February 9, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Al-Shabaab gunmen assassinate lawmaker
09 Feb – Source: AFP/Yahoo news – 262 Words
Somalia’s Shabab insurgents shot dead a lawmaker in the capital Mogadishu on Monday, the latest in a string of assassinations of politicians in the war-torn country. “Abdulahi Qayad Barre was shot dead. Gunmen killed him as he left his house to go to parliament,” fellow MP Abdukarim Hajji said. At least five MPs were killed last year, but Barre was the first to have been assassinated in 2015. The extremists say they are targeting MPs as they allowed the deployment of foreign troops on Somali soil. Shabaab commandoes “shot and killed Barre, and all the so-called MPs are a legitimate target subject to be killed or captured, to face the justice of Allah,” Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdul Aziz Abu Musab told AFP.
“This the fate of all non believers.” Al-Shabaab attacks in Somalia have targeted key government and security sites in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities and African Union troops that they are winning the war. Somalia’s parliament is also riven by political infighting, prompting repeated warnings by international donors that the power struggles were stalling progress. The attack came amid tight security as lawmakers gathered to vote on whether to approve a new cabinet, after parliament rejected the new prime minister’s last list of candidates.
Key Headlines
- Parliament to vote on new cabinet (Radio Goobjoog)
- Government calls for a ceasefire to the fighting in Hiiraan (Radio Danan)
- Pirate hostages in a dire situation (Radio Goobjoog)
- Wealthy Somalis hide over $15 million in secret Swiss bank accounts (Sahan Journal)
- Djibouti and Ethiopia agree to eliminate Al-Shabaab from Somalia (Horseed media)
- Hibo Nuura quits the music industry (Sahan Journal)
- Al-Shabaab takes credit for Puntland’s checkpoint attack (Somali current)
- Somalia urges US to resume money transfer services (Gulf Today)
- Al-Shabaab gunmen assassinate lawmaker (AFP/Yahoo news)
- Has Somali piracy ended? ( Hellenic Shipping News)
- Cops foil Somali’s Rs 80k marriage contract (Times of India)
SOMALI MEDIA
Parliament to vote on new cabinet
09 Feb – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 154 Words
Somalia Federal Parliament will today hold a session to vote on the newly appointed council of ministers by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali. The parliament has granted the PM 14 days extension to complete the formation of his cabinet on 31st January, which he did on 5th February. Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharma’arke has released the list of his cabinets containing the 25 ministers and one deputy Prime Minister, 26 assistant ministers and 14 state ministers on 5th February 2015. Prime Minister Sharma’arke is currently facing political challenges within the parliament as his first cabinet failed to obtain the Vote of the Confidence which forced him to dissolve on it on January 17th.
Government calls for a ceasefire to the fighting in Hiiraan
09 Feb – Source: Radio Danan – 131 Words
The interior ministry of the federal government of Somalia called for the warring clans in Hiiraan especially in Baladeyne to embrace peace and bury the hatchet. The spokesperson of the minister of interior, Abdulfatah Daahir Mire told the media the standpoint of the government regarding the fighting in Baladweyne and that the government through his ministry calls for the warring clans to put in place a ceasefire and to embrace peace. “We are sorry about the fighting in Baladweyne. In fact, we call for a ceasefire and that everything should be settled through a negotiation,” said the spokesperson. He also said the government delivered food aid to the recent liberated areas from Al-Shabaab and that the government will try to revive the social services of those areas.
Pirate hostages in a dire situation
09 Feb – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 96 Words
According to reports coming from Mudug region of Somalia indicates that 25 pirate hostages are in dire situation. Journalists who visited the hostages has expressed shock at the conditions of the hostages. They reported shortage of food and water supply for the hostages. Hostages seems to be very dehydrated and malnourished, some of them are very week to perform their daily routine. The hostages are held between Gara’ad and Eldher, they number 25 hailing from different countries such as China, Indonesia and Taiwan. They have been held since 2012 with all attempts to free them bearing no fruits.
Wealthy Somalis hide over $15 million in secret Swiss bank accounts
09 Feb – Source: Sahan Journal – 160 Words
Seven Somalis are holding more than $15 million in secret bank accounts in the global banking giant HSBC’s private bank in Switzerland, according to documents leaked to the media. The accounts, opened between 1988 and 2007, are linked to 22 secret bank accounts, holding about $15.5 million. Twenty nine percent of the clients have a Somali passport or nationality. According to the documents, one client connected to Somalia has $12.2 million in a secret Swiss bank account.
The documents were obtained by the French newspaper Le Monde and were shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Guardian, the BBC and various other media outlets around the world. The documents were first stolen in 2007 by an employee working for HSBC in Geneva. The secret bank accounts are “maintained for criminals, traffickers, tax dodgers, politicians and celebrities,” according to ICIJ. Somalia is ranked number 145 among the countries with the largest dollar amounts in the leaked Swiss files.
Djibouti and Ethiopia agree to eliminate Al-Shabaab from Somalia
08 Feb – Source: Horseed Media – 140 Words
The leaders of Djibouti and Ethiopia have vowed to defeat the extremist group Al-Shabaab in Somalia, saying they are determined to ‘’push out’’ the militants from the regions in the war-ravaged nation. Djibouti president, Ismael Omar Guelleh, met Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desaleng, to discuss the group’s threat to the region.
Ethiopia and Djibouti have thousands of troops in Somalia who are part of the African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM). According to sources, both leaders agreed on pushing out Al-Shabaab from the territories still under their control in Southern Somalia. Al-Shabaab has lost large territories to the AMISOM forces and Somali troops following major offensives against them last year. Ethiopia revealed is willing to send further troops to the strategic port town of Kismayo, which is some 500-km south of the capital, Mogadishu.
Hibo Nuura quits the music industry
08 Feb – Source: Sahan Journal – 238 Words
Hibo Mohamed Hudoon (Hibo Nuura), one of the most prominent Somali singers who captivated thousands of fans with her nationalist and love songs in the late 1980s, has quit the music industry, citing religious reasons. Hibo Nuura, who called in a popular religious conference call with over 2,000 people around the world on Saturday night, said she was leaving the music industry for the sake of Allah and asked people not to listen to her songs.
In an interview with the BBC Somali Service, Hibo Nuura said she has been deliberating about her decision for a long time. She said she has consulted with religious leaders, who told her that singing accompanied by music is haram. Hibo Nuura said she started her singing career when she was a teenager in 1976. In the late 1980s, Hibo Nuura was part of Somalia’s foremost musical group, Waaberi, or “Dawn” in Somali. Hibo Nuura, now in her 60s, returned to Mogadishu in September last year to host a music festival after 22 years of living abroad.
She said she will keep singing patriotic national songs. “The arts can play a decisive role in the development of Somalia at this juncture,” she said in an interview with Sabahi Online in October. “If [art is used] every day to tell people about matters related to progress and mass media is used to encourage development, people will become optimistic and carry positive attitudes.”
Al-Shabab takes credit for Puntland’s checkpoint attack
08 Feb – Source: Somali current – 238 Words
Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s Bosaso attack on police checkpoint near Puntland’s deputy police chief residence. Heavy gunfire confrontations between Puntland forces and Al-Shabaab militants killed two people and injured 8 others from both sides. “Our Mujahidin in Puntland attacked Puntland‘s deputy police chief dwelling in Bosaaso and we killed top officials,” an unidentified Al-Shabaab spokesman said. Shortly after the attack, Puntland forces in Bosaso beefed up security and commenced checking people and vehicles. Four Puntland soldiers were admitted Bosaaso hospital according to health officials. The targeted police chief has survived an attack in 2013. The Al-Qaeda affiliated group, Al-shabab often cites a higher death toll than the number given by official
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somalia urges US to resume money transfer services
09 Feb – Source: Gulf Today – 359 Words
Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke urged the US government and US banks to support money transfer firms that offer a lifeline for many in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation. About 40 per cent of all Somali families rely on remittances from another country, and the estimated annual total of $1.3 billion is more than all foreign aid and investment in Somalia combined.
Funds sent back home to Somalia are crucial for many families and businesses in a country that lacks a proper financial system due to the years of fighting.Virtually all major US banks have ended remittance services to Somalis in the United States because of regulations designed to stop money falling into the hands of groups branded “terrorists” by Washington, such as Somalia’s Al Shabaab. Sharmarke said in a statement on Sunday he had spoken to American government officials about this “pressing issue” and repeated his calls to US banks to reconsider their decision.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Al-Shabaab gunmen assassinate lawmaker
09 Feb – Source: AFP/Yahoo news – 262 Words
Somalia’s Shabab insurgents shot dead a lawmaker in the capital Mogadishu on Monday, the latest in a string of assassinations of politicians in the war-torn country. “Abdulahi Qayad Barre was shot dead. Gunmen killed him as he left his house to go to parliament,” fellow MP Abdukarim Hajji said. At least five MPs were killed last year, but Barre was the first to have been assassinated in 2015. The extremists say they are targeting MPs as they allowed the deployment of foreign troops on Somali soil. Shabaab commandoes “shot and killed Barre, and all the so-called MPs are a legitimate target subject to be killed or captured, to face the justice of Allah,” Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdul Aziz Abu Musab told AFP. “This the fate of all non believers.”
Al-Shabaab attacks in Somalia have targeted key government and security sites in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities and African Union troops that they are winning the war. Somalia’s parliament is also riven by political infighting, prompting repeated warnings by international donors that the power struggles were stalling progress. The attack came amid tight security as lawmakers gathered to vote on whether to approve a new cabinet, after parliament rejected the new prime minister’s last list of candidates.
Has Somali piracy ended?
09 Feb – Source: Hellenic Shipping News – 721 Words
The sharp drop in piracy in the Somali Basin is puzzling security experts, who have been surprised by recent developments. While they are not heralding “mission accomplished,” they are asking what factors have led to the recent sharp demise in piracy off the Somali coast. The High Risk Area off the Somali coast has seen over 700 attacks by pirates since 2009, but last year there were only 11 pirate incidents and no ship hijackings. No ships have been hijacked in the area since the start of January 2013. Toward the end of 2011, seven ships were being hijacked a month.
Security experts can point to no one reason for the quiet in the Somali Basin, but suggest several factors have combined to reduce the threat over the past year. Among these are the presence of three international naval task forces in the area, the extensive use by ship owners of armed private security guards, and improved best security practices for sailing through high risk waters off east Africa. The High Risk Area in the Indian Ocean extends from the southern approaches to the Suez Canal and Strait of Hormuz in the north to 10 degrees south, which cuts across the northern tip of Madagascar, and 78 degrees east, upon which the southernmost tip of India lies.
Cops foil Somali’s Rs 80k marriage contract
09 Feb – Source: Times of India – 283 Words
A Somali national, who tried to enter into a contract marriage with a 23-year-old woman from Old City, was arrested along with his three accomplices from Yakutpura on Saturday afternoon. The Yakutpura police said that Somali national Syed Ibrahim, 28, who arrived in the city on January 29, came in contact with three brokers – Mohammad Wahab, Shabana Begum and Shahid Sultana – and asked them to find a bride for him. He already has a wife in his country. The brokers, who collected Rs 80,000, arranged one Baby Begum, who is a resident of Yakutpura, by keeping her in the dark about the contract marriage.
Police said the two women had found Baby Begum, and in turn informed Wahab, who was in touch with Syed Ibrahim. The prospective bride and groom went to qazi Mirza Qudrathullah Baig for performing the marriage. The qazi refused to perform the nikah suspecting it to be a contract marriage.”The qazi became suspicious as there were no valid documents. He alerted us and we arrested the four persons,” Yakutpura inspector M Surender Goud said. According to police, Syed Ibrahim, who was into transport business in his country, had been in touch with the trio for the past two weeks.
The four were arrested under sections 417 (punishment for cheating), 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were produced in court and remanded to jail. On Friday, police invoked the Prevention of Dangerous (PD) Activities Act against a contract marriage broker, Mohammed Akber, who used to carry out the illegal act with the help of three qazis – Mohammed Azmath Zafri, Abdul Rasheed, Syed Salman. He was arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The public has to have confidence in the electoral system to accept the outcomes as legitimate. Any attempt to hold a political election without reliable census, voter registration, security, the rule of law, establishment of institutional capability able to handle electoral problems could exacerbate political conflicts and tensions within society.”
No direct 2016 election in Somalia
07 Feb – Source: Somali Current – 433 Words
I strongly believe that the prospect of holding political election, to some extent, complies with the concepts, norms, and processes of a democratic electoral process in Somalia in 2016 is not only doubtful or impossible but also unwise under current government and condition. That is why many Somali intellectuals are now suggesting different approaches to the choice of the next members of the federal parliament and new modalities for the election of the next president. The major failure has been the inability of the federal government to provide the necessary leadership at the critical juncture that Somalia was progressing from 12 years of transition to a permanent post conflict stage. The Federal Government missed the opportunity to adhere to the constitutional responsibilities and required policies in peacebuilding and statebuilding in cooperation with the International Community.
Continuous political wrangling in the past two years that caused the dismissal of two Prime Ministers and the political quagmire facing the current Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid who is unable to form new cabinet beyond the constitutional one-month limit are some of leadership failures. Unfortunately, the federal parliament is impatient to take its two -month vacation soon after the issue of the new cabinet is settled. The conduct of Political Election requires credible institutional capability, sufficiently reliable security and rule of law, the enactment of laws on political parties and electoral system, and establishment of independent electoral commissions and political environment that guarantees free and fair election. None of these requirements is in place. More importantly, Somalis are confused about the electoral constituencies.
Top tweets
@igadcewarn #IGAD welcomes the outcome of the meeting 4-6 February between the Federal Government of #Somalia and the leaders… http://fb.me/7nitpD2Hv
@omabha Minn. politicians seek time with Obama on money transfers to Somalia – Minnesota Public Radio News http://dlvr.it/8SYRMg #Somalia
@Goobjoognews #Somalia Afgoye Local Government Treasurer Abdulahi Hassan Farey gunned down over night, tax collection is sensitive issue
@sallyjsara Remembering BBC producer Kate Peyton, shot dead in Somalia, 10 years ago today.
@Goobjoognews #Somalia Breaking News : Somali MP Abdullahi Qayat Bare gunned down in Mogadishu ahead of parliament session to vote for the cabinet
@Oxfam “Every month I send them money, they don’t have anyone else.” #Somalia http://youtu.be/lEAFgHGxV-4 Please help save a #SomaliLifeline.
Image of the day
UPDF Soldiers serving under AMISOM in Somalia distribute leaflets, with a message of peace, to Mogadishu residents during an event held to mark Tarehe Sita in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Photo: AMISOM