August 12, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Two Wounded In Grenade Blast In Mogadishu

11 August – Source: Shabelle News – 99 Words

At least two people have been wounded in a grenade blast, targeting a Somali army vehicle in southern Mogadishu on Thursday night, witnesses said.

A witness said the blast happened when a suspected Al-Shabaab member hurled a grenade at a military vehicle belonging to Dharkenley district commissioner. Those wounded in the bomb attack were members of the DC’s security personnel.

Security forces immediately sealed off the area and carried out a major swoop. However, Shabelle could not independently verify occurance of the incident. No government official has confirmed the incident and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Key Headlines

• Two Wounded In Grenade Blast In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
• Mungab Sworn-in During Mogadishu Ceremony (Shabelle News)
• Somali Pirates Get Five Years In Jail (AFP)
• Somali President: Iran Threatens Arab Security Hence Ties Were Cut (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat)
• A Short History Of Somalia-U.S. Relations (Newsweek)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Mungab Sworn-in During Mogadishu Ceremony

11 August – Source: Shabelle News – 109 Words

The newly appointed State Minister for Justice Hassan Mohamed Hussein known as Mungab has been sworn in on Thursday. Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke appointed Mungab as the new state minister for justice, according to a statement from his office on Wednesday.

The swearing-in ceremony was held on Thursday at the PM’s office inside the heavily fortified presidential compound in Mogadishu, in the presence of several cabinet ministers. The new state minister served as the mayor of Mogadishu from February, 2014 to October, 2015. Mungab’s appointment comes as the government mandate expires next month.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Pirates Get Five Years In Jail

11 August -Source: AFP – 244 Words

Twelve Somalis who attacked a container ship in the Indian Ocean were sentenced to five years in jail in Mauritius on Thursday, a reminder of the region’s battle against piracy. The men were accused of firing on the MSC Jasmine, a Panamanian-flagged container ship, in January 2013 before being captured by naval anti-piracy forces and transferred to Mauritius for trial.

They were found guilty of sea piracy on 14 July. Sentencing them on Thursday a judge said the three years they had already served would be be taken off their jail time. Foreign navies that capture suspected pirates have handed over hundreds to regional nations including Mauritius, as well as Kenya, Seychelles and Tanzania, though the criminal industry in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden has largely died out.

The men, aged between 22 and 47, had been acquitted in November 2014 but prosecutors appealed, and in December last year a new trial was ordered. Somali piracy reached its peak in 2011 when Somali pirate gangs attacked 237 vessels, seizing 11 vessels and 216 hostages, earning on average more than $2-million for every ship ransomed.

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Somali President: Iran Threatens Arab Security, Hence Ties Were Cut

11 August – Source: Asharq AL-Awsat – 906 Words

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud will be completing his fourth year in power next September. In his term, Somalia shared the world many political and security turbulences. His Excellency had fought fierce political battles, and survived many parliamentary attempts to oust him.

In a relatively short period, Sheikh Mohamoud went from being an academic researcher and a civil peace activist to a political party leader, becoming in 2012 Somalia’s first internally elected president since 1991. Four of his predecessors were elected and put in authority with foreign backing, and had to leave the country once their term came to an end.

However, despite the tradition, Sheikh Mohamud says that he will not exit the country once he steps down from authority, but will live out the remainder of his life in Somalia. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the President spoke about his experience with being in authority, and him running for another term. Sheikh Mohamoud also pointed out to his presidential campaign and what progress was made on that matter.

Political sides in Somalia had agreed in 2013 to a score of measures aiming to rectify the national political process. At the time the agenda for reform was being called “Vision for 2016.” Sheikh Mohamoud explained that the most important features brought about by the roadmap were improving the democratic process and establishing political parties. Holding elections, revision of the constitution and finalizing federalism are also a part of the plan for reform.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“Bilateral relations between Somalia and the U.S. were established in 1960, when the African state was created from former Italian and British colonies. Relations cooled in the following decades after Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in a coup and adopted a Socialist ideology reflected in the then-Soviet Union. It was Barre’s eventual ousting in 1991 that led to the U.S. closing its premises in Mogadishu, although the countries never officially severed relations.”

A Short History Of Somalia-U.S. Relations

10 August – Source: Newsweek – 804 Words

With the arrival of its first United States ambassador in a quarter-century, Somalia hopes to have embarked upon a new era in relations with the Western superpower. Stephen M. Schwartz presented his credentials to Somali Foreign Minister Abdusalam Omer in the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, becoming the first American representative to the troubled Horn of Africa state since a protracted civil war broke out in 1991.

Schwartz said he hoped to assist the people of Somalia to “build a peaceful nation with a stable democratic government,” while Omer welcomed the ambassador’s appointment and described the U.S. as a “valuable partner in Somalia’s progress.” The two nations have had a sometimes difficult history in recent decades, as Somalia has struggled to recover from civil war and an Islamist insurgency has drawn the ire of American troops.

Bilateral relations between Somalia and the U.S. were established in 1960, when the African state was created from former Italian and British colonies. Relations cooled in the following decades after Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in a coup and adopted a Socialist ideology reflected in the then-Soviet Union.

It was Barre’s eventual ousting in 1991 that led to the U.S. closing its premises in Mogadishu, although the countries never officially severed relations. The collapse of Barre’s regime created a power vacuum that saw rival clans compete for power, with thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire across the next several decades.

U.S. marines had been deployed in Somalia in 1992, heading up a planned multinational force that had the goal of ensuring that food aid got through to the civilian population, who were reportedly dying of starvation. The most notorious episode in the U.S.’s wartime involvement in Somalia, however, came in October 1993, in what became known as the First Battle of Mogadishu. More than 100 U.S. troops were involved in an operation aiming to capture leaders of the clan led by Mohamed Farrah Aidid, a militia leader gaining power in Mogadishu.