June 25, 2012 | Morning Headlines.
Somali leaders agree on Draft Constitution
22 Jun- Source: VOA- 389 words
The key stakeholders in Somalia’s political transition process have agreed on a draft constitution, a significant step toward establishing a more permanent government. The time for the transition is running out, with less than two months to go before a deadline to elect a parliament and a new president.
Somalia inched closer Friday to ending an eight-year long political transition, with the signing of several key measures on the so-called Roadmap.
Key Headlines
- Somali premier opposes attempts to increase the new parliament (Bar-Kulan)
- Gunmen shot dead Somali judge in Las’Anod Sool region (Shabelle)
- Somalia’s National Security disperses demonstrators in Mogadishu (Radio Kulmiye)
- Kenyan police arrests 15 Somali nationals over explosion (Shabelle)
- Militants’ ambush kills police boss (Bar-Kulan)
- Al Shabaab ban shipment of goods to areas under Somali Kenyan troops (Shabelle)
- TFG AU forces reaches middle-Shabelle region in an offensive (Radio Kulmiye)
- Somali shopkeeper shot dead in Kenyan refugee camp (AFP)
- One dead in blast at Mombasa bar (BBC)
PRESS STATEMENT
Statement Attributable to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia 22 June 2012
22 Jun- Source: UNPOS- 306 words
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, Dr. Augustine Mahiga, welcomes the signing of the Joint Communiqué of the Consultative Meeting of the Signatories of the Process for Ending the Transition by all signatories to the roadmap this afternoon in Nairobi.
The meeting was attended by the principal signatories of the roadmap: President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia; Honourable Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament; Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali; President Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamoud ‘Farole’ of Puntland; President Mohamed Ahmed Alin of Galmudug; and, representatives of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a.
The meeting was convened to discuss a number of outstanding issues and to finalize the agreements reached at the meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 21 to 23 May 2012. The signatories agreed on an official draft constitution, which will now be made public. President Sheikh Sharif also signed a decree establishing a legal framework to conclude the constitutional making process through provisional adoption of the constitution by a National Constituent Assembly (NCA). The signatories alsosuccessfully reached agreement on a number of important protocols providing for the establishment of a number of important committees to facilitate the end of the transitional period.
“I am most gratified that the Signatories have come together in the spirit of cooperation and compromise and have collectively committed to move the process forward,” Ambassador Mahiga said, “The transitional period will end in less than 60 days and we have no time to lose.”
The NCA will convene in Mogadishu from 12 to 20 July 2012 and will conclude its deliberations by voting on the draft constitution for provisional adoption prior to eventual approval by the Somali people through a direct referendum.
“It is time for us to help move the process from selection to election,” Ambassador Mahiga said.
SOMALI MEDIA
Minister of Defense observes military camps in and outside Mogadishu
24 Jun- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/ SNTV- 173 words
Deputy Premier and defense minister of the TFG Hussein Arab Isse and Chief Commander of national forces, Abdikadir Sheikh Ali Diini paid shorts visits to the military camps inside and oon th utskirts of the capital Mogadishu yesterday.
Somali premier opposes attempts to increase the new parliament
24 Jun- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 177 words
PM Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has expressed his opposition to any attempts to restructure the size of the proposed new Somali parliament, which now stands at 225 members, arguing that the number was already agreed by all Somali stakeholders.
Speaking at a press briefing in Mogadishu on Saturday, the PM said elders attending the ongoing constituent assembly meeting in the capital do not have any legal power to alter the size of the new parliament but can only submit their proposal as stipulated in the constitution.
Gunmen shot dead Somali judge in Las’Anod, Sool region
24 Jun- Source: Shabelle/Raxanreeb- 142 words
Assailants in Somalia have shot and killed the attorney general of Sool region for the Somaliland administration, making it the second judge to be killed in northern Somalia in less that a month.
Unknown gunmen armed with pistols opened fire on the judge as he was watching the Spain vs France Euro 2012 semi-final at a location in Las’Anod town, the capital city of Sool province in north Somalia.
Somalia’s National Security disperses demonstrators in Mogadishu
24 Jun- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 94 words
Somali’s National Security Agency (NSA) thwarted peaceful demonstrators in Mogadishu on Sunday morning.
Troops stormed in the ex-Vioreh square where the demonstrators gave speeches in support of the TFG president’s recent degree to return the properties of killed Somali politicians in the former regime led by Mohamed Siad Bareh in 1991.
Night curfew imposed in Afgoye town
24 Jun- Source: Radio Mogadishu- 105 words
Nightly curfew has been executed effectively in Afgoye district in lower Shabelle region and the national forces have advanced to fresh areas in that region, an official said.
Ibrahim Diini Ishak, Police commander in Afgoye station, has confirmed to Radio Mogadishu that the night curfew was imposed in that district and was effectively implemented.
Senior al Shabaab commander says ‘Not fearing U.S’
23 Jun- Source: Raxanreeb/Radio Kulmiye- 320 words
Senior al Shabaab commander Mukhtar Robow Ali better known as Abu Mansoor has denied any fear of the recently announced ‘Reward for the Justice’ programme, in which the U. S state department has placed seven top leaders of the Somalia’s armed group of al Shabaab, RBC Radio reports.
The rewards for seven leaders of the al Shabaab militia movement includes Abu Mansoor, who is seen as one of the most vocal figures in the group.
President Sharif lands in Mogadishu, inspects parts of the airport
23 Jun- Source: Radio Risaala- 96 words
President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Friday landed in Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport.
The president was returning from Kenya where a meeting for the Roadmap signatories was recently concluded.
The president was received at the airport by senior government officials including ministers, MPs, an army general as well as district commissioners.
Kenyan police arrests 15 Somali nationals over explosion
24 Jun- Source: Shabelle- 156 words
The Kenyan police has arrested at least 15 Somali men suspected to be behind the soaring spate of grenade attacks in North-Eastern region, witnesses said on Sunday.
The suspects, who are Somali nationals, were taken into custody for further investigations about Friday’s blast that hit a convoy of pick-ups mounting police forces in Mandera, injuring two soldiers.
Militants’ ambush kills police boss
22 Jun- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 91 words
Elasha Biyaha police boss was killed and two of his officers were injured last week when heavily armed al Shabaab militants ambushed a military convoy traveling from the town of Afgoye, about 30km north-west of Mogadishu, officials say.
The area’s deputy security chief Ahmed Omar Mohamed confirmed to Bar-kulan that Afrah Ali Farah, Elasha Biyaha police boss, was killed when militants laid an ambush at an area called Qura’ Dhimbil, prompting a full scale confrontation between the militants and government troops.
Al Shabaab ban shipment of goods to areas under Somali, Kenyan troops
22 Jun- Source: Radio Shabelle- 178 words
Al Shabaab is said to have blocked the delivery of a business cargo coming via the Kismaayo port to other part of Lower Jubba and particularly in towns which are now controlled by TFG forces and Kenyan troops.
Reports reaching us from Kismaayo indicate that al Shabaab has blocked vehicles which have been ferrying goods from the town’s port to other parts of Lower Jubba. The Al-Shabab Administration in Kismaayo had issued an order barring vehicles from transporting goods to other parts of Lower Jubba which are controlled by TFG forces backed by Kenyan troops.
TFG, AU forces reaches middle-Shabelle region in an offensive
22 Jun- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 138 words
Troops from the Somali goverment accompanied by the African Union peacemaking forces launched last week a major offensive in pursuit of al Shabaab fighters in Somalia.
According to goverment sources, 12 al Shabaab fighters have so far being killed in the fighting.
REGIONAL MEDIA
US issues Mombasa terror alert
23 Jun- Source: Daily Nation- 361 words
The United States has ordered its government officials to leave Mombasa over an “imminent threat of a terrorist attack.”
The US also suspended all government travel to the coastal city until July 1.
“This is to alert all US citizens in Kenya, or planning to travel to Kenya in the near future, that the US Embassy in Nairobi has received information of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa, Kenya,” read a statement issued by the Embassy Saturday.
Somali shopkeeper shot dead in Kenyan refugee camp
23 Jun- Source: Capital News/ AFP- 214 words
A Somali shopkeeper was shot dead in one of the refugee camps making up the sprawling Dadaab complex in eastern Kenya near the Somalia border, a local official said Saturday.
The victim, who ran a small shop in the Dagahaley camp, was attacked by four or five unidentified gunmen on Friday, community leader Abdifatah Ismail, himself a Somali refugee, told AFP.
How Kenyan fighters routed Shabaab militia
23 Jun- Source: Daily Nation- 576 words
When a column of Kenyan tanks and armoured personnel carriers rolled into southern Somalia in the small hours of Friday, October 14, the reaction was a mixture of surprise and scepticism.
A story in the American Time magazine triggered some of the strongest debates.
“Kenya invades Somalia. Does it get any dumber?” was the headline of the article in which the writer confidently predicted defeat for the Kenyans.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Ethiopia says troops to stay longer in Somalia
22 Jun- Source: Reuters- 500 words
Ethiopia plans to keep its troops in Somalia until the Horn of Africa country ratifies a constitution and its military is able to fend off militant threats on its own, an official said on Friday, signalling a change in policy.
Addis Ababa rolled hundreds of troops across its border in November to open up a third front against the al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab group but was keen to point out their incursion is not a repeat of their ill-fated 2006-2009 war in Somalia.
Sierra Leone Defence Minister denies reports of killings in Somalia
22 Jun- Source: Awareness Times- 373 words
The Minister of Defence of the Republic of Sierra Leone has denied allegations published on the Internet that Sierra Leone soldiers have been killed in fighting in Somalia. According to Major (rtd) Palor Conteh, who was speaking to Awareness Times yesterday June 21st 2012, the battalion of Sierra Leone soldiers meant for the UN peacekeeping mission in Somalia has not even left Sierra Leone but was still being trained in-country.
Kenyan police arrest two Iranians over explosives
22 Jun- Source: Reuters- 343 words
Kenyan police said on Friday they had arrested two Iranians after they seized chemicals they suspected were going to be used to make explosives in Mombasa, which has been hit by a series of attacks.
The port city, the capital Nairobi and other parts of Kenya have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia last year to try to crush al Shabaab insurgents it blames for a surge in violence and kidnappings threatening tourism in east Africa’s biggest economy.
Somali leaders agree on Draft Constitution
22 Jun- Source: VOA- 389 words
The key stakeholders in Somalia’s political transition process have agreed on a draft constitution, a significant step toward establishing a more permanent government. The time for the transition is running out, with less than two months to go before a deadline to elect a parliament and a new president.
Somalia inched closer Friday to ending an eight-year long political transition, with the signing of several key measures on the so-called Roadmap.
One dead in blast at Mombasa bar
June 24 – Source: BBC – 227 words
At least one person has died in an explosion at a bar in the Kenyan city of Mombasa, police sources say.
Initial reports said several others had been injured.
The blast comes a day after the US embassy had warned that there was an “imminent threat” of a terrorist attack in the area.
Earlier this week, Kenyan police had arrested two Iranian nationals over suspected links to a network planning attacks in Mombasa.
Police also said they had recovered suspected bomb-making material in the capital, Nairobi, on Saturday.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“To finally rid itself of anarchy and violence, Somalia should adopt a system of federalism that is functional and would federate Southern and Northern Somalia. This system must accommodate the diverse clans within these two jurisdictional areas, where power is shared based on density and population. The proposed federalism, based on mini-fiefdom states, was established for convenience’s sake and will not work for a nation the size of Somalia.”
North–South union as a framework for a logical federalism in Somalia
22 June- Source: Hiiraan Online-846 words
There is a push to adopt a provisional federal constitution in Somalia when other important issues such as reconciliation, reconstruction and security remain a top priority for the country. The proposed constitution, with its deficiencies, has more chances to exacerbate the situation in Somalia than to address the fundamental issues that led to the protracted conflict.
“Resource-sharing is principle Puntland president, Abdirahman Farole, emphasises in meetings but Puntland does not have a good history of sharing resources with its people or being transparent about agreements the administration signed with foreign companies. Since 1998, when Puntland was formed, two companies were given contracts to award fishing licenses: Hart, a British company which, According to Jay Bahadur, the author of Pirates of Somalia, was replaced by “Somali-Canadian Coast Guard (SomCan), a hastily-cobbled-together outfit run by Abdiweli Ali Taar, a former Toronto cab driver.”
Somalia: Puntland’s Federalism Woes
23 June-Source: Harowo-448
For a while ignore strengths and weakness of federalism or decentralised system and focus on how Puntland, the driving force behind federalism, makes the case for federalism at the regional administration ( Puntland calls itself a state) and at the national government (Transitional Federal Government) levels. At the regional administration level Puntland political leadership failed to negotiate with stakeholders whose traditional leaders and politicians met and decided to form a regional administration, Khaatumo.