December 10, 2015 | Morning Headlines
South West Leader Calls On SNA and AMISOM To Speed Up Operations Against Al-Shabaab
09 December – Source: Goobjoog News – 205 Words
Leader of the interim South-West state, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, has claimed that the operations against Al-Shabaab fighters have slowed down and thereby allowed members of the militant group room to regroup. Speaking at the High Level Partnership Forum that is taking place in the capital of Mogadishu, the leader warned that failure to dismantle the group in good time will worsen the security situation in the country.
“Al-Shabaab has increased its attacks, yet operations to clear the group from our amidst are going on at a slow pace,” Shariif lamented. He called on the Somali National Army and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops to weed out the Al-Shabaab fighters from the main streets of Mogadishu and the newly liberated towns.He pointed out that Al- Shabaab has erected barriers along some routes across the country, including in Bay and Bakool regions in southern Somalia. On 11th last month, Federal Republic President Shariff Hassan Sheikh survived an attempt on his life after his convoy was attacked twice in the outskirts of Mogadishu. His security detail waylaid a Toyota Hilux Surf car laden with explosives as it targeted the convoy the Head of State was traveling in. The President was on his way to Mogadishu and his convoy came under attack at Bood-boodka town, 5km from the district of Afgooye.
Key Headlines
- South West Leader Calls On SNA and AMISOM To Speed Up Operations Against Al-Shabaab (Goobjoog News)
- President Gulled Of Galmudug State Says He Will Open Talks With Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama (Radio Dalsan)
- Soma Oil Hands Over Data Which Reveals Somali Gas And Oil Resources (Jowhar News)
- Somali Government Renews WFP Operations In Somalia (Radio Dalsan)
- Garissa Massacre Planner Mohamed Kuno Joins ISIS (The Star)
- High-Level Partnership Forum For Somalia Commits To Sustained Progress In Key Development Areas(UNSOM)
- ‘El Nino’ Is Blamed For Floods In Somalia And Drought In Ethiopia (Xinhua News)
- Support Grows For Somali Restaurant Hit By Suspicious Fire (Associated Press)
- Somali Novelist Nuruddin Farah Looks At Family Torn Apart By Islamist Bombing (Reuters)
NATIONAL MEDIA
President Gulled Of Galmudug State Says He Will Open Talks With Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama
09 December – Source: Radio Dalsan- 177 Words
The President of Galmudug state Abdikarim Hussein Gulled has singled out the Ahlu-Suunah Waljama (ASWJ) moderate Islamic opposition group, which controls a large area of his state, as one of the most challenging factors to his administration. While enumerating achievements of his government since assuming office at a press conference on Wednesday, Gulled promised to address the Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama question.
“We shall soon open talks with Ahlu-Suunah Waljama, and I hope this talks will be fruitful and will end in a mutual understanding,” added President Gulled. Besides this challenge, the President said there were many “important things” which his administration had achieved over the period.
“Since I was officially elected as the President of Galmudug state, we have achieved several important things, for instance we have established district administrations in the state whereby the different communities in these district are highly contented with our various services. For instance, we have disarmed militias who possessed illegal firearms and succeeded in kicking out the Al-Shabaab from some strategic locations in the region,” said President Gulled. Separately, though, forces from Galmudug and Puntland states were recently involved in a bloody battle over control of Galkayo city.
Soma Oil Hands Over Data Which Reveals Somali Gas And Oil Resources
09 December – Source: Jowhar News – 272 Words
Soma Oil, a company charged with the task of projecting Somali energy resources among other mandates, has handed over data revealing the country’s gas and oil wealth to Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharma’arke. Speaking during the reopening of Somalia’s Petroleum Ministry compound, the Petroleum Minister Mohamed Mukhtar disclosed that the data provided by Soma Oil outlines tangible progress made towards the realizing one of the ministry’s biggest dreams.
“The progress that we have made today towards the revelation of our resources has been in the making quite a long time. We have such a reliable resource within our hands that will bring wealth to our nation that has for long been dependent on foreign aid,” Mukhtar told the audience. The Prime Minister praised Soma Oil for the hard work with regard to the disclosure of facts about Somali energy.
“Now with this reliable unending resources bestowed on us, it is time for our youths to take advantage of this opportunity to put an end to their violent tendencies. Because their main reason of joining the jihadist Al-Shabaab has been lack of resources, here now is a fresh opportunity for them to make a fortune.” Somalia has been enjoying relative calm as members of Al Shabaab, who once controlled large parts of the county, withdrew from most important towns, including the capital Mogadishu,
Somali Government Renews WFP Operations In Somalia
09 December – Source: Radio Dalsan – 168 Words
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Somalia officially renewed humanitarian work operations for World Food Program in Somalia on Wednesday, after the initial agreement expired. The minister, Dr Abdisalan Hadliye Omar, signed a fresh agreement to this effect with WFP representative for Somalia, Laurent Bukera.
The signing ceremony took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices and was attended by officials from the ministry as well as WFP. The new agreement will greatly facilitate the efforts of WFP to address the different humanitarian challenges — manmade and natural — that the Somali people face: “WFP has carried out major and necessary humanitarian activities in our country, and I urge them again to redouble their activities,” said the minister. WFP is among the UN humanitarian agencies which were “banned” from operating in Somalia by the Islamist group, Al-Shabaab, some years back.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Garissa Massacre Planner Mohamed Kuno Joins ISIS
09 December – Source: The Star – 280 Words
The Kenyan-born mastermind of the massacre of 148 people in Garissa has defected from Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab to a pro-ISIS faction, intelligence reports indicate. Mohamed Kuno alias Gamadhere, previously Al-Shabaab Lower Juba commander, joined the more extremist and violent faction in the last week of November.
Kuno defected with 1,200 fighters, who include Jaysh Ayman. They hide in Boni Forest in Kenya and the Ras-Kamboni areas in Somalia. Intelligence operatives warn he may take up the role of ISIS leader in Kenya. Victims of the April 2 terror attack on Garissa University College included 142 students. Kenya recently offered a $215,000 (Sh21.9 million) reward for any information that may lead to Kuno’s capture. He is a close confidant of Sheikh Muumin, the self-declared Somali leader of an Al-Shabaab faction that joined an ISIS faction in Somalia.
It is feared Kuno will establish a working link with Sheikh al Somali, a pro-ISIS radical preacher in Kenya. Recently, Al-Shabaab warned that it will behead any members who defect to ISIS after Muumin and some fighters pledged allegiance to the Syria and Iraq-based terror group. Consequently, Al-Shabaab’s Amniyaat wing is reported to be hunting down Kuno and other defectors. According to online newsletter “intelligencebriefs.com”, Al-Shabaab has in the past few weeks executed “more than five pro-ISIS commanders”. The commanders were killed alongside their fighters who shifted loyalty together with Sheikh Muumin in Somalia, the newsletter says.
High-Level Partnership Forum For Somalia Commits To Sustained Progress In Key Development Areas
09 December – Source: UNSOM – 362 Words
A High-Level Partnership Forum (HLPF) bringing together senior officials from the Federal Government of Somalia, existing and emerging federal member states and international partners was convened in Mogadishuon Tuesday to take stock of the progress made since July and review preparations for a ministerial-level meeting in early 2016.The HLPF examined progress made in the security and justice sectors, the state formation process, economic recovery and reconstruction, financial accountability and transparency, promotion of human rights, gender and youth issues.
In his opening remarks, the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appealed to partners to support efforts to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and projects with a clear focus on the country’s youth.“We, the Somali Federal Government and our international partners, are fully responsible to provide an alternative way of life for these young people. We need to focus the development programme, development projects, so that a better way of life can be generated for these youth. Projects that are labour intensive and can employ as many Somalis as possible,” declared the President.
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Somalia and forum co-chair, Nicholas Kay, observed that while progress has been made, there is still more to be done. He cited the need for security sector reforms, the integration of armed forces and completion of the draft national security policy, among the key programmes yet to be implemented.“We will all be judged by how we contribute to giving Somali people a better life. While being proud of what we have achieved, and while looking ahead at what more we can and must do, we should be somberly realistic about the present,” he said. “The vast majority of Somalis continue to suffer poverty, displacement, insecurity, corruption, and little rule of law or respect for human rights. We collectively need to do more.”
The HLPF enables inclusive and strategic dialogue to promote accountability and transparent decision-making, to facilitate the exchange of information between the various international partners and the Somali Government on the best approach and policies to support peacebuilding and state-building. The next meeting will take place in Istanbul, Turkey in February 2016.
‘El Nino’ Is Blamed For Floods In Somalia And Drought In Ethiopia
09 December – Source: Xinhua News – 260 Words
At least 145,200 people have been affected by flash floods since the onset of rainy season in October in Somalia, the UN humanitarian agency has said. The UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest report received Monday that there has been a further reduction in rainfall in most areas of Juba and Shabelle basins inside Somalia as well as the Ethiopian highlands compared to the previous week. However, a few areas in Middle and Lower Shabelle regions received moderate rains.
“While the situation in many areas has returned to normal, an estimated 145,200 people have been affected by floods since the onset of the rainy season in October,” OCHA said. The report says that the risk of flooding along the lower reaches of Shabelle and Juba Rivers has been downgraded to moderate and minimal, respectively. Health partners and facilities in some flood-affected regions have, however, reported increased cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) and malaria.
OCHA and relief partners are ramping up efforts to reach people in the flood-hit areas despite bad road conditions caused by flooding. Chlorine and hygiene kits, as well as essential drugs are either already distributed or being delivered to the outbreak-affected communities, OCHA said. Some water wells in affected locations will also be chlorinated for disinfection, according to OCHA. Experts have warned that the floods, which have made roads impassable and cut thousands off from aid, could reverse many of the humanitarian gains made in southern Somalia since 2011 when the Horn of Africa nation was devastated by famine.
Support Grows For Somali Restaurant Hit By Suspicious Fire
09 December – Source: Associated Press – 166 Words
Dozens of people of different faiths gathered for a candlelight ceremony outside a Somali restaurant in Grand Forks that was heavily damaged by what authorities say is a suspicious fire. WDAZ-TV reports that the Tuesdaynight gathering was held to show support for the owners of the Juba Coffee House. Fire officials say the business suffered an estimated $90,000 in damage in the early Monday fire that was “incendiary and suspicious in nature.” It happened just three days after vandals spray-painted an offensive symbol on the business along with the words “go home,” though it’s not yet known if the two incidents are connected. A crowdfunding effort has raised about $12,000 for the business.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“This novel represents the secular past of Mogadishu – when Mogadishu was one of the greatest cosmopolitan cities in Africa. In the cosmopolitan Mogadishu, in which I grew up as a young man, there was space for homosexuals. That is the kind of life that we lived – tolerant of one another, accepting differences.”
Somali Novelist Nuruddin Farah Looks At Family Torn Apart By Islamist Bombing
09 December – Source: Reuters – 528 Words
Somali writer Nuruddin Farah says his latest novel was born of two frustrations – the triumph of hardline religious conservatism in his homeland, and the scant attention paid to victims of Islamist attacks in the capital Mogadishu. Farah, one of Africa’s best known and most prolific writers, has been living in exile for the last 18 years. But “Hiding in Plain Sight”, like many of his 11 previous novels, is populated by Somali characters and hacks away at stereotypes.
“I have been fighting against the idea of giving in to despair,” Farah, 70, told Reuters in an interview. “I thought, these people’s lives had to be told … every person who is killed has someone who loves him or her, someone who is relying on them.” The novel opens with Aar, who escaped civil war as a child but returns to Mogadishu as an adult, being killed in a suicide bombing attack on the United Nations compound by the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab – an all-too real threat in modern-day Mogadishu.
The novel then follows his family – his sister Bella, his two young children, and his estranged wife Valerie – as they rebuild their lives without him in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, long a refuge of Somalis fleeing chaos. Farah, who came of age in Mogadishu before the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, and fled as the country began its descent into civil war, says his writing is informed by the Mogadishu of his youth – a vibrant Indian Ocean trading post celebrated for its rich and open culture.
He said Bella, a fashion photographer based in Rome who returns to Nairobi to mother Aar’s two children, was based on the self-possessed, modern women Farah remembers from his youth. Farah’s decision to put a lesbian couple at the heart of the novel – Aar’s estranged widow, Valerie, left him for a woman named Padmini – and to have other characters embrace the couple, is a critique of how conservatism has seized hold of Somalia.