October 14, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Bomb blast in Ethiopian capital kills two: State Radio
14 Oct – Source: Ahram English – 276 Words
A bomb blast in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa killed two people on Sunday, state radio said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but Ethiopia says it has thwarted plots of attacks in the past two years and blames rebel groups based in the south and southeast, as well as Somalia’s al Shabaab insurgents.
“A bomb blast occurred at a residential house in the Bole district and killed two unidentified individuals,” a report on national radio said, quoting the National Security and Intelligence Service.
The explosion occurred in the city’s upscale Bole district, about 5 km (3 miles) from a soccer stadium where thousands of fans were queuing for tickets to a World Cup qualifier against Nigeria and gathering at squares in the capital to watch the match on giant screens.
Key Headlines
- Bomb blast in Addis Ababa kills two (Raxanreeb)
- Somalia lost one of its renowned sports volunteers (Raxanreeb/Radio Dalsan)
- 4 killed 9 others in attack at wedding Ceremony in Gabiley Region (Somaliland Sun/Bar-kulan/Dalsan)
- Somali president meets Djiboutian Gellle (Radio Mustaqbal)
- Somaliland warns dispute over Somalia’s airspace (Somali Current)
- Security agencies worry about new terrorist threats in Kenya (Daily Nation)
- Somalia sends fire fighters to Kenya (ENCA News)
- Somaliland warns dispute over Somalia’s airspace (Somali Current)
- Somaliland Justice minister suspends director general (Somali Informer)
- Somali piracy kingpin arrested in Belgium (RTBF)
PRESS STATEMENT
President Hassan Pledges ” Total war on Terrorism” ahead of the AU Summit in Addis
12 Oct – Source: Office of the Somali President – 142 words
The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia H.E Hassan Sh. Mohamud, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Fowzia Yusuf Adam and the Minister for Defense today left for Addis Ababa Ethiopia, to attend the Extraordinary African Union Summit.
The Summit’s main agenda is to discuss the International Criminal Court (ICC). President Hassan will also be attending IGAD heads of State meeting on the margins of the AU Summit in the aftermath of the Westgate attack. While in Addis Ababa President Hassan will discuss security issues with fellow AU leaders.
“Somalia has been fighting terrorism for several years and we must now intensify our operations in a total war against our enemies. We must deny them territory and the space to train and plan and we must ensure our military campaign is accompanied by all-out information war.”
SOMALI MEDIA
Bomb blast in Addis Ababa kills two
14 Oct – Source: Raxanreeb – 91 words
At least two people died in a bomb blast in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa on Sunday night, the Ethiopian state media reported. The explosion occurred at a residential house in the Bole district where many Somalis live.
The Ethiopian national radio quoting National Security and Intelligence Service reported that it was mot immediately known who was behind the explosion. However, it said investigations are under way.
The residents at Bole district heard the big blast as the people were gathering to watch the World Cup qualifier match Ethiopia against Nigeria on Sunday.
Somalia lost one of its renowned sports volunteers
14 Oct – Source: Raxanreeb/Radio Dalsan – 398 words
With sadness, Somalia has announced the sudden death of one of its most renowned sports personnel Hussein Mohamed Ali (Tarabi) who unexpectedly died in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Sunday morning.
The late Ali was known for his great role in the promotion of Somali sport and in particularly basketball and athletics. According to the Somali Olympic committee the Late Ali had lent a forceful commitment in the development of Somali sport for over the past 5 decades.
“I have known him for more than 40 years and before he was involved in Somali Sport, he was member of the Somali Athletics national team and was also former international basketball referee—with his death Somalia has missed a great ports individual” Somali National Olympic committee president Abdullahi Ahmed Tarabi said in a press statement over the unexpected death.
4 killed, 9 others in attack at wedding Ceremony in Gabiley Region
14 Oct – Source: Somaliland Sun/Bar-kulan/Dalsan – 127 words
At least four people were killed while nine others were wounded after a man believed to be insane opened fire on a people attending in a wedding ceremony in Ceel Xadi, a small village outside Hargeisa town, the capital of Somaliland.
The ceremony was attended by hundreds of relatives of the bridegroom and pride including government ministers. The wounded people were rushed to the hospital as the dead bodies all women celebrating for the wedding ceremony were buried in the village.
The wedding ceremony was stopped as the happy moments were turned into sadness and sorrow. The local police reached the scene and arrested the man who was identified as Gahayr Hassan Mudey. The man reportedly suffering from mental illness.
Somali president meets Djiboutian Gellle
13 Oct – Source: Radio Mustaqbal/Radio Mogadishu – 129 words
The president of federal government of Somali republic Hassan Sheikh Mohamud held meeting with his Djiboutian counterpart Ismail Omar Gelle in Addis-Ababa before AU summit. The two presidents talked about the ties of both States including the security of Somalia where Djiboutian troops are serving as peacekeepers in African Union Mission.
President Mohamud has thanked president Gelle for his government’s role in Somalia and the consistent support that Djiboutian government extends to Somalia which is now recovering from inside political conflicts.
After the meeting, both presidents have attended the AU Summit which its agenda was about the ICC and latest situation of Somalia. Djibouti and Somalia are close friends and both States have long history.
Somaliland warns dispute over Somalia’s airspace
13 Oct – Source: Somali Current – 135 words
Somaliland said that the agreement signed between International Civil Aviation Organisation and Somalia’s federal government on airspace management may lead regional dispute.
ICAO agreed to handover to the Somali government the airspace control in the early months of 2014. In addition, the agreement states that millions of dollars that was held in the ICAO Trust fund will be transferred to the government of Somalia.
Somaliland Minister of Air Transport and Aviation Mohamud Hashi Abdi pointed out that his government opposes s the agreement handing over Somalia and Somaliland airspace control to Mogadishu government.
“Somaliland nation warns our Somalia brothers and International Community to think about the bad end that may result [the agreement],” Mohamud said angrily, adding that it may cause dispute and insecurity over the airspace of Somalia, Somaliland and the entire region.
Homes built for poorest families in Beledweyne
13 Oct – Source: Radio Ergo – 324 words
Fadumo Aden Shil’s extended family of more than 15 people has lived crammed into a single room in the agriculture rich town of Beledweyne for years. “We have had a problem of sleeping and some of us used to sleep outside since the room wasn’t able to accommodate us all,” Shil told Radio Ergo’s local reporter. But today, she is celebrating being one of 500 poor families who have received a specially built shelter by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC).
The first Deputy Chairman of Beledweyne district, Abdulahi Mohamed Omar, said the families were selected by a joint committee of DRC staff, local administration and elders through a transparent process of assessing the neediest people in the town.
Omar said the committee members walked through the four villages of the town and knocked on doors in order to identify the most unfortunate 500 families according to a set of criteria and requirements. “The recipients had to be poor with extended family members, incapable of building extra rooms and owners of land where a house can be built,” Omar told Radio Ergo’s local reporter.
Shil is one of the lucky families. She had a second room built for her family, which eases the overcrowding and enables all of them to sleep under a roof at night. “We didn’t use to sleep because we worried what might happen to our girls. Gangs can came in and rape them,” said Shil. “We were always awake to protect them.”
Somalia signs $32 million development project with IDB
13 Oct – Source: Somali Current – 92 words
Somalia’s Federal Government has signed an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to finance $32 million dollars on drilling deep wells and supporting education in Somalia.
Minister of Human Development and Public Service Mariam Qasim told local reporters that the agreement would help Somalia to develop water, education in empower the country’s economy.
The agreement earlier signed by the Bank’s President Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali and Somali Minister of State Dr. Mohammed Noor Ga’al at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia on September 5 and complited in Mogadishu yesterday.
Somaliland Justice minister suspends director general
14 Oct – Source: Somaliland Informer – 149 words
Somaliland’s Justice Minister Mr. Hussein Ahmed Aidid on Sunday has suspended the director general of the justice ministry Mr. Abiib Ahmed Ali after there was long standing row that broke out between the two government officials.
The suspension of the director general came papers signed by the director general and the minister has asked them. According to reports received say that there was war of words exchanged between the two officials.
Somaliland’s justice minister has released an order suspending the director general from his daily day operations and delegated his responsibility to the director that is in charge of the ministry’s management.
According to further reports indicate that the minister had long standing conflict with his director general based on the running of the daily day activities of the ministry. Reports say that the minister and the director general picked up fight with each other with the justice ministry.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Security agencies worry about new terrorist threats in Kenya
14 Oct – Source: Daily Nation – 122 words
Kenyan and Western security services are racing against time to foil new planned terror attacks in Kenya barely three weeks after the Westgate attack. Much of the investigations are now focused on the underground activities of a shadowy militant organisation called Al-Hijra, led by Sheikh Iman Ali, a Kenyan preacher now hosted by al Shabaab in Somalia.
And at the centre of the Westgate attack and potential future plots is a Kenyan militant jihadist leader who goes by the name Ikrima.
Reports on the new plots are scanty and generic in nature, but information obtained by the Sunday Nation from credible security sources suggests that Mombasa, Wilson Airport and schools – especially those with a large foreign student population – are potential targets.
Bomb blast in Ethiopian capital kills two: State Radio
14 Oct – Source: Ahram English – 276 Words
A bomb blast in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa killed two people on Sunday, state radio said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but Ethiopia says it has thwarted plots of attacks in the past two years and blames rebel groups based in the south and southeast, as well as Somalia’s al Shabaab insurgents.
“A bomb blast occurred at a residential house in the Bole district and killed two unidentified individuals,” a report on national radio said, quoting the National Security and Intelligence Service.
The explosion occurred in the city’s upscale Bole district, about 5 km (3 miles) from a soccer stadium where thousands of fans were queuing for tickets to a World Cup qualifier against Nigeria and gathering at squares in the capital to watch the match on giant screens.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia sends fire fighters to Kenya
14 Oct – Source: eNCA – 246 Words
A group of fire fighters was sent to Kenya to learn advanced techniques and bring back sorely-needed skills back to Somalia. Somalia is trying to revive its Fire and Rescue Unit with help from the African Union Mission in Somalia Trust Fund. Impoverished explosive devices and suicide bombings have made fires a frequent occurrence in the country.
Kenyan Airports Authority Fire and Rescue, Francis Ndeleva said: “Airport Fire Fighting is a bit advanced, it is more technical because you have to deal with an aircraft with passengers on board and there is a lot of fuel and it is moving. So when it touches down, you expect a lot of problems. And the fire is abrupt, it builds up very fast and people can inhale toxic gasses from within or even hot air.’
One of the trainees said: “The benefit is that we have come from a point where we did not have these skills we have acquired and we have had challenges, but now we have the know-how to counter fire disasters.”
Police unit takes on community work in Somali neighbourhoods to build trust, make peace
14 Oct – Source: Toronto Star – 161 words
A young girl in a dark hijab sits at the back of the dank, musty basement the Dixon Rd. tower residents call the “party room.” One of a gaggle of youth who have sneaked into a community meeting, the girl asks a police officer if he can fix the fountain in the common area.
Sgt. Chris Laush explains the fountain is not a policing problem. He tells the girl there is a complaints system through the management who run the complex. Then, as Laush looks to the crowd for the next question, he sees the crestfallen look on her face.
Laush, a dad himself, tells her he will be back in two days and he’ll talk to management about it. The Toronto police officer is the leader of a year-old, six-member team called the Somali Liaison Unit, an unusual attempt at curbing violent crime in 23 Division. The area in northwest Toronto consistently has one of the city’s highest crime rates.
Somali piracy kingpin arrested in Belgium
14 Oct – Source: RTBF/AFP – 275 Words
A former Somali pirate, among the most powerful kingpin, Mohamed Abdi Hassan, alias Afweyne (“Big Mouth” in Somali) was arrested this weekend in Belgium, according to several media. The arrest information could not be confirmed from official sources, but the Belgian federal prosecutor is expected to hold a press conference on Monday, according to a learned judicial source.
According to the Flemish daily De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad, Mohamed Abdi Hassan, the man behind spectacular catches in 2008, was arrested at the airport in Brussels from Nairobi (Kenya). He was transferred to Bruges, where he was placed under arrest for piracy. The reasons for his trip to Belgium are not known. Afweyne had announced his retirement in January.
He was behind the two of the most spectacular modern Somali piracy attacks. That in September 2008 the Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with weapons, including tanks, systems for air defense, rocket launchers and ammunition. And most importantly, two months later, that of the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, 330 meters long behemoth and carrying two million barrels of crude oil, valued at $ 100 million cargo.
Both ships were released in February and January 2009 after payment of ransom of several million dollars. According to the Belgian press, it is also believed Afweyne was the head of the group of pirates who had taken hostage in 2009, the crew of a Belgian ship, the Pompei, for more than 70 days.
SOCIAL MEDIA
“Analysts say Ahmed Abdi Godane wants the world to know he’s in charge, and they see al Shabaab as more dangerous than ever.”
Al Shabaab’s brutal warlord sent a message with Kenya mall attack
13 Oct – Source: Los Angeles Times – 1205 Words
The Somali warlord who claims responsibility for last month’s shopping mall attack in Kenya is a man so ruthless and ambitious that even hardened militants fear him.
According to some militants fighters in Somalia, Ahmed Abdi Godane is a tyrant who runs secret jails, kills too many civilians and hunts down anyone who dares speak against him. Many prominent dissenters in the Shabab, the Somali militant group, are dead or in hiding. Godane’s brutality has cost al Shabaab support in Somalia. But though diminished, the group is more dangerous than ever, analysts say.
“The aim of the New Deal is to promote political reconciliation, and improve justice and security in Somalia”
‘New Deal’ for Somalia won’t solve the country’s problems overnight
13 Oct – Source: Daily Nation – 675 Words
Since the mid-1990s, donor aid to Somalia has been mostly directed through UN agencies and international humanitarian organisations, which implemented projects on behalf of the various donors, including the European Union.
This system had its flaws, and was subject to abuse by various corrupt vested interests, with the result that little development has taken place in the country in the last 20 years.
The recent pledge of 1.8 billion euro by international donors to Somalia as part of a “New Deal” for the reconstruction of the war-torn country is a welcome step, but the Somali Government and the international community need to ensure that a system is in place so that funds do not go astray.
The aim of the New Deal Compact signed in Brussels last month is to foster dialogue, promote political reconciliation, and improve justice and security in Somalia. However, before we place too much faith in the Compact, let us be aware that a large proportion of aid never reaches the recipient country, but stays with the donors in the form of technical assistance and contracts given to companies based in the donor country.
“We can help our children to prepare for the future so can they take the lead in our country, nearby or neighboring countries and the world.”
Future for Our Young Somalia Children
13 Oct – Source: Hiiraan Online – 980 Words
Often, we hear of new colleges or universities opening in Somali,. We need to look into the educational background and qualifications of these teachers and into what they are teaching our children. We need to know that the curriculum is relevant to prepare them for the jobs that are in demand today and in the future.
We need to educate our children to prepare for the future by studying in order to compete for the highest demanding jobs in today’s market whether they live Somalia or outside of Somalia. Every year the United States, Europe and the Middle East bring to their countries, more than 60,000 people from India or other countries that are educated and/or trained specifically in technology and medicine.
We need to identify the highest demanding jobs in the market today and what is coming tomorrow so we can always aim to improve the lives of our children. We can always follow the new trends and evolution of the market and direct children so they can be leaders not followers.
“It is an ambitious book – the title “Out of the Mountains” refers to Kilcullen’s call for the generation who fought in Afghanistan to turn their attention to “the implications of the coming age of urban, networked, guerrilla war in the mega-slums and megacities of a coastal planet.” But it is also one that will bring the problems facing modern cities to an entirely new set of readers at a time when governments throughout the world are trying to work out how to manage them better.”
From Mogadishu to Mumbai, managing urban conflict
13 Oct – Source: Reuters Blog – 976 Words
At first glance it is an unlikely comparison – the 2008 attack on Mumbai by Pakistan-based gunmen and the disastrous 1993 operation by U.S. troops against a Somali warlord in Mogadishu.
But David Kilcullen, a former adviser on counterinsurgency in the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, compares the fighting in the two cities in often unexpected ways in his new book “Out of the Mountains” to convince people to think more about urban conflict.
In the case of Mumbai, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group behind the attack turned the city to its advantage. It spent months getting to know its layout and dynamics, with Pakistani-American David Headley carrying out detailed reconnaissance.
The 10 gunmen who snuck in by sea from Karachi and went on to kill 166 people were able to hide among the many boats plying smuggling routes. They landed in Mumbai’s coastal slums where nobody thought to report them to the police. “They didn’t get in there secretly; it is just that people thought they were smugglers,” says Kilcullen.
Top tweets
@amisomsomalia President Hassan welcomed the call for expansion of the #African Union Mission in #Somalia (AMISOM)http://bit.ly/1ekHGYJ.
@BenParker140 14 of 20 health facilities previously run by MSF in #Somalia have new management, reports The Lancet:http://www.thelancet.com/
@EdPomfret The #Somalia filter:images Remittance Industry in Perspective
http://www.africanexecutive.
@neildrewitt Ahmed Abdi Godane wants the world to know he’s in charge & analysts see al-Shabaab as dangerous as ever.#Somalia http://lat.ms/19EMF5q.
@alykhansatchu If any country is an imperial metaphor, it is Somalia says @johnpilger http://www.rich.co.ke/rctools/
Image of the day
Trainers from Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) help train a special unit of firefighters from Somalia during a three and half week-long training course in Nairobi designed to improve the unit’s firefighting skills and how to properly use their equipment in the event of an aviation disaster, building fire and emergency fire and rescue response. Photo: AMISOM.