August 18, 2015 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Dispute Over Deploying AMISOM Troops To Puntland State

17 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 173 Words

Puntland state’s Parliamentary Standing Committee has today rejected the deployment of AMISOM soldiers to Puntland soil.The parliament’s decision comes after Puntland President Abdiwali Mohamed Ali (Gaas) accepted a request from UN to deploy limited AMISOM troops to the region that will be responsible for the security of UN agencies in puntland.In an interview with Reuters, Puntland State President, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali (Gaas), asked for more help from the Federal Government and AMISOM forces but said they do not need AMISOM forces.“We do not need AMISOM forces because Puntland forces have the ability to fight Al-Shabaab, but we need to be assisted with military equipment, telecommunication, military vehicles, weapons and ammunitions” he said. However Goobjoog learns that Puntland president faces pressure from the UN and some western countries to accept the deployment of limited AMISOM troops to the region. Puntland state had previously resisted to accept any deployment of African Peacekeeping forces to its land saying the state is capable to deal with all the security threats from Al-Shabaab.

Key Headlines

Dispute Over Deploying AMISOM Troops To Puntland State (Goobjoog News)
Al-Shabaab Officers Surrender To Somali Government (Radio Dalsan)
Puntland Government Orders Internal Displacement Persons To Vacate Government Buildings(Goobjoog News)
Ethiopian Warplanes Hit Militant Bases In Masagawaa (Wacaal Media)
Elbuur Traders Charged Over Al-Shabaab Links (Mareeg Media)
Somali Police Nab 11 Militants In Operation: Official (Xinhua)
Coleman Backs Headscarf Ban For Columbus Police Officers (The Columbus Dispatch)
Do Not Impeach The President (Wardheer News)
First Footsteps in Europe: Among the British (Maandeeq.com)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Al- Shabaab Officers Surrender To Somali Government

17 August – Source: Radio Dalsan – 148 Words

Reports coming from Bardhere district in Gedo region say that Al-Shabaab officers have surrendered themselves to the Somali government soldiers. “Three Al-Shabaab officers have willingly surrendered themselves to the Somali government, and we have warmly welcomed them and treated them highly, we are also recommending the others to do the same way” says Jama Mosses a Colonel in the Somali army speaking to Radio Dalsan. Colonel Mosses also added that in the past couple of days there were other members of Al-Shabaab who have surrendered themselves to the Somali government.In addition, the commander of charity collection for Al-Shabaab has surrendered himself to the Somali government in Bakool region. In the last couple weeks the Somali government soldiers along with the AU troops have carried out operations to eradicate Al-Shabaab from remaining areas in some regions of the country.

Puntland Government Orders Internal Displacement Persons To Vacate Government Buildings

17 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 154 Words

The administration Puntland State has ordered hundreds of IDP families living in government buildings to vacate the areas. Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has ordered the civilians who are using government premises to vacate. Hundreds of IDPs are currently living in government buildings in Bossaso, Garowe and many other towns. Speaking in an interview with Goobjoog News, Puntland Minister of Public Works, Abdirashid Mohamed Hirsi said that what Puntland government wants be to handed over is not only occupied government buildings but also vehicles of somali central government that was deposed in 1990 by rebels.“All Somali central government premises in Puntland territory are urgently needed to be handed over to the government, we call upon those who are using them to hand over the properties to Puntland government” said Abdirashid. Since the Somali central government toppled in 1990, many internal displaced persons(IDPs), have settled in government buildings.

Ethiopian Warplanes Hit Militant Bases In Masagawaa

17 August – Source: Wacaal Media – 83 Words

News reaching us from Galgaduud region indicate that Ethiopian warplanes have hit several Al-Shabaab targets in Masagawaa location which is under militant rule. Locals told Wacaal media that the planes hit Al-Shabaab bases where senior militants were holed up in strategy meetings. Residents saw vehicles belonging to the militants leaving the area with those who were injured in the raid. Efforts to get more information from the local administration in Galgaduud region were fruitless as officials refused to comment on the incident.

Elbuur Traders Charged Over Al-Shabaab Links

17 August – Source: Mareeg Media – 110 Words

Officials from Elbuur administration for the Somali government have accused local merchants of working with Al Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab militants. Elbuur District Commissioner, Noor Hassan Guutaale told the media based in Mogadishu that Al-Shabaab militants had been given funds by local merchants in the town. Meanwhile, District Commissioner Hassan stressed that the overall security in the town has improved, adding that daily operations are carried out by government soldiers. Elbuur, is a former Al-Shabaab stronghold which was captured by Somalia National Army, along with African Union peacekeeping forces after battling insurgents.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Police Nab 11 Militants In Operation: Official

17 August – Source: Xinhua – 220 Words

Somali police said they are holding 11 suspects linked to Al-Shabaab militants and seized explosives and weapons after covert operation in Mogadishu’s Yaqshid district early Monday, officials said. Deputy Somali police commissioner Mukhtar Hussein Afrah told journalists that the militants were arrested following a tip off from the public that a number of Al-Shabaab fighters were hiding in a house in Yaqshid district, north of the capital. “Special police forces surrounded the house and when they stormed inside, they found 11 Al-Shabaab militants, along with various weapons, including heavy machine-guns and pistols,” Afrah said. According to the police commander, the house was being used to prepare the bombings and murder operations against civilians in Mogadishu.

“We learned that the house was a base for the members of Al-Shabaab which they used to carry out interruption operations in the capital,” he added. Residents told Xinhua that Somali police forces conducted operations that lasted for four hours in the district. “There was a security operation launched and some people were detained by the police in our district,” said Ahmed Sha’iye, one of the residents in Yaqshid district. Although Al-Shabaab militants have been flushed out of most regions in Somalia by Africa Union and government troops, the group is still capable of carrying out attacks against government and AU peacekeeping force in Mogadishu-.

Coleman Backs Headscarf Ban For Columbus Police Officers

17 August – Source: The Columbus Dispatch – 845 Words

Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman said he supports Police Chief Kim Jacobs’ decision to keep officers from wearing head scarves for religious reasons. But he said the city will try harder to recruit immigrants to the force, including by appealing to the families of potential applicants. “I’ve said this to our chief and safety director, to step up our efforts in this area,” Coleman said in an interview last week. “I strongly believe that our police force needs to be reflective of every corner of our city.” The issue came to the forefront after The Dispatch wrote in April about Ismahan Isse, a Somali-American and Muslim woman who left the Columbus police academy in March because of the head-scarf ban.

Isse said at the time that her scarf, or hijab, is important to her identity. She said she would like to return to the academy because her dream has been to become a police officer. Columbus police leaders said in June that they would keep the head-scarf prohibition because they want the division to be perceived as a nonpolitical, nonreligious organization and that the uniform should reflect that neutrality. Officials also said that scarves could pose safety problems. “When officers go out into the community, they should be identified as Columbus police officers, not Muslim police officers, not Christian police officers, not Jewish police officers, not Hindus, Baptists or anything else,” Coleman said. Jacobs agrees. “I want whoever pulls up to the scene as being recognized as a Columbus police officer that doesn’t turn anyone off,” she said. Officers are allowed to wear religious jewelry, such as a cross necklace, as long as it is under a shirt and cannot be seen, said Sgt. Rich Weiner, Columbus police spokesman.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“The legislators who submitted the impeachment are equally to blame for the very transgressions they are accusing the president of perpetrating. In 2012, members of this body admitted publicly that they allowed themselves to be bribed to elect the current president, a man unknown to many Somalis, who, nevertheless miraculously trounced the incumbent president.”

Do Not Impeach The President

17 August – Source : Wardheer New – 643 Words

On Wednesday, August 12, 2015, about 93 Somali legislators submitted a motion to impeach President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud for a series of constitutional violations, corruption, impeding the formation of some regional states and later undermining them, and for not consulting with parliament. While all these accusations may be justified, the idea of impeaching the president now is not wise for the following reasons:

The president has a year left of his term, which he should finish. Afterwards, he should never come back to the political scene because of his embarrassing record of authoritarianism and corruption. Removing the president now before his term is up is not going to solve any problems. In fact, impeaching him is likely to create more problems than solutions. The removal of Mohamed Morsi after the Egyptians had elected him president, was unconstitutional and counterproductive. It created havoc in Egypt and led to political turmoil that will take many years to unravel. General Abdifatah Al-Sisi, who toppled and replaced Morsi, turned out to be a dictator worse than Mubarak and Sadat. Even Morsi, who made egregious mistakes in his short tenure by acting in an imperial fashion, seems today to have been a better ruler than Al-Sisi. If Morsi had been left to finish his term, it is highly unlikely the Egyptians would have re-elected him. These precedents should set off warning bells for Somalia, which simply cannot afford to experience the havoc we have seen in Egypt, and which will likely ensue if the Somali president is impeached now. An interim administration would not be able to prepare the country for change in 2016.

“First Footsteps in Europe is a Somali ethnographic diary in three parts.”

First Footsteps in Europe: Among the British

17 August – Source: Maandeeq.com – 710 Words

“Hiya” I paused for a moment, unable to quite decipher the meaning of this odd sounding term. Was it a hello, or a how are you? Hi…ya? The man’s unchanged expression left me no clues. I took a guess. “Hi, an earl grey tea please.” “Takeawayorsitin?” Take away or sit in, I managed to decode from his garbled speech. “Um… to go, please.” I grabbed a seat by the window and stared out into the dreary cityscape while I waited. It occurred to me that he didn’t ask me for a size. Among the many peculiarities of London cafes, or what they sometimes call “tea rooms,” is that you cannot get anything larger than what would be considered a medium in an American coffee shop. That, and their inexplicably early closing times. Despite the city’s size, it has very much the character of a small town.

I set out for the “tube station” and into a barrage of “customer service” messages detailing the latest delays. The British are, as one informant described, a pompous, polite and brutal people. With the propensity to overshare, I added to my field notes. Scarcely a moment passes during my trip in the “carriage” without being interrupted by some sort of service update unnecessarily explaining the most minor of delays, or a gentle reminder to watch your step or mind the gap, to coddle the fragile British public. Their dependency on these calm voices of authority for assurance and security is regularly affirmed with the announcement to report anything suspicious. There is danger lurking at all times, whether it’s a threatening person or an escalator. A brown man coughs suddenly after the announcement, startling the white woman next to him, who had been carefully eyeing his backpack.