August 5, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Sticking Points Remain Over Political Talks In Mogadishu
04 August – Source: Garowe Online – 178 Words
Political talks in Mogadishu entered into the second day with several major issues sticking out as challenges to the discussions. Nonetheless, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari, and the presidents of Puntland, Jubaland and Southwest State proceeded with the crucial meeting at the heavily-fortified Presidential compound, Villa Somalia.
The leaders deliberated on Electoral Implementation Teams (EITs) at federal and regional levels, traditional elders mapping by state, clear Terms of References (TORs) for conflict resolution committee, expediting Upper House formation, creation of additional seats for Banadir region in the Upper House, electoral security taskforce, women quota in parliament, the election timetable and financing mechanisms for the elections.
Sources at the meeting told Garowe Online that the Somali leaders are yet to agree on the composition of the Conflict Resolution Committee and terms of references for the electoral implementation teams. Earlier, the Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT) chairman Omar Degey said the team would soon embark on preparations for 2016 polls.
Key Headlines
- Sticking Points Remain Over Political Talks In Mogadishu (Garowe Online)
- Kenya Calls For Demarcation Of Maritime Border With Somalia (Radio dalsan)
- FETO Schools ‘Dangerous’ In Africa: Former Ambassador (Goobjoog News/Anadolu News Agency)
- Somaliland Says No To Somali Passport Holders (Radio Dalsan)
- Somali Envoy To Russia Mohamed Handulle Passes On In Moscow (Goobjoog News)
- Trump Fires Fresh ‘Terrorist Nation’ Immigrant Broadside Demands ‘Animals’ Be Barred (The Japan Times)
- 3 Unearthed AK-47 Rifles Linked To Al-Shabaab Supporter (Daily Nation)
- Now Is Not The Time To Slacken Our Commitment To AMISOM (African Report)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya Calls For Demarcation Of Maritime Border With Somalia
04 August – Source: Radio Dalsan – 188 Words
Government of Kenya has requested for a new internationally supervised demarcation of maritime border with Somalia. Speaking during a meeting with officials from UN Convention on the Law of the Sea UNCLCS in Nairobi, Attorney General Professor Githu Muigai urged officials to speed up the demarcation of the disputed maritime border with neighbouring Somalia.
The Kenyan AG urged UNCLCS to end the dispute so that his country could proceed with the extraction of natural gas and oil along disputed coastal line in the Indian Ocean: “We are calling upon UNCLCS committee to establish the area between Kenyan water borders and the international waters so as we can start extracting minerals.”
Prof Githu’s comments come as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is expected to hear case submitted by the Federal Government of Somalia on September. Somali government submitted complaint to ICJ on August 2014 against Kenya on violating its international territorial waters.
Attempts by Nairobi to solve the case in an out of court settlement was turned down by Mogadishu. The disputed area between the two countries is 10,000 square kilometre along the Indian Ocean.
FETO SCHOOLS ‘DANGEROUS’ IN AFRICA: FORMER AMBASSADOR
04 August – Source: Goobjoog News/Anadolu News Agency – 333 Word
The activities carried out by US-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his Fetullah Terror Organization (FETO) in Africa are politically motivated and have nothing to do with religion, a former Turkish ambassador to Somalia has said.
“FETO targets the wealthy, the bureaucrats and the politicians in Africa and carries out work oriented towards their children,” said Cemalettin Kani Torun, a former Turkish ambassador to Somalia and a current deputy for the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the northwestern Turkish province of Bursa.
Torun said FETO has built schools, established a strong economic network and conducted a political agenda across the African continent: “They do not [provide] aid or [conduct] religious activities,” he said. Torun called for schools run by FETO, held responsible for the deadly July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, to be transferred to local educational and administrative authorities “if possible”.
Ankara has repeatedly said the deadly coup attempt, which martyred at least 238 people and injured nearly 2,200 others, was organized by the followers of Gulen: “Turkey is an active country in Africa. Turkey has commercial and development activities in Africa,” Torun said
“African countries will not sacrifice relations with [Turkey] for the [FETO] organization. Even in Ghana where nearly half of the population are Muslims, they [FETO] make priest give religious lessons,” Torun said. “They [FETO] have no religious concerns.”
The Somali government has already begun to take some measures against FETO elements in their country, according to Torun: “FETO schools are creating danger in these countries,” he said. The Somali government announced on July 16 it is suspending a school linked to the organization behind the failed coup bid, following a request by Ankara.
Torun said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had personally asked African leaders to take action against the FETO-run institutions when he visited Africa. Gulen is also accused of implementing a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.
Somaliland Says No To Somali Passport Holders
04 August – Source: Radio Dalsan – 172 Words
Somaliland immigration authorities have nullified the use of Federal Government of Somalia passports within its territory. Immigration officials in Hargeisa have told reporters at press conference that Somali passport holders will not be allowed entry or exit in all the ports in the self declared state.
“From today onwards the holders of Somali passports made in Somaliland will not be allowed entry or exit in all airports in Somaliland,” said director of Immigration General Mohamed Osman Alin. General Alim alongside the director of Ministry of Interior Abdulfatah Said also confirmed the clampdown on equipment used to make Somali passports within Somaliland.
“We got some equipment used to make Somali passport and the police are on a search for other such equipment in town,” said Abdulfatah. Self declared state immigration officials said they treat the official holders of Somali passport as foreigners and citizens from neighboring country.
Somaliland declared itself independent from Somalia in early 1990s in a move that is yet to be recognized by both federal government in Mogadishu and the international community.
Somali Envoy To Russia Mohamed Handulle Passes On In Moscow
04 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 109 Words
Somalia’s ambassador to Russia passed on in Moscow has died after a long illness, the Foreign Affairs ministry has confirmed. Foreign Affairs Minister Abdusalam Omer said Mohamed Mohamud Handulle died in Moscow after serving in the mission since 2007. Government officials have condoled with the former envoy’s family acknowledging his dedication to representing Somalia in Russia for the last nine years. Handulle was born in Burro, Togdher region in Somaliland and went on to receive a PhD in Moscow. In 2002 he was the consular head of Somali mission to Moscow before assuming full ambassadorial position in 2007. He is survived by among others one daughter who is currently a doctor.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Trump Fires Fresh ‘Terrorist Nation’ Immigrant Broadside, Demands ‘Animals’ Be Barred
05 August – Source: The Japan Times – 331 Words
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump launched new attacks on immigrants Thursday, telling supporters that Somalis and other refugees from “terrorist nations” should be barred entry to the United States.
“We are letting people come in from terrorist nations that shouldn’t be allowed because you can’t vet them,” Trump, who has built his campaign around an anti-immigration platform, said at a rally in Portland, Maine.
“You have no idea who they are. This could be the great Trojan horse of all time,” he said, reprising a warning that terrorists including members of the Islamic State extremist group will sneak into the United States as refugees: “This is a practice that has to stop.” He pointed to the Somali immigrant population as an example of the “thousands” of refugees who have flooded into Maine and other states and caused problems.
Trump said efforts to resettle Somali refugees — many of them in Minnesota — were “having the unintended consequence of creating an enclave of immigrants with high unemployment that is both stressing the state’s … safety net and creating a rich pool of potential recruiting targets for Islamist terror groups.”
He then listed several immigrants, mostly from Muslim majority countries — Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria, Uzbekistan and Yemen — who were arrested for conducting or threatening to carry out violent attacks, teaching bomb-making to recruits, and otherwise supporting terror groups: “We’re dealing with animals,” he seethed.
3 Unearthed AK-47 Rifles Linked To Al-Shabaab Supporter
04 August – Source: Daily Nation – 192 Words
Kenyan Police found three AK-47 rifles, 178 rounds of ammunition and nine rifle magazines in a river near Thome Primary School in Kiambu County. Ruiru Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss David Chebii said police were pursuing a former General Service Unit (GSU) officer in connection with the find.
Mr Chebii said police raided the former officer’s house in Githurai 45 in Nairobi but he escaped. The man has been identified as Eric Ngethe Kanyigi and is alleged to have deserted duty in 2014. Mr Kanyigi, who joined the police service in 2012, is believed to be an Al-Shabaab sympathiser and was allegedly targeting the GSU Recce unit headquarters in Ruiru.
The discovery of the weapons comes a fortnight after a report indicated that some officers serving in key security agencies have been radicalised or are terrorist sympathisers. Other reports show that sensitive counter-terrorism strategies have been leaked to terrorists by the officers, undermining the government’s efforts and even risking the lives of other officers.
According to the report, officers from the main security agencies—the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the National Intelligence Service (NIS), National Police Service, and Kenya Prisons Service—were terrorist sympathisers.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“With a landmark election on the horizon, now is not the time for the international community to pull back its commitment to Somalia. We must continue to support the critical work of AMISOM, and commit to the future of Somalia – for the benefit of the humankind, free and peaceful interaction in the eastern Africa region, and, above all, the Somali people.” — Ambassador Francisco Caetano Madeira, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia and Head of AMISOM.
Now Is Not The Time To Slacken Our Commitment To AMISOM
August – Source: African Report – 919 words
The recent co-ordinated bombings of the popular Ambassador and Nasa-Hablod Hotels in Mogadishu by Al-Shabaab, reminds us of the fragility of our peace achievements in recent times in Somalia.
It shows that the road towards stability and democracy in Somalia is still long and is fraught with challenges. But there should be no question of backing away from the struggle towards a positive future for Somalia.
We have started to see glimpses of what the country could become. If you visit Mogadishu today, you will find it buzzing again, in a way that has not been seen in the last two decades or so. A lively café culture is developing, solar-powered streetlights line the main streets, and new buildings are rising from the rubble. International business interests are picking up.
Just last year, MasterCard’s services became available, and regional banks are now looking to set up shop. This will firmly connect Somalia to international financial systems at last. Beyond the capital, Somalia’s agricultural sector is growing quickly. Livestock exports – Somalia’s largest forex earner – have reached multi-decade highs. Commercial fishing is reviving along Somalia’s coast, the longest in Africa.
Baadheere, a southern town, which was liberated from Al-Shabaab in 2015, boasts rich farms growing everything from sorghum to mangoes, bananas and papaya. Overall, tentative economic development has come as a huge relief to the long-suffering people of Somalia. Set against this, national elections in August or September this year is a great boost to the on-going reconstruction efforts and will be a hallmark of what has been achieved.
They will allow Somali communities to elect the President and the parliamentary representatives. They will also offer the chance to approve a new constitution, which seeks to accommodate the present-day reality in Somalia and enshrines a balanced federal system of government. They will reaffirm the fledgling democracy, which has been taking shape under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Sharmarke since the 2012 elections.
In the face of multiple and persistent threats of violent factionalism and terror it has taken perseverance, sacrifice and commitment locally and internationally to reach this point. Since 2007, AMISOM forces, working closely with the Somali National Army, have fought and laid down their lives. This has contributed to the creation of an environment conducive to the development of state institutions and the national economy.
To reach this point, support of international partners, not least that of the European Union, has been indispensable. AMISOM, an African Union body backed by the United Nations, comprises a force of 22,126 troops and police. The troops come from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia, while the police come from eight African nations in total.
Its primary role has been to enforce peace and bring stabilisation to levels that can allow the distribution of humanitarian assistance and government to build institutions and exercise its governmental functions throughout Somalia. AMISOM has in this context led major and successful offensive campaigns against Al-Shabaab, which have severely weakened its capacity and have pushed it to the margins of the Somali territory.