28 Nov 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Somali Islamist rebels order 16 aid agencies shut(Source: AFP Jowhar Online Amiirnuur Online)
- Somali president says al Shabaab will no longer exist (Source: Radio Mogadishu Mareeg Online Jowhar Online)
- Explosion in hospital injures seven in Mogadishu (Source: Radio Shabelle Radio Kulmiye Risaala Radio Mogadishu)
- Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli travels to Qatar (Source: Radio Mogadishu Bariga Afrika and Hiiraan Online)
- Museveni discusses Somali fears with Kibaki(Source: East African)
- Crew of hijacked Italian cargo ship freed (Source: Reuters)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali president says al Shabaab will no longer exist
28 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Mareeg Online, Jowhar Online – 98 words
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of the TFG, said that al Shabaab will no longer exist as his government would clear them.
During an occasion held at the presidential palace last night organized by local NGO, Sheikh Sharif was asked questions relating to his government plans in the future as well as security and said that his government would remove al Shabaab from the country.
Mr. Sharif called for al Shabaab fighters to lay down their weapons and join his government, saying that they have opportunities now and are willing to have peace talks with the rebel group.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Explosion in hospital injures seven in Mogadishu
28 Nov – Source: Radio Shabelle, Radio Kulmiye, Risaala, and Radio Mogadishu – 213 words
At least seven people, including young babies and elders were wounded in an explosion at Banadir hospital in Mogadishu, witnesses said on Monday. The blast went off inside the upper floor of the mother and children hospital about 10:30 A.M local time in Mogadishu, which shook the building’s windows.
Many of the injured were young sick babies and elders who had been lying on beds in the hospital as patients. Parts of human bodies were seen scattered in the area after the explosion, according to nurses and witnesses. The explosion is believed to have been caused by a remote-controlled mine, reportedly targeting the hospital. Those injured were admitted to hospitals in Mogadishu.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack; this is the latest in a series of attacks, raising the fear level of Somalis in the capital, just as residents started returning to their homes after al Shabaab retreated.
Somali leader refutes reports on deployment of Ethiopian troops
26 Nov – Source: Jowhar Online – 520 words
The TFG’s President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad has for the first time sought to shine the light on concerns by sections of the population regarding the return of Ethiopian troops into the country. The president said Ethiopia is not interested in sending their troops to Somalia.
The president was speaking on a discussion session organized by CRD (Centre for Research and Dialogue), the first of its kind in which a Somali president has agreed to seat before the people and take questions from them and openly speaking to members of the public.
The president who seemed to be in jovial mood, smiling and occasionally sharing a joke with the public answered a question relating to the re-deployment of Ethiopian troops into the country, the force having been fought in the past over their incursion. President Sharif said Ethiopia does not want to send its troops to Somalia.
“Ethiopia, IGAD and I were all in a meeting when Ethiopia said they are not interested in deploying their troops in Somalia. It is a very good decision which is also historic and a first that I have heard from Ethiopia,” said President Sharif. The president said there were some countries that have been pressuring Ethiopia to contribute soldiers to AMISOM but that the country has rejected these proposals due to reasons which he did not specify.
“Ethiopian officials have been telling us in every meeting we have had that they do not want to send their troops to Somalia, that they want to strengthen neighbourly relations and cooperate in the fight against al Shabaab. Some countries have tried pressuring Ethiopia to contribute soldiers to AMISOM but they refused and they did so because reasons that they are very well aware of”.
President Sharif clarified the role that Ethiopia is playing and said they will strengthen their border security and support Somali government forces.
While answering questions on security, the president acknowledged that the public does not have faith in government forces but said a lot has changed and security will be ensured. Asked why there has been a suspension of the operations (against al Shabaab), he said the armed forces are progressing with caution and want to first secure the areas they have captured. The president said that al Shabaab will soon be history.
“(The) security situation is good and the operations are progressing well. If you remember during the time of the courts, after Mogadishu was secured, other regions were also secured and therefore the soldiers are working hard and al Shabaab would soon go missing,” said president Sharif who added that the government plans to soon capture all regions in the country.
The president said a time will come when he can sit before the public in an open ground and answer their questions as he was. This is the first time that a Somali president has sat before members of the public to answer questions on the situation in the country.
Somali elders blame al Shabaab for alleged incursion by Ethiopian troops
26 Nov – Source: Radio Shabelle – 315 words
The Chairman of the Hawiye Cultural and Unity Council, Muhammad Hasan Haad has accused al Shabaab of being responsible for the recent incursion by Ethiopian troops into Somalia.
Muhammad Hasan Haad said that as long as the civil strife which al Shabaab is responsible for is ongoing in the country, foreign forces will not leave, adding that as traditional elders, they would no longer bother mediating between the two warring sides.
“As long as al Shabaab continues to cause problems, foreign forces will continue coming into the country. The mentality of launching attacks everywhere has now resulted in the Ethiopian troops coming into the country,” said Muhammad Hasan Haad who added that al Shabaab was holding Somali civilians in ransom.
He said when Ethiopian troops first came into the country, they were met with strong resistance because the Somali public were united in their opposition to their presence but that is no longer the case now because al Shabaab has caused a lot of suffering for the Somali people. Haad said they are not ready to oppose the presence of Ethiopian troops into the country and will not reject it despite Somali traditional elders fighting them in the past.
“Al Shabaab have rejected all our proposals for peace and dialogue and because of that, we are now not ready to discuss the incursion by Ethiopian troops and we are not prepared to oppose their presence anymore,” added Muhammad Hasan Haad.
Ethiopian troops have in the last week crossed over into parts of Hiiraan and Galgudud Regions, central Somalia and were seen by residents of these regions travelling in armoured vehicles carrying large weapons. Ethiopian troops crossed over into Somalia in 2006 and engaged Islamic courts that were in control of south and central Somalia Regions in fighting. They were then met with strong resistance by nationalistic groups, including Somali traditional elders as well as Islamists who were opposed to their presence in the country.
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli travels to Qatar
27 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Bariga Afrika and Hiiraan Online – 116 words
A high delegation led by the Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali departed the country heading towards Qatar’s capital city of Doha.
The official trip of the Somali premier to Doha was accompanied by high level government officials including Ministers, Deputy Minister’s government spokesman and many other government officials.
Shortly before his departure, the Somali premier Abdiweli told reporters at the airport that he has received an invitation from the Qatari premier, adding that he will discuss with his counterpart the worsening humanitarian situation in the drought-ravaged state of Somalia.
H.E Abdiweli Mohamed Ali also noted that he will meet the Somali Diaspora in that country to let them know about the latest humanitarian situation in Somalia.
http://www.barigaafrika.com/
Somaliland welcomes Kenya’s intervention into Somalia
27 Nov – Source: Haatuf Newspaper, Hadhwanaag times – 104 words
Somaliland yesterday welcomed the military intervention by Kenyan forces inside Somalia. Speaking to Haatuf Newspaper, Mohamed Abdullahi Omar, Somaliland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs who is currently in Addis Ababa said his government doesn’t mind Kenyan forces to conduct operations in Somalia to fight against al Shabaab.
Meanwhile, the Somaliland Foreign Minister said that a Somaliland delegation led by President Ahmed Mohamoud Silanyo who is now in Ethiopia will travel to Djibouti where they will have meetings with its officials and leaders.
During their visit to Ethiopia after returning back from UK, Somaliland leaders held different meetings with Meles Zenawi, the prime minister of Ethiopia.
Roadside bomb attack kills 6, injures 7 in Mogadishu
28 Nov – Source: Mareeg Online, Bar-Kulan – 129 words
At least 6 people were killed and 7 wounded in Mogadishu this morning after a land mine blast hit an armed vehicle carried by TFG forces, eyewitness said.
The explosion occurred at San’a junction in north Mogadishu this morning as government forces were attempting to pick up the mine from the ground. The mine immediately exploded killing 6 and injuring 7 others, including civilians, residents said.
No one claimed the responsibility for the roadside attack. The Somali national army and T.F.G security officials have yet to comment on the attack.
This comes as an explosion occurred at the main hospital for children and mother named Banadir Hospital last night wounding 7 people, including young children and aged people who were early patients, reports said.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Somali envoy: Somalis in Gujarat jails are not pirates
27 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Radio Mogadishu – 115 words
Somali Ambassador to India, Ebyan Mohamed Salah believes that Somalis caught along the Gujarat coast are unarmed fishermen who lost their way when they were caught by the Indian navy. Ebyan said that TFG is considering talks with the Indian government for the release of the detained Somali fishermen.
The Somali ambassador to India added that she prefers her compatriots to be deported back to Somalia, during her speech at an international conference held in India, where 35 countries convened in a bid to eliminate sea piracy.
There are 32 Somalis who are currently held in Indian jails suspected to be pirates when they were arrested by Indian navy on June this year.
Government soldiers exchange fires, killing 4 and injuring 3 in Mogadishu
27 Nov – Source: Mareeg Online – 119 words
Police and military forces of the TFG yesterday exchanged fire in Hamar-weyne district in Mogadishu, killing 4 and injuring 3 others, reports said.
Both government forces and police and military exchanged fire at a very busy cross road in Hamar-weyne district in Mogadishu killing 4 – including one civilian and 3 police officers and injuring 3 others, reports said.
The battle came as police security forces ordered one of the military soldiers carrying a gun in the city to lay down his weapons, which he did so before taking to an armed vehicle and opening fires on the others, reports said. This is not the first time government soldiers clash in Mogadishu.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
“Ethiopian entrance in the country is national deception,” Somali MP
27 Nov – Source: Radio Shabelle – 172 words
Some of the parliament members for the TFG on Sunday strongly condemned the Ethiopian army’s incursion into Somalia
After meeting in Mogadishu yesterday some of the Somali lawmakers opposed greatly the recent Ethiopian troops with tanks and heavy weapons who were reported to have crossed into some parts of the central region in the Horn of Africa war torn country.
“(The) Ethiopian incursion into Somalia is absolutely illegal and (is a) national deception, it is also unacceptable and it will not be ever tolerable” told reporters in Mogadishu, Abdirahman Mahamud Farah, Somali MP.
The parliament also denounced the Somali government for its acceptance of foreign troops from the neighbouring country of Ethiopia, in the pretext of the fight against al Shabaab fighters.
Somali government sets up Special Forces for Banadir region
27 Nov – Source: Shabelle – 151 words
The Banadir region administration for the TFG has announced to have set up Special Forces for the region to deal with security problems.
Abdikafi Hilowle Osman, the Secretary of Banadir administration for the TFG told reporters in Mogadishu that the ongoing operations in the capital are supposed to restore law and order and prevent attacks, explosions from al Shabaab Islamist rebels.
Mr. Osman urged the military court for the interim federal government of Somalia to keep on its sentences against those committing acts against the security of Mogadishu.
The secretary for Banadir region administration of Somalia Abdikafi Hilowle Osman, pledged that people in Mogadishu will soon feel stability and security, if the police and military work together to secure the city. This comes as two days of security operations are under way to secure the capital and make it safer.
http://www.shabelle.net/
REGIONAL MEDIA
Al Shabaab beheads two men
27 Nov – Source: Daily Nation, Somalia Report – 360 words
Two youths were on Sunday beheaded in Afmadow town, Southern Somalia, by al Shabaab militia for allegedly spying for the Transitional Federal Government and Kenya Defence Forces. This comes as the Kenya security agencies arrested four more suspected members of the Islamist militia group in Lamu.
The heads of the two young men, who were seized by the militants a few days ago, were displayed in the town streets, according to area residents.
“The incident has caused fear in the general public,” a resident who did not want to be named (for security reasons) told a Mogadishu-based radio.
The youth were reportedly accused of having links with the Government of Kenya and the TFG. They were also accused of directing Kenyan planes that carried out air raids in Jubaland.
Recently, al Shabaab militants promised to punish anybody found working with the TFG and the Kenyan troops that crossed into Somalia in mid-October in hot pursuit of the militia. Meanwhile, four suspected members of al Shabaab were arrested by Kenya Navy in Lamu at the weekend.
Lamu West deputy police boss Joseph Sigei said the four were arrested on Saturday in the high seas as they advanced deeper into Kenya territorial waters. “They are being interrogated in the sea but no arms were recovered during the arrest,” Mr Sigei told the Nation on Sunday.
He said the four Somali men were arrested aboard a speed boat containing several jerrycans of petrol and police suspected that they were fleeing the ongoing joint military operation in Somalia. The arrest brings to nine, the number suspected members of al Shabaab arrested in Lamu since last week.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
Museveni discusses Somali fears with Kibaki
27 Nov – Source: East African – 503 words
New details have emerged that show that despite the display of diplomatic niceties and pledges of co-operation between Kenya and the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia, deep misgivings remain in Mogadishu that Kenya’s engagement is likely to shift the power balance in Somalia in favour of the populous Ogaden clan.
Apparently, the inner circle in Mogadishu is uncomfortable with the visibility and prominence in the Kenyan military operation of Kenyan ethnic Somalis — a good number of whom are members of the Ogaden clan. A top Kenya government official involved in the negotiations told The East African last week that the elite of the TFG were also still not agreed on the appropriate level and extent of Kenya’s engagement in the crisis.
It is understood that when Somalia’s President, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed visited Kampala early this month to hold discussions with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, the lead item on the agenda was the Ogaden factor and Mogadishu’s worry that the Kenyan operation had the potential of stoking parochial nationalism, leading to agitation for a breakaway province bordering Kenya.
It was after the meeting in Kampala that Museveni agreed to organise a meeting between Sheikh Sharif and President Mwai Kibaki. Earlier, Museveni had also raised the issue with Prime Minister Raila Odinga when they met in Tel Aviv where both were on an official visit.
Apart from the fact that Uganda has a big contingent in Amisom, the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, Kampala’s interests in the country — whether economic or geostrategic — remain limited in comparison with Ethiopia and Kenya.
But President Museveni would appear to be keen to play arbiter between Kenya and Ethiopia on the one hand and the TFG on the other to shore up his credentials as a key player in regional politics.
The Horn of Africa is characterised by permeable borders with ethnic groups overlapping national boundaries and extensive flows of people, goods and services — whether legal or illegal — between states.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Islamist rebels order 16 aid agencies shut
28 Nov – Source: AFP, Jowhar Online, Amiirnuur Online – 414 words
Somalia’s Islamist al Shabaab rebels ordered 16 international aid agencies shut Monday in areas they control after armed raids on several offices, and warned more would follow if they did not toe the line.
“Any organisation found to be supporting or actively engaged in activities deemed detrimental to the attainment of an Islamic State, or performing duties other than that which it formally proclaims, will be banned immediately without prior warning,” the al Shabaab said in a statement.
Witnesses and aid workers reported that Shabaab gunmen stormed the offices of several aid agencies in apparent coordinated raids in rebel-controlled regions of Somalia, an area gripped by what the United Nations says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
“Three armoured vehicles with gunmen surrounded the offices, including the office of UNICEF,” said Adulahi Idle, a resident in the city of Baidoa. “I saw many militiamen go inside the places and force the people there to leave and the men took control.” The Al-Qaeda linked group accused the agencies of “lacking complete political detachment and neutrality… thereby intensify the instability and insecurity gripping the nation as a whole.”
The al Shabaab also said the groups were working to “foster secularism, immorality and the degrading values of democracy in an Islamic country.”
The United Nations has warned that nearly 250,000 people face imminent starvation in southern Somalia, the main base for the hard-line Shabaab, with several areas under famine or emergency conditions.
Six UN organisations were ordered closed by the al Shabaab, including the agencies for refugees (UNHCR) and children (UNICEF), as well as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). It also barred the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU).
A regional security source said the raids in south and central Somalia were well planned and coordinated, with gunmen seizing computers, telephones and other equipment from aid workers. No arrests were reported.
“It was a surprise, but something that was clearly planned,” said an aid agency official working in Somalia. Other aid agencies affected include the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Concern, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the Italian Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI).
It also shut down the Swedish African Welfare Alliance (SAWA), the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ), Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Solidarity and Saacid.
The extremist al Shabaab imposes draconian rules on humanitarian workers and has blocked international staff working for aid agencies in its areas, but has allowed limited operations by Somali nationals.
More Ethiopian troops seen in central Somalia-residents
27 Nov – Source: Reuters – 299 words
New convoys of heavily-armed Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia and are heading for central areas, residents said on Sunday; days after Addis Ababa said it planned to send troops to help Somali and Kenya forces fighting Islamist insurgents.
Ethiopia, which intervened in Somalia between 2006 and 2009, said on Friday that it would deploy troops inside Somalia again for a “brief period”.
An Ethiopian government official also acknowledged on Friday that a small force was already there on a reconnaissance mission. Ethiopia had previously denied scores of military trucks and armoured vehicles had entered Somalia on Nov. 19 and 20.
On Sunday, residents from towns in central Somalia said they had seen new, larger convoys. “We have seen heavily armed Ethiopian troops with tanks heading to Guriel and Beledwayne. There are many more of them and (they are) more armed than last week,” Ahmed Muhudin Ugas told Reuters from Balanbal town.
“Since yesterday afternoon I counted over 100 armed trucks with tanks; their convoy has not stopped yet.” A senior official with the pro-Mogadishu Sufi militia group Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a also confirmed the deployment.
“Yes, Ethiopian troops are here and more have entered central Somalia,” the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters by phone. “Al Shabaab will be ousted from central Somalia but when and how are political points we do not want to disclose now.”
http://af.reuters.com/article/
Crew of hijacked Italian cargo ship freed
28 Nov – Source: Reuters – 181 words
The crew of an Italian-owned cargo ship, hijacked off the coast of Oman in April, has been freed, authorities said on Friday. The MV Rosalia D’Amato was on its way to Iran from Brazil with a cargo of soya when it was seized by an armed pirate gang.
The Italian foreign ministry said that the crew had been freed but that they had not yet been handed over to Italian authorities. “This is an operation which is still underway in a high risk zone which can only be considered to be closed once the crew has been taken into charge by the Italian military authorities,” it said in a statement.
The captured 74,500 tonne bulk carrier and its crew of six Italians and 15 Filipinos was later sailed to the coast of Somalia, which has become a haven for pirates who ply the busy water routes that link Europe with Africa and Asia.
Typically the pirates anchor vessels off their Somali land base until a ransom is paid, at which point the vessel along with its crew and cargo is released.
http://in.reuters.com/article/
Somalia’s maimed ‘other’ boys struggle to make a new life
27 Nov – Source: the Star (Canada) – 681 words
For weeks, they spent their days in a tiny apartment, playing dominoes or cards, venturing out only for groceries. Ali makes lunch, Abdulqadir dinner. It is not much of a life, especially for Ali, who struggles to walk with a crutch and a cane since his leg was amputated. It’s a task made more difficult as he is also missing his right hand.
But it’s a better life than the one they escaped in Mogadishu, where they feared that Al Shabaab, the militant Islamic group that robbed them of the life they once knew, would find them again and rob them of life altogether. Ali Mohamed Gedi, 21 and Abdulqadir Abdi Dilahow, 23, are what some Somali-Canadians call the “other” boys.
In June 2009, they were kidnapped by Shabaab members and dragged to a stadium along with two other young men. One by one, each had a hand and then a foot severed for refusing to join the militant group. The gruesome public amputation was intended as a warning to others of what would happen if you defied the Shabaab.
Six months after the barbaric ritual, the Toronto Star featured the story of 17-year-old Ismail Khalif Abdulle, the youngest of those boys.
His plight touched Star readers. In September 2010, with the help of a former Somali-Canadian journalist living in Nairobi, Ismail escaped to Kenya. A couple of month’s later Norway accepted him as a refugee in need of immediate protection.
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS
Diplomatic blunder in the war on al Shabaab
26 Nov – Source: the Star (Kenya) – 882 words
One month into the war against al Shabaab, Kenya continues to enjoy support from her citizens, IGAD, the African Union and the international community; notably the European Union, the United States and the United Nations. Other organisations like the Arab League and the Islamic Conference Organisation have remained silent which diplomatically may be understood to mean tacit approval for the action as they themselves are not immune from terror threats from al Shabaab and affiliates such as Al Qaeda.
Kenyans continue to support the action out of the need to rid the country of this terror group which target the very heart of their well-being – the economy. In so doing, they remain conscious of the casualties suffered in1998 US Embassy and the 2002 Paradise Hotel bombings which together claimed more than two hundred and fifty Kenyan lives among others.
Kenya needs not just the economic and military means to successfully prosecute war against Al Shabaab, but also regional and international diplomatic approval, support and goodwill. So far this support has largely held firm. It cannot be taken for granted though. We should bear in mind that radical Islamic groups have sprung up in response to the stalemate in the Middle East conflict, specifically the ambivalent and often hostile Israeli position on the question of Palestine. The US Embassy and Paradise Hotel (Israeli owned) bombings were claimed by Al Qaeda, the mother of radical Islamist groups. It should be remembered that US interests are targets due to its fervent and often lopsided support for Israel.
Unfortunately, Kenya does not have the resources and means like the USA to police and protect her interests both at home and abroad with similar vigour and might as the latter. The diplomatic path Kenya has taken on the question of Palestine in international for created space for it to be friends with both Arab countries and Israel.
This position is appreciated and understood on both sides of the conflict. It, therefore, beats logic for Kenya to seek security support from Israel at a time when the country is at war with an invisible and shadowy enemy whose genesis is firmly rooted in the source of conflict between the Arabs and Israel.
Further back, it will be recalled that Kenya provided logistical support to Israel during the Entebbe raid in the seventies. That fact was not lost to the Arabs in the Middle East and remains troubling to date. Diplomacy is not just the art of negotiation. More often it is keeping up appearances. Such appearances define ones relations with friend and foe alike and either will interpret its meaning to suit its interests.
It is not difficult to see the folly of diplomatic engagement by Kenya with Israel in respect to military offensive against al Shabaab when there is general support for it internationally. We may well begin to witness a hardening of attitudes towards Kenya by some sections of Somali society who will begin to cast doubt on the real objective of Kenya’s military action in Somalia.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/