January 27, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
US concern about report of American kidnapped in Somalia
27 Jan – Source: AFP – 255 words
The United States said it is trying to obtain more information about an American who was recently reported kidnapped in lawless Somalia. The case is separate from the one in which US commandos swooped into Somalia Wednesday and rescued two aid workers, an American woman and a Danish man who had been held for three months by armed pirates.
“With regard to a US citizen reportedly kidnapped in northern Somalia, another one, we are concerned about this individual’s safety and well-being,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
“We have been in contact with the individual’s family. We are also working with our contacts in Kenya and in Somalia to try to get more information,” Nuland told reporters. She did not name the individual and provided no other details.
But Ecoterra International, an environmental and rights group, said in a statement from Nairobi that a foreign national kidnapped at the weekend in central Somalia is an American journalist and writer named Michael Scott Moore.
It said a Somali pirate gang on Saturday snatched Moore — also said to have German nationality — on the road to Galkayo airport and drove him to a remote jungle. Moore was being held alongside two hostages from Israel and the Seychelles taken from a hijacked Seychelles-flagged motorboat, it added.
Key Headlines
- Al Shabaab execute three civilians in southern Somalia (Shabelle)
- Ohio conference discusses Somalia future problems (USA Today )
- Al Shabaab demands money from locals in Kurtunwarey Lower Shabelle region (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Kenya urges world to accelerate Somalia peace efforts ( Coast week Xinhua )
- Addis hosting 42nd Extraordinary Session of IGAD Ministerial Council (Ethiopian News Agency)
- US concern about report of American kidnapped in Somalia ( AFP )
SOMALI MEDIA
Al Shabaab execute three civilians in southern Somalia
27 Jan – Source: Shabelle – 156 words
Al-Shabaab militants in the south-central Somali town of Masagaway have beheaded three people in what is believed to be the biggest execution carried out in Somalia by the al Qaeda-linked group for months.
According to the residents, al Shabaab fighters on Friday beheaded the three Somali teenagers in southern Somalia town of Masagway located in between Galgudud and Lower Shabelle region for suspicion of being spying for the Transitional Federal Government.
Reports say the bodies of the two of the young boys were found this morning in the town with bullet wounds while the other one was believed to have been beheaded. The executions have shocked the local people and sparked fears among the youngsters in south-central Somalia. Witnesses said two of the executed boys had travelled to northern Somalia.
Al Shabaab demands money from locals in Kurtunwarey, Lower Shabelle region
27 Jan – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 211 words
Al Shabaab militias in Kurtunwarey district, Lower Shabelle, have compelled local clans in the area to pay 270 million Somali shillings, reports say. Rebel leaders who met clan leaders demanded immediate financial support for their fighters. During the meeting each family was ordered to pay a portion of the money demanded by the rebel group.
Clan elders reportedly told the rebel leaders that they cannot afford to pay the amount required from them since people are still recovering from the recent famine crisis in the region. The group has been compelling locals in areas under its control to pay certain amount of money of which most of the locals could not afford to pay.
On 6 December last year, the group reportedly ordered local traders in in Bur-hakaba district of Bay region to pay $18,000 within 15 days. Rebel leaders said they needed the money to meet their group’s needs in order to allow them fight TFG and Ethiopian troops in the region.
Earlier in mid July last year, al Shabaab leaders in Bardera district of Gedo region also reportedly compelled small scale traders in the area to pay SomSh 200, 000 every month. The cash strapped militia group is known for such actions whenever faced by either military pressure or financial crisis.
Somaliland: 15 Journalists Consummate UN/IRIN Organized Training Course
26 Jan – Source: Hadhwanaag Times – 119 words
Some 15 Somaliland journalists received a five-day training course, which was organized by UN’s IRIN. Training course which was conducted by the Somaliland Journalists Association SOLJA gave journalism instruction to the journalists who have been lucky to take part in this course.
During the five days training course, the journalists were taught on how to report humanitarian news stories. Speaking at the conclusion of training course, Abdisalam Hassan, a top official of SOLJA, said that the training was to enhance the aptitude and education of young Somaliland journalists while covering humanitarian related stories. Saddam Mohamed Ahmed, a journalist who took part in the training, said they have learnt very important constructive skills.
Al Shabaab Press Office conducts media training for al Shabaab journalists
26 Jan – Source: Somalia Report, Amiirnuur, Somali memo – 66 words
The pro-Shabaab Islamist website claimed that al Shabaab’s Media and Information Dissemination Branch concluded media training for an unspecified number of Islamist journalists. The training, conducted by Radio Andulus, covered the the role of the media in the global Jihad movement, especially in Somalia. Senior al Shabaab leaders who spoke to the Islamist journalists stated that media is in the forefront of the Jihad against the global infidels.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenya urges world to accelerate Somalia peace efforts
27 Jan – Source: Coast week, Xinhua – 832 words
The Kenyan government on Thursday called on the international community to accelerate peace efforts inside Somalia to enable the transfer of refugees inside Kenya back home to the Horn of Africa nation.
Internal Security Minister Professor George Saitoti told journalists in Nairobi that the lack of peace in Somalia is not a regional or African problem but an international concern.
“The lawlessness inside Somalia affects international peace as we have seen nationals from as far as Europe and the Americas come to Somalia to be trained as terrorists. “Once they complete their training, the next step is go back to their countries and cause havoc,” Saitoti said during the flagging of 20 vehicles received by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The vehicles will be used to boost security inside Dabaab refugee camp which currently host around 500,000 refugees. “The government has been having difficulties mobilizing sufficient vehicles to patrol the camp in the largest refugee camp in the world so we will make further proposals for assistance from the UN,” Saitoti said.
The donations followed last year’s agreement between the government and the UN refugee agency for the latter to assist Kenya deal with insecurity inside the camp.
Addis hosting 42nd Extraordinary Session of IGAD Ministerial Council
26 Jan – Source: Ethiopian News Agency – 361 words
The 42nd Extraordinary Session of IGAD Council of Ministers is underway in Addis Ababa.
The Session will discuss on the current situation, misunderstanding between South Sudan and Sudan, piracy in the coast of Somalia as well as peace and security affairs in the Horn.
Council current chairperson, Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn said the 20 year crisis in Somalia still continues to be a major issue. Hailemariam said there are signs of progress on the ground offering opportunities to build upon the achievements gained so far and find sustainable solutions to the remaining challenges facing Somalia.
The recent gains both at the security front and at political negotiations must be supported by IGAD member countries and stakeholders until a long lasting peace and stability is achieved in Somalia.
The concern in the region regarding to peace and security and terrorist activities is not focused only on Somalia. Executive Secretary of IGAD, Eng. Mahboub Maalim on his part condemned the recent attack on tourists.
In a message delivered through a representative, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union Commission, Ramtane Lamamra said al Shabaab has been defeated in Mogadishu and Mogadishu is now under the full and effective control of the TFG of Somalia.
Somalia government supports U.S. rescue of foreign hostages
27 Jan – Source: Coast Week – 332 words
Somali government on Thursday said it backs the U.S. military raid to free two foreign aid workers held captive in northern Somalia by local pirates, a statement said.
U.S. commandoes carried out late night raid on a pirate base in northern Somalia to free Jessica Buchanan, an American, and Poul Thisted, Danish, who had been held hostage by the pirates since October. The two were working for the Danish demining Group and were operating in the central Somalia town of Galkayo.
“The Somali government supports the American Special Forces operation that saved the lives of the kidnapped Danish De-mining Group workers,” the Somali government said in a statement. The Somali government Minister of Information Abdelkadir Hussein Mohamed praised the freed hostages for their work in the country despite the risks they faced.
“Jessica Buchanon and Paul Thisted are kind souls and the Somali people could not have better friends in the world than them, for they braved to risk their lives to clear mines from our country and save our people, especially children, from losing their lives and limb,” the information minister said in the statement.
“The safe rescue of the two aid workers, who have been kidnapped while helping make the playgrounds safe for our children, is a great joy to the Somali government and to all Somalis as well as to all right thinking people everywhere,” the minister added.
Somalia government said that such operations are the “only language, kidnappers of innocent people, pirates and terrorists understand” and that “every opportunity should be taken to wipe out this scourge from our country.” Officials promised to do everything it could to assist in the release of those still held hostages in Somalia.
“These kidnappers and pirates are the cause of untold suffering to our people, even more so than to the rest of the world, for they are kidnapping the very people who were helping our sick and hungry, and also devastated our trade by stopping international shipping in our waters.” concluded the government statement.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US concern about report of American kidnapped in Somalia
27 Jan – Source: AFP – 255 words
The United States said it is trying to obtain more information about an American who was recently reported kidnapped in lawless Somalia. The case is separate from the one in which US commandos swooped into Somalia Wednesday and rescued two aid workers, an American woman and a Danish man who had been held for three months by armed pirates.
“With regard to a US citizen reportedly kidnapped in northern Somalia, another one, we are concerned about this individual’s safety and well-being,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
“We have been in contact with the individual’s family. We are also working with our contacts in Kenya and in Somalia to try to get more information,” Nuland told reporters. She did not name the individual and provided no other details.
But Ecoterra International, an environmental and rights group, said in a statement from Nairobi that a foreign national kidnapped at the weekend in central Somalia is an American journalist and writer named Michael Scott Moore.
It said a Somali pirate gang on Saturday snatched Moore — also said to have German nationality — on the road to Galkayo airport and drove him to a remote jungle. Moore was being held alongside two hostages from Israel and the Seychelles taken from a hijacked Seychelles-flagged motorboat, it added.
Gunmen seized Moore from the same area where an American woman and a Danish man were also kidnapped in October. The two were freed on Wednesday in a dawn air raid by US special forces said to have killed eight pirates.
Ohio conference discusses Somalia future, problems
27 Jan – Source: USA Today – 104 words
Somalia’s numerous problems, from piracy to humanitarian suffering to receiving money from overseas immigrants, are the subject of a two-day conference at Ohio State University.
The previously scheduled conference comes just days after U.S. special forces rescued two hostages inside Somalia and killed nine captors in the process.
The Somalia at Crossroads conference begins Friday and includes Somali officials, academic experts and a representative from the U.S. State Department. Columbus has as many as 20,000 Somali residents, the country’s second-largest population after Minnesota.
OSU summit seeks solutions to Somalia’s woes
26 Jan – The Columbus Dispatch – 310 Words
Somalia, which hasn’t had a national government in more than two decades, faces a host of complex problems including famine, religious extremism, piracy and a flood of refugees.
Friday and Saturday, local Somali leaders and academics and State Department representatives will meet at Ohio State University to discuss these problems and how they affect the U.S. and Somalis who have moved here.
“ Somalia at Crossroads: Foreign Intervention, Humanitarian Crisis and Aspirations for Statehood,” will include speakers discussing U.S. policy, the ongoing humanitarian crisis and difficulties in sending money to relatives there.
The possibility of the country breaking into small hostile regions also will be discussed. Somalia needs to be united or the ongoing problems will simply be exacerbated, said Abdinur Mohamud, a consultant for the Ohio Department of Education.
“ There has to be a solution that brings all those territories together” so regions and communities can function at the local level, said Mohamud, a member of the organizing committee. He served as Somalia’s minister of education for nine months until the prime minister was forced out in June. Mohamud said he hopes what is discussed in Columbus can be taken to a conference this year in London.
Rape, corruption in camps blight lives of Somali displaced
26 Jan – Source: Reuters – 1030 words
Nurto Isak’s food rations are feeding her, her three children, and — she suspects — the militiamen guarding the camp in Mogadishu where she and other uprooted Somalis have taken refuge. The city is host to more than 180,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) who, like Isak, have fled a killer combination of conflict, drought and hunger back home.
Many risk long, difficult journeys to reach the capital, their sights set on the numerous aid agencies that have set up relief operations to hand out food and treat malnutrition there. Yet many people at various IDP settlements in the war-torn city complain that food aid is not reaching them and accuse local aid workers working for international and Somali NGOs of taking it to line their own pockets.
“Half of the rations intended for our camp is given to the warlord whose militia are said to be guarding us,” Isak told AlertNet (www.trust.org/alertnet), a humanitarian news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Many of the displaced said women were being raped in camps, while others lamented a lack of jobs, health clinics and schools despite the increased presence of aid groups. Six months after famine was declared in parts of Somalia, the Horn of Africa country remains in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, with 4 million people in need of aid, according to U.N. figures.
However, fighting between government forces and Islamist rebels, combined with attacks on aid workers and a history of aid being manipulated for political gain, means Somalia is one of the toughest countries for relief agencies to operate in.
As such, it is a classic case study of the obstacles to effective aid as highlighted in an AlertNet poll of 41 leading relief agencies published on Thursday. In the survey, more than half the experts cited increasingly complex disasters as one of the biggest challenges to aid delivery — with the use of aid as a political weapon and violence against relief workers also featuring highly.
Last month two staff working for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) were shot dead by a colleague in Mogadishu, while earlier this month the International Committee of the Red Cross suspended food distribution to 1.1 million people after al Shabaab rebels blocked deliveries to areas under the militant group’s control.
“This is one of the most complex environments for humanitarians,” said U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, in response to the claims by displaced people that food rations were being sold by local aid workers. “Despite continued efforts to strengthen our monitoring systems, allegations still and will continue,” he said in a statement to AlertNet.
FAST BUCK
Some of the IDP camps — little more than a clutch of flimsy shelters made of sticks and cloth — are directly and indirectly run by government forces or warlords linked to the government, residents say. Shukri Aden, a resident at another camp, said she had witnessed traders buying food supplies directly from a number of local staff working for NGOs and aid agencies responsible for distributing food in her camp.
“Traders park their cars and lorries beside the camp when it is food distribution day,” the mother of six said.
Once a month residents of the camps are handed a card that allows them to collect 25 kg of rice, 25 kg of wheat flour, 10 kg of sugar and 5 liters of cooking oil, Aden said. But often they are pressured into handing their rations to a local aid worker who pays them around $5 each — hardly enough to buy food for a day.
The aid worker then sells the food at a marked-up price to a trader, earning thousands of dollars in profits, she said. “They give us cards to take food but we rarely receive the ration,” said Aden, who has taken to begging and washing clothes to scrape together a few more shillings to feed her family.
RAPED AT GUNPOINT
A few miles away in Dinsoor IDP camp, Kadija Mohamed, 36, told AlertNet she was raped.
“Three armed men in government uniform came into the camp. The strongest one shone a powerful torch in my eyes, he strangled me and then raped me in front of my crying kids,” she said. Mohamed, a widow, said she waited for sunrise before making her way to a nearby clinic only to be told there were no doctors.
“Later the camp leaders brought me some painkillers. Now I’m OK but I do not know what diseases I caught from the rape. I have nowhere to go for a check-up,” Mohamed said. “We live in these makeshift shelters. We have no aid agency or government to protect us at night. We are at God’s mercy.”
Isak also said rape was common in her camp.
“They rape even mothers at gunpoint at night — and we are threatened to death should we disclose it,” she said. “The makeshift shelters have no lockable doors, so these men just come in at night and lie on you.” In its January 18 report, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said sexual violence against women and girls was continuing in Somalia. It also said security in the IDP settlements was insufficient and at risk of deteriorating.
QUESTION OF PRIORITIES
Mohamed’s brother, Macalim Ibrahim, 40, reserved his biggest criticism for government officials and local aid workers. “These local aid workers are building houses with the sale of food intended for the poor displaced people like us,” he told AlertNet. “We are deprived and yet have no government or aid agencies to ask for help.” He also questioned the effectiveness of some of the aid that has been given.
“Many NGOs come, take our photos, and never come back. For example, one aid agency came and erected this school building made of iron sheets,” Ibrahim said. “We brought our kids to the school but it did not work more than 7 days. The guys took footage of the kids at school and never came back. And the teachers disappeared. “Other aid agencies came and built these latrines. That is good but a hungry man never goes to the toilet. We need food and water to survive,” he said.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The more money is handed over for hostages, the more hostages are likely to be taken. The Somali gangs are clearly intent on continuing this criminal scheme.” “Military power by itself will never be enough to put an end to piracy and kidnapping rings, but it can at least change the calculus for those who seek to profit by abducting Western citizens.”
The right way to deal with Somalia’s thugs
27 Jan – The National Post Opinion – 590 Words
Three months ago, two aid workers helping to clear land mines out of Somalia were captured by local pirates. Jessica Buchanan, a 32-year-old American, and Danish citizen Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, had been held for ransom ever since. Efforts by the Danish government to secure their release were unsuccessful. At some point over the last few months – when exactly is unclear – the United States developed intelligence on their location, and also discovered that Ms. Buchanan was suffering from an undisclosed illness. With her condition deteriorating, U.S. President Barack Obama decided to attempt a military rescue. SEAL Team 6, the same unit that took out Osama bin Laden, was chosen for the job. On Tuesday night, they got it done.
The hostages were both rescued safely and the 12 pirates guarding them were all dealt with swiftly: Nine were killed when the SEALs moved in, with three captured and taken prisoner. No U.S. troops were killed and the hostages have been evacuated to a nearby U.S. military base. This is exactly what needs to happen, as much as intelligence and circumstances permit, every time a Western citizen is abducted and held for ransom.
For years, Somali pirates have roamed the seas off the Horn of Africa, seizing ships for their crews and cargo, and waiting for insurance companies or corporations to pay out huge ransoms. Gradually, however, shipping companies adapted to the risk, and began putting heavily armed private security teams on their boats, sticking close to warships, or avoiding the piracy-afflicted waters entirely. Military forces in the area also have been much more assertive in dealing with any pirates they encounter.
“Somalia may be in the news for the daring raid President Obama ordered to free aid workers held hostage by pirates. But is there a sunny side to the war-torn country? Perhaps so, according to this blog post”
Destination … Somalia?
26 Jan – Source: The American Blog – 363 Words
National Parks – With its amazing natural typography the national parks are by far the biggest attraction for holiday makers in Somalia. There are a number of well preserved national parks across that country that will give the tourist the chance to gaze upon a collection of common and rare East African species. The Kismayu National Park of Somalia is one the best that it has to offer. If you want to get a glimpse of some of the rarest African species then the Hargeisa National Park situated in the north is not to miss. Another popular park is situated outside the city of Mogadishu.
Beaches – Somalia has some beautiful beaches lined up against the Indian Ocean in the east. Beach trips when visiting this country should be on top of your priority list. Along with the beaches Somalia boasts an amazing coral reef that runs from Mogadishu all the way up to the Kenyan border in the south. Somali beaches offer a unique experience of tranquility and extreme natural beauty. Situated at a distance of five kilometers from the city of Merca is one of the most sought after beaches of Somalia known as the Sinbusi beach. The shore has some excellent beach huts that will enable you to have modern amenities on a heavenly beach…
“Both Europe and the United States are sending high level delegations to Hargeisa, in order to persuade Somaliland to join the talks in a more positive manner, instead of being politically-isolated.” When we analyze the whole situation I think the agenda coming from Europe, the US and the UN is as follows:
What if Somaliland does unify with Somalia
26 Jan – Source: Somaliland Press – 350 Words
1. They want to see a unified government in Somalia where both Somalia and Somaliland will have a fair share of a newly-formed central government.
2. Possibly Somaliland will be given the lead role to form the new government, in order to make them happy.
3. They might propose a new constitution which will pave the way for Somaliland to go its own separate way should it be displeased with the union, provided they should go through referendum.
4. Possibly within ten-to-twenty years time-frame, if the marriage of Somalia and Somaliland doesn’t work out, Somaliland will have the option of leaving the union.
5. The international community would provide billions of loans and grants to rebuild the new unified government, which hopefully will create a viable new state which will benefit all Somalis concerned.
6. Terrorist elements like Al Shabab and maritime pirates should be eradicated by the new unified government with the help of international community as soon as possible.
“Ambassador David H. Shinn gave on 25 January a presentation on al Shabaab and Somalia in the 21st century which covered the importance in Somalia of political Islam, some of the larger regional issues and the problems posed by forcing Somali hawalas out of business.”
Al Shabaab and Somalia
26 Jan – Source: Official Blog of Amb David H. Shinn
The Navanti Group hosted a workshop in New York City 24-26 January 2012 for representatives of various U.S. government agencies and local law envforcement jurisdictions.
“Once educated Somalis get a better job and succeed in their life, they sell out Somalis communities. Is this kind of socialization process when someone acquires some extra capital, feel like they would rather change the surroundings then contribute to their old “ends.”
Why educated Somalis leave their communities?
26 Jan – Source: SomaliaOnline Forum Thread
As Somalis we are almost living her 3 generations (in Arab-gulf). I find that very unfortunate in our educated people who did that.
For those people i like to say( life is more about opportunity then anything), we should never consider ourselves morally superior to someone else because you were designated a pricey piece of paper, and you might have a degree or two, but you do not have real life skills which the uneducated and poor people have it.
Joining the debate about Somalia Conference
Ultimately, Somalia’s problems need to be solved by Somalis. We are therefore engaging at all levels with Somali authorities, civil society and Diaspora.
As part of this, the Prime Minister met Somalia experts for an informal debate on the challenges facing Somalis and the best way to solve them. The Government is also holding a series of events in the run-up to the Conference with the Somali Diaspora and civil society. Details will be posted here in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, we invite readers to learn more about the UK’s work with Somalia on our British Office website and to keep up with news and discussion around the conference by joining Facebook and Twitter, following Twitter hashtag #LDNSomalia .
You can also read and comment on Matt Baugh’s blog- Senior Representative for Somalia.
Top tweets
@WSomaliStudents This is the first global effort by an organised Somali youth movement that aims to meet some of the challenges facing Somalia. #SOMALIA
@UKinSomalia More information on the London Conference on #Somalia, 23 Feb 2012 #LDNSomalia ht.ly/8Hrek
@complinet Insurers can help alleviate piracy problem in Somalia, says IMB director: Insurers can help al… bit.ly/wRVfVt #
@InternetFreedo1 London Conference on Somalia: Building Momentum So far, we’ve had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the… fb.me/PMbLHsTl
@johnfdrake If you think kidnap is bad in Somalia, try Mexico – an @latimesworld article covering @akegroup statistics
@OCEANUSLive Two-day Ohio conference focuses on Somalia’s humanitarian, piracy and financial problems | The Republic therepublic.com/view/
@MarryMeCocaCola Somalia always seems to make the news some how
Image of the day
The scene of a fire that razed an entire market in Hamarweyne district, south of capital Mogadishu on Thursday.