09 Nov 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- TFG troops urged to honor military code of conduct (Source: Radio Bar-kulan)
- Djibouti supports Kenyan military operation in Somalia (Source: Mareeg Online Star FM)
- Military court hands down sentence to two district commissioners (Source: Mareeg Online)
- Turkish NGO to help Somali orphans (Source: Bartamaha Online)
- Puntland forces carryout security operations in Galkayo Bosaso (Source: Radio Shabelle Kulmiye and Risala)
- Al Shabaab display new weapons in Kismayo (Source: Radio Andulus Somalia Report Somali Memo Amiirnuur)
- Government officials in Gedo plan to take control of Bardere Shabaab stronghold (Source: Radio Mogadishu)
- Divisions hit al Shabaab (Source: The Standard)
SOMALI MEDIA
TFG troops urged to honour military code of conduct
08 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 212 words
The government is urging its troops to honour the military code of conduct and respect the rule of law. Speaking at ceremony welcoming newly trained troops from Uganda, the Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Arab Isse urged the Somali armed forces to desist from activities that could damage their reputation in the country.
Isse who is also the defence minister said the forces should not engage in tribalism, nepotism and other unethical activities that may jeopardize their work. The minister warned the forces against any form of divisions that will hamper their work and risk losing public supports as they battle rebel fighters in the country.
Somali National Army Commander Gen. Abdikarim Yussuf Dhega-badan urged the newly trained personnel to be ready in executing their assigned duties including liberating the country from the rebel fighters. He also urged them to be an example to other Somalis and defend the country.
Djibouti supports Kenyan military operation in Somalia
09 Nov – Source: Mareeg Online, Star FM – 111 words
Djibouti has announced that it supports the ongoing Kenyan military operation in Somalia against the terrorist linked group of al Shabaab, reports said. A Kenyan delegation led by Moses Watangula, the Minister of Foreign Affairs held a meeting with the President of Djibouti and other government officials yesterday. Djibouti told early this week stated that it would send 850 soldiers to join the African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Federal judge refuses to dismiss torture claim against former Somali colonel
08 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 126 words
A U.S federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging torture claims against a former Somali military colonel who lives in Ohio. Defendant Abdi Aden Magan argues the lawsuit was filed in the wrong country and too long after when his accuser says the abuse occurred.
Former Human Rights Advocate in Somalia Abukar Hassan Ahmed sued Magan in April 2010, alleging the colonel oversaw his detention and torture there in 1988. U.S. District Court Judge George Smith on Monday ruled Ahmed had standing to sue in the United States and the time limit for filing such a lawsuit hadn’t expired.
The judge relied in part on a motion from the U.S. Department of State saying Magan shouldn’t be allowed to claim immunity from the allegations.
Military court hands down sentence to two district commissioners
09 Nov – Source: Mareeg Online – 176 words
The military court has sentenced two Banadir district commissioners for looting food aid meant for IDPs in Mogadishu.
The Chairman of the military court, Hassan Mohamed Hussein ‘Mun-gab’ said that the district of commissioners of Karan district north Mogadishu and Hamar Jajab were found guilty of looting food intended for IDPs in Mogadishu.
Abdulahi Mohamed Roble, district commissioner of Karan district was handed a sentence of 10 years while Bashir Abdi Noor the district commissioner of Hamar Jajab was sentenced to 15 years the chairman of military court told the state media today on Friday.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Puntland forces carryout security operations in Galkayo, Bosaso
09 Nov – Source: Radio Shabelle, Kulmiye and Risala – 105 words
According to reports from Bosaso and Galkayo in the semiautonomous state of Puntland forces are carrying out security operations following two bomb attacks in the city yesterday. No arrests have been made so far in the operation that started yesterday, reports said.
Turkish NGO to help Somali orphans
08 Nov – Source: Bartamaha Online – 213 words
The Turkish Besir Social Charity & Solidarity Association is hoping to open a second orphanage to help over 200 children in Mogadishu. The association already operates an orphanage for 60 children in Mogadishu.
The NGO will also drill 25 water-wells and provide assistance to over 500 families to seeking to return to their homes. The association will also extend agriculture and stock-breeding support to families. The Secretary General, Fatih Sariyar told AA on Monday that they provide assistance orphans, schools and families hoping to return to their homes.
http://www.bartamaha.com/?p=
Government officials in Gedo plan to take control of Bardere, Shabaab stronghold
09 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 86 words
Transitional Federal Government officials in Gedo region say that they are heading to Bardere that is still under the control of al Shabaab.
TFG officials have informed local media in the capital this morning that they are going to take Bardere and remove al Shabaab from the region.
Al Shabaab display new weapons in Kismayo
08 Nov – Source: Radio Andulus, Somalia Report, Somali Memo, Amiirnuur – 63 words
Reports coming from Lower Juba indicate that al Shabaab have put on display new and modern weapons acquired to bring down Kenyan airplanes in the area. According to the report, experienced Somali military officers who were part of the Somali national forces are now fighting with the al Shabaab because are angered by the Kenyan troops targeting the civilians in Lower Juba.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Divisions hit al Shabaab
09 Nov – Source: the Standard – 1162 words
Divisions are emerging within al Shabaab ranks even as Kenyan and Somali government forces close in on their key positions in the south and centre of the country.
The divisions have seen many al Shabaab militants defect and join Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in the town of Garbaharey in Gedo region. Among the defectors is Mr Abdullahi Mohamed alias Saiful Mujahid, who is al Shabaab’s head of social services in Burdubo town, and his bodyguard.
According to Somali news sources, the two are among an increasing number of al Shabaab members who have sought amnesty from the TFG after defecting from the Al Qaeda-linked terror group.
The defections followed those of another leading al Shabaab commander from the Afmadow region and seven of his men who surrendered to the TFG at Qoqani in lower Jubaland.
In September, six al Shabaab militants turned themselves in to TFG forces in Garbaharey town and 20 others in March. The latest defections are being linked to internal squabbling within the ranks of al Shabaab as their military positions weaken following the TFG supported operation by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
The divisions are expected to get worse as the militants are cut off from their financial supplies due to the air and port embargo imposed by the KDF and TFG forces. Despite banning the smoking of miraa (known as khat in Somalia), Al Shabaab was heavily involved in the business levying fines on traders exporting the herb to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states.
But the newly imposed no-fly zone has cut off this line of revenue and the militants are fighting over the few financial sources left.
In Johwar town, the area’s senior al Shabaab leader Mr Yussuf Sheikh Isse alias Kaba-kutukade, was criticised by a militia commander Mr Abu Qamsa for lifting the ban on miraa trading with the latter promising to block the order.
Al Shabaab imposed a ban on selling of Miraa, Tobacco and Cigarettes in Johwar, the provincial capital of Shabelle region in June, and gave traders four days to comply.
The growing rift between the more moderate Sheikh Isse and Qamsa climaxed after Qamsa’s militia confiscated satellite dishes from residents of Johwar.
The most senior leader of Al Shabaab, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has admitted that the terror group is facing resistance from clan elders who have refused to release their youth to join the militants.
http://www.standardmedia.co.
Allies hunt Shabaab fighters door-to-door
08 Nov – Source: Daily Nation – 376 words
A door-to-door operation has been launched to flush out al Shabaab remnants in towns and centres captured by the Kenyan Defence Forces and their Somali Transitional Federal Government allies.
Kenya military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said that the allied troops were conducting patrols and searching houses in several towns. “The focus is to ensure that these towns and villages are free of Al-Shabaab,” Maj Chirchir told the Nation.
The door-to-door search started on Tuesday and will cover towns such as Ras Kamboni, Mnarani, Burgavo, Tabda, Beles Qooqani, Dhobley, Busar and Jilib, which are now under the control of the Kenyan troops and the Somali army.
“The exercise is being run simultaneously in the Northern, Central and Southern sectors to ensure that no al Shabaab militants are hiding in the towns under our control.
“We are also looking for any weapons that could be hidden in the towns and villages as well as trying to obtain information from locals on the possible hideouts for the al Shabaab,” Major Chirchir said. The Kenya Navy, meanwhile, announced that its operations on the Indian Ocean had so far eliminated piracy incidents around the Somalia coast close to Kenya.
Wetang’ula on Shabaab
08 Nov – Source: the Star – 135 words
Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula has appealed to Kenyans to be vigilant in the fight against al-Shabaab. Speaking during a fundraising ceremony for Kiminini Youth Polytechnic in Trans Nzoia West, Wetangula said the militia group is a national enemy. “I urge you fellow Kenyans wherever you are to be vigilant and note new people in your areas who have suspicious characters,” Wetangula said.
The minister further reiterated that the government shall not relent in her efforts to pursue the militiamen in lawless Somalia. “It should be made clear that we are not in war with the Somali government but we are only fighting a group of people in that country that have been a thorn even to their own government and we are getting a lot of support from the TFG of Somali,” he said.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/
How does ‘poor’ Eritrea afford to fund al Shabaab?
08 Nov – Source: Africa Review – 334 words
The second youngest African nation, Eritrea is already struggling to extricate itself from a diplomatic quagmire after only two decades of an independent existence. Run by a secretive and isolated Asmara regime, the Red Sea nation has recently rolled out a rather uninspiring charm offensive to change the decidedly hostile perception by its neighbours, but recent claims of arming militant Somalia rebels are unlikely to win it the propaganda war.
Reports that three shipments of arms had been delivered by Eritrea to the Al-Qaeda-allied al Shabaab rebels that Kenya is battling inside Somalia were hotly refuted, but recent international investigations have cited Asmara for sponsoring terrorist activities in the region.
But how does Eritrea, whose economy is currently worth less than $3 billion and is one of the poorest countries in the world, manage to finance al Shabaab and other Islamist groups in the Horn of Africa, as alleged by a UN report?
Al Shabaab repulsed in Mandera, Northern Kenya
09 Nov – Source: the Star – 59 words
A group of about 30 al Shabaab militias attacked a security base manned by the Rural Border Patrol Unit of the administration police near Elwak in Mandera on Monday night but were repulsed by Kenya forces.
The militias who had sneaked into the border town in the night were pursued into Somalia. Nobody was injured in the confrontation.
Nairobi businessmen blame the ‘al Shabaab’ for losses
09 Nov – Source: Coast week, Xinhua – 631 words
Kenya’s businessmen said on Tuesday they are losing millions of shillings daily as customers shy away from the Nairobi Central Business District (NCBD) following the recent spate of grenade attacks that have been witnessed in the city. Trade lobby group, the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) said over 7,000 of its members have been very much affected by the insecurity caused by the insurgents from Somalia blamed for abductions of foreigners in the east African nation.
“Between November and December this year, the KNCCI was expecting eight foreign businesses delegations to tour the country.
“However the visits have all been cancelled due to perceived insecurity,” KNCCI Deputy CEO Peter Muiruri told journalists in Nairobi.
Muiruri said reiterated that the tourism sector members have borne the greatest hit due to fear of attacks by the Somali militia. The most affected businesses include shopping Malls, Bars, hotels, Restaurants and the transport sector.
http://www.coastweek.com/3444_
WFP, UNICEF grateful to Kuwait’s ”generous contributions” to assist Somalis
09 Nov – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 311 words
Executive Directors of the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) thanked the State of Kuwait this week for the “generous contributions” to assist the people of Somalia cope with the drought.
In a letter to Kuwaiti Permanent Representative Ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi, WFP’s Executive Dirctor Josette Sheeran expressed her “deep appreciation” for Kuwait’s “generous contribution” of USD 250,000 to the Programme’s emergency food operations assisting the drought-affected people in Somalia and those forced to flee to neighbouring countries.
“This contribution highlights Kuwait’s leading role in providing humanitarian and development assistance worldwide. WFP is honoured to pursue and strengthen its partnership with the State of Kuwait and its institutions,” Sheeran stressed in her letter to Ambassador Al-Otaibi.
“I would like to reiterate my most sincere thanks and appreciation to the people and Government of the State of Kuwait for supporting the very important operations in Somalia,” she added.
“Thanks to the support from the State of Kuwait, WFP will be able to continue the Support to 1.9 million people in Somalia with life-saving nutritious food,” she indicated.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya minister defends Somalia fight
08 Nov – Source: BBC – 4:56 min
Following a series of high-profile kidnappings in Kenya, the country’s military recently launched an operation to crack down on militants in neighbouring Somalia. Kenya’s Tourism Minister, Najib Balala, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that the resort of Lamu, where one British tourist was killed and another kidnapped in September, is now secure.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Kenyan troops change strategy to focus on pacification
09 Nov – Source: Xinhua – 570 words
Kenya’s military intensified its operations to subdue Al-Shabaab militia in southern Somalia and are now focusing on patrols and pacification in liberated areas in a move aimed at eliminating sympathizers in the lawless nation.
Military spokesman Emmanuel Chirchir said the Kenya Navy has also been conducting patrols in the Indian Ocean to keep out the militants and have so far sunk two enemy boats, killing over 10 members of the Al-Shabaab members in the process.
“The Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) forces at the battlefront were involved in patrols and pacification in the liberated areas and Al- Shabaab pockets,” said Major Chirchir late Tuesday. “This pacification patrols reinforce the operation objectives and facilitate access by international aid organizations in the liberated areas,” he added.
Kenya launched Operation Linda Nchi (Kiswahili for “Protect the Nation”) on Oct. 16 and has since deployed ground troops and air assets between its common border and the Somali port town of Kismayo. Government officials have said its forces were targeting militants who threaten Kenya’s heavily tourism-dependent economy and its national security.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Eritrea appeals to UN in bid to prevent sanctions
08 Nov – Source: AFP, Yahoo News – 472 words
Eritrea’s president has asked for a personal hearing before the UN Security Council in a bid to head off new sanctions over alleged support for Somalia’s Islamist rebels, diplomats said.
Rival Ethiopia has been calling for tougher action against Eritrea for several months after its neighbor was linked to a plot to bomb an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
Kenya is now accusing Eritrea of arming Somali Islamist rebels and UN Security Council members Nigeria and Gabon have tabled a resolution calling for sanctions on Eritrea’s mining industry and remissions from abroad.
Eritrea’s President Issaias Afeworki has asked to speak to the 15-nation Security Council in New York in a move opposed by the United States. Some Western nations oppose new sanctions, fearing such restrictions could harm the civilian population, diplomats said.
Afeworki has denied Kenya’s accusations that his country arms Shabaab rebels in Somalia and that it was involved in a plot, outlined in a UN sanctions committee report, to bomb the summit in the Ethiopian capital in January.
http://news.yahoo.com/eritrea-
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS
Why Kenya should pull out of Somalia
08 Nov – Source: Nairobi Star – 638 words
Kenya should withdraw its troops from Somalia forthwith and also withdraw its support for the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).This is because the pitfalls that exist against Kenya’s engagement in the Somalia conflict outweigh any projected benefits.
Firstly, the war is illegal as it violates article 95 (6) of the Constitution which requires the National Assembly’s approval of any declaration of war. The Government of Kenya publicly through the Ministers of Defence and Internal security declared war about three weeks ago in a press conference against Al Shabaab.
No parliamentary approval was sought prior to that declaration despite article 95(6) of the Constitution implying that the declaration ought to be before the commencement of the war. Even if it was to be construed that the said article allowed an approval after the declaration, presently no such approval has been sought.
Granted, the matter was discussed recently in Parliament in camera but the discussion was centred on a ministerial statement and not a substantive motion debated and passed approving the war as it is required by Parliamentary standing orders. This means the current regime is flagrantly disrespecting the constitution. Kenyans are being made to bear the burden of retaliation by Al Shabaab for a war they were denied through their elected representatives opportunity to analyse its merits.
Secondly, the war is very costly. Pundits have estimated that it is costing Sh10, 000 per day to keep every soldier in the war. The costs will run into billions of shillings as the war progresses. Other economic costs involved including the loss of business occasioned to the economy through fear of attacks by the Somali insurgents.
One of the known reasons for the economic downturn of the United States economy was its involvement in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars in the 2000 decade. In contrast to this, during the same decade, China invested its money in infrastructure and it is now set to overtake US in Gross Domestic Product measure and in purchasing power parity by 2020 according to the International Monetary Fund world economic survey report.
Thirdly, the reasons given to justify the war are weak. The government says the operation follows the recent abduction of four Europeans—two at the Coast and two aid workers in refugee camps in North Eastern. Al Shabaab has denied its involvement and there is no indication that the Kenyan soldiers are in hot pursuit of the abductors. This has now changed and the stated mission is to overthrow Al Shabaab-not to bring back the abductees.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/