09 Sept 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Somali PM: Rebel group of Shabaab may open talks with us
- Somali rebel pull-out leaves wake of fear in Mogadishu
- Djiboutian troops to deploy in Somalia
- Somalis slowly return to ruined homes in capital
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali PM: Rebel group of Shabaab may open talks with us
09 Sept – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Shabelle, Kulmiye and Risala – 92 words
Prime minister of Somali transitional federal government, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali told that his government would open talks with Somali rebel group of Shabaab if they put down their weapons, reports said. Somali premier, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali who is in Kenya for African meeting about handling famine crisis in Somalia has told BBC Somali service that his government would negotiate with al Shabaab if they lay dawn guns and take peace.
Tanzania is planning to send aid to famine hit Somalia
09 Sept – Source: Shabelle – 176 words
The Tanzanian government is planning to send humanitarian assistance to famine hit Somalia’s capital Mogadishu to help the starving families, a Somali diplomat said today. In an interview with Shabelle Media Network, Abdihakim Ugas Ali Yasin, the Somali ambassador to Tanzania noted the aid including food and clean water will reach at Mogadishu in the days to come. The ambassador stated Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs minister summoned and held meeting with the ambassadors operating in the country to give a fresh impetus and get the best way aid can be delivered to the starving Somalis in Mogadishu and other regions in the horn of African nations.
http://www.shabelle.net/article.php?id=10590
Ahlu Sunna charges al Shabaab with taking illegal money form people
09 Sept – Source: Radio Shabelle, Kulmiye and Risala – 127 words
Somalia’s moderate Sufi group of Ahlu Suna Waljama on Friday charged with establishing more checkpoints in the region of Gedo in southern Somalia. Sheikh Mohamed Hussein Al Qadi, the spokesman of Ahlu Sunna in Gedo region says the aim of setting up the checkpoints is to take illegal money from the people and public transportations cars and trucks. Most of those checkpoints are at the areas of Yurgud, Burdubo and other villages, he adds.
IDPs in Baidoa town receive humanitarian aid
09 Sept – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 100 words
Over 120 drought and famine displaced families camping in refugee camps in Baidoa town have received humanitarian relief food from Somali community in the U.S City of Salt Lake. Sheikh Abdirahman Sheikh Osman, one of the well-wishers who donated the relief food said they handed over their donation to Bay and Bakol council of professional elites for distributions. Council spokesman Fowzi Abdinoor told Bar-kulan that they distributed the relief food for the needy people in Baidoa town.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Djiboutian troops to deploy in Somalia
09 Sept – Source: Afrique Jet – 383 words
Djiboutian troops Somalia – Ignoring criticisms that the deployment of peacekeepers to Somalia could compromise an already fragile situation in the country, Djiboutian officials Thursday announced plans to send a battalion there in October. Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Ali Abdi Farah said Thursday that troops would be deployed to the Horn of African country in solidarity with the steps taken by Somalia to root out Al Shabaab militia.
“Djibouti wishes to announce that we shall deploy a battalion to Somalia to strengthen the AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia),’ Ali said of the deployment plans. Djiboutian President Omar Guelleh pledged the troop’s deployment in 2010, but the deployment had been postponed repeatedly due to an apparent lack of funds for equipment and deployment to the mission’s area in Somalia.
A Kenyan deputy Speaker, Farah Maalim, speaking on his personal capacity as a parliamentarian for Al-Shabaab affected territories, said international efforts to bring peace to Somalia should focus on strengthening the AU position. The Kenyan official warned against the involvement of external players in internal Somali politics, saying they risked strengthening the Al Shabaab rhetoric against foreign involvement.
“We do not need to allow the Al Shabaab to regroup. They can be flushed out in less than two months. We must be alive to the fact that the Islamic Courts Union, led Somalia in 2006 through a period of peace,” the Kenyan parliamentarian said. Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula declined to endorse the Parliamentarian’s opposition, saying: “I would rather not speak about that issue.”
The Djiboutian announcement was welcomed by a Ugandan foreign ministry delegation, in Nairobi to attend a regional Summit on the famine crisis in Somalia. The Summit, which seeks to explore a wide range of policies required to ensure stability reigns in Somalia, is expected to also discuss a security strategy for relief convoys.
“Uganda requests anyone wishing to deploy to Somalia to do so,” said a Ugandan representative at the ministerial meeting. African leaders, due for talks on the region’s famine, are expected to discuss a security plan, targeting the distribution of aid to Somalia.
But a UN official, attending the talks, warned against considering the militarization of the relief supplies in Somalia. Catherine Bragg, the UN Assistant Secretary of Humanitarian Affairs, said UN aid workers had reached more people through civilian’s means and the aid efforts should remain civilian.
http://www.afriquejet.com/djiboutian-troops-somalia-2011090922001.html
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali rebel pull-out leaves wake of fear in Mogadishu
09 Sept – Source: AP – 733 words
Somalia’s extremist Shabaab rebel pull-out of famine-hit Mogadishu last month eased daily battles in the war-damaged city, but left fears the insurgents will resort to deadly guerrilla attacks.
The rebels said their withdrawal was a tactical retreat, as they abandoned a four-year bloody campaign to topple the weak Western-backed Somali government, whose survival in Mogadishu depends on a 9,000-strong African Union force. But while the AU troops said they defeated the Al-Qaeda-inspired rebels, they are still unable yet to completely secure Mogadishu, repeating calls for an additional 3,000 soldiers to bolster the force.
Authorities fear that the insurgents — estimated to have up to 5,000 gunmen still in Mogadishu — mingled with civilians and can carry out attacks easily in a city awash with weapons. “You know Shabaab and Al-Qaeda elements will infiltrate the society. People must watch out for any infiltrators,” President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed warned residents this week, while visiting a government-controlled Mogadishu district.
“We must build our country. We must move ahead and benefit from the peace in the city.” Officials warn of suicide attacks and car bomb threats by the rebels. The Shabaab still control large swathes of territory in famine-struck southern Somalia, where the bulk of their fighters retreated to after pulling out of their Mogadishu positions on the night of August 5.
Each of the three top Shabaab commanders took his pack of fighters; a move observers say indicates internal disagreement. Others also argue that the Shabaab increasingly lost the population’s support with draconian aid restrictions and the brutal imposition of its hard line brand of Islam.
Hundreds of people are believed to be dying each day in Somalia from famine exacerbated by conflict, and the United Nations warn that three-quarters of a million Somalis are facing death by starvation, many of them children.
Militarily, African Union officials explained that the Shabaab made tactical errors in Mogadishu and could not eventually withstand an offensive the AU launched in May. The AU troops said they now control 95 percent of Mogadishu, with the rebel’s still holding one district while some of their fighters are in outlying zones.
“The insurgents saw that we were moving on two fronts and could not resist the pressure and withdrew,” said Prosper Hakizimana, the deputy spokesman of the AU force. “The threat is not that they can come and attack the city. That is out of the question. The threat is suicide attacks or hit-and-run attacks,” he added, noting that the Shabaab had between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters in Mogadishu.
Last month, AU force commander General Fred Mugisha appealed for a quick deployment of the additional troops approved by the United Nations in December. “The force is overstretched. We are doing all we can to make sure we give protection to civilians,” Mugisha said this week. “We have been hearing of commitments, but as the commander on the ground I need boots on the ground, and I have not seen any.”
Burundi last month said it was ready to send in more troops, while Sierra Leone also said it will deploy a battalion of 850 soldiers to the conflict-torn country. Uganda and Burundi are the only African states to have sent troops to Somalia to protect the beleaguered transitional government. However, war-weary Mogadishu residents hope that they have seen the last of the Shabaab, which sprung from a toppled Islamist movement which briefly ruled Somalia in the second half of 2006.
“It was terrible living under the Shabaab. They used to fire mortars at the AU soldiers and their (AU troops) response was disastrous,” said Asha Elmi, who fled Mogadishu’s Bakara market, a former insurgent stronghold.
For Abdurazak Hassan, who recently resumed selling cigarettes and sweets in the bullet-blasted Bakara market, the rebels are unlikely to return to the city. “I don’t believe that the Shabaab will come back because the legitimacy they had is gone. People don’t support them anymore,” Hassan said. However, some fear reprisals.
“I am afraid. I don’t want to be targeted. It is better to shut up,” said shop attendant Hussein Abdulle when asked whether he thought the rebels would return. Areas of Mogadishu under government control teem with traffic and businesses, crowded with the many people who deserted insurgent-held districts. Two decades of civil war has left the sea side city in ruins and turned the Horn of Africa country into one of the world’s most dangerous countries.
Somalis slowly return to ruined homes in capital
09 Sept – Source: AP – 868 words
Abdinur Isse stepped gingerly over the bat droppings, pushed aside the thorn bushes and walked into his roofless, burned-out home. “We are starting from zero,” the 51-year-old Isse said, staring at the smashed concrete, cinder blocks, corrugated iron and other rubble in the long-abandoned dwelling where his family once lived. “This used to be my room. Now only bats live here,” he said.
He’s one of thousands of Somalis flooding into Mogadishu after Islamist rebels pulled out of the capital last month. About 6,200 people arrived in Mogadishu in August, the U.N. refugee agency said, reversing a five-year-trend of families fleeing the fighting. Some of those are families from the faminestricken interior of the country, drawn to the international aid available in the capital. But many are former residents, cautiously returning to see what they can rebuild from the ruins of their lives now that fighting in Mogadishu has mostly died down.
Two decades of war have gutted most of the city, including Isse’s once-beautiful villa. Walls etched with starburst holes from exploding grenades are crumbling on streets overgrown with thorn bushes. “My home used to be beautiful,” Isse said sadly. “Now, it’s a desert.”
For months, Isse’s Bondere neighborhood was bisected by a front line between the Islamic insurgents of the al-Shabaab militia and troops from the African Union supporting the weak, U.N.-backed government. The al-Qaeda linked rebels forbade anyone to cut the bushes, which offered perfect cover for launching hit and run attacks. The ground is scarred with hastily dug trenches and tunnels to allow fighters to move unseen. Now residents are washing off old bloodstains, sweeping out debris and rediscovering dustcovered toys.
Among those returning is Abdirahman Barre, whose two-room home made from corrugated iron sheets were demolished by a mortar. He is camping out next to the twisted wreckage in a dome of cloth scraps stretched over twigs. “I have no money to rebuild it. We ask people to help us to rebuild our homes,” he said as he greeted other returning neighbors, their donkey carts piled high with belongings.
Many have not been home for years, living in makeshift shelters by the side of the road in Afgoye or Elasha, two massive settlements for the displaced on the outskirts of Mogadishu. Around 409,000 people live in Afgoye alone. “There’s no water, electricity, or markets here. It gets extremely dark at night and people’s movement stop,” Barre said.
The U.N. and other international agencies have had a plan in place for more than two years to help Somalis returning to Mogadishu, but only if there are sufficient numbers. The plan calls for giving out building materials, iron sheeting and other aid if more than 200,000 people come back. So far, the numbers are too low to implement the plan, the U.N. said, so Somalis have to make do for themselves. Some get piecemeal help by camping among the families fleeing the drought, war and famine, said Andy Needham, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency.
“I want the district to return to normalcy again, and it truly will be if everyone works on his home,” said Mohamed Shido, 39, who returned to his abandoned neighborhood of Sinay to help clean up. A neighbor said they need help to fill in potholes and clear large debris from the streets.
“It needs a lot of rebuilding and work that cannot be completed by residents alone,” said Sabriye Muhummed, a retired former civil aviation officer. “You see everyone makes only his home, so who will construct and clear the streets, police stations and all other difficult tasks? Only a government’s resources can fill the gaps.”
A Somali government official did not return messages seeking comment on rebuilding plans. On Tuesday, the government signed a promise to improve governance and services in return for international funding. But for the past few years, very little has been done, even though the government received tens of millions of dollars in donations.
Even if they must clean up for themselves for now, residents say, they want soldiers to guard abandoned police posts to protect them from marauders by night and militants by day. The Islamists withdrew from their bases in Mogadishu last month, with many leaving in convoys of vehicles. The retreat followed months of fighting in which the better-armed African Union forces steadily pushed them back from most of the city.
Some of the al-Shabaab insurgents, however, just hid their weapons and melted back into the city. They have carried out a gruesome campaign of beheadings in recent weeks against civilians. The reason for the killings is unclear. “Al-Shabaab does not deserve to be in control of our village. We expect the government to live up to our expectations and provide security to prevent al-Shabaab’s return,” said Fadumo Addow, a mother of two who returned to the capital’s Wardhigley district this week.
A small snake crawled away as Addow lifted a rusted cooking pot. Cockroaches scuttled when she sat on a bed covered in cobwebs. But she was not deterred — not by these unexpected guests in her home, not by the threat of future attacks, and not by the lack of help. “My return to my village is a dream a long time coming,” she said. “It finally came true today.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5irowfcoMylJAhQQFHlElHjuMFFOA?do cId=b75248fc67b34e18a46b9201370bd4c3
London teacher takes up job as Somalia’s deputy prime minister
08 Sept – Source: Telegraph News – 175 words
Mohamed Ibrahim, had been working as a learning support teacher at the Newman Catholic College in Brent for two years and had been due back at work last week for the beginning of the new term.
But instead he contacted headmaster, Richard Kolka, informing him that he was unable to come to work as he had to return his native Somalia in order to take up a senior role in the Western backed transitional government.
The 64-year-old, who until recently was helping prepare British teenagers for their GCSEs and A’Levels is now operating as the African country’s deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 and the Transitional Federal Government controls only a small part of the country.
The new cabinet was announced in July and Mr. Ibrahim was asked if he could return to Somalia immediately to take up his post.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8749976/London-teacher-takes-up-job-as-Somalias-deputyprime- minister.html