September 28, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Gunmen Shoot Dead Somalia Journalist In Capital: Colleague.

27 September- Source: Associated Press – 130 Words

A colleague says unidentified gunmen have shot dead a journalist in Somalia’s capital.Abdiaziz Mohamed Ali Haji, a reporter for Shabelle radio, was shot on his way home Tuesday, producer Abdirizak Turyare says.Somalia is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers. Rights groups say both Islamic extremists and the government have reason to target them.

Haji is the second journalist killed in Somalia this year. In June, gunmen fatally shot Sagal Salad Osman, a female producer for the state-run radio station, in Mogadishu.Three journalists were killed last year, including one in a bombing claimed by the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab.The Committee to Protect Journalists says 59 journalists have been killed in Somalia since 1992, shortly after this Horn of Africa nation plunged into chaos.

Key Headlines

Gunmen Shoot Dead Somalia Journalist In Capital: Colleague.(Associated Press)
Electoral Teams Overstepped Mandate On Vote Centres For M.Shabelle/Hiiraan-PM (Goobjoog News)
Somalia: Joint Security Operations Carried Out In the Capital Mogadishu (Garowe Online)
Somali Civil Society Warn Political Instability Amid Elections’ Delay (Goobjoog News)
Somalia’s Capital City Mogadishu Readies For The 2016 Electoral Process (AMISOM)
Security Forces Arrest 3 Suspects In Mogadishu (Xinhua News)
Tourists Are Heading To Somalia To See The Ruins Of A Two-decade Civil war (Quartz)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Electoral Teams Overstepped Mandate On Vote Centres For M.Shabelle/Hiiraan-PM

27 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 179 Words

Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has faulted the Federal electoral body FIEIT for the decision to declare Mogadishu as the polling centre for Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle region. In a statement on Monday, the Premier who is also a Presidential candidate in the upcoming polls said the polls body had overstepped its mandate noting the decision was solely within the remit of the Federal Government. “We have immense respect for the elections implementation team; however the Federal Government has the exclusive mandate to decide where elections will be held. I call on the Team (electoral body) to respect the National Leadership Forum decisions,” Sharmake said.

The Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team, FIEIT and its State level equivalent, SIEIT announcedMonday the elections of the yet to be formed Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle region will be conducted in Mogadishu after a majority vote by elders from the two regions.“After long discussions, 16 out of the 18 elders representing the two regions agreed on the City of Mogadishu as their preferred center,” the polls teams said in a joint statement.

Somalia: Joint Security Operations Carried Out In the Capital Mogadishu

27 September – Source: Garowe Online – 188 Words

Somali government troops along with AU peacekeeping troops have carried out security operations in the capital Mogadishu, on Tuesday. The Security operation was aimed at flushing out suspected members of Al Shabaab group in Howlwadaag, Wardhigley districts and Bakara market Mogadishu’s main business district.
The joint security forces have closed roads and blocked vehicles from entering Bakara market, arresting hundreds of people mostly youth during the search operations.

Somali government troops transferred suspects to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Mogadishu to investigate on possible connections to the Al Shabaab group.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs has confirmed the operation, and told local media that the joint security operation is aimed at enforcing security in the capital. This comes amid reports of presence of Al Shabaab members in the main business market in Mogadishu. Previously Al Shabaab militants used to launch mortar attacks against government troops, recruit militants and extort money from traders in Bakara market. In the recent months Al Shabaab militants group have intensified its attacks against Somali government officials, Somali troops and AMISOM troops in a bid to topple western backed Somali government.

Somali Civil Society Warn Political Instability Amid Elections’ Delay

27 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 208 Words

Somali Non State Actors in South and the Central Regions (SOCENSHA) has expressed concern over the pronounced delay of this year’s general elections. Somali Indirect Federal Electoral Commission has on Mondayreleased press statement saying elections time tables has been shift to one month back. The umbrella warned a possible social unrest and political instability because of the elections delay. “We have concern that this delay could have an effect on the security. Distrust, political tensions will heighten. Successive delays have been the case for this elections and that attitude does not stand for the interest of the country” said, Abdullah Mohamed Shirwa, the chair of the umbrella.

Meanwhile Puntland State level Elections Commission attributed the delay of elections to clan elders. The chair of the commission Khalif Aw Ali said that the state elders failed to meet the deadlines. However, he said, the commission issued a final deadline, which translates that in two weeks time elders should submit the names of the delegates to the commission “Still we are yet to receive the list of delegates from state elders. Now, we issued the final deadline to elders” said the Khalif Aw Abdi. Federal indirect Electoral Commission announcement of Elections delay yesterday counts the third in this year.

IDP In Guriceel Town Appealed For Urgent Humanitarian Aid

27 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 146 Words

Hundreds of Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Guriceel town have appealed for urgent humanitarian aid as they face dire situation caused by the drought that has affected the regions in the recent past. Halimo jim’aale Adan said hundreds of people who were displaced during the clashes in Da’adheer localities are facing desperate situation.

“The situation is now critical, and without sufficient response from Somali government, the International NGOs and aid agencies, it could develop into a new humanitarian crisis,” said Adan. She said hundreds of families living in IDP camps were facing a dire situation as food was running out and water shortages beginning to bite.
“We have so many problems, including continued hunger, and many of us are without shelter, we have nothing to eat. We live in the open where our children just wander around as they do not go to school,” said Adan.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia’s Capital City Mogadishu Readies For The 2016 Electoral Process

27 September – Source: AMISOM – 475 Words

The quiet Somali capital is now a hub of electoral activity as the country readies for a more inclusive electoral process that will demonstrate its commitment to democratic reforms. This year’s electoral process promises to be a competitive race, as dozens of local and diaspora Somalis enter the arena. The biggest focus is on the presidential race, where incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke are also having a go at the presidency.Others are former President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed; former Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, a female candidate Fatuma Dayib; media owner Yassin Mahi Mallin; former Somali Ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Nur ‘Ameriko’; former Mayor of Mogadishu Mohamed Ahmed Nur Tarsan and Jabril Ibrahim Abdulle.

Some Mogadishu residents expressed optimism about the process as they voiced their expectations of future leaders.“I am hopeful about the future and that the electoral process will usher in development. Since I was born, I have never known what peace means in Somalia. We hope for an elected President who will initiate development and investment in education, make scholarships available for students and create more jobs for the youth,” Aliza Mohamed Ibrahim, a student at City University in Mogadishu said.

Security Forces Arrest 3 Suspects In Mogadishu

27 September – Source: Xinhua News – 90 Words

Somalia security forces and African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) troops on Tuesday arrested three Al-Shabaab suspects from the main market, Bakaro in Mogadishu in an operation.Spokesperson of the Ministry of Internal Security, Abdikamil Moalim Shukri told reporters that the operation was aimed at enhancing security and ensuring peace prevails in the region.

He said security operations were also carried out at several neighbourhoods in Howlwadag and Wardhigley districts.AMISOM and local security officers often conduct such operations against the militant group which has been fighting to topple the government.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“Since the first trip in 2012, the company’s co-founder James Willcox says they have guided 39 trips to Mogadishu, the same number for Somaliland, and one trip to the Puntland region. In a city like Mogadishu, bedeviled by war and filled with bullet-pocked buildings, the mundane, day-to-day activities, he says, can leave indelible memories for a visitor,”

Tourists Are Heading To Somalia To See The Ruins Of A Two-decade Civil war

27 September – Source: Quartz – 1240 Words

For a trip to the Puntland region in northeastern Somalia, Christian Matzenauer didn’t know what to expect. After traveling from Dusseldorf, Germany to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia he flew to the Somali city of Bosaso in January, drove along the coast to the towns of Alula and Bareeda, before finally arriving at Tohen. There, at the apex where the Horn of Africa meets the Indian Ocean, Matzenauer walked to see the Guardafui lighthouse: a 19-meter tall, abandoned tower built by the Italians during the early 1920s. Guardafui’s lighthouse is also unique in that it features a stone ax blade, a symbol that represented authority in Fascist Italy. Built during Benito Mussolini’s rule, it is one of the last known standing fascist monuments in the world.

Somalia’s reputation as a tourist destination with pristine beaches faded after the start of the civil war in 1991. Somalia is not your everyday vacation spot. It is one of the world’s most dangerous countries (pdf, pg. 9), plagued by political infighting, violence, and terrorism. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has never recorded the number of people who visit the country since it started collecting data on tourism in 1995.

Governments across the world also advise their citizens to avoid traveling to the country, for fear of kidnapping or attack. Somalia’s reputation as a tourist destination with pristine beaches completely disintegrated following the start of the civil war in 1991. Security is still a major challenge, with the terrorist group al-Shabaab attacking almost all major hotels and restaurants in Mogadishu. Between 2007 and 2014, the al-Qaeda-linked group has carried out more than 1,700 attacks in and out of Somalia, killing more than 4,000 and wounding the same number, according to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism.

But that isn’t stopping tourists like Matzenauer from flying there every year. The tourists come as the nation recovers from decades of civil war. Since 2011, a new central government has led the country, and a semblance of normal life is evident in the opening of new businesses, hospitals and schools. The hospitality industry is also picking up with the opening or renovation of hotels, restaurants, and pizza parlors.