October 20, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Somalia Seeks Political Harmony Ahead Of 2016 Elections
19 October – Source: Hiiraan Online – 270 Words
In an attempt to evade political wrangles related to the upcoming elections, Somalia’s government has convened a national consultative forum with the attendance of the country’s political stakeholders to enable the transfer of power when the government’s mandate expires in 2016. The consultative forum, which involves the country stakeholders including regional leaders and civil society, seeks ‘guiding principles’ presented and endorsed at high-level partnership forum which was held in the Somali capital in July.The forum hosted by Somali government tries to brainstorm on the most appropriate ways to hold transparent and inclusive elections in 2016, and enabling power transfer when the current government’s term expires in 2016.
According to Somalia’s Provisional Federal Constitution, adopted in 2012, the mandates of the Somali Federal Parliament and of the Government would come to an end in August and September 2016, respectively.Somalia’s government has proposed a presidential election in 2016, however, it dismissed the likelihood of holding popular elections due to security challenges.The Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab group continues to carry out violent attacks across Somalia by carrying out guerrilla attacks including suicide attacks and assassinations.
Monday’s forum precedes another similar forum scheduled in December to reach a consensual decision on the most appropriate electoral process for 2016 to ensure transparency, inclusivity and adequate representation of women, youth and minority groups.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Seeks Political Harmony Ahead Of 2016 Elections (Hiiraan Online)
- Ahlu-Sunnah Wal Jamaa (ASWJ) Strongly Opposes The Consultative Forum In Mogadishu (Radio Dalsan)
- The House Of A Military Commander Attacked (Radio Dalsan)
- Security Ministry Calls On Mogadishu Residents To Work With Security Agencies (Mareeg Online)
- Somalia Clan Clashes Kill 14 (Voice of America)
- Human Remains Found In Search For Missing Somali Man Abdulahi Igal (ABC Online)
- Lawyer Tried To Keep Somali Rape Victim In Australia (Washington Post)
- With No Clear Exit Strategy Kenya May Be Stuck In Somalia For A Long Time (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Ahlu-Sunnah Wal Jamaa (ASWJ) Strongly Opposes The Consultative Forum In Mogadishu
19 October- Source: Radio Dalsan – 181 Words
The administration of the moderate Islamist group in the central regions of Somalia Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama has strongly opposed the consultative forum for the 2016 national election in the country, which has officially opened in Mogadishu on Tuesday.The President of Ahlu-Sunnah Walajam in the central regions Sheikh Mohamed Shakir Ali Hassan speaking to the local press said that they will not respect the outcomes of that meeting.“We have not been invited to attend in the ongoing so called consultative forum which is taking place in Mogadishu, and in our part we shall not at any cost respect the upshot of the meeting” said President Shakir.
The administration of Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama, which is in control of Dhusamareeb town which is the headquarters of Galgaduud region and some other districts such as Guri-El, claims they are the legitimate administration in the central regions of Somalia.The consultative forum for the 2016 general elections in the country is being attended by the autonomous states in the country and the officials of the central government of Somalia
The House Of A Military Commander Attacked
19 October- Source: Radio Dalsan – 111 Words
Reports coming in from Elbuur district in Galgaduud region in central Somalia say that unknown heavy armed men have on Monday attacked the house of the military forces in Galgaduud region Colonel Mohamed Kariye Arale.The bodyguards of the military commander fought back the attackers and according to the local residents in Elbuur district the combat lasted after 45 minutes. There are possibilities of casualties from both sides, but Radio Dalsan has no immediate confirmation.
Security Ministry Calls On Mogadishu Residents To Work With Security Agencies
19 October – Source: Mareeg Online – 128 Words
The spokesman of the Security ministry of the Federal Government, Mohamed Yusuf, has asked residents of Mogadishu to work closely with the security forces with a view to prevent impending Al-Shabaab attacks. Mr Yusuf said Somali security forces will double their patrols, including house and car searches across the capital.
“Our security forces will continue carrying out the security operation in Mogadishu to create and maintain peace in the capital. However, collaboration with residents is important in helping us to thwart the militants’ attacks and killings,” said the spokesman. The Somali Government security forces arrested suspects over the murder of an employee of the Finance Ministry, who was shot dead on Sunday morning by gunmen at Nasteho village in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Clan Clashes Kill 14
19 October – Source: Voice of America – 165 Words
At least 14 people were killed and 20 others injured on Monday in deadly clashes in central Somalia, witnesses and officials said. Rival clan militias engaged in street battles in the town of Beledweyne following a dispute over tax collection, witnesses said. Beledweyne is 335 kilometers north of Mogadishu. Most of the wounded are said to be civilians caught in the crossfire. A local journalist who was video-recording the fighting was injured.
Efforts are underway to mediate the dispute. Local elder Abdi Ali Boreh urged African Union troops in the city to help separate the rival sides. The latest clashes come as the country’s leaders meet in Mogadishu to discuss Somalia’s next political transition. The government has said that elections slated for next year will not take place due to insecurity. In the last three months alone, militant group al-Shabab has blown up a Mogadishu hotel, overrun three African Union peacekeepers’ bases in Somalia and detonated a bomb on the grounds of Somalia’s presidential palace.
Human Remains Found In Search For Missing Somali Man Abdulahi Igal
October 20 – Source: ABC Online – 125 Words
Human remains believed to be those of missing Somali man Abdulahi Mohamad Igal have been discovered in the eastern Perth suburb of Mirrabooka. Police said the remains were found yesterday. Although no formal identification has been made, they are believed to be those of Mr Igal, police said.Mr Igal, 26, was reported missing late last month.
Detectives set up a crime scene near the Herb Graham Recreation Centre last night following reports Mr Igal’s body may be in the area. About 100 members of the Somali community gathered at the car park of the recreation centre last night as police set up a crime scene and searched the surrounds. It is understood a man wanted for questioning over his death has fled to Somalia.
Lawyer Tried To Keep Somali Rape Victim In Australia
19 October – Source: Washington Post – 484 Words
A lawyer for a pregnant Somali refugee rape victim said Monday that he wanted to seek a court order keeping her in Australia before the government suddenly flew her to Nauru without providing the abortion she had requested. The case of the 23-year-old woman, known by the pseudonym Abyan, has amplified criticisms of the government’s tough policy of refusing to allow asylum seekers who arrive by boat to settle in Australia under any circumstances.
Asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australian shores are transferred to Australia-run immigration detention camps on the impoverished Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Abyan alleges she became pregnant at a detention camp on Nauru when she was raped in July. She requested an abortion and the Australian government flew her to Sydney on Sunday last week on a commercial flight from the tiny atoll for the 14-week pregnancy to be terminated.
But she was flown the 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) back to Nauru on Friday in a chartered private jet, in what some critics suspect was a hastily arranged bid to beat a potential court order allowing her to stay. Government officials said she was sent back because she had decided to not proceed with the termination. Abyan said in a statement from Nauru she had not changed her mind, but had been denied an interpreter and counselling.
“I have been very sick,” she wrote in a signed statement. “I have never said that (sic) I did not want a termination.” Lawyer George Newhouse said Monday that he had started preparing an application for a temporary court injunction keeping her in Australia when he discovered Abyan was to be sent back to Nauru. She was gone before he could make the application.
“When we heard an hour before she was being removed from the country without treatment — that that was going to happen — of course we tried to stop her for going back without treatment,” Newhouse told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio, adding it was a temporary injunction and not an effort to keep her in Australia permanently.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Although the insistence from the Kenyan security forces has been that more attacks were foiled, it is not easy to convince a team that loses by three goals that they have a great goalkeeper who stopped 20 shots”.
With No Clear Exit Strategy, Kenya May Be Stuck In Somalia For A Long Time
16 October – Source – Daily Nation – 629 Words
When the Kenya Defence Forces crossed over the border into Somalia in October 2011, their mission, as stated by then Internal Security minister Prof George Saitoti, was hot pursuit of the enemy. In the weekly updates that followed the launch of Operation Linda Nchi, then Chief of Defence Forces General Julius Karangi and other senior officers painted a clearer picture of this mission.
It was, he said, to create a zone between the Kenyan border and inside Somalia through which Al-Shabaab could not penetrate. That buffer zone would be a peace-filled area that would also take away the necessity of hosting hundreds of thousands of the refugees who are perpetually crossing the border. Part of the creation of that zone would involve taking control of the town of Kismayu, whose natural deep port was the busy epicenter of trade in southern Somalia and the source of revenue for Al- Shabaab.
Months after the launch of Operation Linda Nchi, the KDF went under the wing of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom). This entailed not only the symbolic “rehatting”- wearing Amisom rather than KDF hats, but working together with the other armies from Uganda and Burundi and with a joint command. For the personnel on the ground, it meant an increase in pay as they would have a monthly allowance of $1,000 paid out of the United Nations.
But their challenges would remain: slogging in the jungle in all seasons and fighting an enemy that prefers surprise, ambush, trip bombs and all manner of asymmetrical warfare to standing and fighting in the trenches.