July 25, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

The New Deal will generate international support to lift Somalia out of its fragile situation

24 Jul – Source: Prime Minister’s Media Office – 267 words

“Somalia has embraced the New Deal process with g7+ countries to lift the country out of its fragile situation,” said His Excellency President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud today, giving a keynote address on the political road map to 2016 at the second New Deal core group meeting in Mogadishu.

The meeting, which included high-level Somali government officials, civil society representatives and members of the international community, discussed plans for an inclusive national dialogue that will set government priorities during early consultations ahead of the 16 September Brussels conference. That conference will result in a compact between Somalia and international donors governing the way the partners interact.

“The New Deal countrywide consultations should be an inclusive process that addresses the different needs and aspirations of the different regions,” the President said. He emphasized the Somali government’s commitment to the New Deal process and stated it will be flexible enough to take into account different levels of social and economic development across the country.

European Union Managing Director for Africa Nick Westcott welcomed the Somali government’s commitment to inclusiveness. He stressed the EU will send delegations to both Somaliland and Puntland to ensure that this is a consultation process to which all Somalis can contribute. “We are encouraged the New Deal process will help build Somalia, and will enable us to generate support for the country,” Nick Westcott said.

The process is set to achieve one vision and one plan for Somalia. The compact will advocate a small number of priorities and peace-building and state-building goals. It is designed to avoid aid fragmentation and corruption, while achieving long-term aid effectiveness.

Key Headlines

Puntland president names new ministers (Bar-kulan/Garowe Online)
Car bomb explosion at market in Mogadishu kills 1 ( Garowe Online)
One killed several hurt by Somalia car bomb: police (Fox News/AFP)
European court fines Malta over migrant detentions (BBC)

PRESS STATEMENT

The New Deal will generate international support to lift Somalia out of its fragile situation

24 Jul – Source: Prime Minister’s Media Office – 267 words

SOMALI MEDIA

Puntland president names new ministers

24 Jul – Source: Bar-kulan/Garowe Online – 86 words

Puntland president Abdirahman Sheikh Mohamed Mohamud Farole has named new ministers in a presidential decree issued from his office on Wednesday. In a statement issued from the presidential palace in Garowe says that Mohamud Aided Dirir, the former Minister of Information was named for the Ministry of Planning and International Relations, while Ahmed Sheikh Jama, former director of the information docket will now fill position vacated by the new planning minister. Planning and international relations fell empty following the resignation of Daud Mohamud Omar five months ago.

Car bomb explosion at market in Mogadishu kills 1

24 Jul – Source: Garowe Online – 119 words

A Car bomb went off inside Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne market killing one person and wounding seven civilians nearby on Wednesday according to witnesses, Garowe Online reports. Local reports added that the exploded car is owned by Somali Federal Member of Parliament and the Chairman of Somalia’s Parliamentary Committee on Finance Sheikh Aden Mader who reportedly went out from his car shortly before the explosion. The Commissioner of Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne district Abdullahi Ibrahim Sahal Gardhub who spoke to the media shortly after the explosion said that a bomb attached beneath the MP’s seat or a plastic wrap laden with bomb could have caused the explosion. He also said they are still carrying out investigation to know exact cause of the blast.

Information Minister meets with Members of Somaliland Online Newspapers Association

24 Jul – Source: Somaliland Press – 124 words

Somaliland Minister of Information and National Guidance Hon Abdillahi Mohamed Dahir Cukuse meet with members of Somaliland online newspaper association in an effort to forge good working relations between his government and the members of online newspaper association through training so as to enhance the credibility of Web professionals through professional development opportunities, and through the communication of standards. The Information Minister urged the youthful journalists who had gathered in his office to deter from using unethical methods in their reporting of events instead they should utilize the wide range of option available to them to do background research through technical innovation from new approaches in online storytelling, to be investigative and to use digital tools that will change the way stories are told.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Belgian terror suspect goes scot-free for lack of evidence

24 Jul – Source: Standard Media – 166 words

Kenyan judicial authorities in Mombasa terminated charges against a most-wanted terror suspect last year after proclaiming that there was “no iota of evidence” to sustain his conviction, The Standard has established. And they have also not charged his three accomplices now in Kenyan custody despite reports that court-derived evidence has linked them to 32 terror-related charges in Europe and is readily available from Belgian authorities. No sooner was alleged terror mastermind Hassan Kafi, who was arrested in Lamu on May 1 last year, deported to Belgium later than he was detained and 32 terrorism charges slapped on him. Kafi was named accomplice of three terror suspects — Mustapha Bouyabaren, Ben Abdallah Ismail, Rachid Benomari — who are now detained at Shimo la Tewa Prison in Mombasa after being arrested in Malindi early this month. The four, and a separate group of jihadists arrested last year as they tried to fly to Somalia through Turkey, tried to form a terror cell in Malindi, according to intelligence sources.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

One killed, several hurt by Somalia car bomb: police

24 Jul – Source: Fox News/AFP/The News International/VOA – 108 words

At least one person was killed and several others were wounded Wednesday when a car bomb exploded in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the latest in a string of attacks, police said. The blast targeted a car belonging to a member of parliament who was not hurt in the attack. “The bomb destroyed the car of lawmaker Sheikh Adan Mader but he escaped the attack unharmed,” Somali police official Mohamed Ali said. “One civilian was killed and several others injured.” No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents have carried out a series of bombings, attacks and killings in a bid to overthrow the internationally-backed government.

European court fines Malta over migrant detentions

24 Jul – Source: BBC – 130 words
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has told Malta to pay thousands of euros in compensation to two African migrants whose rights were violated. A Somali woman who had a miscarriage during her detention in 2011 is to receive 30,000 euros (£26,000; $40,000), plus 3,000 euros in costs. A man alleged to be from Sierra Leone is to receive 27,000 euros in total. The court said the woman’s prison conditions were “degrading”. Malta is a target for boatloads of migrants. Earlier this month Malta cancelled flights it had booked to return migrants to Libya, after an emergency intervention by the ECHR. The court in Strasbourg issued rulings on Tuesday concerning Aslya Aden Ahmed, a Somali national, and Ibrahim Suso Musa, allegedly from Sierra Leone.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Women have played an indispensable role in conflict transformation and peacebuilding in Somaliland, despite a lack of recognition and marginalization from formal peacebuilding efforts in the country. Mainstreaming these women into formal peacebuilding efforts – empowering them domestically and building upon key UN resolutions – will go a long way to building everlasting peace in Somaliland.”

Empowering the forgotten heroines of peacebuilding – the Somali Women

24 July- Source: Transconflict-1367 Words

The role of women in peacebuilding has long been underestimated in Somaliland. Since the country’s collapse and the emergence of Somaliland, citizens have been plagued by protracted political insecurity and militarised violence. The prolonged conflict produced gendered outcomes in Somaliland, with particular shifts enabling Somali women to participate in activities – such as conflict resolution – that were previously considered an exclusively male domain. When the male clan elders lost effective control over the heavily-armed young militia, Somali women had an opportunity to intervene in peacebuilding. As mothers, grandmothers, aunts, spouses, sisters – and as those more often victimized – Somali women understood that in order to minimize atrocities committed, they needed to take action to curb the violence. With this fundamental role in reducing conflict in their respective communities, there is a greater need to empower Somali women as a veritable tool for conflict transformation and peacebuilding in Somaliland – a role that the international community and other potential stakeholders have not been able to play.