A cast member of the Somali film industry christened ‘Eastleigwood’ at a production studio in Nairobi’s Eastleigh suburb.

Love-struck teenagers, angry parents, rowing couples: Somali youth tired of seeing their homeland portrayed as a war-torn famine zone have started making films to show a different side to their country.

“The world knows Somalia for war,” said Adirahman Ali Suge, a 19-year-old writer and film director, part of a group of refugee Somali film makers in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. “But we have love stories and drama to tell too.”

Several films have been made so far along with a few soap operas. They are either in Somali, English or Swahili — the main language of east Africa — and net a few thousand dollars in profits at the most.

The shoe-string budget films of “Eastleighwood” — named after Nairobi’s bustling Somali district — is a world away from its namesake Hollywood, India’s Bollywood or Nigeria’s Nollywood — Africa’s biggest film industry.

In central Africa, Nollywood movies are the only ones sold by market vendors as “African movies”, with the Nigerian productions dubbed into French in such countries as Cameroon and Gabon.

In Kenya, Nigerian films are also a hit — many of them broadcast on terrestrial networks — but face competition from Bollywood due to a historic large Indian population.

However, Suge, who fled Somalia as a child shortly after the start of civil war in 1991 — still ongoing today — sees the similarities.

“I like to watch Bollywood movies, with all their singing and dancing, and that is in our films too,” he said, speaking as actors rehearsed the latest drama, set in a small shop plastered with posters of Indian movie stars.

“In Somali culture, when a man and women love each, they sing to each other,” he added. “Love is something all over the world: we have it, they have it, so you really shouldn’t be surprised.”

The aim is to portray a “normal” Somalia than the usual television footage dominated by war, rebels and hunger.

Cameraman Abuker Yusuf cites the Hollywood film “Black Hawk Down” — the story of the 1993 battle between US troop and Somali fighters in the capital Mogadishu.

“Of course there is fighting in Somalia, that is true,” said Yusuf, aged 24, who fled Mogadishu for Ethiopia a decade ago, before later moving to Kenya. “But the films show normal life too, our daily lives.”

Somalia’s war is far from over — regional armies are battling Al-Qaeda allied Shebab insurgents, while aid agencies fear a slip back to catastrophic humanitarian crisis that saw famine zones declared in several regions last year.

But Martin Gumba, a Kenyan director who in 2010 helped set up the youth groups to make films and act, believes the fledgling industry is important for young people to look towards a more peaceful future.

“People need a platform to tell their own story, to allow their hopes and dreams,” Gumba said. “Mainstream media is not a fair representation… you hardly ever see Somalia images unless it is of conflict, hunger or piracy.”

Somali cameraman Abuker Yusuf on location in Nairobi’s Eastleigh suburb
But the film makers have to be careful. While hardline Shebab appear to be on the backfoot militarily, the extremists remain influential and have outlawed the watching of films and football, as well as clamping down on non-religious music.

Films are screened in public in Eastleigh, before being sold on DVDs, with some copies of the movies being taken back to Mogadishu following the Shebab’s pullout from fixed positions there last year.

“There have been private screenings in Mogadishu, but small ones because people still fear Al-Shebab,” said Gumba. “Some people don’t like it and you have to be careful… but it is the voice of a people showing the better side of their country.”

Sales of the DVDs are raising money for Eastleighwood’s first feature length film, which is currently in the planning stages, with filming hoped to start later this year.

The planned film, titled “Green Oasis”, revolves around a family hit by drought and conflict and how they are forced to migrate.

The hoped-for budget is a stunning 100 million Kenyan shillings (about one million euros) and its backers hope to raise the money from private financiers and film institutes.

Some of the Somali films have been broadcast on Kenyan television stations but profits in general are however held back by a different form of a problem that Somalia has become infamous for in the outside world: piracy.

“It is a big issue,” Gumba said, adding that pirated copies of the films circulate a week after the films are released.

Filming is done in Eastleigh’s muddy streets and amid the crowded high rise buildings here, with actors weaving in and out of the crowds at the street markets selling fried spicy snacks, heaps of bananas and piles of melons.

“The people here look Somali, they are Somali,” said actress Hibo Abdi, waving at the busy pavements crowded with women dressed in the flowing and colourful dresses and headscarves worn in Somalia.

“When we want to set a scene in Mogadishu, then we go to a slum area to make it authentic,” Suge added. “But conflict is the background — the story is of life.”

By Areeb Hasni –

Mogadishu: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Somlian officials have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, both committing to improve human rights in the African country, media reported on Sunday.

According to reports Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Ali Mohamed said that his government is committed to enhancing the capacity of its institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Mohamed also called on the international community to assist his administration in rebuilding the country’s law institutions that has collapsed during the decades-long civil war.

Officials from the OHCHR urged the Transitional Federal Government in Somali to investigate human rights violation in Somalia.

“We definitely encourage the government with supports of its people to investigate human rights violations including the killings or assassination attempts against members of parliament, ministers, journalists and ordinary citizens,” Director of the Field Operation and Technical Cooperation of Division of OHCHR Andres Kompass said.

The UN official also underlined the importance of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of the al-Shabab militant group.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Somalia is one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world.

A Swedish national has been arrested in Nairobi in the crackdown on increasing number of foreigners flocking to Kenya to join Somalia’s islamist group Al-Shabaab.

Anti-terror police arrested Magd Najjar in Eastleigh after they learnt he was here illegally and was eager to join or had joined the militant group.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe later said Najjar was an accomplice of the wanted German terror suspect Ahmed Khaled Mueller and they had a similar mission in the country.

“He has been charged with being illegally in the country and we intend to ask the courts to fine him before he is deported,” said Kiraithe.

The suspect’s traveling documents showed he entered Kenya on February 23, 2011 after he was granted a visa that was to run from January 31 2011 to April 30, 2011.

And after his visa expired he reportedly never laboured to renew it as per the law. He was scheduled to appear in Nairobi court on Monday.

Anti-terror police who are handling his case said they are investigating to know if he had been to Somalia and back using the porous borders.

“He cannot account some of his time here and there are fears he may have gone to Somalia and came back to recruit more foreigners,” said a senior officer who asked not to be named.

Kiraithe said they are still-hunting down Mueller insisting he is in the country using alias names Andreas Martin Muller and Abu Nusaibah.

Police statistics show an increase of the number of foreigners flocking to Kenya seeking to join the Al Shabaab terror group.
“They come from all countries. We have arrested people from Europe, US and even Asia who want to join this terrorists,” said Kiraithe and asked Kenyans to always be wary of their neighbours.

Abdulaziz Billow Ali, Press TV, Mogadishu

Somalia is struggling to recover from a decades-long civil war. Somali women have born the brunt of the crisis. Now, with the approval of a new constitution, their voice will be heard in the new Somali government.
A two-decade civil war in Somalia has made the Horn of African Nation to be among the few countries in the world generating the highest number of internally displaced persons and refugees with the worst affected being women and children.

Women in Somalia have been subjected to violence, harassment and discrimination at every level. Many are forced to give birth in appalling conditions, with little or no antenatal or postnatal care. As a result, Somali women are among the most high-risk groups in terms of maternal healthcare in the world.

If the current draft constitution is ratified in Somalia, women’s voices will be heard in the political process for the first time in almost two decades.

Women in Somalia have ventured in all filed despite the challenges and are serving even in the security forces in a country fighting a group like the Al-Shabaab who have been waging a five year war against the country’s weak embattled Transitional Federal Government.

But now the Somali women would have at least 30% of the seats in the new Constituent Assembly and will be a part of the permanent Somali government set to take office at the end of August. However Somali women still contribute to the largest percentage on camp dwellers in Mogadishu and the neighbouring states like Kenya.

In Mogadishu, committees of women are leading NGO’s and other groups towards reconciliation. They have organized committees for improved health and educational services, some of which have been collaborating with United Nations and international organizations.

And despite the endless combat in Somalia the Somali women’s persistent efforts, complemented by other domestic and external pressures, have helped bring about the present situation being experienced in Mogadishu and Somalia at large.

Sniper fire, flying RPGs, kidnap and terrorism… welcome to the deadliest city on earth

Westerners face the threat of suicide bombings, roadside bombs, car bombs, shoulder-launched rockets, sniper fire, kidnap, and terrorism

Devastation: City scarred by bombings
There was a loud crack from a rifle and a deafening explosion as a high-velocity round ripped through the air by my head.

I dived for cover behind sandbags, my heart pounding, but the Ugandan soldiers with me hardly flinched.

“Don’t worry,” shouted one, “it’s one of our snipers. He’s firing at a guy on the other side aiming an RPG at us.”

Welcome to life on the front line in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, a city regularly described as the most dangerous on Earth.

The Ugandan soldiers protecting me were peacekeepers from an African force called AMISOM, which has been given the tricky job of retaking the world’s most devastated country from warlords and Islamic militants attempting to introduce Taliban-style rule.

Conflict has raged in Somalia for decades. In the 1970s and 80s it was ruled by a dictator, then in 1991 there was a civil war after which the government collapsed and warlords took over.

There’s since been appalling famine. Foreign attempts to save the country have failed. At least one million people have died and piracy has flourished.

I was visiting Mogadishu while travelling around the edge of the Indian Ocean for my new BBC TV series.

My journey took me from South Africa up the east of Africa, around India and back down through Indonesia to finish in Australia.

Travelling to Somalia was the most dangerous leg of the journey. It is the source of a piracy epidemic affecting the whole of the western Indian Ocean.

It was somewhere I felt I had to visit.

With cameraman Jonathan Young, and director Andrew Carter, I flew in from Kenya, and was greeted by brawling at the airport.

Tough: Mean streets seen from inside an armoured car
An AMISOM official smiled as a man fought with a policeman from the fledgling Somali government. “Par for the course here,” he said sadly.

The airport is inside a protected military base but even there we didn’t feel entirely safe.

AMISOM is backed by the UN and indirectly by money from the West.

Since 2007 it has been locked in a bitter struggle with al-Shabab, a heavily-armed, exceptionally violent Somali Islamic group linked to al-Qaeda, which takes a cut from pirates.

Al-Shabab still controls most of the country, terrorising its own people, and is fighting a terror war against AMISOM.

A few nights before we arrived an intruder got over the wall of the base and was shot dead. Then another intruder was captured.

He confessed to being a member of al-Shabab who had a GPS locator to identify targets inside the base for attacks.

Early the next day we prepared to head out into the city with flak jackets, helmets, medical trauma kits and even Blast Boxers, a type of armoured underwear troops wear to prevent shrapnel injuries to the groin.

Westerners in Mogadishu face the threat of heavy weaponry, indirect fire, suicide bombings, roadside bombs, car bombs, shoulder-launched rockets, sniper fire, kidnap, and terrorism.

So to get around we needed to travel in two huge armoured personnel carriers.

Just before our visit a powerful roadside bomb had devastated the inside of an APC vehicle.

The Ugandans were jumpy and loaded Kalashnikov assault rifles were mounted inside.

“I hope it doesn’t come to this, but do you know how to flick the safety catch off?” asked Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda.

We headed into the devastated city.

Some grand colonial-era buildings are still standing but I was reminded of images of Second World War Stalingrad or Grozny, with everything riddled with bullet holes.

As we drove around we could see people shopping in markets or fetching water.

Some areas looked deceptively calm, but militants and gunmen hide among the local population, and it was too dangerous for us to leave the APCs for more than a few minutes.

“Everyone has guns here,” said Paddy. “We stay too long, and a gang will arrive to fight us for you.”

Safety first: Simon takes advice
We visited several areas on the front line where 9,000 Ugandan troops are fighting al-Shabab.

The fighting was often house to house, or garden to garden, as AMISOM soldiers advanced through the suburbs of the ruined city.

As I talked with Paddy, the Ugandans spotted al-Shabab fighters preparing to launch rocket-propelled grenades at us and opened fire.

I had to pinch myself as a reminder it was the 21st Century.

The shooting intensified and Paddy decided to pull us out of danger.

We were bundled back into the APCs and driven to the former Somali national stadium, which al-Shabab used for public executions.

“This should be Highbury, the Emirates,” said Paddy, as we walked around the derelict stadium.

A donkey grazed on the ragged pitch and a collection of ramshackle pick-up trucks with anti-aircraft guns on the back, surrendered by a warlord, stood forlornly at one end.

I was in Mogadishu a few years previously for another BBC series and was protected by a dozen stoned local mercenaries.

It was even more dangerous then, completely anarchic.

This time I could see a few signs of improvement with shops open and fewer guns on the streets.

But Mogadishu is still in a desperate state.

The only solution seems to be to support AMISOM and the fledgling Somali government in their battle to stabilise the country.

Since my visit they have pushed al-Shabab outside the city.

But dozens of Ugandans have died battling to save Somalia with inadequate backing.

They don’t have a single helicopter. They need airpower and thousands more troops.

With more support from the international community it’s just possible the militants could be defeated, that Indian Ocean pirate attacks could be halted, and that Somalis could have the long-term stability they so desperately need.

The number of cafes offering “shisha” tobacco pipes has risen 210% since the smoking ban came into force, a charity has warned.

Many people are unaware of the health risks from smoking the flavoured tobacco, which can be as damaging as cigarettes, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said.

Cafes and bars offering the traditional Middle Eastern pipes have been springing up across the UK since the smoking ban came into force in 2007.

Freedom of information data collected by the BHF from 133 local authorities in large towns and cities shows there were 179 shisha bars in 2007, rising to 556 now.

Some 53% of local authorities now have – or have had – a shisha bar since 2007, while more than 40% have seen a rise in the number over the last four years.

More private companies are now offering the pipes for hire at parties, corporate functions, weddings and other events.

Shisha smoking is covered by the UK smoking ban, meaning it is illegal to smoke the pipes inside cafes and bars.

Those cafes with outdoor smoking shelters need roofs that are at least 50% open so air can circulate.

Shisha smokers inhale tobacco with added flavourings or sweeteners through a vessel filled with water.

Although the water cools the smoke and makes it feel less “harsh”, the tobacco can still cause ill health, including lung and mouth cancer.

Because the smoke is cooler, some experts say people inhale it more deeply into their lungs, which increases the risks even further.

Some shisha bars do not use tobacco at all and instead offer customers flavoured herbal mixtures.

But the BHF is warning that people may not know the difference and few overall are aware that the pipes are as harmful as cigarettes.

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the BHF, said: “Contrary to popular belief, shisha is not safer than smoking cigarettes.

“Don’t be duped by the sweet smell and wholesome-sounding fruity flavours, if you use shisha you are a smoker and that means you’re putting your health at risk.

“It’s linked to the same serious and life-threatening diseases as cigarettes and there are added risks because you often smoke it for far longer than you would a cigarette and you’re also exposed to toxins from the wood or charcoal used to burn the tobacco.”

A survey of more than 2,200 people for the charity found almost everyone was unaware that people could inhale the same amount of smoke during an hour-long shishasession as from more than 100 cigarettes.

Most (84%) thought it was equivalent to 10 or fewer.

Overall, 13% thought there were no health harms from smoking shisha, and just 43% knew it could contain tobacco.

Smoking shisha was most popular among young people, with 27% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they had used it.

The survey was released to mark No Smoking Day.

Public health minister Anne Milton said: “Waterpipes or shisha fall under the same laws as other forms of tobacco in the UK.

“That means you can’t buy them if you’re under 18 and you can’t smoke in any enclosed public places or workplaces in England.

“We want local areas to develop and implement evidence-based local tobacco control strategies and work in partnership across their communities to encourage smokers to quit.

“This includes supporting local enforcement activities for niche tobacco products such as waterpipes.”