December 7, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Somali President Hails China’s Support For Reconstruction
07 December – Source: Xinhua News – 462 Words
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud has commended China for extending financial and technical support to accelerate the reconstruction of the war torn country. During an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Saturday evening in Johannesburg, Mohamoud noted that China has remained a solid bilateral partner to Somalia.
“The reopening of Chinese Embassy in Mogadishu after two decades of shutdown marked an important milestone in our bilateral cooperation,” Mohamoud told Xinhua. He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Johannesburg on December 4th ahead of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). During the meeting, the two leaders discussed key areas of bilateral cooperation aim to rebuild Somalia’s economy, infrastructure and social amenities that were shattered after two decades of civil strife.
Mohamoud said Xi renewed commitment to aid Somalia’s reconstruction in order to position the horn of Africa state as an ideal investment destination: “Xi pledged China’s support to help rehabilitate infrastructure projects. He also promised to send a delegation to Somalia to assess the security situation and other areas that requires intervention,” said Mohamoud. Somalia had robust bilateral ties with China before the eruption of civil war in the early 1990s.
Mohamoud noted that China provided the bulk of funding and technical assistance to his country after it gained independence from Britain: “Before 1990, China was a major donor to Somalia in key areas like infrastructure and security. An estimated 1000 kilometers of highway linking northern and southern Somalia was built by China,” Mohamoud said. He added that China has also built social amenities like schools, hospitals and sports stadium in the newly independent Somalia.
“Besides humanitarian assistance, China has also supported the unity and territorial integrity of Somalia through the United Nations,” Mohamoud remarked. The Somalia government is committed to resumption of peace and stability in the country in order to attract investments. Mohamoud said Somalia national army in partnership with African Union forces have made headway in rooting out Al-Shabaab militants from the capital Mogadishu.
“Previously, the Somalia government controlled only 6 out of 17 districts in Mogadishu. We have recaptured most of the districts controlled by Al-shabaab and currently, the terrorist group is confined in very remote areas, they are not in big cities and towns,” said Mohamoud.Somalia is committed to strengthening cooperation with China to help find durable solution to its economic, political and security challenges.
Key Headlines
- Somali President Hails China’s Support For Reconstruction (Xinhua News)
- Galmudug And Puntland Start Withdrawing Forces From Galkayo Front-line (Shabelle News)
- AMISOM Ready To Send Troops To Galkayo City If Asked (Mareeg Online)
- A Minister In Puntland State Condemns Galmudug State ( Radio Dalsan)
- AMISOM Force Commander Says Tackling Global Terrorism Requires Concerted Efforts (AMISOM)
- Sudanese USAID Employee Assassin Killed By Al-Shabaab In Somalia (Sudan Tribune)
- We Need Much More Than War Speeches We Need Political Action (The Guardian)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Galmudug And Puntland Start Withdrawing Forces From Galkayo Front-line
06 December – Source: Shabelle News – 120 Words
Galmudug and Puntland states began withdrawing their combat forces from the frontline in Galkayo town of Mudug region on Sunday following a ceasefire accord. Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid and leaders from Galmudug and Puntland administrations, Abdikarim Hussein Guled and Abdiwali Gaas arrived the battle zones to personally witness the withdrawal exercise.
The Premier called for the return of those who had fled their homes during the fighting in Galkayo in accordance with the peace agreement between Galmudug and Puntland.Since mid-November 2015, more than 40 people, most of them unarmed civilians have been killed in the violence, while an estimated 40,000 people fled from their homes to escape the escalating battle in Galkayo town.
AMISOM Ready To Send Troops To Galkayo City If Asked
06 December – Source: Mareeg Online – 143 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is ready to dispatch its peacekeeping troops to the conflict-hit Galkayo town, AMISOM spokesman Paul Njuguna has said. Speaking in an interview with Somali Radio,Njuguna explained that if the Somali Federal Government made a request to the forces to intervene, “the matter would be discussed and considered.”
AMISOM forces have been deployed in the Horn of Africa country to help the internationally recognized Mogadishu-based Government in the fight against the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab militant group, among other mandates. The AMISOM spokesman explained that their key mission is to restore peace and stability in Somalia. Meanwhile, Njuguna revealed that AMISOM will soon launch an offensive to drive Al-Shabaab out of Jamame and Jilib towns in Lower and middle Jubba regions in southern Somalia: “Our Jubba corridor operation will end up in Jilib and Jamame towns, which are currently under the control of Al-Shabaab.”
A Minister In Puntland State Condemns Galmudug State
06 December – Source: Radio Dalsan – 182 Words
The Minister for security in the state of Puntland Mr. Abdi Hirsi Ali has strongly criticized the formation of the Galmudug state. Addressing the press in Garowe town, the headquarters of Puntland state, Hirsi stated:“The reason behind the formation of the so called Galmudug state is chiefly to destroy the wellbeing of Puntland state, but we are telling them in a loud and clear voice that Puntland will forever exist however much you play your dirty games.”
This is the first time for the minister to openly pronounce themselves on the tensions and latests clashes in Galkayo town between forces loyal to Puntland and Galmudug states. The minister also rubbished the treaty signed between the two states in the town of Galkayo by terming it “a very fragile and fruitless treaty”. On 22nd November, armed forces from Puntland and Galmudug states took arms against each other in a fight that claimed lives of over 30 people.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AMISOM Force Commander Says Tackling Global Terrorism Requires Concerted Efforts
06 December – Source: AMISOM – 312 Words
AMISOM Force Commander Lt. General Jonathan Rono has said terrorism is a global threat that requires concerted efforts to control. The Force Commander made the remarks during a visit to Sector 5 headquarters in Mogadishu, that hosts the Burundian contingent, on Sunday 6 November 2015. He was received on arrival at the Burundian camp by the Deputy Contingent Commander, Col Frederick Ndayisaba, who affirmed the troops’ conviction to eliminate the threat posed by terrorists.
The Force Commander who interacted with newly deployed troops and the outgoing ones, thanked them for their commitment to duty: “The kind of peace that we are seeing in Somalia would not have been there without your efforts and we acknowledge that. We want to do the remaining bit so that Somalia is fully at peace. There will be criticism but every step is an achievement. So move on, don’t look back,” he encouraged the troops.
General Rono challenged the newly deployed troops to build on the successes already achieved: “I thank those great officers who have made sacrifices to be here, to join their brothers in Somalia and bring peace to Somalia. We must move very fast so that we can recover the areas that are still in the hands of Al Shabaab, and these are very few.”
Sudanese USAID Employee Assassin Killed By Al-Shabaab In Somalia
05 December – Source: Sudan Tribune – 360 Words
One of the four assassins, who took out an employee of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Khartoum, was killed in Somalia by an affiliate of al-Qaeda after pledging allegiance to ISIS, Sudan Tribune has learnt. The family of Mohammed Makkawi Ibrahim, who was sentenced to death in the murder of the US diplomat John Granville and his Sudanese driver in 2008, received the news of his demise via an anonymous phone call which mentioned that he was killed during clashes between the armed groups.
Ibrahim first came to the attention of Sudanese authorities in 2007 as a member of an extremist cell and was the head of the 4-man group that assassinated Granville. Despite their arrest and conviction, the group managed to escape from maximum security Kober prison in Khartoum. The US has offered $5 million for information on the escapees. Ibrahim along with another convict, Mohannad Osman, managed to reach Somalia, and join the al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab insurgents. Osman was reported killed in 2011.
An anonymous friend of Ibrahim said on an internet post that the 31-years old man was murdered after expressing desire to break away from Al-Shabaab and join ISIS. The post blasted Al-Shabaab saying that “when the light of the caliphate emerged and the movement’s leadership refused to submit to the truth and reform its march, he [Ibrahim] showed his desire to join the Islamic State”. “He never would have thought that Al-Shabaab would sink to such a level of corruption”.
He pointed out that the movement started persecuting Ibrahim and others who sought to join ISIS and began to imprison them.Ibrahim was one of several who ran away “to the bushes” after the clampdown, the post said adding that Al-Shabaab is going after those who were its main tenants. An expert on Islamic extremist groups, al-Hadi Mohammed al-Amin, said that the incident indicates a serious escalation of conflict between Al-Shabaab and ISIS in southern Somalia.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Overcoming terrorism also means cutting the roots it has dug in our own societies. We have to be aware that the ideology of Islamist radicalism is gaining ground among the children of Muslim immigrants in our countries”– Dominique de Villepin, Former Prime Minister of France, 2005 – 2007
We Need Much More Than War Speeches, We Need Political Action
06 December – Source: The Guardian – 1,123 Words
Air strikes can help weaken Isis, but no one would consider it wise today to send troops to the Middle East. Because we know that after Syria and Iraq, we will have to do the same in Libya, in Nigeria and Chad, in Somalia, maybe tomorrow in the Gulf states or in central Asia. The logic of war would imprison us in lasting military occupation of large parts of the world, without any guarantee of success. Has any military intervention since 2001 been a political success? Afghanistan? Iraq? Libya?
We need much more than war speeches. We need political action. We need the world to stand united in the fight against terrorism. Not the western world, but the whole world. That was my belief in 2003, when France opposed the war in Iraq, and this is still my belief today. First, we need the Muslim world to stand at our side. Because going to war on our own will only remove the burden of responsibility from some of the countries at the forefront. Why should they take difficult decisions if we do what it takes in their place? It will also allow some countries of the region to pursue their own interests and hidden agendas, as well as to settle old neighbourhood disputes while seeming to fight Isis.
Who really fights Isis in Syria and Iraq? Not the Assad regime, which needs this devil to find legitimacy and a foothold against rebel movements. Not Turkey, which is at least as much concerned by Kurdish separatism. Not Saudi Arabia, which wishes before all to keep the trust of its people by being hard on Iran and Shia movements. And the people of the region sometimes feel the threat of Isis weighs less than the hundreds of thousands who have died in the bloodbath of the Middle East in the past three decades, in their view because of regimes supported by the west or because of western military interventions.
Let’s be aware of what many think in the Middle East: “This is not our war”. Second, we need the whole international community to stand united against terrorism. But how could it be so if we give the impression of double standards, that victims in Russia or in China are not quite as innocent as ours? This is not a threat only for the western world.