January 30, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
4 suspects arrested over death of Shebelle director
30 Jan – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Radio RBC, SONNA, Bariga Afrika – 131 words
TFG authorities have today arrested four men accused of being behind the brutal killings of the late Shabelle Media House director Hassan Osman alias Fantastic. The four men were apprehended by the area authorities following a tipoff from the area residents and are presently in custody and detained by the TFG security authorities.
One of the TFG authorities who spoke to media houses said that the investigations are still underway and they will soon present a full statement over the matter. Hassan Fantastic was killed by unidentified men on Saturday night in Mogadishu’s Madina neighborhood.Fantastic was the third Shabelle Media Network director to be killed. In 2007, Bashir or Gedi was killed in Mogadishu, and followed by the murder of Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe in 2009.
Key Headlines
- President Sharif meets international figures in Addis Ababa (Radio Bar-kulan Radio Mogadishu)
- 4 suspects arrested over death of Shebelle director ((Radio Mogadishu Radio RBC SONNA Bariga Afrika)
- Mogadishu Media House strongly condemns the killing of Radio Shabele Director(TFG)
- Former Prime Minister calls on TFG to negotiate with al Shabaab (Radio Kulmiye)
- AUC chief hails African initiatives on Somalia other regional issues (Xinhua)
- The Somali Government Condemns the assassination of Radio Shebelle Director (TFG)
- Al Shabaab: Portrait of a Kenyan jihadist (Africa Review)
- Ethiopian soldiers tanks bolster force in Somalia (AFP)
PRESS RELEASE
Mogadishu Media House strongly condemns the killing of Radio Shabele Director
30 Jan – Source: TFG – 255 words
Mogadishu Media House strongly condemns the killing of Radio Shabele Director on Saturday evening 28 January 2012 near his home area in Nasteho, Mogadishu.
Hassan Osman Abdi (Fantastic) was on his way to his house from work, when two gunmen armed with pistols shot at him five times. Abdi suffered serious injuries to his head and chest and died on the way to Madina hospital. The gunmen immediately fled from the scene.
The reason of his killing is not clear,. The 30 year old director was a loving husband and a father of three children, two girls and a boy. Mogadishu media house send condolences to the family of the late Director. The Director will be greatly missed.
Attacks against journalists and the press are all too common in Somalia’s war-torn capital Mogdishu. Abdulsalam Sheikh Hussein “Hiis” of Horn Cable TV was killed in Hamar Jajab district before 40 days.
“We highly condemn the killing of our media partner.” said Abdulahi Mohamed Hassan the Executive Director Mogadishu media House. “We also send our deepest condolences to the friends and family we share with them the grieving of our friend and colleague. We urge the Transitional Federal government to carry out investigation and bring to justice the people responsible for the shooting of the journalist.”
Hassan was the third Shabelle Director to be killed. Bashir Nor Geddi and Mukhtar Moh’ed Hirabe were assassinated in Mogadishu. We request the Government, the political parties and the community at large to help in protecting the plight of journalist in this country.
The Somali Government Condemns the assassination of Radio Shebelle Director
29 Jan – Source: TFG – 167 words
The Somali government is condemning, in the strongest terms possible, the killing of the Director of Radio Shabelle, Hassan Osman Abdi, near his home in the Wadajir district of Mogadishu.
The Minister of Information Posts & Telecommunication, H.E. Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed “Jahweyne” said, “ We condemn this outrageous assassination of the director of one of the most important and pioneering media houses, serving the country.”
“The police and the security services will do a thorough investigation and will not leave a stone unturned to arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of this shocking murder.” The minister continued. “We are sending our heartfelt condolences to the family he left behind, his wife and children, to all Somali journalists and the whole nation. “The minister concluded.
The Position of the Somali government is that hasty speculation on who committed this heinous crime is contrary to the due processes of the law and should be avoided until at least some preliminary investigation is done by the Criminal Investigations department (CID).
SOMALI MEDIA
President Sharif meets international figures in Addis Ababa
30 Jan – Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Radio Mogadishu – 136 words
Somali Presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Sunday held separate talks with some international leaders attending the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. President Sharif particularly held talks with the UN chief Ban Ki-Moon and discussed with him several important issues including UN support for his government, fulfillment of earlier international pledges for Somalia and the recent military achieved by the TFG and AMISOM troops in Mogadishu.
The president thanked the UN chief for relocating the UN Political Office for Somalia to Mogadishu after 17 years of absence, calling it a clear indication that the UN is committed in supporting Somalia.
President Sharif also held talks with U.S and British officials and discussed with them the need for their support in stabilising the anarchic Horn of African country which was marred by two decades of conflict.
4 suspects arrested over death of Shebelle director
30 Jan – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Radio RBC, SONNA, Bariga Afrika – 131 words
TFG authorities have today arrested four men accused of being behind the brutal killings of the late Shabelle Media House director Hassan Osman alias Fantastic. The four men were apprehended by the area authorities following a tipoff from the area residents and are presently in custody and detained by the TFG security authorities.
One of the TFG authorities who spoke to media houses said that the investigations are still underway and they will soon present a full statement over the matter. Hassan Fantastic was killed by unidentified men on Saturday night in Mogadishu’s Madina neighborhood.
Fantastic was the third Shabelle Media Network director to be killed. In 2007, Bashir or Gedi was killed in Mogadishu, and followed by the murder of Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe in 2009.
Former Prime Minister calls on TFG to negotiate with al Shabaab
30 Jan – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 88 words
Former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdulahi Farmajo has called on the Somali government to negotiate with al Shabaab.
Mohamed said with out a political solution, Somalia will stay in political confussion, al Shabaab fighters he said are Somalis they need to be invited into negotiations. The Somali government have repeatedly called on al Shabaab to lay down arms and join negotiations but this has not materiliased.
Elders detained in Baidoa, Bay region
30 Jan – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 133 words
Al Shabaab rebel group has reportedly detained five traditional elders in Baidoa town on Sunday evening for refusing to woo material support for the militia group. Rebel leaders said these elders had defied their orders demanding fighters and financial support from clan elders in effort to fight against combined forces advancing towards rebel-held positions in southern Somalia.
Malaq Issack Mayow, one of the area clan elders confirmed to Bar-kulan the detention of the elders, saying that they were treated inhumanly during their arrest yesterday evening. Locals demanded the immediate release of the elders as efforts to secure their release gain momentum in the area.
Al Shabaab rebel leaders have been compelling locals in areas under their rule to join their militias to hunker down for battle with advancing Kenyan, Ethiopian and Somali government troops.
Somali: British citizen confesses to fundraising for foreign fighters in Somalia
29 Jan – Source: Garowe Online – 124 words
Shabaaz Hussein confessed to 7 counts of fundraising for terrorists, Garowe reports.
Mr. Hussein confessed to a London court for sending three foreign fighters who were in Somalia an amount close to 14,000 US dollars.
According to Mr. Hussein the money which was sent by him to Mohammed Jahangir, Tufual Ahmed and Mohammed Shahim could possibly have been to train the men in Somalia by al Qaeda affiliated organizations.
After authorities recovered a large number of extremist materials and had already secretly recorded conversations Hussein had with an associate the police arrested Mr. Hussein. Sara Whitehouse the prosecutor in Mr. Hussein’s case told the judge that Mr. Hussein had transferred funds to foreign fighters active in Somalia in the period between April 2010 and September 2010.
Somali migrants detained in Bulgarian border
30 Jan – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 194 words
Bulgarian border police have detained 21 illegal immigrants mostly Somalis trying to enter Bulgaria by a cargo train at Kulata checkpoint on the border with Greece on Sunday. Bulgarian border police have detained 21 illegal immigrants trying to enter Bulgaria by a cargo train at Kulata checkpoint on the border with Greece on Sunday, Zaharin Penov, director of Border Police DG, told FOCUS News Agency.
While conducting a check of a cargo train coming from Greece, the border police found 21 people hiding in it. The train was comprised of 28 empty carriages and was traveling to Croatia via Bulgaria. According to the preliminary information, 19 of them are citizens of Algeria, one of the Palestinian Authority and one of Somalia. They are one woman and 20 men. Documents certifying their stay in Greece and stating a deadline for leaving the country have been found in most of them, said the police chief.
Pre-trial proceedings were opened. When the prosecutor’s office and Bulgarian court pass their decisions, the detainees will be returned to Greece within two or three weeks. Until then, they will be accommodated in a home for foreigners in Sofia, he added.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Fury as wanted British terror suspect eludes police
29 Jan – Source: Daily Nation – 370 words
Anti-terrorism operations in Kenya suffered a setback last week after a British woman suspected to be an al Shabaab financier eluded a police raid in Mombasa and sneaked out of the country. The escape of the suspect, identified as Ms Natalie Webb, has raised deep concern within the security organs as the circumstances point to possible complicity.
The Nation has reliably learnt that a senior officer with the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit involved in last Tuesday’s botched operation has been summoned to Nairobi and an investigation ordered into how the suspect escaped.
Top police officers in the region declined to comment on the issue, terming it “sensitive”.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe confirmed that they had raided an al Shabaab safe-house and recovered 60 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, but no arrests were made.
Al Shabaab: Portrait of a Kenyan jihadist
30 Jan – Source: Africa Review – 283 words
On a hot afternoon sometimes in 2007, an executive meeting at one of Nairobi’s oldest mosques, Masjid Pumwani Riyadha, was violently cut short by hundreds of youth who threw out five executive officials accusing them of corruption and mismanagement of the mosque’s development programmes.
The leader of those rowdy youths was a slightly built man by the name Sheikh Ahmed Iman Ali, and his religious fundamentalism caught the eye of Somali terror organisation al Shabaab (Arabic for “the youth”) which appointed him the de facto leader of its Kenyan cell.
That appointment, however, was not published to the world and only became apparent recently when Sheikh Iman called for a jihad against Kenya over the country’s recent incursion into Somalia. So how did a relatively quiet boy who grew up under the watchful eyes of Imams end up in the rank and file of a global terror network?
How could a man who was accorded the best education opportunities his parents could afford (he studied at Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) turn so radically?
It is not clear when he graduated from JKUAT. His associates, however, cite 1997 or 1998 as the probable years. The university declined to divulge any information about him, saying it was under instructions not to deal with the press. “This is a matter of national security,” an official told this writer. “We have orders from the anti-terrorism police unit not to share out any information about him.”
President Museveni Commends USA for efforts in restoring security in Somalia
28 Jan – Source: Uganda Media Centre – 149 words
President Yoweri Museveni has commended the Government of the United States of America for its assistance in efforts to restore security in Somalia.The President made the commendation this morning during a meeting with the visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Mr. William Burns at State House, Nakasero.
Mr. Museveni stressed that the major task today is to assist the people of Somalia to chase away the terrorists from their ports, airports and centres of communication. Ambassador Burns saluted Uganda’s leading role in the peace process in Somalia and the Sudan.
Kenyan Muslim cleric denies weapons charge
30 Jan – Source: Capital FM – 262 words
A Muslim preacher who was arrested on Sunday after he was allegedly found with a cache of weapons at his house in Kilifi has been arraigned in court but denied the charges. Aboud Rogo Mohammed, who was named in a United Nations report last year as having links with Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militia, denied the charges before magistrate Rosemary Mutende.
He was charged with intention to commit a felony and being in possession of explosives without a valid certificate. His application to be released on bond was due to be determined later on Monday.
Rogo, a cleric in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa since 1997, was arrested in a raid in the early hours of Sunday morning following a tip off, police said.
The suspected al Shabaab member was also linked to the December 2010 bombing of a Kampala bound-bus in Nairobi, in which he was charged and the case is still pending.
The Imam is alleged to have introduced Fazul Abdullah Mohammed – the late head of al Qaeda’s east Africa cell shot dead last year in Somalia’s war-torn capital Mogadishu – to at least one of the men who helped him carry out the twin US embassy bombings in east Africa in 1998.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Ethiopian soldiers, tanks bolster force in Somalia
30 Jan – Source: AFP – 257 words
Columns of Ethiopian soldiers, armoured vehicles and tanks poured into Somalia on Monday, bolstering the force already fighting there, insurgents and witnesses said. Soldiers began crossing the border late Sunday and pressed deep into southwestern Somalia’s Gedo region towards territory held by Islamist al Shabaab insurgents.
“The Christian troops from Ethiopia are sending soldiers into Somalia, they have reached Gedo region now,” said Sheikh Ibrahim Abu-Yusuf, a senior commander with the al Qaeda linked fighters, warning the rebels would fight back. “I tell you that mujahideen fighters are ready to defend their soil from the invading enemy,” he told AFP.
Ethiopian soldiers rolled into neighbouring Somalia in November, but Prime Minster Meles Zenawi only admitted Friday forces were fighting there, adding he would pull troops out “as soon as feasible.” Residents in Luq district in Gedo, close to the Ethiopian border, told AFP several hundred Ethiopians had marched intoSomalia Monday.
“Hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers entered Luq in the night after crossing from the border town of Dolow, they have come with heavy machine guns and tanks,” said Idris Moalim Abdualhi, an elder. “I have counted at least 42 armed vehicles, including 28 tanks,” said Ahmed Bashir, another resident of Luq.
“The convoy crossed from the border and entered the town, but they appear to be heading in the direction of Bay region,” he added, referring to an area some 100 kilometres (60 miles) inside Somalia, held by the hardline Shabaab. Before the arrival of the fresh troops Monday it was estimated that Ethiopia had around 1,500 men in Somalia.
Govt’s shock aid warning on Somalia
30 Jan – Source: SUN – 541 words
BRITS were yesterday warned millions of pounds must be pumped into strife-torn Somalia to avert catastrophe. The grim alternative to the highly controversial aid could be to send troops into a new war costing BILLIONS.
Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell delivered the stark warning — as he revealed plans for a small team of UK military planners to work in the country’s capital Mogadishu.
Their mission to help African peacekeepers will not involve combat. It comes as Somalia is expected to replace Afghanistan as Britain’s top overseas priority once operations against the Taliban end in 2015.
Mr Mitchell — talking to The Sun on a peril-packed trip to the nation’s bandit country — explained why the Coalition’s bitterly contested hike in aid spending is vital. He said: “Somalia is on the same curve as Afghanistan was. There are more British passport holders engaged in terrorist training in Somalia than in any other country in the world.
AUC chief hails African initiatives on Somalia, other regional issues
30 Jan – Source: Xinhua – 178 words
The outgoing president of the African Union (AU) Commission Jean Ping, a Gabonese national who is seeking re-election in a contest with South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, on Sunday gave the assessment of his first term in office, outlining the successes and the challenges.
He was speaking during the opening ceremony of AU’s 18th ordinary summit that was opened in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, in the presence of over 20 African presidents. He said during his term that began in 2008, the AU “has managed to handle various crises that continue to confront the African continent.”
As illustrations, he mentioned the initiatives that have been taken to stabilize Somalia, the reinforcement of relations between Sudan and South Sudan and the fight against the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
Ping said for the first time in the last two decades, there has been a real attempt to end the Somali crisis, especially with the involvement of the Burundian and Ugandan soldiers under the auspices of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), as well as the Kenyan and Ethiopian soldiers.
AU confident UN will approve Somalia troop boost
29 Jan – Source: RFI – 625 words
The African Union is confident that the United Nations will soon rubber stamp its proposed boosting of its force in Somalia to 17,000 troops. After a ministerial meeting at the Addis Ababa summit on Saturday AU High Representative for Somalia Jerry Rawlings told RFI that the UN Security Council will okay their plans and help finance the extra soldiers.
“The efforts of the military have been able to create a fairly secure atmosphere. This is from my own personal observations as well,” Rawlings told RFI, as he left the meeting on Somalia.
The AU has provided the UN with a wish list and proposal for an increase in the number of troops for the Amisom (African Union Mission in Somalia) force in their fight against the hardline al Shabaab group.
A report will be delivered to the Security Council at the start of February with UN Security Council negotiations taking place thereafter. These will form the basis of a new resolution that some UN Security Council members hope will be agreed before the London conference on Somalia at the end of February.
“British officials in New York are working closely with African Union officials and the UN’s peacekeeping operations to consider requests from the AU for both troop uplifts and enhancement to the support package provided to Amisom,” a British official told RFI on the condition of anonymity.
Turkish paper views reasons for country’s involvement in Somalia
30 Jan – Source: Today’s Zaman website – Istanbul – 1420 words
Turkey’s relatively newfound interest in engaging with Somalia was triggered by a combination of different events, from the extension of humanitarian assistance during a time of great famine to the desire to establish a foothold in a strategic location so as to benefit from future trade deals.
Not only have a number of Turkish government agencies been actively working on the ground, but also a host of nongovernmental organizations in Somalia are working to bring about positive changes in what many have called a “failed state.”
It is not being widely discussed, but there is another underlying reason behind Turkish involvement in Somalia: to curb Iran’s meddling in the affairs of Somalia and its immediate neighbourhood. All efforts expended by Turkey will undoubtedly bring good fortune in terms of political capital, which Ankara intends to spend on countering Iranian influence in the Horn of Africa – a place Iran feels is perfect to act as a fallback position when the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria falls to democratic opposition mostly consisting of Sunnis. For years, Iran has been cultivating relationships in Somalia and the surrounding area, hoping to gain a footing in the geostrategic location of the Horn of Africa.
Considering that one of the main Iranian shipping lines crosses through the Arabian Sea and by the Gulf of Aden, Iran certainly values its presence in Somalia from an economic standpoint. In July 2009, Iran had to send two warships to the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia to protect Iranian commercial and oil cargo ships from piracy. But there is another important rationale behind Iranian interest in this region that weighs in heavily against all other considerations.
From there, Iranians believe they can create or incite schisms within a number of African nations while also keeping Sunni Arab Gulf states occupied with mounting unrest and insurgency among Shi’i populations in the southern Arabian Peninsula. For example, intelligence reports detail how the Mullah regime in Iran has been providing arms and munitions to the insurgent groups in Somalia, including al Shabaab. Tehran has been funneling most of its aid to insurgents through the “Christian” dictator of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki, who has been cozying up to Iranian regime for years. This is kind of ironic, yet a perfect case of the convergence of mutual interests.
The Eritrean opposition claimed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards provided training to the radical Shi’i Houthi rebels in Eritrea when they were fighting the Yemeni and Saudi governments. According to a Saudi official with whom I spoke last month, classified Saudi intelligence reports detail many similarities between the tactics employed by Houthi rebels and those used by pro-Iranian Shi’i groups in Iraq. This footprint shows Iranian involvement in both cases. In 2006, then-Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi publicly accused Iran of providing weapons to Islamic militants who had seized control of much of this country’s south. In the same year, the supply of arms by Iran to radical groups in Somalia was also detailed in UN Security Council reports, which found Iran in breach of a 1992 UN arms embargo on the region.
In the last couple of years, Iran seems to have shifted its tactics away from aggressively supporting armed factions towards using soft-power methods to influence Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government. The retreat of al-Shabaab militia from Mogadishu and other places amid intense pressure from African Union troops deployed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has undoubtedly accelerated this Iranian shift. Seeing that Somalia is desperate to get international aid, Iran has been using humanitarian assistance programmes as vessels to deliver important cover for illicit Iranian government activities in Somalia. At the moment, the Somalia government does not mind this as long as aid is coming in, which is the first and foremost priority for Somali leaders.
Accompanied by two planes full of many Cabinet members, celebrities, journalists, NGO workers, and businessmen, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Aug. 19, 2011, making him the first head of a government to do so in 20 years. This certainly ruffled the feathers of the Mullah regime in Tehran. The visit came on the heels of an emergency meeting held by the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Aug. 17 in Istanbul, which secured a pledge of $350 million in aid. On Aug. 23, 2011, just four days after the Turkish prime minister made a landmark visit to Mogadishu, Iranians hastily rushed their foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, to Somalia to hopefully lessen Turkey’s rising clout there. Salehi surveyed the camps set up by the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) and offered to build a hospital and an orphanage in the capital.
Turkey has since opened an embassy, started work on an international airport and on water supply and waste disposal projects, offered Somalis scholarships to study in Turkey, and made plans to build a new hospital and roads. A Turkish fundraising drive among private citizens that was launched during the holy month of Ramadan last year has so far raised $334 million. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates last October, Turkey topped the list of countries that provided aid to Somalia when comparing the amount of aid given with the countries’ gross national income.
Furthermore, Ankara successfully mobilized the rich Gulf nations to extend financial aid to the fragile transitional government in order to build government agencies, including an army. Fearing the Iranian specter looming large over their heads, the Gulf nations have been forthcoming in delivering cash to the Somali government. Somalia is happy to receive financial assistance from Turkish and Arab Gulf donors because it comes with fewer strings attached than that supplied by the West. As a result, Turkey was able to translate international political support into concrete financial help to the cash-strapped Somali government – a key to consolidating the transitional government while curbing the appeal of terrorism.
Turkey’s interest in Somalia did not start with the huge famine that exposed some 3.7 million Somalis at risk of starvation last year. Ankara was also involved with the Djibouti Peace Process (DPP) that started in May 2008 under the auspices of the UN and ended with the election of Sharif Sheik Ahmed as the new president of Somalia in January 2009. It hosted a major UN conference on Somalia in stanbul in May 2010. Now, it also supports a UN political map for the transition from AMISOM to a UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia, provided that a phased approach is adopted by the Security Council that will not be tied to a rigid timetable but rather set by conditions. Turkey has offered to help train and equip the Somali army as well.
In contrast with the Iranian engagement, Western powers seem comfortable with Turkey leading the charge in Somalia. Especially Americans who realized early on that Turkey is perfectly positioned to invalidate the Western imperialism argument the Iranians are using to agitate sensitivities among the Somali Muslim population and to recruit hardcore militants to insurgent groups appreciate the Turkish role very much. The US and its allies do not seem to mind the rhetoric Erdogan uses to bash the West as long as it does not transform into a policy and helps curb Iranian influence. For example, just two days before the Mogadishu visit, Erdogan harshly criticized Western arrogance and the failures of capitalism with respect to Somali famine during his address to the OIC. The US and its allies kept silent to the barrage of criticism levelled by Erdogan. With Ankara in the lead, the involvement of other Muslim nations such as Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia can serve to curtail ! radical Iranian Shi’i ideology from gaining firm ground in the Horn of Africa.
One senior Turkish Cabinet member told me that Turkey is also in contact with al-Shabaab and other insurgent groups in order to encourage reconciliation among disparate groups in Somalia. For example, Turkish recovery and reconstruction efforts are not limited just to areas controlled by the government but also extend to other areas in order to win over the hearts and minds of most Somalis. He said a smear campaign has been launched there by some powers against Turkish efforts but he affirmed the Turkish commitment, saying the negative campaigning will not deter them from actively pursuing engagement with Somalia. While he did not state so outright, he implied that Iran tops the list of those spreading black propaganda against Turkey in the Horn of Africa, an unexpected place where Turkey and Iran vie for influence.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“More needs to be done on the financial front to ensure that al Shabaab does not have the capability to rejuvenate. Shutting down the financial lifeblood to the movement is just as important as the military campaign on the ground.”
Is al Qaeda being defeated in Somalia?
29 Jan – Source: PJ Media Opinion – 627 Words
Al-Qaeda’s local affiliate, al Shabaab, is losing the war in Somalia and conditions in the capital, Mogadishu, are improving. African Union and Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops forced al Shabaab fighters out of the capital last August. The African Union’s AMISOM forces now number 12,000. For the first time in 17 years, the UN is opening its political office in Mogadishu. Embassies are also restarting operations, reflecting greater confidence in the security situation.
This month the African Union and allied Somalian forces launched a new offensive that took Mogadishu University outside the city, allowing them to control the suburbs as well as the city for the first time in years. Meanwhile, Ethiopian forces captured Beledweyne, 30 kilometers from the Ethiopian border. The town is quite strategic since the main north-south road passes through it.
Next, Ethiopian forces rapidly advanced to the central regions of Hiran and Galgadud, forcing al Shabaab fighters there to retreat. And Ethiopian troops have continued their rapid advance southward into the heart of al Shabaab territory by forging an alliance with clan militias in the Shabelle River Valley.
In the south, a formidable force of Kenyan combat troops and local clan militias, backed up by fighter jets and heavy armor, is pressing al Shabaab hard. The Kenyans have been making significant territorial gains in Gedo and Juba.
“The astonishing thing is that a small unknown company is informing the whole world that they are going to explore oil in Puntland, while the renown companies like Sinclair Oil Corp., Rodgers Oil Company, and Conoco Oil Company, who have been exploring Somali oil since the 40s, are not in the frontlines of this oil business.
Puntland Oil Exploration
30 Jan – Source: Hiiraan Online Opinion – 714 Words
You know when you get that annoying pop up after you open a web browser saying “Congratulations You Won!!!”? We all know that it’s a hoax and there really isn’t anything to win, just a bunch of false ads about subscribing to some random products or services. This is how I feel about the new Puntland oil discoveries. Let me give you a little background on the key player. We have the Austrailian exploration and production company called Range Resources. The firm’s website click here, mentioned that they have found two hydrocarbon basins covering approximately 20 million acres in Puntland, Somalia.
It was also mentioned in a web video by Al Jazeera, that these blocks could potentially produce about 19 billion barrels of oil in the Puntland region. That’s about 2 trillion dollars of commerciable oil. When the firm’s executive Director, Peter Landau, was asked on Al Jazeera how the profits will be split, this is how he broke it down:
Without mentioning any details, monthly payment installments will be given to the local government of Puntland during exploration. A range of 4%-12% of royalties, based on daily production, will go to the government. Lastly, profits will be split 50/50 between the local government and Range Resources.
“Poor local governance is part of the story. Governments in the Horn of Africa – with the help of international relief and development agencies – should have set up comprehensive anti-drought plans in advance, and should have sounded the alarm earlier.”
“But the international community must also ensure that its crisis response tools are fit for purpose. Food aid is often counter-cyclical: donors are more generous when prices are low due to significant harvests, which tends to be when needs are lower.”
Famine isn’t an extreme event, it’s the predictable result of a broken system
30 Jan – Source: The Guardian Blog – 691 Words
Drought and famine are not extreme events. They are not anomalies. They are merely the sharp end of a global food system that is built on inequality, imbalances and – ultimately – fragility. And they are the regular upshot of a climate that is increasingly hostile and problematic for food production across huge swathes of the developing world.
For the third time in seven years, the Sahel region of west Africa is facing a toxic combination of drought, poor harvests and soaring food prices. In Niger, 6m people are now significantly at risk, together with 2.9m in Mali and 700,000 in Mauritania.
An immediate response is needed in order to avert a devastating food and nutrition crisis. In responding, however, we must also redefine the vocabulary of food crisis. It is our global food system that is in crisis. Last year’s famine in the Horn of Africa, and the current woes in the Sahel, are the surface cracks of a broken system. These regional outbreaks of hunger are not, as such, extreme events.
“Experts on Somali affairs from all across the U.S. and Canada visited Ohio State’s campus Friday as part of a two-day conference called “Somalia at Crossroads: Foreign Intervention, Humanitarian Crisis and Aspirations for Statehood.”The conference was held in Hagerty Hall, Denney Hall and at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and it involved several panel discussions, question-and-answer sessions and discussions.”
Debate over Somalia’s future continues
29 Jan – Source: The Lantern – 721 Words
After more than 20 years since the fall of Somalia’s national government in 1991, experts gathered to engage in discussions on ways to improve and rebuild the state of Somalia.
Jibril Mohamed, president and CEO of SomaliCan, a community outreach and advocacy organization based in Columbus, said something has to be done soon. Somalia right now has been in a state of anarchy for 20 years, and the situation is getting more complex and more hopeless by the day,” Mohamed said.
Come peace, what will make Somalia prosper?
29 Jan – Source: Topix Somalia Forum
1) Oil. I don’t know much about it, but I guess it could be counted as one of Somalia’s strength.
2) Tourism. It will be a long time before white man wants to set his foot in the country :), but we got nice beaches.
3) Real estate. Again this will take time, but
4) Agricultural opportunities.
Lost opportunities:
Fishing I guess :(. Foreigners robbed us clean.
Top tweets
@gcmcDrought #drought Somalia: Somalia’s forgotten heroes bit.ly/ABk01V #
@AshBVP The way no-one rates somalia though, it’s like… There’s the ‘world’ and then there’s somalia floating around
@SomWarMonitor @h_l_jenkins
@UNrightswire ‘A people driven constitution’ – building respect for #HumanRights in #Somalia:
@hk5689 @IHHen: Education program for Somali foundations ow.ly/8KG4u #
Bashkash Jugsoodace Ibrahim Perpetrators of mogadishu reporter killing must be brought to book very soon.
Image of the day
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed planting commemorative tree in front of the new headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.