March 8, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Top al Shabaab leaders meet in southwestern Somalia town

07 Mar – Source: Mareeg Online – 235 words

Top al Shabaab leaders have had a meeting with elders in the Southwestern Somali town of Dinsor in Bay region, asking for help.

The forced elders who attended the meeting came from the regions of Bay, Bakol and Gedo. Some of these elders said that the meeting discussed how al Shabaab can retake the control of the captured areas by the TFG forces backed by Ethiopian troops.

Key Headlines

EU Kenya discuss situation in Somalia (KUNA News)
Terror suspect ‘flees to Somalia’ (AP)
Turkey says will establish two development offices in Somalia (Worldbulletin)
Court judge narrowly escapes assassination attack in Mogadishu (Raxanreeb)
Somali government funds misused (Source: Washington Times /AP)
MSF shuts down its medical activities in parts of Mogadishu (Radio Bar-Kulan)
Gangs kill two in Abudwak Galgadud region (Radio Bar-Kulan)

SOMALI MEDIA

European delegation arrives in Garowe town

07 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 99 words
European representatives have arrived in Somalia’s autonomous state of Puntland to assess EU funded anti-piracy projects in the region, reports say. Thirty-three representatives from UK, Norway,Denmark and Netherlands are visiting the city of Garowe in Puntland on Wednesday.

Court judge narrowly escapes assassination attack in Mogadishu

07 Mar – Source: Raxanreeb – 157 words

Wadajir court judge, Abdirahman Mohamed Ahmed better known as Mo’alim Jeyte has narrowly escaped an assassination attack on Wednesday afternoon near his office in Wadajir district in Mogadishu. The court judge Mo’alim Jeyte was attacked by two men armed with pistols at about 4.30 p.m (local time) shortly after he left his office at the court.

MSF shuts down its medical activities in parts of Mogadishu

07 Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 250 words

An international aid agency working in Somalia, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has on Wednesday announced that it has officially shutd own its medical activities in parts of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, following the tragic killings of two of its staffs on 29th December 2011.
In the statement, the organisation said it ended all its medical activities in Hodan and Wadajir district in Mogadishu after the killing of its staffs, Philippe Havet and Dr. Karel Keiluhu in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district December last year.

Top al Shabaab leaders meet in southwestern Somalia town

07 Mar – Source: Mareeg Online – 235 words

Top al Shabaab leaders have had a meeting with elders in the Southwestern Somali town of Dinsor in Bay region, asking for help.

Gangs kill two in Abudwak, Galgadud region

07 Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 125 words

At least two people were shot dead and another one was injured in Lan-der village of Abudwak district after they were attacked by unknown gunmen on Wednesday morning. Reports say the gangs stormed the victims who were said to be herdsmen while in their homes. The attack is said to be a clan-based ravage.

Area Ahlu Sunna officials said they dispatched their militias to the scene of the incident to contain the situation.

Security tight in Beledweyne after a number of assassinations

07 Mar- Source: Hiiraan Online- 128 words

Security has been beefed up in Beledweyne , after numerous attacks targeted Ethiopian and government forces in the city.

Several attacks were carried out by al Shabaab using cars with explosives and snipers.

Hiiraan Online reporter in Beledweyne Abdirahman Dini says he has seen a heavy presence of military personnel at the two bridges crossing the city and check points carrying out screenings.

REGIONAL MEDIA

EU, Kenya discuss situation in Somalia

07 Mar – Source: KUNA News – 304 words

The President of the European Union (EU) Council, Herman Van Rompuy, met here Wednesday with the Prime Minister of Kenay, Raila Amollo Odinga, and talked about bilateral ties and the situation in Somalia and generally in Africa.
“The EU has very good relations with Kenya and we cooperate closely in many areas. Today, we discussed the situation in Somalia and the fight against piracy. Kenya is an important partner for the EU in fostering peace, stability and development in the Horn of Africa,” Van Rompuy told a joint news conference after the meeting.

Somalis give views on constitution

07 Mar- Source: Daily Nation- 135 words

A Somalia commission has begun seeking views from the public on the constitution.

The opinions were given at a meeting called by the Independent Federal Constitution Commission in Mogadishu on Tuesday.

Participants included individuals drawn from across the society.

They included traditional clan elders, community leaders, civil society activists and intellectuals.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Terror suspect ‘flees to Somalia’

07 Mar – Source: AP – 325 words

A July 7 bomber’s widow, suspected of being part of a terror cell, has fled Kenya for Somalia, a top police official has said. Samantha Lewthwaite, 28, arrived in the East African country last year as part of a group which allegedly planned to bomb the region’s coast over Christmas and new year.
But the mother-of-three, who is said to have been in charge of the plot’s finances, is now understood to have crossed the border into Somalia, the Kenyan police officer confirmed.

Somali government funds misused

07 Mar – Source: Washington Times /AP- 418 words

While tens of thousands of its citizens were dying from famine, the U.N.-backed Somali government spent only $1 million on social services despite having $58 million in revenue, according to a report by a former Somali government official.

The whistleblowing report shines a light on chaotic and secretive financial dealings and says the Somali government failed to explain how the $58 million it recorded receiving last year actually was spent.

Unidentified gunmen kill 4th journalist in 4 months

06 Mar – Source: The Washington Post /AP – 220 words

A colleague says unidentified gunmen have shot dead a Somali journalist in a central Somali town, the fourth such killing in four months.

Reporter Liban Ajib Haji said Monday morning that 24-year-old Ali Ahmed Abdi was walking home in Garsoor village in central Somalia on Sunday night when two gunmen approached him and shot him at least three times in the head.

Turkey says will establish two development offices in Somalia

07 Mar- Source: Worldbulletin -290 words
Turkey’s deputy prime minister expressed the country’s support to restoration of internal peace in Somalia.

Bekir Bozdag said Turkey was always telling its interlocutors that domestic peace should be maintained in Somalia.

“Turkey will be pleased to see positive outcome in efforts to restore domestic peace, and we have told Somali officials that we are ready to extend every type of assistance,” Bozdag told reporters on his way back to Turkey from Somalia.

MSF completes closure of Hodan Medical Project in Mogadishu after killing

07 Mar- Source: MSF- 214 words
The medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has officially concluded its medical activities in Hodan following the tragic killings of our colleagues Philippe Havet and Dr. Karel Keiluhu in Mogadishu, Somalia, on the 29th of December 2011.

This project included a 120 bed cholera treatment centre in Hodan district, and a 120 bed hospital for patients affected by measles and
malnutrition in Wadajir, where the killings took place.

MSF was able to close these structures without interruption to the treatment of any of the patients, who were transferred to other MSF
facilities that remain open in Mogadishu.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

Somalia: Dr Mahiga, Daljir Forum and the Fine Print

07 Mar- Source: Raxanreeb- 377 Words

The newly established, Mogadishu-based Daljir Forum (unrelated to Daljir Radio) led by former Transitional Federal Government ministers allied with president Sharif Ahmed of Somalia criticised the remarks of UN Special Envoy for Somalia, Dr Augustine Mahiga, in an interview published in the Somalia Report website. In the interview Dr Mahiga described Daljir Forum’s ( aka Aala Sheikh) tendencies as anti-democratic to monobilise power. Dr Mahiga singled out the former TFG prime minister Mohamed Abdullahi ( Farmaajo) for political ambitions but was right to raise questions about Aala Sheikh Group who owe their prominence to the free reign given to them by Dr Mahiga’s predecessor when the group’s founding members held ministerial portfolios of the government but to liken the group to Al Shabaab was way too insensitive given the fact that Al Shabaab was behind the suicide bombing that cost the lives of medical school graduates along with former TFG ministers who were close to president Sharif two years ago.

If Daljir Forum founders are happy with the idea of a United Nations Political Office for Somalia they should equally be happy about the head of the Office expressing views on political developments in Somalia. That is not the only fine print many people have ignored when calling for the sacking of Dr Mahiga. Somalia’s recent political history shows that pan-clan political organisations were/ have been as politically disastrous as mono-clan political organisations.

Daljir Forum started a timely political debate in Mogadishu. “Uncharacteristic of his [ Dr Mahiga’s] diplomatic position he insulted the Somali Parliament, the Somali Presidency, a former Somali Prime Minister, Daljir Forum and more importantly the Somali people,” Daljir forum said in a press release on Somalia Report interview. The UN Special Envoy aptly described warlords ( now members of the parliament) as ‘spoilers’. It seems Daljir forum has ignored what happened in the premises of Somalia’s Transitional Parliament after MPs against the incumbent Speaker resorted to violence to fire the Speaker.

Like any Somali political group Daljir Forum has a right to express its views. It should express its views candidly by answering questions about the nature of its activities ( partisan or non-partisan) and the source of its funding to enable Somalis to judge the work of the Forum on its merits.

“Following the London Conference on Somalia, the consultations with the Somali community and the pressure put on Somaliland to attend the negotiations (something it had never done), a sea change in international attitudes around the Balkanisation issue is becoming apparent. It appears to be clear that the international community will not support projects to break up Somalia. Somaliland and the local administration trend that it set, may continue to be a force for good in the country, but it will not define the countries future geography.”

Solving the Somali Jigsaw

07 Mar – Source: Think Africa Press – 1735 Words
Last month, 52 heads of state or government met for the London Conference on Somalia. It is clear that there is an increased appetite for resolving Somali’s difficulties. With suggestions that Somalia is about to go through a process of Balkanisation, what is the true extent of the fragmentation of this troubled nation?

Somalia is a country with one language, ethnicity, religion and culture. On paper, its social fabric is one that most African countries can only dream of. The context of Somalia’s current political predicament therefore makes for curious reading.