April 30, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Security forces in Dharkenley foil al Shabaab attacks

29 Apr – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 165 words

“The group has been weakened since they are being fought on four fronts; al Shabaab will no longer cause harm to the Somali people” DC Hilowle added.A press statement labelled “Progress Report on National Security” released on April 23rd, 2012 emphasized the importance of enhancing coordination among government security agencies, urging for the effective implementation of the national security plan to ensure the safety of Somali citizens.

A presidential committee also agreed to expand the security operations with focus on the recently liberated regions of the country. The security challenges in the capital are largely met; however, the committee recognized the need to remain on the offense in order to eradicate terrorist groups across the country.

Key Headlines

Banadir provincial administration hands over motorcycles to road patrol units (Source: Radio Risaala)
Somali government says draft constitution revised to reflect public concern (Source: Jowhar Online)
MP accuses Somali premier of failing to solve the country’s political crisis (Source: Shabelle)
Al Shabaab’s grip weakening – US Envoy to Somalia (Source: Ashark Alawsat)
Islamists blamed for Nairobi church killing (Source: Times Live)

SOMALI MEDIA

Banadir provincial administration hands over motorcycles to road patrol units

30 Apr – Source: Radio Risaala – 111 words

The provincial administration of Banadir province has handed over four motorcycles to road patrol units yesterday. Abdi Kaafi Hilowle Osman, a provincial leader, said in a media briefing that the administration has handed over four motor cycles to police officials.

Abdi Kaafi Hilowle Ismaan said the funds were provided by the Banadir Administration in order buy motorcycles for the police which initially had only one motorcycle. Abdi Kaafi Hilowle Ismaan handed over the motor cycles to assistant commissioner for road patrol unit Muhdiin Gedi. Police road patrol units conduct their operations on all main junctions of Mogadishu.

Somali government says draft constitution revised to reflect public concern

29 Apr – Source: Jowhar Online/Radio Mogadishu – 194 words

The TFG has said changes have been made to the draft constitution following concerns expressed by various sections of the population. Officials of the TFG ministry of constitution and reconciliation on Friday attended a meeting programme on government-controlled Radio Mogadishu during which they declared that a number of changes have been made to the draft Somali constitution.

Minister of State for Constitution, Hasan Mahmud Jim’ale alias Hasan Dhere said changes have been made to some sections of the draft constitution such as one pertaining to the conditions for presidential candidates. He said the change made on this clause was that candidates vying for the Somali presidency should not be citizens of another country. These changes to the draft constitution come at a time when there have been widespread concerns over some sections of the document.

Ambassador: Somali immigrants in Libya are facing great problems

30 Apr – Source: Shabelle – 116 words

Somali ambassador in Libya Abdiqani Mohammed Wacays said Somali immigrants in the country are facing appalling living conditions. In an interview with Shabelle Media, the ambassador said Libyan security forces have detained on April 22nd three boats carrying Somali illegal immigrants as they were trying to immigrate illegally to European countries.

“On 22nd of April, at least four tiny boats ferrying hundreds of illegal Somali immigrants tried to move from Libya, but the coastguards seized three of them while the other one escaped through the Mediterranean sea,” the ambassador added.

Security forces in Dharkenley foil al Shabaab attacks

29 Apr – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 165 words

Somali forces stationed in Dharkenley district have foiled al Shabaab attacks in that district and killed several militants, officials confirm. “Al Qaeda and their affiliates al Shabaab tried to attack government bases but we repelled them and killed several of their fighters” Dharkenley district commissioner Maalim Abdulle Ali Hilowle told the media. “The group has been weakened since they are being fought on four fronts; al Shabaab will no longer cause harm to the Somali people” DC Hilowle added.

A press statement labelled “Progress Report on National Security” released on April 23rd, 2012 emphasized the importance of enhancing coordination among government security agencies, urging for the effective implementation of the national security plan to ensure the safety of Somali citizens.

MP accuses Somali premier of failing to solve the country’s political crisis

30 Apr – Source: Shabelle – 166 words

A member of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Parliament, has accused on Monday the Somali PM Abdiweli Mohammed Ali of failing the bring an end to the long-running political problems in Somalia. Booto Abdulle, Somali lawmaker told Shabelle Media that the PM is serving the interest of Puntland leader Abdirahman Farole and that the PM’s government had yet to hand over to the parliament any of its budgets.

“It is unfortunate that the PM is not acting in the service of the people of Somalia. I call on Somali politician, senior clerics and civil society to get rid of Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohammed Ali and unite to solve their own problems,” the MP added.

Chairman of Daljir alliance urges the constitution be brought before the Somali clerics

29 Apr – Source: Radio Risaala – 222 words

Daahir Mahmud Geelle, chairman of Daljir alliance, while talking at a meeting organized be Somali Muslim clerics to discuss the drafting of the constitution, said that any modifications they make should be honored. Chairman of Daljir alliance Daahir Mahmud Geelle who is also a member of parliament insisted the constitution needs to involve all Somali citizens.

Daahir Mahmud Geelle added that items in the constitution that are religiously questionable should be brought before the clerics and be discussed; he further added that some clauses in the constitution need to be openly discussed by the Somali community.

AMISOM leadership changes will not halt our attacks, says al Shabaab spokesman

30 Apr – Source: Shabelle/Kulmiye – 145 words

The spokesman of al Shabaab fighters in Somalia today said that the recent changes to the AU forces command will not halt the group from their attacks in Mogadishu. The spokesman also spoke about the killing of a South African security trainer working for a mercenary security firm, Saracen international in Puntland on Friday, saying that the murder was a preliminary al Shabaab attack on the crusaders in Somalia, as he put it.

Plane suffers tire blow out at Abdullahi Yusuf airport

29 Apr – Source: Garowe Online – 200 words

A domestic flight had a tire blow out upon arrival at Galkayo’s Abdullahi Yusuf international airport, Garowe reports. The Jubba flight departed from Hargeysa and was bound to Galkayo Saturday morning; shortly after its tires touched the Abdullahi Yusuf airport’s main runway they blew out. The plane leaned to a side until it very hastily came to a stop, which put some of the passengers onboard in a state of shock. No one on board was injured.
Minister of Aviation Ahmed Ali Gamute said that the tire blow out occurred because of an error by the pilot while landing the plane. “An investigation has already taken place and our findings have concluded that it was an error by the pilot while attempting to land the plane,” said Minister Gamute.

Minister Gamute said that the plane was up to the standards of the Puntland government and that all planes operating in Puntland are inspected twice a year.

REGIONAL MEDIA

East African leaders meet in Arusha

30 Apr – Source: New Vision – 145 words

President Yoweri Museveni together with other heads of state from the EAC made the call at the 10th Extraordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State. The meeting was held at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge in Arusha, Tanzania on Saturday. The regional leaders noted that the London Conference on Somalia in February was a “turning point in the country’s quest for peace and stability”.

They appreciated the role of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) together with the transitional government of Somalia for returning peace to large areas of Somalia. They called on the Somali government to consolidate the benefits of peace to the benefit of the people of Somalia.

At the same meet, the EAC protocol on co-operation in defence was signed. The leaders directed that it be ratified and instruments of ratification deposited with the secretary general by end of November 2012.

Al Shabaab’s grip weakening – US Envoy to Somalia

29 Apr – Source: Asharq Alawsat – 2904 words

James C. Swan, the United States Special Representative to Somalia, said that the militant Islamist group al Shabaab’s grip on the country has begun to weaken due to a combined effort by the Somali forces and regional countries to confront the fundamentalist movement. Swan, a resident of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, spoke before representatives of the international press in a meeting attended by Asharq al-Awsat in London the day before yesterday.

He explained that the hardline methods imposed by al Shabaab upon the Somalis living in areas under their control, in addition to the fierce attacks that have claimed the lives of many people, have eroded the popular support that the movement may once have enjoyed.

Swan said: “I’m here in London for some follow-up consultations after the London conference on February 23rd, 2012, on Somalia. This has been convened by the UK with a number of key partners on Somali issues, including those from the region of Gulf and Middle Eastern states, to Western partners. I think this underscores that our efforts on Somalia really have been part of a coherent international response to the situation, largely led by the region in the Horn of Africa, but then endorsed and followed up by the African Union (AU), by the UN Security council, and by other partners”.

Kenyan police hunt for suspect who fled after killer blast

29 Apr – Source: Daily Nation – 142 words

Kenyan Police were on Sunday looking for a young man behind a grenade attack that killed one person and injured 16 others during a church service in Nairobi. Witnesses said the young man, in his 20s, was in the congregation at God’s House of Miracles International Church in Ngara and had at one time left the premises, but returned after a change of clothes.

He left his seat at the front row moments before the blast. The attack came barely a week after the United States embassy warned of imminent terror attacks in Nairobi. The dispatch on Tuesday last week said plans to attack tourist hotels and government buildings were at an advanced stage.

Somalia-based terrorist group al Shabaab has carried out several attacks in Kenya since October last year when Kenyan troops crossed the border to fight the militia in their own country.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Islamists blamed for Nairobi church killing

30 Apr – Source: Times Live – 316 words

A gunman detonated a grenade in a Nairobi church yesterday, killing one worshipper and wounding 16 in the latest in a series of attacks in Kenya since it sent troops into Somalia to crush Islamic militants blamed for cross-border raids. Nairobi has said al Shabaab militants are behind the surge in violence and kidnappings that have threatened tourism in east Africa’s biggest economy. Police said the pastor of the church was concluding the service when a man who had “camouflaged” himself as a worshiper dropped the grenade and fled.

Some worshippers pursued the man, who drew what police said was a 9mm pistol and fired at his pursuers before disappearing in a maze of alleys in a busy market and residential area. “One person has been confirmed dead and 16 injured. The motive for the attack has not been established,” police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said. A bloodied footprint marked the entrance of the God’s House of Miracle Church, an edifice of corrugated iron sheets that the police estimate could accommodate more than 200 people. The pastor’s glass lectern was shattered and shards were strewn about the floor next to mangled flower arrangements and overturned plastic chairs.

A male worshipper sobbed as he covered his face with a brown handkerchief, shaking his head when asked for an interview. Worshippers carried the wounded to cars that rushed them to hospitals, and later huddled together, speaking in hushed tones as police ring-fenced the church to keep crowds at bay.”It just happened; we don’t know how it started; we just heard a blast,” said Hebo Hamala, a church elder. The blast resembled two separate attacks at different bus stations and a bar in the capital that killed 10 people and wounded many more last month, and in October last year, a week after Kenyan troops swept into southern Somalia.

S.African security officer killed in Somalia: Puntland government

30 Apr – Source: Reuters – 216 words

A South African security trainer has been killed in Somalia by unknown gunmen during a government-approved mission against pirates, the government of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland said. Pirates operating from the Somali coast have raked in millions of dollars in ransoms from hijacked ships, including oil tankers in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, in what costs the world economy billions of dollars a year.

The security officer was killed on Friday while on a mission targeting pirates in a coastal area used by pirates as a base and where hijacked ships have been held for ransom, Puntland said in a statement late on Saturday. Officials at Saracen International, the security firm where he worked, were not immediately available to comment.

South Africa’s international relations department said it had been informed of the death. “We have received reports of the incident and the mission is looking into it,” said foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela. Puntland has been relatively stable compared to other parts of the country which has lacked effective central government for two decades.

Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked militants did not claim responsibility directly for the latest killing but urged further attacks against foreigners. “I urge clans and fighters to redouble their efforts of killing our enemies,” Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, the spokesman for al Shabaab, told Reuters.

Charity Kimse Yok Mu thanks donors for support to Somalia, Van

29 Apr – Source: Todays Zaman – 291 words

A Turkish charity, brought together a number of donors and special guests on Saturday to thank them for their support to famine-stricken Somalia and Turkey’s earthquake-hit province of Van.

Kimse Yok Mu, which has organized a number of fundraising campaigns and aid initiatives for Somalia and Van, expressed its appreciation on Saturday to those who had made such a large outpouring of humanitarian support possible at the Haliç Congress Center along Ä°stanbul’s historic Golden Horn.

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Ä°stanbul deputy Hakan Åžükür, pop star Kayahan, journalist and writer ErtuÄŸrul Özkök, Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) President RÄ±zanur Meral and radio show host Bedirhan Gökçe were among the evening’s participants. Well-known radio show host Mehmet Akbay served as the master of ceremonies for the evening.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Somalia’s fortune might be about to change. This anticipated alternation, in turn, is not because al Shabaab’s power and influence is ebbing. Nor is it due to the approaching expiration of the Transitional Federal Institutions mandate which some claim will help to support a more inclusive political process. Rather, it is in the renewed international interest in Somalia as an oil producing nation that one can trace a fast-changing geostrategic role for Somalia; one that will no longer be confined to counter-terrorism and anti-piracy efforts”.

Oil can be a boon for Somalia

30 Apr – Source: Gulf News (UAE) – 340 words

Ever since the fall of the Somalia’s pro-US president, Mohammad Siad Barre, in 1991, the country has been in a state of chaos and disorder. In the absence of a central authority, tribal conflicts, warlordism, and a resurgent militancy in the form of al Shabaab have come to dominate and define the political reality of Somalia.

Economic stagnation and lawlessness, moreover, have given rise to one of the oldest profession’s in human history, thereby turning a dangerous majority of the bright yet hopeless Somali youths into the world’s most prominent pirates. And as if this is not depressing enough, an unfortunate geography combined with a lack of state-planning have brought food insecurity and malnutrition to the proud inhabitants of this ancient land.

That Somalia has not received a single piece of positive coverage over the past 20 years, therefore, ought not to be surprising. After all, this is the “most comprehensively failed state” where human suffering starts at birth.

“The Draft Constitution has distracted the people of Somalia from addressing systematically and passionately the causes and solutions of the real problems devastating their country. Today, about half of the Somali population is facing famine, malnourishment and insecurity inside and outside Somalia. The fraudulent approval of the Draft Constitution will be another calamity on Somalia. It is the responsibility of every Somali citizen to avoid the happening of that calamity with all legitimate means”.

Draft Constitution: An instrument for balkanization and brutalization of Somalia

30 Apr – Source: Somali Talk – 1111 words

The people of Somalia face the looming dreadful reality of becoming a vanished nation/country because of the Draft Constitution soon to be rubber stamped through fraudulent political and legal process. As usual, the International Community and the media will join force to publicize the new constitution as a success story for Somalia. In contrast, the Draft Constitution is an instrument for balkanization and brutalization of Somalia on basis of the following reasons:

It repeals the 1960 constitution in force which represents the legal and political foundation or the birth certificate of the Somali State/nation. The 1960 constitution embodies the basis for the admission of independent Somalia to the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the Organization of African Unity.

It partitions the country into three territories-Somaliland, Puntland and South Central. In accordance with article 172, it binds specifically the South Central Somalia, while Somaliland and Puntland adopted separate constitutions drafted with the help of the International community. For this reason, the Draft Constitution omitted the demarcation of the national borders of Somalia, while the constitutional demarcation of national borders is imperative at this historical moment.

It is not ending the transitional period extended after August 2012 for four more years during the Garowe Conferences. Also, it has nothing to do with the political dispensation for the establishment of new parliament and the election of national leaders.

It introduces ideas, culture and values that could intensify the social and political tension within the Somali society. It weakens the commonality and amplifies the diversity among the Somali communities. It embeds multiple sources of conflict and confusion detrimental to the governance of Somalia so that the latter will vanish as a nation and country.

“Somalia’s new constitution under a federal system should be enacted by the National Constituent Assembly, as agreed in the Garowe Principles of December 2011, signed by Somali stakeholders. This move ensures that the country finally has a constitution and that the Somali transition is ended on time”.

Somalia: A new constitution, amidst war, famine and exodus

29 Apr – Source: Garowe Online – 465 words

Somalia has been in the grip of military dictatorship, national disintegration, civil war, terrorism and piracy, for the past 40 years. This country’s political stability has been effaced by conflict and corruption, thereby rendering efforts to re-institute the nation-state ineffective and leading to failed stabilization initiatives.

The wider international community has always been troubled by the endless crises in Somalia. In 2004, the regional-bloc IGAD, backed by the West, facilitated a two-year Somali peace process hosted by neighboring Kenya. The effort accumulated into a Transitional Federal Charter, and a new parliament selected through Somali clan system and elections for a new president. Today’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu is an extension of the TFG in 2004 and world governments have aided the TFG with military, financial and political support, directly or through AMISOM.

However, it is the TFG leadership that did not take advantage of this generous assistance. TFG officials have been notorious for engaging in infighting, political disputes, and widespread corruption. While world powers, whatever their intentions, provide material support to the TFG – including funding AMISOM peacekeeping force in Mogadishu – the TFG officials largely failed to meet their responsibilities. The contradiction between international support and TFG shortcomings is the loophole that has paralyzed the TFG since its inception more than seven years ago.

Top tweets

@Aynte Sheikh Ahmed Iman, leader of Kenyan mujaahidiin in #Somalia, pledge allegiance to #alShabaab leader #Godane http://bit.ly/IjCLuk #Kenya.

@NewsSOS S.African security officer killed in Somalia: local government: MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A South African security t…http://tinyurl.com/7kat52t.

@MorningAfrika African Union to deploy police in Mogadishu http://ow.ly/aAZO4 #amisom #somalia.

@Heryerdeonline RT @MorningAfrika: African Union to deploy police in Mogadishuhttp://ow.ly/aAZO4 #amisom #somalia.

@TheNigerianVoic Somalia: NUSOJ Condemns the Overnight Media Station raid in Mogadishu: MOGADISHU, Somalia, April 30, 2012/Afric…http://bit.ly/KqPE64.

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Image of the day

Image of the day Somali Community of Minnesota (USA) welcomes and thanks Turkey Ambassador of the United States Nimak Tan, April 28, 2012- Photo: Radio Mogadishu.