Monday when attackers hurled grenades and opened fire on Ethiopian troops in the city.
The rebels have struck government buildings, convoys and Ugandan peacekeepers patrolling under an African Union mandate.
President Abdullahi Yusuf’s government is struggling to impose central rule on the Horn of Africa nation, in anarchy since warlords kicked out dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
“This must be the work of the former Islamist movement,” one government soldier, Mohamed Said, said of Duale’s killing.
“They want to paint a bad picture of Mogadishu in order to frustrate the government’s efforts in taming anarchy,” he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL29579254._CH_.2400
Feeling right at home
Foreign-born physicians filling a need in Delaware
By LULADEY B. TADESSE, The News Journal
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Dr. Isaias Irgau, who fled his native Ethiopia at the age of 16, received his medical training in the United Kingdom and completed his surgical residency at Christiana Care. After working in Middletown for three years on a special government program, he opened a specialized surgical practice in Newark with three colleagues.
Dr. Bhavin Dave, a gastroenterologist, consults with patient Robert Murphy last week at Dave’s office, LLC Consultants, in Dover.”
Dr. Bhavin Dave, a gastroenterologist, consults with patient Robert Murphy last week at Dave’s office, LLC Consultants, in Dover.
Dr. Bhavin Dave, of Dover, said he experienced a little resistance from patients at first. “
Dr. Bhavin Dave, of Dover, said he experienced a little resistance from patients at first. “The way I feel in the long run is that if you have talent and patience, things do work out,” he said.
Dr. Isaias Irgau, who specializes in minimally invasive bariatric surgery to help patients lose weight, said starting a practice can be difficult for a foreign-born doctor. He would like to be part of a medical mission to Ethiopia.”
Dr. Isaias Irgau, who specializes in minimally invasive bariatric surgery to help patients lose weight, said starting a practice can be difficult for a foreign-born doctor. He would like to be part of a medical mission to Ethiopia.
Dr. Isaias Irgau fled Ethiopia at the age of 16, soon after the government shot and killed his father in front of his home.
His father was a victim of the civil war in northern Ethiopia, which lasted more than 20 years.
To save himself, Irgau became a refugee, escaping to Sudan, then Egypt, Italy and, finally, to the United Kingdom. But the challenges he faced never deterred him from pursuing a long-cherished dream — to become a doctor and one day return to a peaceful Ethiopia.
Lots of hard work and determination landed Irgau at Bristol University Medical School. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. And in 1991, he applied and was accepted into a surgical residency in the United States, which placed him at Christiana Care Health System in Delaware.
“I actually had no idea where Delaware was, to tell you the truth,” said Irgau, 46. “You have to apply to a central system and they give you a place. I happened to match with Delaware.”
Like many foreign medical school graduates who come to the United States for their residency, Irgau came on a special visa called a J1. Typically, after completion of the residency program, foreign doctors have to return to their home countries for a period of two years before they can practice in this country.
But a shortage of physicians in Delaware, and the rest of the country, is making it easier for foreign-born doctors to postpone their return home. A federal program, which has been in existence since 1994, currently allows states to recommend 30 physicians a year for a J1 visa waiver. It permits them to stay in this country immediately following their residency.
In exchange, the doctors must work in medically underserved communities for a minimum of three years. The physicians may apply for a position at a medical practice or hospital that has been unable to fill a position with an American doctor for at least six months.
“The physicians that have come here have contributed to our community significantly by providing much-needed health care to our community,” said Marilyn Hill, director of physician services, including recruitment, at Beebe Medical Center, a community-based nonprofit medical center based in Lewes.
Providing opportunities
This program has opened up opportunities for doctors to come to Delaware from all over the world, including Canada, the Philippines, Ghana, Korea, China, Peru, Cuba, India and Pakistan. There are currently 65 to 70 doctors in Delaware partaking in the J1 visa waiver program, state health officials said.
“The whole goal of the program is to improve access to care for Delawareans in underserved areas of the state,” said Judith A. Chaconas, director of the Bureau of Health Planning and Resources Management at the state Division of Public Health. “Our goal is that they stay here past their three-year obligation. … Some of them do stay and that’s a good thing — they become members of the community.”
Irgau, who specializes in weight-loss surgery, completed his residency at Christiana Care and worked in Middletown for three years. He and three colleagues later opened a medical practice, Christiana Institute of Advanced Surgery, in Newark.
Last year, Irgau was selected Delaware’s Young Surgeon of the Year by the Delaware chapter of the American College of Surgeons.
But not all doctors from abroad who come to Delaware settle here. And the state continues to face challenges attracting enough doctors, foreign or American, to meet its needs. The number of doctors in the state is not keeping pace with its expanding population, particularly downstate.
“Everybody is concerned about a physician shortage,” said Dr. Brian Little, vice president for academic affairs and research at Christiana Care. “Within 10 to 15 years, we will have a very severe shortage and there will be a lot more competition in all areas.”
Looking for help
There are several reasons for the shortage of physicians in Delaware.
Health-care recruiters say one of the key disadvantages to luring doctors here is the state’s rural environment. The biggest need for physicians is in remote parts of Sussex and Kent counties. Doctors whose spouses are professionals also have to consider employment opportunities for them.
“Physicians typically train in medical schools and training programs that are in urban and suburban locations,” said Paula Roy, executive director of the Delaware Health Care Commission, a state health policy agency. “Unless they happen to have grown up in a rural environment, it’s not even an unconscious decision. They tend to stay in an urban environment.”
Even if a foreign doctor is enticed to live downstate in hope of gaining permanent residency, living in Delaware presents challenges.
“The first six years, I was so busy I could have been anywhere in the U.S. It was hospital-home-hospital,” said Irgau of his early days as a resident at Christiana Care.
The challenge came after he completed his three years in Middletown. He wanted to establish his own practice.
“Building a practice is not easy for anybody. It is a little bit more difficult for somebody who is coming from outside,” Irgau said.
But because he possessed highly specialized skills — he is a bariatric surgeon who uses minimally invasive methods — starting his practice was not as difficult as it could have been.
Plus, he didn’t have to sacrifice too much in terms of his lifestyle. His practice is in Newark, which is closer to larger metropolitan areas, where there are more Ethiopians.
Other foreign-born doctors have opened practices downstate.
“The opportunities are definitely present in lower Delaware,” said Dr. Bhavin Dave, a gastroenterologist in Dover who also worked in Milford. Dave didn’t come to the United States on a J1 visa, but his experience is similar to other immigrant doctors.
Regardless of how international doctors end up in Delaware, they are faced with working in parts of the state where there is not a lot of diversity.
“There are certain people who are less receptive to foreigners,” Dave said. “It is difficult in the beginning. The way I feel in the long run is that if you have talent and patience, things do work out. You just have to constantly do a good job.”
While Irgau is proud of his achievements in Delaware, he and many other doctors from developing countries are concerned and somewhat saddened that they are practicing medicine away from their home countries. Their dreams of returning and giving back to their countries of origin — where there is an even greater shortage of health care workers — are deferred.
“The thought of going to Ethiopia is there, but it’s not as strong as it was when I was young,” Irgau said.
His life is different now. Delaware is home, he is married and has four children, ranging in age from 2 to 7.
One day, Irgau hopes to be part of a medical mission to Ethiopia. He also wants his children, all of whom were born in Delaware, to learn about their culture.
“I am waiting for them to be a little older to take them back,” he said.
Contact Luladey B. Tadesse at 324-2789 or [email protected].
