March 19, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Somali President Postpones Trip To Qatar
18 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 148 Words
President Mohamed, Abdullahi Farmaajo has cancelled a three-day state visit to Qatar, after dispute sparked between the leaders of executive and Lower House. The country has been facing looming political crisis since early this week when over 100 lawmakers tabled a motion against the Speaker, Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari.
President Farmaajo will mediate between Speaker Jawaari and PM Khaire, who have been trading accusations in recent days. The ongoing political stalemate between the two leaders became public on Friday, when the speaker held a press conference in Mogadishu accusing the PM of raiding the parliament. Last Thursday, the Parliamentary Standing Committee, dropped the motion against the speaker, after it failed to secure the requisite quorum. The following day, the first Deputy Speaker, Mr. Abdiweli Sheikh Muday dismissed the committee’s decision to quash the motion, saying the committee has not authority to decide the fate of motion.
Key Headlines
- Somali President Postpones Trip To Qatar (Hiiraan Online)
- Somalia: Jawari Challenges Opposition MPs To Oust Him Through The Ballot (Garowe Online)
- President Farmaajo To Lead Operations Against Al-Shabaab (Halbeeg News)
- Egypt Donates Two Tonnes Of Medical Supplies To Somalia: Egyptian Ambassador (Ahram Online)
- International Community Urges Dialogue To Resolve Political Tension In Somalia (Xinhuanet)
- True Story Of Two Sisters Who Became Jihadi Brides (Independent Review)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia: Jawari Challenges Opposition MPs To Oust Him Through The Ballot
18 March – Source: Garowe Online – 274 Words
The embattled Speaker of Somalia’s Lower House of Parliament, Mohamed Osman Jawari on Sunday, announced that the no-confidence motion against him will proceed to the Parliament, according to reports. Speaking at a press conference in Mogadishu, Jawaari has called on the opposition MPs for a vote on the ‘no-confidence motion’ against him within 10 days, adding that if the deadline flops the motion will be nullified as stipulated on the provisional constitution.
On the other hand, he has demanded an immediate withdrawal of military police deployed in and around the Parliament building in Mogadishu last Friday, and asked the Executive branch to redeploy the regular security forces to the compound. The Speaker faces a motion of no confidence tabled by more than 100 lawmakers, allegedly linked to the office of the Prime Minister of Somalia Hassan Ali Khaire last week. The MPs’ move aimed at ousting Speaker Jawari has created a new political crisis. Speaker Jawari has denied reports on social media that he is considering to resign ahead of the vote on the motion against him in the Parliament. “I am not resigning, I did not come by force, I stay by the ballot, and leave by the ballot,” the embattled speaker told the opposition MPs allied to the PM.
Somali Senate has formed on Sunday a 7-member committee, to mediate the political stalemate and called on the rival MPs within the Lower House to work for the stability of the country, and end the differences through peaceful means. Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has postponed Sunday an official visit to Qatar due to the deepening political crises engulfing his fragile government.
President Farmaajo To Lead Operations Against Al-Shabaab
18 March – Source: Halbeeg News – 199 Words
Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo will command the ongoing preparations of the Somali military, to advance on to Al-Shabaab controlled areas, Defense Ministry said on Saturday. Mr. Mohamed Mursal Sheikh, Defense Minister said, President Farmaajo has reformed the military leadership during his stay at the ministry last week.
Mr. Mursal noted, that the president would spearhead the operations against Al-Shabaab fighters. “President reshuffled the command of the army. He is leading ongoing preparations of the military to advance on to Al-Shabaab,” said the minister. He pointed out that joint Somali forces will soon launch major operations, to liberate areas under the control of Al-Shabaab fighters. “Inclusive armed forces will take part in the operations to flush out Al-Shabaab fighters from Somalia,” he explained.
Last month, President Farmaajo announced new offensives against Al-Shabaab. “We will gear up the operations to clear Al-Shabaab. We want to liberate all areas under Al-Shabaab rule, I call upon the Somali public to help the army in the fight against the group, “said President Farmaajo. Since February, Somali forces conducted operations in Middle and Lower Shabelle region. Radio Andolus, which was Al-Shabaab’s broadcaster was destroyed in operations that took place last month in Lower Shabelle region.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Egypt Donates Two Tonnes Of Medical Supplies To Somalia: Egyptian Ambassador
18 March – Source: Ahram Online – 141 Words
The Egyptian embassy in Somalia delivered two tonnes of medical supplies to the Somalian health ministry on Friday, Egypt’s ambassador to Somalia Walid Ismail said in a statement on Sunday. The humanitarian aid shipment was donated by the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD), which is part of the Egyptian foreign ministry.
Ismail said the aid was donated as a matter of “brotherly relations” between the two countries, as Egypt helps a partner to combat drought and related diseases, as well as severe injuries resulting from terrorist attacks. Somalia is suffering from a prolonged, devastating civil war between the government and radical militant groups. Egypt has been providing aid to help the Somali government cope with the consequences of the conflict. In May 2017, the Egyptian Armed Forces sent a military transport plane with food and medical supplies to Somalia.
International Community Urges Dialogue To Resolve Political Tension In Somalia
17 March – Source: Xinhuanet – 372 Words
The international community has called for dialogue to resolve political tension in Somalia following a dispute between the prime minister and House speaker. In a joint statement released on Friday night after security forces took over the country’s Parliament, the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union and foreign embassies called on Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari to give way for dialogue to end the dispute.
“The international community urges leaders in Parliament and the Executive to engage in respectful discussions in the coming days and to use constitutional and peaceful means to resolve political differences,” the partners said. They urged all Somali leaders and politicians to respect the rule of law and the Provisional Federal Constitution in resolving political differences. “This needs to include preservation of democratic space. Activities that increase tensions leading to possible violence should be avoided at all costs,” the international partners said.
The statement came after Jawari told journalists Friday evening that the House expected to continue sittings Saturday will have to decide on a new venue since the government has deployed forces to take control of Parliament. “I welcome the motion against me but the proceedings will have to take place in a different place because government forces have occupied Parliament,” Jawari said. “The Prime Minister will be responsible for anything that happens,” said Jawari who has been the Speaker since 2012. A motion to remove Jawari from office failed Thursday to garner enough numbers to meet the 92 quorum threshold after 16 lawmakers withdrew their support in the last minute.
The international partners said they are “extremely concerned” by recent political and security developments in Mogadishu that risk derailing hard-earned political, economic, and security achievements and tarnishing the reputation of Somalia. “The international community commends those groups and individuals who are mediating a peaceful resolution to political differences and stands behind their efforts,” they said. Jawari who was re-elected in 2017 for the second term in office has blamed the prime minister for being behind a motion of no confidence against him and for ordering security forces to occupy Parliament and vowed to face the motion on the floor of the house if the legal requirements are met.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The sisters are tracked down and he is allowed five minutes with Ayan, who is already married to an Isis fighter. Sadiq asks her to come home; she refuses. He is imprisoned, interrogated and tortured, cellmate after cellmate is taken away, but he gets out.”
True Story Of Two Sisters Who Became Jihadi Brides
18 March – Source: Independent Review – 752 Words
In October 2103, Norwegian-Somali teenagers Ayan and Leila Juma left their home near Oslo to travel to Syria. They wanted, they later told their parents in an email, to “help down there” as best they could. The sisters’ departure and the subsequent revelations about the extent of their radicalisation shocked their mother and father, who had come to Norway from Somalia 13 years before to make a better life.
In Two Sisters, Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad uses her considerable investigative prowess to trace how Ayan and Leila – resourceful young women with seemingly bright futures – came to embrace the ideology of Isis. She paints a comprehensive portrait of their parents – their mother Sara, who never fully adjusted to life in Norway, and their father Sadiq, more liberal than many of his peers, encouraging his daughters to play sport and deeply unhappy when they first began to wear the niqab or face veil.
As well as examining the sisters’ friendships and experiences in the school system, Seierstad zooms in on developments that may have led to their journey to Syria. Ayan became heavily involved with authoritarian Muslim youth organisation Islam Net and was influenced by the teachings of a Koran tutor hired by a group of Somali mothers – including Sara. Ayan in turn seems to have influenced Leila, though Seierstad does not present either sister as naïve or a victim of brainwashing – rather they seem to have sought out others who agreed with their evolving beliefs. It’s a complicated, expansive story with multiple locations and a large cast of characters. Seierstad does an excellent job of weaving the different strands of her narrative together, moving backwards and forwards in time and jumping between Oslo, Somalia and Syria so cohesively and so strategically that the book often reads like a thriller.
Determined to get his daughters back, Sadiq travels to the Turkish-Syrian border and, with the help of a middleman, makes it into Syria. The sisters are tracked down and he is allowed five minutes with Ayan, who is already married to an Isis fighter. Sadiq asks her to come home; she refuses. He is imprisoned, interrogated and tortured, cellmate after cellmate is taken away, but he gets out. Like in The Bookseller of Kabul – Seierstad’s hugely successful account of daily life in an Afghan household following the fall of the Taliban – Two Sisters adopts a novelistic form. The writer does not appear on the page. Instead she tells the story in a third person voice, entering into the minds of her subjects as though they are fictional characters.