May 1, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.

General Abdi Qaybdiid Decries Federal Government’s Interference With Adaado Conference

01 May – Source: Wacaal Media – 237 Words

One of the candidates for the presidency of a new regional state for the central regions of the country is up in arms over what he termed as blatant interference from the Federal government in the conference that is currently underway in Adaado. Speaking to the BBC’s Somali service, Abdi Hassan Awaale (Qaybdiid) accused Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration of bringing delegates from Mogadishu who have no stake in the formation of the regional administration. This, he said, angered traditional elders from the area who see this as an infringement on their rights.

“These are people sneaked in to the conference by the Interior ministry of Somalia. They gave them identification paper and badges camouflaging them as traditional elders from this region yet we know the truth of the matter. They are here to serve interests of a specific group that wants to carry the day through all means. It is an initiative of the Somali government” said General Qaybdiid when asked to name the impostors. His sentiments come at a time when the traditional elders attending the meeting yesterday dissolved the technical committee for locking out elders from Southern Mudug which comes under Puntland state. Sources told Wacaal.com that the issue has come up for discussions in the consultative meeting between the Federal government and the regional states.

Key Headlines

General Abdi Qaybdiid Decries Federal Government’s Interference With Adaado Conference (Wacaal Media)
Somalia Marks International Labour Day (Somali Current)
Somali Prime Minister Welcomes “Gurmad and Gargaar” Campaign Spearheaded by Goobjoog News(Goobjoog News)
Federal Government Puntland At Loggerheads Over Mudug (Garowe Online)
Kenya’s Crackdown On Somali Migrants Spells Trouble For The Economy (Quartz)
After Somalia’s Famine Hunger Persists (AFP/Yahoo News)
Hungary Extends Its Participation In EUTM Somalia (Xinhua News)
Explosions Reported In Lower Shabelle Amid Recent Al-Shabaab Attacks In Mogadishu (International Business Times)
Mass Grave Found In Wajir Town 11 Bodies Thought To Be Of Terror Suspects Found In Lanbiib (The Star Newspaper)
Somali Journalist And Wife Shot Dead (eNCA)
Khalwale In Trouble Over Somali Claims (Daily Nation)
Fight Against Al-Shabaab A Focus Of Kerry Trip (VOA English Service)
Chaos In Tower Danger In Skies At Base In Africa (Washington Post)
Facebook Sells ‘Paradise On Earth’ To Young Somalis (Al Jazeera)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia Marks International Labour Day

01 March – Source: Somali Current – 130 Words

Workers from different economic sectors in the country, particularly those in southern and central regions, converged at Diplomatic Hotel in Mogadishu on April 30th to mark this year’s International Labour Day celebrations. The occasion was organized by the Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU) and was attended by more than 200 trade union leaders, activists, civil society and parliamentarians. The trade unionists and invited guests used the Labour Day celebration to remember the fallen heroes and heroines of Somali workers who were killed since May 2014. They celebrated and saluted the strength and resilient spirit of the working class people of Somalia and their industrial unions who work for paltry salaries and toil in unsafe environments, precarious working conditions and suppression of labour rights.

Somali Prime Minister Welcomes “Gurmad and Gargaar” Campaign Spearheaded by Goobjoog News

1 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 392 Words

Somali Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali spoke for the first time about the “Gurmad and Gargaar”campaign which is intended help to Somali refugees in Yemen and Kenya. “It is good always to help one another and that is what Somali culture is based on, actually it is not suitable [for] people to wait [for] help from foreigners. In fact, I appreciate the campaign spearheaded by Goobjoog News,” he said. Speaking about the government’s plan to evacuate Somali refugees in Yemen he said that his government appointed a committee to work on the repatriation process of Somalis in Yemen. “We planned to send ships to evacuate our citizens in Yemen, during my official visit to Dubai. I discussed with that government of Dubai and they pledged that they will [cover] expenses to hire two ships to withdraw Somalis in Yemen” he said. He added that there is already a ship docked at one Yemen port and it will ferry about 900 Somalis.

“A no-fly zone has been imposed over Yemen since [the] operation led by Saudi started, therefore Somali government has preferred to send ships rather than planes, there are no ships owned by Somali government…owners of the ships are not willing to send their vessels to war-torn country, we faced some challenges like that but finally we found one ship and hopefully we are expecting to get two more ships soon.” The prime minister highlighted the case of the forty Somali refugees killed by Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen and the decision by the Somali government taken against that incident. “We talked to the coalition about that incident and urged Saudi-led coalition to take immediate steps to minimize civilian harm during airstrikes and other military operations” he said. Finally he applauded Puntland state which announced ministerial level committee to work on and closely monitor the increasing violence in Yemen and the Somali refugees arriving Puntland in large numbers. He also applauded Somaliland administration which called its people to welcome and host Somali people who are fleeing Yemen in fear for their lives.

Federal Government And Puntland At Loggerheads Over Mudug

30 April – Source: Garowe Online – 173 Words

Somalia’s Federal Government and Puntland have come to loggerheads over the future of Mudug region, bringing to the consultative conference on the framework for action closer to collapse on Thursday, Garowe Online reports. Puntland MP Saed Abdi Samatar (Surcad) who is representing the northeastern state in the ongoing meeting told Garowe Online that Mogadishu-based federal government delegates showed reluctance to the proposed split of Mudug. “Before everything, Puntland wants to come on board, and get clarified on the status of Mudug which was split into North and South,” said Surcad.

“Somalia Federal Government representatives in the conference hall tried to keep us in dark about the matter, but we are keen to find ways for the matters besetting central state formation”. Officials from both the Federal Government and Puntland are discussing the sticking points that gave rise to the fresh dispute with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Puntland leader. On July 30, 2014, Puntland protested the inclusion of Mudug in central state map, withdrawing support for UN-backed weak central government.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Kenya’s Crackdown On Somali Migrants Spells Trouble For The Economy

01 May – Source: Quartz – 883 Words

The tragic events that took place at Kenya’s Garissa University on Apr. 2, 2015, , in which 147 students were killed by militants linked with al-Shabaab, kick-started another round of xenophobic initiatives proposed in the country’s legislature. Under president Uhuru Kenyatta’s leadership, the country has taken steps to close the Dabaab refugee camp near the border with Somalia, and forcibly repatriate its inhabitants. Kenyatta has also authorized an uptick in surveillance of Somali communities in Nairobi, and the construction of a “security wall” along the Kenyan-Somali border.

Human-rights activists and security analysts alike have decried the plans as a mixture of short-sightedness, xenophobia, and infeasibility. Overlooked, however, have been the potential economic consequences of these actions; in persecuting Somalis, Kenya risks undermining its position as a regional economic leader. While Somalis in Kenya may be a convenient scapegoat in the face of an increasingly tangible jihadi threat, the persecution of these populations will not lead to a more secure Kenya, and will likely stunt the country’s economy. The Dabaab refugee camp houses roughly 500,000 people, making it one of the largest refugee camps in the world. Unofficially, it is the third largest city in Kenya.

Though Dabaab is located in the Garissa district, the perpetrators of the attack on Garissa University were Kenyan, and at least three of the four perpetrators came from other regions in the country. As far back as 2012, Kenyan politicians have sought to close the Dabaab refugee camp. Then, former president Mwai Kibaki asserted that it was “unsustainable,” and requested international support to return Somali refugees to their home country. Today, president Kenyatta argues that the camp has become a national-security threat, and has stipulated a timeline of three months to resettle Somali inhabitants. The office of the UN high commissioner for refugees has said that this would have “extreme humanitarian and practical consequences, and would be a violation of Kenya’s international obligations.”

After Somalia’s Famine, Hunger Persists

01 May – Source: AFP/Yahoo News – 629 Words

At a hospital in Mogadishu’s Yaqshid district, children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, worsened by stomach and chest infections, are receiving treatment that is likely saving their young lives. Three years have elapsed since famine killed more than a quarter of a million people in Somalia –- more than half of them children –- yet for many of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people the hunger has not gone away. Seven-month-old Zakaria was admitted to the specialised clinic with severe acute malnutrition and a respiratory tract infection. After six days of being fed fortified milk and antibiotics, his tiny body still appeared emaciated and listless but his mother, Baarlin Hassan Nuur, 30, said he was much improved. “When I brought my son here he was very sick and vulnerable, but he is recovering now and looking better,” said Nuur, a street vendor and market trader. She moved to Mogadishu from the town of Balad, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) to the north, when seasonal drought dried up her father’s farm.

Others in the ward ranged from a five-week-old baby girl to a three-year-old. One child had developed tuberculosis while another contracted a stomach disease when he was fed cow’s milk after refusing to breastfeed. With scarce resources, nutrition expert Yusuf Sheikh Abdi struggles to run the clinic for local non-governmental organisation SAACID, whose name means “to help” in Somali. “Feeding must go together with antibiotics to treat diseases. You cannot reach the desired treatment without antibiotics,” he said after pointing out the empty shelves and cabinets in the centre’s pharmacy. In the corner of the room were the last of the supplies: a small stack of fortified milk powder and “Plumpy Nut” peanut paste, a special food designed to fatten starving children. “We will have to stop admissions in the next few days,” Abdi said. Only three weeks ago a child at Abdi’s facility died of a combination of malnutrition and disease. In 2011 and 2012 a famine caused by conflict and drought killed nearly five percent of Somalia’s population and 10 percent of its children. At the time, Abdi was working in Middle Shabelle, one of the regions south of Mogadishu hit by famine.”At that time malnutrition was high, high. Now it is reduced, but only somewhat. For many it still exists,” he said. There are currently 203,000 acutely malnourished children in Somalia, according to a recent UN assessment.

Hungary Extends Its Participation In EUTM Somalia

01 May – Source: Xinhua News – 172 Words

The Hungarian government has extended the mandate of the Hungarian Defence Forces’ mission in Somalia until the end of next year, Defence Minister Csaba Hende said in a report submitted to parliament on Thursday, Hungarian News Agency MTI reported. The government has approved sending up to ten Hungarian soldiers, or 20 at the time of changeover between units, to Uganda, Somalia and Kenya to participate in the training forces operating under the arrangements of European Union Training Mission Somalia (EUTM Somalia), Hende said. The extension of the mission had to be approved by the government, in line with the constitution, from the original deadline of March 31, 2015, the report said. On April 10, 2010, the European Union launched EUTM Somalia, with a mandate to support the Transitional Federal Government and assist in strengthening national institutions.Last month, the European Union extended EUTM Somalia until Dec. 31, 2016 as it continues to provide basic, leadership and specialized military training and advice to the Somali military.

Explosions Reported In Lower Shabelle Amid Recent Al-Shabaab Attacks In Mogadishu

30 April – Source: International Business Times – 322 Words

Explosions rang out in the Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia Thursday, according to local media reports. Some were reported dead and others seriously injured from a blast at a khat market in the town of Janale, about 60 miles outside the capital city Mogadishu. There was a second explosion reported at a Somali police station nearby Thursday. Local reports in southeastern Lower Shabelle said the regional governor, Abdikadir Mohamed Nur Sidi, confirmed the explosion at the market but did not elaborate on details. There were reports four women were wounded in the blast, while others said three women were killed. This is a developing story.

Al Shabab has staged a string of recent attacks along the Somali coast in Lower Shabelle this month. Last week, at least 10 people were killed and dozens injured when the Islamist militants detonated a car bomb outside a popular restaurant in Mogadishu on April 21, Reuters said. Six African Union soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by the al Qaeda-aligned fighters in the town of Leego in southern Lower Shabelle region April 19. A week earlier, Al Shabab militants stormed a government building in the center of Mogadishu and killed at least 10 people, Reuters said. Many rural areas of Somalia are controlled by Al Shabab, and the terror group has imposed a strict version of Shariah law there. The Somali-based group emerged in 2006 from the now-defunct Islamic Courts Union that controlled Mogadishu.

Mass Grave Found In Wajir Town, 11 Bodies Thought To Be Of Terror Suspects Found In Lanbiib

1st May 2015- Source: The Star Newspaper – 629 words

Human rights organisations and families are alarmed over the alleged resurgence of extra-judicial killings and disappearances of terror suspects. On Tuesday, at least 11 bodies were found in a shallow grave in Lanbiib on the outskirts of Wajir town. Two dismembered heads were found in Yahud dam, two kilometers east of Wajir, according to other sources. Some victims were reportedly ‘arrested’ by people who identified themselves as police officers. Locals said they heard gunshots on Thursday last week at around 8pm. Spent cartridges were also found at the scene of the mass grave. In Mandera, around 17 people are reported missing after they were separately pulled into unnumbered vehicles by men in plain clothes with pistols.

Somali Journalist And Wife Shot Dead

30 April – Source: eNCA – 219 Words

Suspected members of the Islamist group al-Shabaab have killed a Somali journalist and his wife, police said on Thursday. Daud Ali Omar, 35, who worked for an independent radio station in the southern-central city of Baidoa, and his wife, were shot dead while sleeping by gunmen who entered their home on Wednesday night, local police representative Mahad Mohamed said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but al-Shabaab has frequently targeted journalists in the Horn of Africa country.

Mohamed said the group had staged a string of attacks in Baidoa over the past few months, targeting moderate Islamic scholars and entrepreneurs. Mohamed Ibrahim from the National Union of Somali Journalists said the killings were “aimed at silencing the freedom of the press and of expression”. Global media watchdog groups consider Somalia as one of the most dangerous countries to work as a journalist. In 2012, 18 journalists were killed, followed by seven in 2013 and five last year. Omar was the first journalist killed this year. Earlier this month, photographer Farhan Suleiman Dahir survived an attempted killing by suspected al-Shabaab members in Mogadishu. Attackers have targeted journalists who wrote about al-Shabaab or about clan rivalries in the Horn of Africa country. Somalia’s nearly decade-long battle against al-Shabaab has cost thousands of lives.

Khalwale In Trouble Over Somali Claims

30 April – Source: Daily Nation – 286 Words

Tempers flared in the Senate Thursday following claims that a senator had linked Kenyans of Somali origin to terrorism. Dr Boni Khalwale (Kakamega, UDF) had said that most of the youths who have been recruited by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) are from the Somali community. This prompted Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar Hassan to raise concerns that the senator might be implying that Somalis are to blame for terrorists’ plans to attack Parliament. Early this week, a Senate worker of Somali origin was accused of helping terrorists to plan an attack in Parliament.Senators, particularly Muslims, protested over the utterances, saying it was wrong for Dr Khalwale to portray the community in bad light, yet he had no evidence linking them to crime.

Senators Abdirahman Hassan (Wajir, ODM), Billow Kerrow (Mandera, URP) and Yusuf Haji (Garissa, TNA) said there was no relationship between recruitment of Somalis and terrorism in the country. “I am surprised that a colleague can come to this House and label us as terrorists,” Mr Hassan said before Deputy Speaker Kembi Gitura interrupted, warning the legislators against opening a debate that had been concluded. “If you want to debate issues, you come and you participate in the debate,” said Mr Gitura. He clarified that Dr Khalwale was required to produce a list of Somali nationals working in Parliament, or withdraw the statement and apologise. Efforts by Dr Khalwale to pass blame to the office of the Clerk to the Senate for failing to provide him with the authenticated list on time were rejected.“I have been denied the right of access to information that is held by the State,” said Dr Khalwale.The senator apologised, albeit reluctantly.

Fight Against Al-Shabab A Focus Of Kerry Trip

30 April – Source: VOA – 429 Words

A senior State Department official says the Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab has been launching “asymmetrical attacks” in neighboring countries because of the success that African and U.S. forces have had against the group in Somalia. The official commented in a background briefing Thursday, ahead of Secretary of State John Kerry’s upcoming trip to Kenya and Djibouti. The official said a focal point of the visit will be to explore ways to more effectively deal with threats posed by al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab and other militant groups. “Our message is that fighting terrorism requires a multi-faceted approach. It is not just the security side, but it is also dealing with some of the environmental or the political conditions,” the official said.

Both Kenya and Djibouti have been involved in efforts to fight al-Shabab, and both countries have suffered retaliatory attacks. Earlier this month, an al-Shabab rampage at Kenya’s Garissa University College left 147 people dead. Last year, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for suicide bombings at a Djibouti restaurant that killed a Turkish national and wounded several Westerners. The senior State Department official said the U.S. would continue to work with these countries by providing equipment, training and information to help fight threats from militants.However, a military defeat of al-Shabab would not equate to a total defeat of the group, said Peter Pham, the Africa Center Director at the Atlantic Council. “The movement has transformed itself from less a territorial entity seeking to control parts of Somalia into a transnational terrorist entity,” said Pham.

OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE

“The Djibouti government denied that there have been any safety shortcomings at the airport. Issa Saher Bouraleh, a counselor at the Djiboutian Embassy in Washington, said the reports of controllers sleeping on the job, using khat and leaving the tower unattended were invented or exaggerated.“That’s nonsense,” he said in an interview. “I’m sure that the airport is safe. It is more safe than other Arab countries.” If controllers were really sleeping on the tower floor or hooked on khat, he added, “there would be accidents every day.”

Chaos In Tower, Danger In Skies At Base In Africa

30 April – Source: Washington Post – 2,418 Words

The skies above the U.S. military’s counterterrorism hub on the Horn of Africa have become chronically dangerous, with pilots forced to rely on local air-traffic controllers who fall asleep on the job, commit errors at astronomical rates and are hostile to Americans, documents show. Conditions at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the base for U.S. pilots flying sensitive missions over Yemen and Somalia, have become so dire that American warplanes and civilian airliners alike are routinely placed in jeopardy, according to federal aviation experts and documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act. Unlike other major U.S. military bases around the world, Camp Lemonnier is wholly dependent on civilian air-traffic controllers, hired by the government of Djibouti to keep the skies safe. But as the base has increased in size and importance, the Djiboutian controllers’ hazardous habits and deep dislike for drones have disrupted U.S. military operations and triggered repeated warnings about the risk of an aviation catastrophe.

The military documents, based on observation reports from the flight tower, describe scenes that would be comic if not for the potential for disaster. Some controllers habitually dozed on the floor while on duty, pulling a blanket over their heads to drown out radio traffic. Others immersed themselves in video games and personal phone calls while ignoring communication from pilots. Still others punished U.S. flight crews for a perceived lack of respect by forcing them to circle overhead until they ran low on fuel.A common vice in the flight tower was chewing khat, a leafy plant that acts as a stimulant and is banned in the United States but legal and popular in Djibouti, according to the documents.Outsiders who tried to impose order did so at their peril. One Djiboutian supervisor was beaten up by a controller and tossed down the flight-tower stairs. A U.S. Navy officer was threatened with a pipe.

The documents chronicle an ill-fated $7 million U.S. program in which former Federal Aviation Administration officials were tapped to retrain the Djiboutian air-traffic controllers in 2012 and 2013. The effort collapsed after the Djiboutians stopped showing up for classes and locked the American trainers out of the flight tower. The controllers’ actions have exacerbated already difficult conditions at Camp Lemonnier, which shares its two runways with Djibouti’s only international airport, a French military base and a small contingent of Japanese military aircraft. As a result, the controllers must juggle civilian airliners with an unusual assortment of fighter planes, drones and cargo jets.The U.S. military is the airport’s biggest user. It accounted for more than half of the 30,000 takeoffs and landings last year, military officials said. In interviews, some of the former FAA officials said they were shocked that the U.S. military would tolerate such unsafe conditions.“It’s mind-boggling,” said one former FAA official who spent nearly a year in Djibouti and spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals. “Literally, it’s the most dangerous airspace I’ve seen in the world, and I’ve been to Afghanistan.”

Facebook Sells ‘Paradise On Earth’ To Young Somalis

30 April – Source: Al Jazeera – 466 Words

From emotionally-traumatised returned migrants, to the chief immigration commissioner to the top smugglers, one thing keeps turning up in conversation: social media. It keeps the steady flow of would-be migrants coming, they say, enticing young Somalis to risk it all – even death. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter paint the West as a paradise that should be reached by all means, I was told repeatedly. The polished and heavily touched-up photos Somalis abroad post on their social media accounts mask the reality, officials complained. “Our young people all have Facebook on their phones and the pictures they see on there can only be described as paradise on earth,” Somaliland’s Immigration Commissioner, Mohamed Ali Yusuf, told me in his office in the city of Hargeisa.The 72-year-old father-of-five, who is not a fan of new technology, had to change his ways. He learned to embrace some “new tricks” in a bid to halt the flow of young people leaving Somali shores every day, destined for Europe via the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean.

In a prime location on his busy desk – next to visa application forms and yet-to-be-issued passports – are three smart phones, including a sleek-looking iPhone. Despite embracing the newest tools of his trade, he is yet to open a Facebook account himself. Admitting that it was an uphill battle, he sounded a man almost defeated by the mammoth task. “My words cannot compete with those images. And that is the unfortunate truth.” Thanks to the more than two decades of conflict, every Somali has a family member or a friend living in another country. And that tightly-knit community keeps in touch through technology.With fast internet, and cheap smart phones and tablets, they are constantly in contact – liking and posting comments on each other’s feeds is a new and easy way of communicating across long distances.And this makes it easier for those involved in the illicit trade of human trafficking.

A smuggler doesn’t need to spend much time convincing potential clients that they should risk their lives crossing an arid desert and an inhospitable sea. That job is done by both Somalis abroad and a diaspora who have returned home.“We know what Europe looks like because of Facebook. And life here is plain for everyone to see,” Ali Noor Yusuf told me from behind the bars of Borama prison, where he is held accused of being the mastermind of a cartel that has trafficked hundreds of young people into the unknown. With the internet now in almost every town and village in Somalia, authorities have their work cut out. As one would-be-migrant told me: “Those pictures give you hope. If we had hope of finding work here we would not leave our country.”

TOP TWEETS

@UNSomalia: #Somalia marks International Labour Day.#SomaliaRising #Women #Inclusive #Progress for All#MayDay
‏@Xarbi: Monopoly politics in #Cadaado rather than State building on needs analysis. #Somalia @UNSomalia @igadsecretariat
@SomaliaJunkie: @UNSomalia UN assistance mission in#Somalia, at youthful does nothing by halves! Your contribution to many fronts is ‘visible’ -on the ball
@Moehassan1991: Let’s put these fake flowers around our necks to the side and do something worth celebrating for#Somalia
@Adventuremun: Incredible to see the lack of representation in Hollywood by minority groups #Somalia #Africa #BarkhadAbdi:https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=116&v=gcWAfuCzMDs …
@farahblue: Khadra Mohamed, the first Somali-American female police officer sworn in on Thursday #Somalia #Minneapolis #Minnesota

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IMAGE OF THE DAY

Seen on the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo: Twitter – Mogadishu Images