January 6, 2015 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Al-shabaab beheads Somali teenager for spying

05 Jan – Source: Somali Current – 127 Words

Somalia’s Al-shabaab fighters on Sunday beheaded a teenager boy near Hiiraan’s Baladweyne district local residents and witness said. The deceased victim was identified as Abdi Sahal according to Hiiraan officials. The militant group has accused Sahal of spying for Federal government and AMISOM forces in the area. Local residents brought him to Baladweyne town to executed in front of top Al-shabaab commanders and residents of the town. “Sahal was a teenager boy, he went there with the Islamic sect of Tablik for Khuruuj” Baladweyne commissioner Mohamed Osman told reporters by phone.

Key Headlines

PM Sharmarke to reveal cabinet lineup (Garowe Online)
Hiran governor takes security meeting with the elders in Beledweyne (Radio Goobjoog)
Al-shabaab beheads Somali teenager for spying (Somali Current)
AMISOM set to be deployed to Central Somalia (Dalsan Radio)
Court hearing adjourns after journalists’ lawyers failed to show up (Al-Shahid.net)
Federal government forces close main roads in Mogadishu (Dalsan Radio)
France condemns attack near Mogadishu airport in Somalia (Kuwait News Agency)
Terror suspects sent back to jail (Daily Monitor)
Somali jailed after attempted break-in (Malta Today)
‘It’s Somalis killing each other’: Calgary community leader (Sun News Network/Hiiraan)

SOMALI MEDIA

PM Sharmarke to reveal cabinet lineup

05 Jan – Source: Garowe Online – 187 Words

Federal Government of Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke is planning to reveal his lineup of cabinet ministers over the coming days, Garowe Online reports. Federal MPs and former officials who held ministerial posts in the previous governments are likely to appear in the anticipated lineup according to reliable sources. Sharmarke is said to have held talks with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on the new cabinet, with insiders saying trivial disagreement over the return of two officials continues to drag on.

Mohamud wants Hussein Abdi Halane, caretaker Minister for Finance and Fowsiyo Yusuf Haji Adan, former Foreign Affairs Minister be included in the lineup. The announcement of the new cabinet was postponed on account of further consultations. International community sees Halane a close aide who took part in the recent campaign that saw former Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed removed. UN report accused Adan, also a female Member of Parliament of corruption at the country highest monetary authority last year. On December 17, following a month-long political infighting and the subsequent ouster of Mohamed in parliamentary no confidence vote, Somalia President named Sharmarke to the premiership.

Hiran governor takes security meeting with the elders in Beledweyne

05 Jan – Source: Radio Goobjoog -183 Words

The governor of Hiran region, Abdifatah Hassan Afrah, had a closed door security meeting with the traditional elders and intellectuals in Beledweyne. In the meeting, the governor and the elders had a detailed discussion about the easiest way the administration and public can collaborate to actively tighten the security of the region. Ahmed Abdulle Jima’ale, one of the elders who addressed the meeting, said the locals in the region are ready to back the government’s efforts to make the region a safe and secure place. The elder sent appeal to the warring clans in Deefow locality to immediately end hostilities and try to solve their discord through peaceful negotiation. The governor said the administration of Hiran region will work hand in hand with the elders and the civil society to develop and strengthen the overall security. He urged the civil society to participate in the peace process and collaborate with the security agencies. The security meeting comes a time when fierce tribal clashes have affected the stability of some parts of the region.

Al-shabaab beheads Somali teenager for spying

05 Jan – Source: Somali Current – 127 Words

AMISOM set to be deployed to Central Somalia

05 Jan – Source Dalsan radio – 81 words
According to Somali government sources, a contingent of Djiboutian peacekeepers in Somalia will be deployed into the Central Somalia, Dalsan Radio has confirmed. The Djiboutian contingent will monitor the upcoming central state election that will be held in Adodo next month. The Somali military official who spoke with Dalsan Radio said the deployment is part of a fresh demand from the central Somali election committee to establish a safe environment suitable for election.

Court hearing adjourns after journalists’ lawyers failed to show up

05 Jan – Source: Al-Shahid.net – 211 Words

The Benadir regional court today adjourned the hearing of the Shabelle and Sky FM journalists, after the lawyers defending the journalists failed to show up. The chairman of Regional Court Dr. Hashi Elmi Nor adjourned the session due to the absence of the lawyers defending the journalists. The National Union of Somali Journalists called the absence of the journalists’ lawyers regrettable, since the two journalists Mohamed Bashir Hashi, Editor of Shabelle and Mohamud Mohamed Dahir, director of Sky FM were in jail for more than four months. The Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), Mohamed Ibrahim, who was at the court today called the postponement of the hearing, disappointing. On October 21, the regional court heard the case of the journalists for first time and released Abdimalik Yusuf Mohamoud, Chairman of Shabelle and Ahmed Abdi Hassan, Shabelle newscaster on bail. The government forces raided Shabelle and SKY FM premises on August 15 and shutdown both radio stations. The government accused the radio stations for incitement.

Federal government forces close main roads in Mogadishu

05 Jan – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 113 Words

The security forces of the Federal Government of Somalia have closed up Makka Al-Mukarrama road, one of the busiest streets in the capital, Mogadishu. Mohamed Osman Warsame, a Goobjoog reporter in the area, says a heavy presence of security forces is felt, and the normal movement of public and private vehicles has been curtailed. The reporter says the public vehicles and pedestrians were seen using small roads through city neighbourhoods which eventually led to a traffic jam. The reason behind the closure of the street is not yet clear, but forces usually block the main roads during the federal parliament meetings to beef up security.

REGIONAL MEDIA

France condemns attack near Mogadishu airport in Somalia

05 Jan – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 149 Words

France condemned on Monday an attack a day earlier against the airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, while praising the response of local Somali security forces and African Union troops deployed in that country. At least four people were killed in the suicide attack and ensuing battle at the airport, an attack that has been claimed by the Islamist extremist Al-Shabaab group. “France condemns the attack carried out January 4 near the Mogadishu airport, which cost the lives of numerous Somalis,” the Foreign Ministry said. “Those responsible must be brought to justice…France praises the action of the Somali police and armed forces, as well as that of the African Union mission in Somalia, to restore peace and security.” The Foreign Ministry also said that France “stands at the side of the Federal Government of Somalia in its fight against terrorism.”

Terror suspects sent back to jail

05 Jan – Source: Daily Monitor – 297 Words

The ten terror suspects arrested in September last year from the Kampala suburbs have further been remanded to Luzira prison. This is after prosecution lawyer Edward Muhummuza asked the court for more time to allow investigations into the matter continue. They appeared before Buganda Road Court Grade One Magistrate Sanyu Mukasa who pushed the case to January 19 this year. Nine of these are Somalis who include two women while the other is a Kenyan national…It is alleged the suspects, who include two Somali women, belong to the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab. On September 24 they were charged in court and sent on further police detention, pending further interrogation at SIU.

They were charged with two counts, including aiding and abetting terrorism, contrary to Section 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, and belonging to a terrorist organisation. Prosecution alleges that the accused and others still at large in September this year, in different places in Uganda, Kenya and Somalia, aided, abetted and or rendered support to Al-Shabaab, knowingly and having reason to believe that such support would be used for or in connection with the preparation and commission of acts of terrorism. It is further alleged that the suspects between 2010 and September 2014 belonged to Al-Qaeda and its affiliate Al-Shabaab, which are both listed as terrorist organisations under the 2002 Anti-Terrorism Act of Uganda. They were arrested from areas of Kisenyi, Nakulabye, Kasubi, Busega and Lungujja, all Kampala suburbs from where they were allegedly assembling explosives with the intention of using them to bomb Kampala.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali jailed after attempted break-in

05 Jan – Source: Malta Today – 184 Words

Alcohol has landed a homeless Somali man two years and eight months’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty of attempting to break into a house. Bashir Abdulahi Admen, a 21-year-old unemployed Somali of no fixed address, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Gabriella Vella to charges of attempting to break into a residence in Marsa. Prosecuting Inspector Robert Vella told the court how the accused had been arrested at 02:15am last night after officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit came across him while he was trying to break into a residence.

He also damaged the door and lock of the residence during his break-in attempt. When asked whether he pleaded guilty or not guilty, the accused’s interpreter explained “he was too drunk to remember what happened last night but from what the police told him, he was guilty”. Magistrate Gabriella Vella sentenced him to 8 months’ jail for this offence, and noted that as it had been committed during the operative term of a previous two-year suspended sentence, it also rendered that sentence operable. Lawyer Benjamin Valencia was legal aid.

“It’s Somalis killing each other”: Calgary community leader

05 Jan – Source: Sun News Network/Hiiraan – 410 Words

The city’s Somali community is seeking answers to a spate of murders among its young men that spiked again in the new year. The “senseless killings” that now include one man shot to death at a Killarney New Year’s party and another in a Rosedale alley a day later must bring answers, said Mohamed Jama, president of the Somali Canadian Society of Calgary. “This killing has been going on for too long,” said Jama, who was to meet with the families of those most recently slain. “It’s Somalis killing each other — it’s very tragic.” He said the community is worried the two slayings could be followed by more. “You never know — anything can happen,” he said.

In the first death, Abdullahi Ahmed, 26, was mortally wounded in a barrage of bullets that injured six others at a home in the 1900 block of 36 Street Southwest. The following morning, the body of Murad Omar, 23, was found in an alley in the after nearby residents heard a series of gunshots. Jama said too many young men in his community have become alienated and choose a wrong way in life. “The young men are isolated, they drop out of school and they have taken their own path,” he said.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Jubaland should not have negotiated with Barre Hiiraale, an active member of al Qaeda-aligned militant ,who joined the group that he met in Goob Weyn town after his defeat. But unfortunately, he received a royal welcome from President Ahmed Mohamed Islam “Ahmed Madobe”, in an attempt to end Hiraale’s rebellion.”

Jubaland: Outlook for the New Year, 2015

05 Jan – Source: Waagacusub.net – 587 Words

Jubaland government ministers will visit a number of countries in the coming months. This will include trips to Asia, Europe, North America, South Sudan, China and so on.
Jubaland administration has been very busy training hundreds of it military to liberate Shabaab strong-hold towns in lower Juba and refurbishing public and government sectors, as well as building its government institutions such as, security , police and cabinet . The Jubaland authority has been accused of failing to effectively counter a number of assassinations targeted against the Kismayo population, including the assassinated late Jubaland Security Forces commander, Isse Mohamed Alake “Isse Kambooni”.

On June 30, 2013, acting on Mogadishu based government’s orders to disrupt the formation of Jubaland State, a rug-tag militia that was under the command of the warlord, Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale, invaded Kismayo. This was a bid to revive ruffianism and the “Galguduud brotherhood” initiative. The “Galguduud brotherhood” was an outdated umbrella organisation, led-by group of warlords of Goobaale, Indhacade and Barre Hiiraale. It had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during their 7-year control over Kismayo. During this period they killed dozens of civilians in Jubaland.