May 11, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Aid worker shot dead in Somalia

10 May – Source: Africa Review – 118 words

Unidentified gunmen in Somalia shot dead an aid worker with the UK-based Islamic Relief organisation Mohamed Ahmed Fanah. Mr. Fanah was shot by two men on Wednesday evening in Baidoa, 240km southwest of Mogadishu. The gunmen fled the scene soon after committing the crime.

Confirming the incident, the TFG Bay Region Governor, Mr Abdifatah Mohamed Gesey, said the deceased was the coordinator with Islamic Relief UK in Baidoa.

“We are aware of the incident and will issue a statement on circumstances surrounding the incident later,” said the governor.

Key Headlines

Prime Minister Abdiweli meets with officials from South Africa and Mozambique (Bar-Kulan)
Rebels killed in clash (Reuters)
Kenyan police uncover explosive devices planted inside a food store in Dadaab (Bar-Kulan)
Three al Shabaab militants killed by their own landmine (Mareeg Online)
TFG troops take control of Gobo village Mahas district (Bar-Kulan)

SOMALI MEDIA

Prime Minister Abdiweli meets with officials from South Africa and Mozambique

10 May – Source: Radio Mogadishu/OPM, Radio Bar-kulan – 297 words

Somali PM Dr. Abdilweli Mohamed Ali yesterday met with officials from South Africa and Mozambique. The officials included Minister of Justice and Constitutional development, Jeffrey Radebe, South Africa’s ambassador to Kenya Didumuso Ntushinga, deputy minister for foreign affairs of Mozambique Dr. Eduardo and other delegates. The leaders discussed the relations between Somalia, South Africa and Mozambique. The meeting also touched on how to help the Somali people in South Africa who are constantly under threat.

Kenyan police uncover explosive devices planted inside a food store in Dadaab

10 May – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 224 words

Kenyan police have thwarted alleged militant attacks after uncovering explosive devices planted inside a food store in one of the camps forming the world’s largest refugee complex, Dadaad, in northern Kenya. The explosives were uncovered after some local residents in Hagardera refugee camp informed the police of the two bombs planted inside a food store in the camp. Reports say police immediately cordoned off the area and later managed to detonate one of the bombs.

Three al Shabaab militants killed by their own landmine

10 May – Source: Mareeg Online – 152 words

Witnesses said on Thursday that at least three al Shabaab fighters were killed by a landmine they were going to plant at an area near Somalia’s central town of El-Bur, central Somalia.

“We heard a loud blast early on Thursday morning in an area not far away from El-Bur, where al Shabaab militants wanted to place a landmine in the ground , but it detonated and killed three of them,” a witness said.

TFG troops take control of Gobo village, Mahas district

10 May – Source: Bar-kulan – 153 words

Somali forces on Thursday took control of Gobo village, some 12 kilometres northwest of Mahas town, Hiran region. Reports say government soldiers took over the village from armed local militias without any confrontations after the militias fled without defending the village. Elsewhere, Somali government troops are reportedly heading towards Mahas town to fill in the power vacuum left by al Shabaab militants who pulled out of the town earlier yesterday.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Aid worker shot dead in Somalia

10 May – Source: Africa Review – 118 words

Confirming the incident, the TFG Bay Region Governor, Mr Abdifatah Mohamed Gesey, said the deceased was the coordinator with Islamic Relief UK in Baidoa.

EU Parliament calls for comprehensive int”l approach to combat piracy off Somalia

10 May – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 193 words

The fight against piracy off the East-African coast cannot be won by military means, the European parliament (EP) said in a resolution adopted on Thursday by 434 votes against100. The resolution urges EU member states to strengthen the EU naval protection force and finance efforts to tackle causes of piracy. It also called for special courts of pirates.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Rebels killed in clash

11 May – Source: New York Times/Reuters – 150 words

Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces killed 17 Shabaab rebels on Thursday after the rebels blocked a road in southern Somalia and stole supplies from passing trucks, said Mohamed Abdi Mayow, the governor of the Bakool region. Ethiopian forces pushed into southern Somalia in November to open up a third front against the militants, who are also fighting Ugandan and Burundian troops around the capital and Kenya’s military in the south.

Ethiopian troops battle Somali rebels blocking supplies

10 May Source: Reuters – 160 words

Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces killed 17 al Shabaab rebels on Thursday after the Islamist militants blocked a road in southern Somalia and stole goods, a regional official said.

Mohamed Abdi Mayow, the governor of Bakool region, said the al Qaeda-linked militants had been blocking trucks carrying supplies to Hudur for seven weeks and had unloaded goods from at least five lorries.

Two SA hostages in Somalia still alive

10 May – Source: Times Live – 123 words

The families of a South African couple taken hostage by pirates in Somalia 19 months ago have received confirmation they are still alive, Beeld reported on Thursday.

Vera Hecht, sister of Bruno Pelizzari, who is being held hostage with his girlfriend Debbie Calitz, recently sent the pirates a list of questions to which only her brother would know the answers.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Repeating standard colonial practice, the UN’s repeated ‘experiments’ of imposing a western-style nation-state on Somalia have given no serious thought, writes Lewis, ‘to considering how appropriate these would prove in the local setting, or above all in conjunction with the highly decentralised nature of transitional Somali political institutions’”

‘Keeping the peace’ in Somalia

10 May – Source: Cease fire Magazine – Words

Since the intensification of armed conflict between government forces and clan-based opposition groups in 1988, Somalia has played host to some of the most horrific violence in East Africa. After thirty years of independence the Somali state collapsed in January 1991, bringing with it the fall of the militant Siad Barre and his efficient divide and rule policy for the nation’s clan systems (after having received generous support from the US and Western Europe in the ‘70s and ‘80s, thanks to the country’s strategic value and neighbouring shipping lanes).