September 4, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Presidential Election Commission opens reception of application letters

03 Sept – Source: Bar-kulan – 94 words
The Presidential Election Commission yesterday opened the reception of presidential application letters from candidates vying for the top job in Mogadishu. Osman Libah, Spokesman of the commission who aid the application process is set to end on the 6th day of September. The Election Commission will be working from 9:00 A.M to 6:00 P.M to collect applications from presidential candidates.

Key Headlines

AMISOM forces capture Miido town 36 al Shabaab killed(Mareeg online/Jowhar)
Ahlu-Suna changes its Gedo ‘Guard’ (Bar-Kulan)
Troops gear up for final assault on Kismayo (Daily Nation)
Somalia’s drawn-out election seen internationally as a success (Toronto Star News)
Improved shelters in Dadaab (NRC News)

SOMALI MEDIA

Presidential Election Commission opens reception of application letters

03 Sept – Source: Bar-kulan – 94 words

The Presidential Election Commission yesterday opened the reception of presidential application letters from candidates vying for the top job in Mogadishu. Osman Libah, Spokesman of the commission who aid the application process is set to end on the 6th day of September. The Election Commission will be working from 9:00 A.M to 6:00 P.M to collect applications from presidential candidates.

AMISOM forces capture Miido town, 36 al Shabaab killed

03 Sept – Source: Mareeg online – 121 words

AMISOM forces, together with TFG soldiers, captured Miido town on 31 August 2012, in an operation that killed 36 al Shabaab militants. Miido is situated 16 kilometres south of Afmadow, which was secured by AMISOM troops in July 2012. During the operation, 7 al Shabaab vehicles as well as logistic supplies were destroyed while other assorted weapons and ammunition were recovered.

Somaliland: Ministers suggest Haj boycott over passports

03 Sept – Source: Somaliland Press – 97 words

Somaliland ministers became strongly divided during a heated meeting of Cabinet over the thorny issue of Somali passport last Thursday, SP reports. The debate was aimed at addressing the ban of the former green Somali passport by the government of Saudi Arabia. Ever since the collapse of the Somali Republic, the green document was used by Somali pilgrim makers traveling to the Kingdom for the annual Haj. I

Ahlu-Suna changes its Gedo ‘Guard’

03 Sept – Source: Bar-kulan – 82 words

Moderate islamists, Ahlu-Suna administration in Gedo, fires head of the forces, Sheikh Ismail and hires Osman Sheikh Abdi Qorah in a bid to enhance their activities in Somalia. Mohamed Husein Isack alias Al-Qadi, Spokesman of ASWJ confirmed the change of guard to Bar-kulan in which Osman Sheikh Abdi Qorah was named as the new head of the forces of the group.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Interview: Americans Didn’t Make Me President, the Somalis Did

02 Sept – Source: The Independent’s ( Kampala) – 750 words

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed spoke to The Independent’s Andrew Mwenda.

Mr. President, thank you very much for giving us this opportunity to interview you. Now Mr. President you were the leader of the Islamic Courts Union. One of the things I have heard is that the Islamic Courts Union was the first Movement in Somalia to transcend the politics of the clan and establish a common identity of all Somalis around religion rather than around the clan. So why have you now retreated to the use of the clan, which is a very divisive instrument, rather than the use of religion, which is a very unifying instrument within Somali society?

The current political system within the continuous interim governments that we head is based on the formula 4.4 which is ultimately representative of the clan-base communities in the country. Now the idea is to complete this process and we will ultimately go to the process of one-man-one-vote. So we want to complete this process and then go to the next political stage.

Troops gear up for final assault on Kismayo

04 Sept- Source: Daily Nation – 500 words

AU troops are massing near the city of Kismayo for the final onslaught to snatch control from al Shabaab militants in their Southern Somalia stronghold. Reports indicate that AMISOM troops, supported by KDF attack helicopters and naval ships, have reached Harbole, a town near Kismayo.

Kenya charges al Shabaab-linked preacher after riots

03 Sept – Source: Capital News – 133 words

A radical Kenyan preacher accused by the US of supporting Somalia’s Al-Qaeda linked militants was on Monday charged with inciting violent protests, after he surrendered claiming he feared for his life. Abubakar Shariff Ahmed handed himself over to a court in Mombasa after the assassination there last week of fellow Islamist cleric Aboud Rogo Mohammed by unknown gunmen sparked days of deadly rioting.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia’s drawn-out election seen internationally as a success

03 Sept – Source:The Toronto Star News – 500 words
“Historic,” “progress” and “optimism” do not seem like fitting descriptions of Somalia’s election.
Not with accusations of intimidation and corruption, the lack of required female parliamentarians and legal disputes over the political status of former warlords.
In other words, aren’t these the same Mogadishu politics that Somalis lament have operated for years on the basis of maxi igu jira (“what’s in it for me).
But with appointment last week of a new speaker of parliament and the stage set for the selection later this month of a president, Somalia’s election is indeed being hailed as a success despite the controversies.

Improved shelters in Dadaab

03 Sept – Source: NRC News – 96 words

Fleeing the escalating conflict between the Al Shabaab and Transitional Federal Government forces, Fatumo and her children arrived starved and thirsty at Dadaab refugee camp. After a long and hazardous journey from Dobley, Somalia, Fatumo Hussein Ali and her 7 children; 4 girls and 3 boys, arrived Liboi by foot. They were taken care of by UNHCR and moved to the refugee camp in Dadaab, where they have been living ever since. Before Fatumo left Somalia, she experienced a parent worst nightmare, loosing a child. Her 8th soon was killed. She is often thinking about him.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“The group now plans to rebrand itself as the alternative to the new Somalia government, should the latter becomes yet another playground for rapacious men. Notwithstanding their brutal justice system, al Shabaab has a track record of delivering three fundamental things that successive Somali governments have utterly failed to achieve: basic security, stemming corruption and a non-sectarian governing structure. Unlike the new Somali government, which has a four-year term to achieve something, al Shabaab is neither bound by term limits nor by a legal framework.”

Al Shabaab and post-transition Somalia

03 Sept – Source: African Arguments – 797 Words

For the first time in four years, the militant group al Shabaab is not the center of attention in Somalia. Since the fighters were ejected from the capital Mogadishu a year ago by the African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) and Somali government troops, they’ve sustained dramatic losses in central and southern Somalia – their traditional bastion.