April 3, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Rolling up sleeves for peace mission, Sierra Leone troops get ready for Somali deployment

02 Apr – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 66 words

It’s a busy day at the barracks of ‘Leo Battalion 1’ who serve with the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF). Soldiers here have been packing gear and conducting last-minute checks on equipment for several days now, in preparation for their deployment to Somalia, where they will become the latest contingent to join the ranks of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

In Somalia, government forces with the support of African Union Troops have this successfully completed the last leg of their 241 kms advance from Mogadishu to Baidoa. This significant move not only allows for free movement of the population, but also opens up this key supply route and allows for the provision of humanitarian aid.

Key Headlines

Funding to Somalia(Gov.UK)
Somalia: Mogadishu to Baidoa road ‘reopened’( BBC)
President Mohamud hosts AU envoy in Mogadishu(/Radio Mogadishu)
Bomb hits Somalia’s biggest bank cash transfer agency(Reuters)
Blasts occur near ministry of defense offices in Mogadishu(Shabelle)
The ‘Somali pirates’ who are not what they seem(Channel 4)
Gunmen kill two officers in Garissa(Standard)
Somalia: Turkey Offers to Host Renewed Somalia and Somaliland Talks( Qaran News)

SOMALI MEDIA

President Mohamud hosts AU envoy in Mogadishu

02 Apr – Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu – 111 words

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Tuesday hosted the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on Somalia, Mahamat Annadif, in Mogadishu. Speaking to the press shortly after the meeting, Annadif said several issues were raised during his meeting with the president including the AMISOM operations in Somalia. He said the African Union will soon deploy more troops from Sierra Leone to Somalia in bid to strengthen the AU mission in Somalia. Sources close to the meeting said the two leaders also discussed ways forward to doubling military operations against rebel held position in some parts of the country as well as strengthening security in already liberated regions.

Blasts occur near ministry of defense offices in Mogadishu

02 Apr – Source: Shabelle – 180 words

Blasts rocked a road near the Ministry of Defense building in Mogadishu on Tuesday. The blasts which was caused by a land mine occurred on two occasions and made deafening sounds that brought confusion at the nearby areas. The blasts targeted military personnel that were guardian the area and it is believed that it has caused both death and injuries. The first explosion went off and the government troops who were at the site secured the area to help the victims before the second one went off. The second blast did not claim many lives as intended by the people behind the blasts.

Rolling up sleeves for peace mission, Sierra Leone troops get ready for Somali deployment

02 Apr – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 66 words

Somaliland Military Court Reduces Sentences On Accused Civilians

02 Apr – Source: Qaran News – 245 words

The Somaliland Armed Forces High Court has reduced the sentences imposed on 22 civilians by a lower military court in May 2012. The civilians had been initially sentenced to death by firing squad. The High Court has reduced the sentences on the civilians who had participated in an face-off over land being used the Somaliland Armed Forces which had been claimed by members of one Somaliland’s communities. The face-off which led to the exchange of fire between the Armed Forces and the civilians led to the death of at least three individuals and the wounding of several others.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Gunmen kill two officers in Garissa

02 Apr – Source: Standard – 258 words

Two police officers were Tuesday morning shot dead by unknown gunmen in Garissa Town. Another officer is admitted at a local hospital in serious condition following the attack that took place at about 11 am. The gunmen who were on foot grabbed a pistol from one of the officers and escaped with it. Witnesses said the attackers first threw a grenade at nine officers who were in a group before shooting at them.

Somalia: Turkey Offers to Host Renewed Somalia and Somaliland Talks

02 Apr- Source: Ethiopia Government/Allafrica-153 Words

The Somaliland government has accepted an invitation from the Government of Turkey to host resumed talks between Somali and Somaliland. The talks are now expected to resume in mid-April. Somaliland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mohamed Abdilahi Omar, announced this at a press conference on Monday (April 1st) .

He said “Both sides of Somaliland and Somalia have received the invitation and we confirm that we have officially approved” adding that “the two presidents will sit together and will discuss various issues concerning Somalia and Somaliland.” Somali federal government has not yet confirmed the initiative. The talks began in June last year but were then halted following the change in administration in Mogadishu and to allow the new leadership to settle in.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Bomb hits Somalia’s biggest bank, cash transfer agency

02 Apr- Source: Reuters-194 Words

A bomb exploded outside the headquarters of Somalia’s biggest bank and money transfer agency on Tuesday, wounding at least two people hours after al Qaeda-linked militants ordered the company to cease operations in areas under its control.

Police said they were still searching the rubble outside Dahabshiil’s office in the capital Mogadishu. Its doors were shattered by the blast but it was not immediately clear whether anyone had been killed.

“A remote-controlled bomb planted in front of Mogadishu’s Dahabshiil bank and money transfer headquarters injured two guards,” police captain Nur Hassan told Reuters.

Somalia: Mogadishu to Baidoa road ‘reopened’

02 Apr- Source: BBC-254 Words

The main road from Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, to the strategic south-western city of Baidoa has been totally recaptured from Islamist militants, African Union (AU) troops have said.

It is the first time the cities have been linked in more than two years.

The AU is helping a new UN-backed government regain territory from al-Qaeda-aligned insurgents.

The al Shabaab group has been forced out of main towns but still controls most villages and rural areas.

The ‘Somali pirates’ who are not what they seem

02 Apr – Source: Channel 4 – 835 words

Somali pirates have kidnapped hundreds of people and cost millions in ransom payments. Jamal Osman finds journalists keen to interview them do not always get what they bargained for. The story begins in the slums of Eastleigh, a sprawling suburb of Nairobi in Kenya and home to a huge Somali community. There I met Adan. He and his friends are running an industry that had been fooling some of the best journalists from around the world. Their business? Pretending to be pirates.

Funding to Somalia

02 Apr – Source: Gov.UK – 166 words

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development have published an infographic showing how UK aid to Somalia is helping the country. The infographic, published ahead of the Somalia Conference, shows where aid is being spent and how it is making a difference. For the period 2011-15 the UK is helping 45,000 people, including 15,000 women, secure new jobs. We are also helping over 60,000 children under five benefit from acute malnutrition programmes each year.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The current government should focus on the development of education system and by creating curriculum which is an international standard further more should also focus on building public schools which have all the necessary requirements of education systems and social infrastructure of the country.”

The current education system in Somalia and its challenges

02 Apr- Source: Mareeg-1249 Words

As of now there is no organized education system in Somalia and many of the schools run by local and international NGOs and these schools consisting of both Islamic and western and most of the private schools currently operating in Somalia follow the educational system used in the past, and these schools adopting different education systems in the world especially in middle eastern countries and in Somalia there are more than two main system in Somali right now the Arab related education system and western education system both of the system do the same because still they are following twelve years of schooling which is mostly related in international standard, The two main models are the 4-4-4 system inherited from the post-1960 era, and the 6-3-3 system followed in several Arab countries.