Saturday 24,May 2025 {HMC} The annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) concluded this week in Algiers, with Somalia represented by a high-level delegation led by the Federal Minister of Finance, H.E. Biixi Imaan Cige.

The Somali delegation included the Chairman of the Somali Development and Reconstruction Bank and Somalia’s Ambassador to Algeria. The conference brought together finance ministers, ambassadors, and senior officials from member states to discuss development financing and regional economic cooperation.

In his address to the plenary session, Minister Biixi delivered a key speech focusing on Somalia’s ongoing economic reforms and the government’s strong commitment to national development. He highlighted the post-debt relief achievements, underscoring the transformative steps Somalia has taken toward fiscal discipline and economic recovery.

Minister Biixi assured participants that Somalia’s success story offers valuable lessons for other post-conflict nations. He emphasized the importance of international cooperation and reaffirmed Somalia’s readiness to strengthen partnerships that support sustainable growth and resilience.

Source SONNA

Saturday 24,May 2025 {HMC} The administration of United States President Donald Trump has taken its first concrete action to deliver sanctions relief for Syria, following a surprise policy pivot earlier this month.

On Friday, the US Department of the Treasury announced sweeping relief to an array of individuals and entities, which it said will “enable new investment and private sector activity consistent with [Trump’s] America First strategy”.

The US State Department, meanwhile, concurrently issued a waiver to a 2019 law, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, that would “enable our foreign partners, allies, and the region to further unlock Syria’s potential”.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the waiver would “facilitate the provision of electricity, energy, water and sanitation, and enable a more effective humanitarian response across Syria.”

The authorisation covers new investment in Syria, provision of financial services, and transactions involving Syrian petroleum products.

“Today’s actions represent the first step on delivering on the president’s vision of a new relationship between Syria and the United States,” Rubio said on Friday.

Trump surprised the international community when, on May 13, he pledged to remove sanctions placed on Syria during the leadership of its now-ousted leader, President Bashar al-Assad.

Friday’s announcements mark an initial step towards that goal, as Syria recovers from abuses under al-Assad’s government and 13 years of civil war.

“As President Trump promised, the Treasury Department and the State Department are implementing authorizations to encourage new investment into Syria,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Syria must also continue to work towards becoming a stable country that is at peace, and today’s actions will hopefully put the country on a path to a bright, prosperous, and stable future”.

Trump first unveiled his plans for sanctions relief during a tour of the Middle East in mid-May. He said lifting US sanctions would give Syria “a chance at greatness”, since the restrictions left the war-torn country economically isolated.

“It’s their time to shine. We’re taking them all off,” he said from Riyadh.

Shortly after, Trump met and shook hands with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who had only recently been removed from the US’s “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” list.

Appeal for relief
Calls for sanctions relief had grown following the fall of al-Assad’s government last December. As head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, al-Sharaa spearheaded the offensive that led to al-Assad fleeing the country, bringing the civil war to an end.

The war, which first broke out in 2011, had left Syria’s economy in tatters.

As many as 656,493 people were killed during the conflict, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and a 2020 report from the United Nations estimated that the country suffered total economic losses of about $442.2bn in the first eight years of the war alone.

Sanctions have further dampened Syria’s economic outlook, making it difficult for countries with ties to the US to conduct business there.

Since taking power in December, Syria’s interim government has argued the ongoing sanctions, largely imposed during al-Assad’s rule, would slow development and cause further instability.

Trump’s announcement earlier this month buoyed hope for many Syrians of a new path forward, although the extent of the relief had remained unclear.

Earlier this week, the European Union also announced it had lifted sanctions against Syria.

Friday’s sanctions relief in the US applies to the “the Government of Syria … as in existence on or after May 13, 2025”, according to the Treasury Department.

The reprieve also applies to several previously sanctioned transportation, banking, tourism and fossil fuel entities.

Transactions related to Russia, Iran and North Korea remain under US sanctions.

One of the biggest hurdles, however, is the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, a law that was passed in 2019, during Trump’s first term.

It included broad sanctions that targeted al-Assad’s government and its allies and supporters for atrocities committed against civilians.

The act was named after a former Syrian military photographer and whistleblower who smuggled out of the country a cache of images showing torture and mass killing at detention centres run by al-Assad’s security forces.

But since the law was passed by Congress, it will likely take an act of Congress to completely lift its restrictions.

The president, however, can issue temporary waivers to the law, which is what the Trump administration did on Friday.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Saturday 24,May 2025 {HMC} An international medical charity has warned of a looming “health catastrophe” among South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, citing surging cholera cases and widespread malnutrition in overcrowded camps near the border.

In a statement issued Friday, Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said the local health system is overwhelmed and unable to cope with the needs of tens of thousands of new arrivals.

“With waterborne illnesses like cholera and acute watery diarrhoea on the rise, the risk of a public health catastrophe is imminent,” MSF said.

The influx follows renewed violence in South Sudan, where a fragile power-sharing deal has broken down.

Clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rival groups aligned with First Vice President Riek Machar have intensified, forcing many to flee. Machar was placed under house arrest in March, further straining the peace process.

Between 35,000 and 85,000 refugees have fled to Mattar, an Ethiopian border town, according to MSF.

The organisation reported treating more than 1,200 cholera patients, warning that the disease can be deadly in up to 20 percent of cases if untreated. It also noted that more than 40 percent of malaria tests have come back positive, and nearly 7 percent of children under five suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

‘Dire humanitarian situation’
Since February, more than 200 people with war injuries have arrived at MSF clinics in the area.

MSF urged all parties to the conflict to ensure humanitarian access and called on international donors to increase support. “Shelter, water and medical care are severely lacking in Mattar,” it said.

The UN warned on Friday that the situation in South Sudan is deteriorating quickly and on the brink of a wider crisis. “The escalating hostilities… portend a real risk of further exacerbating the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk, urging all sides to pull back immediately.

Between 3-20 May, fighting reportedly killed at least 75 civilians and injured dozens more. UN reports say the South Sudanese military carried out air, ground and river assaults in populated areas, including attacks on an MSF-run health facility.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Saturday 24,May 2025 {HMC} Somali Defense Minister Ahmed Moalim Faqi announced Friday that his country’s armed forces have liberated the entire Middle Shabelle region from the Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab movement.

He said in a statement that his country’s battle against the movement has entered a new and decisive phase, praising the efforts of his country’s armed forces and popular resistance forces.

He also called on Somali political forces to unite and avoid rhetoric that could harm his country’s battle against the insurgent movement.

In recent days, the Somali army has intensified its military operations against the movement’s leaders and members, resulting in the deaths of many of them and the recapture of large areas in the central and southern regions of the country.

Earlier this week, he announced that his forces were engaged in fierce clashes with Al Shabaab militants in the southeastern regions.

He said that, in cooperation with the popular resistance, they launched an attack on militants of the movement that were entrenched in the forests in the border area between Hiraan and Middle Shabelle provinces, causing Al-Shabab to lose, by losing the Middle Shabelle region, its most important stronghold of influence in Somalia.

Saturday 24,May 2025 {HMC} Former chairman of the Puntland Electoral Commission, Guuleed Salah Barre, launched a scathing attack on Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni, accusing him of hiring mercenary companies to extract natural resources in the semi-autonomous region illegally.

Speaking to reporters in Garowe on Saturday, Guuleed Salah alleged that resource-rich areas in Sanaag and Bari regions are being “plundered” by foreign firms under the approval of the Deni administration.

“You are now aware that Puntland’s natural resources are being illegally extracted, that mercenary companies have been hired, that they want to plunder the resources,” said Guuleed, warning that the region’s wealth is being siphoned without public oversight or benefit.

Guuleed, who contested against President Deni in the final round of the 2024 Puntland presidential election, also accused the president of transforming Puntland into a family-run enterprise, stating that hopes for reform under Deni’s new term have “completely collapsed.”

He criticized Deni’s alleged attempt to reintegrate Puntland’s economy with Mogadishu, blaming the move for economic decline, rising unemployment, and a surge in youth migration. “Puntland’s economy is being ruined, and its future is being mortgaged,” Guuleed warned.

He further described the ongoing political standoff between Puntland and the Federal Government as a personal conflict, arguing that Deni’s loss in federal-level political maneuvering has backfired on Puntland’s interests.
The Puntland presidency has not responded to the allegations.

Guuleed’s remarks reflect growing internal dissent in Puntland amid mounting criticism over governance, federal relations, and resource management. Tensions have been building between President Deni’s administration and opposition figures, many of whom are now calling for greater transparency and public engagement in Puntland’s political and economic future.

Source Hiiraan online

Saturday 24,May 2025 {HMC} A land dispute has erupted between the Puntland and SSC-Khaatumo administrations over contested territory along their shared border, heightening tensions between the two regions.

The standoff intensified on Friday when Puntland dispatched troops to the Shaxda area in the Karkaar region, following the arrival of SSC-Khaatumo forces the previous day. According to a statement from the Puntland police, armed militias from Taleeh—aligned with SSC-Khaatumo— secretly entered Shaxda, raising the alarm in Garowe.

Shaxda lies near the Sool region, a territory long disputed by multiple administrations. While Somaliland previously claimed Shaxda, Puntland now accuses SSC-Khaatumo of attempting to seize land considered part of its jurisdiction.

Puntland’s Minister of Information, Mahmoud Aydiid Dirir, publicly condemned SSC-Khaatumo’s actions, accusing its leadership of trying to carve out Puntland territory, a move he described as “unacceptable and provocative.”

Relations between Puntland and SSC-Khaatumo have been souring since Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre’s visit to Las Anod, which Puntland viewed as a political endorsement of SSC-Khaatumo’s autonomy.
Puntland still regards SSC-Khaatumo as part of its administration, despite recent developments.

The situation is further complicated by the federal government’s official recognition of SSC-Khaatumo as a member of the federal structure—a move Puntland has not publicly endorsed or welcomed.

Although Puntland previously supported SSC-Khaatumo during its conflict with Somaliland, which resulted in SSC-Khaatumo gaining control of much of Sool and Sanaag, the emerging territorial rivalry is now threatening to unravel that alliance. Observers warn the dispute could lead to armed confrontation if diplomatic efforts are not urgently pursued.

Source Hiiraan online