December 19, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somali President receives AU ambassador

18 Dec- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/SNTV- 146 words

President of the Somali federal government, Hassan Sh. Mohamud has on Tuesday received African Union’s representative for Somalia, Amb. Mohamed Salah Anadif at the presidential palace in the capital Mogadishu.

The African Union’s envoy said they are relocating their offices in the capital Mogadishu to continue and redouble their support to the Somali federal government in the fight against the al Qaeda linked group of al Shabaab.

Key Headlines

Somalia government pays soldiers (Radio Bar-kulan)
Al Shabaab accuses American jihadist of seeking fame and dismisses him (Radio Risaala)
Mogadishu declared safe for asylum seekers says minister (Radio Bar-kulan)
Kenya: Government orders refugees back to camps (Standard)
EU appoints new head of anti-piracy naval force off Somalia(KUNA)
Journalist deaths spike in 2012 due to Syria Somalia (CPJ)
Somalia youth unemployment rate highest in the world (Press TV)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali President receives AU ambassador

18 Dec- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/SNTV- 146 words

Somalia government pays soldiers

18 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 78 words
Somalia government started paying its soldiers in parts of Gedo region, reports say. The soldiers in Garbaharey and Dollow districts this week received US$ 100 each from a visiting government delegation.
Dollow District Commissioner Abdirashid Janan thanked the government and said the payment will boost the morale of the soldiers.
The soldiers did not receive their salaries for more than a year.
The government troops control large parties of Gedo region which lies in the southwest of Somalia.

Al Shabaab accuses American jihadist of seeking fame and dismisses him

18 Dec- Source: Radio Risaala- 179 words
Al Shabaab has launched scathing attacks on one of its top ranking foreign leaders, Abu Mansur al Amriki who is an American jihadist.
The group said in a statement which it published on several websites and on its official twitter account that Abu Mansur al Amriki does not represent the organization.
It accused the American jihadist of seeking fame at the expense of the other mujahedeen fighters.
the statement read “…the story of Abu Mansur al Amriki has been playing out in the media circles, not only feeding the narrative of the Western media that deep ideological differences were beginning to devour the Mujahideen in Somalia…” and in quote.

Mogadishu declared safe for asylum seekers, says minister

18 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 149 words

The security situation in the Somali capital Mogadishu has improved so much, failed asylum seekers can be sent back without any danger, junior Dutch immigration minister Fred Teeven told parliament in a briefing on Monday.
The government had stopped deporting Somali nationals because of the fighting around Mogadishu, which made it impossible to move through the city to rural areas.
Countries such as Germany, Sweden and Belgium have also resumed sending Somalis back to their country of origin, the minister said.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kenya: Government orders refugees back to camps

18 Dec- Source: Standard- 311 words

Close to 100,000 refugees living in urban areas in the country have been ordered to return to camps.
Acting commission for refugees’ affairs Badu Katelo has also said no aid will be given to refugees outside their camps in Dadaab and Kakuma.
“UNHCR and other partners serving refugees are asked to stop providing direct services to asylum seekers and refugees in the urban areas and transfer the same services to the refugee camps,” the order said.

EU appoints new head of anti-piracy naval force off Somalia

18 Dec- Source: KUNA- 141 words

The EU’s Political and Security Committee today announced the appointment of the new Operation Commander for the EU Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta, which aims to prevent piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast and in the Indian ocean.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Journalist deaths spike in 2012 due to Syria, Somalia

18 Dec- Source: CPJ- 2255 words
The number of journalists killed in the line of duty rose sharply in 2012, as the war in Syria, a record number of shootings in Somalia, continued violence in Pakistan, and a worrying increase in Brazilian murders contributed to a 42 percent increase in deaths from the previous year. Internet journalists were hit harder than ever, while the proportion of freelancers was again higher than the historical average, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in its yearly analysis.

Somalia youth unemployment rate highest in the world

17 Dec- Source: Presstv- 313 words
According to a UN report, unemployment rate for youths in Somalia is one of the highest in the world at 67% among all 14 to 29-year-olds — 61% among men and 74% among women.
The Somalia Human Development Report 2012, issued by the UN Development Programme considers 82% of Somalis to be poor, with 73% living on less than $2 a day.
It also said that 40% of youths are actively looking for work, while 21% are neither working nor in school with unemployment becoming among the biggest threats facing the Somali society.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Figures on the inflow and outflow of jihadists are hard to come by, but I suspect al Shabaab’s recruitment drives these days aren’t as successful as they used to be. For the Somali jihadist group to kick out one of their longtime fighters in these depleted times is an indication of the level of al Amriki’s repugnance.”

Media-mad US jihadist in Somalia finally kicked out of al Shabaab ranks

18 Dec- Source: France 24 Blog-1323 Words

They fired him! Showed him the door, booted him out. This just in: The al Qaeda-linked Somali jihadist group, al Shabaab, has officially sacked US-born militant, Omar Hammami, also called Abu Mansour al Amriki – or “the American”. In a written statement released Monday, al Shabaab declared that, “Abu Mansour al-Amriki does not, in any way, shape or form, represent the views” of the group.

The message – titled “A Candid Clarification” – was posted on the media-savvy al Shabaab’s Twitter feed [@HSMPress] in Arabic and English. What can I say? He had it coming, he only had himself to blame. Since 9/11, there have been a fair number of news reports, studies, books, films – even the odd farce – on the sort of misfits in Western societies who get attracted to the jihadist cause. But what about misfits who quit the country of their birth – only to become misfits in jihadist misfit-istan?