May 14, 2012 | Morning Headlines.
Speed up your selection process, PM tells elders meeting in Mogadishu
13 May – Source: Bar-kulan – 132 words
Elders attending the constituent assembly in Mogadishu were told to speed up the selection process of delegates who are to endorse the draft constitution. Addressing the elders, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali urged the elder to speed up their selection process as the expiry of the deadline for such selection looms. He said the set time for the selection of the delegates to adopt the constitution has already elapsed and there is a need to be fast.
Key Headlines
- Puntland Government response to Draft Federal Constitution of Somalia ( Source: Shabelle)
- National security agency displays a young boy held carrying explosive elements (Source: Radio Mogadishu)
- Somali Health Minister hails UAE humanitarian efforts in Somalia (Source: UN News Centre)
- Row between Somali regions slows oil exploration (Source: Reuters)
- TFG Ahlu Sunna pass out 1000 newly trained soldiers (Source: Bar-kulan)
- “Senior Islamist foreign fighter” said captured in southern Somalia (Source: Somalia Report Radio Shabelle)
SOMALI MEDIA
Speed up your selection process, PM tells elders meeting in Mogadishu
13 May – Source: Bar-kulan – 132 words
Elders attending the constituent assembly in Mogadishu were told to speed up the selection process of delegates who are to endorse the draft constitution. Addressing the elders, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali urged the elder to speed up their selection process as the expiry of the deadline for such selection looms. He said the set time for the selection of the delegates to adopt the constitution has already elapsed and there is a need to be fast.
National security agency displays a young boy held carrying explosive elements
13 May- Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA- 105 words
Somali National Security Agency based at Ex-control Afgoye has displayed a young boy used by al-Qaeda militias to carry explosive elements.
Somali PM promises to protect human rights law
12 May – Source: Shabelle – 188 words
Somali PM Abdiweli Mohammed Ali has on Saturday promised a greater protection of human rights laws as the country heals from its long-running civil war wounds.
PMAbdiweli Ali Mohamed who signed an agreement with the officials of OHCHR) and UNPOS in Mogadishu said that his government is committed to enhancing the capacity of its institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights.
TFG, Ahlu Sunna pass out 1000 newly trained soldiers
13 May – Source: Bar-kulan – 118 words
A total of 1000 TFG and Ahlu Sunna soldiers were on Saturday passed out at a military training camp on the outskirt of Dolow town on the Ethiopian side of the border. The pass-out ceremony was attended by Ahlu Sunna, TFG and Ethiopian officials.
ASWJ heads to Baay and Bakool regions
13 May- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 90 words
The spokesman for Ahlusunah Waljamaa group Sheikh Mohomed Hussein Abuu Khaadi says some of their armed forces are now heading to the Baay and Bakool regions in south and central Somalia.
“Senior Islamist foreign fighter” said captured in southern Somalia
12 May- Source: Somalia Report, Radio Shabelle-173 words
TFG troops captured a 35-year-old foreign al Shabaab fighter at the Somali-Kenyan border town on Friday night [11 April]. According to Somalia Report sources, the suspect named “Ali Bakar” was captured in Hosingow a few miles from the Kenyan border. Hosingow had been an al Shabaab training camp but is now controlled by the Kenyans and TFG.
Somali PM failed Somalia’s clan elders meeting
13 May – Source: Mareeg Online – 139 words
Ismail Hurre Buba, former Somali Foreign Minister has announced Sunday that TFG Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohammed Ali failed at sustaining the assembly of Somalia’s clan traditional elders in Mogadishu.
The former Somali foreign minister stated that the ongoing meeting of Somali elders in Mogadishu was however not a completely fruitless one.
Puntland Government response to Draft Federal Constitution of Somalia
11 May – Source: Garowe Online – 163 words
Puntland Government received a copy of the Draft Federal Constitution for Somalia on 30 April 2012, sent jointly by the Independent Federal Constitution Commission and the Committee of Experts. The government appointed a six-member Review Committee consisting of Ministers and Parliamentarians to review the new Draft Constitution. The Committee’s report concluded that the Draft Federal Constitution violates the fundamental principles of federalism.
Banadir governor sacks the region’s spokesman over remarks
13 May – Source: Shabelle – 151 words
The governor of Banadir region for the Somali government Mohammed Ahmed Nor ‘Tarsan’ has on Saturday sacked his spokesman for giving his congratulations to Shabelle Media station, a leading independent Somalia broadcast organization based in Mogadishu, which was recently celebrating its 10th anniversary.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somali Health Minister hails UAE humanitarian efforts in Somalia
13 May- Source: Emirates News Agency- 63 words
Health Minister of Somalia Abdel Aziz Sheikh Yussef has hailed UAE humanitarian efforts and charitable work of Red Crescent Authority’s (RCA) in the Horn of Africa especially Somali population that was badly effected by drought.
During his tour of the Somali patients who received surgical treatment he said that Ophthalmological drive and fighting blindness are part of the several initiatives taken by RCA.
Kenyan police urge German terror suspect to surrender
12 May- Source: Daily Nation- 202 words
Police on Saturday released a photograph of a German citizen they suspect to have deep connections with terror group al Shabaab. The suspect, who goes by the name Ahmed Khaled Mueller, is believed to have entered Kenya illegally.
Somalia faces acid test ahead of new order
12 May – Source: Daily Nation – 111 wrds
The term of the current Transitional Federal Institutions ends in three months and everybody is wondering what will come next. Elections are not possible, so Somali politicians and their UN-led international backers have agreed that traditional tribal elders will lead the next phase in the transition process.
But questions remain over who exactly represents Somali clans, and any mistakes in naming them have the potential to unravel the significant political and security progress that has been made so far.
Privately armed ‘navies’ to protect ships off Somalia coast
12 May – Source: East African – 144 words
Privately armed patrol boats aimed at deterring Somali pirates could be up and running by as early as next month, after a prominent insurance firm agreed to provide financial support.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN relief official calls for sustained aid and livelihood support in Somalia
12 May – Source: UN News Centre – 379 words
A senior United Nations relief official today urged the international community to build on the effective delivery of aid that helped roll back last year’s famine in Somalia, noting that about 2.5 million people in the Horn of Africa country remain in need of humanitarian support.
Row between Somali regions slows oil exploration
11 May- Source: Reuters- 663 words
A dispute between two semi-autonomous regions in Somalia is delaying exploration for oil and gas over fears that local authorities are issuing licences to explore blocks that overlap in each other’s territories, officials said.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/
Following the heroin trail from Holland to Somalia
13 May – Source: Radio Netherlands – 112 words
Poppy farmers in Afghanistan, addicted prostitutes in Ukraine, war-torn neighborhoods in Somalia and drug tourists in the Netherlands… Heroin leaves a trail of destruction across the globe. Dutch journalist Antoinette de Jong and photographer Robert Knoth spent 20 years researching the Afghan herion trade and the devastation it causes.
Kenya police: German sought for questioning about activities of Somalia terrorist group
12 May – Source: Washington Post – 113 words
A Kenyan official says a German man is sought for questioning about the activities of an al-Qaida-linked militia group. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said in a statement Saturday that Ahmed Khaled Mueller is wanted for questioning over the criminal activities of the Somalia-based al-Shabab militia.
EU force frees Iranian dhow from Somali pirates
12 May- Source: Reuters- 178 words
A European Union naval vessel rescued an Iranian fishing dhow that was being used by Somali pirates as a “mothership” for attacks on other boats, the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) said on Saturday.
EU NAVFOR said its frigate HNLMS Van Amstel rescued the dhow and its crew of 17 Iranians off the coast of Somalia. Eleven suspected pirates were on board.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The international community invested heavily in the preparation of this document, but most Somali people either don’t care about, or don’t like, the whole constitution drafting process. This lack of enthusiasm is due to the poor communication strategy of the Somali government and its UN backers. In terms of content and quality, the draft constitution is an improvement of the current contradiction-ridden transitional charter, but many citizens are pessimistic.”
Somalia faces acid test ahead of new order
12 May – Daily Nation – 866 Words
On a political path strewn with obstacles and dangers, Somalia stands at a new crossroads. The term of the current Transitional Federal Institutions ends in three months and everybody is wondering what will come next.Elections are not possible, so Somali politicians and their UN-led international backers have agreed that traditional tribal elders will lead the next phase in the transition process.
But questions remain over who exactly represents Somali clans, and any mistakes in naming them have the potential to unravel the significant political and security progress that has been made so far.
“The absence of politically resourceful regional administrations in southern Somalia, particularly in regions where pro-centralism constituencies are, has turned out to be a major impediment to the roadmap. At the heart of this impediment is mutual suspicion between pro-federalism and pro- (decentralised system camps. President Farole likens centralism to a one-city state in which all resources are poured into the capital. Post-1991 reality is southern Somalia was bleaker than pre-1991 Somalia under military dictatorship.”
Somalia: Challenges To The Roadmap
12 May – Source: Harowo – 1076 Words
The roadmap to end the Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is facing criticism from many quarters. The roadmap was endorsed through the Garowe conference out of which the seminal Garowe Principles emerged last year. Puntland leaders view federalism as the best road to forming a government beyond the transitional period which ends in August 2012. “Political groups in Mogadishu daydream of a return to centralised rule so everything will again be controlled from Mogadishu, under the watchful eye of Ugandan generals. Others in northwestern Somalia, namely “Somaliland”, daydream of international recognition as an independent country. In this political spectrum – stuck between separatism and centralised rule – federalism is the only option that safeguards each group’s interests, whilst protecting Somali national unity” editorialised Garowe Online.