June 26, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somali president sends congratulations to Somalis for 52nd Anniversary of Independence

25 Jun- Source: Radio Mogadishu- 108 words

Somali president, Sharif Sh. Ahmed sent congratulations to the all Somali community for the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of 26th June in 1960 when northern regions took their freedom from the colonial state.

President Sharif said that 26th June is a great day, adding that he was much pleased with the latest negotiations that started for Somaliland and Somali government, also urging Somaliland to take a lion’s share in uniting the Somali people back.

Key Headlines

Somali president sends congratulation to the Somalis 52nd Anniversary of Independence (Radio Mogadishu)
Deputy Chairperson thanks Equatorial Guinea for donating towards the alleviation of suffering in Somalia (AMISOM)
Somali president Sharif departs to Addis-Ababa Ethiopia (SONNA)
Roadside bomb targets Turkish convoy in Mogadishu (Somalia Report)
Mogadishu meeting supports Somalia-Somaliland talks (Hadhwanaag Times)
Freed UK hostage says never seen Kenyan suspect (Reuters)

PRESS STATEMENT

Deputy Chairperson thanks Equatorial Guinea for donating towards the alleviation of suffering in Somalia

25 Jun- Source: AMISOM- 255 words

The Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Dr. Erastus Mwencha has thanked the Government of Equatorial Guinea for honoring its pledge by redeeming the sum of Two Million United States Dollars and providing in‐kind donation to the Somali people. Dr. Mwencha was speaking in Mombasa, Kenya during the official handover ceremony of the donation of humanitarian aid from Equatorial Guinea to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia.

He said; “It is worth recalling here the personal commitment of H.E.Teodoro Nguema Mbasogo, the then Chairperson of the African Union when he called for the gesture of solidarity from all member states to providing African solutions to African problems.”

The donation follows the Pledging Conference organised by the African Union (AU) for countries of Horn of Africa affected by drought and famine which was convened on 25 August last year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“Concerning the current status of the funds so far redeemed, the African Union Commission has allocated the sum of US$ 8.7 million Dollars through the UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator of the four affected countries in order to fund projects through a prioritization mechanism at the country level. With regard to in‐kind donation, AU partners have been facilitating the distribution of such donations to the affected populations.” He said.

While appreciating the donation of the People and Government of Equatorial Guinea to Somalia, H.E. Dr. Erastus Mwencha said stakeholders should not forget that the drought and famine situation is becoming more complex in the humanitarian work.

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali president Sharif departs to Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia

25 Jun- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/SNTV- 218 words

A high level delegation headed by TFG president H.E. Sharif Sh. Ahmed on Monday travelled to the Ethiopian capital, Addis-Ababa where it is expected to have talks aimed at security affairs in the region with IGAD state members as well as on the ending of the transitional period and the strengthening of co-operation among state members of IGAG.

ASWJ meet in Beled-Hawo to discuss security in Gedo

25 Jun- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 138 words

Ahlu Sunna officials in Beled-Hawo on Monday held a security meeting where they discussed ways to bolster security in areas under the control of their administration and the Somali government.
The group also discussed strategies needed to be applied in wresting control of other areas in the region which still remain in the hands of al Shabaab militants, according to the group’s area spokesman Mohamed Hussein Issack.

Somali president sends congratulation to Somalis for 52nd Anniversary of Independence

25 Jun- Source: Radio Mogadishu- 108 words

Roadside bomb targets Turkish convoy in Mogadishu

25 Jun- Source: Somalia Report-212 words

A roadside bomb targeting a Turkish convoy wounded one civilian, a young boy, in Mogadishu’s Waaberi district, according to witnesses who spoke to Somalia Report.
“It was a bomb planted alongside the road. Turkish workers, a convoy and soldiers were passing through the street when the blast detonated. One boy was slightly hurt in the incident but there were not any other casualties,” said Liban Abdallah.

Mogadishu meeting supports Somalia-Somaliland talks

25 Jun- Source: Hadhwanaag Times- 148 words

A meeting was held in Mogadishu in support of the most recent talks between the TFG and the republic of Somaliland.
The meeting, which was well-organized and attended by Mogadishu’s society shed a light on the importance of these talks, the first in two decades.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Terrorists will face life in jail under Kenyan new law

25 Jun- Source: Daily Nation- 534 words

People involved in terrorist activities risk being jailed for life and their properties seized if a proposed new law is passed.
These are some of the stiff penalties in the Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2012, an updated version of the Suppression of Terrorism Bill of 2003 that was withdrawn after an uproar over provisions that critics said violated human rights.

Bad weather, navy hunt deters Somali pirates

25 Jun- Source: Gulf News- 129 words
Six days ago on the high seas 13 kilometres east of Masirah, Oman, Somali pirates attacked a commercial dhow, boarded her and took a terrified seven-man crew hostage at gunpoint.
On the same day of June 20 only a few hours later, Somali pirates in a dhow — possibly the same one that just been hijacked — appeared 35 kilometres northeast of Masirah Island, Oman, and confronted an LNG tanker with guns blazing, according to the ICC International Maritime Bureau piracy reporting centre.

Death toll in Mombasa grenade attack hits three

25 Jun- Source: Capital news- 563 words

The death toll from a grenade attack on a Mombasa bar rose to three after two of those wounded in the blast succumbed to their injuries in hospital, a spokeswoman for the Kenya Red Cross said Monday.
“Two of the victims died in hospital. One had died earlier at the scene of the blast,” Kenya Red Cross spokeswoman Nelly Muluka said.
“Two more people have died in hospital, the death toll is now at three because there is one who was killed at the scene,” she said.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Freed UK hostage says never seen Kenyan suspect

25 Jun- Source: Reuters- 200 words

A British woman freed from captivity by Somali pirates in March told a Kenyan court on Monday she had never seen the man accused by Kenyan authorities of her kidnap, dealing a potential blow to the prosecution’s case.
Judith Tebbutt, who testified from Britain via a video link, was abducted from a remote beach resort near the Somali border in September by gunmen who shot dead her husband, David, before escaping by speedboat.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“These are the daily struggle of Somali youth in Diaspora; they are vulnerable to terrorist groups, warlords, and yes, spoiled generations of our fathers who are spreading the disease of tribalism and old form governance that failed in Somalia. It is the right time to acknowledge this issue as a Somali youth problem, and it is also the right time to tell the good Somali fathers out there to counter their bad colleagues who are trickling down the ideologies that divides the Somali youth, and that kills their Somali identity.”

A generation of Spoilers

25 June- Source: Hiiraan Online-531 Words

The Somali culture has always being a lesson passed from generations to generations, instilling the sense of Somali identity. It is a culture that was based on respect for human dignity, and the practice of a justice system that was successful even without the help of modern legal system. In the past 100-years, our great-grandfathers kept their cultural practice strong while at the same time fighting for the freedom of dream country they would call, Somalia. At the time of their struggle against colonialist, they envisioned a country behind one single identity, a Somali. They fulfilled their duty to preserve and protect the Somali identity; they somehow put together a Somali nation free from colonialist, tribalism, and those driven by self-interest.