15 Dec 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- UN-sponsored consultative meeting on Somalia postponed (Source: Radio Shabelle)
- Somali president welcomes Britain delegation (Source: Radio Mogadishu SONNA SNTV Bar-kulan)
- Somali interim parliament speaker calls former speaker to respect the law (Source: Mareeg Online Shabelle)
- “al Shabaab is not ready for peace”: Mogadishu’s mayor (Source: Radio Mogadishu Somalia Report)
- Somalia’s al Shabaab says Europeans among its foreign fighters (Source: Somalia Report)
- Somali legislators block deputy Speaker (Source: Africa Review)
- UN-backed invasion of Somalia spirals into chaos (Source: The Independent)
- How to win in Somalia without fighting (Source: Daily Nation the Citizen)
PRESS STATEMENT
Press Statement from the office of the Somali President:
14 Dec- Source: Office of the Somali President- 268 words
There has been meetings and consultation forged ahead by some parliamentarians of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia who were lobbying for a vote of no confidence on the speaker of the parliament
The president of the Republic of Somalia Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was in the last days pretty busy with meetings intended to tackle the differences. The president, who has been perturbed by the recent and unexpected turn of events in which some parliamentarians carried a motion against the speaker of the parliament, clearly stated his stance towards the unforeseen action.
“ It wasn’t a new occurrence, but it came at a bad time. It was unexpected and brings its own feelings. We are still in the middle of investigation and contemplation to know what actually brought up and escalated this event”, the president said.
The country is passing at a crucial time with huge agendas in its hands like the fight against al Shabaab, the implementation of the Roadmap and delivery of humanitarian aid.
“We will continue the talks and delve into this matter to get a greater understanding in line with the constitution. We urge the lawmakers to stop the creation of disagreement and know their responsibilities regarding the smooth functioning of the parliamentary tasks”, the president added.
The president of Somalia also emphasised the respect and independence of the parliament and added that the government is formed on the constitution and that any step to be carried should be consistent with the constitution of the TFG.
“ I recommend that disagreement be stopped and implementation of the roadmap and other tasks emphasised”, president Sharif said.
Meeting on the National Security and Stabilization Plan
14 Dec- Source: Communication Office, Ministry of Defence TFG Somalia- 233 words
The deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Hussein Arab headed a meeting which took two days in Nairobi, Kenya touching on the National Security and Stabilization Plan (NSSP).
The meeting was also attended by the Minister for Interior and National Security. It was focusing on issues of budget for the NSSP and attended by the international community including the USA, UK, EU, Japan and other UN agencies led by UNPOS. The Minister for Defence asked for fulfilment of the international pledges to make the way forward on the implementation of the NSSP. The Minister also said the NSSP was forwarded by the Cabinet Ministers and awaiting parliamentary approval promising its immediate implmentation The deputy PM and the Defence Minister explicitly explained the NSSP and how the TFG is going about its implementation. He also gave a clear picture of the security situation of the country and the development attained by the Somali forces, thanking the international community for its continuous support to the TFG.
Finally, the minister touched on the child soldier which the government was blamed for. The minister said the government has no hand in employing children as soldiers and confirmed that the ministry of defence assigned someone to work with UNICEF to oversee such actions.
The meeting ended today which coincides with 15th of December 2011 and was officially closed by the deputy Prime Minister who is also the minister for defence.
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali president welcomes Britain delegation
15 Dec- Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA, SNTV, Bar-kulan- 89 words
A delegation from the British government has arrived in Mogadishu on Wednesday afternoon. The delegation held meeting with senior TFG officials at the presidential palace.
The delegation met with Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali. The British delegation was led by the advisor of British Prime Minister.
The Somali president and the delegation discussed various issues about Somalia including a conference on Somalia scheduled to take place on February next year in London.
Somali interim parliament speaker calls former speaker to respect the law
15 Dec- Source: Mareeg Online, Shabelle- 132 words
Modobe Nunow Mohamed, newly-elected temporary chairperson of Somali parliament has called on former speaker to respect the law and stated that decision to oust him was meant for parliamentary reform, reports said.
Mr. Nunow said that firing former parliament speaker, Sharif Hassan Sh. Adam means to reform the parliament, adopt Kampala Accord and the Roadmap, reports said.
“I don’t think and expect that our decision was null and void and the international community woud bring Sharif Hassan back to his post, but I urge him to respect the law”, Madobe Said speaking to local F.M stations in Mogadishu this morning.
Former parliament speaker, Sharif Hassan Sh. Adam did not speak about his dismissal by MPs as he continues his visit in Italy, reports said.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
UN-sponsored consultative meeting on Somalia postponed
15 Dec- Source: Radio Shabelle, Radio Mogadishu- 170 words
The expected and musch waited consultative meeting on Somalia that was to open in Garowe town, the capital city of Puntland state has officially been delayed on Thursday, days after Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden was replaced.
The meeting, the second phase of the Consultative Meeting on Ending the Transition was scheduled to open in Garowe town o15th December, with the presence of delegates due to participate was announced to have been postponed and the date to reopen has not been set.
The Consultative Meeting was facilitated by Amb. Augustine Mahiga, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia..
The second phase of the meeting would be expected to endorse a roadmap outlining the most important tasks for the Somali Government, Parliament and regional authorities to achieve in the next 12 months.
This set back is due to the worsening internal conflict and dispute among the senior leaders of the transitional federal government of Somalia over the speaker’s dismissal from the office by the MPs.
“Al Shabaab is not ready for peace”: Mogadishu’s mayor
14 Dec- Source: Radio Mogadishu, Somalia Report- 144 words
Mogadishu Mayor Mahamud Ahmed Nuur Tarsan slammed al Shabaab today when he said, “al Shabaab officials are creating the conflict in Somalia and they are not ready for peace and reconciliation which resulted in many youths to follow their wrong path… Fu’ad Shongole, Mukhtar Robow and Ali Dheere want to kill the youths, they want to make the children kill others. They are healthy and very strong people and at the same time they are robbing and taking the food from the poor people. I pray that God should take their strength away and let what you did to other children been seen in your own children.”
al Shabaab extremists looted traders and the pastoralists in Lower Shabelle due to their financial crisis. Reports from Qalimoow, Saarsaar and other districts indicate that the situation is difficult for the locals because of the pressure put on them by al Shabaab.
Al Shabaab vowed it will try to take Mogadishu in the next few days
14 Dec- Source: Radio Al Furqaan, Somalia Report- 67 words
The al Shabaab Mujahideen chairman in Banadir region, Sheikh Mohamed Abdirahman Abu Abdalla, announced the final battle against TFG and foreign troops (AMISOM) for Mogadishu would begin in the next few days.
Speaking to Radio al-Furqaan, Abu Abdalla stated that his administration concluded training for new Jihadists and prepared all the equipment needed to retake the capital. He vowed they will launch heavy attacks on the enemy’s bases.
Somalia’s al Shabaab says Europeans among its foreign fighters
14 Dec- Source: Somalia Report- 584 words
The extract from the interview of Sheikh Adan Muhammad Barre, a representative of the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab to Somalia Report website
al Shabaab, the militant group in Somalia aiming to topple Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government [TFG] and impose Islamic law, has been waging a brutal war against Somali security forces, killing and injuring scores of civilians in the process.
[SR] Where are the al Shabaab leaders in Gedo Region?
[Sheikh Adan] The majority of us are in Wilaya Gedo, although some of us are in Baardheer, and we plan to capture other districts such as Luuq, Buulo Xaawo and Garbaharrey.
[SR] Whom are you collaborating with?
[Sheikh Adan] Mujahidin who are in the other parts in Somalia, and they are like our brothers because they are fighting the Ethiopian forces in some parts of Gedo Region.
[SR] You controlled all parts of Gedo except the Dollow District, and now you have run away from the other three districts after heavy fighting. How were you ousted from these districts, including Buulo Xaawo where Al-Shabab was present?
[Sheikh Adan] In fighting, we need weapons, finance and fighters. Sometimes, we are fighting TFG soldiers backed by Ethiopian troops and this is too much pressure. As al Shabaab Mujahidin, we have no backing from other groups. This has been difficult for us in terms of getting finance and weapons. Our fighters, due to fierce exchanges, get tired and some die. Thus we have opted to withdraw our young fighters from these regions like Lower Jubba, Ceel Waaq and Mogadishu where the fighting is heavy.
[SR] What strategy are you using to defend yourself from Kenyan forces and the others like TFG?
[Sheikh Adan] We have expert fighters and defenders in Gedo, but at the time of airstrike bombardments we have to tactically hide in the forest.
[SR] Are there any foreign fighters backing you or staying with you in Gedo?
[Shaykh Adan] Yes, and they help us mostly with the training.
[SR] Which countries are they from?
[Sheikh Adan] They have trained in Afghanistan, but their nationalities are different. They are Pakistani, Yemeni, Africans and Europeans.
http://www.somaliareport.com/
New market opens in Bossaso, Bari Region
15 Dec- Source: Radio Garowe- 145 words
A new market has been opened in Bossaso town, the commercial capital of Puntland. The new market’s opening day was attended by many government officials and prominent businessman/woman, Radio Garowe reports.
The new market opened in the neighborhood of Dayaha (meaning star) situated in north Bossaso in very close proximity of Bosasso’s port.
Mohamed Ali, a business man who is moving to the new market told reporters that although the area is small compared to the previous market it is a step in the right direction.
The new market sits on land estimated half a kilometer with a enough space for vehicles to move in and out smoothly. This was a problem with the previous market which was impossible for vehicles to get inside.
The fire that burned more than half of Bossaso’s market burned for more than 12 hours due to poor planning the fire was unreachable.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somali legislators block deputy Speaker
15 Dec- Source: Africa Review- 208 words
Somalia’s first deputy Speaker Abdiweli Sheikh Ibrahim Mudey was Wednesday blocked from entering Parliament, a day after Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden was replaced. Mr Mudey, accompanied by his bodyguards had tried to enter Somalia Transitional Federal Government Parliament by force but was turned away.
Mr Mudey had refused to chair a parliamentary session on Tuesday, which saw Sheikh Aden replaced as Speaker.
Two hundred and eighty MPs voted for the removal of the Speaker in Mogadishu while two supported him. One MP abstained.
MP Awad Ahmed Ashareh told the Nation by phone MP Madobe Nunow was appointed interim Speaker for 30 days until a new Speaker is elected as per the Transitional Federal Government charter and parliamentary rules.
The MPs accused Sheikh Aden of making unilateral decisions, failing to recognise separation of powers, failing to develop plan for Parliamentary work and reopening it and lack of transparency and accountability. Critics questioned the legality of a meeting that was not chaired by the speaker or his deputies and had the presence of 283 MPs out of a total 550 legislators.
But Mr Ashareh said the charter says a senior MP or another chosen by members has the right to chair in the absence of the Speaker or his deputies.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN-backed invasion of Somalia spirals into chaos
15 Dec- The Independent- 1339 Words
The famine camps with their domed shelters made of rags and sticks are now surrounded by fields of green. The survivors sit among the clouds of flies and mosquitoes watching the planting season pass them by, living on handouts. The drought in southern Somalia is over but no one is going home.
People who have endured civil war, oppression under a brutal religious sect and starvation now find themselves caught between the lines of a border conflict that is entering a new and dangerous phase.
Kenya’s invasion of Somalia, hailed by the West and the UN Security Council, was meant to deliver a knockout blow to the militant Islamist group al Shabaab. Instead it has pulled Somalia’s regional rival Ethiopia back into the country, stirred up the warlords and rekindled popular support for fundamentalists whose willingness to let Somalis starve rather than receive foreign aid had left them widely hated.
Somali-Canadian terror suspect to go straight to trial
14 Dec- Source: Toronto Sun- 275 words
A Toronto security guard arrested for terrorism-related offences as he boarded a flight at Pearson airport to North Africa will go straight to trial, officials say.
Mohamed Hassan Hersi, 25, was headed to Somalia to join al Shabaab, a group deemed as terrorists in Canada and the U.S. that has ties to al-Qaida, police allege.
Hersi appeared Wednesday in Brampton court where an indictment was filed against him, said Sujata Raisinghani, of Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC). A PPSC release said the “Crown determined it was required in the public interest to prefer an indictment, sending this matter directly to trial.”
Hersi was arrested last March following a six-month RCMP probe called “Project Severe.” He was charged with attempting to knowingly participate in an activity of a terrorist group and counselling a person to participate in a terrorist group.
The former guard was released on bail in April and placed under house arrest. He was banned from using the Internet, cellphone or smart phones. Police allege Hersi planned to join the militant group al Shabaab, which is trying to overthrow Somalia’s government.
His lawyer, Anser Farooq, was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Farooq has previously alleged his client never wanted to join the group and was set up by a man who tried to befriend him.
Police suspect several young Canadians have gone to Somalia to join the group in recent years.
http://www.torontosun.com/
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS
How to win in Somalia without fighting
14 Dec- Source: Daily Nation, the Citizen – 673 words
Today, the Kenya military campaign in Somalia will have been going on for exactly two months.
Perhaps, appropriately, a cheeky friend wrote me to reflect on Kenya’s exploits there: The “Linda Nchi” strategy couldn’t be more Kenyan”, he wrote; “Go in when it’s wet so you can blame the weather if anything goes wrong; embed a few journalists but keep the details secret — helps the media stay on-side; bomb a few positions — the noise reminds everyone you exist; then turn a few enemy commanders to ‘mop-up’ the remaining al Shabaab.
‘‘Finally, ‘re-hat’ (the Kenya Defence Forces into an AMISOM/UN peace-enforcement force) and get the UN to double your salary. At this rate, Kismayu will be taken without a shot, and with a new car in the garage”.
Even if what is happening in Somalia is quite serious business, one cannot help but chuckle at that.
Just how serious and how international al Shabaab has become is reflected in a very revealing interview published in the Somalia Report on Monday.
http://www.nation.co.ke/blogs/
“If Somalia Fails, It Will Fail Like A Catherine Wheel” – In Conversation With Jonathan Ledgard, Author Of ‘Submergence’ – By Magnus Taylor
14 Dec- Source: African Arguments – 890 words
“I’ve given up on being negative – there are too many things to save, and too many important things to do,” says Jonathan Ledgard – a foreign correspondent and author whose work has been compared with that of the German great W.G. Sebald. Ledgard is currently the East Africa correspondent of The Economist and his most recent novel, Submergence, is set, substantially, in Somalia.
Ledgard is a serious and thoughtful writer, seriously thoughtful might be a better description, and Submergence covers many themes – from Islamism to oceanic exploration – but is really concerned with a bigger, broader problem – the survival of the human species. Whilst Ledgard has written a novel which is studiously “anti-anthropomorphic” he has also produced a rare literary portrait of Somalia – a harsh and often cruel region of the world in which the author sees many of the environmental and political challenges that will characterise the future history of the human race.
Somalia in the book is the location where James More – a member of the British secret service passing himself off as a water engineer – is held by members of the Islamist group al Shabaab and a collection of al Qaeda affiliated foreign fighters pursing Jihad in one of the world’s least forgiving environments. More’s narrative makes up around a third of this tightly woven novel – the accompanying sections being the story of Danielle Flinders, a biomathematician with a fascination with the deep oceans as she prepares to make a dive into an ocean trench, and the brief but intense period which they spent together, as lovers, in a luxury French hotel overlooking the Atlantic coast.