March 6, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Embassy Official Says UAE Ambassador Has Not Been Recalled
06 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 219 Words
Officials from the United Arab Emirate Embassy in Somalia have said news that the UAE Ambassador to Somalia has been recalled is false and inaccurate.On Saturday, security experts and local radio in Somalia said that Mohamed Ahmed Othman Al Hammed, the UAE Ambassador has left the country after being recalled.According to the embassy official, the Ambassador did board a flight out of Somalia to the UAE on Saturday but that it was a personal trip, and reiterated that it was not because of Somali-UAE relations. The official said that the bilateral relationship is healthy, highlighting that the ambassador was at the inauguration ceremony with full support from both nations.
A second call to the embassy in Mogadishu was made on Monday morning and the official HOL spoke with there said that she was not aware that the news had been circulating and dismissed the reports as “propaganda”.Last week, Somali President visited Saudi Arabia on his first official state visit and the UAE-Somaliland base deal was one of the items Farmajo discussed with top leadership.On February 12th, the Somaliland Parliament voted to allow the construction of a base in Berbera. Somalia objected almost immediately terming the conditions of the deal illegal and corrupt. Somaliland is a self-declared state that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Embassy Official Says UAE Ambassador Has Not Been Recalled (Hiiraan Online)
- President Gaas Speaks On Alleged Reshuffling Of His Administration (Hiiraan Online)
- Galmudug Police Force Down Their Tools Over Unpaid Salaries (Dhacdo.com)
- Puntland Seizes Illegal Fishing Vessel (Goobjoog News)
- Drought Threatens To Drive Famine In Somalia As Hunger Kills More Than 100 (NPR News)
- Special Forces May Soon Join The War Against Al-Shabaab (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
President Gaas Speaks On Alleged Reshuffling Of His Administration
06 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 144 Words
Abdiweli Mohamed Gaas the President of Puntland spoke to the media about reports of his plan to reshuffle the Cabinet of Ministers in his regional administration. The regional head spoke to VOA Somali in regards to the issue among other things.
Mr. Gaas denied any plans of conducting a reshuffle in his administration. “Changes in my administration are rumors. People love to spread rumors. If we were to do a reshuffle, we will do it when the administration needs it at its own pace,” President Gaas said during the interview.Furthermore, when asked about the alleged suppression of journalists in Puntland, the president said his administration is the most free environment for journalists to practice their profession. The president urged the media to report on real news and liaise with the regional government for fact checking before printing certain stories that impact the support of the people.
Galmudug Police Force Down Their Tools Over Unpaid Salaries
06 March – Source: Dhacdo.com – 132 Words
The police in the interim capital of Galmudug are on strike citing lack of payments for several months.The Deputy Commander of the Adaado police force, Dhame Omar Maalim Ali has told the media that the police have stopped their services in the police centers and they have all abandoned their duty station. He said they have been asking the police forces to stay in their jobs but the situation has become unbearable after the forces failed their pay for several consecutive months. He said the closure of the police centers has even affected 11 people who are been held in the centers. He said the detainees needs are not been addressed. The Galmudug administration is faced with a lot of challenges following the resignation of their President who cited health reasons.
Puntland Seizes Illegal Fishing Vessel
06 March – Source: Goobjoog News -202 Words
Puntland Maritime Police have seized a foreign fishing vessel illegally fishing in the waters of Puntland.The vessel was then escorted back to the Bossaso port for further questions and legal action, according to officials.Reports say that the forces have arrested over 12 Yemeni national fishermen on board.
The officials that the Coast Guard was on a 48 hour mission with the task of stopping illegal fishing, human smuggling, and pirates, when the Coast Guard discovered the vessel.“Our marine forces conducted an Operation in which they managed to seize this illegal fishing boat. It got a trawl which can deplete all the fish in the whole area just in few hours,” said of the Puntland Maritime officials.
Illegal fishing by foreign vessels has been a cause of concern for Somali nationals since the country’s government collapsed in 1991.Large foreign trawlers make their way to Somali waters to fish in commercial quantities and also dump industrial waste.Local fishermen say due to the deplorable state of the nation’s marine environment, they have to venture farther into sea to make increase their chances of success.Fishermen have also alleged attacks by foreign vessels and the destruction of their nets by trawlers.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Drought Threatens To Drive Famine In Somalia As Hunger Kills More Than 100
05 March -Source: NPR News- 389 Words
At least 6.2 million people in Somalia — or just about half the country — are grappling with the prospect of an acute food shortage due to deepening drought. And on Saturday, Somalia’s prime minister made it clear that the conditions are exacting a stark human cost.Over a two-day span, at least 110 people died of hunger in just a single region, Hassan Ali Khaire said Saturday during a meeting with the Somali National Drought Committee.”I can confirm that Bay region in the south and other parts of Somalia are deteriorating rapidly,” Khaire said, “and my estimation is that half of the country’s population has felt the impact of this drought.”
As NPR’s Eyder Peralta notes for our Newscast unit, the country already declared the drought a national disaster on Tuesday. As Somalia has dried up, Khaire says the lack of clean water has increased the risks of waterborne diseases, while the ability of malnourished people to fight off those diseases has plummeted.”It is a difficult situation for the pastoralists and their livestock. Some people have been hit by [hunger] and diarrhoea at the same time,” Khaire’s office said in a statement. “The Somali government will do its best, and we urge all Somalis, wherever they are, to help and save the dying Somalis.”The United Nations is putting out urgent calls for aid, saying as many as 5 million people need aid in the shadow of a looming famine, according to The Associated Press.”Thousands have been streaming into Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in search of food aid, overwhelming local and international aid agencies,” the news service reports. “Over 7,000 internally displaced people checked into one feeding center recently.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“If the US so-called “fresh perspective” is to have any effect, it should include getting Amisom troops on the move, expand and equip the Somali army and police.There must be many Somalis who are fed up with chaos that began in 1991 and are willing to fight to restore order.Tuntry toward sanity,”
Special Forces May Soon Join The War Against Al-Shabaab
05 March- Source:Daily Nation-476 Words
The war against Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia should intensify if US President Donald Trump approves a Pentagon plan to expand operations in the country.A week today, the Pentagon sent recommendations to the White House that would allow US Special Forces to increase assistance to the Somali National Army, now struggling against Al-Shabaab, The Associated Press reported.The AP cited unidentified US officials as source of the information, a practice Trump has maligned as manufacturing of “fake news”.Whatever, the agency reported the officials saying the plan fits in Trump’s policy of defeating the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and affiliates, real and copy cats worldwide.These include Al-Qaeda and adherents such as Al-Shabaab.
As the agency noted, US concern is primarily based on the tendency of Americans from Somali communities travelling to training camps in the Horn of Africa country and might return and conduct terrorist attacks.Well, someone should have foreseen that. Those who did, like the European Union, acted.The EU has been the main financial supporter of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, Amisom.That’s in addition to a 160 EU Training Mission starting in 2010 in Uganda. However, the financial support is dwindling.
According to the AP, General Thomas Waldhauser, the head of US Africa Command, described Somalia as “our most perplexing challenge”.Adding the goal is to look at Somalia in a “fresh perspective in the way ahead”.Currently, the US has about 60 rotating troops. Their job includes advising and training Somali soldiers.The US forces also provide transport et al. From time to time it flies drones to strike selected targets.What’s needed in Somalia is a co-ordinated punch — search and destroy Al-Shabaab.
TOP TWEETS
@UNReliefChief : Touchdown in #Somalia where famine is clear & present risk: 5.5m ppl need urgent assistance over next 6 months. Joined by Keating, DeClerq
@Somaliupdate : #Somalia: Media Association in #Puntland Demands Gov’t to Immediately Retreat Ban Decision on TV… http://fb.me/8OXpdrU2r
@Fatumaabdulahi : When HSM was defeated, thousands took to the streets to celebrate. They had no idea he would transform into a ‘lawmaker’! #Impunity #Somalia
@ahmedsas20 : Drought response in #Somalia: competition to out do each other is btn Somalia govt, Aid agencies , business community and Al-Shabab.
@ChismaioCity : The situation could be worse than the 2011 famine that claimed 260,000 lives. Let’s act Now, #Caawiwalaal #Somaliadroughtawareness #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
USG O’Brien is welcomed at the airport by SRSG Keating and Deputy SRSG D’Clerq in Mogadishu, Somalia
@UNReliefchief