November 9, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Speaker Jawaari Makes Comeback As Jubbaland And South West States Elect MPs
08 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 394 Words
Jubbaland and South West states completed the first round of Lower House elections Tuesday evening with each state electing seven MPs key among them the immediate former Federal Parliament Speaker Osman Jawaari. Jubbaland led the pack in sending women to the August House as three women – Maryan Aweys Jama, Hamze Sheikh Hasan and Luul Abdi Aden were elected. In South West state, Fowziya Mohamed Sheik floored Abdiaziz Abdullahi to clinch the seat as men took up the remaining six seats.
There was an almost a repeat scenario in South West when four out of seven candidates sailed through without competition as their rivals dropped their bids just as it happened during the Upper House elections when candidates for five seats gave up their chances leading to a close of what would have been a second day election day. Former Speaker Osman Jawari who had before been thought to be retiring from politics made a comeback to the House after garnering 45 votes out of the possible 51. His opponent Abdirahman Sheik Ibrahim managed five votes while the third candidate Ahmed Adan Bulle gave up his ambitions.
Abdikadir Hassan Adan, the son of presidential candidate and president of South West state Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan sailed through unchallenged as his only opponent Bashir Mohamed Ali dropped from the race. In Jubbaland, Federal State Minister for Labour Osman Libaah Ibrahim and his Interior counterpart Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig made a comeback to the House while Maryan Aweys Jama, the sister of Presidential spokesman Daud Aweys also secured a seat.
Goobjoog News correspondents in Jubbaland and South West states said the elections went on without any hitches. In Kismayo, the capital of Jubbaland, Somalia security forces, both national and regional forces secured the election centre with the help of AMISOM forces. Somali and AMISOM forces manned areas in and around the Presidential palace in Baidoa, the capital of South West state which was the polling centre.
Voting is expected to proceed tomorrow and will run for the next couple of days as South West state aims to elect 69 MPs while Jubbaland will elect 43 MPs. Meanwhile in Jowhar, the capital of the newly formed HirShabelle state, election of members for the Upper House in the federal Parliament are expected to commence Tuesday evening. Goobjoog News correspondent reports AMISOM and Somali forces have put up tight security measures.
Key Headlines
- Speaker Jawaari Makes Comeback As Jubbaland And South West States Elect MPs (Goobjoog News)
- Burhakabo DC Dies Of Injuries Sustained In An-Al-Shabaab Attack (Garowe Online)
- 30 People Wounded As Football Hooliganism Erupts At Hargeisa Stadium (Hiiraan Online)
- US Court Sentences 3 Somali Pirates; 2 Get Life (Associated Press)
- Ships More At Risk After First Somali Pirate Attack In Years: Officials (Reuters)
- Somalia To Move Yemen Embassy From Sanaa To Aden (Word Bulletin)
- Somali Refugee Poised To Head To Minnesota State House (The Wall Street Journal)
- Why Somali Convenience Store Workers Are The Targets Of Political Violence In South Africa (Los Angeles Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Burhakabo DC Dies Of Injuries Sustained In An-Al-Shabaab Attack
08 November – Source: Garowe Online – 152 Words
The district commissioner of Burhakabo, Mohamed Abdi Mohamed, has succumbed to wounds he sustained in land-mine explosion near his house in October 15. Burhakabo DC was pronounced dead last night at AMISOM military hospital at Halane base in Mogadishu, where he was undergoing medical treatment over the past weeks.
Officials at Burhakabo district administration have confirmed the death of Mohamed who had been critically injured in a remote-controlled landmine bomb outside his residence. Late Mohamed who served years as the district commissioner of Burhakabo in Baay region, is expected to be laid to rest in his hometown in state funeral, officials said.
Over the past few weeks, Al-Shabaab fighters who lost major ground in the battle carried out attacks against senior government officials and security personnel in Southern Somalia. According to recent UN report, it indicated the group still poses a potent threat despite claims that the insurgency is weakening in Somalia.
30 People Wounded As Football Hooliganism Erupts At Hargeisa Stadium
08 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 147 Words
At least 30 people were wounded yesterday at Hargeisa stadium following clashes between rival football fans as police tried to break up the rowdy spectators. The stadium descended into hooliganism after unruly supporters from Hawd began stoning spectators and security following a defeat to their team. Witnesses said officers fired live rounds but Somaliland police commander, Abdullahi Fadal Iimaan denied and said they used rubber bullets to disperse the crowds.
“When the commotion started, police began firing rubber bullets and tear gas which caused panic among the spectators. A stampede quickly ensued injuring 12 civilians and 15 officers,” Fadal said, adding that the rowdy spectators blocked the road with burnt tires. A source at Hargeisa General Hospital said that seven people arrived at the hospital with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds while most other patients were injured by flying stones or as a result of the stampede.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US Court Sentences 3 Somali Pirates; 2 Get Life
08 November – Source: Associated Press – 104 Words
Two Somali pirates have been sentenced to life in prison, and a third has received 33 years because he cooperated with prosecutors in a separate piracy case.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson issued the life sentences Monday after a federal appeals court in Virginia ruled last year that he erred when he sentenced the five men convicted in the case to terms ranging from 30 to 42 years.
In 2010, pirates attacked a U.S. Navy ship that they mistook for a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Aden. Sailors fired back, killing one pirate. The rest were captured.
Ships More At Risk After First Somali Pirate Attack In Years: Officials
08 November – Source: Reuters – 768 Words
Merchant vessels sailing through busy shipping lanes between Somalia and Yemen may be underestimating the risk of piracy and terrorism following two attempted attacks last month, maritime officials say. More than 40 percent of the world’s seaborne oil supplies pass through the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, a major shipping lane also used to move exports and commodities such as food between Asia and Europe.
The European Union’s counter-piracy naval force (EU Navfor) confirmed on Nov. 4 that six armed men attacked chemical tanker CPO Korea 330 nautical miles (610 km) east of Somalia on Oct. 22, the first reported attack on a major vessel off the country for two and a half years. The last reported attack was in February 2014 and involved a container ship which came under fire from gunmen in waters near Somalia, EU Navfor said. On Oct. 25, assailants opened fire on a gas tanker off Yemen. The tanker’s owner said the gunmen had a “substantial amount of explosives” and one maritime source told Reuters it may have been an attempted suicide attack.
“Recent incidents off Somalia, the Bab al-Mandab and wider Indian Ocean indicate an increased threat level to shipping from piracy and maritime terrorism,” said Gerry Northwood at British maritime security firm MAST. Northwood, a former Royal Navy captain, said that after a period of relative calm some shipping firms were underestimating the threat and using poorly trained and equipped security teams, “more used to calm waters than the genuine risk of attack”.
In the first incident, EU Navfor said suspected pirates in a high-speed boat exchanged fire with guards aboard the tanker, which escaped without casualties after accelerating, altering course and using fire hoses to thwart the attack. “This attack shows that pirates still have the intent to attack ships for ransom and cause misery to seafarers and their families,” EU Navfor Operation Commander Rob Magowan said.
Somalia To Move Yemen Embassy From Sanaa To Aden
08 November – Source: World Bulletin – 291 Words
The Somali government has decided to transfer its embassy in Yemen from Sanaa to Aden, which serves as interim capital for the Yemeni government, Yemen’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. According to a government source quoted by Yemen’s official SABA news agency, the move is “meant to support Yemen’s legitimate government — headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi — and reflect the two countries’ brotherly relations”.
The official, who was not named, urged other “friendly states” to follow suit and transfer their diplomatic missions from Sanaa — which was overrun by the Shia Houthi militia in 2014 — to the coastal city of Aden. SABA did not say when the Somali embassy would be formally relocated, while officials in Mogadishu were not available to comment on the issue.
Early last year, several Gulf States — namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain — relocated their Yemen embassies from Sanaa to Aden in a move aimed at “supporting the legitimacy” of Hadi’s government.
Somali Refugee Poised To Head To Minnesota State House
08 November – Source: The Wall Street Journal – 563 Words
Amid heightened anti-Islamic sentiment fanned by Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump and some high-profile terrorism cases, Minneapolis voters appear poised to send a 33-year-old Somali immigrant to the Minnesota state house—likely the highest office ever filled by a Somali-American nationally. Ilhan Omar, who has worked as a policy analyst, a community organizer and a health educator, fled civil war in Somalia and lived in a Kenyan refugee camp for four years as a child.
She casts herself as a progressive representing the entire district—and hopes her candidacy will help relieve some of the suspicion cast on the group. “Hopefully that will lessen some of the barriers and get rid of some of the negative rhetoric out there,” Ms. Omar said in an interview.
Abdi Warsame, the first Somali-American elected to the Minneapolis City Council, has faced significant anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant hate mail. More recently, Somali-American residents of Ms. Omar’s Minneapolis district protested the filming of an HBO show in their neighborhood, fearing the show would exacerbate stereotypes about their community. If elected, Ms. Omar would be one of the first Muslim women to hold elected office in the U.S.
During a rally in Minnesota on Sunday, Mr. Trump specifically cited Somali immigration in Minnesota, calling it a “disaster” before reiterating his desire to ban immigration to the U.S. from Muslim countries. In September, a 19-year old college student of Somali descent stabbed 10 people inside a mall, but authorities found no evidence that he had ties to Islamic State. Last year, six Minnesota Somali-American men were charged with attempting to join Islamic State. But the vast majority of Somalis living in Minnesota have no ties to terrorist groups, community leaders say.
Ms. Omar says her goal isn’t simply countering a stereotype of Somalis. “We’re more interested in having conversations about inclusion and celebrating our diversity,” she said. “Conversations around fear and bigotry and anti-immigrant rhetoric I don’t think resonate with most of our residents.”
In the August Democratic primary in her district, Ms. Omar knocked off 44-year incumbent Phyllis Kahn, a well-known and popular figure in the neighborhood, by attracting votes from Somalis and non-Somalis alike. “She was elected as a dynamic young woman who had real passion for her community who happened to be Somali,” said Lawrence R. Jacobs, the director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“About 1,500 Somalis have been killed violently since 2002, mainly in robberies and xenophobic attacks, according to the Somali Community Board of South Africa, which tracks the deaths.”
Why Somali Convenience Store Workers Are The Targets Of Political Violence In South Africa
07 November – Source: Los Angeles Times – 1,397 Words
The township was burning. A mob of protesters sprang up quickly that wintry June day in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, South Africa. Ahmed Hashe was serving a customer in his small grocery shop when he saw them surging down the street, and he knew they were coming for him. They were carrying machetes, bars, knives, sticks and rocks, and they had blocked the roads.
The crowd had originally come together to demonstrate against the governing party’s mayoral candidate. But as political protests often do in South Africa, the gathering swiftly degenerated into frenzied looting of foreign-owned shops. Gleeful citizens carted away stolen groceries and furniture, including commercial fridges. Dozens of shops were smashed and ruined. Some were burned as a pall of black smoke rose over the neighborhood.
The 28-year-old Somali shopkeeper abandoned everything and ran, but he fell. The protesters smashed his face with a rock, breaking his jaw, stabbed him in the back and left him for dead.
Shops like Hashe’s are frequently the target of violence in South Africa. Although unemployment among South Africans ages 15 to 34 is 37.5%, young Somali refugees find work quickly, usually by working in a spaza shop – a convenience store that sells basic groceries – owned by another Somali. It’s a tough and dangerous life, but after a few years, they can save the money to start up their own shops.
Their steady success breeds resentment.
Researchers say that local politicians and community business groups encourage the violence against the foreigners’ shops. There were 1,993 incidents of crowd violence in 2015 — five on any given day — according to police statistics, compared with 660 cases in 2004. About 1,500 Somalis have been killed violently since 2002, mainly in robberies and xenophobic attacks, according to the Somali Community Board of South Africa, which tracks the deaths. South African police do not track xenophobic attacks or foreigners killed.
Hashe woke the evening of the attack in a hospital bed, his eyes tiny slits in a swollen face. The only reason he survived was that the mob thought he was dead. His cousin, Hamza Farah Ibrahim, survived too. Ibrahim fled his own shop, Good Lucky Supermarket, and picked Hashe up. Hashe’s friend, Shukri Shariff, had been beaten and killed by a mob in 2014, so he knew he was lucky to have survived. He recovered in a small room in a Somali boarding house, with medicines, milk and juice by his bed and a copy of the Koran by his pillow.
Many Somalis have lost their shops more than once. Abdul Khadir Farah, a 50-year-old father of five, has lost three shops to looting, has been robbed five times, and was left with a broken femur after being shot in April 2015. His shop was completely destroyed in Atteridgeville in June, leaving just a vacant block.