August 31, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Suicide Car Bomber Kills 26 Near Somali Presidential Palace
30 August – Source: About Croatia – 289 Words
A suicide car bomber on Tuesday targeted a hotel near the Somali presidential palace in Mogadishu, killing 26 people, officials and medical sources said. The fatalities included up to 15 members of the security forces and six women, according to security and hospital sources. Bodies were found in the rubble of collapsed buildings, while some wounded succumbed to their injuries in hospital. More than 50 people were injured.
“Security forces in the area tried to stop the car while firing at it, but the driver was able to pass through several checkpoints before it exploded outside SYL hotel,” security official Mohamed Hassan said. Government officials and civil society representatives were inside the hotel, discussing security policy, said a senior intelligence source, who did not want to be named.
State-run Radio Mogadishu quoted Deputy Defence Minister Mohamed Ali Haga as saying that he and two other ministers sustained minor injuries in the blast. Haga also said legislators and officials were injured, without giving their number. Some of the victims were inside the hotel when the vehicle – reportedly a truck – exploded.
The blast hit the SYL hotel, another nearby hotel and other buildings, witness Abdisalan Garan said. Parts of the SYL hotel were completely destroyed, police officer Mohamed Dahir said. Photographs from the site showed some buildings as having completely collapsed. The blast also set vehicles on fire on a nearby road, Radio Mogadishu reported. Sporadic gunfire was heard after the attack. The Islamist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility on pro-insurgent radio Andalus.
Key Headlines
- Suicide Car Bomber Kills 26 Near Somali Presidential Palace (About Croatia)
- Somali Information Minister Condemns Car Explosion Near SYL (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia President Slammed For Tampering With Elders’ List (Garowe Online)
- What Next For Somalia?: Somalia Gears Up For Crucial National Elections (NTV)
- Somaliland Eyes Bigger Share Of Red Sea Trade With Major Port Upgrade (VOA)
- Improvised Explosive Devices Among Deadliest Threats To Security In Somalia (AMISOM)
- Book review: Go Inside The World’s Most Troubled Country With Andrew Harding’s The Mayor Of Mogadishu (The National)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Information Minister Condemns Car Explosion Near SYL
30 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 201 Words
The Minister of Inforamtionstrongly condemned the heinous violent acts of terrorism near the SYL Hotel which claimed the lives of over 15 people and injured many more. “The fact that the terrorists would target innocent people in such a brutal and unforgivable manner is the greatest sign of their inhumanity,” said Marete.
The minister added, “I send my condolences to the families and relatives of those who lost their lives in this terrible attack. I also pray for a quick recovery for those who were wounded.” The bomber rammed his truck into the gates of the hotel, targeting lawmakers and ministers holding a meeting there, according to Al-Shabaab military operations spokesman Sheikh Abdulaziz Abu Musab via Radio Andalus.
The SYL Hotel is frequented by diplomats, government officials, foreign nationals and even hosts visiting heads of states. So far it has been attacked more than 3 times.Today’s attack comes barely a week after four Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a popular restaurant alongside Mogadishu’s seaside.
Somalia President Slammed For Tampering With Elders’ List
30 August – Source: Garowe Online – 412 Words
Federal Government of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has come under heavy criticism for influencing the electoral process amid heightening skepticism over whether the country can hold elections on the timetable later this year. Acting on the instructions of President Mohamud, outgoing Parliament Speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari included a new elder in the list of the 135 traditional elders set to be a base for the electoral process.
The move clears the way for former Constitutional Affairs Minister and the President’s right hand man—Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir—to return to the next parliament at the detriment of his closest rival, Fahad Yasin who comes from the same clan as him. Yasin managed to shore up support for his run for a MP among his clan elders, challenging omnipotent Abdulkadir for the coveted parliamentary seat.
Jawari wrote to the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT), and asked for the new clan elder Mohamed Ahmed Hussein (Shukri) to be added to the list in a letter leaked online on Tuesday. FEIT gathers under the chairmanship of Presidential appointee Omar Degey. Shukri would serve as the substitution of the clan’s titled elder, Mohamed Abdi Omar whose role was limited to dealing with matters in Southwest State. The letter by the concluded Parliament’s speaker drew scathing criticism from a roster of challengers in 2016 Presidential election.
Members of Coalition for Somali Political Parties issued a press statement, calling on international community members to intervene swiftly, and save the electoral order. They lamented the schemes to hold on to the power of the state, and frowned on “the former Speaker Jawari” for acting in favor of the President.
Continuing, the opposition recalled Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir’s notorious role in the removal of two Prime Ministers from the office. “The coalition is deeply concerned about the partisan practices of National Leadership Forum (NLF) that was expected to exercise impartiality and political openness,” read the statement. Somali political leaders are to meet in Mogadishu on September 7 for talks on the preparations for a Presidential vote scheduled for October 30.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
What Next For Somalia?: Somalia Gears Up For Crucial National Elections
30 August – Source: NTV – Video: 6:43 Minutes
Somalia’s 8th President Hassan Sheikh Muhamoud is ready to concede defeat if he loses in the forthcoming general election. The incumbent president faces competition from 20 other candidates. President Muhamoud is seeking a second term but his critics accuse him of failing to secure the country and put an end to the senseless killings, corruption and other national challenges. In the first part of a special series – What Next for Somalia? the Somali President speaks exclusively to NTV on the country’s security, his term of office and the preparedness for the election.
Somaliland Eyes Bigger Share Of Red Sea Trade With Major Port Upgrade
30 August – Source: Voice of America – Video: 2:00 Minutes
Improvised Explosive Devices Among Deadliest Threats To Security In Somalia – AMISOM
30 August – Source: AMISOM – 416 Words
The use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDS) by the insurgent militant group Al-Shabaab poses one of the deadliest threats to peace and security in Somalia, military experts at a seminar in the capital Mogadishu said Tuesday. IEDs have become the weapon of choice for Al-Shabaab militants who continue to inflict death and destruction on defenceless members of the public, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Madeira said at a ceremony to open a three-day workshop.
Ambassador Madeira emphasized the need for the Somali National Security Forces, AMISOM and other stakeholders to partner, in the war on IEDs. “We need to win the anti-IED war against Al-Shabaab to enable us keep the main supply routes open and keep the main urban centers and population in general working and thriving. The enemy is trying to prevent us entering and getting out of these urban centers and if we do not counter, governance will not take place in those centers,” SRCC Madeira who is also the head of Mission noted.
The workshop on countering IEDs, is being organized by the AMISOM Mission Enabling Unit, supported by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and funded by the United Kingdom Mission Support Team (UK MST). The workshop, attended by officials from AMISOM and the Somali Police Force (SPF), aims at raising awareness of the IED situation in Somalia and devising ways of countering its threat.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The Mayor of Mogadishu is much more than the story of one ambitious Somali politician. It is the modern history of one of the world’s most troubled country, told with sensitivity, wisdom and compassion – and a rollicking good read besides.”
Book review: Go Inside The World’s Most Troubled Country With Andrew Harding’s The Mayor Of Mogadishu
30 August – Source: The National – 923 Words
Somalia is one of the most extraordinary places on Earth, its people no less remarkable. In theory it should be the most united country in Africa. Somalis share one language, one religion and one culture. Yet in practice they are probably the most divided nation on Earth, doomed to rifts by a clan system exploited by unscrupulous leaders and an apparent inability to agree on anything. It is to Andrew Harding’s credit that he manages to get under the skin of this complicated, perplexing, often maddening country that foreigners struggle to understand.
The story centres on a charismatic protagonist. Nicknamed Tarzan during his childhood in an orphanage, Mohamoud Nur became a Somali celebrity as the mayor of Mogadishu from 2010-2014. To call him a divisive figure would be an understatement. Harding, the BBC’s Africa correspondent, who has been visiting Somalia since 2000, provides a neat summary of the competing views of this most controversial of politicians.
“He’s a thug, a shallow charmer, the only honest politician in town, a useful whirlwind, a slave to his own clan’s interests, a corrupt hypocrite, a cheap populist, Somalia’s future president, a media sideshow, the diaspora’s darling, the city’s saviour.”
Perhaps he was all of the above – a man of and for his time. One of the most admirable traits about Somalis, although it shades into one of their least commendable – the propensity for conflict – is their fearlessness. Nur exhibited it in spades at a time when the terrorists of Al-Shabaab controlled most of Mogadishu. This is a man who stared down the lens of television cameras and challenged the nihilistic beardies to do their worst. “Don’t disguise yourselves as women. Don’t hide your weapons under your clothes. Come for me in the open and then kill me, if you can.”