November 5, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Kismayo residents welcome Jubba reconciliation conference

04 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Dhanaan Online- 138 words

Residents in the port city of Kismayo in southern Somalia have hailed the start of the reconciliation conference for Jubba communities, which is currently underway in the capital, Mogadishu. Hussein Saleban is an elder in Kismayu and he tells Bar-kulan that they have welcomed the opening of the conference and hopes it will produce a lasting solution for the communities in Gedo and Jubba regions.
Saleban believes that negotiations are the only way forward to iron out differences and political rifts between Jubba communities. Women in Kismayu have also welcomed the opening of the conference; Batraan Mohamed Abdulle is one of the women in the town and she believes the outcome of the conference will lead to a harmonious co-existence between Jubba communities. She further praised the Federal Government of Somalia for its role in reconciling Jubba communities.

Key Headlines

Somalia is making great strides Prime Minister tells Danish delegation(Office of the Prime Minister)
4 Somalis plead not guilty to attack on Kenya’s Westgate Mall(Washington Times/AP/AFP)
Djibouti president meets with Somaliland FM(Universal TV)
Elders and politicians arrive in Baidoa for state formation conference(Radio Bar-kulan)
Gatekeepers diverting aid from Mogadishu IDPs(Radio Ergo)
21 refugees nabbed on their way to al Shabaab camp(Standard Media)
Somali central bank chief quits over graft concerns – diplomats( Reuters)
Former spy: Kenya mall attack ‘could have been prevented’(CNN)

PRESS STATEMENT

Somalia is making great strides, Prime Minister tells Danish delegation

04 Nov- Source: Office of the Prime Minister- 307 words
His Excellency Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon today met with a delegation from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Prime Minister welcomed Under-Secretary, Michael Starbaek Christensen, and Danish Ambassador to Somalia, Geert Andersen to Mogadishu and updated them on the great strides Somalia is making on political reconciliation and capacity building of government institutions. He thanked Denmark for the support and assistance it is providing Somalia on public finance management and education, and for Denmark’s recent commitments made through the New Deal.
“I want to thank you for coming to Mogadishu today, for the support you have given the large number of Somalis in Denmark and the assistance you have given us on Public Finance Management, Education and most recently through the New Deal ” said the Prime Minister. “After 22 years with no central government we face many challenges rebuilding our nation but our priorities remain security, political reconciliation and institution rebuilding. The best way for the international community to assist Somalia is through the New Deal Compact so that all support is bilateral with the Somali Federal Government, ensuring that the Somali people’s priorities are met”.
Discussing political reconciliation the Prime Minister updated the delegation on the ongoing Jubba reconciliation conference and political roadmap to elections in 2016, “We want the future new Somalia will be built on strong federalist states under the banner of a United Somalia. A united Somalia where politics isn’t exclusive to the minority”, said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister and delegation also discussed the current security situation “Somalia has made great strides in driving al Shabaab back but they are not yet finished. The future security and stability of Somalia relies on building a well-trained and resourced SNAF. We cannot defeat the terrorists just militarily we must fight a comprehensive campaign drawing on military resources, education, economic recovery and communications.”

SOMALI MEDIA

Kismayo residents welcome Jubba reconciliation conference

04 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Dhanaan Online- 138 words

Djibouti president meets with Somaliland FM

04 Nov- Source: Somaliland Informer/Universal TV- 174 words

Djibouti Head of State H.E. Ismail Omar Gulled received on Sunday Somaliland’s Foreign Minister and International Cooperation Mr. Mohamed Biihi Yoonis who has been on working visit to Djibouti for the past couple of days. Speaking to media representative after the meeting, Somaliland FM said that he discussed with Djiboutian president on ways to consolidate the working ties between the two countries which is based on mutual cooperation and brotherhood. The Foreign Minister said that it was the first time that he met with Djiboutian president ever since assumed the foreign ministry.

Elders and politicians arrive in Baidoa for state formation conference

04 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 87 words

A large number of delegates have been arriving in Baidoa town for the past two days to attend a regional summit to form an autonomous administration for south-western regions of Somalia. The delegation consisted of clan elders as well as political leaders from south-western regions of Somalia most of whom expressed optimism over the upcoming convention. Sultan Heydar Sultan Sufi, an elder from the region, says that the priority of the elders and politicians is to fulfill the ambitions of the people to create an autonomous state.

Gatekeepers diverting aid from Mogadishu IDPs

04 Nov- Source: Radio Ergo- 256 words

Displaced families living in Mogadishu’s camps are complaining of aid diversion and abuses by the camps’ so called gatekeepers. While most people fear to speak out publicly because of reprisals by those controlling the camps, many IDPs feel time has come to voice their opinions. “The food aid and other donations that are meant for us are being eaten by the gatekeepers. We get nothing,” said a displaced mother with several children, who wants to remain anonymous. “There was a vehicle full of aid that showed up at the gate of our camp several days ago. But the car left, while nothing was unloaded for us,” she stated. Most people live in fear of the gatekeepers. This woman said she said could be evicted from the camp if he heard her complaints in the media. The mother said they often hear that aid was given to them while they receive nothing. Another displaced mother living in a camp in Hodan district said the gatekeepers also forced them to pay money when they were given cash donations. “They keep most of the food aid for themselves, and when we are given money, they demand a share. We receive nothing in full,” she told Radio Ergo. She added that there are no organizations she could trust to report officially about the aid diversions she witnesses by the gatekeepers. The gatekeepers are the self-appointed individuals or groups who essentially run Mogadishu’s IDP settlements, controlling access to the camps and the connecting bridges between the displaced families and aid agencies.

REGIONAL MEDIA

21 refugees nabbed on their way to al Shabaab camp

04 Nov- Source: Capital News/Standard-750 words

Twenty one Somali refugees were arrested and charged in court on Monday, after police intercepted them at the Somalia border while headed from a camp in Kenya to join an al Shabaab training base. The arrest comes a week after security agencies discussed a detailed report on how al Shabaab has been recruiting from refugee camps, and other towns—including Nairobi, Mombasa and Garissa. Police said the refugees arrested on Monday, who were carrying water and foodstuff, were intercepted at the Abdisugo roadblock while headed to an al Shabaab training camp inside Somalia.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali central bank chief quits over graft concerns – diplomats

04 Nov- Source: Reuters- 399 words

Somalia’s central bank governor has resigned less than two months into the job, citing pressure to authorise improper deals, diplomats said on Monday. The departure of Yussur Abrar, the first woman to occupy the post, is a blow to foreign donors pumping billions of dollars in aid money into a Horn of Africa country grappling with an Islamist insurgency.

Former spy: Kenya mall attack ‘could have been prevented’

04 Nov- Source: CNN-1172 Words
Western intelligence missed a chance to capture or kill the suspected terrorist thought to be behind the Nairobi mall massacre, according to a former informant for both the CIA and the Danish intelligence service. Morten Storm, who worked as an informant for five years, had forged a close relationship with the man — a Kenyan called Ikrima — who has been responsible for planning attacks inside Kenya for al Shabaab. Storm, a Danish national, told CNN that in March 2012 the Danish intelligence agency PET had offered him one million Danish krone ($200,000) on behalf of the CIA if he could lead them to Ikrima, the target of an unsuccessful operation by US Navy SEALs last month. The SEALs raided an al Shabaab compound at Barawe on the Somali coast, but Ikrima escaped.

4 Somalis plead not guilty to attack on Kenya’s Westgate Mall

04 Nov- Source: Washington Times/AP/AFP- 117 words

Kenya has charged four Somalis for cooperating in September’s terrorist attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall that killed 67 people. Mohamed Ahmed Abdi, Liban Abdullah Omar, Hussein Hassan Mustafah and Adan Dheq pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include harboring a fugitive and illegally registering as a Kenyan, The Associated Press reported.Kenyan authorities have detained dozens of people in connection with the attack, but it’s unclear how many arrests have been made. The three men were charged with knowingly supporting perpetrators of the mall siege. Mr. Dheq was accused of harboring terror suspect Abdikadir Hared Mohammed in a mosque in Nairobi’s Somali neighborhood of Eastleigh, AP reported. The four are due back in court next Monday.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Al Shabaab’s deadly attack on an upscale Nairobi mall was not a matter of if but of when to those familiar with the extreme poverty and crime Somalis face—in their own country and in Kenya’s rapidly growing Dadaab camp.”

Dadaab: The Clock Is Ticking

04 Nov- Source: Creative Time Reports-1194 Words

Whirling red dust clouds the outskirts of a massive temporary “city,” erected on scorching earth, that is now the size of Cleveland, Ohio. A patchwork of plastic bags—the roofs of people’s homes—stretches for miles and miles. This is Dadaab, the world’s largest permanent refugee camp. Women, children and the elderly, mostly from war-ravaged Somalia, have found their way to this desolate United Nations refugee camp by foot, in harrowing journeys that last several days. Five hundred thousand people have passed through the gates of Dadaab, roughly 60 miles from the Somali border, not knowing that for most this place is a dead end. Yet these resilient souls make a life for themselves in impossible conditions.