April 25, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Security Forces Capture Wanted Al-Shabaab Leader
25 April – Source: Shabelle News – 117 Words
Somali security forces have captured a wanted Al-Shabaab leader with $2,000 of bounty on his head following a special operation in Mogadishu on Sunday evening. Hassan Mohamed (Hassan Fanah), defected from Al-Shabaab and joined ISIL by the end of 2015. The Somali Federal Government has offered a two thousand US Dollar reward for information of his capture last year.
The capture of the militant commander came after Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) raided a house in Kahda district in which Fanah was hiding for weeks from Al-Shabaab. The government has previously accused the nabbed leader of planning several deadly attacks on SNA and African Union troops in and around Mogadishu.
Key Headlines
- Somali Security Forces Capture Wanted Al-Shabaab Leader (Shabelle News)
- Prime Minister Replaces Minister Of Post And Telecommunication (Shabelle News)
- Ceasefire In Villages Under Galgadud Region Following Elder Intervention (Goobjoog News)
- Puntland Parliament Endorses Electoral Commission (Garowe Online)
- AU Special Representative Visits Hiran Region Commends Strong Partnership Between AMISOM And The Local Community (AMISOM)
- Five Admit Beating Somali For Wallet And Mobile (Times of Malta)
- For Somali Soccer Stars Life In America Is A Whole New Game (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Prime Minister Replaces Minister Of Post And Telecommunication
25 April – Source: Shabelle News – 84 Words
The Prime Minister of Somalia’s Federal Republic, Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has replaced the country’s Post and Telecommunication Minister, Guled Hussein Qassim. According to a decree from the Office of the Prime Minister, Mohamed Jama Mursal was appointed as the new minister for the ministry of post & telecommunication of Somalia. There were no clear reason for the motive behind replacing the minister and the appointment of the new minister, but the move comes as Somalia approaches its parliamentary and presidential elections in August.
Ceasefire In Villages Under Galgadud Region Following Elder Intervention
25 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 177 Words
Ceasefire has taken an effect after two weeks of furious fighting in Haraale and Hananbuur areas which claimed many lives. The clashes erupted after the locals disputed over drilling boreholes in those areas. Traditional elders reached Haraale and Hananbuur to mediate the recurrent clan clashes which emerged almost a decade as a result of land and grazing disputes between two warring clans.
Dozens died in the latest string of these clashes after two armed militiamen loyal to the two warring tribes engaged in bloody battles. After long joint mediation efforts by respected clan elders and the local administrators, ceasefire and withdrawal of forces from the frontline bases brought into agreement as the two warring clans embrace talks. Ahmed Abdullahi, who is Haraale chief, said the traditional elders successfully stopped the fighting and convinced both warring sides to come to the negotiating table. Talks between the two warring clans are expected to follow the ceasefire in the presence of the traditional elders and the government in quest to end these tensions.
Puntland Parliament Endorses Electoral Commission
24 April – Source: Garowe Online – 164 Words
Lawmakers have approved the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC) in an overwhelming vote on Sunday. 50 MPs of 52 present voted in favor of the electoral board as extraordinary session has continued for its second day in the State capital of Garowe. Puntland Vice President Abdihakin Abdullahi Haji Omar convened the parliament for the session on Saturday.
Several agendas including democratization programme, drought and human trafficking policy are to be debated over the course of gathering. Puntland Parliament Speaker Ahmed Ali Hashi has announced the outcome of voting, and congratulated the nine-member election committee on the passing.
TPEC was approved in 2011 for the first-ever direct vote in Puntland, however the exercise ended in fiasco in July 2013 for security concerns. Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and Speaker Hashi jointly named nine nominees for TPEC on Feb. 14 and 15 respectively. EU envoy to Somalia Ambassador Michele Cervone d’Urso hailed the move as a step towards one person, one vote upon announcement.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU Special Representative Visits Hiran Region, Commends Strong Partnership Between AMISOM And The Local Community
25 April – Source: AMISOM – 483 Words
The AU Special Representative for Somalia and head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Ambassador Madeira Francisco yesterday held discussions with the leadership of Hiran region in Belet Weyne, commending the robust partnership between the community and AMISOM in the fight against Al Shabaab.
The SRCC also met with AMISOM troops in Sector IV area of operation, engaging the commanders on the on-going operations, challenges faced and future plans. The meeting with area leadership was attended by the Governor of Hiran region, the Belet Weyne District Commissioner and elders from the region.
Mohamed Osman Abdi, the Belet Weyne District Commissioner, said the meeting provided a key avenue to discuss issues affecting the region, ways of improving partnership with AMISOM as well as key action points necessary to intensify the fight against terrorist group Al Shabaab. He specifically called for more support for the Police and Somali National Army, to enable them maintain security in the region.
“It was good opportunity for us the Belet Weyne district to meet the head of AMISOM. We spoke about many things including pacifying the region of Al Shabaab. More importantly, the police here need training, because it is very critical for maintenance of security in the region. So we asked for training support for the police and the military,” said the Commissioner.
Five Admit Beating Somali For Wallet And Mobile
25 April – Source: Times of Malta – 97 Words
Three Frenchmen, a Belgian and a Swiss teenager were this afternoon given a suspended sentence after they pleaded guilty to grievously injuring a Somali, stealing his wallet containing €1,200 and mobile phone worth €500on Thursday night in Paceville.
The accused were Khalid Brik, 21, Ismael Karamoko, 19 and Frederic Mara, 22, from France, Mehdi Fayad, 19, from Belgium and Camelia Farah Franco Zair, from Switzerland. The court, presided by Magistrate Doreen Clarke, sentenced them to an 18-month jail term suspended for three years. Police inspector Elton Taliana prosecuted whereas lawyer Victor Bugeja was legal aid.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The only refuge was soccer. Kids can play it even if they can’t write, even if they can’t afford shoes, even if they only have a field of sand to play on.Despite frequent suicide bombings by al-Shabab in Somalia, a country that has not known peace for three decades, the soccer stadiums are among the few buildings still standing intact.That’s why Somalis are crazy about the sport, even though their national program hasn’t qualified for the World Cup in the tournament’s 86-year history,”
For Somali Soccer Stars, Life In America Is A Whole New Game
25 April – Source: ST. Louis Post Dispatch – 2500 Words
In Somalia, Sa’ad Hussein was a celebrity.When he netted the goal that earned his soccer team the 2011 national championship, he was the closest thing to a hero his bombed and failed country had.But four years later, he was hiding in Kenya, starving and broke on a mattress on a dirty floor, willing to risk death for an escape from the squalor and fear.
He was there for his own safety. He and his best friend, Saadiq Mohammed, also a Somali soccer player, were the subjects of a documentary.The movie would reveal that Sa’ad was threatened with death and lashed 38 times in front of his own village by members of the al-Shabab terrorist group that holds Somalia at its mercy.
Go back to Somalia, and al-Shabab might hunt and kill him.Some of the few people Sa’ad still trusted were thousands of miles away in the U.S. Two people called him almost daily: Saadiq, who managed to get out of East Africa two years earlier and was living in St. Louis, and J.R. Biersmith, the St. Louis native who made the documentary, called “Men in the Arena,” that was now forcing them to uproot their lives.The two were pleading for any safe country to accept Sa’ad as a refugee. They told Sa’ad whatever they could to make him stay.“Please don’t go back,” they pleaded. “Please trust us.”
United through soccer. They were supposed to be rivals, not best friends.Sa’ad, skinny with calves of steel and a close-shaved beard, played for the Elman Football Club.Saadiq, two years younger and a few inches taller with a poof of curly hair, played for the Banadir Sports Club.By the time their teams finally faced off in a game, Saadiq had heard enough about Sa’ad. On the radio, on social media, “all people could talk about was Sa’ad, Sa’ad, Sa’ad.” “I thought, I have to beat his team!” Saadiq said. That first match ended in a tie.
When they met for the first time on Somalia’s national soccer team in 2012, they ended up as roommates, then best friends.When the team flew to Sudan for a game, Saadiq noticed that Sa’ad wasn’t filling out his paperwork to enter the country.Twice, Sa’ad brushed it aside. He would finish it later.Ah, you’re just being lazy, Saadiq joked. But he knew something was up.Sa’ad was embarrassed. He was 19 and had never learned to write. He was too poor to afford school. He couldn’t sign his own name.“Here, people are shocked if you’re not in middle school. Not the same in Africa. If you’re a kid in Africa, if you don’t get an education and if you can’t leave the country, what is there to do?” Saadiq said. “Unless you pick up a gun.”
TOP TWEETS
@RSF_en : #SOMALIA: Three journalists facing possible jail terms in Somaliland trials. http://bit.ly/1UbQpDv
@itayron5 : Capture of #ISIL figure in #Mogadishu suggests there may be also an operational cell in #Somaliacapital.Retaliation?
@DrumChronicle: #Uganda General Wamala says Uganda troops in AMISOM have not been paid by AU for 7 months http://goo.gl/XvnVDX #Somalia
@engyarisow : Somali PM replaces the Minister of Posts and Telecom of #Somalia. The new Minister is Mohamed Jama Mursal… http://fb.me/7o7jz2OOo
@radiogarowe : #Somalia President scotches claims over Shabelle River closure http://bit.ly/230o1EQ
@Saferworld : Does #Somalia’s current federal model meet citizens’ governance needs? Explored in our new reporthttp://bit.ly/1SzPY6X
@AnankeGroup: #Somalia – 20 killed, 30 wounded in clashes in#Galgadud, near #Ethiopia border
@Kohonsi: ‘Don’t buy death’ – Somalis urged to stay and rebuild their country @BBCWorld #Somalia #migration
IMAGE OF THE DAY
SRCC Madeira meets with Somali CDF Maj Gen Mohamed Adan. Continued partnerships for improved security in Somalia.
Photo: AMISOM