29 Nov 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Somali president asks for support war on Al-Shabaab (Source: Radio Mogadishu Shabelle)
- A three day consultative meeting of civil society (Source: UNPOS)
- TFG forces claimed they killed four al-Shabaab members (Source: Radio Mogadishu)
- ASWJ says Ethiopia invasion may help Al-Shabaab (Source: Somalia Report)
- UK aims to step up int’l action on Somalia( Source: Reuters)
- Saudi offers scholarships to Somali students (Source: Radio Bar-kulan)
- Ban Ki-moon urges Al-Shabaab to allow humanitarian agencies to work in Somalia (Source: Saudi Press Agency)
- UN envoy welcomes Somali and Central African progress on child soldiers (Source: UN News Centre)
- Kenyan military advances as ‘al-Shabaab’ uses ‘human shields’(Source: Coast week Xinhua)
PRESS STATEMENT
A three day consultative meeting of civil society
28 Nov – Source: UNPOS – 408 words
A three day consultative meeting of civil society representatives has concluded in Mogadishu with the plenary expressing full support for the Roadmap on ending the transition which charts the major tasks which need to take place over the next nine months in Somalia. The Civil Society Consultative Meeting on Ending the Transition, which met from 26 – 28 November, involved 60 representatives of religious leaders, clan elders, the business community, the Diaspora, youth and women’s groups.
The meeting, facilitated by the UN Political Office for Somalia, brought these groups together with representatives of the Transitional Federal Institutions, Puntland and Galmudug administrations and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a (ASWJ).
“I am very optimistic that your presence here is a major landmark and milestone. Civil society is the bridge between political differences. The power is in your hands – help us,” the UN Special Representative for Somalia, Dr. Augustine P. Mahiga said during the conference opening, which he co-chaired with the Somali Deputy Prime Minister, Arab Issa.
The civil society organisations fully endorsed the Roadmap and called for a principle role in its implementation. They agreed to set up a civil society umbrella organisation to work with the Transitional Federal Institutions, Regional Administrations and ASWJ.
During the meeting, the participants divided into four working groups corresponding to the four pillars of the Roadmap – security, constitution, outreach and reconciliation and good governance. Each group put forward a series of recommendations which were outlined in the closing ceremony.
The recommendations included increasing financial support to implement security programmes, respecting the timeframe set for the Roadmap’s completion, establishing a Constituent Assembly to provisionally endorse the Constitution, supporting the current efforts to reform Parliament, establishing Reconciliation Committees, convening reconciliation conferences and enacting anti-corruption legislation.
“The political strategy is inclusiveness and everybody in Somalia must participate,” Dr. Mahiga told the closing ceremony which was attended by the Somali President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and the Speaker of Parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. Representatives from the international community including the African Union, the European Union, IGAD, the League of Arab States, Djibouti, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States were also present at the closing.
The Roadmap, which was agreed at a High Level Conference in Mogadishu from 4 – 6 September, charts a course to the end of the transitional period in August 2012, providing political direction and promoting inclusivity and stability. It focuses on four pillars and includes benchmarks, delineation of responsibilities and compliance mechanisms.
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali president asks for support in war on al Shabaab
29 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Shabelle – 200 words
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed today appealed to the international community to help his government in the war against al Shabaab militants.
Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said, while attending the conclusion of a three-day consultative meeting chaired by the UN special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga that the strategy of his government’s security and political tasks towards the country are going well.
President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed noted that the retreat of al Shabaab fighters from Mogadishu made it possible for his government to set up strong armed forces to defeat al Shabaab.
President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said that he welcomes the IGAD decision from the recent ordinary summit held in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia to destroy al Shabaab and root them out from their stronghold regions in Somalia with the help of African Union peacekeeping troops in Mogadishu.
The Somali president also mentioned that the parliament lawmakers went unpaid because of the financial problems of the government. Mr. Ahmed pointed out the there is a mismanagement of international donors intended for the TFG, urging the international community to deliver soon their economic help to the Somali government.
http://www.shabelle.net/
A sigh of relief as refugee families in Kismayo get new houses
28 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 149 words
A local aid agency is constructing temporary houses for internally displaced people camping in refugee camps in Kismayo at a time when the IDPs are facing appalling conditions in their camps.
Construction of temporary houses made up of roofing sheets and toilets are currently underway for the fourth day running in efforts to house the poorly sheltered families in these camps.
The UNICEF-sponsored housing project is implemented by a local aid agency, Himilo and aims at sheltering hundreds of homeless people in three IDP camps in the port city of Kismayo. Plastic sheets and blankets were also distributed to the needy families braving the scotching sun without a place to call home.
ASWJ says Ethiopia invasion may help al Shabaab
29 Nov – Source: Somalia Report – 67 words
Moderate Islamist militia Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a has warned that the recent build-up of Ethiopian forces on Somali soil could spark renewed support for al Shabaab.
“Our attitude towards Ethiopia’s invasion into Somalia or the other foreign interventions into the country (is that it) would only bring awful consequences” Abdisalan Aden Degyar, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a head of political policy, said in a statement.
Somaliland: United Nations Industrial Development Organization begins three week seminar in Hargeisa
29 Nov – Source: Somaliland Press – 260 words
A three-weeks training giving by United Nations Industrial Development Organization has began in the capital of Somaliland today for animal’s traders and slaughter house employees. In the next three weeks, UNIDOs trainers will teach the attendees on the different methods of un-hiring and processing animal hides.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s Program Field Coordinator Eng. Hasan Olad Adam said that the training will last for three weeks and will be attended by sixty individuals who are the beneficiary of leather and animal skins trade in Hargeisa and its outskirts.
TFG forces claimed they killed four al Shabaab members
28 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 51 words
The chairman in El-Barde district of Bakol region said they killed four al Shabaab fighters and captured two others after heavy fighting between the two sides in the area. The chairman stated that they seized many weapons from al Shabaab and vowed that they will eradicate the enemy from the region.
TFG military commander: “We shall hold the security with iron fist”
28 Nov – Source: Bariga Afrika, Somaliweyn – 184 words
The Somali military has on Monday make known that they will tighten the generally security of the capital as the Somali police conducting operations that are assuring the safety measures of the city, Bariga Afrika reports.
TFG Military Commander Abdukadir Sheik Ali Dini addressing a ceremony held at the presidential palace in Mogadishu has affirmed that they will handle the security of the capital with an iron fist in order to put off any acts against the peace and the satiability of the city.
Mr. Abdukadir Sheik Ali Dini also noted that the Somali forces with the help of African Union peacekeepers will soon flush out the bits and pieces of al Shabaab extremists hiding out among the population in the capital.
These claims from the TFG military commander comes at a time when the rebel group of al Shabaab extremists have carried out several acts of vandalism against the people as they vow to continue fighting against the TFG and AMISOM in Mogadishu.
http://www.barigaafrika.com/
At least 11 killed in yesterday’s blasts in Mogadishu
28 Nov – Source: Somalia Report – 349 words
More than 11 people were killed, including TFG forces, and at least nine others were injured when two roadside bombs exploded in Mogadishu yesterday, witnesses said.
The first bomb, concealed in an empty tin, exploded near the Hotel Banaroma at the Sanca Junction. “We (were) drinking in a tea shop when the bomb exploded … when we were hit by the stones and sands from the explosion,” one witness told Somalia Report. “We saw crying and shouting.”
Local resident Mahamoud Fidow said he saw six bodies after the blast. “We can tell you that six people died, including soldiers,” he told Somalia Report. “The explosion came when government forces tried to open a bomb concealed in a large empty tin of tomatoes.”
Meanwhile four people were wounded, including two young children, in an explosion in Banadir Hospital last night. Seven suspects were arrested. “I was in the toilet when the explosion came on the upper floor,” one witness told Somalia Report. “I was afraid fighting had started and ran to the room where my sister was suffering from cholera.”
None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening, and several suspects were arrested. A nurse said the injured were all women and children.
Five people were killed in another explosion at Four Gardens, Yaqshiid District, including three soldiers. “I was opening my store door when another bomb exploded; I had closed (it) after I heard of the first bomb at Sanca road junction,” a store owner told Somalia Report. “I saw three soldiers and two civilian’s dead.”
Militant Islamist group al Shabaab has stepped up bomb attacks in recent weeks as it carries out its new guerrilla tactics, and there could have been a lot more casualties had another bomber slipped through the security net in Doblai.
TFG soldiers say they arrested a man with an explosive device strapped to his body when it failed to detonate. “When he arrived at our position, he tried to blow himself up, but here was a problem: he pressed the (detonation) wires several times, but nothing happened and we seized him,” a soldier in Doblai told Somalia Report.
Saudi offers scholarships to Somali students
29 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 149 words
The Saudi government has offered scholarships to 80 Somali students to study in its country, Somali community officials say.
Twenty out of the eighty students will come from Somalia while the rest will be picked from community members residing within Saudi Arabia, according to the chairman of the Somali Community in Riyadh, Eng. Abukar Abdirahman Yaqshid.
Abukar says those from Somalia have already undergone scholarship interviews and are ready to take up the chances to join Saudi Universities.
The Saudi’s strict law restricts foreigners in the country from pursuing higher education once they complete their secondary level. But these education grants for the Somali students in the country are seen as an opportunity that will see many Somalis in the country have access to higher education.
The Saudi’s scholarship comes days after the Somali Education Minister Ahmed Aideed Ibrahim visited Riyadh, where he held talks with his Saudi counterpart.
New political party launched In Somaliland Capital Hargeisa
29 Nov – Source: Hadhwanaag Press, Jamhuriya – 149 words
A new political party Somaliland Republican Party was on Sunday launched in the Somaliland capital, Hargeisa. The new Somaliland Republican Party was announced during a well-decorated and organized ceremony in Hargeisa as politicians, MPs, scholars, elders, young people and women attended the ceremony.
A member of the new party Omar Hussein Ibrahim said that their party was established with the commencement of the Islamic Calendar year. He says the party will affect how the Somaliland political system has been working in the past few years.
Suleiman Ali Kore, a Somaliland MP who was assigned by the president to keep abreast the new political parties, told the dignitaries many people are able to join in the political arena of the country.
The interim leader of the party, Omar Hassan Bu,h spoke at the occasion and said they are committed to keep the sovereignty of Somaliland as an essential principle.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somali refugees face humanitarian crisis
29 Nov – Source: The Standard – 1121 words
The need to restore peace in Somalia has gained new urgency after the United Nations warned in a newly released report that millions of refugees are at risk in Somalia and Kenya.
On the heels of the UN report, news from Somalia indicates that al Shabaab insurgents — largely blamed for the crisis — have banned up to 16 aid agencies, including the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), putting at risk the lives of hundreds of infants and children under the age of five.
The number of people in need of life-saving assistance in Somalia alone is estimated at 3.3 million. UN organizations “banned” by the militants include UNHCR, UNICEF, World Health Organisation (WHO), and UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU). The UN has warned that nearly 250,000 people face imminent starvation in southern Somalia, the main base for al Shabaab, with several areas under famine or emergency conditions.
The UN report also reveals the scale of Kenya’s burden as the biggest host of Somali refugees among member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGAD).
Ban Ki-moon urges al Shabaab to allow humanitarian agencies to work in Somalia
29 Nov – Source: Saudi Press Agency – 224 words
Senior United Nations officials on Monday condemned the seizure by Somalia’s al Shabaab group of property belonging to United Nations agencies and several non-governmental organizations working to address the humanitarian crisis in the country’s south.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the seizure in the strongest possible terms,’ saying that the ‘brazen’ action prevented the relief organizations from providing life-saving assistance to those in need.
‘The Secretary-General demands that al Shabaab vacates the premises and return seized property to the affected agencies and NGOs,’ said a statement issued by his spokesperson. ‘He calls for the ban imposed today by al Shabaab against these humanitarian organizations to be lifted immediately.’
Valerie Amos, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, warned that any disruption of relief efforts threatens to undermine the fragile progress made in saving the lives of hundreds of thousands people affected by a severe food crisis caused by the devastating drought in the Horn of African earlier this year.
Famine conditions could return to some of the affected areas in Somalia if relief work is interfered with, Amos said in a statement.
She also called upon groups associated with al Shabaab to withdraw immediately from humanitarian compounds seized in the south-central regions of Bakol, Bay and Hiiraan, and Lower Shabelle in the south, and to desist from any further actions which would threaten humanitarian operations and the safety of aid workers.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/English/
Kenyan military advances as ‘al Shabaab’ uses ‘human shields’
29 Nov – Source: Coast week, Xinhua – 750 words
Somalia’s al Shabaab fighters’ use of human shields around its hideouts and training camps has complicated the war against the rag-tag group amid the growing number of arrests of its foreign fighters.
Kenyan troops have also admitted gaining and losing the town of Anole in the more densely populated Gedo region of Somalia as its ground offensive forces head towards Bardhere and advance on the al Shabaab stronghold of Afmadow.
“We are headed towards Baadheere. “We are also headed towards Afmadow,” said Colonel Cyrus Oguna of the Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF).
Speaking about the troops advances inside Somalia on Saturday, Oguna said the ground troops have been more engaged on carrying out ambushes, including those in which they regained the grounds in Anole. “We do know who the al Shabaab are.”We attack places where they are hiding,” Oguna told journalists during a weekly briefing in Nairobi.
Commanders plan to move the troops from Beles Qooqani to Afmadow, while al Shabaab fighters have reportedly been mounting rockets and machine guns on rooftops in preparation for a major offensive.
The operation has suffered from poor weather due to the heavy rains, which have made the roads impassable for the past six weeks, slowing equipment movement.
However, commanders said the door-to- door patrols have been intensified. “The patrols have been dictated by what is going on,” Oguna added.
The rapid advances on the towns in the Gedo region, near Ethiopia’s Ogaden region and Kenya’s north Eastern region, came amid a growing list of challenges posed by the al Shabaab in its counter-offensive against the ground forces.
http://www.coastweek.com/3447_
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UK aims to step up int’l action on Somalia
28 Nov – Source: Reuters – 280 words
Britain will seek to build consensus on measures to tackle instability and piracy in Somalia, such as improved humanitarian aid and economic support, when it hosts a major international conference next February.
The meeting, to be hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron, will be held on February 23 in London, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.
“Now is the time, we believe, to seek intensified international action on Somalia,” Hague told parliament. “That country is a scene of great human suffering, but is also a base of piracy and terrorism, which exacerbate the country’s plight and threaten our own security.”
A fleet of foreign naval vessels patrols strategic sea lanes off Somalia, where pirates prey on commercial vessels and private yachts and hold them for ransom.
Cameron announced last month that British merchant ships sailing off the coast of Somalia would be able to carry armed guards to ward off pirate attacks, bringing it into line with many other countries.
The prime minister has described the east African nation as a “failed state that directly threatens British interests,” citing attacks on tourists and aid workers, and radicalisation of young Britons by militant Islamists with roots in the region.
http://af.reuters.com/article/
UN chief “condemns in strongest possible terms” seizure of NGO property by Somali Islamist radicals
29 Nov – Xinhua, People `s Daily – 255 words
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Monday “condemns in the strongest possible terms” the seizure of property and equipment from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by al Shabaab militants in Somalia.
“The secretary-general condemns, in the strongest possible terms, al Shabaab’s seizure of property and equipment belonging to several non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies earlier today,” said a statement released here by Ban’s spokesperson.
Calling it a “brazen act,” the secretary-general said it prevents these organizations from providing life-saving assistance.
“The secretary-general demands that al Shabaab vacate the premises and return seized property to the affected agencies and NGOs,” said the statement. “He calls for the ban imposed today by al Shabaab against these humanitarian organizations to be lifted immediately.”
Meanwhile, Ban further called on all parties in Somalia to respect international humanitarian law. In a related development, al Shabaab on Monday said they were banning 16 humanitarian agencies operating in the famine-hit horn of Africa nation, accusing them of involvement in “illicit activities.”
The agencies that were banned include Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
This is the second time the militants group issued such bans but the announcement to disallow the agencies is wider in scope and including most of humanitarian agencies that banned in past edicts by the group.
Somalia is recovering from a severe drought and famine described as the worst in more than half a century which forced hundreds of thousands out of their villages into neighbouring Kenyan and Ethiopia. Some have fled to the government controlled Somali capital Mogadishu.
http://english.peopledaily.
Turkish official breaks ground for new hospitals in famine-hit Somalia
28 Nov – Source: Todays Zaman -154 words
The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister attended groundbreaking ceremonies in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Sunday for hospitals to be constructed by Turkey, the Anatolia news agency has reported.
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ participated in ceremonies marking the start of construction of three hospitals by two Turkish charities and the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ). Bozdağ and an accompanying delegation later departed from Somalia.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had a phone conversation with Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, diplomatic sources said on Saturday. Davutoğlu and Ali discussed developments in Syria, the latest developments along the Kenyan-Somali border and a meeting on Somalia to be held by Turkey soon.
Somalia has been suffering from the worst drought in the region in the last 60 years along with an internal conflict that intensifies with every passing day. Turkey’s outpouring of support in the region has made it a leader among the international community.
Al Shabaab bans some aid groups in Somalia, loot
29 Nov – Source: Reuters – 271 words
Al Shabaab rebels stormed and looted offices of aid organisations in famine-hit Somalia on Monday, the United Nations said, and the rebels announced a ban on 16 relief agencies from areas they control.
Rebels occupied agency offices and took supplies in southern and central areas at a time when a quarter of a million Somalis face starvation and Kenyan, Somali and Ethiopian forces are fighting the al-Qaeda-inspired group.
Al Shabaab, which controls large areas of the anarchic country, said it had “decided to permanently revoke the permissions of the following organisations to operate inside Somalia”, naming 16.
These included agencies like the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF and the Norwegian and Danish Refugee Councils. The International Committee for the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres escaped the ban.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, through his spokesman, condemned in the strongest terms possible the seizure of property and equipment belonging to aid groups and U.N. agencies.
The U.N. Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, said she was extremely concerned by the looting, urging the rebel group to reverse the announcement and withdraw from seized compounds of aid groups.
“Any disruption to ongoing humanitarian efforts threatens to undermine the fragile progress made this year, and could bring back famine conditions in several areas,” Amos said in a statement.
http://af.reuters.com/article/
Rebels resume a crackdown on Somali aid
28 Nov – Source: New York Times – 307 words
The al Shabaab militant group, which has already blocked many aid agencies from reaching starving people in Somalia’s famine zones, ordered 16 more aid agencies to shut down on Monday. Heavily armed Shabaab fighters then raided the offices of several aid groups, looted equipment and accused the aid workers of being spies.
An al Shabaab spokesman said his group, which has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, had conducted a “meticulous yearlong review” that detailed “the illicit activities and misconducts of some of the organizations.”
Many of the aid organizations were helping to deliver lifesaving assistance to millions of Somalis suffering from food shortages brought on by drought. Though heavy rains and a surge of aid supplies have eased the situation somewhat in the past month, tens of thousands have died and 250,000 face imminent starvation.
One of the few United Nations aid agencies that the Shabaab had tolerated in the territory it controls was Unicef. But on Monday, fighters stormed into the Unicef office in Baidoa, a large town in southern Somalia, and kicked out the workers, though no one was hurt. The Shabaab also banned several other United Nations agencies, including ones that help monitor the famine, as well as aid agencies based in Germany, Norway, Somalia and Sweden.
It was not clear what prompted the Shabaab to take action against the aid agencies. The group, which has imposed a draconian version of Islamic law in the areas it controls, is under military assault from several directions, facing troops from Ethiopia, Kenya and the African Union.
UN envoy welcomes Somali and Central African progress on child soldiers
28 Nov – Source: UN News Centre – 409 words
New commitments by Somalia’s transitional Government and the Central African Republic (CAR) to end the use of child soldiers are encouraging; a United Nations envoy stressed today, but warned that despite these advancements, the situation in both countries remains volatile.
During her recent visit to Somalia, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy secured a commitment from the President and Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali to enter a process to end the recruitment and use of children by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
Somalia is one of the two countries in the world that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Ms. Coomaraswamy told reporters that the transitional Government agreed to appoint military and Government focal points to develop action plans on children associated with the TFG, and also committed accelerate the ratification of the CRC and its optional protocols.
During a press briefing, Ms. Coomaraswamy told reporters of her visit to a camp in downtown Mogadishu where Al-Shabaab defectors are held, including some 37 former child soldiers. She said she was highly alarmed by the living conditions and stressed it was a priority of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to separate children from these camps and provide them with help and special programmes.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/