05 Sept 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Djibouti soon dispatching a battalion of troops to Somalia
- Former Somalia President welcomes consultative conference in Mogadishu
- Ahlu Sunna resolve inter-clan hostilities in Galgadud region
- UN declares famine in 1 more Somalia region
- Al Shabaab impose curfew in Afgoi corridor for IDPs
- Four arrested over the killing of ICRC officer in Baidoa al Shabaab claims
- Al Shabaab impose curfew in Afgoi corridor for IDPs
- Four arrested over the killing of ICRC officer in Baidoa al Shabaab claims
SOMALI MEDIA
Former Somalia President welcomes consultative conference in Mogadishu
04 Sept – Source: Radio Shabelle, Kulmiye – 152 words
Dr. Abdi Kassim Salad Hassan, who was once the President of Somalia has strongly endorsed the ongoing consultative conference which officially opened on Sunday in Mogadishu. “This consultative conference in Mogadishu is a golden opportunity for the Somali people and we should all make use of it; the conference is quite different from the previous sequences of conferences which the Somali officials used to attend (…) I hope the authorities from the different regions of Somalia will have a common vision of nation building” said ex-president Kassim. The former President also urged the Somali population to unanimously support the conference and finger point that is against peace and stability of Somalia.
Ahlu Sunna resolves inter-clan hostilities in Galgadud region
04 Sept – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 150 words
Ahlu Sunna administration in Galgadud region on Sunday made a breakthrough in its effort to mediate two warring clan militias who fought on Saturday at Mir-Jiley and Hannan Bure villages in the region. At least six people have died and nine others were wounded, mainly combatants during the clash. Dusamareb district Commissioner Abdirahman Ali Ged-qorow told Bar-kulan that they have successfully managed to calm the situation. He said the warring clan militias have heeded their orders demanding the immediate withdrawal of armed militias from the area, paving the way for the burial of the dead bodies. He added that his administration has demolished the water reservoirs that lead to the confrontation between the two clans and are currently keeping a vigil in the disputed area to prevent further hostilities. The DC however urged both local traditional elders and religious leaders to work on the way forward in which the repeat of the incident can be avoided.
Al Shabaab impose curfew in Afgoye corridor for IDPs
04 Sept – Source: Shabelle, Mareeg Online – 101 words
The al Shabaab movement on Sunday imposed a daytime curfew on Afgoi corridor which hosts thousands of displaced Somalis. Witnesses in Elasha Biyaha neighborhood for Mogadishu displaced people say that al Shabaab fighters could be seen on every street ensuring the curfew is being implemented properly. The fighters have ordered the businessmen to close the trade centers in the neighborhood. Early Sunday morning the internally displaced people there were informed by al Shabaab that a daytime curfew had been imposed in the area, without further details. The fighters also said that banners on business centers should be removed as soon as possible.
http://www.shabelle.net/
Saudi Arabia sends more aid to Somalia
05 Sept – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 158 words
Saudi Arabia on Sunday sent 4,000 tonnes of relief supplies to the famine-hit Somali people. The kingdom also pledged to send more humanitarian aid including food and medical aid to the needy people in the Horn of Africa country by air and sea.
The aid shipment came after Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, chairman of the National Relief Campaign for Somalia, ordered the dispatch of relief supplies donated by Saudis using ships. Prince Naif’s adviser Saad Al-Harithy said the relief supplies will be distributed directly to the famine victims.
Al-Harithy said the national fundraising campaign was still collecting donations from Saudis and residents in both cash and kind. Earlier, the Kingdom had sent 24 planes loaded with relief supplies to the Somalis, using Saudi Air Force cargo planes. A two-day telethon organized by the Saudi Arabian Television last month raised more than SR202 million in addition to hundreds of tons of food, medicine, medical appliances, dates, tents and other supplies.
Somaliland government to expel all illegal immigrants
05 Sept – Source: Somaliland Press – 424 words
The government of Somaliland today announced that it will expel about 100,000 illegal immigrants from the country. The government set one month for illegal immigrants to leave Somaliland or face punishment, warning that Somali Landers found hiding illegal immigrants will also be subject to punishment.
The government plans to repatriate about 80,000 – 90,000 illegal immigrants mainly Ethiopians in one month. In a joint press conference by the deputy minister and the general director for the Interior ministry, General Director of the Ministry of Resettlement, governor of Marodi-Jeh region and the Mayor of Hargeisa, ordered all illegal immigrants in Somaliland to leave within thirty days, calling upon all Somaliland citizens to help the government in removing illegal foreigners. “The government calls for all illegal persons in Somaliland who were not accepted as a refugee, to leave the country immediately “said the Deputy Minister for Interior Affairs. There are about 470 families from Pakistan, Yemen and Ethiopia accepted as refugees and they will not be affected by this order.
http://somalilandpress.com/
Four arrested over the killing of ICRC officer in Baidoa, al Shabaab claims
04 Sept – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 187 words
The al Shabaab militia in Baidoa has for the first time publicly spoken on the recent killing of an ICRC staff Abdisalam Feleg who was killed in the area a week ago. Area rebel leader only identified as Adan said they have already arrested four suspects over the assassination of the aid worker.
He said the suspects will soon be arraigned before court to answer the charges against them. Unknown assailants have shot aid worker Abdisalam Feleg several times on the head and chest before fleeing the area immediately. The incident has heightened tension between al Shabaab rebels and local clans in the area in and around Baidoa, Bay region.
Local clan elders ordered the militia group to surrender to them the assailant for execution or face the same punishment, in a literal application of al Shabaab’s Sharia eye-for-eye laws in their hands. Elders demanded that the murderer, who is suspected to be among the rebel fighters, be killed for his actions. However, reluctant militant group leaders differed on the killing of their fighter. Local youths from the clan of the deceased aid worker Abdisalam Feleg in Habare village immediately started arming themselves in retaliation.
Djibouti soon dispatching a battalion of troops to Somalia
04 Sept – Source: Somaliweyn – 239 words
In the coming few weeks the Djiboutian government is send off a battalion of military troops to Somalia, who will be part of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. “It is obligatory upon us to help our fellow Somalis in whichever way possible, and my government has realized that it is the most appropriate time to help our brothers and sisters in Somalia in terms of military power against the merciless human being blood suckers al Shabaab, I’m sure the Somalis will be grateful to our military contribution, Djibouti wants to see strong and unshakable Somalia in all terms which a nation requires, our men will be touching Somali soil in the coming few weeks” says Djibouti defense minister.
The defense minister has also added that the troops have underwent military rehearsals and maneuvers before the final dispatch and are now ready to face any sort of challenges ahead. There are other African nations including the last but not the least African country which got its independency merely on the 9th of July which have pledged peacekeeping troops to Somalia, but so far it’s only Djibouti which seems to have wholeheartedly fulfilled the pledge.
http://www.somaliweyn.info/
Somalia famine worsening, UN says
04 Sept – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 178 words
The United Nations have once again raised a red flag over the worsening Somalia famine situation, saying it is spreading to other regions in the Horn of African country. The UN has warned that the situation in drought-stricken Somalia is deteriorating and that almost all regions of the south could face famine.
It said the lives of drought and famine displaced people are still in risk and called on the world to immediately scale up humanitarian aid efforts to safe lives. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden is scheduled to hold a press conference on Monday to provide the latest details of the famine in war-torn country.
Bowden is expected to appeal for more aid as drought and famine related crisis spreads to other regions in southern Somalia. U.N. officials stress that the situation in Somalia is dire and will continue to get worse before it gets better. More than 12 million people are affected by drought across the Horn of Africa as the U.N has first declared famine in Bakol and parts of the Shabelle regions July 20.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Battle and death in a foreign land: Ugandan peacekeepers in Somalia
04 Sept – Source: East African – 745 words
One evening in February 2011, Fred Mwijukye was at his home in the village of Kyeigombe, deep in the western Ugandan district of Bushenyi, waiting for his mobile phone to ring. He was looking forward to a particular call, which never came, and so he turned on his radio and listened to the BBC.
What he heard had him panicking. It was being reported that African Union peacekeepers in Somalia had been attacked by al Shabaab, the Islamist group that wants to capture Mogadishu. Mwijukye listened to the grim report and then he looked at his phone, and he suspected there and then that Michael Muhamuza, his youngest brother, was not going to call.
Private Muhamuza had been stationed in Somalia, a member of the Ugandan peacekeeping contingent. As it happened, he never called again. Al Shabaab militants had killed him and then dragged his body through the streets. The exact circumstances of his death were not clear, but Mwijukye has since been told by returning peacekeepers that Muhamuza had been firing a mortar on the day he died. His associates, sensing they were losing, had run away, but Muhamuza, perhaps afraid to abandon an important piece of weaponry, had soldiered on until two bullets, in the ribs and on the shoulder, felled him.
Muhamuza would call home every day, and so the Mwijukyes slept uneasily that night. Even if they suspected something terrible had happened to him, nothing prepared them for what they were about to find out. The next day, still clueless and unable to confirm anything, Mwijukye opened a Google page and searched for the latest on African Union peacekeepers in Somalia. What he saw gave him proof that Muhamuza was gone forever. He saw numerous pictures of his dead brother on an obscure site, posted by gloating militants. He printed some of them.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
World’s focus must switch back to bleeding Somalia
05 Sept – Source: Times Live – 276 words
Millions of television viewers watched, transfixed, as a rag-tag rebel army streamed into Tripoli, fought its way into Gaddafi’s fortified compound and took journalists on guided tours of the palatial gilded villas he and his family built for themselves during the 41-years of misrule of the oil-rich North African country by the self-styled King of Kings.
The major unfolding story in Africa – that of the devastating famine and drought in the Horn of Africa – might make less compelling viewing than the Libyan revolution, but it is arguably far more significant. The lives of as many as 12million people, most of them in Somalia, are at stake and, though the world was initially slow to respond, there are encouraging signs that the major powers – and some member states of the African Union – are beginning to channel real money towards famine-relief efforts.
Another promising development is a three-day national reconciliation summit of Somali leaders that kicked-off in war-ravaged Mogadishu yesterday. A key objective of the conference, which is under the auspices of the UN, is to wind down the ineffective transitional administration, draft a new constitution and hold elections.
Though delegates of the breakaway Puntland region and of other semi-autonomous territories are participating, the militant Islamist al Shabaab group, which has been fighting a fierce insurgency against the transitional government and which controls vast swathes of the country, is noticeable by its absence. Concerted efforts need to be made to get the militants to the negotiating table if there is to be any hope of bringing lasting peace to Somalia. The conflict has hampered the flow of food aid and other relief to millions of desperate people and must be resolved now.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
UN declares famine in 1 more Somalia region
05 Sept – Source: AP – 156 – words
Famine has spread into one more region of Somalia, leaving 4 million people in the lawless Horn of Africa nation in crisis, the United Nations said Monday. Southern Somalia’s Bay region is the latest region to be declared a famine zone, according to a U.N. press release issued Monday. A total of six areas, including four southern Somali regions and two settlements of internally displaced people, are now suffering from famine. The press release says 750,000 people are at risk of death in the next four months if there is no adequate response.
The U.N. says tens of thousands of people already have died in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti due to the severe violence, drought and famine that still have not peaked. More than 150,000 refugees have sought aid in the last few months.
Somalia has been hit hardest, its problems compounded by the fact it has not had functioning government since 1991.