August 28, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somali parliament set to elect new speaker
28 Aug – Source: Radio Kulmiye/Bar-kulan/Somali Channel TV/Mareeg Online/Jowhar Online – 95 words
Somali parliament is electing a new speaker on Tuesday. At a sitting in Mogadishu, the newly-inaugurated members of the parliament are meeting to cast their votes for the four candidates that presented their candidacy status. Once the parliament elects the new speaker, the presidential elections should be arranged soon in the capital, according to the panel. Meanwhile, the Technical Selection Committee has officially submitted the list of some of the new parliamentarians. TSC promised to fill the remaining 20 posts of MPs as soon as possible. The TSC submitted 255 names of the proposed parliamentarians.
Key Headlines
- Somali parliament set to elect new speaker (Radio Kulmiye/Bar-kulan/Somali Channel TV/Mareeg Online/Jowhar Online)
- Somalia must form new government EU’s Ashton says (Reuters)
- Tension high in Mombasa in second day of protests (Daily Nation)
- Al Shabaab says it vacated Marka on defense strategy (Radio Kulmiye)
- Riots hit Mombasa after Muslim cleric killed (Bar-kulan)
- Somalia still needs support U.N. says (UPI News)
- UN Sanctions Kenyan National Over Support For Terror Groups (Bloomberg)
- Al Shabaab members retreat to Barawe after suffering setbacks (Sabahi Online)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali parliament set to elect new speaker
28 Aug – Source: Radio Kulmiye/Bar-kulan/Somali Channel TV/Mareeg Online/Jowhar Online – 95 words
Somali parliament is electing a new speaker on Tuesday. At a sitting in Mogadishu, the newly-inaugurated members of the parliament are meeting to cast their votes for the four candidates that presented their candidacy status. Once the parliament elects the new speaker, the presidential elections should be arranged soon in the capital, according to the panel. Meanwhile, the Technical Selection Committee has officially submitted the list of some of the new parliamentarians. TSC promised to fill the remaining 20 posts of MPs as soon as possible. The TSC submitted 255 names of the proposed parliamentarians.
Al Shabaab says it vacated Marka on defense strategy
28 Aug – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 147 words
Al Shabaab fighters spoke-out over losing port town of Marka. Speaking to pro-al Shabaab radio, Andlus, the group’s military spokesman Sheikh Abdi-Aziz Abu Musab says they left Marka as a tactical retreat and will stage a defence strategy outside the region. The spokesman’s remarks comes amid allied forces move to seize the second port town in lower-Shabelle. African Union and Somali soldiers captured seized the fishing port in a steady military campaign aimed at capturing their last major stronghold, the port of Kismayo.
Al Shabaab rebels, who once ruled much of Somalia under Taliban-style shariah law, had held Merca, a coastal town of white buildings and exotic Indian Ocean beaches about 45 miles south of Mogadishu. Al Shabab merged earlier this year with al Qaeda.
Riots hit Mombasa after Muslim cleric killed
28 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan – 113 words
Protests were witnessed in the port-city of Mombasa after radical Islamist cleric was killed on Monday, reports indicate. Youths from the port city’s large Muslim population took to the streets of Mombasa where they smashed cars and torched churches immediately after Aboud Rogo Mohamed was shot. Chanting some slogans in Arabic the protesters looted shops saying the cleric was deliberately targeted by the police.
Regional police chief, Aggrey Adoli said police are patrolling the area in a bid to restore the situation. The United Nations Security Council placed a travel ban and asset freeze on the cleric in July, saying he had provided support to al Shabaab, the al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia.
FAO staff member killed in Southern Somalia
27 Aug – Source: Mareeg Online/Hiiraan Online – 193 words
An UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) staff member has been killed in an attack by an armed group in Southern Somalia, the hunger-fighting agency announced. “Our deepest condolences go out to the family and colleagues of Mr.Yassin Mohamed Hassan, who was killed this morning in Merka,” said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
“Our thoughts are also with staff members who are dealing with the trauma caused by the extremely violent and targeted nature of this event,” Graziano da Silva added. After serving more than 4 years FAO in different capacities, Hassan, a 32-year old Somali national, was part of a mission in the area that was overseeing irrigation infrastructure rehabilitation works under a FAO programme.
Since the declaration of famine in July 2011, FAO, along with the wider UN community, scaled up its operations in Southern Somalia helping over one million farmers and herders to cope with recurrent droughts in the Horn of Africa nation. It is thanks to the field staff in Somalia, that the UN and the humanitarian community, with the support of Somali families, were able to effectively respond to the famine and save millions of lives.
Quranic school in Bal’ad, Middle Shabelle blown -up
27 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan – 113 words
Reports from Bal ‘ad district in the middle Shabelle indicate an explosion of an Islamic school killed five students and injured six others. Provincial Commissioner of middle Shabelle, Eng. Abdi Jinow Alasow told Bar-kulan that some of the children in the Islamic school lost their lives after explosive ordnance they were playing with exploded. Mr. Alasow thought that the exploded bomb was one of those explosives left behind by Italian forces operating as UNISOM in the area in the year 1995.
The provincial Commissioner sent message of condolences to the families of the deceased children where he also requested for international organisations to come forward in clearing landmines and other explosives in Somalia.
Somaliland: Information minister fires National TV director
27 Aug – Source: Hadhwanaag Times/Raxanreeb – 107 words
Somaliland’s Minister of Information Abdurrahman Yusuf Yusuf better known as Bobe on Monday fired several officials working in his ministry. The dismissed officials included the director of Somaliland National TV, Ahmed Suleiman Dhuhul, the Director of government’s Newspaper Mohamed Osman Mire and Financial Chief of National TV.
The minister of information also named the replacements of those fired from their jobs today. Hussein Abdullahi Deqsi was appointed the director of Somaliland National Television. Omar Mohamed Farah was designated by the minister as the chief of Dewan Media Group, the government’s main newspaper. Moahmed Sheikh Mohamud Awale is said to be the financial chief of National TV.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Tension high in Mombasa in second day of protests
28 Aug – Source: Daily Nation – 185 words
Tension was high in Mombasa Tuesday morning as rowdy youth took to the streets to protest the killing of Sheikh Aboud Rogo. The youth stoned vehicles and barricaded roads in Saba Saba, Mombasa. On Monday night, hours after Sheikh Rogo was shot dead by unknown gunmen, protesting youth looted businesses and burnt tyres. Four churches were also attacked in Mombasa.
The fiery madrassa teacher, named by the United Nations and the US as al Shabaab’s chief agent in Kenya, was shot near Bamburi on the Mombasa-Malindi highway as he drove his wife to hospital. His wife sustained gunshot wounds in the legs. Her father, Mr. Abdhallah Ali, who was also in the 14-seater van, suffered slight injuries but the couple’s eight-year-old daughter was unhurt.
Scores of irate youths in Sheikh Rogo’s funeral procession looted Jesus Celebration Centre and Neno Evangelism Centre, vandalised Ziwani SDA and petrol-bombed Pentecostal Assemblies of God churches all in Buxton area. Sheikh Rogo was buried at Manyimbo Muslim Cemetery in Tudor. The protesting youths burnt tyres outside Msikiti Musa, Majengo Market and along the Buxton-Nyali road where they harassed motorists and pedestrians.
Al Shabaab members retreat to Barawe after suffering setbacks
27 Aug – Source: Sabahi Online – 578 Words
Al Shabaab members and prominent leaders have fled to the coastal town of Barawe, 170 kilometres south of Mogadishu, residents told Sabahi. Somali forces, backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), have driven al Shabaab out of many strongholds in central and southern Somalia over the past few months, including Beledweyne, Baidoa, Hudur, Afgoye and Balad.
On Monday (August 27th), allied forces captured the strategic port city of Marka, the capital of the Lower Shabelle region situated about 80 kilometres north of Barawe.
“We have taken Marka, we entered alongside the Somali government forces this morning,” said AMISOM spokesman Colonel Ali Aden Hamud, according to AFP. “There was some fighting, but not so heavy, most of the al-Shabaab [fighters] had fled”.
Major General Bashir Mohamed Jama, director general of the Ministry of Interior and National Security, said the town has recently witnessed an influx of people who adhere to the takfiri ideology of accusing other Muslims of being apostates.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia must form new government, EU’s Ashton says
28 Aug – Source: Reuters – 190 words
Somalia’s leaders have shown a commitment to reform but must move to install a new government in the economically and politically fragile country, the EU’s foreign policy chief said during a visit on Monday. Catherine Ashton’s first visit to the war-ravaged country coincided with African Union driving Islamist militants from a port south of the capital.
Ashton said she had frank discussions with the country’s leaders a day ahead of an expected, though already delayed, vote for a new parliamentary speaker. That vote is seen as a crucial step towards the chamber electing a new president, the culmination of a reform process mired by allegations of intimidation, bribery and repeated setbacks.
“What I’ve seen is real commitment, a recognition that the world is watching and an understanding that we need to see this process reach conclusion,” Ashton told reporters in Mogadishu’s heavily fortified airport. Since the outbreak of civil conflict in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country, but now there is an opportunity to close that long chapter through a regionally brokered and U.N.-backed roadmap.
Somaliland: A Pocket Of Stability In A Chaotic Region
28 Aug – Source: NPR – 603 Words
Somalia is synonymous with failed states, pirates and Islamist militants. But in the nation’s northwest lies a peaceful, stable territory with an elected government known as Somaliland. The enclave broke away from the fractious Horn of Africa nation in 1991 and has been going it alone ever since. To the disappointment of its residents, Somaliland has not been recognized as an independent nation, but its stability is attracting investors that other parts of Somalia can only dream of.
The biggest investment project so far sits along a dirt road in the desert some 20 miles outside of the capital, Hargeisa. There, Moustapha Guelle and his four brothers have built a new $17 million Coca-Cola bottling factory.
Its green yard, worker cottages and state-of-the-art water treatment plant seem a mirage in this country of sand and stone. Nearby, camels eat the treetops of pale, brown acacias. A ragged nomad drives his black-headed sheep with a stick.
Somalia still needs support, UN. says
27 Aug – Source: UPI News – 177 words
Mogadishu needs international support as it moves to resolve loose ends in its political transition, a U.N. special envoy to the country said. Somali lawmakers have adopted a draft constitution and the selection of some members of Parliament by a special committee of Somali elders. Augustine Mahiga, U.N. special envoy for Somalia, said it was vital that Somalia gets the support it needs as political developments take place.
“We must all support this effort to ensure that the complete number of the new Somali lawmakers begin their vital work immediately,” he said in a statement. Somali leaders in Mogadishu are struggling to exert their authority beyond the capital. Al Shabaab, a militant group aligned with al Qaeda, controls parts of the country.
The U.N. Security Council last week subjected military leader Abubaker Shariff Amhed to a travel ban and arms embargo for his support for al Shabaab. “Abubaker Shariff Ahmed has preached at mosques in Mombasa that young men should travel to Somalia, commit extremist acts, fight for al Qaeda and kill U.S. citizens,” a resolution stated.
Somali diaspora see hope and opportunity in Mogadishu
27 Aug – Source: Los Angeles Times – 1775 Words
In the years to come, Ahmed Jama will be seen either as a visionary or a lunatic who squandered his money on a crazy dream. That crazy dream? To bring tourists to his hotel on the shores of one of the world’s prettiest beaches — which just happens to be on the edge of a city known for more than 20 years as the world’s most dangerous place.
In his dream, there won’t be half a dozen guards with guns on the back of an SUV for most foreign visitors, like now. And the haunting memories of ruthless warlords, crippling famine and terrifying armed children will have faded. Instead, there’ll be surfing and swimming, seafood pulled fresh from the sea and little shops selling exotic shells and tourist souvenirs. On that, he’s staked $200,000 to build a hotel and restaurant complex at the magnificent Jazeera Beach.
More Political Progress In Somalia
27 Aug – Source: VOA News – 329 words
Campaigning has begun in Somalia for the election of a president, an important step for the troubled nation in the Horn of Africa that has lacked a stable central government for more than 20 years. Campaign posters can be seen in the capital Mogadishu hanging on buildings, along main roads and even on cars — a hopeful sign of emerging democracy.
A parliament selected by the country’s traditional elders has been convened, which will vote on a president and a speaker when the full complement of 275 lawmakers has been filled. That process will build on the work, now completed, of the transitional federal government established in 2004 with a mandate to restore democratic rule.
The United States welcomes the convening of Somalia’s new federal parliament, a milestone in the nation’s political transition. We commend the people of Somalia for their hard work and unwavering commitment to a better future, and urge those remaining communities that have not yet nominated their members of parliament to do so with urgency. It is hoped that all communities will work to increase the participation of women in the legislature and other leading national institutions, as called for in the provisional constitution that the nation’s elders approved earlier this month.
Going forward, the parliament must adopt rules of procedure and elect a president and speaker quickly to maintain the political progress made so far. Somali leaders have a responsibility to fulfill their obligations to complete the transition to democratic rule. Any attempt to impede this work will not be tolerated. All parties must work in a fair and transparent manner, and will be held accountable for failing to do so.
UN Sanctions Kenyan National Over Support For Terror Groups
27 Aug – Source: Bloomberg – 197 words
The United Nations Security Council said it added Abubaker Shariff Ahmed to a list of people subject to travel bans, asset freezes and targeted arms embargoes for supporting extremist groups. Ahmed, a Kenyan national, has been a leading facilitator and recruiter of young Kenyan Muslims for militant activity in Somalia, the council said in a statement on its website.
He has told male worshippers at mosques in the port city of Mombasa to travel to Somalia and commit acts of violence on behalf of al Qaeda including killing U.S. citizens, it said. “He provides material support to extremist groups in Kenya and elsewhere in East Africa,” the council said. “Through his frequent trips to al Shabaab strongholds in Somalia, including Kismayo, he has been able to maintain strong ties with senior al Shabaab members.”
Al Shabaab, which has ties to al Qaeda, has led an insurgency against Somalia’s UN-backed government for the past five years, and still controls swathes of territory in the south and central regions. African Union forces are targeting Kismayo, one of the last major bastions for al-Shabaab and a key source of its income, after recapturing several militia bases including the capital, Mogadishu, over the last year.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The transition has arrived at a conclusion that no one would have thought possible as the road map was set out in 2004. Emigrants who had fled in droves are returning to start businesses, offer talent and take part in the country’s reconstruction. They are voting with their feet in the opposite direction. A country as chronically and historically divided can hardly be expected to become inclusive overnight or even over many nights.”
Somalia surprise
28 Aug – Source: New Straight Times – 428 Words
The gathering of dignified Somalis last week in the car park of Mogadishu airport could have been mistaken for something a lot less historic than the swearing-in of the country’s first Parliament for two decades.
But this is Somalia; and the wonder of it was not in its lack of pomp and circumstance but that it took place at all. The convening of 211 from the full house of 275 designated members of parliament marked the end of a laborious, eight-year internationally mediated transition process that has brought a measure of normality to a significant part of the war-torn country.
The extremist al Shabaab militia has been driven out of the capital and is in retreat. With improved security, provided mostly by African Union troops, the cohort of lawmakers can now go about forming a government by electing a president, and overseeing the choices of prime minister and cabinet.
“By night the destruction wrought by two decades of near-constant war is less apparent than during the day. Beyond the main road of Maka Al Mukarama the city’s street-lighting is patchy at best (electricity is expensive here), but a year after African Union (AU) troops pushed out the Islamist militants of al Shabaab, the city’s once-famous nightlife is staging a comeback, of sorts.”
Mogadishu by night
27 Aug – Source: The Economist Blog – 474 Words
THE Sixa ice-cream parlour on Mogadishu’s 21 October Avenue has been staying open later and later in recent months. At 10pm customers are still filing in for an evening treat in Somalia’s capital. In a nod to the Italians who once ruled the country, Omar Nur Mahmoud’s signature cup is the Neapolitan. The local twist on the traditional trio of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, is that the three scoops have different colours but the same sugary cardamom flavour.
In his barber shop next door, Bashir Said is watching English Premier League football on a large plasma-screen TV. In what has long been considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world, his main concern is not security but the fate of his beloved Arsenal football club—the London team has drawn a blank in its opening game with Sunderland. “It’s safe these days,” he says with a shrug. Most evenings he stays open until 11pm. Across the sandy road, the pharmacy and several general stores are still doing brisk business.
“Whether these events represent different strands of a coordinated regional crackdown on al Shabaab activities or whether the group is encountering a rather startling wave bad luck remains unclear.”
Al Shabaab’s rough week
27 Aug – Source: Foreign Policy Blog – 482 Words
It has been a particularly rough week for al Shabaab. The al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist militia that has been battling for control of Somalia for the past few years has suffered three major setbacks in the course of a few days.
Just last month, prominent al Shabaab-affiliated cleric Sheikh Aboud Rogo was fingered in a leaked UN report on Somalia as a key recruiter for the group in East Africa with strong ties to al Qaeda. On the morning of Aug. 27, he was shot in his car along with several members of his family as they drove through Mombasa, Kenya.
No assailants have been identified, but crowds of thousands of Rogo’s outraged supporters have taken in the streets of Mombasa to protest his death. At least one person has been reported dead so far and two churches have been vandalized by mobs, Jeune Afrique reported.
Top tweets
@NastasyaTay Latest #UNSG report on #Somalia, but written pre-transition deadline. Useful nonetheless: http://bit.ly/OoLEVe via @UNPOSomalia.
@Aynte Oh-aw…#alShabaab is trying to add fuel to fire: “We call on #Kenya Muslims to defend their religion” – #Somalia #AboudRogo.
@Robertinfoasaid Dollar is going down against #Somalia shilling in #Puntland as politicians bring in cash for presidential election.
@AbukarArman This kind of headline undermines the #Somali National Army’s role in pushing #Shabbab out. Demoralizing & dispiriting! http://wapo.st/PLXPcD.
@amisomsomalia #AMISOM Force Commander says capture of #Marka will enhance #security across #Somalia: Read more: http://bit.ly/Pn2P71.
Image of the day
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton meets Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed at his office in Mogadishu on August 27, 2012. Photo: Reuters/MSNBC.