March 4, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Court clears woman convicted in rape case

03 Mar – Source: AP News/Washington Post/Al Jazeera/ABC News/Fox News – 124 words

A Somali appeals court on Sunday dropped charges against a woman who alleged she was raped by government security forces and had been convicted of defaming the government. Mogadishu appeals court Judge Mohamed Hassan Ali said there wasn’t enough evidence to substantiate the prosecutor’s charge. A court in February had sentenced the woman to one year in prison after medical evidence entered into the record showed that the woman was not raped. Some experts questioned whether Somalia has the medical expertise to make the kind of judgment.

Key Headlines

AMISOM Condemns Repeated Attacks on Somali Civilians in Mogadishu (AMISOM -HQ)
UN Security Council Sets Stage for Lifting Somalia Arms Embargo (VOA News)
Somali court reduces journalist sentence (RadioBar-kulan)
Prime Minister Shirdon welcomes Mogadishu court verdict (Radio Bar-kulan)
Somali gov’t declares Kismayu convention “unconstitutional” (Africa Review)
Somali AU forces dispatched to Dusamareb Guri’el (Radio Bar-kulan)
A suicide bomber attacks seaside restaurant one killed (Mareeg Online)
Talks between Somali govt and Somaliland (Shabelle)
Ahlu Sunna choose a new executive leader (Shabelle)

PRESS RELEASE

AMISOM Condemns Repeated Attacks on Somali Civilians in Mogadishu

02 Mar – Source:: AMISOM -HQ – 278 words

The African Union Mission in Somalia has condemned the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians in Mogadishu following today’s terrorist attack on a popular beach restaurant in the Somali capital. At least 7 civilians were injured when a suicide bomber, followed by a car bomb, exploded outside the Indian Ocean Star restaurant opposite the popular Lido beach. The attack is suspected to be the work of the Al Qaeda-affiliated terror group, al Shabaab.

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on Somalia, Ambassador Mohamet Annadif, said the attack was a heinous and barbaric assault on ordinary residents of Mogadishu. “This attack, the second in so many weeks, demonstrates the low regard that the terrorists have for the lives of their fellow countrymen,” he said. It is clear that the perpetrators intended to murder and maim as many innocents as possible,” he added.

Two weeks ago, a car bomb killed 2 people and wounded several others outside the Lido Restaurant.
Amb Annadif sent his condolences and prayers to those injured in the attack and his hopes for a speedy recovery. “AMISOM stands shoulder to shoulder with the Somali people at this difficult time. We will continue to do all that we can to help Somalia build up the capacity of its national security forces, and to ensure that the people of Somalia can go about their daily lives in peace,” he added.

Earlier in the weak, Somali government forces with the support of AMISOM troops secured the strategic town of Buur Hakaba on the Afgooye to Baidoa corridor -a significant blow to the al Shabaab who were extorting illegal revenues from the population in the area.

SOMALI MEDIA

Prime Minister Shirdon welcomes Mogadishu court verdict

03 Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 154 words

Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Sunday welcomed the decision by the appeal court in Mogadishu to drop charges against a woman who was earlier sentenced to one year in prison after alleging she was raped in Mogadishu. In a statement from his office, the PM said Somalia is “a step closer to justice being done” but expressed concerns about the court’s sentencing of journalist Abdiaziz Abdinuur Ibrahim to six months in jail for offending state institutions, saying “I note his sentence has been reduced from 12 months to six, but I do not believe journalists should be sent to prison for doing their job.

IGAD postponed talks on Somalia issues

03 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 59 words

Minister of Foreign Affairs Fowzia Yussuf Haji Adan said that Igad has postponed talks planned to discuss Somali issues and how Somalia could implement a system of governance in the country. The government of Somalia requested IGAD to hold a meeting with Somalia in order to understand how they will assist Somalia.

Somali, AU forces dispatched to Dusamareb, Guri’el

03 Mar – Source:Radio Bar-kulan/Shabelle – 109 words

Hundreds of heavily armed Somali and AU troops were on Sunday morning dispatched to the central Somali town of Dusamareb and Guri’el from Beledweyne, ahead of a high level government delegation expected to visit the area. They are meant to beef up security in the area before and during the planned visit by top government officials from Mogadishu in the next coming days. AMISOM’s Djiboutian contingent commander Col. Osman Dubad led the troops from their base in Beledweyne.

Bay faces water shortage following low rainfall season

03 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online – 76 words

Residents of several villages and towns in Bay region of Somalia have little water to survive following low rainfall season. A Hiiraan Online reporter in the region says the most affected areas are Hagarka, Somow, Qasasheeb, Tigow, Waab-doorre, Hagarka, Bakaaro Shillin, Buulo-Hareeri and Kalimow. In some areas residents are forced to take long distance journeys to fetch water.

PM Shirdon to address parliament on Sunday

03 Mar – Source: Bar-kulan/Radio Kulmiye/Radio Mogadishu – 102 words

Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon addressed the parliament on issues regarding the progress his government has made since assuming office in mid-November last year. During the session, members of parliament who have been on tour in some parts of the country also briefed the house of their findings.

High level EU visit to Mogadishu on security support

02 Mar – Source: Mareeg Online – 115 words

The Deputy Secretary General for the External Action Service (EEAS) of the European Union, Maciej Popowski, visited the Somali capital Mogadishu. The Deputy Secretary General met with the Minister of Defence, Abdihakim Mohamud Haji Fiqi, and the Minister of Internal Security, Abdikarim Hussein Gulled . They discussed the Somali plans aiming at developing the security sector and how the EU is aligning its security support with these new priorities.

Suspected al Shabaab militants arrested in Jowhar

03 Mar – Source: Bar-kulan – 82 words

Government troops in Jowhar town, Middle Shabelle, Saturday night arrested eight suspected al Shabaab militant fighters, reports say. The suspects were arrested while travelling in a vehicle after troops stopped them at a checkpoint outside the town, according an officer who sought anonymity as he is not allowed to speak to the media. He said the suspects are now being held in the area’s central police station where they are being interrogated, adding that they claimed to be members of the Takfir sect.

Somali court reduces journalist sentence

03 Mar – Source: Shabelle/RadioBar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu – 85 words

An appeal court has reduced the one-year jail sentence of journalist Abdiasis Abdinur Ibrahim, aka Koronto, to six months. The court found the journalist guilty of interviewing an alleged rape victim without following “journalism ethics” and “laws of the country” by not informing the “relevant officials” and thus offending the “reputation of a national institution” and spreading “false news”, according to presiding judge Mohamed Hassan Ali who also announced that the court acquitted alleged rape victim Lul Ali Osman due to lack of sufficient evidence.

Court finds al Shabaab agents guilty of ‘planning terror act’

02 Mar – Source: Garowe Online – 116 words

The Nugal Military Court sentenced 2 al Shabaab agents – who were convicted in Garowe of attempting to carry out a terror plot – to death on Saturday, Garowe Online reports. After surveying the two men the Puntland police authorities captured them in Galkayo in November carrying explosives, wires and detonators. Mohamed Nuh Adan and Abdirasak Hassan Tahlil were caught after they hired a man named Sidow Ali Qable a hauler, to transport the explosives to another destination. At the hearing, Mr. Qable – also a defendant – stated that he wasn’t aware of what was in the package that the two men hired him to carry. He was found not guilty of planning an act of terrorism.

A suicide bomber attacks seaside restaurant, one killed

01 Mar – Source: Mareeg Online/Hiiraan Online – 95 words

A police officer in Somalia’s capital says a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the gate of a beach side restaurant. Police officer Abdi Yasin Hassan said security guards prevented the bomber from entering the restaurant and that he blew himself up at the gate. Hassan said the bomber died in the attack taking one victim with him. The overall casualty toll is not yet clear.

Ahlu Sunna choose a new executive leader

03 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 116 words

Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama met and choose a new leader. A big ceremony that Ahlu Sunna Wa Jamaa attended was held in Dusamareb where a new leader, Abdi Ali Fidow, was chosen. Abdi Ali Fidow has recently returned from overseas to come and fight for his ancestral land.

Somaliland: The Increment of Fuel and Energy Prices is Unacceptable, says Commerce Minister

03 Mar – Source: Somaliland Press – 7 words

Minister of Commerce Abdirisaq Khaliif responding to news of an increment of energy bills, urged privately-owned electricity companies not to charge more for the electricity they supply as fuel prices have not risen in the international market. “We are aware that some businessmen who import fuel products have hiked the prize of fuel due to a shortage caused by a government decision to turn away three fuel tankers carrying sub Standard fuel recently”, stated Hon Abdirisaq Khaliif.

Talks between Somali gov’t and Somaliland

03 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 62 words

Mohamud Hassan Sheikh the President of the republic of Somalia and Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud Silanyo the head of Somaliland are currently in deep talks about Somalia. The Somali President also stated that the governments of Somalia and Somaliland have agreed to some points and all of the sides are ready to respond positively to each other.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Gunmen kill State official in Garissa

03 Mar- Source: The Standard Media-149 Words

One person has been killed and another one seriously injured by gunmen in Garissa Town.
The attack occured along Ngamia Road on Sunday evening. The deceased was a government official attached to Ministry of Public Works in the town while the injured one is a nurse in Dadaab.
Police say the attackers had been trailing the victims before shooting them at point blank killing one on the spot and seriously wounding the other.

Somalia asks US to grant immunity to former prime minister

03 Mar – Source: Saudi Gazette/Al Arabiya – 157 words

Somalia’s newly recognized government is asking the State Department to grant immunity to a former prime minister who was found responsible in a US court for human-rights abuses. The letter issued this week by the Federal Republic of Somalia’s prime minister, Abdi Farah Shirdon, seeks immunity for Mohamed Ali Samatar, who now lives in Fairfax but was a top official in dictator Siad Barre’s regime in the 1980s and early 1990s. Last year, a federal judge in Alexandria awarded seven Somali victims a $21 million judgment against Samatar for orchestrating a campaign of torture and killings against members of the Isaaq clan.

Somali gov’t declares Kismayu convention “unconstitutional”

02 Mar – Source: Africa Review – 139 words

Somali government has opposed gathering of local political forces in the southern port city of Kismayu
aimed at forming an administration for the region which was retaken from the rebel group Al-Shabaab last year.In a statement late Friday the Somali Prime Minister Office expressed regret at the Kismayu meeting which it described as “unconstitutional” and “unilateral”. “It’s important that what’s happening in Kismayo only takes place within – and not outside – the constitutional framework,” Mr Abdi Farah Shirdon said.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Court clears woman convicted in rape case

03 Mar – Source: AP News/Al Jazeera/ABC News/Fox News – 124 words

Suicide bombers kill civilian at Somali beach restaurant

1 March – Source: Reuters – 150 words

Suicide bombers killed a civilian at a beach front restaurant in a popular weekend hangout in the Somali capital on Friday, officials said.
The attack by two bombers underscored how fragile security remains in Mogadishu some 18 months after African forces and Somali government troops drove Somali militants linked to al Qaeda out of the capital.
A Somali soldier at the blast site said one civilian had been killed, as well as the bombers.
“First a suicide car bomb rammed into the gate of the restaurant and it caused no casualty. Then another blast went off when people converged,” Abdiqadir Mohamed, a senior police officer, told Reuters.
A witness also reported hearing two blasts in the area.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the al Shabaab rebel group has vowed a campaign of guerrilla-style attacks against the new government, which is supported by Western powers and regional states.

UN Security Council Sets Stage for Lifting Somalia Arms Embargo

03 Mar – Source: VOA News/Reuters – 179 words

The U.N. Security Council is considering lifting an arms embargo on Somalia’s government for one year so it can beef up its army to combat Islamist fighters, according to a draft resolution that is due to be voted on by the divided council on Wednesday. The Somali government has asked for the arms embargo to be lifted and the United States has been pushing the council to agree, but Britain and France have been wary of removing the ban in a country already awash with weapons, diplomats say.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Nowadays both sides have an interest in a speedy resolution, since a prolonged negotiation incurs costs. For the shipowner, the cargo spoils and the ship goes unused. For the pirates, the captured crew must be fed and the ship guarded. And pirates cannot last long without a resupply ofqat, which is to them as rum is to Captain Jack Sparrow. Settle too quickly, though, and one side or other is likely to get a poor deal.”

The economics of Somali piracy

03 Mar- Source: Washington Post-464 Words

Since 2008, Somali pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden have made about $120 million per year in net profits. But they’ve cost the shipping industry far, far more than that — between $900 million and $3.3 billion per year. That’s according to an offbeat recent paper (pdf) by Timothy Besley, Thiemo Fetzer and Hannes Mueller that tries to break down the economics of Somali piracy. The authors find that piracy has increased shipping costs in the region by 8 percent since attacks ramped up in 2008.

“As a society, Somalis’ are compliant when they talk about youth, but are eager to ignore or reject the subject when it comes to action. Knowing youth’s unemployment is running up to twice the adult rate and hearing youth’s disappointment, there is a pressing issue that requires an immediate action. It is time to seize this opportunity to train youth more effectively and link them to workplace culture and educate to assume roles of an active citizen.”

Somali Youth: An Invisible and Disinherited Population

03 Mar- Hiiraan Online-1911 Words

“It is the youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow… that are the aftermath of war”. (Herbert Hoover).
Children and youth in some developing countries as we know live in areas torn apart by wars. Somalia’s children and young adults are the prime examples of that. Somalia’s conflict started in 1991 as a result of the fall of the central regime. Since then, the children of Somalia were subjected to abuse, neglect, poverty and lack of education. These children were recruited and encouraged to participate in the conflict as child soldiers. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) article (2012), titled “No Place for Children”: Child Recruitment, Forced Marriage, and Attacks on Schools in Somalia,” provided details of unlawful recruitment and other laws-of-war that violated children’s rights and implicated all parties to the conflict in Somalia since 2010. The mentioned report was based on interviews with Somali children in refugee camps, as well as parents and teachers who had fled to neighboring countries (HRW 2012).