February 3, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somali regions no longer famine stricken-UN
03 Feb – Source: Reuters – 260 words
An exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia although conditions remain fragile and could worsen, the United Nations said on Friday.
The U.N. declared famine in two parts of southern Somalia last July and extended the famine warning in September to six out of eight regions in the anarchic Horn of Africa country.
The U.N. said initially 750,000 Somalis faced imminent starvation and lowered this to 250,000 by November. Six months after famine was declared, 4 million Somalis were in need of aid and the U.N. said the number now stood at 2.34 million.
“The gains are fragile and will be reversed without continued support,” said Mark Bowden, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia. “There are 1.7 million people in southern Somalia still in crisis. Millions of people still need food, clean water, shelter and other assistance to survive and the situation is expected to deteriorate in May,” he said in a statement.
Key Headlines
- Somali regions no longer famine stricken-UN (Reuters)
- 400 Somali students fly to Turkey for training (Radio Mogadishu SONNA Radio Bar-kulan)
- Tense Fighting mounts in south-western Somali towns (Shabelle)
- Al Shabaab vacates Kudhaa town in Lower Jubba region (Radio RBC Dhanaan)
- Suspected al Shabaab leader arrested (the Standard)
- Diplomatic shift offers real hope for Somalia (Herald Scotland)
- Somaliland to pass central bank law within 3 weeks: cbank (Reuters)
PRESS STATEMENT
Somali Cabinet Session
03 Feb – Source: Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) – 419 words
In the normal cabinet session that took place yesterday in Mogadishu chaired by the acting prime minister Hussein Arab Isse, the cabinet discussed a number of issues including the fight against al Shabaab, the provincial issues, the general policies of sports, licensing private security firms and the condition of the Hamarweyn market which got burnt in fire.
The cabinet listened to a briefing from the Somali force commander Gen. Dhagabadan. He stated that the war against al Shabaab must be an all out one where the business community, women, youth and other sections of the community take part in it. He urged the government to increase its publicity through the media and also to mobilize the public in fighting against peace spoilers. The ill-equipment that is hindering the progress of the army was also mentioned by Dhagabadan asking the government to give a keen look on raising the budget for the military. Dhagabadan emphasised on the inevitability of setting up authority in liberated areas in order to fill the power vacuum.
Minister for Water, Minerals and Energy Abdikadir Mohamed and Minister for Planning and International Cooperation Abdullahi Goodah Barre also briefed the council on a visit they made to Hiiraan. The two ministers spent 10 days trying to resolve disputes among local militias which they said was successful.
Sports, Youth and Employment minister Mohamed Muhidin presented the general policy and plan of his ministry regarding sports and recreational activities. The policy, he said, will streamline the activities of sports, communicating with the outside world and also for the Somali Olympic Committee to spring into action. The new policy will also elevate the sports activities in readiness for participation in world competitions.
The ministers lengthily debated on the law Lr 54 of 1971 which stipulates the functions of the Private Security Companies. Internal and National Security Minister Abdisamad Maalim Mohamud argued that the law will shape how the private security firms work. This, he said, will improve overall security as those licensed to carry guns will be registered and crimes against government officials will be minimised.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Mohamud Haji, who welcomed the British Foreign Minister William Hague this morning at the airport, concisely summarised the visit of the British delegation. William Hague and his visiting delegation met with President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed discussing key matters among which were the security, justice, fight against piracy and London meeting.
Finally, the committee tasked to look into the Hamarweyn fire tragedy pointed out that measures to help the victims are underway.
SOMALI MEDIA
400 Somali students fly to Turkey for training
03 Feb – Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA, Radio Bar-kulan – 154 words
Turkey’s ambassador to Somalia has announced that Turkey plans to extend its educational outreach programs to his famine-stricken country.
Ambassador Cemalettin Kani Torun held a press conference at the Turkish embassy in Mogadishu at which he announced joint plans by the Turkish Education Ministry and the Directorate of Religious Affairs to oversee the education of 650 students and 50 religious officials from Somalia in Turkey.
Torun indicated that the public administration, education and health institutions of Somalia are not be able to sufficiently train Somalia’s future leaders due to a civil war that has crippled the country for 21 years.
Elsewhere a plane carrying hundreds carrying victims of the deadly suicide attack on the 4th of October 2011 landed at the Aden Adde International Airport. The patients received treatment in Ankara and Istanbul courtesy of the directive of H.E Recep Tayip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister.
Kenyan army hinder business and public activities in Madera town
03 Feb – Source: Shabelle – 150 words
The business and public activities in the town of Mandera in north east of Kenya is reported to have been stopped by the military of Kenya after blast hit one of their armoured vehicles in the town on Thursday.
Some of the businessmen in the border town of Beled-Hawo told Shabelle Media by phone that locals in the town have concerns about the move which Kenyan army stopped people and transportations from travelling between Mandera and Beled-Hawo towns. Students are among those affected by the operations.
Reports say, the Kenyan army intensified patrols in the area between the two towns and at least 20 people were arrested by the military over suspecion of a landmine blast in Madera town in north-eastern Kenyan.
In the last quarter of last year, at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded in separate explosions reported in Mandera town.
Al Shabaab vacates Kudhaa town in Lower Jubba region
03 Feb – Source: Radio RBC, Dhanaan website – 54 words
Reports from Kudhaa in Lower Juba says that the al Shabaab insurgent group vacated Kudhaa town after they had the information that Kenyan, government troops and Ras Kamboni fighters were advancing towards the town.
The move comes a day after Kenyan, Raskaboni forces took control of the strategic town of Badhadhe in Lower Jubba region.
Al Shabaab reinforce Afmadow to defend Kismayo
03 Feb – Source: Somalia Report – 598 words
Armed al Shabaab militants accompanied by troop carriers and armored vehicles have started flooding into Afmadow in Somalia’s Lower Juba region from Badhadhe and the port city of Kismayo late today creating fear and anxiety among the residents in the town. The move, fighters say, is meant to establish a line of defense for the port city of Kismayo, an al-Shabaab stronghold.
“Late this afternoon we have seen large trucks and army vehicles carrying a big number of fighters who immediately started to dig defense lines on the outskirts of the city, especially the group that came from Badhadhe,” Abdirizak, a local resident, told Somalia Report. “I can not exactly verify where these fighters have come from because they came from unexpected and different directions,” he added.
When asked how the residents felt about the insurgents moving into Afmadow, Abdirazak said carefully, “when we see these big number of fighters then we expect war. There is an extremely tense mood in the town tonight and we cannot estimate what is going to happen, but in the next few days fighting will probably break out, maybe even by tomorrow. You never know.”
An al Shabaab fighter who spoke to Somalia Report on the condition on anonymity explained their decision to focus their manpower on Afmadow.
“We came here to boost the defense of Afmadow since last night the fighters have decided to play a tactical game. The Kenyan troops are intending to seize the port city of Kismayo and since we don’t want that to happen, we want to reinforce our positions in this town so that the land of God is liberated from the incursion of the kufars (non believers),” said the militant.
“We are going to fight until the last one dies rather than lossing the city of Kismayo to these kufars, and we assure the locals that the city of Kismayo that it will not fall in to their hands because we trust in God and God will not allow infidels to take his land,” added the militant.
Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) confirmed the target was Kismayo in an interview with Somalia Report, echoing Kenyan Spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir`s twitter message, “we want Kismayu.”
“Our troops backed by Ras Kamboni fighters and Kenyan Defense Forces managed to fully take control of the town of Badhadhe and are now on their way to seize the strategic city of Afmadow and then to the city of Kismayo. Hopefully we believe that they are going to withdraw from the town because they have lost most of their militants in the offensive that took place in Badhadhe. We hope they don’t have time to regroup,” said Colonel Warfa Sheikh Adan, spokesman for the TFG’s Gedo and Juba operation.
“Furthermore we have reports that they have internal conflicts amongst their leader and we don’t expect any more resistance from these militants anywhere in the Lower Juba region, and if they do they are going to face further division. What we now expect is another withdrawal,” added Colonel Warfa.
The spokesman urged locals in Afmadow to be patient and support the government forces.
“We always expect the locals to show patience and make sure that they are safe from the battle zone and to ensure that they collaborate fully with the allied forces once the town falls. The allied forces are there to protect the citizens and no harm shall come to them from our forces. We expect them to be vigilant and remain calm,” he added. The moves comes hours after government forces took control of the strategic town of Badhadhe.
Prominent Doctor Killed in Central Somalia
02 Feb – Source: Hadhwanaag Times, Radio Kulmiye -121 words
A prominent doctor was gunned down on Wednesday night by unknown gunmen in central Somalia.
The doctor, whose he was identified, Dr. Abdulkadir Mohamed Keynan was operating in a big hospital inside Galkayo, about 700 kilometers north of Mogadishu. The doctor was the attacked while he was in a pharmacy near his hospital, according to local residents and witnesses. First, the doctor was badly injured. An eyewitness said he was rushed to his hospital to get emergency treatment. But he died minutes later from his wounds.
The killers, who conducted the murder, fled the scene as Galmudug state forces started search operations. However, no arrests were made so far. It is not the first killing to take place in restive Galkayo.
Tense Fighting mounts in south-western Somali towns
03 Feb – Source: Shabelle – 171 words
Residents in townships nearby Badhadhe town of Lower Jubba region in south-western Somalia said on Friday that tension of possible fighting has mounted between TFG soldiers backed by Kenyan army and al Shabaab fighters for the control of the town.
Both TFG soldiers and al Shabaab are making military manoeuvres in the areas near the town of Badhadhe which is now under the control of Somali government troops and Kenyan army, witnesses say the town and its neighbouring villages is tense this morning and residents worry about the military movement by both rival sides.
The tense started after a large number of Somalia’s al Shabaab, which US alleges to be Al Qaeda’s surrogate in the horn of Africa nation, moved towards military bases near the town of Badhadhe which is manned by the fighters loyal to TFG.
The town of Badhadhe and some of its surrounding villages fell into the hand of Somalia government on Thursday after the al Shabaab fighters withdrew from them after facing a major joint offensive.
IDPs in Awdal region receive financial aid
03 Feb – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 130 words
Internally displaced families in Semal area of Baki district have received $ 3,000 financial aid from members of the Somali community in Britain who have roots in the region. The donation which was channel through one of local Sheikhs in Borame town, Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Ali was handed over to local elders in Semal for distribution. Some of the local elders tasked with the distribution of the money to the needy people in the area praised the donors for their desperately needed financial help. They said the amount is a drop in the Ocean compared to the needs of the IDPs in the area. Some of the beneficiaries of the aid also praised the well-wishers who donated the aid package to them during this time of difficulties in the region.
Somaliland: Al Khair Foundation’s Imam Qasim meets with President Siilanyo
02 Feb – Source: Somaliland Press – 286 words
Delegation of UK-based Charity Organization Al-Khair Foundation paid visit to Somaliland capital for the first time as they arrived in the capital Hargeisa. The visiting delegation is headed by the chairman of the organization Imam Qasim.
Al Khair Foundation was founded in 2003 in order to provide an educational platform for the Muslim community in an Islamic environment. The Al-Khair Foundation has since grown and now servers in Haiti, Chile, Gaza, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and many other countries. In Hargeisa Imam Qasim met with Somaliland president Mr. Ahmed Silanyo and Vice President Mr. Abdirahman Abdlilahi Ismail at the presidential palace.
The delegation visited regions where they are carrying out development projects such as water, health and education. Al-Khair Foundation’s chairman Imam Qasim assured that they will continue to provide more aid projects in the areas of water reservoir and bore hold digging. Al Khair officials commended the government of Somaliland for their collaboration in executing their projects transparency in Somaliland cities.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Suspected al Shabaab leader arrested
03 Jan – Source: The Standard – 423 words
Kenyan Police in Garissa have arrested a suspect believed to be the coordinator of al Shabaab militia group in Kenya.
The man was on Wednesday night nabbed by anti-terror police who got a tip from people who suspected his intentions of recruiting children and giving them lessons on how to use Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other home made weapons.
The former administration police officer was arrested by police at a hotel in Garissa after the parents of a 14-year-old boy under his tutelage for 31 days got wind of his activities and rescued their son.
The boy from Garissa Primary School yesterday narrated to The Standard how the man would pick him up from the school gate every morning and take him to a local hotel where he bought him drinks. He then gave him theoretical lessons on how to use locally made bombs to destroy buildings and kill people.
But he was rescued the morning before they were to travel to Mombasa to buy materials for making the explosive. Detectives were Thursday morning grilling the suspect on his links with al Shabaab and his past criminal records.
North Eastern Provincial police boss Leo Nyongesa told The Standard police were holding the suspect to establish the number of children he may have interacted with and possibly trained on use of explosives.
Hague to visit Kenya in horn of Africa tour
02 Feb- Source: Daily Nation- 385 words
British Foreign Secretary William Hague is expected to visit Kenya on Friday after a tour of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Thursday.
Mr Hague is the first high ranking British official to visit Kenya since the Kibaki-led coalition government took office following the 2007 post-election violence.
It is however not clear what the purpose of Mr Hague’s visit to Kenya is and the people he is scheduled to meet.
Sources however said the implementation of the constitution, the coming General Elections, the war against al Shabaab and attachment of gay rights to aid are to feature prominently.
Britain is hosting a conference on Somalia in London later this month, to be attended by representatives of 50 countries in international organisations.
Mr Hague’s historic visit to Mogadishu on Thursday followed political and security improvements in Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali regions no longer famine stricken-UN
03 Feb – Source: Reuters – 260 words
An exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia although conditions remain fragile and could worsen, the United Nations said on Friday.
The U.N. declared famine in two parts of southern Somalia last July and extended the famine warning in September to six out of eight regions in the anarchic Horn of Africa country.
The U.N. said initially 750,000 Somalis faced imminent starvation and lowered this to 250,000 by November. Six months after famine was declared, 4 million Somalis were in need of aid and the U.N. said the number now stood at 2.34 million.
“The gains are fragile and will be reversed without continued support,” said Mark Bowden, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia. “There are 1.7 million people in southern Somalia still in crisis. Millions of people still need food, clean water, shelter and other assistance to survive and the situation is expected to deteriorate in May,” he said in a statement.
Diplomatic shift offers real hope for Somalia
03 Feb – Source: .Herald Scotland – 768 words
BEING appointed Britain’s new ambassador to Somalia could easily feel like the diplomatic equivalent of being a Second World War soldier sent to the Russian front.
That said, Matt Baugh, Britain’s latest envoy, will most likely find himself confined to the comparative safety of the neighbouring Kenyan capital, Nairobi, until the security situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, allows his permanent presence at any embassy there.
Mr Baugh’s appointment, coming as it does in the wake of Foreign Secretary William Hague’s visit this week – the first by a British minister to Somalia since 1992 – is perhaps the first sign of a shift in British foreign policy towards this volatile Horn of Africa nation. If indeed that proves to be the case, then it will be long overdue.
Britain’s latest diplomatic initiative comes at a pivotal political moment for Somalia, and just ahead of a crucial London conference this month aimed at establishing measures to tackle Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked insurgents al Shabaab and the problem of piracy off the country’s coast.
Mr Hague clearly senses a strategic opportunity in a country long perceived by the West to be the basket case state in a basket case continent. This, after all, is a nation that until recently has largely been without a central government since clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Since then, as one British foreign office report put it a few years ago: “Somalia has completely collapsed as a functioning state.”
Somaliland to pass central bank law within 3 weeks: cbank
02 Feb – Source: Reuters – 239 words
Somaliland’s central bank governor said on Thursday parliament is expected to pass a law within three weeks that will formerly establish a central bank, paving the way for foreign commercial banks to start operating in the self-declared country by 2013.
Somaliland, a breakaway state in the northeast of Somalia, remains unrecognised internationally. It has no formal banking sector and its people rely heavily on remittances from diaspora communities in Europe, North America and the United Arab Emirates, as there are no ATMs or loan facilities.
“We expect to finalise the (Central Bank) act within a maximum of three weeks,” Abdi Dirir Abdi told Reuters in an interview in the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa. The act was brought before parliament in November 2011.
“The Commercial Banking Act will follow in the next six to 12 months,” he said. That legislation will allow foreign commercial banks to be set up in Somaliland and offer credit and cash withdrawal facilities.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has enjoyed relative stability compared to the rest of Somalia.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The Ghost-lords are a loose association of paradoxical powers of the Good, Bad, and Ugly of the International Community. They come with all kinds of stripes, creeds, dogmas, and political and economic opportunism; they work together and work against each other; they provide solutions and problems, enticements and threats, good governance and corruption.”
Somalia: Under the Tutelage of Ghost-lords
02 Feb – Source: Foreign Relations Journal – 1131 Words
At this dreadful moment in its history—when the obituary of a nation on life support is being written—political correctness is a luxury that Somalia cannot afford. Yes, Somalia is a failed state. But, failure is not a permanent condition, unless people choose to make it so by retiring their dignity and spirit of resilience.
Since the collapse of the military government 21 years ago, Somalia went through various levels of problems perpetuated by clan militias, warlords, economic-lords, religious-lords, regional-lords, and a group that I would refer to as the Ghost-lords.
All except the latter were domestic phenomena, and as counter-intuitive as it may seem, the Ghost-lords is the most elusive and perhaps the biggest obstacle to the reconstitution of the Somali state. Yet it remains the highest international authority that oversees every aspect of the political process in Somalia.
“So now there are, in effect, two parliaments and two speakers. The opposing factions barely talk to each other. When they have come face to face in parliament there have been fistfights so serious that they have resulted in hospitalizations. The crisis is proving as intractable as it is unseemly.”
“The man tasked with solving the stalemate is Augustine Mahiga, a Tanzanian diplomat and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s top official in charge of Somalia.”
Somalia has 2 parliaments, no unity
02 Feb – Source: Global Post Dispatch – 997 Words
Somalia’s lawmakers met in a low-ceilinged basement, below the bombed-out, roofless shell of the old chamber, guarded by African Union soldiers.
Set on a hill, Somalia’s parliament looks out to the sparkling Indian Ocean beyond the once-grand neighborhood of Hamar Weyne, with its ruined cathedral and broad boulevards.
On the other side is a statueless plinth, an avenue of gnarled and twisted trees beneath which tea shops have opened up in recent months. A squatter camp — thousands of small, rag-covered stick domes crammed together in the mile-long depression — stretches towards the copse of skyscrapers marking Bakara Market.
The parliament building — ringed with razor wire, sandbags, and soldiers — enjoys a commanding position, but its occupants do not.
Where there’s oil, there’s… a British politician.
02 Feb – Source: Fast Features
I was wondering why the HELL tough-talking William Hague would be driving around in Somalia on a foreign diplomatic trip, the first by a British politician to the war-torn country in 20 years, apparently. Why? There’s nothing of interest there to us, some pirates who hassle the odd ship, but we have the Royal Navy there for them. Why? Do we suddenly care terribly about their refugee problem or humanitarian crisis? So I turned to my friend Google, and typed: “oil in Somalia.”
Ha! Stupid me. There, just two weeks before on the BBC News website, was a story about how a Canadian prospecting company have now got two rigs in Puntland (northern Somalia) and expect to find between three to four billion barrels of oil.
“If oil is found it will change Somalia for the better,” said a spokesman.
First the Falklands, then Libya, now Somalia. Where else will we go as our quest to save BP continues? Not Syria, that’s for sure, coz they haven’t got any crude up there…
Top tweets
BBCBreaking Famine conditions have ended in war-torn Somalia six months after they were first declared but the situation remains serious, the UN says.http://www.bbc.co.uk/
@GregoryBarrow #Somalia
@LizFordGuardian Rains, agri inputs and aid are main reasons for improvement in #Somalia. But @FAO says food security measures needed in Horn #globaldev
@danatgu How the #AMISOM/TFG/everyone’s COIN strategy in #Somalia could fail, fueling extremism’s rise throughout #EastAfrica: fam.
Image of the day
UN’s FAO on Friday declared that Famine conditions have ended in war-torn Somalia, but the situation remains dire. Photo: AU/UN IST