August 3, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Somalia considers offering amnesty to pirates

03 Aug – Source: Africa Review – 239 words

Somalia’s pirates could be granted an amnesty if they release hostages and return captured vessels to their owners, transitional President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told the London Times.

“Those who leave behind what they have done will be forgiven,” he said, after campaigning in Balad, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Mogadishu. “The government will make clear that the doors are open, if they want to come in,” he added.

Key Headlines

Galmudug elects new leader pledges security (Shabelle)
Somali pirates free seven Pakistani hostages (Radio Kulmiye/Bar-kulan/AFP)
Somalia considers offering amnesty to pirates (Africa Review)
Beledweyne’s Ugas Khalif Airport designer killed (Radio Bar-kulan)
Kenya PM urges Muslims to fight terror (Star)
Somalia ‘mulls’ pirate amnesty (AFP)

SOMALI MEDIA

Galmudug elects new leader, pledges security

03 Aug – Source: Shabelle – 197 words

General Abdi Hassan Awale Qaybdid, former Somali police commissioner was sworn in as the new leader of Somalia’s central Galmudug state on Wednesday in special session by local 25-seat parliament .He was also the former Somali Minister of mining, energy and water resources. General Qaybdid won a presidential election held in south of Galka’yo town, central Somalia, 750 km to Mogadishu, replacing ailing Mohamed Ahmed Aalin who is now at a hospital in Nairobi. The new leader promised to deal with the insecurity in the region.

Somali pirates free seven Pakistani hostages

03 Aug – Source: Radio Kulmiye/Bar-kulan/AFP – 130 words

Somali pirates have released seven Pakistanis held hostage for held hostage for 20 months off the coast of Somalia after they were paid ransom. The pirates received 1.1 million dollars ransom to release the hostages, according to locals in pirate infested Harardere district and Pakistani government officials.

Mohamed Ali Hashi, a local elder in El-hur area told Bar-kulan seven Pakistani nationals held by Somali pirates along Harardere coastline were released on Thursday. He said local elder have put more efforts to release these foreign hostages.

The freed hostages arrived at the Pakistani Karachi airport to an emotional welcome on Thursday night. They were greeted on arrival by the cheers and tears of their family and well-wishers and later attended a ceremony at the Governor’s House accompanied by several government officials.

Somaliland welcomes adoption of Somalia constitution

02 Aug – Source: Hadhwanaag Times/ BBC Somali Service – 114 words

Somaliland minister of foreign affairs Mohamed Abdullahi Omar on Thursday welcomed adoption of the provisional constitution of the Somalia Republic by the Constituent Assembly in Mogadishu. In an interview with BBC Somali Service, the Somaliland foreign minister said it is good for Somalia to be out of the transition at this important time. But, he warned that Somali transitional government is interfering in the affairs of Somaliland republic.

Beledweyne’s Ugas Khalif Airport designer killed

02 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 131 words

Reports from central Somali town of Beledweyne say unknown gunmen on Thursday shot and killed the engineer who designed Beledweyne’s Ugas Khalif Airport. Confirming the incident, area police station’s commanding officer Ali Duh Ali told Bar-kulan that armed gangs shot dead Eng. Ali Hassan Shirwa at his business premises in central Beledweyne town.

The engineer has been in the last few months leading a group of academics who were advising the area regional administration on security issues in the region. The assailants and their motive behind the killing still remain unknown.

Government troops who arrived at the scene of the crime are said to be conducting investigations in order to bring the perpetrators of the killing to justice. Eng. Ali Hassan Shirwa was one of few prominent academic in the region.

Low Flying Aircraft Creates Tension in Kismayo

02 Aug – Source: Somalia Report – 313 words

Residents in Kismayo (Kismayu), the al-Shabaab stronghold in Somalia’s Lower Jubba region, said that two fighter jets have been spotting flying low level over key installations in the city in what local believes are reconnaissance missions in anticipation of an allied advance into the port city.

While planes have flown over the city repeatedly over the last several months, sometimes conducting airstrikes against the Islamist insurgent bases. Residents told Somalia Report that today was different because of the low level flying and the areas the planes flew over repeatedly including the airport, seaport, police station and the outskirts where al Shabaab insurgents have bases. “These planes were not flying like we are used to seeing. Today they were flying at a very low altitude. We all thought they were going to target the town with weapons and everybody remained vigilant and scared that airstrikes could hit at any time,” said Amino Jamac, a resident.

Residents said the planes came from naval ships off Kismayo port, however,Somalia Report could not independently verify this or the types of planes used in today’s operation. Al Shabaab militia fighters fired at the planes, with the heavy shooting occurring as the jets neared one of their bases, according to residents.

“The al Shabaab fighters fired at the planes every time they passed over the town. They would shoot in the air, but they didn’t hit the planes,” said Haji, a local resident. “The planes did not fire at anything in the town. They were just moving over the port, the airport, the administrative places and the outskirts of the town where the al Shabaab militia are based. It was as if they were collecting some information,” added Haji.

Galmudug presidential elections hit a wall

02 Aug – Source: Garowe Online – 155 words

Elections for Galmudug President have hit a wall after President Mohamed Ahmed Alim failed to recognize President-elect Col. Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid, Garowe Online reports. Galmudug President Alim who was in Nairobi while parliamentary elections followed by a presidential election transpired, objected to the “hasty elections” and stated that he is the Galmudug President.

President Alim, who spoke to the media before the presidential elections, said that he disagreed with the parliamentary elections. “I heard it, but I am not supporting them, and I don’t think it is the right thing to support,” said Galmudug President Alim.

Col. Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid who was nominated in a landslide victory as the new Galmudug president by parliament, said at his inauguration on Wednesday that he would improve security in the region. “I will pledge that Galmudug will have capable security forces that will bring security to the region and restore stability,” said President Col. Qeybdiid.

Somali law experts in UK call for a reliable future parliament

02 Aug – Source: Somaliweyn – 160 words

Somali law experts, intellectuals and journalists based in the UK held a lengthy symposium to discuss on matters relating to the selection of the country’s future parliament and sent strong messages to the national constituent assembly to come up with responsible members to vote for the country’s next constitution.

The symposium held in Tottenham neighborhood north of London this week assembled at least 20 high profile individuals from various sectors of the community including prominent football coach Dr. Abdi Olad Raghe and journalist Mohamed Haji Ingiriis.

The symposium called on the national constituent assembly to make changes on the controversial articles in the new Somali draft constitution. It also urged Somali clan elders to select responsible parliament to implement free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections in Somalia. The symposium which was the first of its kind ever held here in UK supported the accusations of embezzlement and corruption suggested against Somali government leaders by the UN Somalia Monitoring Group.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Somalia considers offering amnesty to pirates

03 Aug – Source: Africa Review – 239 words

Somalia’s pirates could be granted an amnesty if they release hostages and return captured vessels to their owners, transitional President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told the London Times.

Kenya PM urges Muslims to fight terror

03 Aug – Source: Star – 82 words

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has cautioned Kenyans to ignore recent attempts by terrorists to instigate religious intolerance between Muslims and Christian faithful in the country.

Raila urged Kenyans to remain united following recent spates of selective attacks that were deliberately targeted at churches. The Premier, who hosted a dinner for fasting Muslims during holy month of Ramadhan, urged Kenyans not to allow foreigners to destabilize the peace. Raila appeled to Muslims and Christians to harmoniously coexist for prosperity of the country.

Clinton applauds Somalia”s historic vote

02 Aug – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 173 words

Somalia’s historic vote to approve a provisional constitution sets the country on a track towards lasting stability, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applauded Thursday. “By laying the foundations for a mutually agreed upon system of governance, this moves Somalia closer to lasting stability” Clinton said in a statement. Somalia National Constituent Assembly approved the provisional constitution, despite logistical difficulties, political pressure, death threats and two attacks on the National Constituent Assembly venue.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia ‘mulls’ pirate amnesty

03 Aug – Source: AFP – 281 words

Somalia’s pirates could be granted an amnesty if they release hostages and return captured vessels to their owners, transitional president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told the London Times.

The head of Somalia’s corruption-riddled government, whose current mandate expires next month, said he was prepared to let off the 2,000 pirates thought to be operating off the troubled nation’s coast in comments published in Friday’s Times. “Those who leave behind what they have done will be forgiven,” he said, after campaigning in Balad, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Mogadishu.

Ministry of Defence plans new wave of unmanned marine drones

02 Aug – Source: Guardian – 1201 words

The Ministry of Defence is seeking to develop a new generation of unmanned maritime “drones” that would be used for anti-submarine warfare and possible missile attacks on enemy ships, the Guardian has learned.

A fleet of Royal Navy unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) is already being used in the Gulf to help prevent Iran laying mines in important sea lanes, and ministers are now considering whether similar devices could be used to tackle pirates off the coast of Somalia.

UN officials hail the overwhelming approval of the Constitution

02 Aug – Source: Un Multimedia – 2:09 min

United Nations officials have hailed the overwhelming approval this week of a Provisional Constitution for Somalia by the representative body convened for that purpose, as a key step toward ending the country’s long transition to stable governance.

Somali comic received death threats before murder

02 Aug – Source: guardian – 687 words

A Somali comedian murdered in Mogadishu had received death threats from Islamist militants after dressing up as a woman and a suicide bomber in satirical sketches, friends and colleagues said on Thursday.

Abdi Jeylani Malaq, better known as Marshale, was shot on Tuesday as he returned home from the radio station where he worked in Mogadishu. He was 43 and left behind two wives, one of whom is pregnant, and six children. Marshale gained huge popularity in Somalia for comedy routines that included lampoons of al Shabaab, a hardline group linked to al Qaeda that still controls large swaths of the country.

He co-produced and starred in a satirical TV drama Aamineta (Amina), which critiqued al Shabaab’s treatment of women. In it Marshale dressed as a young woman longing to date but complaining that the Islamist group has banned her from speaking to men. Pointing out that it forces young girls to marry its leaders and foreign fighters, Amina decides to flee overseas.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“All well and good. But the constitution appears to exist in a parallel universe, a fantasy land, when compared with the reality on the ground in Somalia.”

Somalia: Failed state or fantasy land?

02 Aug – Source: BBC – 788 Words

United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has hailed the endorsement of Somalia’s new constitution as a “historic achievement”. This might be an over-statement. Instead, the constitution’ s approval on Wednesday by the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), made up of 825 prominent Somalis, was a symbolic moment. The NCA simply rubber-stamped a document that had been years in the making, with input from Somalis and non-Somalis alike.

“A person carrying an illegal gun is more likely to commit robbery; a group of two or three men carrying illegal guns are more likely to assassinate someone. What is the point of government leaders having body guards when journalists, comedians and civil servants are easily targeted by al Shabaab assassins in government-controlled areas?”

Somalia: Government should hunt down gunmen

03 Aug – Source: Raxanreeb – 402 Words

The assassination of the Abdi Jeylaani Malaaq ( Marshaale) who was a talented comedian makes many people realise that al Shabaab gunmen in Mogadishu will not spare the life of anyone who is not in their camp. For the last five months journalists, elders and engineers were assassinated in areas that al Shabaab once controlled.

Assassination is method Al Shabaab uses. It is second to its most lethal method: suicide bombing. That al Shabaab has assassins in Mogadishu is not secret. Yesterday security forces shot dead two men. Each carried a fake, photo-stated ID to pretend to be a delegate attending the constitutional conference in Mogadishu. The capability of Somali security forces to prevent suicide bombing is improving but the same cannot be said about their capability to prevent targeted assassinations.

“There’s nothing obviously wrong with Somalia’s new constitution. Some bits of it are very good. It’s more the timing that’s the problem. SIMON ALLISON argues that there are a few things that need to be fixed before it’s time to write the document that will be the foundation for a new Somali state?like finishing the civil war, for example.”

Analysis: Somalia’s new constitution puts the cart before the camel

03 Aug – Source: Daily Maverick – 849 Words

This week, 825 Somali leaders approved a new constitution in a landmark vote. At least it would have been 825 leaders, but 180 of them didn’t bother to show up; either they couldn’t, for personal or security reasons, or they didn’t feel like this was important enough to bother making the effort.

In the end, 621 of them voted for the draft document, while 13 voted against it and 11 abstained. “Today, Somalia has put its feet onto a democratic and peaceful path. The new constitution will heal Somalia from war trauma and put it onto a more peaceful life,” said Abshir Abdi, one of the delegates who made it.

“Both Somalis in the country and in the Diaspora are worried-more than ever- about what will be the next step if the current process produces the same ‘status quo’. That is four more years with corrupt leaders that embezzle foreign aids which is intended to reach Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) or aimed at infrastructural reconstructions-mainly public institutions. Or worse than that, more increasing of foreign intervention with lack of accountability and transparency – which in consequence may create a home grown support for the extremist groups such as al Shabaab…”

So now, what is next for Somalia?

02 Aug – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1057 Words

1st of August, 2012, was a historical day for Somalis-at least for the concerned group particularly the International Community (IC). A Draft Provisional Constitution (DPC) was adopted by National Constituent Assembly members (NCA) that were appointed by Somali elders-who were given a prerogative to appoint both members of the NCA and also new Somali parliamentarians.
Indubitably, the trigger that caused Somalia’s prolong civil war was not the contents of a constitution, but one can argue on the contrary, that is by not following the written document since the republic gained its independence in 1960.

If it is believed, however, the crisis-that shattered the country, disintegrated the brotherly and one of homogeneous nations on this planet-was the lack or a remnant of an unviable constitution, the writer of this piece of essay would like to say-to at least those who supported morally and financially to this ‘pick and choose process’- ‘good luck and a big thump up’. So, then, now, what is next for Somalia?

Top tweets

‏@usembbrussels #SecClinton on Somalia’s Provisional Constitution: this vote moves #Somalia closer towards lasting stability http://bit.ly/NX7X2G.

@Adesoafrica Requirement of 30%+ seats in Parliament for women seems to have been removed from #Somalia‘s Provisional Constitution http://bbc.in/NW8SQQ.

@Sojeede is Somalia ending the Transition or will the whole country be going under UN Trusteeship? #Somalia #TFG #UN #Alshabab http://bit.ly/Qzesx9.

@somalianalyst The #Shabab link the #Ebola outbreak in #Uganda to that country’s interference in #Somalia, indirectly warn against interacting with #AMISOM.

@AC_Rader @mary_harper points out that much-feted new #Somalia constitution “appears to exist in a parallel universe” http://tiny.cc/4xigiw.

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Image of the day

Image of the day Somali leaders observe the playing of the national anthem during the closing ceremony of the Somali constitution conference in Mogadishu. Photo: Radio Mogadishu.