March 26, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Military court opens office in Baidoa
26 Mar – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Universal TV, SNTV – 126 words
Chairperson of Somali National Military Court, Mr. Hassan Mohamed Hussein told Radio Mogadishu last night that they are opening an office in southwestern Somali city of Baidoa, in Bay region. Mr. Hassan confirmed that the court’s office in Baidoa would soon become operational. Mr. Mungab warned soldiers not to harm civilians, or else they would face severe punishment, adding that those criminals in the jails of Baidoa will soon face the justice.
Key Headlines
- Somali mission in Kenya opens Condelence Book for former president (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Two IDPs killed in mortar attack on Villa Somalia (Raxanreeb Shabelle Hiiraan Online)
- Military court opens office in Baidoa (Radio Mogadishu Universal TV SNTV)
- Fresh fighting rocks Somali capital ( Shabelle)
- Al Shabaab vacates Eel-bur as Ethiopian troops advance (Radio Risaala Jowhar Online)
- More Somalis support foreign efforts says poll (Standard)
- TFG soldiers capture village in Hiiraan ( Radio Mogadishu)
- Briton freed by pirates back in UK ( Daily Nation)
- Muslim Aid establishes tuberculosis clinics in Somalia ( Muslim News)
- Somali refugee camp attacked; father son killed (AP)
SOMALI MEDIA
Military court opens office in Baidoa
26 Mar – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Universal TV, SNTV – 126 words
Chairperson of Somali National Military Court, Mr. Hassan Mohamed Hussein told Radio Mogadishu last night that they are opening an office in southwestern Somali city of Baidoa, in Bay region. Mr. Hassan confirmed that the court’s office in Baidoa would soon become operational. Mr. Mungab warned soldiers not to harm civilians, or else they would face severe punishment, adding that those criminals in the jails of Baidoa will soon face the justice.
Somali mission in Kenya opens Condelence Book for former president
26 Mar Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 152 words
A book of condolence has been opened at the Somali embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, following the death of the former TFG president last Friday. Somali ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Noor says the book will be open to all diplomats in Kenya and the Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister wishing to sign it in memory of the fallen leader, Abdullhai Yussuf Ahmed. The book of condolence will remain open for a week as the country mourns the death of the former president who died at a hospital in Abu Dhabi last Friday.
The Somali flag at all Somalia missions abroad and inside the country will also fly at half-mast in respect to the fallen leader until after the seven-day mourning period. Yussuf died on February 23 aged 77 at Sheikh Zayed hospital in UAE after long illness and was later laid to rest on Sunday at his native hometown, Galkayo, Mudug region.
Two IDPs killed in mortar attack on Villa Somalia
26 Mar – Source: Raxanreeb, Shabelle, Hiiraan Online – 168 words
At least two people in IDP camp in Wardhigley district were killed and more than five others were wounded after mortar attack against the presidential palace struck their camp on Sunday night, RBC reports. RBC correspondent in Mogadishu says among those who died were 12 old boy and his father after a mortar shell smashed into their hut near the former monument of late Somali warrior Seyid Mohamed Abdulle in Mogadishu.
“Some of the wounded people were rushed to nearby hospital during the night as others were taken for treatment this morning.” RBC’s Mohamed Ali who spoke with residents said. Witnesses told RBC that at least four mortars were fired which three of them struck the IDP camp.
Al Shabaab vacates Eel-bur as Ethiopian troops advance
26 Mar – Source: Radio Risaala, Jowhar Online – 96 words
Sources in Eel-Buur indicate that al Shabaab fighters have vacated the whole of Eel-Buur town which is situated in Galgadud province. Eyewitnesses in the area confirmed to Risaala radio that al Shabaab fighters abandoned their positions in the town and fled to Galhareri town. Sources say that a convoy of Ethiopian troops and armored vehicles was seen heading to the town. Situation in the area is tense as residents prepare for the arrival of the Ethiopians.The Ethiopian troops are reported to be accompanied by Ahlusuna commanders and soldiers.
Fresh fighting rocks Somali capital
26 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 138 words
Heavy fighting between Somalia government soldiers and al Shabaab militants erupted overnight in some parts of the chaotic Somali capital, Mogadishu, security officials said. The clashes started early hours of Sunday night after al Shabaab elements attacked Somali military base at Ex-control Afgoye checkpoint, south of Mogadishu, causing an unconfirmed casualties of both soldiers or civilians.
“The battle was fierce and spread to many neighbourhoods, including Hoosh village in Dharkenlay district. We managed to ward off the militants from the area and now our soldiers are maintaining full control,” Ahmed Abdullah yare, a TFG military commander at Ex-control Afgoye checkpoint told Shabelle Media. The situation remains calm this morning as TFG soldiers conduct security operation near the checkpoint which is located along the main road that links Mogadishu to Lower Shabelle region.
TFG soldiers capture village in Hiiraan
26 Mar – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 45 words
Somali National Forces with the help of Ethiopian troops have on Monday seized Gobo village near Mahas district of Hiiraan region in central Somalia without any resistance from al Shabaab, residents. Reports say the forces entered the village after al Shabaab militants fled.
Al Shabaab leaders meet elders in south-western Somali town
25 Mar – Source: Markacadeey, Shabelle – 150 words
Top al Shabaab leaders held talks with some elders in south-western Somali town of Dinsor in Bay region, reports said. Sources in Dinsor have confirmed to Shabelle Radio that top officials from al Shabaab, including foreign officers from al Qaeda forced local elders into a meeting, urging them to help the militants.
The elders who attended the meeting came from the regions of Bay, Bakol and Gedo. Some of these elders who spoke to Shabelle said that the main aim of the meeting was to discussed how al Shabaab can recaptured areas taken from them by the TFG and Ethiopian forces.
The al Shabaab officers have reportedly forced the elders to urge each clan to hand over its young boys to be recruited by al Shabaab, in a bid to fight against the TFG and countries who invaded the country, as they put it.
Conference on Road Map opens in Galka’yo
26 Mar – Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA – 99 words
A conference on the Road Map is expected to open in Galka’yo city of Mudug region today, Monday which will bring together Somali Transitional Federal Government, Puntland, Galmudug and ASWJ, SONNA reports.
Somali President, Sharif Sh. Ahmed and Somali Prime Minister, Abduweli Mohamed who are in the city are expected to attend the meeting,which the deliberate on the Road map, reforming the parliament and the ending of the constitution making process.
Somali Parliament speaker, Hon. Sharif Hassan Sh. Adam, UN ambassador to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga and many other members from the international community are also expected to attend the conference.
Chatting with Robow
26 Mar – Source: Somalia Report – 1291 words
Somalia Report has obtained a rare, exclusive telephone interview with al Shabaab nationalist faction leader Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (Abu Mansur). Robow talks to our journalist about recent al Shabaab’s recent military setbacks, his feuds with Ahmed Godane and Omar Hammami (Abu Mansoor al-Amriki), his alleged illegitimate family, and negotiating with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the CIA.
Thank you Sheikh Robow for agreeing to this interview with Somalia Report. Can you briefly tell us about al Shabaab’s military operations and what you have achieved against the allied forces?
Our operation in Somalia is going well, and there are a number of achievements we have gained in the war. During the last clashes in Bay and Bakool and some in Gedo and Lower Juba regions our forces massacred many Ethiopian and Kenyans soldiers. Our flag is still waving above all those areas from which we have strategically withdrawn. The Mujahideen are alert all the time and ready to defend the country and the religion from the infidels who have invaded and are aiming to destroy the region.
Somaliland council of representatives elect deputy speakers
25 Mar – Source: Hadhwanaag Times – 128 words
At their session in Hargeisa on Saturday, the members of Somaliland’s council of representatives have elected the first and second deputies speaker for the council. Chaired by the chairman of Somaliland’s council of representatives, the members of the council have unanimously voted in favor of Bashe Mohamed Farah to be the first deputy speaker of the council.
Also, the council elected the Ali Yusuf Ahmed to be the second deputy speaker of the council. Some 64 members have been present at today’s session. But 39 of them voted for Bashe who was contesting to be the first deputy speaker and thrashed his rival Ibrahim Ahmed who got 22 votes.
REGIONAL MEDIA
More Somalis support foreign efforts, says poll
26 Mar – Source: Standard – 439 words
Somalis are increasingly supporting foreign intervention to restore stability in the lawless country. According to a UN sponsored opinion poll, just released, perception of foreigners and foreign intervention among residents of Mogadishu, has improved in the last two years.
But more than half of the residents of Mogadishu still believe some foreign nations have intervened in Somalia out of self- interest. When the UN conducted a survey in 2010 in Mogadishu, 18 per cent of respondents reported that African peacekeepers had come to Somalia to harm the Somalis but that number has fallen to one per cent this year. The poll results were released as Kenya prepares to join UN supported African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Conducted in the Somalia capital in December and January only six per cent of those interviewed believeAmisom troops are deployed for their own interest, while two per cent believe the forces are out to “destroy Somalia” with just one per cent accusing the foreign forces of being there to “harm” the Somali people.
Briton freed by pirates back in UK
25 Mar – Source: Daily Nation – 186 words
British woman Judith Tebbutt, who was released last week by her kidnappers in Somalia, was flown out of Kenya and is back in Britain, The Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday. Mrs Tebbutt, according the newspaper, arrived in Heathrow on Friday evening and was driven away in a police convoy without speaking to reporters at the airport.
Mrs Tebbutt was kidnapped from the exclusive Kiwayu Safari Village in Kiunga in September last year, an attack in which his husband David Tebbutt was killed. She revealed after her release that she did not know that her husband had been killed until two weeks after she was kidnapped.
She said in a video broadcast by the BBC: “I just assumed he was alive, but then my son told me he’d died. That was difficult.” Early last week, Mrs Tebbutt was reunited with her son Oliver at the British High Commission in Nairobi.
A watchman has been charged with robbery with violence over Mrs Tebbutt’s kidnapping and her husband’s killing. The man denied the accusations and the trial is still on. Police were planning to interview Mrs Tebbutt last week.
Al Shabaab, Eritrea linked
24 Mar – Source: the East African – 464 words
With Somalia becoming the centre of international attention, Ethiopia’s recent attack on Eritrea is being seen as part of an effort to persuade the international community to intervene in the Red Sea nation too. It is a two-edged approach by Ethiopia — to neutralise rebel groups operating from Eritrea and ease pressure from its allies in the Middle East to give up Eritrean territories it occupies.
Qatar and Israel have separately been mediating between the two countries for Ethiopia to return the border area of Badme and for Eritrea to stop supporting the al Shabaab militia in Somalia. While Israel is keen to shut down terrorist training camps in Somalia, Qatar is interested in the vast fertile agricultural lands of eastern Sudan for cultivation of food crops for export. It so happens that the eastern Sudanese region is nearest to the Eritrean port of Assab. Qatar has financed the expansion of roads linking eastern Sudan to Eritrea and was an important facilitator of Eritrean-Sudanese diplomatic ties.
Rashid Abdi, an Independent Horn of Africa analyst argues that Ethiopia’s recent attack on Eritrea is an attempt to scuttle the talks because Ethiopia does not want to hand over Badme without assurances and concessions from Eritrea. The dispute over Badme caused the 1998-2000 war between the two countries.
Human traffickers commit brutal crimes at Yemen-Saudi border
24 Mar – Source: Yemen Observer – 850 words
Yemeni security authorities have launched an investigation concerning the issue of the torture and abuse of African border crossers after the security authorities in Haradh district freed over 170 Africans who were detained in a walled up yard, located near the Yemen/ Saudi Arabia border.
The operation for freeing the African victims came after the Yemen Observer and other Yemeni media reported that these border crossers have been subjected to kidnapping, torture, beatings and extortion by armed gangs in Haradh district in the province of Hajjah, close to the KSA borders. Many African men and women arrive in Yemen from Ethiopia and Somalia aiming to cross the border in order to reach Saudi Arabia. However, they fall into the hands of traffickers who detain them in the eastern part of Haradah.
Local sources from Haradah said that when authorities found the victims they were wearing only their underwear. The detained Africans were found after one of them managed to escape by scaling the walls of the detention site and reported the location to the authorities. According to the detainees, the kidnappers hit them hard with pipes and burnt their bodies with cigarettes.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali refugee camp attacked; father, son killed
26 Mar – Source: AP – 120 words
Residents near a refugee camp in Somalia’s capital say that mortars landed on the camp overnight, killing a father and a son and wounding seven others. The mortar barrage is the third such attack in Mogadishu over the last week. Even though al Shabaab militants have largely been pushed out of the capital, the attacks show the security situation is still tenuous.
Muhudin Haji, a resident in Mogadishu, said Monday that a man and his son were killed in the overnight attack. The loud blasts were followed by screams from adults and tears from children. The refugees live near the presidential palace — the likely target of the attack. Nadifo Abdi said some of the seven wounded people lost lots of blood.
Muslim Aid establishes tuberculosis clinics in Somalia
24 Mar – Source: Muslim News – 260 words
Every year millions of people suffer and die from tuberculosis (TB). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 95% of these deaths occur in the low and middle-income nations. It is an infectious disease, and children who are exposed to family members with the illness are at high risk of contracting the disease.
TB is prevalent in African countries and other developing nations. In Somalia, it is one of the leading causes of mortality. Each year thousands of sputum positive cases occur in Somalia, out of which only few are detected and treated. With majority of TB sufferers being those who are the working force of the community, it will be extremely difficult to rebuild the country as it struggles to recover from the devastating drought of 2011.
Muslim Aid has established ten TB clinics in South Central Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland to provide medical treatment to TB patients. The clinics serve men, women and children in the regions of Afmadow, Kismayo, Jamame, Bardhere, Hudur, Wanleweyn, Mogadishu, El-Ali [Hiran], Badhan and Eyl. To mark the World TB Day on 24th March 2012, Muslim Aid will be opening another clinic in Eyl, Puntland, Somalia.
A spokesperson for Muslim Aid said, “The recurring disease of TB is undoubtedly linked to poor hygiene and sanitation and is an outcome of scarcity of resources and poverty. On World TB Day, Muslim Aid expresses solidarity with WHO and NGOs that are tackling TB in developing countries. With timely interventions from governments and the humanitarian sector, TB can be detected and treated saving millions of lives.”
Europeans OK Attacks on Somali Pirate Bases
26 Mar – Source: Strategy Page – 429 words
Although the Somali pirates have to work harder and harder to steal a ransom-worthy ship these days, they are still bringing in over $12 million in ransom for the 2-3 ships they get paid to release each month. As the anti-piracy patrol and ship operators have become more efficient at dealing with pirates, it’s become harder for pirates to even get into position to make an attack, and even then, fewer than 20 percent of the attacks succeed.
That is largely because more large merchant ships are carrying armed security personnel, who shoot back if the pirates get too close. Even without armed guards, the anti-piracy patrol can quickly have an armed helicopter over a ship under attack. Even if pirates get on board, many ships have “safe rooms” for the crew to retreat to, after they have shut down the engines. In those cases, the pirates usually abandon the ship, especially if an anti-piracy patrol helicopter or warship shows up.
The pirates continue to be an expensive problem, costing shipping companies that must use the Suez Canal or visit East African or Persian Gulf ports, over $500 million a month (for security measures). That extra cost is paid by those having cargo moved through the area and, ultimately, the consumer.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“This recent twist and turn of the conflict are combined with the piracy off Somali coastal water that is a cause of concern for international actors and thereby contributes to the placing of the Somali predicament in the paradigm of international security. As long as this is the dominant approach to Somalia we fail to see that the London Conference can come to constitute the watershed that Somalia is in such need off. On the contrary, instead of focusing on everything that is wrong with Somalia we should ask ourselves whether a new approach is possible if we ask what is working in Somalia.”
What to do with Somalia?
25 Mar – Source: Kismayo News – 1202 Words
On 23 February 2012 about fifty representatives from the international community and from Somalia met in London for the London Somalia Conference. As much as we would have wished that this conference would be the watershed, the one that really made a difference for Somalia, we are unfortunately afraid that this conference will just be one more in a long line of international attempts at rebuilding Somalia. Already, more than fourteen internationally sponsored peace conference and several military interventions aimed at restoring central authority to the country has failed miserably. Somalia is therefore popularly known as the most ‘failed state’ in the world, and it has become the very graveyard of externally sponsored statebuilding initiatives. It is not just that more than fourteen attempts to restore a unitary state have failed miserably, but that these efforts have been followed by more and not less conflict. Currently, the Somali state therefore exists only de jure. There is neither a real central authority, nor many of the other characteristics generally associated with a sovereign state.
“A Somalia where radical groups are in control of vast oil resources would be a nightmare not just to Kenya but the entire Eastern Africa region. In such a situation, high impact and high profile projects such as the recently launched Lamu Port would end up stillborn. The proximity of Lamu to Somalia means the Port project will go absolutely nowhere unless we have permanent peace in Somalia. As such, Kenya should flex its diplomatic and political muscle to get Somalis involved in finding a homegrown solution to their problems.”
Six Months into operation linda Nchi, time for Soul-Searching
24 Mar – Source: The (Nairobi) Star – 975 Words
A few weeks from now— April 16th to be precise—Operation Linda Nchi will be entering its sixth month since the launch in mid October last year. It is time for some serious soul-searching and honest appraisal. There are several pertinent questions that ought to be asked of our policy makers over Kenya’s military operation in Somalia.
What are Kenya’s long and short-term strategic objectives in Somalia? What mechanism has been put in place to evaluate the attainment of these objectives? What is Kenya’s exit strategy from the battleground once the objectives have been obtained? Finally, where is the roadmap that will take Somalia back to a nation state?
“It took a Kenyan contributor, Hussein Kamal, to point out that it is ludicrous to conflate one incident with a whole nation’s fortunes pointing out that there were no news reports that London is a “treacherous” place after the riots that rocked the city last year. Now that Judith Tebbutt is home safe, it would be a good idea for the tourism authorities to launch a campaign rebutting the image of a hell hole that has been reported in the wake of this incident.”
Tourism must fight to survive attacks by pirates, Shabaab and ‘Daily Mail’
24 Mar – Source: Daily Nation – 476 Words
Only days after British tourist Judith Tebbutt was kidnapped and her husband killed at an upscale resort in Lamu in September, Kenyan tanks rolled into Somalia seeking to create a buffer zone against the bandits who had been operating with impunity on the nation’s doorstep.
That was a decisive enough response to the repeated provocations of the Shabaab-allied militants for whom the Ras Kamboni region had long served as a safe haven. But the military action will have done little to undo the public relations damage the Tebbutt affair has inflicted on the tourism industry and its likely impact on future arrival numbers.
“But Ahmed would perhaps be one of the few internationally recognised presidents who tried to govern a country, which is regarded as one of the most dangerous places on earth. He also presided over a country where a big portion was not under his control.”
Ahmed died a bitter man for failing to unite Somalia
24 Mar – Source: The Standard – 817 Words
Former President of the Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed died in Dubai on Friday still regretting his failure to end Somalia’s 23-year conflict.
He had been granted political asylum in Yemen in 2009 after resigning as TFG president in December 2008. Ahmed had expressed regret for failing to fulfil his government’s mandate while announcing his resignation on national radio. As president, he had pledged to promote reconciliation and to set about rebuilding the country.
“During negotiations leading to the creation of Puntland , politicians used the influence of traditional leaders to render Puntland a legitimate regional administration based on the consensus of traditional leaders. President Farole will be able to use the influence of traditional leaders to extend his term if he wishes so although the involvement of some traditional leaders in Puntland constitution process is questionable due to the creation of Khaatumo State for the clan whose traditional leaders and politicians once supported Puntland.”
Is Puntland in the grip of constitutional crisis?
24 Mar – Source: Raxanreeb – 389 Words
If Puntland sticks to its four-year term presidency, in January 2013 either the incumbent Puntland president will be elected for a new term or a new president will take over from the incumbent president. According to Abdullahi Saeed Samatar, former Puntland Minister for Security, president Abdirahman Farole plans to extend his term. In a press conference held this week in Qardho district , Mr Samatar cautioned against extending president Abdirahman Farole’s term.
“ You take responsibility for what happens if your term is extended,” Mr Samatar said. Few weeks ago Puntland government issued instructions to preclude potential candidates for Puntland presidency from campaigning under the pretext that ” the election campaigning time has not been officially declared.” In few week’s time Puntland will adopt a new constitution. It is not known if the new constitution will contain a five-year presidential term, a clause that will extend president Farole’s term by one year.
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Image of the day
Former Somali President Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was laid to rest in his hometown Galkayo on Sunday. Yusuf died on Friday in the United Arab Emirates aged 77.