March 7, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Top al Shabaab man dies from injuries

07 Mar – Source: Daily Nation – 181 words

An al Shabaab spokesman died on Wednesday, nearly two months after he was injured in an air strike by Kenya Defence Forces in Somalia. Military spokesman Emmanuel Chirchir confirmed the death on his official twitter account saying: “Al Shabaab spokesman Ali Dhere (alias Ali Mohamed Raghe) finally succumbs to last courtesy call injuries! Focus on al Shabaab leadership targeting continues.”

However, another post on twitter came out later by a man claiming he had spoken to Ali Dhere. The post replied to Maj Chirchir’s message saying: “The guy you saying is dead just called me! He didn’t sound dead to me.”

It further quoted the al Shabaab spokesman to have said: “He (Maj Chirchir) is doing what he always did, lying to his people. I’m well. Very well.”

KDF intensified air strikes targeting top al Shabaab commanders after September 21, 2013 terror attack in which gunmen opened fire and hurled grenades at shoppers at the Westgate mall in Nairobi, killing 67 people and injuring 240 others. Ali Dhere sustained the injuries after the air strike at Birta Dheere area in Somalia on January 10.

Key Headlines

Somalia appoints commander for newly-revived commandos (Hiiraan Online)
Top al Shabaab man dies from injuries (Daily Nation)
Hudur administration talks about fight at district’s outskirts (RBC)
El Dher residents flee after al Shabaab imposes hefty tax demand (Sabahi Online)
Peaceful demonstration turns into armed clash in Lower Shabelle region (Mareeg Online)
Safety and security training for Somali journalists opens in Mogadishu (Bar-kulan)
Skeletons uncovered in mass graves in Somalia (AP)
11 civilians killed in fight for southern Somali town (Anatolia News Agency)
Former Puntland President accuses al Shabaab of revenge execution (Garowe Online)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somalia appoints commander for newly-revived commandos

07 Mar – Source: Hiiraan Online – 122 words

Somali government has appointed a new chief for its recently-revived commandos forces who are expected to play a key role in the fight against al Shabaab, according to the Somali military chief of staff General Dahir Aden Elmi.

“I would like to tell the Somali people that a widespread military operations against al Shabaab terrorists will soon start across the country and the commandos will be part of such operation to free the country from terrorists,” General Elmi told the media in Mogadishu on Thursday.

He said that the commandos unit has successfully ended full training sessions and were armed with all necessary military equipment. “The commandos will work harder to free Somalia from terrorism,” General Elmi noted.

Hudur administration talks about fight at district’s outskirts

07 Mar – Source: RBC – 108 words

Hudur district administration spoke about the heavy battle that pitted Somali troops backed by Ethiopian AMISOM troops against al Shabaab fighters at the outskirts of the district.

The district commssioner, Mohamed Moalim Ahmed said that forces battled al Shabaab fighters who were ousted from Rabdhure town on Thursday.

Moalim stated that Somali troops together with AMISOM troops are making their way in the al Shabaab-controlled areas in Bakol region and did not mention the fatality caused by this fight.

Peaceful demonstration turns into armed clash in Lower Shabelle region

07 Mar – Source: Mareeg Online – 129 words

At least four civilians were wounded after a peaceful demonstration denouncing illegal roadblocks and armed robbery in Tixsile village of Lower Shabelle region turned into armed clash.

The demonstration organized by the local people started early morning in the Tixsile village, some 60km south of Somalia capital Mogadishu. The peaceful demonstration soon turned into armed clash after armed men opened fire on the demonstrators.

Freelance militia claiming to be local forces started to exchange fire against the armed men who opened the fire on the demonstrators. The demonstration stopped after the gun battle begun.

There has been a growing complaints from the local people in the Lower Shabelle region recently, over number of illegal roadblocks set up by uniformed armed men claiming to be members of the government forces.

Safety and security training for Somali journalists opens in Mogadishu

07 Mar – Source: Bar-kulan – 135 words

More than 22 Somali journalists will benefit from a two day safety and security workshop organized by article 19 in collaboration with Somali independent media house association (SIMHA) in the capital Mogadishu.

Hassan Ali Gesey the Chairman of the Somali Independent Media Houses Association (SIMHA) one of the co organizers of the workshop has told Bar-Kulan the journalists will go through an intense training on safety and security during the two days event.

Speaking during the opening ceremony Somali Information Minister Mustaf Ahmed Duhulow who was the chief guest has thanked the organizers of the training urging them to conduct more trainings on safety and security for Somali journalists to overcome the challenges they face in operating in a war zone area. Somali is considered as one of the dangerous environments for journalists to operate.

Former Puntland President accuses al Shabaab of revenge execution

07 Mar – Source: Garowe Online – 153 words

The former President of Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Farole for the first time spoke on al Shabaab’s execution of three men who were charged with spying in Barawe coastal town of southern Somalia on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports.

Dr. Farole’s nephew Ahmed Abdullahi Mohamed Farole was executed for spying for Puntland according to self-appointed al Shabaab judge but former Puntland leader unveiled that the terror group of al Shabaab retaliated with arbitrary execution against his nephew.

“According to the media, al Shabaab group accused late Ahmed of spying on the fugitive al Shabaab members in Golis Mountain ranges which lies between Puntland and Somaliland for Puntland government,” Dr. Farole said in an emailed statement.

“It is clear that Ahmed was executed in accordance with wrong verdict, he was executed in revenge act and in error at the expense of his nephew [Abdirahman Sheikh Mohamed Farole],” the statement read.

IFJ Condemns Censorship and Intimidation of Independent Press in Somaliland 6 March 2014

06 Mar – Source: Somaliland Press – 149 words

Authorities in Somaliland must re-open the offices of an independent newspaper in Hargeisa, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said today. According to IFJ affiliate, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), the Hubaal newspaper in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has been closed since 13 December, 2013, following a raid by the police rapid reinforcement unit (RRU). Police continue to occupy the newspaper’s headquarters.

“We are deeply disturbed by the actions of Somaliland authorities to shut down Hubaal newspaper and forcefully occupy its offices,” said Gabriel Baglo, IFJ Africa Director. “Authorities in Hargeisa should halt their on-going crackdown on Hubaal and allow it to operate without fear of reprisal”.

Somaliland police have accused Hubaal newspaper of dividing the police leadership and misleading security officials, while also claiming that they obtained a court order to close the paper down, although the NUSOJ says they failed to produce this order during the raid.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Top al Shabaab man dies from injuries

07 Mar – Source: Daily Nation – 181 words

It further quoted the al Shabaab spokesman to have said: “He (Maj Chirchir) is doing what he always did, lying to his people. I’m well. Very well.”

El Dher residents flee after al Shabaab imposes hefty tax demand

06 Mar – Source: Sabahi Online – 664 Words

A sense of collective fear has overtaken Galgadud’s El Dher district after residents and elders failed to fulfil an al Shabaab order to raise $100,000 for the group’s activities, residents told Sabahi. Al-Shabaab issued the order February 10th during a public gathering in which the group threatened residents and elders to pay “a ransom as if they were hostages”, said El Dher District Commissioner Hussein Mohamed Abdi.

“Al Shabaab told the public: ‘You must collect money among yourselves to pay $100,000 and take part in the battles we are engaged in if you want to live in peace,'” he told Sabahi.

The group had given residents, who are mostly pastoralists, until February 28th to come up with the huge sum. When it became apparent that people were unable to pay the amount and fleeing the area, al Shabaab began chasing them down and stealing their livestock, Abdi told Sabahi.

“People were forced to flee when al Shabaab found out that [elders] who were supposed to collect the money [were unsuccessful],” he said. “Al Shabaab has now taken vehicles and gone to the rural areas in El Dher to rob citizens of their livestock since they were unable to get anything in the town.”

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Skeletons uncovered in mass graves in Somalia

07 Mar – Source: AP – 271 words

An American volunteer gently brushes away dirt to reveal the bones of a Somali victim buried in a mass grave some 30 years ago. Tens of thousands of skeletons may lie in mass graves here, on the northern edge of Somalia, where many want to see justice prevail, even if delayed.

Last year 38 bodies were uncovered in two graves by the Somaliland War Crimes Investigation Commission, which is overseeing the work on a third site where another dozen bodies are buried. More than 200 mass graves with the bodies of 50,000 to 60,000 people may be in the region, according to the commission. Why dig up the past now?

Many African countries try to forget about atrocities carried out in their recent pasts, said Kadar Ahmed, chairman of the commission, speaking at the gravesite. He wants this northern tip of Somalia — a self-governing region called Somaliland — to confront those ghosts head-on. He said he hopes an outside tribunal will take up the case of the unknown numbers of deaths.

The commission was created in 1997 with the dual aim of offering a proper burial to the victims and taking judicial action against those responsible for the killings. Ahmed, who was not in Somaliland during the 1980s violence, has headed the commission the last four years.

11 civilians killed in fight for southern Somali town

07 Mar – Source: Anatolia News Agency – 155 words

Confrontations between government forces and African peacekeepers on one hand and al Shabaab militants on the other in the southern Somali town of Rabdhuure left 11 civilians dead and a number of others injuredon Wednesday, eyewitnesses said Thursday.

“There were fierce confrontations in which all types of light and heavy weapons were used, which led to this death toll,” eyewitnesses said. They could not, however, specify the number of injuries.

They said some civilians had managed to escape to neighboring villages amid intense confrontations between government forces and African peacekeepers and al Shabaab, which seeks to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu.

The government, for its part, has yet to confirm the eyewitness accounts. On Wednesday, government forces and African peacekeepers managed to recapture the southern town of Rab Dhuure from al Shabaab. Abdel-Nour Mohamed, deputy governor of the Bakool region, confirmed the recapture of the town. “This is a major military victory,” he told AA.

Westgate attackers disagreed over killing kids

06 Mar – Source: AFP/Yahoo News – 363 Words

Islamist gunmen who shot dead scores of people in a Nairobi shopping mall last year were in apparent disagreement over whether they should kill women and small children, a court in Kenya heard on Thursday.

Witness Geoffrey Kotia, who was supervising children’s activities in the upmarket shopping centre, said he was shot by the attackers, accused of killing Somalis and mockingly told to telephone Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for help.

“One of the attackers then said ‘You people, we have been giving you chances to become Muslims but you don’t, and instead you go ahead and kill our people’,” Kotia told the trial of four men who are accused of helping the attackers.

Kotia then told the court that one of the attackers said “we Mujahedeen don’t kill small children and women”. But seconds later another gunman said “but you have been killing our children and women in Somalia” and the shooting resumed.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“In the West, people tend not to call their friends and colleagues nicknames that pick on negative physical traits. But in Somalia, people have a love of such nicknames.”

The Somali love of ‘rude’ nicknames

7 Mar – Source: BBC – 786 words

When I got my ID badge for the president’s office in Mogadishu the other day, I knew I had finally been accepted. It had taken a year. There it was – International Media Advisor, Office of the President, and next to my name the two Somali words in brackets, Timo Cadde, which literally translates as White Hair. At last, I had a nickname.

Somalis are inveterate givers of nicknames but for the past 12 months the closest thing I had to one was Gaal – or Infidel – and, let’s face it, there is little distinction in that. It is routinely used to refer to any non-Muslim, black or white. Gaal, come here. Where is the gaal, and so on. Now Timo Cadde, or White Hair, may not be the most flattering nickname in the world, but I will take it any day over Infidel.

The first time I came across Somalis’ love of nicknames was when the cleaning lady in our house asked where was Faroole, the young man who delivered our lunch. “His name’s Abdifata,” I said, thinking she had made a mistake.

She shook her head vigorously and held up a couple of fingers. “No, Faroole,” she said stubbornly. Now Faroole means No Fingers. Abdifata lost two fingers a few years ago during a mortar attack on the presidential compound by al Shabaab, the local al Qaeda franchise.

“The Federal Republic of Somalia will consist of Somaliland, Puntland, Central Somalia and the South West states. Each state will have its own government: legislative, executive and judiciary at a state level and they will share everything the Federal Government of Somalia has. Each state will be led by a State Minister, not by a “President”. Somalia will have only one President to avoid confusion. In Malaysia, the states are led by a Menteri Basar and in the USA by a Governor.”

The most appropriate federal model for Somalia

06 Mar – Source: Somali Current – 1109 Words

There are many options in completing the federalisation of Somalia. Previously I proposed a model based purely on the geographic distribution of clan-families. You can refer that at “Here“. This proposal recognised Somaliland, Maakhir-Khaatumo, Puntland, Central Somalia, Shabelle, Asal and Juba.

Please see the map. Mogadishu was considered as a Federal Territory, similar to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia or Washington DC of the USA in which the Capital City comes directly under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.

An advantage of such clan-based proposal was it was culture-friendly or traditions-friendly and it represented the clan system which is deeply entrenched or rooted or seated in the Somali society.

The grassroots of Somalia understand that well for it is their social, cultural, and territorial unit of measurement. Again, Somalia is a deeply divided country rive of mistrust and rivalry between the clans.

Top tweets

@Hamza_Africa PIC: This new Coca Cola bottling plant in#Mogadishu will soon start supplying the local market in#Somalia. #Africa pic.twitter.com/cw7NfzCkEk.

‏@hamarquette This is fantastic RT @liamstack: This very cool Tumblr shows photos of Somalia before its civil warhttp://vintagesomalia.tumblr.com.

@USIP Just announced: on March 12, we’ll talk #Somalia with the head of @UNSomalia. Join us! http://bit.ly/1igNic4.

@UNSomalia #Puntland civil society organisations meet@UNSomalia in Garowe to discuss furthering the democratisation process: http://on.fb.me/1jVysoV.

@faoinsomalia With support from @SomaliaEU,@faoinsomalia supported #Somali farmers to produce 200MT of maize which has been bought by @WFPSomalia for aid.

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Image of the day

Image of the day @BroughtonHS Surad shares the Quran at her Republic of Somalia booth. Great festival! Photo: