March 20, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

8 killed in a bloody battle against al Shabaab in Somalia

19 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 154 words

At least 8 people have been killed and more were wounded in the latest clashes between al Shabaab insurgents and Somali in southwestern conflict-ravaged horn of Africa country, reports said.

Residents confirmed that the clashes sparked after al Shabaab insurgents ambushed Somali and Kenyan military convoy traveling from Kulbiyow village to Badade town in Lower Jubba region which is close to the Kenya border.

Key Headlines

Payment of stipends (SPF Headquarters) (Source: AMISOM Force HQ)
Mogadishu mayor says Somalis must take role in security efforts (Source: Radio Kulmiye)
Al Shabaab militants arrest a US-born Jihadist in Somalia (Source: Mareeg Online)
Somali politician Former Ambassador Dr Abdullahi Ahmed Addou returns home(Source: Shabelle)
Somalia’s national theatre reopens in Mogadishu

PRESS STATEMENT

Payment of stipends (SPF Headquaters)

19 Mar – Source: AMISOM Force HQ – 94 words

A team of five AMISOM Police officers led by the chief liaison officer (ACP/ Martin Abilu) visited the SPF headquarters to monitor stipends payment which started on the 1st March, 2012 (Thursday) and ending today 6th March, 2012.

The payment is the overdue stipends from June to September 2011 (4 months). The Director Finance (SPF) Col. Mohammed Saeed Abuut, Deputy Director Finance Lt. Col. Hussein Ibrahim Hassan and staff of SPF Finance were involved in the exercise.

SOMALI MEDIA

Hussein Arab: al Shabaab has been weakened

19 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online – 216 words

Somalia’s Defence Minister says al Shabaab has been weakened and will soon be ousted from the country. While in Minnesota, USA Hussein Arab Issa vowed to continue pressure on al Shabaab.

Tension prevails in Afmadow as fighter jets were seen flying over the area

19 Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 167 words

Tension has gripped locals in rebel held Afmadow town, Lower Juba, after low flying fighter jets were on Monday seen hovering over the town, locals say. Locals confirmed that at least two low flying fighter jets were seen hovering over the town for couple of hours, heightening trepidations among the local residents.

Somali politician Former Ambassador Dr Abdullahi Ahmed Addou returns home

19 Mar – Source: Shabelle Net/ Hiiraan online – 136 words

The prominent politician of Somalia Dr Abdullah Ahmed Addou on Sunday arrived in Mogadishu after 10 years. The politician has received a cordial welcome at Aden Adde international airport in Mogadishu from hundreds of people, including women, elders and children. Professor Addou, who was away from Somalia a year, told reporters at the airport that he always knew he would go back to the country in some capacity, urging people of Somalia to work the unity of the country to put an end the 20-years of conflict. After that the influential leader has held a press conference at his home in the capital, talking more about the solution of Somalia’s long running problems.

Mogadishu mayor says Somalis must take role in security efforts

19 Mar – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 110 words

Mogadishu’s mayor asked Somalis to work to gather in building their country by supporting the current the transitional government which he pointed as a very crucial one for the development of this country. Mohamed Ahmed Nur Tarsan has also requested Somalis to help the government in the efforts of the security measures in Somalia to assure the stability in our nation.

8 killed in a bloody battle against al Shabaab in Somalia

19 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 154 words

At least 8 people have been killed and more were wounded in the latest clashes between al Shabaab insurgents and Somali in southwestern conflict-ravaged horn of Africa country, reports said.

Al Shabaab militants arrest a US-born Jihadist in Somalia

19 Mar – Source: Mareeg Online – 153 words

Al Shabaab have arrested on Monday a US-born jihadist in southern Somalia town, reports said. Sources say some al Shabaab fighters have stormed the house of Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki in the town of Marko on Sunday afternoon and taken away to Qorioley district, just 120 Km away south of Mogadishu.

Three people arrested in Garowe, Puntland

19 Mar – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 83 words

The Puntland security forces have arrested three people in Garowe, the regional capital of Nugal region, in connections with al Shabaab. The woman and the two men have been accused of having ties with the Somali Islamist radical group al Shabaab.

The police chief of Nugal region Farah Abdurrahman has said that the defendants were captured with explosive devices and then were arrested.

Al Shabaab ambushes allied troops in Lower Juba

19 Mar – Source: Somalia Report – 50 words

At least ten fighters were killed and an unconfirmed number were injured as Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF), TFG forces and pro-government clan militias of Ras Kamboni fought against the al Shabaab insurgent group in Lower Juba region of southern Somalia on Monday, residents said.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Somali refugees to be relocated, says Saitoti

19 Mar – Source: the Star – 279 words

The government yesterday will relocate the more than 600,000 Somali refugees back to their country. Internal Security minister George Saitoti said the refugees at Dadaab in Garissa will be relocated to regions under the control of the AMISOM in collaboration with TFG and KDF which are safe. Saitoti, however, said the government will treat the refugees humanely during the relocation exercise.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia’s national theatre reopens in Mogadishu

19 Mar – Source: BBC News – 360 words

Somalia’s national theatre has reopened in Mogadishu, more than 20 years after it last shut its doors. The event was marked with the showing of a local play, traditional music and comedy performances for an audience of around 1,000 people. The theatre closed in the early 1990s as Somalia descended into civil war and the capital became a no-go area.

Kenya must not send refugees back to Somalia -rights group

19 Mar – Source: Reuters Alert Net – 531 words

Somalis fleeing drought and persecution are living in terrible conditions on the outskirts of Kenya’s massive Dadaab refugee camp, following the government’s decision to stop registering new arrivals, a rights group says.

“We’re hearing of women and kids having to live on the outskirts of camps without proper shelters and more vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation, and even attacks by wild animals,” Refugees International advocate Melanie Teff told AlertNet.

Gunmen kill 3 Yemeni soldiers, army holds 6 Somalis

19 Mar – Source: Reuters – 238 words

Gunmen crept into an army barracks in southern Yemen early on Monday before killing three sleeping soldiers and wounding two, a security official said.

“The gunmen snuck into the area and killed the soldiers as they were asleep early this morning,” the official told Reuters. He blamed al Qaeda for the attack on the barracks in Dalea province, north of the port city of Aden.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Over the past few years, hundreds of global jihadists from around world, many members of al-Qaeda, flocked into Somalia from where they’re operating largely unimpeded. The U.S. has deployed some of its drone assets to the region, and has successfully eliminated several al-Qaeda targets in Somalia. But the country is still the best theatre of operations for al-Qaeda. Nowhere in the world does al-Qaeda have such a large and contiguous area of activity. Recent aerial surveillance footage shows the proliferation of training facilities across south and central Somalia, much of which is run by al-Qaeda operatives.”

Understanding the al Shabaab/al-Qaeda ‘merger’

19 Mar-African Arguments-1012 Words

Last month, the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab, which controls vast swathes of territory in south and central Somalia, declared it was joining the al-Qaeda Network. The announcement was hardly surprising: the two groups have been courting each other for years.

They’ve also been collaborating against the weak but internationally recognized Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the African Union peacekeepers, known as AMISOM. Yet the timing of the announcement sheds some light on the intricate relationship between the two jihadist entities.

“The conference participants invidiously praised the illegal military involvement of the neighbouring countries and failed to recognise that unilateral external interventions will only exacerbate the already combustible situation. If the recent history of Somalia is any guide, the London conference on Somalia will be added to the countless unsuccessful conferences on Somalia convened in foreign capitals. Sadly, for the people of Somalia, it is another missed opportunity.”

London Conference on Somalia: Another Missed Opportunity?

19 Mar- Source: Harowo-2199 Words

In his book, Somalia: the Missed Opportunities, the former UN Secretary General’s Representative for Somalia, Mohamed Sahnoun, fittingly catalogues a number of missed chances that both the international community and the Somali people failed to utilise to find a lasting solution for the protracted political crisis in Somalia. Sadly, after the publication of the book, numerous other conferences miserably failed to ameliorate the calamitous situation, and hence countless other opportunities had been missed.

The British Government seemed to acknowledge this failure and promised to take a markedly different approach. For instance, prior to the London Conference on Somalia, which was concluded on 23 February 2012, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office declared that, despite the best efforts by multiple actors, “international policy towards Somalia is not succeeding”. The statement from the Foreign office went on to state, “After 20 years of sliding backwards, Somalia needs a step-change in effort – both from the international community, but also Somalia’s political leaders.”1 This succinct note will examine, in broad stokes, whether the measures agreed by the conference participants are, “a step change in effort from the international community”, or just a perpetuation of the failed policies of the past.