January 16, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somali president, delegation reach Washington

15 Jan- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/SNTV/Jowhar Online/Mareeg Online- 233 words

The President of the Somali federal government Hassan Sh. Mohamud and his delegation have reached Washington after receiving an official invitation from the United States of America; president Mohamud was warmly welcomed by the state department and Somali community there according to diplomats.

The president is expected to have meetings with state department, officials of the Defense ministry, Foreign Affairs ministry and president of the World Bank according to Somali National News Agency.

President Hassan is accompanied by minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications Abdullahi Elmoge Hirsi, deputy premier and minister of Foreign Affairs, Fowsiya Yusuf Adam and other senior officials.

Key Headlines

Somalia UK agree to co-host Somalia conference in May (Radio Bar-kulan)
Government forces carry out operation in Wadajir district (Radio Mogadishu/)
Puntland’s Mudug governor bans protest in Galkayo (Radio Bar-kulan)
EU Parliament calls for a comprehensive strategy to deal with Somali crisis (Radio Bar-kulan)
Somali journalist arrested after story on rape (AP)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali president, delegation reach Washington

15 Jan- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/SNTV/Jowhar Online/Mareeg Online- 233 words

The president is expected to have meetings with state department, officials of the Defense ministry, Foreign Affairs ministry and president of the World Bank according to Somali National News Agency.

Somalia, UK agree to co-host Somalia conference in May

15 Jna- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 245 words
Somalia and UK have agreed to co-host an international conference on Somalia on 7 May in UK.
The conference “will build on last year’s successful meeting in London”, according to a statement posted on British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Twitter account.
On Friday, Britain announced that it will host a new international conference on the future of war-torn Somalia on May 7.
A spokeswoman for Cameron’s Downing Street residence said the meeting would build on the major conference held in London last February, when international powers pledged to boost aid for Somalia to fight Islamist militants and pirates.

Government forces carry out operation in Wadajir district

15 Jan- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/SNTV/Jowhar Online/Hiiraan Online/Shabelle- 177 words

National Security and Police forces of the Somali Federal Government carried out a joint operation in Wadajir district in Benadir region on Tuesday, holding over 500 people.

Heavily armed forces of the Somali federal government were seen in two of the four departments Wadajir district of Benadir region consists of: Bula-hubey of General Da’ud and Nasteho of Hawo-Tako according to the Somali National News Agency.

Puntland’s Mudug governor bans protests in Galkayo

15 Jan- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 170 words
Puntland’s Mudug regional administration has banned any political protests in the central Somali town of Galkayo ahead of planned demonstrations by opponents of president Farole.
Speaking at a press conference in Galkayo, Mudug governor Mohamed Yussuf Jamaa warned politicians against any protest, saying that they will not allow such protests aimed at creating insecurity in the region.
He threatened to take legal actions against politicians violating the ban.
Jamaa reiterated that they will not allow unauthorized political gatherings and protest in the town.

REGIONAL MEDIA

EU Parliament calls for a comprehensive strategy to deal with Somali crisis

15 Jan- Source: Kuwait News Agency- 171 words
The European Parliament (EP) Tuesday adopted a resolution noting that Somalis will stop turning to piracy only if Somalia`s failed state and poverty are tackled. The resolution, adopted with 570 votes to 56, on EU strategy for the horn of Africa stressed that long-term viable stability of the horn of Africa can only be built on strong and accountable democratic institutions, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Ethiopia jails 10 for plotting attacks with Somali Islamists

15 Jan- Source: Reuters- 302 words

An Ethiopian court on Tuesday convicted 10 men of plotting attacks with the help of Islamist militants from neighboring Somalia and sentenced them to between three and 20 years in jail.
Addis Ababa, a Western ally in a region threatened by radical Islam, has deployed troops in Somalia twice in the past seven years.
The latest was a campaign to fight the al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab group alongside Kenyan troops and an African Union mission.

Somali journalist arrested after story on rape

15 Jan- Source: AP- 258 words
Police in Somalia have arrested a journalist who wrote a story about a woman who said she was raped by government security forces, prompting an outcry from human and media rights groups.
Human Rights Watch is demanding the immediate release of Somali journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim, a freelance journalist who was arrested by police on Thursday after interviewing the woman. She was also briefly arrested and questioned by police before being released.

Plan transfer of jailed pirates to Somalia

15 Jan- Source: UPI- 93 words
Somali pirates serving sentences in Kenyan jails will be transferred to Somalia, a Somali diplomat said Tuesday.
Somali Ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Ameriko told Shabelle Media Network that the transfer plan has been requested by his country.
Most of the pirates were seized by foreign forces who are fighting piracy in Somali waters off the African coast.
Ameriko did not indicate the number of Somali pirates being held in Kenyan jails but said most were serving sentences at a maximum security facility in Mombasa.
A date for the transfer was not announced.

Al Shabaab tweets photos of slain French soldier

15 Jan- Source: France 24- 1110 words
In a propaganda coup for al Shabaab and an embarrassment for France, the Somali militant group released photos Monday of what appeared to be a dead French soldier captured during Saturday’s failed French military raid in Somalia.
Months after al Shabaab was routed from the key Somali port city of Kismayu, the al Qaeda-linked militant group scored a gruesome propaganda coup on Monday with the publication of photos of what appeared to be a dead French soldier captured during Saturday’s failed French raid.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“I recognize that a blanket ban on images like this would do more harm than good, hampering the ability of activists to publicize atrocities in countries like Syria. But Twitter already prohibits users from posting “direct, specific threats of violence against others,” which pretty much describes everything written by HSMPress.”

Should Twitter allow al-Shabaab to post photos of dead French soldiers?

14 Jan- Source: Foreign Policy Blog-256 Words
With the French government shocking many around the world by dispatching troops to push back Islamist insurgents in Mali, Somalia’s al-Shabab militants took to social media today to taunt the French government after a failed raid to rescue an intelligence officer resulted in the deaths of two French soldiers. “François Hollande, was it worth it?” the group’s official Twitter account, HSMPress (warning: Very graphic), wrote as a caption on a picture of one of the slain soldiers. Another image takes note of the crucifix the man is wearing, with the caption, “A return of the crusades, but the cross could not save him from the sword.”