March 22, 2012 | Morning Headlines.
AMISOM officials visit Baidoa town
21 Mar – Source: Shabelle, Radio Mogadishu, Kulmiye – 154 words
Officials from the African Union peacekeepers in Somalia on Wednesday arrived in the town of Baidoa which is just 250 Km away from Mogadishu, just weeks after al Shabaab pulled out of the area.
Key Headlines
- The Somali Government is relieved by the release of the British hostage (Source: TFG)
- Somalia’s Security Agency displays self-confessed militant sympathizers (Source:Radio Bar-kulan)
- Al Shabaab fighters clash with Ethiopian troops in Bakool (Source: Hiiraan Online )
- Ahlusuna displays 40 bodies of al Shabaab fighters in Dhusamareb town (Source: Radio Bar-kulan Raxanreeb Radio Mogadishu Shabelle)
- Britain confirms release of hostage Judith Tebbutt (Source: Reuters)
- Freed British hostage arrives in Kenyan capital (Source: AFP)
PRESS RELEASE
The Somali Government is relieved by the release of the British hostage
21 Mar – Source: TFG – 139 words
The Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunication, H.E. Abdulkadir Hussein (Jahweyn), upon hearing the news of Mrs. Tebbutt’s release and speaking on behalf of the Transitional Federal Government, said, “We are very relieved and happy to hear the news of her release. We wish her a quick recovery from her ordeal, while at the same time sending condolences to her and her children for the loss of her husband.”
SOMALI MEDIA
AMISOM officials visit Baidoa town
21 Mar – Source: Shabelle, Radio Mogadishu, Kulmiye – 154 words
Officials from the African Union peacekeepers in Somalia on Wednesday arrived in the town of Baidoa which is just 250 Km away from Mogadishu, just weeks after al Shabaab pulled out of the area.
Somalia’s Security Agency displays self-confessed militant sympathizers
21 Mar – Source:Radio Bar-kulan – 158 words
Somalia’s National Security Agency has displayed three militant sympathizers including the driver of the car that exploded in the heart of Mogadishu earlier today.
Police said suspects had been detained after the explosion at Mogadishu’s Maka Al-Mukarram road that links the busy K4 road intersection with the presidential palace.
Abdullahi Mohamed Mohamud, the driver of the car said that he had been promised $150 for parking the car at the site where it exploded.
Puntland displays weapons seized in Bosaso town
21 Mar – Source: Radio Garowe, Radio Bar-kulan – 106 words
Puntland authorities in the Port City of Bosaso Wednesday displayed an assortment of weapons seized during a security operation in the area earlier yesterday.
The weapons includes pistols and hand grenades, according to police.
Puntland’s Assistant minister for Internal Security Abdi Jamal Osman claimed the Pistols were those used during the killing of a prominent cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Hajji Abdirahman in Bosaso early last December.
Al Shabaab fighters clash with Ethiopian troops in Bakool
21 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online – 107 words
Heavy fighting erupted in Teed town between Elbarde and Hudur districts of Bakool region.
Al Shabaab militants say they have attacked Ethiopian troops advancing towards Hudur which is controlled by the extremists.
The group claims to have inflicted heavy losses against Ethiopian troops.
Civilians in Hudur and surrounding areas started to flee, fearing for their lives.
Ahlusuna displays 40 bodies of al Shabaab fighters in Dhusamareb town
21 Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan,Raxanreeb, Radio Mogadishu, Shabelle – 190 words
Officials of Ahlusuna Waljamaca group in central Somalia have on Wednesday displayed 40 bodies of al Shabaab fighters whom they killed during heavy gun battle on Tuesday in Dhusamareb town, the stronghold of Ahlusuna in Galgadud region.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Bomb scare in Somali capital
21 Mar – Source: Africa Review -172 words
Somali security officials Wednesday intercepted a saloon cars suspected of being packed with explosive materials along Maka-al-Mukarrama Avenue at the heart of the capital Mogadishu.
The incident disrupted the traffic flow on the normally busy route, as security officials worked to minimise the damage from the explosives.
National Army Set for Somalia Mission
21 Mar – Source: Concord Times – 174 words
Sierra Leone peacekeepers are set for deployment to Somalia after June. The troops, a contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia of more than 850 people men and women, have already been trained for the mission, Sierra Leone Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Ken Jabbi said.
Somalia is in the midst of a civil conflict between Islamist al Shabaab militants fighting with pro-government forces who have the support of AU-backed foreign forces.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Britain confirms release of hostage Judith Tebbutt
21 Mar – Source: Reuters – 109 words
Britain confirmed on Wednesday that hostage Judith Tebbutt had been freed more than six months after Somali pirates killed her husband and kidnapped her from a luxury beach resort in neighbouring Kenya.
“We can confirm she has been released. Our priority now is to get her to a place of safety,” a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said.
Asked whether a ransom had been paid, the spokesman said: “Our position is that we do not pay ransoms and we do not facilitate concessions to hostage-takers.”
Freed British hostage arrives in Kenyan capital
21 Mar – Source: AFP – 46 words
Freed British hostage Judith Tebbutt arrived Wednesday in the Kenyan capital after being released in war-tornSomalia where she had been held in captivity for more than six months.
“We can confirm she is in a safe place here in Kenya,” said British embassy spokesman John Bradshaw.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
Paying ransoms is better than sending SAS
21 Mar – Source: Telegraph Blog – 228 Words
The release of Judith Tebbutt from Somalia, where she was being held captive by Somali pirates, shows that, with a degree of patience and hard work, it is possible to secure the release of a hostage without recourse to the SAS.
Earlier this month an attempt by British Special Forces to release a British hostage held in Nigeria ended in disaster when the kidnappers killed the hostage before he could be rescued. In the case of Mrs Tebbutt I’m told such a rescue bid was not deemed feasible because British security officials could get no clear fix on where she was being held at any specific point in time.
The other important factor in her case was that, unlike the Nigerian kidnapping, where the kidnappers were linked to al-Qaeda and showed no interest in negotiation, Mrs Tebbutt’s abductors were criminals, rather than ideologues, and once it had been established that they wanted money for her safe release, all that was required was some painstaking work to ensure the negotiators were actually talking to the people responsible for her abduction, and that a fee could be agreed.
Happily, in this case, the deal came off, and Mrs Tebbutt is now a free woman. And the moral of this tale is that it is often easier to secure a hostage’s release by paying up rather than sending for the SAS.