June 15, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

A village commissioner gunned down in Mogadishu

14 Jun – Source: Shabelle – 7 words

An unknown armed group has assassinated on Wednesday night a district commissioner for the Somali government in Mogadishu, witnesses and officials said. Abdirahman Jowle Jim’ale, the deceased was gunned down as he walked near his home after performing evening prayer inside Mogadishu’s Shibis district by unidentified assailants armed with pistols who later managed to escape from the shooting site.

Key Headlines

Somali PM praises Kenyan intervention in his country (Bar-Kulan)
Turkish medics offer free medical service in Galkayo (Bar-Kulan)
Eritrean pleads guilty to aiding Somalia’s al Shabaab (BBC)
EU efforts bear fruits pirate attacks go down (Time of Oman)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali PM praises Kenyan intervention in his country

14 Jun – Source: Bar-kulan/ Radio Star– 78 words

PM Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has applauded the Kenyan military activities in Somalia in effort to dislodge al Shabaab militants from the country. He said Kenya is backing their efforts to restore law and order into the war-torn country. The PM made the remarks in Nairobi on Wednesday while meeting Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and his co-principal Raila Odinga.

A village commissioner gunned down in Mogadishu

14 Jun – Source: Shabelle – 7 words

Puntland delegation visits coastal communities in Bari

14 Jun – Source: Garowe Online – 111 words

The Governor of Bari Region accompanied by a delegation visited the coastal areas of Bari, after Puntland’s Maritime forces carried out operations in the region. Governor Abdisamad Mohamed Galan alongside Ministers, MPs and Bari region representatives for almost a week have been touring towns and cities across Bari region.

Turkish medics offer free medical service in Galkayo

14 Jun – Source: Bar-kulan – 73 words

A team of ten Turkish doctors are offering free medical services to locals in the central Somali town of Galkayo. Hundreds of patients yesterday thronged at a Galkayo specialist centre where the Turkish doctors are pitching tents to offer their desperately needed medical service. Locals and area authorities praised the Turkish government for its continuous support to the Somali people during this time of difficulties.

REGIONAL MEDIA

EU efforts bear fruits, pirate attacks go down

14 Jun- Source: Times of Oman- 416 words

The number of pirate attacks between January and May this year has reduced considerably when compared to the same period last year.

“Piracy is weakening and this is evident by the statistics. In 2011, the total attacks between January and May was 176, while during the same period this year it is 30.

Terrorist suspect ‘not wanted’

13 Jun- Source: Star- 318 words

The terror suspect arrested in Tanzania will not be brought to Kenya for investigation, the Star has established. Kenya Police said Emrah Erdogan, 24, whose photograph they released to the media on Monday, is not wanted because the charges they intended to press are no longer valid. Police intended to charge Erdogan with being in Kenya illegally after investigations failed to link him to the Moi Avenue blast of May 28. Erdogan was arrested on Tuesday in Tanzania where he is said to have been hiding after escaping arrest in Kenya.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Eritrean pleads guilty to aiding Somalia’s al Shabaab

14 Jun – Source: BBC – 109 words

An Eritrean man has pleaded guilty in a US court to receiving military training from the Somali al Shabab group. Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, a resident in Sweden, went to Somalia in 2009 to learn bomb-making and detonation skills, the US Attorney’s Office said. He also contributed 3,000 euros ($3,769, £2,433) to the Islamist mlitants, court documents revealed.

Somali militants offer 10 camels for information on Barack Obama

10 June- The Gardian – 233 words

Al-Shabaab mocks US bounty of up to $7m for whereabouts of group’s leaders with offer of camels and chickens
A Somali Islamist militant group is offering rewards of chickens and camels for information on the whereabouts of the US president, Barack Obama, and secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, mocking the millions of dollars the United States has offered for leaders of the al-Qaida affiliate.

Man offers guilty plea, upending terror case

13 June – New York Times – 610 words

A terrorism case in Manhattan that raised key questions about government interrogation tactics ended abruptly on Wednesday after the defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring to support a Somali terrorist group.

The defendant, an Eritrean man named Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, admitted in Federal District Court that he trained in a camp run by the Somali group, Al Shabab, in 2009.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Like in wars between states and other organized groups, civil wars and other protracted domestic conflicts are seldom caused by a single factor. Over time, even those that prove to be the exception to the rule eventually evolve into a much more complex conflict- hence the entity known as Somaliland.”

Sustainable Peace: Why Somaliland Matters

14 June- Source: Hiiraan Oneline/Foreign Policy Blog-1883 Words

Only five days after gaining its independence from the colonial power on June 26, 1960, British Somaliland joined in a union with their brethren in Italian Somaliland, which gained its independence on July 1, 1960. The union was widely supported by the public and the political leadership of both sides. Immediately, upon the latter’s independence, the legislative councils of both newly independent states met in a joint session in Mogadishu to form the new republic’s national assembly, in which they elected Aden Abdulle Osman as the first president of the new democratic nation.