September 11, 2012 | Morning Headlines.
Somali election: Hassan Sheikh elected as president
10 Sept – Source: BBC/AFP/AP/Reuters – 500 words
Somali MPs meeting in Mogadishu have elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s new president, in the latest step to end decades of war.
The academic beat President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in a run-off poll by 190 to 79 votes, officials said.
No candidate secured the required two-thirds majority in the first round of voting, conducted by secret ballot.
Key Headlines
- Mogadishu celebrates election of new president (Radio Kulmiye)
- Former Somali president concedes defeat (Radio Mogadishu)
- Kenya charges al Shabaab-linked preacher after riots (Capital News)
- Qatar welcomes Somalia elections (Gulf News)
- EU navy taskforce rescues 68 off Somalia (Capital News)
- Al Shabaab branches out beyond Somalia (Global Post)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali academic wins presidential election
10 Sept- Source: Somali Natinal TV/ Radio Mogadishu/Horn Cable TV-82 words
Hasan Sheikh Mahmud has been announced winner of Somalia’s presidential election in a live broadcast of the Somali presidential elections. The little-known academic and development practitioner garnered 190 votes while former TFG Sheikh Sharif Shiekh Ahmad gathered 79 votes. The Speaker declared Hassan Shaykh Mahmud the new Somali President to a round of applause. Hassan Sheikh Mahmud is the chairman of Peace and Development opposition party, former dean and founder of SIMAD University in Mogadishu.
Former Somali president concedes defeat
10 Sept- Source: Somali National TV/Radio Mogadishu- 95 words
Former Somali President Sheikh Sharif Hasxan has conceded defeat, saying that he was “satisfied” with the results of the “just elections” which have been concluded. Speaking live on Somali National TV, shortly after the conclusion of the Somali presidential elections, held in Mogadishu, he said he would honour his promise to “work and cooperate” with any leader who would be elected president, and congratulated the newly-elected president, Hasan Sheikh Mahmud. He said the armed forces “will take command forthwith” from the new president to ensure there would be no insecurity during “the transition period”.
Mogadishu celebrates election of new president
10 Sept- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 74 words
Mogadishu celebrates the election results as parliament members gave their votes to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who will be president of Somalia for the upcoming four years. Celebrations started across the capital as the parliament technical committees announced the result of the national historic election.
Sheikh Sharif vs newcomer Sheikh Mahamoud in final round of Presidential elections
10 Sept – Source: Garowe Online – 114 words
Speaker Jawari began the voting after delays in the presidential elections which were supposed to convene at 12 pm but were delayed until 3 pm. MP Maryan Khalif Qassim was the second person to vote. In attendance were the transitional process frontrunners from the international community such as UN Special Representative to Somalia Augustine Mahiga, Ambassador Boubacar Diarra, the Special Representative of the AU Commission for Somalia. In the first round of voting, former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed lead the count with 64 votes; close behind was Hassan Sheikh Mahamud with 60 votes.
Live events of the Somali presidential election in Mogadishu
10 Sept – Source: Bar-kulan – 75 words
Somalia’s parliament is now voting to choose a new president, in the latest step to end two decades of civil war and the eight year old transitional period. A total of 220 MPs cast their votes in order to choose the country’s new president among the 22 contenders after three candidates gave up at the last minute.
Millions of Somali vote for president through social networks
10 Sept – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 83 words
Millions of Somalis are voting for the president independently through social networks as Somalia embarks in a new era electing their first president inside Somalia for almost 42 years. The voters are choosing from 22 presidential candidates. Presidential candidates Mohamed Abdulah Farmajo and president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed gather the largest number of votes in social networks.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Mohamud new Somalia president
10 Sept-Source: Daily Nation- 190 words
Lawmakers have elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as Somalia’s new president after the 56-year-old university lecturer got the majority of votes in a second round run-off in the presidential poll.The run-off pitted him against former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud garnered 190 votes against 79 for Sharif, according to a tally by an AFP reporter at the scene.
Qatar welcomes Somalia elections
10 Sept – Source: Gulf Times – 500 words
Qatar yesterday welcomed elections in the Republic of Somalia which resulted in the victory of Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud who has been chosen as the new president. A statement issued by the Emiri Diwan said that “while the State of Qatar welcomes the electoral process that was held in an atmosphere of fair competition, it hopes this process would be a step forward for achieving Somalia’s stability and promoting approach towards reconciliation and national unity”.
Kenya charges al Shabaab-linked preacher after riots
10 Sept- Source: Capital News- 481 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.
EU navy taskforce rescues 68 off Somalia
10 Sept – Source: Capital News – 93 words
A Spanish warship on anti-piracy patrol off the Somali coast has rescued 68 people found drifting in a small boat in the Gulf of Aden, the EU navy task force said Monday. The ESPS Relampago, part of the EU’s Operation Atalanta fighting piracy off the Somali coast, picked up the 68 on Saturday some 100 nautical miles (185 kilometres) out at sea after deciding their boat was unsafe. They were towed to Bosasso port, in north Somalia, a statement said, without giving any details about those on board or what they were doing.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali election: Hassan Sheikh elected as president
10 Sept – Source: BBC/AFP/AP/Reuters – 500 words
Somali MPs meeting in Mogadishu have elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s new president, in the latest step to end decades of war.
The academic beat President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in a run-off poll by 190 to 79 votes, officials said.
No candidate secured the required two-thirds majority in the first round of voting, conducted by secret ballot.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Somalia chooses new leader in presidential elections
10 Sept – Source: The Guardian – 500 words
Celebratory gunfire erupted in Mogadishu on Monday night after Hassan Sheikh Mohamud defeated incumbent Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to become Somalia’s new president.
It is the first time since the 1991 overthrow of president Said Barre that a new leader has been chosen inside the country, a development hailed by the UN as a sign of improving security. But the process has been tainted by allegations of bribery and corruption.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Somalia selects an activist as leader
10 Sept – Source: New York Times – 460 words
Hassan Sheik Mohamud, a moderate political activist and academic, took on one of the world’s most challenging political posts on Monday after members of Somalia’s newly created Parliament elected him the country’s next president.
Mr. Mohamud’s election, held in a highly fortified police academy, was heralded as a significant step forward for a country that has endured more than two decades of war and political instability. He will head a fledgling government that replaces the internationally backed transitional administration that had been trying to get Somalia back on its feet.
Somali lawmakers pick president in landmark vote
11 Sept – Source: CNN News – 400 words
Somali lawmakers voted for a new president Monday, a key milestone for the war-torn nation as it establishes its first stable central government in decades.
Parliament members picked Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a political newcomer who has worked for the United Nations and several international organizations.
The new president, who also served as a university professor, defeated the incumbent president and some two dozen other candidates.
Al Shabaab branches out beyond Somalia
10 Sept – Source: Global Post – 131 words
The 14-year old used to like killing. “The fighting makes you happy because you are hitting the enemy,” he said. Just weeks earlier, Mohamed, a skinny teenager in an oversized red t-shirt, battled African Union soldiers on the outskirts of Balad, a town 29-miles north of Mogadishu. “Before you start shooting you get a bit scared. But then, when you start, it’s nothing, it’s like normal,” he said. “Al Shabaab told us we had to fight the apostates, the enemies of Allah. I thought it was a moral fight.”
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“In recent months, African Union, Kenyan, and Ethiopian troops, alongside a coalition of Somali militia, have “liberated” many major towns from the group. Al-Shabab has shown little resistance, strategically abandoning its former bases and training camps, and adopting guerrilla tactics in the face of larger and better-equipped armies”.
Struggling to emerge from al-Shabaab’s shadow
10 Sept- Source: Aljazeera- 1090 words
Somalia has a new constitution, parliament, and soon-to-be announced president, raising hopes the war-torn African country will finally shed the title of the world’s most failed state after two decades of anarchic violence.
The fighting and turmoil of the past has faded in the capital. Mogadishu now boasts bustling shops, new ice cream parlours and beachfront dining. But outside the capital, towns are hardly experiencing a renaissance.
For the past six years the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group – known infamously for suicide bomb attacks, public amputations, and expelling aid workers – has occupied most of southern and central Somalia. Alongside the political progress in Mogadishu, much anticipation surrounds the multinational military effort that has helped eliminate al-Shabab in most of these areas.