June 6, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Somalia Declares Monday First Day Of Ramadan
05 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 144 Words
Somalia’s government has announced that Monday will be the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan after the new crescent was sighted across the horn of Africa nation.
Somalia’s Justice and Religious Affairs ministry announced the moon was spotted on Sunday evening, leading to prayers in mosques in Mogadishu and celebration for the beginning of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having marital relations from sunset to dusk. In addition, faithfuls often spend the entire day in mosques, while others listen to Islamic lessons.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened across the capital city of Mogadishu amid fears of possible terror attacks from the al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab group, which ordinarily intensifies attacks every year during Ramadan. Last week, the group carried out an attack on a hotel in Mogadishu killing over 20 people and injuring more than 50 others.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Declares Monday First Day Of Ramadan (Hiiraan Online)
- Gunmen Kill Female Journalist In Mogadishu (Hiiraan Online)
- Kenyan President Says His Country Will Not Feel Safe Until Peace Is Restored In Somali (Goobjoog News)
- SNA Advance On Al-Shabaab Bases In Gedo (Shabelle News)
- Somalia Federal MP Maryam Arif Expresses Concern Over Somali Women’s Quota In 2016 Elections(Goobjoog News)
- President Says Somalia Will Select New Parliament In August (Reuters)
- Somalis Prepare For The Holy Month Of Ramadan (AMISOM)
- Police Escape With Minor Injuries After Explosion (Daily Nation)
- Terror Verdict Renews Focus On Somali-American Recruitment (Voice of America)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Gunmen Kill Female Journalist In Mogadishu
05 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 192 Words
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a female journalist working for the state-run radio and television on Sunday afternoon in the Somali capital. Sagal Salad Osman, a producer with the state-run media outlets was killed when armed men approached her outside a university in Mogadishu and opened fire.
Witnesses told Hiiraan Online that the victim, who was shot more than six times, later died at a hospital in the city. Osman is the first journalist to be killed in Somalia this year. Four journalists including a female producer with the state-run media outlets were also killed in the horn of Africa nation last year.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud condemned the murder of Ms. Osman, vowing his government would work hard to “find perpetrators of this crime to face justice”. Somalia has routinely been ranked by the international Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as most risky location in the world for journalists to work. There are several unsolved murders of journalists in Somalia in recent years and journalists must watch their backs for attacks from militants and criminals as they go about their delicate duties. Despite relative stability in the Somali capital since the ouster of Islamist militants, journalists remain a common target for criminals in Somalia.
Kenyan President Says His Country Will Not Feel Safe Until Peace Is Restored In Somali
05 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 226 Words
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has said Kenya will not feel safe until peace and stability is restored in Somalia. Speaking during a meeting at State House in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, President Kenyatta and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond agreed on the need for the two countries to share counter-radicalisation strategies as a move to curb terrorism.
The President and the Foreign Secretary discussed the situation in Somalia. Kenyatta called for increased international support to stabilise the Horn of the African nation that has not known peace for over two decades: “More resources are required to crush the Al-Shabaab and strengthen the Somali National Army before the AMISOM troops can withdraw.”
Hammond commended Kenya for its efforts to restore peace in Somalia and assured of his government’s support in the Somali peace process. The UK official visited Somalia on 2nd June as part of a three-day security visit to East Africa. Following meetings with the Somali President and Prime Minister in Mogadishu, the Foreign Secretary said: “A secure and stable Somalia is the UK’s top priority in East Africa and is in our own national security interests. Britain is providing security support to Somalia and to the African Union to tackle Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organisation that cannot be allowed to take hold.”
SNA Advance On Al-Shabaab Bases In Gedo
05 June – Source: Shabelle News – 122 Words
The troops of the Federal government of Somalia are closing in on key Al-Shabaab controlled areas located in the outskirts of Bardere town in the country’s south-western Gedo region, near Kenyan border.
The development comes after recent gains made by government troops with the recapture of several key towns in Gedo, including Bardere and Burdhubo from Al-Shabaab fighters. A senior army commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity said SNA have launched an offensive against Al- Shabaab near Bardere town, pushing militants out of a number of settlements. He said the government troops are on mission to capture unnamed top Al-Shabaab leaders hiding in the areas near Bardere town, where the army operations have been taking place over the past few days.
Somalia Federal MP Maryam Arif Expresses Concern Over Somali Women’s Quota In 2016 Elections
05 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 130 Words
Somalia Federal MP Maryam Arif has expressed concern over the Somali women’s quota in 2016 elections. Addressing a group of women activists in Mogadishu, the MP said there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Maryam pointed out at the lack of a constitutional review as the main reason that can block Somali women from achieving the 30 percent proposed quota for women in this year’s elections.
“The easiest way to guarantee 30 percent quota for women in this year’s elections is to draft a special bill. Women ministry should draft the bill and we, as Female MPs, will push it through Parliament. This is the only realistic way to address this matter,” Said Maryam Arif. Somali women want to secure the 30 percent quota proposed for them in 2016 elections.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
President Says Somalia Will Select New Parliament In August
05 June – Source: Reuters – 412 Words
Somalia will choose a new parliament as planned later this year and the president and regional leaders will meet on June 20 to discuss how future lawmakers will be selected as there will not be a popular vote, the president’s office said.
Somalia abandoned its plan to hold a popular vote in 2016 last July. The current government and parliament’s term ends in August and new lawmakers are due to be chosen in the same month. In its last elections, in 2012, Members of Parliament were chosen by elders and then those lawmakers chose Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as president. It was Somalia’s first vote since 1991, when warlords ousted president Mohamed Siad Barre, plunging the country into years of war and chaos.
Last month Parliament failed to approve a plan on how to run the next elections, forcing the president to issue a decree for indirect elections – elections other than by public vote – which was approved by a conference of regional leaders.
“The conference repeats the previous promise that there will be no extension term and the election will take place at the planned time,” the President’s office said in a statement. Procedural details would be discussed at another conference of regional leaders and the president on June 20 in Baidoa, the statement added.
Somalia’s government has been under international pressure to ensure an election is held on time to avoid a situation where the current parliament and government extend their stay. Diplomats have long said that delays in writing a new constitution, registering voters and other groundwork have meant the goal of holding a one person one vote poll is unrealistic.
Somalis Prepare For The Holy Month Of Ramadan
05 June – Source: AMISOM – 323 Words
The business community have stocked up on essential supplies as Muslims in Somalia prepare for the holy month of Ramadan. A spot-check in Mogadishu revealed increased activity as business owners and their employees worked around the clock to replace depleted stocks of essential commodities.
The month of Ramadan is one of the holiest in the Muslim calendar and during the period, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for about 30 days. Somalis are expected to start observing Ramadan this week, once the crescent moon of the blessed month is sighted. Shopping is crucial during the period as families stock up on food that includes snacks, fruits and juices required for the daily iftar to break the fast at sunset.
Abdirhaman Sheikh Abukar Ma’ow, is one of the grocers in Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne district, who has stocked up sufficient fruits, supplied by farmers from Lower and Middle Shabelle regions, in anticipation of a rise in demand during the holy month: “We sell various fruits such as watermelon, mangoes, coconuts and ambarella (spondias dulcis) as well as grapefruits. The reason we stockpiled these fruits is to get ready for the month of Ramadan. God willing, the fruits will be sold out because it is going to be in high demand.”
Ma’ow Hassan Ahmed Gutale, a baker in Mogadishu said he is compelled to work extra hours ahead of Ramadan in order to ensure a consistent supply of pastries and confectionaries during the period. Gutale, who roasts coffee beans, is also optimistic of registering good business in view of the improving security in the city: “With improved security in Mogadishu, many people are returning home. God willing, we are hoping for a better future.”
Police Escape With Minor Injuries After Explosion
05 June – Source: Daily Nation – 399 Words
Several police officers sustained slight injuries after their vehicle ran over a landmine believed to have been planted by Al-Shabaab militants within Lafey sub-county, in Mandera.
Speaking to Daily Nation on phone, Lafey OCPD Bosita Omukolongolo said the incident happened at 10 amwhen the police officers were on patrol. He said the 17 officers were heading to Fino from Lafey in two vehicles when the front car ran over the devices planted in the middle of the road at Sheikh Barrow.
“One of the vehicle belongs to Lafey deputy county commissioner. The deputy county commissioner was not in the convoy because this was a security operation in the area, The officers in the first vehicle suffered slight injuries and were treated at Fino health centre. They are in stable condition,” Mr Omukolongolo said.
The OCPD further said the second vehicle, on noticing the incident 100 metres ahead, stopped then called for reinforcement from a nearby rapid deployment unit camp. Mr Omukolongolo said the damaged vehicle can still be used.
Mandera County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia said there have been active security patrols in the area but its proximity to Somalia has remained a challenge to security officers: “This zone is less than seven kilometres from Somalia making it easy for attackers to escape back. But we are doing our best,” he said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The community is united that the kids are in danger not because of ISIL and Al–Shabab but because 60 percent of the Somali families live below the poverty line, unemployment is 40 percent. There are social challenges.”
Terror Verdict Renews Focus On Somali-American Recruitment
04 June – Source: Voice of America – 768 Words
The top law enforcement officer in Minnesota says the recent conviction of three Somali American men on terrorism charges should be a “wakeup call” for some members of the local ethnic Somali community whom he says continue to live in “denial” that community members could be targeted by Islamic State (IS) recruiters.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger was speaking after a court in Minnesota found three men guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to the IS group and conspiracy to commit murder abroad. Luger’s office charged ten men in total, one of whom has already traveled to Syria and is fighting alongside IS. Six other men pled guilty, while three men – Mohamed Farah, Guled Omar and Abdirahman Daud – all in their early 20s, decided to stand trial.
“Because these defendants decided to go to trail we were able to shine a bright light on the problem of terror recruiting in our own backyard, and we must all do what we can to stop it,” Luger told the reporters in the Minnesota courthouse after the verdict was read. But Lugar indicated the government is not receiving all of the support it needs from the community.
“One obstacle to preventing terror recruiting in Minnesota is the persistence of ISIL, they are reaching out with a powerful but false message but there is a second obstacle to stopping this recruiting – denial,” he said. “Some continue to deny that terror recruiting exists. This is no time for people to stick their head in the sand,” he warned.
The group of men prosecuted for ties to IS were tracked by the FBI for months as it built up a case against them. However, some community leaders and the parents of the three defendants complained that the men were set up, that the FBI’s paid informant lied about them, or that the trial they received was unfair because of the all-white jury. One of the defendants during the trial said he and his friends were merely boasting when talking about their plans.