March 11, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Parliament to ‘Review’ Federal Constitution

10 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online/Garowe Online – 94 words

Members of the Federal Parliament divided themselves up into groups on Saturday and began a “review” of the Provisional Federal Constitution in Mogadishu. Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari stated on Friday that they would be conducting a “review” of the Provisional Federal Constitution which was adopted by the National Constitutional Assembly last August during the then Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The speaker invited an independent commissions in Somalia to join the parliamentary discussions which convened on Saturday. According to Speaker Jawari the review comes after multiple requests from the public to review the constitution.

Key Headlines

The world needs to adjust to new realities and reform in Somalia says PM (Prime Minister’s Media Office)
Somalia’s leaders congratulate Uhuru Kenyatta (Hiiraan Online)
President Hassan speaks about inflation (Garowe Online)
Egyptian foreign minister visits Mogadishu (Radio Bar-kulan)
Prime Minister’s Listening Tour continues to Garowe (Hiiraan Online)
Ethiopia says that it will withdraw its troops from Somalia (Radio Kulmiye)
UPDF explains success in Somalia (News Vision)
Somali Pirates Release 28 Indian Sailors; Captives Expected to Return Home in Week’s Time (IBTimes)

PRESS STATEMENT

The world needs to adjust to new realities and reform in Somalia, says PM

10 Mar – Source: Prime Minister’s Media Office – 453 words

His Excellency Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon today urges the international community to take note of the changed situation in Somalia and adjust their policies accordingly. In a hard-hitting editorial in The National, the leading English language newspaper of the Middle East, the Prime Minister calls on Somalia’s international partners to modify their policies to fit the new circumstances of “a fledgling democracy taking the first steps of reconstruction and development”:

“For years our international relations have been conducted on a one-way basis, invariably on a humanitarian level. That model is now an anachronism and must change. We are a sovereign government… and the outside world needs to start treating us like one. It is no good criticising our lack of government capacity and then funding NGOs to execute projects while sidelining government institutions altogether. This merely perpetuates a cycle of dependence, denies us the learning experience and ensures government capacity remains limited.”

In a wide-ranging editorial entitled “Somalia replaces extremism with a programme of reform”, the Prime Minister emphasises the recent security gains that have brought Al Shabaab to its knees. “To be discussing policing, tax collection and judicial reform in Galgadud, a region that only recently was a no-go area ravaged by extremists, gives you an indication of how far we have come,” he writes, commenting on last week’s Listening Tour to the regions, in which the PM also signed a landmark deal with Ahlu Sunna Waljamaa and facilitated the establishment of local administrations.

“Only recently we could barely move safely inside our own capital.” The Prime Minister also highlights the vigorous legislative activity within the government and parliament. “Laws are the foundation of a functioning state,” he writes, noting the forthcoming parliamentary votes on legislation governing human rights reform, judicial reform, and district and regional authorities reform.

“We will also be passing legislation restructuring the police and security forces, creating specialist anti-terrorism, anti-piracy and anti-trafficking institutions, governing the Central Bank, assisting refugees and providing legal aid.”

Perhaps nowhere is reform so critical as in policing and the judiciary. “Judicial reform is one of our greatest priorities,” the Prime Minister writes. “Nothing underlines the need to reform our police and judiciary more than the decision to send a rape victim and the journalist who interviewed her to prison. Yet that regrettable verdict was a symptom, not the cause, of the problem, a lack of the rule of law.”

The Prime Minister concludes with a call for strengthened partnerships adapted to the new realities. “The need for partnerships with our international friends, which the world will see at the London Somalia Conference in May, has never been greater. We know that we cannot do it alone, but there is no turning back.”

SOMALI MEDIA

Somalia’s leaders congratulate Uhuru Kenyatta

10 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online/Radio Mogadishu/Bar-kulan – 102 words

The president of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud congratulated Kenyan President-elect, Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta on his victory in Monday’s presidential election. Kenyatta was declared winner in Nairobi by the country’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan. President Hassan urged other presidential contenders to respect the will of the Kenyan people and the outcome of the election. He hailed the Kenyan people by voting in large numbers and casting their votes peacefully.

President Hassan speaks about inflation

10 Mar – Source: Garowe Online – 127 words

After complaints from across the country, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a press conference on Friday spoke about the inflation that has not ceased to increase since his incumbency. President Hassan stated at a press conference in Mogadishu that his government is developing a strategy to fight the inflation that has gripped the country. He also requested that the international community assist in helping food aid reach the poor. Inflation has risen steadily over the past year and Somalis across the country have been feeling the effects.
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Egyptian foreign minister visits Mogadishu

10 Mar – Source: Shabelle/Bar-kulan/Hiiraan Online/Radio Kulmiye – 62 words

An Egyptian delegation led by the country’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamil Omar landed this week-end at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport. The Egyptian official was received at the airport by officials from the Somali government before they headed to Villa Somalia where they held meetings with top government leaders.

Police parade defected militants in Beledweyne

10 Mar – Source: Bar-kulan – 83 words

Police in the central Somali town of Beledweyne paraded seven alleged militants who surrendered to the government side. Area police boss Col. Abdi Ali said the men handed themselves in at their own accord and will undergo further questioning. He said some of the defectors came from Benadir and Bay regions while others were from areas within Hiiraan. The defectors who were not armed during their defection allegedly decided to switch ties with the militant group after realizing that they were on the wrong path.

Prime Minister’s Listening Tour continues to Garowe

09 Mar – Source: Garowe Online – 133 words

His Excellency Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon continued his Listening Tour to the Somali regions, arriving in Garowe at the beginning of a major visit to Puntland.. “I would like to assure the people of Puntland that the federal government is at their disposal to assist them in any way possible” the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister’s visit to Puntland is his first since assuming office. It follows his successful visit last week to Galgadud to sign a landmark deal with Ahlu Sunna Waljamaa, establish local public service priorities and facilitate the establishment of local administrations as part of the federal government’s move to extend its national reach.

Eight Qur’an teachers arrested in Halgan

09 Mar – Source: Bar-kulan – 87 words

Eight Qur’an teachers were on Friday allegedly arrested by al Shabaab militants in Halgan village, Hiran region for trying to unseat their rule. Locals told Bar-kulan that the teachers were earlier in the day picked up from mosques and their residential homes in the village. Militants allegedly accused them of trying to lobby for the establishment of a local administration in the village contrary to the militant rules. Reports say the militant threatened local elders who held talks with them in effort to secure the release of the teachers.

Parliament to ‘Review’ Federal Constitution

10 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online/Garowe Online – 94 words

Somali army chief vows to rout out remnants of al Shabaab

10 Mar – Source: Mareeg Online – 81 words

Somali Army Chief, General Abdulkadir Shiek Ali dini, has said that Somali forces are ready to fight with any elements who pose threat to the security of the nation. Speaking to journalists at a ceremony where more than a hundred soldiers concluded training, the general said that the army would attack and liberate areas still controlled by al Shabaab, adding that the army stands for the defence of the Somali people and the national flag.

Ethiopia says that it will withdraw its troops from Somalia

10 Mar – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 81 words

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has told that his military troops have begun to strategically withdraw from Somalia and to handover the bases to the other African Union mission in Somalia. In an interview the Ethiopian premier gave to the Anatolian News Corporation in Turkey, the Ethiopian prime minister said that the Ethiopian troops on the ground were to support the Somali government and to assist AMISOM in the mission to weaken the al Shabaab militants.

Silanyo expresses disappointment to partially lifting arms embargo in Somalia

10 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online – 108 words

The president of self-declared state of Somaliland Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo expressed his dissatisfaction with the partial lifting of the arms embargo in Somalia. While traveling to Turkey, Silanyo declared that the decision of the security council was a direct security threat to his administration, but affirmed his army’s preparedness to deal with any attack from Somalia. “The ease of arms embargo is disappointing, it will have a bad affect on us, but the Somali government insisted to use peaceful ways to unite the country, that is all that we heard from them” Silanyo said. He also stated his government’s preparedness to continue talks with the rest of Somalia.

REGIONAL MEDIA

UPDF explains success in Somalia

10 Mar – Source: News Vision – 155 words

The UPDF has succeeded in defeating Al-shabaab terrorists in Somalia largely because of the ability of the Ugandan troops to win the hearts of the Somali civilian population, former UPDF contingent commander Brig. Paul Lokech has said. Brig. Lokech who is currently Uganda’s military attaché in Russia, was on Tuesday giving an insight during the marking of six years since the UPDF was deployed in Somalia in March 2007 under AMISOM. The event which was organised by the AU/UN Information Support Team and the Centre for African Security, International and Strategic Studies (CASISS), was held at Serena Conference Centre. Uganda has over 6,000 troops serving under AMISOM alongside other troops and Police officers from Burundi, Kenya, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Al Shabaab suspects kill police reservist at Ifo Refugee Camp

09 Mar – Source: Coast Week – 139 words

Suspected Al-Shabaab militia on Wednesday killed a police reservist at the world’s largest refugee camp in northern Kenya, authorities have confirmed. Dadaab District Commissioner Albert Kimathi said Billow Ali was shot dead at the Ifo Refugee Camp market by suspected Al-Shabaab while doing patrols in the sprawling camp. “It is unfortunate that we have lost a very dedicated officer who was really assisting us in combating crime. He was at the forefront in identifying these criminal people,” Kimathi told Xinhua by telephone. The government administrator said the reservist was shot at close range by the attackers whom the administrator said had trailed him.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Pirates Release 28 Indian Sailors; Captives Expected to Return Home in Week’s Time

10 Mar – Source: IBTimes – 126 words

The Union Shipping Minister GK Vasan announced on Saturday that 28 Indian soldiers held captive by Somali pirates since last year have been released. “Yesterday (Friday) 28 Indian sailors in two ships (MV Royal Grace and MT Smrini) were freed. They will come back here and joint their families in few days,” IANS quoted Vasan as saying. The freed sailors will return home in a week’s time. 17 of them will board MV Royal Grace and 11 will board MT Smrini. “Due to coordinated actions of Ministry of Shipping, External Affairs, Defence, Home Affairs, Director General Shipping and other important agencies, yesterday we could get release of two vessels MV Royal Grace hijacked in March 2012 and MT Smrini hijacked in May 2012,” Vasan told PTI.

Egypt to reopen Somalia embassy

10 Mar – Source: Daily News Egypt – 257 words

Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said Egypt will reopen its embassy in the Somali capital Mogadishu during a visit to the African country.

Amr said the decision comes after significant improvement in security and stability in Somalia as well as the political stability which was reached after the September 2012 presidential elections. The elections brought Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud to power, an academic who also has a background in political activism.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement read: “Through restoring the embassy to Mogadishu, Egypt aims to reinforce that it is a main partner to the Somali government as it faces all the challenges of the Somali people….”

The challenges include bringing an end to the armed combat in the Horn of Africa country and fighting corruption.

Instead of an Egyptian embassy in Somalia, Egypt had temporary headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Amany Al-Taweel, an expert on African Affairs at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said this visit comes as progress in Egypt’s policies towards Somalia compared to previous political approaches in which Egypt did not deal with the country.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Women need a system that will help women whose rights are violated not only speak up but to be provided a second chance to live a normal life, she says.”

International women’s day: a voice from Somalia

08 Mar – Source: The Guardian – 333 Words

In Somalia, we know that a man will sometimes rape a girl because his marriage proposal to her has been turned down. The act of rape ensures no one else will want her as a wife, so she will either be forced to marry her attacker or move to a relative far away, where people do not know what’s happened. Some people who commit violence against women are not aware that they are committing criminal acts. But there are of course those who are fully aware of what they are doing. World Vision is one of the organisations working in Somalia to help women and girls protect themselves and develop the confidence to report cases of violence.

“Conclusively Somaliland/ Somali conference in London May 2013 will not deprive Somaliland their fundamental rights as independent state of Somaliland, however the irresponsible people must see the wider picture and diplomatically understand that the situation is not yes or no, and it is not also one issues, but Somaliland will go to the table with oppression and massacre destroyed or with extinct of millions of Somaliland people in the past.”

Somaliland/Somali conference in London will not deprive Somaliland fundamental rights as nation

09 Mar – Source: Somaliland Press – 918 Words

It has been totally deplorable matter or issues for the wrong misinterpretations and paranoid tremendous concerns from the opposition members of Somaliland intended to create misunderstanding and political confusion towards for the upcoming negotiations between Somaliland and Somalia in London UK on May this year that related to or based on Somaliland demand and also agenda with regards to the sovereignty and independence of Somaliland nation that has been expressed fully the united Nations conventions internationally and also historical background of the two countries in the past or the amalgamation process that took place without condition with intention of or one goal of enormous unification of all Somali speaking parts in the year of 1960s when this marriage had been happening in that specific year of 1960s which unfortunately ended deadlock and unsuccessful of the proper union of Djibouti, Somali Galbeed known as Kilinka 5aad of Ethiopia today.