July 16, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somalia MP reportedly killed in Mogadishu blast
16 Jul – Source: Jowhar Online – 128 words
A car bomb in Mogadishu’s Hamar Weyne District has killed the former trade minister, Mahmud Abdi Garweyne, and wounded some of his bodyguards.
“The blast, which was targeted at the former minister’s luxury car, was previously thought to be a suicide bombing. It later became clear that the car detonated as it was laden with explosives”, added the website. The deceased was a member of the current Somali parliament, reported the source.
Banadir regional deputy security chief, Warsame Muhammad Hasan, confirmed the lawmaker’s death to the website. Business came to a standstill in the area amid heightened tension. Although no group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast, al Shabaab is known to carry out such targeted attacks against what it calls “apostates”, in reference to TFG officials.
Key Headlines
- PM: 80% of National Constituent Assembly members ready for work (Bar-Kulan)
- Somali forces say 21 Islamist fighters killed in South of the country (Midnimo Online)
- Two civilians beheaded in Elbur town (Radio Kulmiye)
- Ahlu Sunna bans illegal weapons in Dhusamareb (Bar-Kulan)
- Blast hits a café in Baidoa (Shabelle)
- French hostage in al Shabaab’s hands converted to Islam says Ahlu Sunna (Bar-Kulan)
- Eritrea reduces support for al Shabaab: UN report (Reuters)
- World sea piracy falls in first 6 months of 2012 (AP)
SOMALI MEDIA
Car bomb kills one, wounds six in Mogadishu
16 Jul – Source: Radio Kulmiye/ Shabelle/Risaala/RBC/AFP/
A car bomb went off Monday in Somalia’s volatile capital Mogadishu, killing the driver and wounding six others, police said. Among them were a woman and a traditional elder who were seriously wounded after a bomb hit a busy market in the Hamarweyne district of the capital. “The driver of the car was killed and six civilians walking nearby were injured, some of them seriously,” said police Colonel Ali Mohamed.
“The explosion was very heavy,” said Hassan Muhidin, a witness. “The front part of the car was totally destroyed and the severed dead body of the driver is still lying there.” Some witnesses said the explosion could have been a bomb attached beneath the driver’s seat — a tactic reportedly used previously by al Shabaab insurgents — as the front of the vehicle was the worst hit. But police said they were still investigating the blast and it was not immediately clear whether explosives had been planted in the car or if the bomb had been a suicide attack.
Gen Abdukarim Yusuf Aden Dhagabadan, the leading officer of Somalia’s National Army told RBC Radio that the security forces arrested at least one foreign person who was found near the explosion scene. “We can not confirm his identity but we are probing his case now. We transferred him to the National Security Agency,” Gen Dhagabadan said. RBC Radio’s Mohamed Sheikh reports that armed security forces were deployed into the place and blocked all the directions. “The damaged Toyota vehicle which is thought to have been used for the explosion can be seen at the scene still”. No group has yet claimed the responsibility of the blast. The bombing came just days before the opening of the National Constituency Assembly gathering which is due to convene in the next week in the capital
Somalia MP killed in Mogadishu blast
16 Jul – Source: Jowhar Online – 128 words
A car bomb in Mogadishu’s Hamar Weyne District has killed the former trade minister, Mahmud Abdi Garweyne, and wounded some of his bodyguards.
“The blast, which was targeted at the former minister’s luxury car, was previously thought to be a suicide bombing. It later became clear that the car detonated as it was laden with explosives”, added the website. The deceased was a member of the current Somali parliament, reported the source.
Banadir regional deputy security chief, Warsame Muhammad Hasan, confirmed the lawmaker’s death to the website. Business came to a standstill in the area amid heightened tension. Although no group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast, al Shabaab is known to carry out such targeted attacks against what it calls “apostates”, in reference to TFG officials.
PM: 80% of National Constituent Assembly members ready for work
16 Jul – Source: Bar-kulan/Jowhar Online/Radio Mogadishu – 145 words
Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has expressed his optimism in regards to the first national constituent assembly meeting which will be held between the 19th and 20th of July this year in order to vote for the new draft constitution. Speaking to Bar-kulan on Sunday, the PM said 80 percent of the constituent assembly members have already been selected, adding that the remaining 20 percent will soon be named. The PM said the technical facilitation committee has assured them that all the necessary measures have been put into place and will soon embark on registering the members selected as well as verifying their genuineness.
Ali urged Somali elders tasked with the selection of the constituent assembly members to speed up their selection process to meet the required deadlines. The PM added that the recently appointed Elders’ Arbitration Committee is tackling to resolve some contentious issues that have recently emerged.
Central Somalia authority reportedly denies workers held in region
16 Jul – Source: AllPuntland – 85 words
The Galmudug administration [in central Somalia] has denied reports that foreign workers kidnapped in the north of Gaalkacyo town are being held in Hobyo, Mudug Region. Abshir Dini Awale, Galmudug’s security minister, told the press that the reports were baseless. He dismissed the possibility of the workers being held captives in Hobyo or other areas under Galmudug administration’s control. This comes after [semi-autonomous state of] Puntland said the foreign workers are being held in the Hobyo area.
Somali forces say 21 Islamist fighters killed in South of the country
16 Jul – Source: Midnimo Online – 132 words
Government and AMISOM forces have reportedly carried out operations in areas in Middle Shabelle Region, southern Somalia, resulting in losses.
Government military officials said 21 al Shabaab fighters were killed in the operations, with three others captured and 20 rifles seized. A spokesman for the regional administration, Daud Haji Iro, said the operations were planned, adding that residents gave government forces a tip-off on the presence of al Shabaab fighters in the area.
He said government and AMISOM troops then went on a manhunt for members of al Shabaab in the area, saying the operations were conducted 16 km out of Ceel Cirfiid village. The spokesman said neither government forces nor AMISOM forces suffered any casualties during the operations. Al Shabaab has not issued any statement on the government forces’ claims.
Two killed in Afgoye district, outside Mogadishu
16 Jul – Source: Shabelle – 133 words
Unknown armed men were reportedly killed in Afgoye district, some 30 kilometers North West Mogadishu and controlled by Somali government forces.
Witnesses said the two, a father and his son, were shot to death by armed men dressed in government military uniform, who opened fire indiscriminately on a shopping center in the Hiliwaley area on Saturday night at around 8:00 p.m. local time. “The gangs robbed the shop by taking away at least 8 million Somali shillings, after shooting the owners [father and his son],” said a local resident.
Two civilians beheaded in Elbur town
16 Jul- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 129 words
A report from the town of Elbur says al Shabaab fighters beheaded two civilians in front of forced onlookers in a square of the city. Witnesses told radio Kulmiye that the two men are well known in the town, “they were civilians and they have been working in the city for long time; the businessmen have never been involved in armed conflicts since the collapse of Bare’s government “said a resident in the town. Al Shabaab accused the men of being spying for Ahlusunah groups who have been fighting al Shabaab for the control of Elbur and other residential places like Mahas. Residents in Elbur and other parts of the Galguduud region have become frequent victims of being harassed or beheaded as a result of accusations of links to Ahlusunah’s armed groups.
Ahlu Sunna bans illegal weapons in Dhusamareb
16 Jul- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 111 words
Ahlu Sunna administration in central Somali town of Dusamareb has forbideen the carrying of illegal weapons within the town, threatening defaulters with punishment. The group’s executive committee chairman Mohamoud Yussuf Hefow who spoke to Bar-kulan said the move is aimed at minimizing the impact of the light weapons in the hands of the local people.
Hefow said they are ready to control these weapons for now, adding that they will allow locals to carry their guns with them if the need arises.
The Ahlu Sunna administration in Galgadud been for the last few days meeting locals in the area to discuss the way forward in maintaining peace in the entire region.
50 people hospitalized in Puntland after consuming contaminated milk
16 Jul- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA- 114 words
Reports from Somali Puntland state indicate that at least 50 people have been admitted in hospitals in Dhahar and Qardo after drinking contaminated milk. Medical sources in Baragaha Qowl village in the area of Dhahar say that the health of the people hospitalized has worsened and they were doing all they can to counter the effect of the contaminated milk.
Dr. Adan Ahmed Ali told Radio Mogadishu that the hospitals were treating a large number of patients and that many more people continue to stream into the hospital following the contamination. The source of the contamination remains unclear and there has been no official comment from the government officials in the affected region.
Blast hits a café in Baidoa
15 Jul – Source: Shabelle – 142 words
A vast explosion was heard on Sunday in the heart of Baidoa town, the capital city of Bay province in southern Somalia, which has been a main stronghold for al Shabaab before TFG and Ethiopian troops retook control of it early this year, witnesses said. Eyewitnesses told Shabelle Media that the blast happened at about 7:20 a.m. local time after armed men attacked with a hand grenade a coffee bar frequented by Somali government soldiers and officials. No deaths and wounds have bbeen reported so far.
“The explosion was huge and could be heard in parts in the town the in early hours on Sunday morning… people at the café got terrified and shocked following the blast. I can’t confirm you how many people were killed and injured in the incident,” said a witness who spoke with Shabelle Media by phone from Baidoa town.
President Sharif: It’s the end of the Roadmap and time for a fair election
15 Jul – Source: Radio Risaala – 129 words
Somali President, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, in his address to the council of the traditional elders revealed that time has come for a fair and transparent election to be held in Somalia. President Sharif noted that the country was in the last stage of the Roadmap, completion of the draft constitution and that the Transitional Federal Government system was coming to an end.The president emphasized that they are putting more effort into the draft constitution in order to make it favorable to the Somali public rather than a handful of self-interested people. He also urged the elders to pick the new members of parliament on the basis of merit and ability. The council of elders were also mandated to pick members who will then pass the draft constitution on 21st of this month.
Somali government tightens security in Mogadishu
15 Jul – Source: Somaliland Press – 119 words
Somali government forces with the backing of the African Union troops have expanded their control outside Mogadishu. Afgoye, Bal’ad and Lanta Buro, in Lower and Middle Shabelle region of South Somalia, are among the new towns placed under the control of the UN-backed TFG that has spent three years trying to dislodge the al Shabaab fighters who controlled the vast majority of South and central Somalia.
Elsewhere Mogadishu is enjoying relative peace and calm following the Somali and African Union forces offensive in al Shabaab-controlled regions outside Mogadishu with the war-torn city now recovering from the two-decade civil war, with businesses reopening and government reconstructing the roads and other basic amenities for its citizens.
Roadside Bomb targets Somalia troops in Mogadishu
14 Jul – Source: Mareeg Online/Shabelle – 147 words
A roadside Bomb tore through a convoy carrying Somali government soldiers in Mogadishu on Saturday, killing a civilian and seriously wounding several others, including troops, witnesses said. Residents in Mogadishu’s Huriwa district, who asked not to be named, said they could see thick black smoke billowing from the scene of the explosion, which the security source said was caused by a remote-controlled landmine.
“A Somali government truck was blown up… I do not know if any soldiers were wounded or killed in the attack,” a witness said, adding that a civilian person walking by the bombsite had died. In the aftermath of the explosion, dozens of heavily armed security forces cordoned off the scene and began searches in nearby streets to hunt down the masterminds, but no arrests over the attack were reported so far, according to locals. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
French hostage in al Shabaab’s hands converted to Islam, says Ahlu Sunna
16 Jul – Source: Bar-kulan – 207 words
An Ahlu Sunna official in central Somalia has claimed that his group has received proofs that French national, Denis Allex, who used to work for French intelligence services (DGSE) before he was kidnapped by al Shabaab militants in Mogadishu in 2009 is alive and has converted to Islam. In an exclusive interview with Bar-kulan, Ahlu Sunna’s security boss in El-bur Abdi Hassan Mohamed said Allex goes by the name Abu Omar after converting to Islam while still in the hands of al Shabaab.
He said Allex now lives in an area called Januni, some 45 kilometres north of El-bur town where he runs a militant training camp. Mohamed alleged that the former French intelligence services official trains around 900 militants, mainly children. He said they were contacted by parents of some of the “militants to be trainees” handled by Allex himself. Bar-kulan could not independently verify Ahlu Sunna’s claim that Allex has joined ranks with the outlawed al Shabaab militants.
Allex was seized in Mogadishu on July 14, 2009, as was another French agent who was held by a different group, Hezb al-Islam, and freed the following month. In June France’s then foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said Allex may have been held in the autonomous Puntland region of northern Somalia.
National Union of Somali Journalists incensed by the beating of a journalist in Puntland
15 Jul – Source: Mareeg Online – 159 words
The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is outraged by the apparent attack by security guards of the regional governor of Bari region on a TV journalist and union official in the commercial port town of Bossasso.
The security guards of Abdisamad Mohamed Gallan, governor of Puntland’s Bari region in northeastern Somalia beat and took the cell phone of Ahmed Muse Ali, known as Ahmed Jokar, who is a correspondent for the privately-owned Royal TV network in Bosaso and member of the NUSOJ Supreme Council on Thursday, was attacked on July 12th, 2012 after returning from Hotel International Village where he was covering an event held by a Somali presidential candidate.
“When I finished covering the event at the Hotel International village, I was called by the governor outside the hotel and he yelled at me ordering his guards to shoot me.” Ahmed Jokar said “I did not move, they beat, tore my trousers, took my cell phone and broke my camera.”
REGIONAL MEDIA
AU realizes achievements towards sustainable dev’t: Kuwait’s Emir
15 Jul – Source: Ethiopian News Agency – 411 words
Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said that the African Union has realized several achievements in its path towards sustainable development through shared visions and consensus, particularly in building human power in order to have the lead in the exploitation of natural resources that abound in the continent.
In his speech at the opening of the 19th AU Summit here on Sunday, the Emir said the promotion of Intra-African trade represents a major economic force that imposed a change in the way the world deals with Africa, from trying to exploit its natural resources to being a strategic partner in all fields.
Some 6.4 billion US dollars was spent on projects, in addition to Kuwait’s aid and grants to the member countries of the Union, which is estimated at about 120 million US dollars to build their capacities.
Kuwait also launched the “decent life initiative” by establishing a fund with a capital of 100 million US dollars to help countries meet the basic requirements in view of the difficulties resulting from the global food crisis. UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson on his part said the UN has been working with the AU and regional organizations to end poverty, diseases, natural disaster, conflict and violations.
He said Somalia is one big example, which shows the harmonized work of UN and AU. He said lauded AMISOM and troop-contributing countries as prospects for a peaceful future are being seen in Somalia. According to him, this vision should extend to cover the Horn of Africa as well.
Somali political transition comes into focus ahead of August poll
15 Jul – Source: Daily Nation – 541 words
With the reign of the Somali Transitional Federal Government set to end after the elections next month, observers are wondering whether the process will catapult the war-torn nation into an era of peaceful and democratic transition. Somalia has been without an effective central government since the fall of Siad Bare regime in 1991.
It is the 19th year of civil war and without an effective government, Somalia is the world’s most failed State, serving as a safe haven for both Al-Qaeda and pirates. The transitional government headed by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, which is supported by UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), will be replaced after elections set for August 20.
The Shabaab, a militant Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda, took advantage of collapse of the State to make the country ungovernable, but with the help of the AU peacekeeping mission, things have been returning to normalcy with the militants now almost completely driven out of Mogadishu.
Where only the brave survive
15 Jul – Source: Standard – 371 words
I still sleep with a Somali simi sword under my mattress and a carved club with a knob the size of a baby’s head within reach. Fortunately, it has been years since I had to step outside in vest and shorts wielding a club to repel opportunistic thieves.
I picked up these self-defense instincts in circa 90s BC (Before Cellphones), living on the fringes of Kawangare slums. Our abodes were rows of one roomed houses with communal bathrooms and toilets located within a single compound. They were managed by a punitive landlady who rationed power and water.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Eritrea reduces support for al Shabaab: UN report
16 Jul – Source: Reuters – 1030 words
Eritrea has reduced its support for the al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab militant group in Somalia under international pressure, but still violates U.N. Security Council resolutions and remains a destabilising influence, a U.N. report says.
The U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, which investigates violations of an arms embargo on both nations, said in a report to the Council, seen by Reuters, that it had found no evidence of direct Eritrean support for al Shabaab in the last year.
The Council imposed the embargo on the tiny east African state of Eritrea in 2009 over concerns its government was providing finance and weapons to al Shabaab – charges Asmara denied. The Monitoring Group now says that support has evaporated.
World sea piracy falls in first 6 months of 2012
16 Jul – Source: AP – 367 words
Sea piracy worldwide fell by 54 percent in the first half of 2012, led by a dramatic drop in Somali piracy, an international maritime watchdog said Monday. The International Maritime Bureau attributed the sharp drop to “pre-emptive and disruptive counter piracy tactics” by international navies patrolling in seas off Somalia as well as increased vigilance by ships including hiring private armed personnel on board.
The bureau said 177 attacks were reported worldwide from January to June, down from 266 in the same period last year. It said 20 vessels were hijacked worldwide, with 334 crew members taken hostage and at least four crew members killed. Attacks off Somalia’s coast plunged to 69 in the first six months, down from 163 over the same period a year ago, it said. Somali pirates also hijacked fewer vessels with 13 seized, down from 21.
Malaysia peace foundation to build wells in Somalia for clean water
16 Jul – Source: Bikya Masr News – 279 words
A Malaysian peace foundation announced on Monday that it was beginning plans to develop Somalia’s water industry in order to provide new wells to the war-torn Horn of Africa country. The Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) said that it would provide funding and implementation of a large amount of resources in order to provide clean water facilities to Somalia. Foundation trustee Ahmad A. Talib said the people in Somalia deserved better water facilities. He recently returned to Malaysia after spending 6 days in Somalia.
“They are relying on wells for their daily water supply and some of these wells have been around for more than 300 years. But these wells are very deep and need a good pump system,” he told reporters in a prepared statement on Monday. “In our recent visit, we helped to fit new pumps at three wells. We plan to help them to build more wells in Mogadishu when we go back there in three to four months.” The lengthy traveling by Somalis, often up to 20 kilometers, to collect clean water struck him while on the trip, leading his organization to develop the plan to provide a number of wells to reduce the travel time and hardship for residents.
Talib and three others from PGPF met a number of Somali society, including orphans, blind students and the disabled. “The purpose of our visit was to monitor the situation there and identify how best we can assist them,” he said. A visit to the Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy)’s health center revealed a steady stream of people – between 80 and 120 patients daily – getting their medicines from the facility, said the trustee.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Former Somali Prime Minister Mohammed Abdullah Mohamed Farmajo is returning to Mogadishu to contest for the country’s presidency, with elections slated for next month. Mr Mohamed, commonly known as “Farmajo”, in an interview on July 9 in Nairobi, Kenya told Alex B. Atuhaire, why he has once again left his job with US government try another shot at the unpredictable Somalia politics”.
SEVEN QUESTIONS: ‘We will bring back public confidence, fight corruption’
15 Jul – Source: Daily Monitor – 894 words
1. A year ago, you resigned unceremoniously as Prime Minister, less than a year, after being appointed to that position. What exactly happened?
During the signing of the Kampala Accord, President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed agreed with Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden that I would step down. The Speaker had made my resignation as a condition for him to a agreeing to an extension for the President’s term for another year. Since the President who had appointed me had agreed to this arrangement, I took it he had withdrawn his confidence in me, and there is no way I could work with him a gain. So I resigned.
2.Don’t you think this resignation undermines your chances of becoming the President?
First of all, when I resigned, the public was upset because we had made progress. There were protests in Mogadishu, and two people died. I could have stayed on and fought, but I decided to become the sacrificial lamb for the wider good of the Somali people. So, I returned to my job in the New York State Government, and people were asking me why I would leave such a position to return to a public service job. After a year, I have decided to try another shot at it, but will be running for president this time.
Top tweets
@CitizenTVNews Kenya is lauded at the 19th AU Summit, for its role, together with AMISOM troops in liberating Somalia from the Al Shabaab Militants.
@BBCAndrewH #Somalia‘s #Olympic team heads to London – 2 young athletes who understand the meaning of stamina better than most.
@omabha MP Slams Kenyan Air Attacks in Somalia –http://AllAfrica.com: MP Slams Kenyan Air Attacks in#Somalia.
@ntvkenya Kenyan Magistrate grants two #Iraniansuspectsfacing terrorism charges a Sh2M cashbail each, with sureties of Sh5Meach.Case to be heard on 23 July.
@DefenceWorld Somali blast kills car bomb driver, wounds 5. Police and witnesses say a car bomb blast in Somalia.
@Rooble2009 Somalia: WHO reports Cholera outbreak in the Southern town of Kismayo. At lest 50 people died so far.
Image of the day
The Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at his residence in the Ethiopian capital on Sunday the President of the republic of Somalia Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his accompanying delegation.