September 13, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Parliament To Debate The Extradition Of ONLF Official
13 September – Source: Jowhar.com – 124 Words
MPs of the Lower House are today set to hold a sensitive session about the recent extradition of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) official to the Ethiopian government. A similar parliamentary session was adjourned on Saturday due to lack of a quorum but today’s session is expected to take place as many MPs have since returned to the country.
The government’s decision to extradite Qalbi-dhagah has caused heated debate among MPs. The House will debate and make a decision on his hand-over. During the past few days, the government on its side has done a lot to calm down the situation and convince MPs to support its decision. It held various meetings with MPs though some of the meetings ended with no results.
Key Headlines
- Parliament To Debate The Extradition Of ONLF Official (Jowhar.com)
- Fear Grips Mogadishu Residents As Al-Shabaab Increases Attacks Against Public Places (Dhacdo.com)
- Somalia Attends Eastern African Security Summit (Somali National Network Agency)
- UN Calls For Greater Support For AU Mission In Somalia (IOL Media)
- On Abdikarim Muse: What Could The Somali Government Do Better? (Goobjoog News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Fear Grips Mogadishu Residents As Al-Shabaab Increases Attacks Against Public Places
13 September – Source: Dhacdo.com – 113 Words
Some of Mogadishu’s residents have begun to panic after Al-Shabaab has increased its attacks against public places across the country. In its recent wave of attacks targeting public places, the militant group targeted sites in Mogadishu, Beledweyne and Baidoa killing a number of civilians. Some of Mogadishu’s young residents, who spoke to Dhacdo.com, said they stopped visiting popular tea shops and restaurants along the key Maka-Al-Mukarrama road due to fear of Al-Shabaab attacks.”It’s easy to park explosives-laden vehicle around these places which are vulnerable to Al-Shabaab attacks. Since Al-Shabaab doesn’t care about the lives of civilians, we have decided to avoid going to such places,” said a concerned resident.
Somalia Attends Eastern African Security Summit
13 September – Source: Somali National News Agency – 117 Words
The Federal Government of Somalia attended Eastern African security Summit that was aimed to tackle the security issues in the region and was participated by 14 different countries according to reports. Colonial Musso Abdikadir Hassan, a senior Police Official who attended the summit said, “This meeting was attended by fourteen east African countries, and it has a significance for our country. One of the main agendas that the countries will discuss is improving the capabilities of our Somali Military in order make sure that they are ready to take over AMISOM in regards to security of the country when the time comes.” The meeting will be attended by the Interior and Security Ministers of the participating countries.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN Calls For Greater Support For AU Mission In Somalia
13 September – Source: IOL Media – 333 Words
A senior United Nations official has called for greater support for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and warned that lack of funding could endanger hard-won progress in the country. “We have continued to hear passionate appeals from the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council and the AU Commission that the issue of predictable, flexible and adequate funding for AMISOM needs to be addressed urgently,” said Haile Menkerios, the special representative of the secretary-general to the AU.
Menkerios made the remarks on Tuesday while he was briefing the Security Council on the cooperation between the Organisation and regional entities, including the AU. “It would be tragic, not least for the long-suffering Somali people, if the gains and sacrifices of the last decade were reversed because the international community was unable to provide adequate and predictable funding for the Mission,” he warned. The senior UN official also noted the continued commitment of the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council to consider financial burden-sharing for AU Peace Support Operations authorised by the Security Council.Further in his briefing, Menkerios, also the head of the UN Office to the AU (UNAOU), highlighted the continuous engagement at different levels between the UN Secretariat and the AU Commission, and that UN envoys work with and complement the efforts of AU Special Envoys in a number of critical situations across the continent.
He also spoke on collaborative engagements between the UN and the AU, and the Security Council’s recognition that its deliberations and decisions on peace and security issues in Africa can be enriched by briefings by senior AU officials, alongside their UN counterparts. “As many Council members stated during the deliberations, there is a wealth of knowledge, experience and understanding which special representatives of the AU, as well as those of its regional economic communities and regional mechanisms, could place at the disposal of this Council,” he said, adding: “The UN Secretariat stands ready to work with the AU Commission in this regard”.
Qatar Charity Provides Relief In Areas Affected By Chronic Drought In Somalia
13 September – Source: Bernama – 188 Words
Qatar Charity has provided relief to those affected by the chronic drought in Somalia as part of its ongoing humanitarian efforts in the country with the support of Qatari philanthropists, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported. In a press release, the charity said it had provided through its office in Somalia a new food aid package to displaced people in Medg province located in the central part of Somalia, benefiting 525 pastoral families and covering their needs for one month.
In a speech during the distribution of aid, Director of Qatar Charity’s office in Somalia Abdulnoor Haj Ali stressed the charity’s commitment to providing the necessary assistance and support to those affected by the chronic drought in Somalia and carrying out emergency relief projects for them for several years. He added that the implemented emergency relief project distributed basic food items for 525 pastoral families in different provinces. The Director of the Qatar Charity’s office in Somalia said that each family received a full ration of food needed for seven people for one month, and that the basic food rations include rice, sugar, flour, oil, dates and milk powder.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“By pursuing a policy of close relation in the short term, while, potentially, in the long forcing Ethiopia to stop it’s meddling of the internal affairs of Somalia, the Farmaajo government is moving in the right direction, albeit with a caution.,”
On Abdikarim Muse: What Could The Somali Government Do Better?
11 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 671 Words
When Abdikarim Muse, a senior known ONLF operative hiding in Somalia was extradited by the government of Somalia, there was, predictably, hue and cry. Somali politicians, including former Prime Minister Abdi Rashid Ali Sharmarke, social media activists, among a host of dissenting voices said it was legally and morally reprehensible to extradite a Somali citizen to a historical enemy country known to torture and kill dissidents. Abdikarim Muse, also known as “Qalbi dhagax”, was captured when he travelled to Adado town in Galmudug region for family matters. Initially, he was thought to be an Al-Shabaab member, a militant group fighting against the Federal government and the African Union Forces. However, when his name was checked against a database of what Ethiopia calls terrorist groups, it emerged he was actually in the list. Under unclear circumstances, the Somali security forces in complicity with regional militias extradited him to Ethiopia.
On it is part, the Somali government kept silent about the matter but as public pressure mounted, the cabinet hastily convened an extraordinary meeting, and, in the end, released a statement. Citing, two previous agreements signed between the governments of Ethiopia and Somalia, in 2015 and 2016, during the last days of Hassan Sheikh Mahmud’s government, the cabinet declared Muse a terrorist leader with known ties to Al-Shabaab.The statement was immediately rebuffed by ONLF, which seeks the independence of Somali region under the control of Ethiopia and is considered by Ethiopia as terrorist organization. While extradition of a Somali national, more so a veteran of 1977 Ogadenia war is morally indefensible, looking at the wider context of current geopolitics, there is little the Somali government can do if a belligerent and, by far militarily superior Ethiopia demands extradition of an ONLF member.
TOP TWEETS
@MogBF: Abdirashid, Somalia’s popular singer with the famous song of “Anaa Anaa Soomaali, Wa Aftakhir” is now on the stage entertaining us. #MBF2017
.@HarunMarufAbdullahi Osman Moallim, 24, is the first journalist to be killed in Somalia this year according to reports.
.@M_H_Ingiriis: After our panel ended, this pic shows I, Fawzia Yusuf and Fardowsa Jama Yusuf, Director of Aw-Jama Omar Iise in Eastleigh, Nairobi, Kenya.
@SomaliaNewsroom: Turkish Airlines profits in Africahttps://reut.rs/2ffAllt “
@HarunMaruf: Former intelligence chief on why Somalia’s Puntland region is struggling to contain Al-Shabab attacks:http://www.garoweonline.com/
@HarunMaruf: Somali officials in Gedo region say Kenya fighter jets hit Al-Shabab militants who on Monday attacked Beled Hawo
@DalsanFM: #MBF2017 Royal palace hotel hall is full of young people looking for ideas on how to write and read books. Day 1 of @MogBFhttps://pbs.twimg.
@MOALIMUU: #NUSOJ expresses its deepest sympathies & sends message of condolences to the families, friends & relatives of a Journalist Abdullahi Osman
IMAGE OF THE DAY
SRSG, Michael Keating admires a collection of books on display at the Mogadishu Bookfair.
Photo:@MrMidnimo