February 5, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

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Prime Minister David Cameron Meets President Of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

04 Feb – Source: Getty Image- 80 words

London,The President Of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (L), meets with British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street on February 4, 2013 in London, England. The UK is to give an aid package of nearly 3 million GBP to the Somali government for the feeding of malnourished citizens. (Photo by Leon Neal – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Key Headlines

Somalia welcomes UN chief suggestion of lifting arms embargo (Radio Mogadishu/SNTV)
Prime minister meets directors of the ministries (Radio Kulmiye)
UK to grant £3m aid boost to Somalia (Source: BBC)
President ready to open talks with al Shabaab ‘if they abandon objective’ (Garowe Online)
New UN initiative encourages Somalis abroad to invest in farming projects back home (UN News Centre)
Fight against rape declared in Mogadishu (Radio Mogadishu)
Kenya resumes airstrikes against al Shabaab targets in South Somalia (Afriquejet.)
Somalia’s al Shabaab opens new Twitter account (BBC/VOA)
Alleged militant defectors paraded in Beledweyne (Radio Bar-kulan)
Al Shabaab returns to Twitter (Radio Bar-kulan)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somalia welcomes UN chief suggestion of lifting arms embargo

04 Feb- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu/SNTV- 123 words

Somalia has welcomed the recent remarks by the U.N chief Ban Ki-moon suggesting that the Security Council should consider lifting an arms embargo on Somalia to help rebuild the country’s security forces and consolidate military gains against al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab.
Defence minister Abdihakim Fiqi Monday termed Ki-Moon’s suggestion as encouraging and a boost to their request to have the embargo lifted to scale up its military might.
He said lifting the arms embargo will give his government the opportunity to rebuild its armed forces and strengthen its military might against rebel groups.
The U.N chief Ban Ki-moon Friday suggested in a report that enhanced efforts are needed develop the Somali National Security Forces and UNSC may review the two decades old embargo.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron Meets President Of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

04 Feb- SOurce: Raxanreeb/Markacadey/Hiiraan Online- 47 words

The President Of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud , met with British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street on February 4. The UK is to give an aid package of nearly 3 million GBP to the Somali government for the feeding of malnourished citizens.

Al Shabaab returns to Twitter

04 Feb- Source: Radio Kulmiye/Radio Bar-kulan/Jowahr Online- 104 words

The al Shabaab has opened a new Twitter account @HSMPress_, after it previous account was suspended by the micro-blogging site over 2 two weeks ago. Al Shabaab officials confirmed the opening of the new account, saying it will continue from it had left.

Al-Shabab’s previous English-language account @HSMPress was suspended after it used it to announce it would kill a French hostage and then said it had done so.

Prime minister meets directors of the ministries

04 Feb- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 209 words

Somali Prime minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has met at his office with the directors of the ministries, where they discussed the progress made and the way forward.

The prime minister has urged the directors to bring new strategies to develop the activities in their respective ministries.

Premier Shirdon said the meetings like this will help the government coordinate and conduct its business in cohesive manner in order to attain the targeted development.

President ready to open talks with al Shabaab ‘if they abandon objective’

04 Feb- Source: Garowe Online- 270 words

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud stated that his government is ready to talk to al Shabaab if the terror group “renege their objective”, Garowe Online reports.
President Hassan who has been on foreign visits across Europe and currently visiting London, gave an interview to BBC Somali discussing Al Shabaab and the hearing of the alleged rape case of a woman by Somali forces.
Speaking about al Shabaab, President Hassan told BBC that his government would be willing to speak with the terrorist organization if they withdraw from their goal to topple the Federal Government.

Fight against rape declared in Mogadishu

04 Feb- Source: Radio Kulmiye/Radio Mogadishu- 173 words

A concerted effort to tackle rape was declared in a joint meeting attended by the members of the parliament and the wife of the prime minister, private sector, civil societies and other stakeholders which was held in Mogadishu

Asha Haji Elmi, the wife of the prime minister who has spoke at the meeting said they have marked the day as the day of the fight against the rape.
Representatives from Hormud Telecom have promised their support to the women affected with the promise of $10,000(per woman).
An account was established for the raped women and the wife of the prime minister has promised to deposit $5,000.

Alleged militant defectors paraded in Beledweyne

04 Feb- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 155 words

Government forces in central Somali town of Beledweyne on Monday paraded five alleged al Shabaab defectors who they said surrendered to them.
Officials say the militants gave themselves up at their own accord after quitting their group in parts of the region.
Osman Abdullahi Abukar, one of the alleged defectors, reportedly said they decided to surrender to the government after realizing the al Shabaab’s wrongful activities.
Abukar claimed he was the man tasked with collection of Zakah for the militant group in the some parts of the country.
Area regional police boss Issack Ali Abdulle said their defection will weaken the group’s military capacity in the region, adding that they will continue welcoming defectors from the militants group who denounced violence and vowed to protect them as they pursue their normal life within the society.
Their defection is seen as a significant setback to the al Shabaab group whose military capability has been weakened in the recent months.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kenya resumes airstrikes against al Shabaab targets in South Somalia

04 Feb- Source: .afriquejet.-270 words

Kenyan forces operating within the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have intensified their aerial strikes in Southern Somalia, vowing to stop the al Shabaab militia from re-grouping in the Gedo region.
The Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) Spokesman, Col. Cyrus Oguna, said the latest airstrikes in the town of Garbaharey, in the Gedo region, targeted an al Shabaab commander, believed to be behind a series of bomb attacks against civilian targets.
Al Shabaab’s Buurdub Region Commander Sheikh Nuur Dhere, believed to have organised a series of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) in the region, was killed.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

UK to grant £3m aid boost to Somalia

04 Feb- Source: BBC/KUNA- 266 words

Somalia will receive almost £3m in new aid from the UK, it was announced as the country’s president visited London.
Some £1.47m will support Somalia’s new government and federal parliament. The other £1.5m million will help provide food for up to 60,000 malnourished children and mothers.
Somalia is emerging from decades of civil war, which has disrupted the distribution of aid.
The UK pledges £63m in aid and to other projects in Somalia annually.

Prime Minister David Cameron Meets President Of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

04 Feb – Source: Getty Image- 80 words

New UN initiative encourages Somalis abroad to invest in farming projects back home

04 Feb- Source: UN News Centre- 371 words

The United Nations agency tasked with supporting agricultural projects in developing countries today announced a new programme to encourage Somalis living abroad to invest in farming, improving food security and increasing rural employment in their homeland.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide a grant worth $1.5 million to finance innovative diaspora projects. Another $1 million is expected from diaspora investment in agriculture in the first four years.

Somalia’s al Shabaab opens new Twitter account

04 Feb- Source: BBC/VOA- 268 words

Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group has opened a new Twitter account in English, less than two weeks after its previous account was suspended.
A senior al Shabaab official told the BBC that the new account was genuine.
Al Shabaab’s previous English-language account was suspended after it used it to announce it would kill a French hostage and then said it had done so.
Twitter’s rules say that threats of violence are banned but it refused to comment on the suspension.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Understandably, the Somali government was too jubilant about the recognition, but it seemed to have placed high premiums on the symbolisms of president Hassan Sheikh’s brief encounter with President Barack Obama. A key challenge now is how to capitalize on the U.S. recognition. This requires putting the issue in context, outlining possible opportunities and drawing attention to potential blind spots.”

The U.S. Recognition of Somalia: Implications and the Way Forward

04 Feb- Source: Heritage Institute-2074 Words

The U.S. recognition of the Somali government on 17 January 2013 is a great and timely opportunity that could contribute to Somalia’s effort to retake its rightful place among community of nations. In the two decades Somalia took hiatus from the international scene, many opportunities that could have helped
Somalia shed the ‘failed state’ designation appeared and vanished with the same speed. Thus, it’s up to the Somali government (and citizens) to ensure the U.S. recognition does not turn out, yet again, another squandered opportunity. More importantly, the government must compliment the international diplomatic successes with tangible domestic achievements anchored in the president’s six pillar policy.