March 21, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Leaders Agree AU Needs Financial Boost Ahead Of Elections In Somalia
20 March – Source: Daily Nation – 551 Words
The African Union has asked the United Nations to prioritise the plea for financial back-up to countries contributing soldiers to Somalia. At a meeting with Michael Keating, the Special Representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui said the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) needed the financial boost ahead of the country’s elections in August.
“Commissioner Chergui reiterated the importance of implementing the recent decisions made during the troop-contributing countries summit, especially in the areas of command and control, deployment of additional enablers, resource mobilisation and better coordination amongst partners in their support to Somalia,” the AU said in a statement. .
“The commissioner and the special representative of the UN secretary-general stressed the importance of a comprehensive and more deliberate approach in the support of Somalia to develop a competent security sector as part of efforts to promote sustainable peace.” AU’s language was in the usual diplomatic tone, arguing the need to have a strong Amisom force as the Somali army was being improved to guard the county’s territory.
But Chergui, the Algerian diplomat charged with AU’s peace and security operations, was more direct in comments on his Twitter page: “AU needs to come up with a clear roadmap to secure 25 per cent financing of its peace and security operations. The UN is expected to provide the remaining 75 per cent from assessed contributions,” Mr Chergui wrote.
“Ultimately, best way to resolve the challenge of funding AU peace operations is to silence the guns in Africa,” he added in another comment. Tuesday’s meeting was mainly about Somalia’s stabilising plan ahead of the elections the international community sees as a game-changer for the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation. Mr Keating is also the head of the UN Assistance Office to Somalia.
This meeting came only two weeks after troop-contributing countries: Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Nigeria (police), Sierra Leone and Burundi met with Somali government officials in Djibouti where they stressed the “need for an effective Amisom Command and Control in order to achieve synergy” against Al-Shabaab terrorists. But the countries also asked for more financing to plug the reduced European Union budget for the 22,000 troops operating in Somalia.
“The Summit notes with serious concern the decision by the EU to reduce financial support to Amisom troop allowance by 20 per cent, especially during this critical phase of Amisom operations and call upon the UN to…bridge this financial gap,” the leaders said in a communique. With Al-Shabaab launching attacks on Amisom soldiers frequently, it means Kenya and other troop-contributing countries need a stable budget to prop up the Somali government, especially as the election date approaches.
Key Headlines
- Leaders Agree AU Needs Financial Boost Ahead Of Elections In Somalia (Daily Nation)
- Somali President Calls For Tighter Security At Airport After Plane Bombing (Hiiraan Online)
- Somali Military Court Upholds Death Sentence For Female Journalist Killers (Goobjoog News)
- Somali President Calls For Aid As Famine Hits Some Regions (Goobjoog News)
- 21 Al Shabaab Two KDF Soldiers Killed In Somalia Shoot-out (The Star)
- Three Al-Shabaab Militants Nabbed In Operation In Southwest Somalia (Xinhua News)
- Khalifa Foundation Sends More Than 1000 Tonnes Of Food To Somalia In Response To Drought (WAM Emirates News Agency)
- Years After Somali Pirates Abducted 3 Vietnamese Fishermen Families Still Looking For Help (Thanhnien News)
- Assimilation Is A Long Process For Somalis In Colorado Farm Town (CBS Denver)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali President Calls For Tighter Security At Airport After Plane Bombing
20 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 229 Words
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called for tighter security at the Mogadishu international airport: “Tightening the security of the airport will further improve the reputation of the airport and increase the number of flights at the airport, ” the President said after a meeting with the airport’s security officials, ministers, police and intelligence chiefs at the airport on Sunday.
Despite initial security lapses, the Somali government has recently reassured travelers and airliners that the airport’s security was sufficient. The President’s meeting with airport security officials comes one month after the Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group bombed a Somali airliner, which was compelled to make an emergency landing with a gaping hole on its sides.
A suspected suicide bomber detonated the bomb allegedly planted in a laptop inside Daallo airlines early February, which damaged the plane’s fuselage. One person thought to be the bomber died after he sucked out of the plane. The mid-air explosion in the aircraft sent alarms across the world as security experts warned that the attack indicated the jihadist group’s desire to target air transportation on their global terror catalog.
Somali Military Court Upholds Death Sentence For Female Journalist Killers
20 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 196 Words
Somali military court on Sunday upheld the death penalty for the man convicted of killing a female journalist in December last year. Abdirisack Mohamed Barrow and Hassan Ali Farah had been found guilty of Hinda Hajji Mohamed’s murder and sentenced to death last month. They had filed an appeal in the military court.
However, the court upheld sentences for two accomplices Moalim Mohamed Abukar, Mohamed Sheikh Yussuf who were handed life sentences in prison. Hinda Hajji Mohamed succumbed to injuries, which she sustained after Improvised explosive device (IED) planted under the driver’s seat of her car blew up near KM4 road of Mogadishu on 3 December last year.
She was until her death working with Radio Mogadishu and National Television. On 20 September 2012, her husband, Liban Ali Noor who was the head of programs at the State owned Radio and Television (SNTV/Radio) together with Abdishatar Dahir Sabriye died in similar circumstances after an explosion occurred at The Village Restaurant in Mogadishu.
Somali President Calls For Aid As Famine Hits Some Regions
20 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 174 Words
The Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has issued an urgent appeal for international aid as his droughtstricken country faces a famine that has left half of the population in dire need. “The situation is very severe. The conditions are very harsh,” said President Mohamud.
He added: “Drought and water shortages have hit many places of the country, the situation may be calmed if these areas get rain in April but before then there is need to extend aid to the drought affected areas.” Acute water crisis has hit some villages in Middle Shabelle, Hiraan regions following looming drought that has shrunk pasture and water resources in the region.
Pastoralist families with livestock are facing a serious shortage of water and pastures after several water points dried up in the last few months as a result of dry spell that has hit in the breakaway Somaliland and Puntland state. Thousands of Somalis have fled the countryside in search of food and water, trekking for days under scorching sun toward refugee camps in major towns.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
21 Al Shabaab, Two KDF Soldiers Killed In Somalia Shoot-out
20 March – Source: The Star – 161 Words
The Kenyan military has reported killing 21 al Shabaab militants in a shootout in Afmadhow area, Somalia, on Saturday night. A convoy of Kenya Defence Forces soldiers engaged the militants who had laid an ambush in lower Juba region, said KDF spokesman David Obonyo.He said overpowered militants resorted to using improvised explosive devices during the “fierce engagement”, damaging one of KDF’s vehicles.
“Two KDF personnel were killed in the clash and five others injured and airlifted for medical attention,” he said in a statement on Saturday. He said 19 AK-47 rifles, three rocket-propelled grenades and a pistol were found. KDF soldiers under the African Union Mission in Somalia killed 19 fighters of the terror group linked to al Qaeda in an incident on Wednesday.Obonyo said the militants had approached a camp at night with the intention of attacking and cutting off the Somali National Army from the Amisom (KDF) camp. Ten AK47 rifles and the rocket-propelled grenades were found.
Three Al-Shabaab Militants Nabbed In Operation In Southwest Somalia
21 March – Source: Xinhua News – 179 Words
Three members of Al-Shabaab were arrested on Sunday in security operation conducted by Somalia National Army (SNA) in Garasweyne neighborhood in Bakol region of southwest Somalia, officials said. Governor of Bakol region Mohamed Mo’alim told Xinhua by phone that Somali Army conducted the security operation to flush out terrorists after being informed of the militants had planted a landmine there.
“Somali National Army conducted successful operation here in Garasweyne near Hudur town. They have captured three Al-Shabaab militants who were behind landmines hid in the area. They will get what deserve and will get justice,” the governor said. He said the SNA foiled the terrorist attack and recovered mobile phone and remote control devices in which the insurgents wanted to blow up,” Mo’alim said. The Al-Qaida linked group has been chased away from Bakol region three years ago. Al-Shabaab has been facing a major onslaught from the Somali security forces backed by the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) troops. Kenyan soldiers have killed more than 50 militants in the past week in different shootout incidences in southern Somalia.
Khalifa Foundation Sends More Than 1,000 Tonnes Of Food To Somalia In Response To Drought
20 March – Source: WAM Emirates News Agency – 173 Words
Under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, a UAE relief ship has reached the Port of Berbera loaded with 1,060 tonnes of basic food supplies to be distributed among the Somali people.
The contents of the ship, which was sent by the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, will be distributed to people in three provinces, including Burao, Sool and others affected by the drought that struck most regions in Somalia. A spokesman from the Khalifa Foundation said that a team from the organisation will oversee the distribution of food parcels to 8,000 families in the provinces and neighbouring villages. The food parcels, which weigh 80 kg each and contain diet staples, such as rice, sugar, flour, dates, and milk powder, will assist recipients to endure the hardships caused by the drought that has plagued their land and harmed farms and livestock.
Years After Somali Pirates Abducted 3 Vietnamese Fishermen, Families Still Looking For Help
20 March – Source: Thanhnien News –446 Words
Three Vietnamese working on a fishing boat were abducted four years ago by Somali pirates and their unfortunate families are still waiting for the government to help. Nguyen Van Ha and Nguyen Van Xuan, 35, and Phan Xuan Phuong, 27, were among 26 crew members abducted in Taiwan in May 2012, news website VnExpress reported.
All three are from the impoverished Nghe An Province in central Vietnam. They went to Taiwan in 2011 after each paying around VND12 million (US$540) to state-owned automobile manufacturer Vinamotor, which also doubles as a labor company.
They went for a monthly salary of $300. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Ha’s mother, said her son made a quick phone call home one day in 2012 saying pirates had captured his boat and demanded a ransom of $60,000 for each of them. She said she then contacted the labor company seeking help, but it has done nothing so far, except for paying her VND5 million every year as a Lunar New Year gift.
“My son has not called home for three years; I don’t know if he’s still alive,” the 57-year-old was quoted as saying by VnExpress. After her daughter was killed recently by robbers while working in Angola, Thuy said she has become even more anxious about her son: “Many times I had wanted to tell the story to the media but the company said that may sabotage the negotiations with the pirates and threaten my son’s life. But I cannot be patient any longer.”
Nguyen Thi Quynh, Phuong’s wife who lives 10 kilometers from Thuy, said she has heard nothing about or from her husband since 2013. She has to rely on food donations from neighbors and loans to raise their three children and her old parents. She has gone to Hanoi several times to seek support for her husband. Unable to afford hotels in the capital, she has had to sleep on the sidewalk several times. Phan Xuan Linh, the father of Xuan, said his wife had a stroke and has been paralyzed since hearing the news.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“If Donald Trump came here I would tell him: ‘Don’t attack the refugees.’ We are all refugees. Everyone came from someplace else,” — Abdikadir Abdi, Somali refugee.
Assimilation Is A Long Process For Somalis In Colorado Farm Town
19 March – Source: CBS Denver – 950 Words
For the last decade, Somali refugees have flocked to this conservative farm town on Colorado’s eastern plains. They’ve started a small halal mini-market and a restaurant, sent their children to the schools and worked at a meat processing plant.
As much as Fort Morgan’s small town feel reminds many of their rural villages back home, some say they will feel like outsiders until they get what has so far eluded them: a permanent mosque. They are renting two small rooms for a makeshift version, for now. They say they’ve tried to buy property to build a mosque but believe no one wants to sell to them.
“If we can own a mosque here, we will be more a part of the community,” said Abdinasser Ahmed, a local Somali leader and public schools teacher who fled war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, in 2003, arrived in Fort Morgan in 2009 to work at the plant and is now a U.S. citizen. Some longtime residents say they don’t want one in their city of 12,000, a step too far especially at a time when fears of terrorism have grown following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.
Putting a mosque “right in the center of town” would be a symbol “as if to claim the town,” said Candace Loomis, who runs a coffee shop and whose grandparents settled this country of sweeping horizons in a two-room sod house. Divisions have been exacerbated by rhetoric on the Republican presidential campaign trail, including talk by Donald Trump and others about banning fellow refugees and Muslims from the U.S.
Each Islamic State-inspired terror attack, each domestic mass shooting, adds to the pain of the East African community here, Ahmed said. It’s a continuing challenge for refugees who fled violence themselves to integrate into a society whose citizens worry about that very same violence at home.