NAIROBI, Kenya — An insurgent commander based in the semiautonomous region of Puntland in northern Somalia has pledged his allegiance to the Shabab militant group, a move that threatens to destabilize a part of Somalia that had been relatively peaceful.

The commander, Sheik Mohamed Said Atom, an insurgent warlord, said he would fight the Puntland government until it agreed to impose strict Islamic law. His forces have recently clashed with Puntland soldiers, but it was not until this week that he announced his alignment with the Shabab, the group that claimed responsibility for the bombings in Uganda this month.

“Shabab are our brothers,” Mr. Atom said in a message broadcast by Somali radio stations and Web sites on Wednesday. “We are members of the Shabab, and the Shabab are members of us. We have good contacts. We are united in our objectives.”

The European Commission has adopted a €35 million funding decision to support humanitarian activities in Somalia. It is estimated that approximately 3,200,000 people, about 42% of the population of Somalia, would need emergency humanitarian assistance and/or livelihood support in the first half of 2010; at the same time field assessments suggest that the situation is unlikely to improve in the second half of this year. The €35 million Decision adopted today will address a wide range of relief interventions in the following sectors; health, nutrition, food aid/food security, water and sanitation, non-food items/shelter, disaster risk reduction, logistics, security, and the coordination of partner operations.   

Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, said: "Somalia people are the first victims of the deadly combination of continuous fighting and adverse climatic conditions. Their extreme resilience has been stretched to the limit. Many Somali die in silence for lack of food, medical and sanitary care. We cannot let them down however difficult and dangerous the conditions are for our relief-work-, The Commission as leading humanitarian donor will continue its long-standing commitment to address the main humanitarian needs of the Somali population."

The July 11 bombings in Uganda carried out by the al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab exposed the global terror threat emerging in the Horn of Africa – a region also plagued by destitution and authoritarian rule.  This week, however, about 3.5 million people in the region will celebrate a remarkable victory for democracy.  The government of a Muslim population just north of the territory controlled by al Shabaab will experience a peaceful transfer of power between opposing political parties one month after a free and fair presidential election.  The government conducted the multi-party election by its own initiative and with limited external assistance or pressure.  The feat, which has so far received little attention in the West, reaffirms the idea that democracy can take root in cultures of any religious and socio-economic background, and it occurs at a time when U.S. foreign policy has shied away from promoting democratic allies in strategic parts of the world.

This democratic success story takes place in Somaliland, which borders a country to the south that is overwhelmingly controlled by terrorists (Somalia), sits 150 miles across the Gulf of Aden from one of al Qaeda’s stronger safe-havens (Yemen), is roughly 70 miles south of one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terror (Eritrea), and is separated by only one country from the site of a recent genocide (Sudan).

Somaliland’s nascent democracy features a bicameral parliament and an independent executive branch, as stipulated by a constitution that its people approved through a national referendum in May 2001.  A mere 80 votes separated the victor from the runner-up in Somaliland’s 2003 presidential election, yet the miniscule margin of victory – rare in a region where incumbents generally expect to win 99 percent of the vote (as happened in Ethiopia’s May parliamentary elections) – generated no internal violence.