February 8, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
President Mohamud meets Somalis in Cairo
08 Feb- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu/SNTV/Universal TV/Radio Kulmiye- 130 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Thursday night met with the Somali community in Cairo shortly after the conclusion of OIC meeting.
Foreign Affairs minister Fowziya Adan and State minister for foreign affairs Ahmed Noor Ga’al were among top government officials accompanying the president.
During the meeting, president Mohamud briefed the community members on the current situation in the country. He said expectations are high that semblance of law and order will be witnessed in the country following the last two decades of lawlessness in the country.
The president appealed to the diaspora community especially those in Egypt to take part in rebuilding the country.
The president and his entourage were in Cairo to attend the just concluded OIC meeting where participants agreed to support the new government in Somalia.
Key Headlines
- President Mohamud meets Somalis in Cairo (Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu/SNTV/Universal TV)
- Somali government says African troops to evacuate from sports stadiums (Radio Mogadishu/ Al Shahid)
- Ministers meet local leaders in Beledweyne (Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mustaqbal)
- Interpol officials visit Mogadishu (Radio Kulmiye)
- UK troops will not serve in combat says president Mohamud (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Somali journalists in Kenya reach out to relatives of slain colleagues (Radio Kulmiye)
- An American jihadist in Somalia with few friends left (Alarabiya/AFP)
- US blacklists Kenyans linked to terror attacks (Daily Nation)
- AMISOM forces kill five al Shabaab militiamen (Star)
- Open letter to Prime Minister about freedom of information reforms (Reporters Without Borders)
SOMALI MEDIA
President Mohamud meets Somalis in Cairo
08 Feb- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu/SNTV/Universal TV/Radio Kulmiye- 130 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Thursday night met with the Somali community in Cairo shortly after the conclusion of OIC meeting.
Foreign Affairs minister Fowziya Adan and State minister for foreign affairs Ahmed Noor Ga’al were among top government officials accompanying the president.
During the meeting, president Mohamud briefed the community members on the current situation in the country. He said expectations are high that semblance of law and order will be witnessed in the country following the last two decades of lawlessness in the country.
The president appealed to the diaspora community especially those in Egypt to take part in rebuilding the country.
The president and his entourage were in Cairo to attend the just concluded OIC meeting where participants agreed to support the new government in Somalia.
Somali government says African troops to evacuate from sports stadiums
08 Feb- Source: Radio Mogadishu/ Al Shahid- 134 words
Somali government has promised that the African Union troops will be evacuated from Mogadishu stadium and other sports centers, in an effort to restore sports activity in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Development and Social Services Bashir Mohamed Jama said the government is planning to restart the sport facilities in the country and to make sure it will handover all sport centers to the hands of local sports organizations.
The Mogadishu stadium is currently one of the largest military bases of the African Union (AMISOM) forces in Mogadishu.
The Deputy Minister of Development and Social Services visited Monday with sports delegation to Mogadishu Stadium, as part of a campaign led by the National Union of football in an effort to restart the sports facilities in the country.
Mogadishu stadium has been built with funding from the Chinese government in the seventies of the last century.
Interpol officials visit Mogadishu
08 Feb- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 2010 words
A delegation from the Interpol led their chief Ronald K. Noble, visited Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. they were welcomed at the airport by the chief of the police forces and the officials from the AMISOM Police officials.
The delegation supervised the centers of the Somali police, especially the Oto-Oto, criminal investigation department, school policia, and the vehicles camp. The secretary general of the Interpol Ronald K. Noble and the Somali police forces chief Gen.Sharif Sheikhuna Maye held a joint a press conference, in which they outline the visit.
Ronald pledged some monetary funding for the police.The Interpol chief has said that during the two decades of destruction in the country, Somalia, even though it was one of the members of International Police Forces, did not receive the development funds.
On his part, General Sharif Sheikhuna Maye, thanked the head of the world police body, saying the country’s police force needs much required assistance.
UK troops will not serve in combat, says president Mohamud
08 Feb- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 280 words
Somali President Mohamud has assured the public that the role of the proposed British troops to be deployed in Somalia will not serve in a combat role but would act as advisers and trainers to the national armed forces fighting rebel group fighters in parts of the country.
Responding to questions filed by journalists in Cairo during his meeting with Somali community members in the area, president Mohamud his government sought the help of British government in training and strengthening of Somalia’s armed forces.
He said a technical group from the two countries was formed to look into the details of the agreement between his government and the UK.
Britain is to deploy soldiers to Somalia for the first time in an attempt to beef up its military influence in some of the world’s worst trouble spots.
A small team of British Army advisers will be sent to Mogadishu in the spring when, if security allows, an embassy is also due to open, the Times reported on Thursday.
Ministry of Defence sources said that the Embassy Defence Section would not serve in a combat role but would act as advisers and trainers to African Union forces engaged in protracted fighting with the al Shabaab movement, which is allied to al Qaeda.
The deployment comes less than five month after the newly elected Somalia government asked the head of the British Army for more help to train its fledgling forces as they battle Islamist militants affiliated to al Qaeda.
The request came when General Sir Peter Wall became the first senior British military officer to visit Mogadishu in more than two decades.
In mid last year, the UK has established a small military presence in Somalia.
Ministers meet local leaders in Beledweyne
08 Feb- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mustaqbal- 98 words
A group of cabinet ministers visiting Beledweyne town Thursday held consultative talks with local authorities and elders on issues regarding the prospect of forming a local administration in the region.
The ministers and the local leaders discussed ways forward in establishing an inclusive administration for the entire region.
Members of the press are yet to be briefed on the outcome of the meeting between the ministers and the local leaders.
The ministers were part of the government delegation led by Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon who visited the town on Wednesday morning.
Somali journalists in Kenya reach out to relatives of slain colleagues
08 Feb- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 206 words
The relatives of journalists who died in the bombing of the Hoyoyinka building on 20th December have received monetary assistance worth US $ 3450.00.
Representatives from the dead journalists families received the payment from National Union of the Somali journalists NUSOJ and the director of the National broadcasting agency Abdirahman Sheik Yussuf Al-Adala.
Secretary general of NUSOJ Mohamed Ibrahim has praised the Somali journalists living in Kenya, terming their contribution as good gesture to be commanded.
REGIONAL MEDIA
An American jihadist in Somalia with few friends left
08 Feb- Source: Alarabiya/AFP- 871 words
Once his reputation was of a feared fighter, an American-born extremist who left small town of Alabama to wage war alongside al Qaeda-linked Somali Islamists and who called on other foreigners to join.
Today, Omar Hamami – better known as Abu Mansoor al Amriki or “the American” – has split from the insurgents, who want to kill him.
He cuts a forlorn figure: homesick, stuck somewhere in Somalia, and telling anyone who will listen about his apparently doomed career path.
“Amriki would like to accept the honor of most wanted list and thanks everyone,” he said in a message on Twitter in November following his listing by the FBI on their Most Wanted Terrorists list.
He spends his days denouncing his former Shebab colleagues as corrupt. He refers to himself as the “former poster boy” of the group.
US blacklists Kenyans linked to terror attacks
07 Feb- Source: Daily Nation- 319 words
The US Government has blacklisted two Kenyans and a Somali over their alleged links to terrorism. Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan from Majengo in Mombasa, alongside Somalia’s Ali Abbas Abdi have been placed on a list of individuals blacklisted under the US Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs).
Assets of such people are frozen and Americans are prohibited from dealing with them.
Msalam and Swedan had their names included in the FBI list of “most wanted” terrorists in December 1998 over their alleged role in bombing of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
AMISOM forces kill five al Shabaab militiamen
07 Feb- Source: Star (Kenya) – 66 words
African Forces in Somalia have killed five al Shabaab militants in an encounter along the main supply route between Mudale and Busaar in Somalia. Several other militants escaped with injuries and are suspected to be seeking medical attention in Bardhere and surrounding areas. The forces also recovered 1 double cab vehicle, 4 AK 47 rifles, 3 hand grenades , 1 Rocket Propelled Grenade and various communication equipment.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Open letter to Prime Minister about freedom of information reforms
08 Feb- Source: Reporters Without Borders-299 words
Reporters Without Borders, an international organization that defends freedom of information, would like to share with you its concerns about the actions of the Somali authorities on matters affecting journalists.
The imposition of a one-year jail sentence on the journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim for reasons connected to his work is a disappointing sign as regards the commitment that your government gave to guarantee freedom of information.
As you said, a free press is “the heart of every democracy and is guaranteed by the new constitution.” But democracy will not be able to flower if journalists are liable to be jailed in connection with their work. Media offences must be decriminalized without delay if Somalia is to enjoy freedom of information and its benefits.
Last year was a particularly difficult one for Somali journalists. Somalia fell 11 places in the latest Reporters Without Borders press index and is now ranked 175th out of 179 countries. A total of 18 journalists were killed in bombings or targeted murders in 2012, making it the deadliest year in the Somali media’s history.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Al Qaeda and its affiliates are moving onto social media after years of relying largely on chat rooms to spread their doctrine online, a study says. The trend raises a host of questions.”
Terrorist tweets: how al Qaeda’s social media move could cause problems
07 Feb- Source: CSMonitor-852 Words
Twitter isn’t just for Justin Bieber – terrorists are tweeting, too. Somalia’s al Qaeda affiliate, al Shabaab, might not have as many followers as Mr. Bieber (1,800 versus 34 million), but it is still microblogging to get its message out.
“Our war against the West is a war for the sovereignty and dominance of Allah’s Law above all creation. No to democracy and #Kafir laws!” it tweeted recently, using the Arabic word for “infidel” to spread its propaganda.
At other times, al Shabaab has used Twitter to give supporters updates on its fight against Kenyan forces: “Mujahiddeen ambush #KDF convoy between Kudhaa & Kulbiyow, Lower Jubba, destroying 3 vehicles and killing 11 #Kenyan Soldiers #JihadDispatches.”
After years of relying almost exclusively on websites and chat rooms to spread their doctrine online, al Qaeda and its global affiliates are now beginning to embrace social media, according to “The State of Global Jihad Online,” a study by the New America Foundation.
“Mogadishu: Then and Now is more than a book of pictures. In just a few pages of beautifully written text, Warah gives us the history, politics and culture of the city. She does not shy away from difficult subjects such as the possible roles of the clan and nomadic culture in the destruction of the city.”
Mogadishu Then and Now
07 Feb- Source: The Star (Kenya)-514 Words
When I was writing my book about Somalia, the only way I could get a sense of what the capital, Mogadishu, was like before it was destroyed was by reading the novels of the Somali writer, Nuruddin Farah, looking at a few scratchy pictures on the internet and speaking to people who had known it before all hell broke loose in 1991.
Mogadishu: Then and Now changes all that. The book – which describes itself as ‘a pictorial tribute to Africa’s most wounded city’ – is a treasure trove of photographs and other images, protected and preserved for years by the former curator of the Mogadishu Museum, Mohamud Dirios. Thanks to this book, I can now ‘see’ the city as it used to be.
Several of these precious pictures are juxtaposed with photos of the same place, taken years later by the Kenyan photojournalist, Rasna Warah, who made a brave trip to Mogadishu in 2011. There is a shocking contrast between the original grand, graceful structures and their bullet-scarred, shattered remains. But at least there is now a visual ‘memory’ available, which will doubtless be an invaluable resource for reconstruction work. If the situation in the city continues to improve, and the rebuilding continues, maybe one broken building should be left as a reminder of what war can do.
One of the most striking photos in the book is of Lido Beach in 1983. Scantily clad Europeans bronze themselves in the sun, relaxing with Somali friends on the beach. The city has taken a long and painful journey away from this liberal, cosmopolitan culture. But, as Warah points out at the end of the book, there are ‘glimmers of hope’ as a ‘fragile peace’ returns to the city.
Top tweets
@AbdifatahATM Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding. #Somalia2013 #Somalia #SomaliaRising #SomaliainUK
@africaupdate I wonder what reaction has been to these appointments? President Mohamud names new admin for Baidoa http://bit.ly/11R9RLt #somalia
@UNOCHA The number of people in need of #humanitarian assistance in #Somalia has reduced by 50% since August 2012. Snapshot: http://buzz.mw/-DPA_y
@pressfreedom #Somalia president says “Let’s have faith in our judiciary system” after journalist is jailed for #rape interview http://bit.ly/XmyKHb
@MikePflanz How the jailing of a journalist over a rape story in #Somalia points to wider concerns of the nation’s reform promises http://bit.ly/WDYKAf
Image of the day
Somali police band welcomes Ronald K. Noble, centre, the chief of Interpol during his first official mission to Somalia. Photo: Somaliweyn/Interpol