February 12, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Puntland Shares Their Views On The Electoral Process With The International Community
11 January – Source: Radio Dalsan – 258 Words
An international delegation concluded a three-day visit to the federal member state of Puntland today. The delegation consisted of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, Michael Keating, and senior representatives of the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the European Union, Ethiopia, Italy, Sweden, Uganda, the United States, and the United Kingdom. During their stay, the delegation met with Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali “Gaas”, members of his cabinet, the Speaker and Members of the Puntland parliament, traditional leaders and civil society representatives, among others.
The delegation welcomed the important role played by the state’s political leaders and their exceptional contribution to the emergence of a federal, united Somalia. Puntland representatives voiced their concerns about the recent decision of the Federal Government of Somalia on the electoral model to be implemented later this year. Members of the international delegation acknowledged that the electoral model for 2016 is not perfect but said that if conducted fairly and transparently, it does represent a step forward on the road to inclusive one-person one-vote elections by 2020.
International partners reaffirmed the need to move beyond clan-based representation and to advance the democratization process in Somalia. They pledged to support a political roadmap which meets Somali expectations towards this goal. The members of the delegation acknowledged the progress that Puntland has made to advancing political stability and security and its contribution to the emergence of a federal Somalia. They said they will continue to support Somalia in this important political transition and in the wider peacebuilding and state-building process.
Key Headlines
- Puntland Shares Their Views On The Electoral Process With The International Community (Radio Dalsan)
- Somaliland Beefs Up Airports’ Security After Mogadishu Plane Bombing (Hiiraan Online)
- Former Iraqi VP Hails Development Strides Made By Somalia (Wacaal Media)
- Farole Meets Keating As Puntland Cool to 4.5 (Garowe Online)
- Minnesota Man To Plead Guilty In Islamic State Case (ABC News/AFP)
- Dr. Al-Turki Receives Somali Minister Of Endowments And Religious Affairs (Saudi Press Agency)
- Al-Shabaab Preys On Poor Youth With Promises Of Cars And Wives (Daily Nation)
- Drought Spells Disaster For Somali Herders (IRIN)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somaliland Beefs Up Airports’ Security After Mogadishu Plane Bombing
11 February – Source: Hiiraan Online – 203 Words
The breakaway northern Somali region of Somaliland announced its beefing up security for its airports in the wake of a recent bombing on a Somali airliner which has made an emergency landing at the Mogadishu airport last week. A suspected suicide bomber blew a hole in the fuselage of a Daallo Airlines plane, with Somali officials said that the suspected suicide bomber had sucked out of the plane as his body was found in Balad town, 30km north of Mogadishu.
Somaliland’s aviation minister Osman Abdillahi Sahardid said that the enclave would ban all liquids aboard airplanes to ensure the safety of the airports and passengers flying to Somaliland. “Computers will have to also be switched on before boarding the plane, but then again all liquids and sharp objects are strictly prohibited.” Mr. Sahardid said Wednesday.
The mysterious mid-air explosion in Daallo Airlines’ aircraft has sent alarm across the world as security experts warned that the attack showed militant group’s desire to add attacks on air transportations into their global jihad catalog. In October last year, a Russian airliner was brought down by a bomb in Egypt’s Sinai, killing all 224 people on board. The ISIS group claimed it was behind the bombing.
Former Iraqi VP Hails Development Strides Made By Somalia
11 February – Source: Wacaal Media – 114 Words
Somalia is on the road to recovery and the Federal government should double its efforts in order to bring back the country to its rightful place in the World, Former Vice President of Iraq Ayad Allawi has said. Speaking when he addressed the Federal Parliament in Mogadishu, Allawi thanked the government of Somalia for the warm reception. The former VP was received by Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke on arrival at Aden Adde international airport in Mogadishu. He later held talks with federal government officials and addressed parliament. Speaker Prof. Osman Jawari on his side said the Federal parliament was honored to receive the former Iraqi Vice President. Allawi is on official visit to Somalia.
Farole Meets Keating As Puntland Cool to 4.5
11 February – Source: Garowe Online – 391 Words
Former Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole has met with new United Nations envoy to Somalia Ambassador Michael Keating as the northeastern State is leery of new electoral proposal, Garowe Online reports. Accompanied by former vice President and other politicians which included a number of former ministers, Abdirahman Farole and Keating alongside a group of foreign diplomats covering Somalia, discussed the country’s controversial transition by 2016.
Abdirahman Farole and an entourage of politicians at Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC) told visiting international community representatives the past 4.5 tribal based scheme is obsolete model that dodges the rights and will of people across all spectrums who want that election be based on regions. They asked foreign diplomats to opt for neutral tune in Somali political landscape, and avoid taking sides in the prevailing debate.
He said, the4.5 scheme is considered to be something of the past, obsolete and dysfunctional. Continuing, he stressed: “The Puntland people and its current leadership are within their legal and constitutional rights in rejecting the unilateral election blueprint proposed by the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for the upcoming federal election.”Farole told them that it would have been better if you had come to Puntland before endorsing unilateral blueprint re-election campaign by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. “This may not give Puntland any other option but to stay out from this process. Things went too far, Somalia has yet to reconcile,” he concluded.
Meanwhile in Garowe, civil society groups expressed their concern over any process entailing 4.5 power sharing formula in a separate meeting with the delegation led by Michael Keating. The gathering closed to media brought together international community representatives and civil society activists. Writing to foreign diplomats, civil society groups called for district-based representation instead of adopting 4.5 quota. They urged the international community to stay neutral in the political discourse and listen to the views of key stakeholders.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Minnesota Man To Plead Guilty In Islamic State Case
11 February – Source: ABC News/AFP – 115 Words
A Minnesota man accused of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group is expected to plead guilty. Twenty-year-old Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Thursday for a change of plea hearing. Court documents allege Warsame tried to help other young men from Minnesota’s Somali community travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group.
Nine other members of that group were charged previously; one is believed to be in Syria and three have already pleaded guilty. Five others are scheduled to go to trial in May and a hearing in their case is also scheduled for Thursday. That hearing will address several pretrial issues.
Dr. Al-Turki Receives Somali Minister Of Endowments And Religious Affairs
11 February – Source: Saudi Press Agency – 90 Words
The Secretary General of Muslim World League Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Al-Turki received here today the Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs of the Republic of Somalia, Dr. Abdulqader Sheikh Ali, and Counselor of the Somali embassy and Head of Hajj Mission of Somalia Sheikh Hassan Mohamed Abdi.
During the meeting, Dr. Abdulqader praised the great efforts being exerted by the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in serving Islam and Muslims, especially its positions with Somalia and its people who appreciate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s government and people.
Al-Shabaab Preys On Poor Youth With Promises Of Cars And Wives
11 February – Source: Daily Nation – 429 Words
The boarding school is known for admitting children from poor backgrounds and charges only Sh500 per pupil per term. Children whose parents cannot afford the fee are allowed to study for free. “Most of the school’s expenses are funded through donations and authorities think the help comes from Al-Shabaab sympathisers and the pupils targeted for radicalisation,” the report adds.
“The vulnerable children are easy prey, given that few people would be curious and wary of what they are taught. Investigations continue on this institution.” Kufungwa is also wanted after investigations linked him to the June 2014 killing of Sheikh Idriss in Mombasa. “He was also behind a spate of violent robberies in Mombasa that were carried out by members of his cell so as to raise money for Al-Shabaab activities. He coordinates recruitment of youths and facilitates their movement to Somalia as well as providing logistical support to militia in Boni Forest,” an earlier police report said.
Jeshi Ayman, a faction of Al-Shabaab has set up camps in Boni Forest in Lamu, prompting a massive security operation. “Investigations on the four, which started earlier revealed they were in contact with facilitators in Somalia and had made arrangements to travel there through Mandera. As part of the incentive to join Al-Shabaab the boys were promised, money, cars and wives,” the latest report says. Investigators said Fadhil and Idriss were the initial targets of recruitment.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Across northern Somalia, there has been a “sharp increase in debt levels among poor households”, while people are also selling off what animals they can to make ends meet, said the FSNAU/FEWS NET report.”
Drought Spells Disaster For Somali Herders
11 February – Source: IRIN – 702 Words
Two consecutive seasons of drought across northern Somalia are driving tens of thousands of pastoralists into hunger and debt. Abdilahi Mohamed had 20 cattle in August. Only five now survive. He herded his animals 250 kilometers – from his home in Faraweyne to Banka Geriyaad, northwest of Hargeisa, capital of Somaliland region – in the hope that the Hays rainy season (December to February) had generated enough fresh pasture there.
“But before I got there people had already moved in and finished it all,” he told IRIN. It’s a similar situation in the autonomous state of Puntland, to the east. Mohamoud Ahmed told IRIN by phone from Sanag region, one of the hardest-hit areas, that he had “lost a number” of his herd.
“My entire family is now in a critical situation: no water, no food, no nothing. Young ones and the elderly are suffering a lot. Sometimes I buy a drum of water for $120 – when I can afford it.” The drought is leading to “large-scale abnormal outmigration of livestock” to areas that received Hays rains, according to the latest food security assessment for Somalia. But the “improved pasture and water will likely be exhausted soon”, as it is unable to support the mass arrival of pastoralists and herds from as far afield as Djibouti and Ethiopia.
The assessment, compiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization-managed Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) in collaboration with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), says the current dry conditions are likely to persist until at least the start of the main Gu rains, which normally fall from April to June.