December 6, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somali Prime Minister, AMISOM Force Commander hold talks at Villa Somalia
06 Dec – Source: Raxanreeb/Bar-kulan – 127 words
Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon and AMISOM Force Commander, Lt. General Andrew Gutti held talks at the Prime Ministers’ office in Villa Somalia. Among the issues discussed were the current security situation and the co-operation required between the security forces in achieving sustainable peace.
The premier expressed his appreciation for AMISOM’s continued support towards peace and security in the country, as AMISOM continues to work alongside the Somali National Security forces to consolidate the gains made and Somalia embarks on the process of rebuilding its state institutions and infrastructure.
The Force Commander on his part reiterated AMISOM’s commitment in supporting the Federal Government and the people of Somalia in their quest towards rebuilding a secure, stable and prosperous Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Somali Prime Minister AMISOM Force Commander hold talks at Villa Somalia (Raxanreeb/Bar-kulan)
- Somalia Turkey sign defence agreement (Midnimo Online)
- Fierce fighting kills 4 in southern Somalia (Shabelle)
- Information Ministry to offer trainings to Somali journalists (Bar-kulan)
- Terror suspects ‘posed as tourists’ (Standard Media)
- Somaliland’s Justice Ministry gets New Headquarters Courtesy of UK and UNODC (Somaliland Press/Somaliweyn/Bar-kulan/ Universal TV/Horn Cable TV)
- Somali President Seeks to Boost Ties With Turkey (Bloomberg)
- UN employee “abducted” in southwestern Somalia (Midnimo Online/RBC/Markacadey Online)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali Prime Minister, AMISOM Force Commander hold talks at Villa Somalia
06 Dec – Source: Raxanreeb/Bar-kulan – 127 words
Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon and AMISOM Force Commander, Lt. General Andrew Gutti held talks at the Prime Ministers’ office in Villa Somalia. Among the issues discussed were the current security situation and the co-operation required between the security forces in achieving sustainable peace.
The premier expressed his appreciation for AMISOM’s continued support towards peace and security in the country, as AMISOM continues to work alongside the Somali National Security forces to consolidate the gains made and Somalia embarks on the process of rebuilding its state institutions and infrastructure.
The Force Commander on his part reiterated AMISOM’s commitment in supporting the Federal Government and the people of Somalia in their quest towards rebuilding a secure, stable and prosperous Somalia.
Fierce fighting kills 4 in southern Somalia
06 Dec – Source: Shabelle – 81 words
Heavy fighting erupted on Wednesday between al Shabaab fighters and local herders in Leego town, south Somalia, reports said. Witnesses said the clashes erupted after heavily armed al Shabaab militants attacked the herders in the town, killing at least three people.
However, Abukar Abdalla Isac, the district commissioner for Leego town said the violence broke out when the locals refused to give Zaka endowment to al Shabaab.
Information Ministry to offer trainings to Somali journalists
05 Dec – Source: Bar-kulan – 118 words
Somalia’s Information, Post and Telecommunication Ministry is working on ambitious plans to train journalists in the country in order to boost their journalism skills.
In an exclusive interview with Bar-kulan, Information, Post and Telecommunication Minister Abdullahi Il-moge Hirsi said his ministry has already put in place plans to train Somali journalists as part of its strategy to boost their capacity in the profession.
He said some journalists will receive their trainings inside the country while others will be taken outside the country for the training, adding that trainers will be coming outside the country. The minister said he will soon meet local media outlets in the country in order to have a close working relation with them.
Somalia, Turkey sign defence agreement
06 Dec – Source: Midnimo Online – 74 words
The governments of Somalia and Turkey have signed a military deal which will boost rebuilding of the Somali army. The agreement is an opportunity for Somalia to rebuild and develop its defence system, the source said.
In the deal, Turkey will train and arm the Somali National Army, the report further said. The agreement was signed by defence ministers from the two countries.
Somaliland’s Justice Ministry gets New Headquarters Courtesy of UK and UNODC
06 Dec – Source: Somaliland Press/Somaliweyn/Bar-kulan/ Universal TV/Horn Cable TV – 106 words
Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud (Silanyo) on Thursday laid the foundation stone for a new building which will house the Ministry of Justice.
Speaking during the foundation laying ceremony, President Silanyo thanked the Government of United Kingdom and UNODC for the continued assistance to the various organs of the judiciary in Somaliland, he added that the building will greatly benefit the ministry.
The Ministry of Justice is currently housed in a privately owned building in Hargeisa of which it pays the monthly rent from the budget allotted to the ministry by the government money which would have been used to for other vital purposes.
UN employee “abducted” in southwestern Somalia
06 Dec – Midnimo Online/RBC/Markacadey Online – 122 words
Reports from Baidoa, the provincial capital of Bay Region in southwestern Somalia say an employee of a UN agency has been abducted from his house. Reliable source told Midnimo that government soldiers under the command of Col Mahad Abdirahman abducted Idris Abdi Dhaqtar from his house and his whereabouts remains unknown.
Relatives of Dhaqtar said they are looking for him, adding he may have been kidnapped. Baidoa security chief Col Mahad Abdirahman declined to comment on the matter.
A UN delegation recently visited Baidoa and met officials of the local administration. A number of UN agencies operate in the town and it is unknown how this will affect their operations.
Ras Kamboni fighters block activities at Kismayo port
06 Dec – Source: Shabelle – 69 words
Witnesses say fighters loyal to Ras Kamboni militia have stopped the port activities in the southern town of Kismayo, 500 Km south of Mogadishu. The move comes as an international delegation is set to arrive on Thursday (6th December, 2012) in the city, sources indicated. Local residents said fighters from Ras Kamboni were visible patrolling all the main streets in Kismayo.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Terror suspects ‘posed as tourists’
06 Dec – Source: Standard Media – 296 words
Two suspected Iranian terrorists visited Mombasa twice posing as Turkish tourists before they were arrested in June this year and charged with plotting bomb attacks, a court has been told. Wednesday, Milimani Chief Magistrate Kiarie Waweru visited Mombasa Golf Club where explosives allegedly recovered from the pair were found.
A taxi driver, Dennis Kamau, told the court that he ferried the Iranians to Mama Ngina Drive in Mombasa twice this year, adding that on the first visit, he picked them from a famous hotel in Mombasa and took them to the golf course.
He alleged the suspects left him in the car and walked along the beach towards the golf course. The driver claimed the suspects returned to the Golf course after visiting several places in Mombasa, including public beaches.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Civilians injured as mortars miss Somali president’s palace
05 Dec – Source: dpa Deutsche Presse – 135 words
At least eight people were injured in Somalia when a mortar attack aimed at the presidential palace in Mogadishu missed its target and hit civilian homes, government officials said Wednesday.
Somalia Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shire condemned the failed attack on the presidential Villa Somalia, for which the extremist rebel group al Shabaab reportedly claimed responsibility. Earlier, Somali officials said that at least 12 soldiers were killed in clashes with al Shabaab fighters in the semi-autonomous north-eastern state of Puntland.
According to officials, the soldiers were killed when Puntland forces clashed with al Shabaab fighters in the Bari region, near the Gulf of Aden coast, from Tuesday to Wednesday night. At least seven militants were also killed. The location of the recent attack in the Galgala hills is believed to be a hiding place for Islamist al Shabaab militants.
Somali President Seeks to Boost Ties With Turkey
05 Dec – Source: Bloomberg – 100 words
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud traveled to Turkey in his first trip abroad to bolster defense and trade ties. Turkish President Abdullah Gul welcomed Mohamoud in a military ceremony today, state-run Anatolia news agency said.
Mohamud was elected as president in September, marking the 16th attempt to establish central government since ouster of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Mohamud told reporters yesterday before leaving the capital Mogadishu that his trip was designed to strengthen military, technical and economic ties. He’s scheduled to meet Turkish businessmen in Istanbul on Dec. 6 and 7, Anatolia said, citing the presidential office.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“One clear feature of the new presence of the UN will be the immediate move of senior management from Nairobi into Somalia. The UN will also reinforce its presence (including political presence) in the regions. Most importantly, however, is that the UN will heed the President’s call to “come out of the bunker” and adjust its security management in a way that allows for much more intensive interaction with the government and civil society and reducing its dependence on highly visible security convoys.”
What Next for the United Nations in Somalia?
06 Dec – Source: UNPOS Blog – 496 Words
Following the euphoria surrounding the end of the Roadmap process and the creation of a new and credible government in Somalia, the United Nations has just completed a “Strategic Review” that aims to create a new architecture that will enable the World Body to respond to the changing realities in Somalia. Simultaneously, the African Union is undertaking a review of its own, to align AMISOM with the evolving situation on the ground.
The two reviews will be closely coordinated and discussions between the senior management of the two entities, in which I participated over the past few weeks, have been highly constructive. Some of the key challenges for which the Government is seeking UN and AU support include: Security, Rule of Law, Rebuilding a credible judiciary, Decentralisation and local/regional administrations as well as comprehensive capacity building of Somali Institutions (including the Somali National Army and Police Forces).
The UN has committed to align itself along the “six pillars” plan announced by the President. The new mission will concentrate on State- and Peace Building. This will mean a new way of engaging with the Somali authorities, leaving behind us an era when we dealt with Somalia as the archetypical “Failed State”. As the President told the UN Review Mission: “If you don’t start treating us as a viable State, we will never become one”.
The new shape of the UN Mission for Somalia will ultimately be decided by UN Principals in New York after receiving the review report and after their recommendations find their way into a Security Council Resolution early next year. Close consultations have taken place with the African Union to ensure complementarities and avoid overlap between the two Organisations.
““A Stone Thrown at the Guilty,” a play in progress by Nuruddin Farah, examines the interior lives of Somali characters in the midst of two political uprisings….The play doesn’t seek to provide a strictly factual account of the events but rather a human-based chronicle that even applies to Somalia’s current political tension.”
Casting the first stone
06 Dec – Source: Minnesota Daily – 543 Words
Two moments from Somalia’s troubled history provide the basis for “A Stone Thrown at the Guilty,” a reminder of the costs of political oppression. The play, written by Somalia native and Neustadt International Prize-winning novelist Nuruddin Farah, depicts two uprisings under colonialism.
Inspired by the harsh British colonial rule in early 20th century Burco, a northwestern region of Somalia, Farah seeks the personal narratives behind the civic unrest of the era.
In 1922, a British district commissioner announced a poll tax on the people of Burco. “A Stone Thrown at the Guilty” follows the riots that soon erupted, born out of the political unrest among Somalis. Through a complex narrative driven by history, Farah seeks to humanize the topic of political strife. Irina Brown, the director of numerous plays including at the London National Theatre, joins Farah to direct the staged reading of “A Stone Thrown at the Guilty.”
“Despite the clear Western pop and funk influences on the Dur-Dur Band, the core sound still reminds me of something from Sudan. The whole album, to be released on February 5, 2013, is terrific, and for today’s 12 O’Clock Track you can get a nice peek at its goodness by listening to “Garsore Waa Ilaah.””
12 O’Clock Track: Dur-Dur Band, “Garsore Waa Ilaah”
05 Dec – Source: Chicago Reader – 304 Words
It’s hard to remember a time when Somalia was mentioned in reference to something other than bloody civil war, greedy warlords, harsh Islamic fundamentalism, and open seas piracy, but ever since the days of the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, when rebels shot down a U.S. helicopter (aka Black Hawk Down), that has seemed like the only context for information about the east African country.
Of course, things weren’t always like that, and the great folks—well, Evanston Glenview native Brian Shimkovitz—behind the Awesome Tapes From Africa blog and label are offering a modest antidote to all of the bad news and negativity. In February Shimkovitz is releasing Volume 5 by Mogadishu’s Dur-Dur Band, an impossibly rare cassette from 1987 that reflects the exciting popular music scene that Somalia once possessed. The sound quality is pretty murky, with loads of hiss, but the performances are too good to ignore.
I really can’t say I know much about music from Somalia. In 2008, when Matthew Lavoie was running the once invaluable African Music Treasures blog at the Voice of Africa, there was a post of some amazing Somali music cut in the 70s which had a more acoustic, traditional sound than Dur-Dur Band, but in both you can hear some of the pentatonic harmonies familiar in Ethiopian music and the rolling grooves and casually soulful vocals of great Sudanese music. (A year earlier the equally great Likembe blog posted a bunch of electric Somali music from the 70s/80s, too.)
Top tweets
@UNDPSomalia This is Ali’s story: former militia, now studying to be a mechanic in #Mogadishu, #Somalia: http://bit.ly/UHkDPp @unicefsomalia @ILONEWS.
@UNPOSomalia What Next for the #UN in #Somalia? Find out here #UNPOS leadership blog: http://bit.ly/MfRyFe .@UN @UN_DPA.
@OpRestoreHope This is the official twitter acct to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of #Operation #Restore#Hope, in #Somalia, & the famine of 92-3′. #UN.
@FAOemergencies #Somalia new $1.3 bil appeal aims to help 3.8 million people deal with famine & drought over the next 3 years – http://buzz.mw/-SfL_y @UNOCHA.
@LiamTheKelly There are fears that #AlShabab will attack#Puntland ports in an attempt to open arms smuggling routes with #Yemen across water. #Somalia.
Image of the day
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (C) and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul (L) review the honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at Cankaya Palace in Ankara on December 5, 2012. Photo: Getty Images.