June 22, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
President Sharif dismisses World Bank’s $130 million discrepancy report
22 Jun – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 159 words
President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has rubbished a report recently issued by the World Bank alleging the discrepancy of about $130m (£85m) which was received by the his government. He dismissed the alleged discrepancy, calling it baseless and unfounded propaganda.
The president made the remarks last night during a meeting with Somali business community representatives in Nairobi. He said the alleged money has never reached them, adding that his government faces acute shortage of money prompting it to borrow money from individual Somalis.
Early this month, the World Bank issued a report alleging that large sums of money received by Somalia’s interim government have not been accounted for. The report was first circulated at the recent talks in Turkey on how to end Somalia’s decades of anarchy. The report, which looked at the years 2009 and 2010, also alleged the transitional government has no real accounting system nor does it publicly disclose financial statements, a charge the Somali government denied.
Key Headlines
- President Sharif dismisses World Bank’s $130 million discrepancy report (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Somaliland and TFG agree to hold more talks on security aid transition (Somaliland Press/Hiiraan Online/BBC Somali Service/Radio Mogadishu)
- Prayer most potent weapon for KDF in Somalia battle (Standard Media)
- Somali piracy death toll rises as violence worsens (Reuters)
- Family member of TFG officer sentenced to death appeals conviction (Hiiraan Online)
- Film throwing light on human cost of piracy to debut at Dubai conference (Gulf Today)
- Coast police question two foreign terror suspects over explosives (Coast Week/ Xinhua)
- Freed SA couple leave Somalia (Sowetan Live News/Reuters)
- Al Shabaab flee Kismayu for bushes (Daily Nation)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somaliland and TFG agree to hold more talks on security, aid, transition
22 Jun – Source: Somaliland Press/Hiiraan Online/BBC Somali Service/Radio Mogadishu – 237 words
The first formal discussions between Somaliland and TFG concluded on Thursday, with the two sides agreeing to an 8-point plan including future talks. There has been no official breakthrough, but some progress was made during the last day of the technical-level meeting in the official guest house of Chevening House. Future dialogue, security, development and the transitional period topped Thursday’s discussions.
The UK and its co-hosts, Norway and the EU, said the aim of the meeting was to support the sides to “establish a framework for future substantive talks.” A statement jointly issued by both sides said they have good reasons not to abandon the talks insisting on their commitment for future dialogue.
While a gulf remains between the two Somali sides, points 3, 4, and 5 in the Chevening document under paragraph 5 have injected some optimism into a possible future dialogue. In point-3 of the plan, the declaration and its participants have acknowledged the existence of two presidents and urged them to meet to “review progress as soon as possible”.
Point-4, has spelled out the need for the international community to facilitate talks between the sides including “providing external experts on legal, economic and security matters.” Point-5 pressed the need for the two sides to cooperate in development and humanitarian aid with the international community. This might clear the way for the international community to finally assist Somaliland directly like the British government.
President Sharif dismisses World Bank’s $130 million discrepancy report
22 Jun – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 159 words
President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has rubbished a report recently issued by the World Bank alleging the discrepancy of about $130m (£85m) which was received by the his government. He dismissed the alleged discrepancy, calling it baseless and unfounded propaganda.
The president made the remarks last night during a meeting with Somali business community representatives in Nairobi. He said the alleged money has never reached them, adding that his government faces acute shortage of money prompting it to borrow money from individual Somalis.
Early this month, the World Bank issued a report alleging that large sums of money received by Somalia’s interim government have not been accounted for. The report was first circulated at the recent talks in Turkey on how to end Somalia’s decades of anarchy. The report, which looked at the years 2009 and 2010, also alleged the transitional government has no real accounting system nor does it publicly disclose financial statements, a charge the Somali government denied.
Family member of TFG officer sentenced to death appeals conviction
21 Jun – Source: Hiiraan Online – 201 words
The family of a member of the TFG military who was sentenced to death penalty is complaining about the sentence and accusing the government and the judge who sentenced him for travesty of justice by failing to undertake a thorough investigation and by rushing to judgment without due process of the law.
The accused TFG army officer Mohamud Hussein Maalin was stationed at the time of the incident in an Afgoi check point with clear orders to fire any car that fails to stop at the check point. The officer fired at a car that failed to stop, consequently killing one and injuring another two
“This is a misuse of justice by rushing judgment without completing an investigation” said the family of the accused. This incident took place on Friday June 15, 2012 and the accused was sentenced to the death penalty a day later on Sunday June 17, 2012, which is inline with the version of the family of the accused that this is a rushed judgment and the whole process of disregarding the due process had the look of a kangaroo court.
Somali Sporting officials visit key facilities in Capital
21 Jun – Source: Somaliweyn/Raxanreeb – 162 words
With the cooperation between Somali National Olympic Committee and the Ministry for Youth and Sport strengthening, high level officials from both institutions paid hours-long visit to some key sporting facilities in the capital Mogadishu on Wednesday. The visited facilities include: the compound of the ministry of sport, long tennis court, basketball stadium, table tennis stadium, compounds that used to house national sporting federations and other sites.
According to Somali NOC president Duran Ahmed Farah, the joint visit was mainly intended to assess the general situations of the country’s devastated facilities and how Somali NOC and the Ministry of Sport can cooperate on the rebuilding of the destroyed facilities.
At the end of the visit Somali NOC and the Ministry of Sport officials held a joint press conference during which the minister Mahmoud Jirde Hussein announced that a joint committee from both sides will be formed to look for local and international support to help the construction of the country’s destroyed sports facilities.
New director takes his position in ministry of finance
22 Jun – Source: Hadhwanaag Times – 115 words
The new director of Somaliland’s Ministry of Finance Suleiman jama Dirie on Thursday took his office to start the work. The new director of the Ministry of Finance was recently named by the president of Somaliland republic. He came to office today after well organized ceremony on the event as the minister of finance attended on the occasion. Speaking at the occasion, the new director of Finance Minister said that he is very pleased to take over the new position and pledged he will do his best to live up his national duties.“I will sincerely work with the Minister of Finance Abdiaziz Mohamed Samale and will be working with ministry’s workers honestly” he said.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Film throwing light on human cost of piracy to debut at Dubai conference
22 Jun – Source: Gulf Today – 252 words
The very real human impact of piracy on seafarers and their families is told in a documentary made especially for the second Counter-Piracy Conference convened by the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and DP World. The conference will be held in Dubai June 27-28 and the film will be premiering on day one of the conference.
Since 2007, 3,500 seafarers have been held captive by pirates operating out of Somalia and 62 have lost their lives; today, more than200 seafarers are still being held, often beaten and tortured, with no contact with their loved ones, while hundreds of seafarers are preparing to sail through waters where the pirates operate.
The documentary includes interviews – among many others — with two seafarers held captive for 11 months and their families, with a captain about to set sail through waters where pirates operate, and with the daughters of a captain who was hijacked with his crew more than 19 months ago and who is still being held.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World Chairman said, “The terrible impact of piracy on the lives of seafarers and their families is often buried in a debate that includes discussions about security guards on board vessels, the rising costs of piracy to shipping and trade, and where pirates should be tried and imprisoned. While that debate is necessary and important, we should not lose sight of the appalling humanitarian cost that directly affects seafarers, who sail into a nightmare as they go about their daily work.”
Coast police question two foreign terror suspects over explosives
22 Jun – Source: Coast Week/ Xinhua – 771 words
Kenyan police are questioning two foreigners after being found with dangerous explosive materials which they intended to carry out terror activities in the east African nation, authorities confirmed on Thursday.
Mombasa regional police commander, Aggrey Adoli said the two terror suspects, all Iranians, were arrested by anti-terrorism police immediately after checking into a hotel in Nairobi on Tuesday night and later flown to the coastal city of Mombasa for interrogation.
“We can confirm that indeed we recovered explosive materials weighing 15 kilograms in powder form and bomb experts have collected the samples for further forensic examination,” Adoli told journalists in Mombasa.
Al Shabaab flee Kismayu for bushes
21 Jun – Source: Daily Nation – 606 words
The fall of the key al Shabaab logistical base of Afmadow has sent the militant group into full-scale retreat ahead of an expected push by Kenyan and allied forces into the port city of Kismayu. The remaining al Shabaab fighters have withdrawn to the town of Marka and the thick Coastal forests near Kismayu city, according to local officials.
Senior militant leaders, especially the foreign fighters who offered vital financial and logistical support to the group, are said to be heading further North to the area near Somaliland and Yemen.
The squeeze applied on al Shabaab by a combined force of Kenyan and Somali troops in the south has raised the question of whether the militant group will put up resistance in Kismayu at all, ravaged as they have been by recent battlefield losses, a trickle of defections and choked income lines resulting from the capture of key trading routes such as Afmadow.
The mood at the frontline is bullish. “It will not be difficult to capture Kismayu,” says Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, the leader of the Ras Kamboni Brigade militia, which has been fighting alongside the Kenyans.
Prayer most potent weapon for KDF in Somalia battle
21 Jun – Source: Standard Media – 198 words
Even as they battle the al Shabaab in Somalia, the 4,660 Kenyan soldiers remain a very prayerful lot. Both Muslims and Christians stick to their prayer schedules in the morning, evenings, during and after meals. They are also given time for Koran and Bible study sessions at their military camps.
Muslims are required by their faith to pray five times a day, but are at times forced to combine the prayer sessions due to the engagements in battle. Fajr is offered between 5.20 to 6am, Dhuhr 1pm, Asr 4pm, Maghrib 6:20 pm and Isha 8pm.
“While advancing in the battle field, we postpone to later hours and combine the prayers especially Maghrib and Isha,” Lieutenant Colonel Abdirahaman Mohamed said. “Being in the battle field instils the fear of God in a soldier,” he told The Standard at the military camp in Afmadhow.
Mohamed said the morning and evening prayer sessions also serve as a time for guidance and counselling for the officers facing tough challenges, away from their families. Muslims talk to their Imam whenever they have stress. “We are fighting a group that is using religion to propagate terror activities,” Corporal Abdulahi Ibrahim said.
Up close with Ras Kamboni leader Sheikh Madobe
21 Jun – Source: Star – 1225 words
For his dark complexion and stout posture, one of Somali’s elders with a penchant to wage war with anyone with whom he disagrees with is popularly referred to as Madobe (black in the Somali language). Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Islam has fought many battles with and against the dreaded Islamic Courts Union, Ethiopian troops and al Shabaab insurgent fighters since the fall of Siad Barre’s government in 1991.
He was a member of the Hisbul Islam led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys before forming Ras Kamboni brigades which he currently leads. With a fighting force estimated to be around 800, residents of Lower Juba respect and hold him in high esteem because of his resilience to protect them from al Shabaab. But as he strolls into the KDF camp in Afmadow, Madobe’s stature depicts a figure of a concerned grandfather.
Laden with gifts of huge water melons, bananas and mangoes, Madobe, donning a black Kaunda suit and a shawl flung across his shoulders, strode into the ‘officers mess’ at the KDF camp in Afmadhow shortly before lunch accompanied by the Lower Juba Somalia National Army Commander Brigadier Ismail Sahardid Keydsane.
Meet the TFG commander who speaks fluent Swahili
21 Jun – Source: Star – 489 words
Like in the 1990s when he was charged with protecting the country against aggression, 49-year-old Brigadier Ismail Sahardid Keydsane has been charged with the same task, but now against al Shabaab in Juba and Gedo regions. He is the senior Somalia National Army commander working with KDF and Ras Kamboni Brigades in their quest to expel al Shabaab from what the African Union Mission in Somalia has categorized as Sector 3.
He constantly visits the KDF camp from where his vehicles get fuel to patrol the areas from which al Shabaab have been forcefully removed. His soldiers receive their salaries from the camp. In case of attacks, the SNA troops request for backup from the KDF against the insurgent group.
Born in Tabda area in Juba, the soft-spoken Keydsane, who was a major in the Somalia army serving in Hargesia sector 26 when the Siad Barre’s government fell in 1991, went to school in Liboi, Kenya and then Garissa between 1968 and 1976.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali piracy death toll rises as violence worsens
22 Jun – Source: Reuters – 426 words
Somali pirates seizing Indian Ocean ships were responsible for at least 35 hostage deaths in 2011, a report showed on Friday, with levels of violence rising. The number of prisoners taken by pirates fell to 555, at least, in 2011 from 645 in 2010, the report by the U.S.-based One Earth Future foundation and International Maritime Bureau said. Eight were known to have been killed by their captors either during their initial capture or were executed later, it said, with another eight dying of malnutrition or disease. The remainder were killed either during rescue attempts by military forces or while trying to escape. While solid data on previous years is limited, the total of 35 is seen as by far the highest number of piracy-related fatalities in a single year.
Freed SA couple leave Somalia
22 Jun – Source: Sowetan Live News/Reuters – 175 words
A South African couple kidnapped by Somali pirates 20 months ago aboard a yacht in the Indian Ocean have been freed and flew out of Somalia. Looking thin and stressed, one of the sailors, Bruno Pelizzari, said the release followed a negotiated settlement. He did not say if a ransom had been paid.
“Today we are happy to get our freedom back,” Pelizzari said at the presidential palace complex in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Pelizzari and his companion Debbie Calitz later left the Horn of Africa country for Djibouti, two sources in the Somali prime minister’s office said. South Africa thanked the Italian and Somalian authorities yesterday for the safe return of the couple.
“The couple were released unharmed and are receiving consular support from the South African mission to Somalia, which is based in Nairobi, Kenya,” said Department of International Relations spokesman Nelson Kgwete. “Arrangements are being made for the return of the couple to South Africa.” He said South Africa’s ambassador to Somalia, Ndumiso Ntshinga, was in contact with the couple.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Nobody seriously suggests that it is possible to hold elections in the war-ravaged country where half of it is under the control of rebel movement al Shabaab. So in the absence of anything approaching democracy, the elders have been accepted as the best way of measuring public opinion and maintaining public support.”
Political brinkmanship in Somalia’s ‘transition’
22 Jun – Source: Aljazeera English – 567 Words
If brinkmanship is a feature of big political changes, then it is certainly a part of the fraught, high-stakes process to end Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government.
The government has been in “transition” for the past eight years. Diplomats adopted the term as a way of showing the warlords and rival political factions that the current arrangements remained open to negotiation, and so there was no need to fight about them. But now the transition is supposed to come to an end, to be replaced with permanent political institutions, on August 20th.
“The price of Somali youth crime is severe and has wide ranging implications for everyone. For the individuals and their families the loss of liberty and lives through violence is the obvious one. Wasted potential is another. However for the community it continues to fuel the stigma, stereotyping and discrimination many of them already suffer at all levels of society which compounds their social isolation and developing inter generational poverty.”
Cultural Explanations of Somali Youth Crime
22 Jun – Source: Harowo – 3771 Words
While on a long walk with my uncle on his first visit to London from Nairobi he was surprised to see so many young Somali boys with lowered jeans that exposes their bottoms and patterned baseball caps smoking openly outside a busy indoor Somali shopping centre. As he passes one boy just stares at him with a smirk and my uncle holds his gaze on him. The boy gazes back and my uncle then smiles and says, “You’re too young to intimidate me. Should you not be channelling your efforts to other things?” The boy did not reply and we walked on.
On the way back my uncle had clearly been affected by the boy and he asked me, “Why are they proudly on the streets? Where are their parents? Why are they so disgustingly exposing their bottoms?” Then before I could reply he concluded that, “There must be shaytan (the devil) in England that the rains can’t wash away.” With a giggle we made our way home.
“To understand this dynamic, one should start by questioning the facts. What is wrong with the new Somali Constitution and why has the adoption of this document been met with resistance by educated Somalis, religious figures, secularists, former Somali Prime Ministers, women, scholars and by Somali Diaspora organizations?”
Somalia: Deep Divisions Over New Constitution
21 Jun – Source: Global Voices – 1247 Words
Somalia has never had a central government controlling the entire country since the fall of Muhammad Siad Barre in 1991. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is the internationally recognized government of the Republic of Somalia.
After political discussions in Ethiopian, leaders of various Somali parties agreed to political steps to end the transitional period and elect a new president. One of the steps outlined in a detailed timetable is the drafting of a new constitution.
“Despite the attention he receives in Western media, Hammami’s exact position and role in al-Shabab is debated and unclear. The U.S. Department of the Treasury, in its designation of Hammami as an international terrorist, described him as a “military tactician, recruitment strategist, and financial manager” for the Somali insurgent movement and accused him specifically of planning the October 2008 suicide bombing carried out by U.S. citizen and fellow foreign fighter Shirwa Ahmed in Puntland.”
The Evolution of an American Jihadi: The Case of Omar Hammami
21 Jun – Source: Combating Terrorism Center – 2448 Words
Omar Hammami, who was until mid-March 2012 the most prominent foreign fighter in the ranks of the Somali insurgent-jihadist movement al-Shabab, has never been shy of being in the limelight. He emerged as the English-speaking, Western face of al-Shabab’s recruitment of foreign fighters following an interview from the field in October 2007 with the Arabic satellite news channel al-Jazira and continues to be the subject of intense Western media interest even after his public break with al-Shabab on March 16, 2012, in a video posted to YouTube.[1]
In May 2012, Hammani released the first part of his autobiography describing his experiences before and after traveling to civil war-torn Somalia.[2] The first part of the autobiography, totaling 127 pages, was released as a document upload to the Scribd website in mid-May after its release was teased a week earlier by “somali muhajir warrior”[3] in a comment left on the original YouTube video.[4] In a footnote, Hammami also revealed that he produced written work as an online jihadist writer using the pseudonym “Abu Jihad al-Shami,” specifically four written volumes totaling nearly 300 pages.
Top tweets
@26AIsmail Yes #Somalia is example everything thats wrong in this world. Could Mali be the next Somalia? Could Syria be the next Somalia? I am tired.
@VoiceforSomalia After 21 years of enemity leaders from#Somalia and Somaliland hug and laugh at first ever formal meeting in UK http://bbc.in/LfDC1j.
@mary_harper Here’s the declaration from the first formal direct talks between #Somalia and #Somaliland http://bit.ly/Kp5v0I.
@SomWarMonitor Authoritative nuanced analysis/guide on Omar #Hammami by @IbnSiqilli :Evolution of an American Jihadi http://bit.ly/NXYmvJ #Shabab #Somalia.
@WilhelmJvR #Somalia Pre-civil war travel guide.http://bit.ly/ME606Y Hope we have this again soon. So much potential. Thanks for sharing @IdiAuslander.
Image of the day
Delegations from Somalia and Somaliland pose for joint photo at Chevening House in Kent, UK. The two sides were engaged in talks. Photo: Twitter via @peterbiles.