July 7, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Ethiopia To Support Somalia In Military Capacity Building
07 July – Source: Ethiopian News Agency – 159 Words
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said Ethiopia will consolidate its support for Somalia to build its military capacity. This was disclosed when the Premier conferred here with his Somali counterpart Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. Hailemariam said Ethiopia will give the necessary assistance to Somalia in order to build the country’s military capacity so that it could ensure peace and stability by itself, according to a high level official who attended the meeting.
Even though, Ethiopia’s military intervention in Somalia under AMISOM has brought commendable result, it is important to strengthen the capacity of the military to ensure everlasting peace in the east African region, the premier stated. In this regard, Ethiopia will extend the assistance that will enable Somalia build strong military. On his part, Prime Minister of Somalia Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke appreciated Ethiopia’s role in weakening Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group in Somalia. Ethiopia has deployed 4,900 troops to Somalia to fight Al-Shabaab under AMISOM.
Key Headlines
- Ethiopia To Support Somalia In Military Capacity Building (Ethiopian News Agency)
- Lower Shabelle Administration Pardons Nine Inmates To Honor Eid Al-Fitr (Goobjoog News)
- US Mission For Somalia Sends Message Of Peace To Somalia On The Occasion Of Eid Al-Fitr (Hiiraan Online)
- US To Assist Kenya Repatriate Refugees Says World Understands Situation (Daily Nation)
- Christmas Bomber Case Appeal Challenges NSA Surveillance (Associated Press)
- African Union Troops To Start Pulling Out Of Somalia In 2018 (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Lower Shabelle Administration Pardons Nine Inmates To Honor Eid Al-Fitr
07 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 228 Words
Nine prisoners have been pardoned by the administration of Lower Shabelle region on Thursday. The spokesman for the administration, Daud Haji Irro said the amnesty was linked to the Eid festival, which marked the end of Ramadan. “I believe that young people should be in school, not in jail and the administration has asked that emphasis be placed on young persons and for petty non-violent offences and sentences of short duration, ” said Irro.
As a Muslim state, the Somali government pardons scores of prisoners mainly during major Islamic holidays. The first day of the Eid Al-Fitr celebration was on Wednesday. Thousands of people came out to open-air venues on the outskirts of the restive Somali capital Mogadishu to take part in the mass prayers to celebrate the annual Muslim Eid Fitr festival.
Wearing their best clothes, Somali men, women and children gathered to listen to sermons given by local religious leaders. During the festival, people are encouraged to forgive and wish each other a happy, peaceful and prosperous year. Somali government officials have also taken part in mass prayers held in Isbahaysiga Mosque of the capital Mogadishu. Families traditionally buy new clothes and prepare sweets to give out to relatives and neighbours while adults give money to the children.
US Mission For Somalia Sends Message Of Peace To Somalia On The Occasion Of Eid Al-Fitr
07 July – Source: Hiiraan Online – 98 Words
The United States Mission to Somalia wishes the People of Somalia an Eid with peace and hope in their message to commemorate the end of Ramadan. The statement praises the endurance of Somali people during the month of Ramadan, especially in the cases where people of found it hard to secure the basic necessities of life. “This year, millions of Somalis inside and outside Somalia have observed the month while courageously persevering in their efforts to secure basic necessities and fundamental freedoms, as well as peace and prosperity for future generations.” The statement also acknowledges the contribution from Somali’s all over the world to their families and friends back home.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US To Assist Kenya Repatriate Refugees, Says World Understands Situation
07 July – Source: Daily Nation – 442 Words
The United States plans to assist Kenya and the United Nations in their joint effort to repatriate 150,000 Somalis from the Dadaab refugee camps this year, a State Department official said on Wednesday. As part of this additional assistance, the US intends to contribute to a forthcoming special UN appeal focused on the Dadaab repatriations, said Margaret McKelvey, director of the Africa aid office in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
The special UN appeal, expected to be launched shortly, will also “cover a number of programmes inside Kenya,” Ms McKelvey told reporters taking part in a teleconference. Noting that Somalis have been fleeing to Kenya for 25 years, the US official said “everyone understands the sort of fatigue Kenya is feeling from hosting its refugees.” The US itself may admit more Somali refugees this year in order to help reduce the population of Dadaab, Ms McKelvey said.
She further noted that other countries, which she did not name, may likewise agree to resettle some of the 325,000 Somalis currently living in the Dadaab complex. The State Department official also suggested that Kenyan citizens who have registered as refugees or who have married Somali refugees should be given a “free choice” of whether to stay in Kenya or go to Somalia. “Kenya has assured everyone that it will proceed in full compliance with its international obligations,” Ms McKelvey noted. That means enabling repatriations to take place voluntarily and in a safe and dignified manner, she said.
Christmas Bomber Case Appeal Challenges NSA Surveillance
07 July – Source: Associated Press – 429 Words
Civil rights attorneys say surveillance evidence used to convict a Somali-American man who plotted to bomb a 2010 Christmas tree-lighting ceremony was gathered unconstitutionally through the U.S. government’s warrantless foreign surveillance program. They laid out their arguments Wednesday before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in downtown Portland — directly across the street from the plaza where almost six years prior Mohamed Mohamud tried detonating a fake bomb that was part of an undercover operation.
Mohamud is appealing his 2013 conviction on grounds that he was entrapped by undercover federal agents posing as al-Qaida members and the warrantless surveillance of his foreign communications violated his constitutional rights. It marks the first time a federal appeals court is considering whether the National Security Agency’s foreign surveillance programs — the same ones that came under scrutiny after the Edward Snowden leaks a few years ago — violate the Fourth Amendment rights of criminal defendants.
Stephen Sady, Mohamud’s public defender, and another attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union urged the court for a new trial on grounds that the evidence used against Mohamud should’ve never been allowed in the courtroom. Sady told the judges that using surveillance information on foreigners, which doesn’t require a warrant, to spy on any Americans they communicate with is “an incredible diminution of the privacy rights of all Americans … That is a step that should never be taken.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“AU is banking on an upcoming election in Somalia in early September for this schedule to work and is calling on donors to help strengthen the Somali National Army to take over from Amisom.”
African Union Troops To Start Pulling Out Of Somalia In 2018
07 July – Source: Daily Nation – 254 Words
African forces in Somalia, of which the Kenya Defence Forces are a part, should start withdrawing from October 2018, the African Union has said. The African Peace and Security Council said the two-year period would allow proper establishment of necessary facilities for the handover of African Union Mission (Amisom) to the Somali forces.
The details of the two-year schedule were contained in a revised Concept of Operations (Conops) which the council approved last week during its 608th meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It means Amisom should start pulling out of Somalia only after a new stable government has been in place, Al-Shabaab has been chased out of most of the territory they still occupy and the Somali National Security Forces (SNSF) have been strengthened.
“The council endorses the revised Conops, which reflect efforts toward enhancing Amisom and SNSF operations and crucially identifies indicative timelines for an exit strategy of Amisom from Somalia,” the council said in a dispatch. The Conops refers to a document that describes the mandate of the AU mission which was initially formed in 2007 to stabilise the then Somali Transitional Federal government as well as combat violent extremists.
It was revised following complaints from some troop contributing countries like Kenya that it lacked a clear coordination provision and that it did not indicate an exit strategy. “The council takes note of the indicative timelines of Amisom exit strategy presented by the AU commission, which prioritises territorial recovery and consolidation by Amisom and SNSF until October 2018, and a subsequent draw down and transfer of security responsibilities to the SNSF from 2018 to December 2020,” said the council.
AU is banking on an upcoming election in Somalia in early September for this schedule to work and is calling on donors to help strengthen the Somali National Army to take over from Amisom. The revelation came as both Kenya and Uganda, which contribute troops to Amisom, threatened to withdraw them, citing frustrations with the international community that is supposed to finance mission.
TOP TWEETS
@Hornexpert115 : #ISWA officials in #Baidoa prepared#EidulFitr
Abdi_AlSheikh : Somalia: The First Two-House Parliament, Six-State Federalism – Midnimo Information Centerhttp://dlvr.it/Ll5XZ5 #Somalia
@SomaliaDirect : How KDF’s Entry Into #Somalia Changed Security Situation in Nothern Kenya
@SalahOsman0 : My Friend @Ducale252 captures stunning photos of Gandershe village outskirt of #Mogadishu What a beauty! #Somalia
@micomyizajohn : 2016 report on Fragile States Index.#Somaliais the 1st most fragile state, #DRC: 8th, #Burundi:15th,#Rwanda:32nd:http://fsi.
@drchorn_africaY : .@DRC_dk has facilitated a Participatory Rural Appraisal in Baidoa #Somalia as part of a @europeaid#SomReP project
@FBCRadioandTV : #Ethiopia to support #Somalia in building military capacity http://www.fanabc.com/english/
@saeed_abdiaziz : @fqdayib if you r going 2b #Somaliapresident some time in the future, you must liberate ur mind from misandry. A leader 4 all, not 4 some.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Young Somalis gathered at the Peace Garden in Mogadishu to celebrated Eid Al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan.
Photo: Cali Duale