Relevant Links (AllAfrica.com)

Bashi Ahmed who also talked to the journalists said that he was trained in Djibouti adding that the authorities of the transitional government did not give any rights to its troops asserting that he decided to leave his colleague and joined to Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen.

Joint Force Core Staff Taking Reins of Combined Task Force (Defence Professionals)

CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti | A new core staff for Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CHTF-HOA), made up of mostly Navy individual augmentees, began transitioning headquarters' responsibiliti...

ICAO classifies RP as a significant safety concern along with 10 countries (Manila Bulletin via Yahoo! Philippines News)

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has classified the Philippines, together with 10 other countries - Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Congo, Djibouti, Kazhakstan, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia as a "Significant Safety Concern" in the past two months because to date the government has not resolved issues to ensure that its air safety oversight and security systems are ...

At least 9 die in Somalia clashes, group says (CNN)

At least nine people have been killed and 14 others wounded in heavy shelling in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, according to a human rights group.

New Somalia government offensive against Al Shabab (The Christian Science Monitor)

The weak, transitional Somalia government may finally bring President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed some badly needed legitimacy if newly trained forces can push back the militant Islamist group, Al Shabab.

On Zuma's way to the Forum (AllAfrica.com)

On his way to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, South African President Jacob Zuma (whose ascendancy in the governing African National Congress Libya has strongly supported) stopped over in Tripoli on 25 January to persuade Gadaffi to drop his bid.

Top Islamist rebel killed in Somalia, report says (MalaysiaNews.net)

Commander of Islamist militant group al-Shabaab reportedly killed Guards kill Amar Ibrahim in apparent vengeance, Somalia state radio says Al-Shabaab is a militant group linked to al Qaeda

Delays plague Somali offensive against Islamists (AP via Yahoo! News)

Top Somali officials are threatening to begin a military offensive against Islamist insurgents but critics — some of them demoralized soldiers — say a lack of equipment, funds and training put any ultimate success into doubt.

Marriage of convenience (AllAfrica.com)

It is a marriage dictated by the fast changing fortunes of the East African and Horn of Africa regions. Kenya has long dominated the region economically, but its political stability was shaken by a disputed presidential election in 2007.

‘Francophonie Week’ begins on March 15 (The Peninsula)

DOHA: In line with the Doha, Capital of Arab Culture 2010 festival, the French Embassy has lined up several events for the year to celebrate the occasion with the Qatari government.