December 5, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somali president flies to Turkey in first official visit outside Africa

04 Dec – Source: Radio Shabelle/Radio Mogadishu – 68 words

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the newly inaugurated president of the fledgling Federal Republic government arrived in Istanbul, Turkey in his first visit outside the African continent since his election last September 10 by the MPs in Mogadishu. Certain ministers in the cabinet, including Foreign and Defence are accompanying the president on his state visit in Turkey on Tuesday. It is unclear how many days the president will stay in Turkey.

Key Headlines

New domestic airline to operate in South Central Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
UN holds yearly funding appeal in Mogadishu for 1st time in decades; asks for $1.3 billion (WP)
Somalia: 5 convicted pirates transferred from Seychelles to Puntland (Garowe Online)
Somalia property boom forces refugees onto street (AP)

SOMALI MEDIA

A primary school teacher killed by suspected al Shabaab sympathizers on the outskirts of Mandera

04 Dec – Source: Hiiraan Online – 117 words

A primary school teacher was shot dead by a group of criminals on the outskirts of Mandera Town, in North Eastern part of Kenya. According to the County Commissioner, Mr. Michael Tialal who taught at Neboi Boys Primary School was killed by a group of unknown men. He said that the criminals whose number cannot be known at the moment went into the house of the teachers and killed him and escaped into the neighbouring Kalali village.

Somali president flies to Turkey in first official visit outside Africa

04 Dec – Source: Radio Shabelle/Radio Mogadishu – 68 words

New domestic airline to operate in South Central Somalia

04 Dec – Source: Hiiraan Online/Jowhar Online – 93 words

Horn of Africa Airline officially started operations in Mogadishu. The airline has received all the necessary approvals from the Federal Government of Somalia in coordination with AMISOM. Its inaugural flight was to Kismayo at midday yesterday. The airline is expected to operate daily flights to Kismayo, Baidoa and Beledweyne originating from Mogadishu. Horn of Africa has previously been operating flights in Somaliland and Puntland.

Somalia: 5 convicted pirates transferred from Seychelles to Puntland

04 Dec – Source: Garowe Online – 98 words
Five convicted pirates from Somalia have been transferred to a newly expanded prison facility in Puntland region of northern Somalia, where Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole launched the new prison’s expansion in Bossaso. President Farole, accompanied by Puntland Prisons Commissioner Gen. Ali Nur and other government officials, cut the rope of the expanded facilities on Tuesday at the main prison in the port city of Bossaso, Puntland’s commercial capital.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Rising from the ruins of Somalia – The Somaliland success story

04 Dec – Source: News of Africa – 165 words
Hargeisa, Matthew Newsome (IPS) – As Somalia starts to emerge from its quagmire of instability and chaos, 20 years of relative peace and stability are starting to pay dividends for its close neighbour Somaliland, as this November it struck its first major oil deal since seceding from Somalia in 1991.Anglo-Turkish company Genel Energy received its licence from the Somaliland government in early November to explore and develop oil and gas reserves after pledging almost 40 million dollars for exploration activities.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

UN holds yearly funding appeal in Mogadishu for 1st time in decades; asks for $1.3 billion

04 Dec – Source: Washington Post – 104 words
The United Nations has launched its aid appeal for Somalia in the capital, Mogadishu, for the first time in two decades. The U.N. on Tuesday said that $1.3 billion is needed for programs from 2013-2015 that will assist 3.8 million people. The acting humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Stefano Porretti, said that while the humanitarian situation in Somalia remains critical, the improvement in food stocks and new-found security in the capital present an opportunity to break the cycle of recurring crises brought on by drought and conflict.

Somali aid crisis ‘critical’ but chance for change: UN

04 Dec – Source: AFP World News – 127 words

The humanitarian crisis in Somalia remains “critical” but there is hope for improvement after major security and political changes in the war-torn country, United Nations officials said Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of a $1.3 billion appeal to support 3.8 million Somalis in the year ahead — meaning about half the country is in need — officials noted it was the first time such an project was launched in longtime warzone capital.

Somalia property boom forces refugees onto street

04 Dec – Source: Business Week/AP – 138 words

In parts of Somalia’s capital, rubble-strewn lots that once served as sniper positions have been rebuilt into well-maintained homes, hotels and shopping plazas. Housing prices have doubled, or even gone up ten-fold. More than a year of relative peace in Mogadishu has led to a property boom, but one that comes at a bitter price for the poor and those who were victimized by two decades of war and anarchy in this Horn of Africa nation.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“In announcing, on November 9, the new task force, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said, “Impunity is unacceptable and we must determine who is behind these killings in order to bring them to justice. There should be no impunity and no excuses for not pursuing those perpetrators who are destroying the image and the reputation of Somalia.” The task force will be launched soon and seven people have been shortlisted for the position, local journalists said.”

As impunity reigns in Somalia, president takes note

04 Dec – Source: CPJ Blog – 935 Words

In October, two gunmen shot Shabelle Media Network reporter Mohamed Mohamud as he left a mosque one evening; he died from the gunshot wounds less than one week later. Several members of the Somali armed forces who happened to be at the scene opened fire on his assailants, local journalists said, but Mohamed’s killers have still not been identified. The same applies for the 12 Somali journalists killed in the direct line of duty CPJ has documented this year–the deadliest we have ever recorded. “All the killings had something in common: seeming impunity for the perpetrators,” writes the U.N.’s political head for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, on his personal blog. “Although a few arrests were made by authorities, they seemingly never led to conviction and punishment.”