A prominent US-based Somalia analyst has rejected a statement by Jerry Rawlings, the African Union’s special envoy to Somalia, that Arab uprising in the Middle East and North Africa have weakened militant Islamist group al-Shabab’s finances.

Former Ghanian leader Rawlings late last week urged the international community to take advantage of the uprisings in states such as Libya and other nations in North Africa, saying that the supply of arms to Somalia were “beginning to fizzle out”. Mohammed Yusuf reports

Two decades of conflict have wreaked havoc on civilians in Somalia, who are often targeted by insurgent groups and government forces and face high-levels of violence and human rights abuses, Amnesty International said Friday.

Launching its global human rights report on the eve of its 50th anniversary, Amnesty said civilian killings and rights abuses have increased. Mohammed Yusuf reports

Almost two years after it first emerged Kenyan youth were being lured to neighbouring Somalia to fight alongside Islamist militant group al-shabab, an Islamic organization in Kenya has opened lid on the issue.

The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK), based in Kenya’s coastal region, where many Muslim live, is raising the flag over recruitment and wants the government to take decisive action and save Kenya’s youth. Mohammed Yusuf reports from Nairobi.

Kenyan Security officials have deployed armed security officers to the home of Mama Sarah Obama, the paternal grandmother of US President Barack Obama, in Kogelo western Kenya.

According to the Kenyan security authorities, the heightened security is in response to threats made earlier this week by al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked insurgent group that is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s U.N.-backed government in Mogadishu, over the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Mohammed Yusuf reports from Nairobi.

As the process of forming the new Somali state of Azania continues, analysts are growing increasingly worried that the trend of cutting up Somalia into ever-smaller pieces could be spark a conflict even more intractable than the current Islamist insurgency. Mohammed Yusuf reports

The United Nations sponsored consultative Somalia peace conference has formally ended in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Wednesday. The contested meeting was attended by delegates from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Galmududg State, Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a as well as the speaker of the parliament, Shariff Hassan Sheik Aden, despite the boycott of the meeting by the majority of Transitional Federal Government (TFG) lawmakers, including the president and prime minister. Mohammed Yusuf reports

The Prime Minister of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo on Thursday said Kenya was committed to fight militant Islamist group al-shabab as he met his Kenyan counterpart in Nairobi. Mohammed Yusuf reports

Somalia’s Transitional Federal government called on aid agencies today to use Kenyan border towns to distribute aid.Mohammed Yusuf reports

The government of Kenya has reversed a 20 year policy of accepting refugees fleeing violence and upheaval in Somalia. Kenyan authorities recently closed down a makeshift refugee camp without providing an alternative for the distribution of humanitarian aid. Human Rights Watch is calling on Kenya to immediately halt deportations of Somali refugees and to allow asylum seekers to file claims.Mohammed Yusuf reports

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has praised the pivotal role Kenya has played in east Africa tackling emerging threats of the Somali pirates both in the region and internationally. Mohammed Yusuf reports