February 4, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
New German Ambassador Presents Credentials To Somali President
04 February- Source: Horseed Media – 228 Words
Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, received the credential letters of the newly appointed German Ambassador to Somalia, Jutta Gisela Frasch in a special accreditation ceremony organized at the Presidential Palace in Mogadishu yesterday. Ambassador Jutta, who is also the German ambassador to Kenya, first conveyed a letter from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the President.President Mohamoud praised the relations between the two countries.
He said Somalia and Germany had an active diplomatic relations for many years, before it broke down when the Central government was overthrown in 1991.The Head of the Federal government noted there was big potential for developing the Somalia-Germany relations, and expressed confidence the incoming Ambassador would contribute to strengthening these relations.Mr Mohamoud also revealed to the new German Ambassador that Somalia is now open to investment in a move to develop the state of economy.
Speaking to the press after presenting her credentials, the envoys expressed her country’s interest in strengthening their relationship with Somalia in different cooperation areas.She also revealed that her government will support Somalia on developing of the Police, rehabilitation centres for youth that defect from al-Shabaab extremists, and also the implementation of crucial facilities for the Somali refugees returning from neighbouring countries camps. Since 2012, when an internationally recognised government was installed under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, many countries have re-established diplomatic relations with Somalia.
Key Headlines
- New German Ambassador Presents Credentials To Somali President (Horseed Media)
- Puntland Former Minister Comments On Bossaso Tensions Somalia Election Proposal (Garowe Online)
- Somalia Seeks Investments From Saudi Billionaire Prince Alwaleed (Horseed Media)
- Federal Appeals Court Affirms Decision In Somalia Torture Case (Jurists.org )
- Militant Group Al-Shabaab Leading Suspect In Somalia Plane Blast: U.S. Government Sources (Reuters)
- Disable and Displaced :The Plight Of Somalia’s Most Vulnerable (Refugees International)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Former Minister Comments On Bossaso Tensions, Somalia Election Proposal
04 February- Source: Garowe Online – 223 Words
Former Puntland Education Minister Abdi Farah Saed (Juha) has condemned tensions that have degenerated into violent protests, Radio Garowe reports. He called the latest security developments in Puntland’s most populous city, Bossaso “regrettable’. Speaking about the recent election proposal drawn up for Somalia’s 2016 transition, he said, clan-based system is obsolete in reference to different political frameworks signed by Somali political leaders in the past.
He commended Puntland’s position on the UN-backed election proposal and its objection to any process ushering in traditional 4.5. power sharing formula.Juha noted that Puntland needed to react when Somalia Federal Government quashed the possibility of popular elections in the country earlier in August 2015.Continuing, he expressed dissatisfaction for Puntland’s waning role in national affairs given Mogadishu-based federal government’s dominance in key political forums.
Meanwhile, Puntland Security Minister Abdi Hirsi Ali Qarjab has signaled that former Bari government Abdisamad Mohamed Galan will be prosecuted for his role in anti-government protests in Bossaso.He said, the operation inflicted devastation on Galan residence and casualties on security forces and young men in the house.Qarjab criticized former Bari Governor for public incitement, and fermenting youth violence.In rare remarks, he threatened that Galan and unnamed accomplices would stand trial for deadly Bossaso clashes.Overnight on Tuesday, unidentified attackers shot and killed businessman Hirsi Adunyo in the port city.
Somalia Seeks Investments From Saudi Billionaire Prince Alwaleed
04 February – Source: Horseed Media – 218 Words
Somalia’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dahir Mohamoud Gelle met the Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to discuss investment opportunities in the Horn of Africa nation, Horseed Media reports.The prince, a nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, was ranked 26th on the Forbes global ranking of billionaires. He owns large stakes in a number of international companies, including Twitter and Citigroup.Last year, he said he will donate $32 billion to charity in coming years via Alwaleed Philanthropies.
During a meeting in the wealthy Arabian Kingdom, Ambassador Gelle thanked the globally renowned investor for visiting Somalia in 2011 to witness the victims of the famine that led to the death over 100,000 people.The Ambassador went on to brief the Saudi billionaire on the current developments in the country in terms of security and politics. Mr Gelle added that Somalia is now open to investments and his investment will be an example to other global investors.Finally, Somalia Ambassador requested the billionaire to pay a second visit to the country in order to witness changes.According to sources, Prince Alwaleed did not make any pledges to the Somalia Ambassador.Following two decades of civil war, Somalia is now recovering remarkably with the capital, Mogadishu recently ranked as the world’s second fastest growing cities
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Federal Appeals Court Affirms Decision In Somalia Torture Case
04 February – Source- Jurist.org – 313 Words
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decision of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia , holding Monday that a Somali torture claim lacked a “sufficient nexus” with the US to allow jurisdiction under the Alien Tort Statute.
In 1987, during political turmoil, Farhan Warfaa was taken from his home in Somalia, beaten, and tortured for approximately three months. Yusuf Ali was a colonel in the Somali National Army and had questioned Warfaa several times during his detainment for political opposition prior to shooting him and ordering him to be left for dead. Ali had been living in Virginia for eight years before Warfaa, still living in Somalia, filed the initial claim in 2004. Even though Ali is now a US resident, the court held that Warfaa had filed no claim that “touches and concerns” the US, because all relevant events occurred in Somalia.
The opinion found Ali’s ultimate residence as merely incidental. Another claim, under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) , was allowed to proceed. Ali is calling for immunity from his actions as a foreign official, which TVPA would deny.In 2014 the US Supreme Court refused to hear a similar immunity plea from former Somali Prime Minister, Mohamed Ali Samantar, also under the TVPA. In that case, the Fourth Circuit upheld an order from the same district court mandating that the former PM pay $21 million to Somali torture victims.
Like Ali, Samantar claimed that as a foreign official, he had common-law immunity for acts performed on behalf of a foreign state despite allegations that those acts violated international law. The ruling meant that Samantar could be held liable for human rights abuses related to the killing and torture of members of the Isaaq clan in Somalia throughout the 1980s under former dictator Siad Barre, the same political conflict Warfaa was abducted under.
Militant Group Al-Shabaab Leading Suspect In Somalia Plane Blast: U.S. Government Sources
03 February – Source: Reuters- 508 Words
Investigators suspect the Al Shabaab militant group was behind a likely bomb blast that forced an Airbus A321 into an emergency landing this week in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, U.S. government sources saidWednesday.One U.S. government source said investigators believe the Islamic militant group Al Shabaab perpetrated the attack. However, officials said that there had been no claim of responsibility for the attack.One man was killed by the blast on Tuesday on the Daallo Airlines plane, officials said. Local authorities north of Mogadishu said the body of a man, believed to have been sucked out through the hole in the fuselage made by the blast, was found in their area.
Two U.S. government sources said on Wednesday that initial forensic testing had detected possible traces of the explosive TNT on the aircraft. But one official cautioned that such tests have a high false-positive rate, and further tests are under way.U.S. government sources said, however, that as the investigation has proceeded, investigators are increasingly convinced that some kind of bomb did explode on the plane.There was no immediate comment from Al Shabaab, a Somali Islamist group that has waged an insurgency against the Western-backed Somalia government. It has carried out regular attacks on officials, government offices and civilian sites.Daallo Airlines, which did not refer to a blast, said on its website that the “incident” that caused a hole in the fuselage happened 15 minutes into the flight.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Disabled people in Somalia are discriminated against by the government, society, and even by their own families. Children with disabilities are isolated from playing with other children by their own parents,”
Disable and Displaced : The Plight Of Somalia’s Most Vulnerable
02 February – Source: Refugees International – 1138 Words
Ma’alim Abdi, a father of 15 children, is one of the hundreds of thousands of people living with disabilities in Somalia. Besides enduring negative cultural stigma and risks of being caught in the crossfire in the capital Mogadishu, there are hardly adequate specialized social care services provided to disabled Somalis.“The only option I have now is to beg around. I am an old man and you see me crawling in the streets just to get basic food for my children,” Abdi says.
It is very risky to walk in the street where Abdi lives; speeding vehicles and people compete for space in the narrow roads, but he has to crawl in between them just to put food on the table.The road he frequents nearby his residence has no traffic signs, not even a pedestrian crossing, let alone special signs that aid a disable person.“I need a wheelchair; I cannot afford to buy one and I don’t know where to look for support, so I have to risk loitering around the shops to feed my children,” he added.
Despite the overwhelming local and international aid organizations working in southern and central Somalia, there is not a single one dedicated to supporting disabled people, only small, self-organized groups of disabled people advocating for their rights.“I need a wheelchair; I cannot afford to buy one and I don’t know where to look for support.— Ma’alim Abdi, disabled Somali man.
TOP TWEETS
@Abdikarim_Abdi3:#Mogadishu is celebrating World Cancer Day this morning! In attendance of medical students & doctors.#Somalia
@HEAThostile:Somalia – 2 February there was an explosion on a flight to Djibouti from Mogadishu; the cause is still being identified #Somalia
@Somaliupdate:#SOMALIA: The Pilot of #DaalloAirlines Recalls Blast that Blew Hole in Jetliner http://somaliupdate.
@MOALIMUU:AMISOM and SNF are conducting search operation for suspected Alshabaab cells in Baraawe town. Many caught are now being screened. #Somalia
@SalahOsman0 :Good Morning From my beautiful City of#Mogadishu Revitalizing the normalcy is getting momentum#Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Jeffrey Feltman, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, speaks at a press conference held in Mogadishu, Somalia, on February 03, 2016.
Photo :UN / Ilyas Ahmed