September 10, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

EU offers Somalia extra EUR 124 m in aid

09 Sept- Source: EUbusiness/UPI/KUNA-293 words

The European Commission said Monday it is providing another 124 million euros for the African Union security mission in Somalia as the country recovers from years of bloody conflict. The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said the new funding for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will “be critical” to its UN mandate “to carry out active peace support operations across Somalia.” EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton said recent developments showed that it was possible to “move beyond the misery of civil war and destitution.” An international conference next Monday in Brussels will approve a New Deal Compact to help Somalia “continue on the path to re-building a fragile state and healing a divided nation,” Ashton said in a statement.

Key Headlines

Somali president visits Jowhar(Radio Mogadishu)
Senior security officials fired following terrorist attacks in Mogadishu
(Raxanreeb)
Fighting between government forces and al Shabaab in Bay and lower Juba regions of Somalia (Radio Shabelle)
Elders reject Abu Mansur Al Amriki’s claims of membership (Radio Dalsan)
Early marriage and housework keeping girls out of school (Radio Ergo)
Somali Prime Minister arrives in Sana’a (Yemen News Agency SABA)
IMB urges vigilance off the Somalia coast (Defence Web)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali president visits Jowhar

09 Sept- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu/SNTV- 151 words

Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Monday visited Jowhar town, capital of Lower Shabelle region in a road trip, according to Bar-kulan reporter in Jowhar. The president’s delegation was warmly received in the area by regional and district administrations. The security in the town has been tightened by joint troops of Amisom and Somali National army. During his road trip to Jowhar, the president stopped in Bal’ad district where he addressed a crowd waiting for him in the streets of Bal’d town. President of the republic of Somalia has left Somali central town of Beledweyne where he visited yesterday. During his visit in the area he met with region administration, elders and also security officials of the Somali government and AU peacekeeping forces. This is first visit by the Somali head of state to the Lower Shabelle region since his was elected in Mogadishu mid-September 2012.

Senior security officials fired following terrorist attacks in Mogadishu

09 Sept- Source: Raxanreeb- 168 words

The interior and national security of Somalia’s federal government has fired two senior security officials following terrorist attacks that hit the capital on Saturday, RBC Radio reports. According to sources of the police, the ministry has fired Benadir police commissioner Gen Garad Hassan and the head of police operations Gen Abukar Ali Ahmed. The men were allegedly fired for failing to prevent planned terrorist attacks that killed more than 20 civilians after two suicide explosions hit at a busy restaurant in Mogadishu.

Fighting between government forces and al Shabaab in Bay and lower Juba regions of Somalia

09 Sept- Source: Radio Shabelle- 174 words

Al Shabaab fighters launched attacks on government forces in Bardale town Bay region. The bases attacked belonged to AMISOM troops and government troops and lies at the outskirts of Bardale town. The attacks were confirmed by Bardale’s district commissioner but did not elaborate on the casualties caused by the attacks. Residents told Shabelle radio that the heavy fighting caused casualties on the two sides but did not release figures. Meanwhile, reports from Kismayo located at the lower Shabelle region confirm that a heavy fighting occurred at the surrounding of Kismayo’s airport. It is believed that al Shabaab fighter attacked AMISOM bases in the region. Heavy artillery was fired at the AMISOM bases by armed men believed to be al Shabaab fighters operating in large parts of the lower Juba region. The official figures of the casualties caused by the bombardment have not been released as troops based in the region launched security operations in the early hours of today morning.

Elders reject Abu Mansur Al Amriki’s claims of membership

09 Sept- Source: Radio Dalsan- 189 words

Elders in Bay and Bakool regions in the southern Somalia have rejected the recent claims made by Abu Mansur Al Amriki who said he is a member of their clansmen. Malaq Ali Abdurahman, a spokesman for the Bay and Bakool clans said he was angered by the claims made by Al Amriki. The American-born, Omar Hamami who is also known as Abu Mansur Al Amriki has recently announced he quit al Shabaab and joined the clansmen of Digil Mirifle which dominate of Bay and Bakool region. Al Amriki strongly criticised al Shabaab’s top leader, Ahmed Godane alleging that he came as disobedient against the true faith of Islam. “We can not accept the claims of al Shabaab member,” the elder told Radio Dalsan. “A man who is responsible for killing many innocent people will not join our clansmen,” he added.

Early marriage and housework keeping girls out of school

09 Sept- Source: Radio Ergo- 249 words

Seventeen-year-old Bisharo Mohamed Osman is one of hundreds of young Somali girls who have been deprived of education due to early marriage. When she got married two years ago, she held on to her hopes of being able to continue her education. But that never happened. “Our community doesn’t encourage education after marriage,” Osman told Radio Ergo’s local reporter in Galkayo. She resisted the cultural constraints at first and tried hard to keep going to school after her marriage. However, she found she was caught in a dilemma of balancing the demanding commitment of housework and her studies. She dropped out of the school in class eight. “It was my end, the end of my high hopes!” she admitted. She now has two children. Though Osman’s marriage was her choice, many other young girls are forced to drop out of school after being married off against their will. Mohamed Abdi Farah (Garweyne), head of education for the Puntland administration in Galkayo, said that the heavy demands of running a household have stopped many girls from reaching their potential.. “Even if they (girls) are allowed to go to schools they still face many challenges and obstacles at home,” Farah told Radio Ergo. “The girls are left to take care of the house while the mothers are mostly out earning the family’s daily bread.” When girls come home from school, they are often denied opportunities to study and revise their lessons, he said, because they are told to serve their brothers.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Somali Prime Minister arrives in Sana’a

09 Sept- Source: Yemen News Agency SABA- 107 words

Somali Prime Minister in the Somali federal government Abdi Farah Saeed and his accompanying delegation arrived in Sana’a on Monday on a official visit during which he will hold talks with Yemeni official. In a statement to Saba, Saeed expressed his happiness to visit Yemen, noting that the visit comes within deepening and strengthening the relations between the two brotherly countries. He voiced Somalia’s appreciation to Yemen for its standing by Somali people in all circumstances over the past twenty years. The Somali Prime Minister pointed out that he will sign a protocol with the Yemeni side in various areas including the economic, political and cultural areas.

Suspected al Shabaab Militia Arrested In Nyahururu

09 Sept- Source: Capital News- 210 words

Police in Laikipia County on Sunday night arrested a suspected al Shabaab militia, 20 year old Samuel Wainaina Wanjiru, in Ng’arua Division, Nyahururu. A team of senior security officers from the area led by Assistant Deputy County Commissioner Rufus Kihara, OCPD Mohammed Ali Riziki, DCIO Benard Kwarat and Nyahururu Deputy AP Commandant Joseph Kiragu advanced to Matwiku village following a tip off from members of the public where they arrested the suspect while one of his accomplices managed to escape. According to the police officials, Wainana is said to have been recruiting youths in the area to join the outlawed group.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

EU offers Somalia extra EUR 124 m in aid

09 Sept- Source: EUbusiness/UPI/KUNA-293 words

IMB urges vigilance off the Somalia coast

09 Sept- Source: defenceweb- 1135 words

As the monsoon season in the north-western Indian Ocean starts subsiding and the weather once again becomes conducive to the operation of small pirate skiffs, the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has urged ship masters not to be complacent when transiting the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It has called for vessels to remain alert and apply Best Management Practices (BMP), including its reporting requirements, when transiting the area. Overall this year, attacks in this maritime area have fallen to 10, a trend attributed to the vital action of naval vessels engaged in anti-piracy operations, compliance with the BMP and the use of professional security teams on board.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Lindhout’s story, no matter the truth of it — and there’s no reason as far as I’m aware to doubt a word of it — is a story that will get wielded in a particular way. For some people, the story will reinforce their already-firm idea that Somalia isn’t a place worth visiting or caring about. For others, it will make Somalia look like an even better target for a crusade, perhaps an occupation, all done in the name of ending — you guessed it — the barbarism that currently prevails there.”

‘A House in the Sky’: How Captivity Narratives Fuel War and Racism

09 Sept- Source: Flavorwire-883 Words
A couple of weeks ago, The New York Times magazine published a harrowing account of a journey in Somalia that went seriously awry. A Canadian 20-something named Amanda Lindhout had gone there to work as a freeance journalist. But soon after she arrived, she and her ex-boyfriend, Nigel Brennan, were kidnapped and held for ransom. Because their families were not wealthy, Lindhout and Brennan were held for almost 400 days. As you can imagine, they were starved and abused physically and, in Lindhout’s case, sexually. In the most harrowing scene, Lindhout one day manages to escape out a bathroom window, and runs to a nearby mosque. There, she finds the devout indifferent to her plight, with one exception: I saw Abdullah pushing through the crowd in my direction, his head lowered like a bull’s. I screamed as he dove at me. He caught my feet with his hands and began dragging me in the direction of the side door. I clawed at the ground as he pulled. I don’t remember any of the onlookers trying to stop him.