January 13, 2016 | Morning Headlines
President Opens Jowhar Conference Despite Hiiraan Elders’ Boycott
12 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 354 Words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud opened the long-awaited Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle inter-regional state formation conference in Jowhar on Tuesday despite a boycott by Hiiraan elders over his “broken promises”. The elders, who had previously agreed to attend the conference in the regional capital of Lower Shabelle region, accused the Somali President of insincerity.
But a determined President Mohamud went ahead with the meeting, declaring, “the government will spare no efforts to complete this process to enable the formation of an administration for the two regions.” Despite the boycott by the Hiiraan elders, dozens of other delegates, including legislators attended the conference which aims to tackle the contentious issues in the Hiiraan-Middle Shabelle inter-regional state formation process.
Meanwhile, elders and politicians from the central Somali town of Beledweyne held a parallel conference on Tuesday, stating that Jowhar’s conference was an ‘inconclusive’ process seeking ‘unrealistic’ goals: “They (government officials) have dispatched an aircraft to fly delegates to the venue but we are telling them that our people have rejected their proposal. We shall never recognize any outcome from that conference,” declared Ahmed Abdulle Jimale, one of the region’s leading traditional elders. The Somali Government hasn’t so far commented on the development that would further undermine its efforts to bring the two sides to the table to neutralize political tensions. Hiiraan elders had earlier set tough terms for their endorsement of the formation of an inter-regional state with the neighboring Middle Shabelle region.
Key Headlines
- President Opens Jowhar Conference Despite Hiiraan Elders’ Boycott (Hiiraan Online)
- Seven Soldiers Arrested Over Troops Infighting (Shabelle News)
- US Appoints New Ambassador To Somalia (Somali Current)
- Suspected Bomb Recovered In Eastleigh (Shabelle News)
- Somalis Loot Compound Of Iranian Aid Agency (News24)
- ISIS Tries To Expand In Africa Via Call For Al-Shabaab Fighters To Join Them In Somalia (Alalam News Network)
- Minneapolis Restaurant Sends Welcome Message to All Immigrants (5 Eyewitness News)
- How Al-Qaeda And Islamic State Are Competing For The Loyalty Of Al-Shabaab In Somalia (The Telegraph)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Seven Soldiers Arrested Over Troops Infighting
12 January – Source: Shabelle News – 87 Words
Seven soldiers were reportedly arrested by Ethiopian troops of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) contingent in Bardere city of Gedo region over their role in the recent infighting among federal government troops that left five soldiers dead. Reports say the Somali military commanders in the area ordered the arrest of the soldier,s who are currently being held at the Ethiopian troops base in Bardere town. Last week, at least five military officers died when government troops fought at the city’s police station over the release of a detained Al-Shabaab commander.
US Appoints New Ambassador To Somalia
12 January – Source: Somali Current – 131 Words
The US President, Barrack Obama has appointed a new ambassador to Somalia, a statement by the White House has said. Stephen Michael Schwartz was appointed after the last ambassador was recalled mid last year. Stephen Michael has previously worked worked with the US department of Foreign Affairs in Australia, New Zealand and the countries in Pacific island until August last year. “Mr Stephen has also served as the head of the West African in charge of Foreign affairs,” the White House statement said in part. The appointment of the new ambassador is seen as a step towards improvement in US-Somalia diplomatic ties. The US has not had any embassy in Somalia since early 90’s when the Central government collapsed. Stephen Schwartz will start work immediately the US Senate approves his appointment.
Suspected Bomb Recovered In Eastleigh
12 January – Shabelle News – 56 Words
Bomb experts are examining a metallic device recovered on Eastleigh 11th street, Second avenue, in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The device is suspected to be an explosive. Starehe area Criminal Investigations Department (CID) boss Kiberenge Seroney said a woman dropped the object which was wrapped in a paper bag after police on patrol ordered her to stop at around 1 am on Tuesday. The suspect managed to escape. The Eastleigh region in Nairobi is a residential area for mainly members of the Somali community.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalis Loot Compound Of Iranian Aid Agency
12 January – Source: News24 – 153 Words
The compound of an Iranian aid agency was looted in the Somali capital on Tuesday, five days after Mogadishu cut diplomatic relations with Tehran, officials said. Unidentified armed militiamen as well as residents looted the compound, stealing computers and other equipment. Security forces then stormed the compound, arresting several people, security official Mohamed Hassan said.
“Investigations are under way about who organized the looting,” he added. The severing of diplomatic relations has left Iranian property vulnerable to such incidents, said a Somali aid worker who declined to give his name. The Foreign Ministry in Mogadishu said last week that Iran’s diplomats had committed violations against Somalia by meddling in the country’s internal affairs and playing a negative role in its stability, security and unity. Somalia joined Saudi Arabia and several other countries in severing ties with Tehran after Iranian demonstrators attacked the Saudi embassy over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a dissident Shi’ite cleric.
ISIS Tries To Expand In Africa Via Call For Al-Shabaab Fighters To Join Them In Somalia
12 January – Source: Alalam News Network – 405 Words
ISIS fighters in Libya have released a new video showing two fighters calling for Al-Shabaab fighters to join ISIS’s new franchise in Somalia. Speaking fluently in English, one of the fighters, most likely of Somali origin, urges people in his homeland to turn against Al-Shabaab and join a small number of ISIS fighters who have rebelled against Al-Shabaab and are now fighting for ISIS.
The video is titled ‘A message to our brothers in Somalia’, with the scripted speech relayed by both an English fighter and another Somali speaker. Ten fighters are shown sitting under a small tree, located close to the ISIS-held city of Sirte in central Libya. The English speaking fighter, known only as Saif al-deen al-Somaal, urges Somalis to join the small ISIS franchise in Somalia, mainly made up of rebellious al-Shabaab fighters.
He threatens Al-Shabaab fighters, asking them what they will say on the day of judgement when questioned by Allah. A small group of Al-Shabaab fighters released a propaganda video several months ago, declaring they had defected to ISIS. The al-Qaeda affiliated group Al-Shabaab reacted aggressively, hunting down the ISIS dissenters in a series of ambushes and attacks. Despite ISIS’s territorial gains in Iraq, Syria and parts of Afghanistan and Libya, it holds no real territory in Somalia.
It remains keen to expand in the Horn of Africa, looking to form a new franchise, made up of rebellious fighters formerly with Al-Shabaab.In Libya ISIS have held the Libyan city of Sirte since May 2015 and has been attempting to gain ground near the oilfields of Ajdabiya. The terrorist group was pushed out of the eastern city of Dernah in mid June 2015 and has recently claimed to have captured the town of Bin Jawad, near Sirte.
Minneapolis Restaurant Sends Welcome Message to All Immigrants
12 January – Source:5 Eyewitness News – 340 Words
One small business in Minneapolis has started a movement that’s spread throughout the Twin Cities. It’s a restaurant called Common Roots, located at 26th and Lyndale Avenue in Southwest Minneapolis. It’s a diverse area according to locals, “Ethiopian, Somalian people.”
The owners, Elana and Danny Schwartzman, recently posted signs in the windows of it’s restaurant with a clear message: #HATE, meaning hate has no business there, but Muslims, refugee’s and other immigrants do, “we didn’t think we could continue to be silent, we wanted to stand up and say all are welcome here, a basic message of inclusion which sadly shouldn’t be necessary,” according to Elana Schwartzman.
Although there haven’t been any reported incidents at Common Roots, the owners want folks to understand it’s no place for prejudice. And that matters to customer Jibril Afyare, “I’ve experienced Islamophobia.” The move comes after an increase in local reports of threats and intimidation according to the MN Council of American-Islamic Relations. Over the weekend, it held Minnesota’s first ever “Challenging Islamophobia Conference” in Fridley, “last year we saw an unprecedented number of hate crimes toward Muslims something we’ve never seen the past few years,” according to Jaylani Hussein.
Just ask Asma Jama. A verbal assault on her last fall turned into a physical one at an Applebee’s in Coon Rapids. That’s after another customer lashed out at Jama for not speaking English. Jama, who’s Somalian and speaks three languages, needed 17 stitches to heal. She was slammed in the face with a glass mug, “I’m in shock more than anything.” Even today, Jama needs reassurance to go into restaurants. It’s because safety is a stated priority that Jibril Afyare feels comfortable coming to Common Roots, “it’s really setting an example of how we can come together that little sign says a lot, it’ll go a long way to counter hate.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The Isil campaign could however backfire spectacularly if the trickle of al-Shabaab commanders switching loyalties increases to a flood, according to Christopher Anzalone, a commentator on terrorist groups based at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Montréal.”
How Al-Qaeda And Islamic State Are Competing For The Loyalty Of Al-Shabaab In Somalia
12 January – Source: The Telegraph – 1,029 Words
Isil and al-Qaeda are fighting a tug-of-war for the allegiance of Al-Shabaab in a battle which could hasten the demise of Somalia’s jihadist movement, researchers say.The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have released another video – purportedly filmed in Libya – urging the “brothers” in Al-Shabaab in Somalia to join their struggle.
So far, two senior Al-Shabaab commanders have pledged allegiance to Isil. But this has split a movement which once controlled almost all of southern Somalia.Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somalia’s President, said the defections from Al-Shabaab were “symptomatic of a group that has lost its way”, and warned that Somalis “do not need a new brand of horror and repression”. He called on disillusioned Al-Shabaab fighters to take advantage of a government amnesty.
Experts believe that winning over Al-Shabaab, a formidable terrorist group which has carried out attacks in Kenya and Uganda as well as Somalia, would represent “a massive scalp” for Isil. Africa’s other key terrorist organisation, Boko Haram in Nigeria, pledged allegiance to Isil in March this year. In return its fighters are purportedly being sent to Isil camps for training. Isil hailed Boko Haram’s pledge, with a spokesman saying in a recording posted online that it allowed “the expansion of the caliphate to west Africa”.
Senior Al-Shabaab leaders are however said to be reluctant to break away from al-Qaeda, which provided financing, training and logistical support after the struggling group pledged allegiance to the late Osama bin Laden’s movement in 2012. Others believe al-Shabaab should not be distracted from its domestic, nationalistic aims by the more ambitious plans of Isil. Some of the same militants reportedly objected to the alliance with al-Qaeda for the same reason.