March 28, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

The MIPT presents FM Radio Transmitters to Khatumo and Galmudug

27 Mar – Source: TFG – 320 words

The Minister of Information Posts and Telecommunications Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed presented an FM Radio Transmitter to Khatumo, having already presented a similar FM Radio transmitter to the Galmudug regional government on the 22nd of March, 2012.
These Radios will play an important role in the transmission of information and the spreading of the government’s message to all the Somali people, wherever they are. In a short ceremony held yesterday at the office of the Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications and attended by the President of the Khatumo regional government Abdinoor Elmi Qaaje, the Minister of Education and Culture Dr. Ahmed Aidid Ibrahim, the Minister of International Relations and Diaspora Communities of the Khatuma government Hussein Suleiman (Dhagaweyne) and the former Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, Abdikarim Hassan Jama, an FM radio transmitter was presented to the Khatumo Regional Administration.

Key Headlines

Somalia president visits in Adaado Town (Source: Shabelle Radio Mogadishu)
Briton arrested in Mogadishu over alleged terror links (Source: Hiiraan Online Radio Mogadishu)
The MIPT presents FM Radio Transmitters to Khatumo and Galmudug ( Source: TFG)
EU urges credible new Somali government (Source: Capital News/AFP)
Britain’s minister for Africa visits Mogadishu (Source: Garowe online)
Kibaki urges China to support ongoing AMISOM operation (Source: Shabelle)
UNHCR calls for respect of civilian life in Somalia (Source: Alert Net/Reuters)

PRESS RELEASE

The MIPT presents FM Radio Transmitters to Khatumo and Galmudug

27 Mar – Source: TFG – 320 words

The Minister of Information, posts and telecommunications, in a short speech given on the occasion said “The aim of the Ministry of Information is to spread the governments’ message and to assist the burgeoning regional governments in the information & telecommunications field. We have already presented a radio
transmitter to the Puntland government, we have, only the other day, presented another one to Galmudug.
We intend in the near future to do the same for the Bay and Hiraan regions; and we will spread the
governments message to all the liberated areas.” “The Ministry of Information will shortly open offices in all the regions, so that the national information service reaches all the corners of the country.” the Minister added.

On a similar note, the President of the Khatuma administration Abdinoor Elmi Qaaje thanked the Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunications for the FM radio transmitter. A similar ceremony to yesterday’s one was held for the presentation of the FM radio transmitter to the Galmudug regional government and was attended by a delegation from the Galmudug State.

SOMALI MEDIA

Somalia president visits in Adaado Town

27 Mar – Source: Shabelle, Radio Mogadishu, Risala – 127 words

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Tuesday visited Adado town, the capital of Himan and Heeb state as heavy confrontations between al Shabab and Ahlu Sunna fighters continue in central regions.

The president’s visit was to observe the developments made by Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a fighters backed by Ethiopian troops in the fight against the al Shabaab fighters, who now control few parts in southern and central Somalia.

Briton arrested in Mogadishu over alleged terror links

27 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online, Radio Mogadishu – 142 words
Immigration officials in Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport have detained a British national for allegedly trying to join al Shabaab. Somali officials say Dennis Clive was arrested moments after he landed from Nairobi. While speaking to the reporters, Mr. Clive denied having any links with al Shabaab and insisted that he was planning to study Islam.

“I was traveling to Kismayu, my aim is to study Islam” said Clive.

Britain’s minister for Africa visits Mogadishu

27 Mar – Source: Garowe online – 180 words

Britain’s minister for Africa and overseas territories Henry Bellingham visited the capital on Tuesday stating that Britain is committed to supporting Somalia, Radio Garowe reports.

The minister who met with UN Special Representative Augustine Mahiga,Mayor of Mogadishu Mohamed Ahmed Nur, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdinur Sheikh Ibrahim as well as the AMISOM commander Major Gen. Fred Mugisha and civil society members.

CPJ condemns attack on Somali radio journalist

27 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 139 words

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Sunday’s shooting of radio journalist Mohyadin Hassan Mohamed in the capital,Mogadishu, and calls on authorities to ensure his safety.

Two unknown gunmen opened fire on Mohamed, the news director of Shabelle Media Network’s radio station, as he walked home from work at around 6 p.m., news reports said. The journalist told CPJ that he ran after the gunmen began shooting at him, and that one bullet grazed his chest.

Somalia military court sentences 50 prisoners

27 Mar – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 112 words

The Somali’s military court has handed different jail sentences to over 50 prisoners in Baidoa, the administrative capital of Bay region.

Senior judge of the military court Hassan Mohamed Mungaab who spoke to the reporters in city said the judgments carried out in accordance with the law.

Somaliland’s Interior Minister meets diaspora in UK

27 Mar-Source: Hadhwanaag Times – 77 words

A delegation led by Somaliland’s minister of interior Mohamed Nur Arale and which included minister of justice Hussein Ahmed Aydid and other key officials from Somaliland visited the United Kingdom. The delegation held meetings with the Somaliland Diaspora in Britain, informing them about the latest developments in the country.

The minister of interior thanked the Diaspora community for their warm welcome to the delegation and the president of Somaliland during Somalia’s London conference.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kibaki urges China to support ongoing AMISOM operation

27 Mar – Source: Daily Nation – 115 words

During talks with Liu Qi a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee at his Harambee House Office Tuesday, President Kibaki said the proactive action was intended to curtail threats created by the al Shabaab to Kenya’s national security and blatant violation of its territorial integrity.

EU urges credible new Somali government

27 Mar – Source: Capital News/AFP – 301words

The European Union called on Tuesday for a credible government in Somalia after the mandate of the current transitional authority, accused of rampant corruption, expires in August.

Donors have ruled out extending the term of its eight-year-old Transitional Federal Government, which has failed to deliver on its mandate, and are backing efforts to set up a new administration.

“The outside world could satisfy itself by just ticking 100 boxes and saying something’s being done,” Alexander Rondos, the EU special representative for Somalia, told reporters in Nairobi.

Kenyan linked to Tebbutt ransom

27 Mar -Source:the Star – 226 words

Anti-terrorism police are investigating links between a Kenyan man of Somali origin and the abductors of British tourist Judith Tebbutt in Somalia, after officers discovered that the Sh64 million ransom paid to the abductors was handed over to the man in Nairobi.

The $80,0000 ransom was received by a middleman in Nairobi on behalf of the abductors in Somalia before Tebbutt was released last Thursday.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

British man arrested in Somalia over terror links

27 Mar – Source: CNN/Guardian- 115 words

A45-year-old British man has been arrested in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, for suspected ties to al Qaeda, a spokesman for Somalia’s president said Tuesday.

The man is not of Somali origin, said Abdirahman Omar Osman, also a senior adviser to President Sharif Ahmed.

Osman said the suspect had come to Somalia without a visa and upon questioning said he wanted to help Islam. Authorities have seized his computer.

UNHCR calls for respect of civilian life in Somalia

27 Mar – Source: Alert Net/Reuters – 238 words

UNHCR is concerned at a continuation in mortar attacks in Mogadishu, which claimed three more lives yesterday. Several mortars landed in the Beerta Darawiishta (Darwish) settlement for internally displaced people near the Somali Parliament building in the Wardhigley district of the Somali capital at around 0215 on Monday morning. It is reported that three internally displaced people, including a father and his three year old child, were killed and eight others – five women and three men – were seriously injured.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

These are questions that, alas, cannot be answered by anyone without direct access to Baxam’s case. Upon further research, however, I learned that al Shabaab is actually a branch of al Qaeda (although many members are unhappy with that alliance), one that rigidly enforces Sharia law in those parts of Somalia (mainly in the south) where it has acquired control. As such, several questions occurred to me that seemed perfectly suited for Samatar’s field of expertise. A brief interview transcript is posted below:

Why al Shabaab will never be able to Control Somalia

27 Mar – Source: Policy Mic – 971 Words

Of all my experiences as a graduate student, none can match the time I spent as a teaching assistant for Said Samatar. A professor of African History at Rutgers University-Newark, Samatar is the kind of scholar every up-and-coming aspires, or at least should aspire, to emulate: Intelligent, accessible, puckishly funny (he liked to prepare students for tests by quoting Dante: “Abandon all hope ye who enter here”), and armed with a biography that makes one pause before whining about your own petty travails.