May 11, 2015 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somali Women Rights, Anti-FGM Campaigner Wins International Award

10 May – Source: Somali Current – 134 Words

Somali activist Ifrah Ahmed has won an international prize for campaigning to eradicate FGM and empowering women rights in Somalia. She was awarded Humanitarian of the Year Award in London for fighting for the rights of women in Somalia. She thanked all who encouraged and supported in her journey and promised to continue her campaign to root out violations against Somali women. “I am extremely humbled and honored to receive the Humanitarian of the Year Award “, she said. Ahmed, this year’s laureate is the founder of United Youth Ireland, a non-governmental organization that provides support to immigrants in their business and creative pursuits. She is also an advisor to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Somalia. Ahmed has worked in several Somali and international organizations including Amnesty International and UNICEF.

Key Headlines

Somali Women Rights Anti-FGM Campaigner Wins International Award (Somali Current)
AU Forces Targeted In Marka Grenade Attack (Garowe Online)
Somali President Sends Congratulation To UK PM On His Victory In The Election (Radio Muqdisho)
Calm Returns To Somali Town After Clashes (Radio Danan)
Somali PM Says Government Will Focus On Restoring Security In Speech To Parliament (Horseed Media)
Puntland Opposes Makeup Of Electoral Boundaries And Judicial Commissions (Goobjoog News)
KDF Border Police Unit On The Spot After Al-Shabaab Hijack Miraa Vehicle In Mandera (Daily Nation)
Feds Field Questions In Minneapolis From Somali-American community In ISIL-Related Case (Star Tribune)
Terror Attacks See Kenya’s Tourist Arrivals Fall 31% In First Quarter (Daily Times/Xinhua News)
Gunmen Kill MP In Northern Somalia Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility (Xinhua News)
Uganda Army Launches De-Radicalization Campaign (VOA)
Lure Of High-Risk Riches Too Strong For Somali Refugees (AFP/Yahoo News)
Closure Of Remittance Firms Hurts The Poor (Wardheer News)
Minnesota Somalis See Chance To Lead Fight Against Female Genital Cutting (Star Tribune)
Somalia Remains One Of The Largest Most Complex Emergencies Says Country’s UN Relief Coordinator(UN News Centre)

NATIONAL MEDIA

AU Forces Targeted In Marka Grenade Attack

10 May – Source: Garowe Online – 124 Words

At least two civilian bystanders have been reported wounded after assailants hurled a hand grenade at African Union soldiers in an armored vehicle near a police compound Marka, the regional capital of Lower Shabelle in southern Somalia, on Sunday morning, Garowe Online reports. Witnesses and officials say AMISOM forces responded with volleys of gunfire that lasted a few minutes. The two civilians were reportedly wounded in the grenade explosion. Security forces arrested suspects in connection with the hand grenade attack right away. Nobody claimed credit for the explosion in broad daylight, but as has often been the case the beleaguered Al Shabaab militants are known for terror their attacks across Somalia. Marka, 109 km southwest of Mogadishu, was the site infighting between Somali government forces at the end of 2013 and into 2014.

Somali President Sends Congratulation To UK PM On His Victory In The Election

10 May- Source: Radio Muqdisho – 114 Words

The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Hassan Sh. Mohamud sent a congratulatory message to British Prime Minister, David Cameron on the victory his conservative party gained in the election. “On behalf of the Federal Republic of Somalia, I extend my congratulations and best wishes to you, Prime Minister, and your party which got great victory in the election leading you to run a second term,” the president said in a statement.The president said Somalia learned lessons from Britain’s election as Somalia prepares to hold elections in the country in 2016. President Mohamud said he hopes relations between the two nations will strengthen, and that the UK will continue with its constant support to Somalia.

Calm Returns To Somali Town After Clashes

10 May – Source: Radio Danan- 135 Words

Calm has returned to a town in southern Somalia after clashes between two rival clans left at least seven people dead, officials said on Sunday. Residents in Qoryoley town in Lower Shabelle region said that the fighting has forced hundreds of residents to flee, with militias fighting for the control of grasslands and water wells. More than 14 people were reported to have been wounded in the fighting on Saturday, as gunmen battled on the sandy streets in the town. The African Union forces in the region intervened, deploying peacekeepers between the militias. Clan rivalry that often leads to fighting is common in Somalia where although Somalis speak one language and belong to the same ethnic group, they are deeply divided along clan lines. These clan and lineage differences have weakened government institutions and led to civil wars.

Somali PM Says Government Will Focus On Restoring Security In Speech To Parliament

09 May – Source: Horseed Media – 358 Words

Addressing the country’s Federal Parliament on Sunday, Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali laid out the roadmap for his government and the achievements reached during their first 100 days in office. Mr Sharmarke said that his government is focusing on ways to restore security and eradicate terrorism from the whole country. “Security is the top priority of the government…Our enemies [al-Shabaab] have intensified their campaign of brutal violence in the last three months and doubled their massacre on the Somali people,’’ he said in his speech, revealing that the government is training special forces to fight against terrorism and bring back stability to the war-ravaged nation.

Though al-Shabaab was pushed out of key towns in South and Central Somalia, the group has been able to hit high-profile targets in Mogadishu’s heavily fortified areas, including the national courts, the UN compound, the Turkish embassy, and popular gathering places. Since last year, al-Shabaab seems to have increased attacks on soft targets – shopping malls, hotels, tourist sites, bus stops, railway stations, and restaurants as well as religious venues and schools – both in Somalia and Kenya. On the issue of the formation of federal states, the Prime Minister stressed that the ongoing process of establishing a new state in the central region – which is at its last stages – indicates how the government is determined to implement federalism.

He also said that the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs is working on the amendment of the Provisional Constitution ahead of the national elections expected to be held next year. Prime Minister Sharmarke called on the parliament to approve the new, controversial appointment of Electoral, Boundaries and Judicial Service commissions. He did not comment on the statement from the regional administration of Puntland on the appointment of the nominations -accusing the federal government breaching the constitution. The three-month old cabinet faces many formidable challenges. One of them is the implementation of Vision 2016, which states that a national election should be held next year as one of its objectives. But prospects of success are overshadowed due to the period of time left.

Puntland Opposes Makeup Of Electoral, Boundaries And Judicial Commissions

09 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 165 Words

The semi-autonomous regional state of Puntland commented for the first time on the approval of members for the National Judicial Service, Boundaries Commission, and National Independent Electoral Commission by Somali cabinet ministers on Thursday. Puntland’s Deputy President Abdirahman Abdullahi Ameey speaking to reporters in Garowe said that the Puntland administration was not consulted in the appointment of the commissions, and that the Puntland leaders don’t recognize the commissions as de jure. He added that the “President of the Federal Government of Somalia should do consultation on the selection and the appointment of these commissions.” He underscored that the provisional constitution of the nation guides both the federal government and regional states, therefore all sides must respect and abide by the law. “As Puntland Administration, we always abide by the law in accordance with Article 111 of the Provisional Constitution, so we [are] here to inform the public that we (Puntland) have nothing to do with the so-called commissions appointed by Somali cabinet ministers,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

KDF, Border Police Unit On The Spot After Al-Shabaab Hijack Miraa Vehicle In Mandera

10 May – Source: Daily Nation – 427 Words

Members of the Mandera County Assembly have cried foul over what they term as the reluctance of Kenya military based at Damasa to act after vehicle carrying miraa was hijacked by armed men from neighbouring Somalia. The vehicle, according to Fino Ward representative Saad Sheikh Ahmed, was on its way to Mandera Town when gunmen numbering more than twenty waylaid it and drove it towards Kenya-Somalia border. He said after driving for a few meters, the vehicle overturned due to the poor state of the road and rains that have been pounding the area recently. The MCA and his Waranakara counterpart Mr Abdirashid Maalim Osman told the Nation that the hijackers then intercepted a bus coming from Lafey and ordered the passengers to put hijacked vehicle back on the road.

“The incidents happened at Sheikh Barow the same spot they hijacked three other vehicles last year. What we are wondering is where the KDF soldiers stationed at Damasa on the Somalia side were doing all this time,” said the Fino MCA. He said the county commissioner had sent police officers who were still pursuing the gunmen believed to be from Al-Shabaab militants from neighbouring Somalia. “These people had a lot of time to hijack the miraa vehicle and then wait for the bus from Lafey… the government is actually taking the security of Kenyans casually,” he said. The leaders decried the slow response by government officials anytime there is an attack in the area from suspected Al-Shabaab militants. Warankara Ward MCA Abdirashid Osman urged the Cabinet Secretary for Interior to recruit police officers from the area who can effectively engage attackers.

Feds Field Questions In Minneapolis From Somali-American community In ISIL-Related Case

10 May – Source: Star Tribune – 363 Words

For the first time since announcing charges against six Minneapolis men accused of conspiring to join overseas terrorists, U.S. Attorney Andy Luger fielded questions Saturday from Somali community members who have voiced concerns about the case. Luger and Richard Thornton, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Twin Cities division, met with about 100 Somali-Americans in south Minneapolis. Though they said they couldn’t talk specifically about the case, Luger and Thornton took on criticism from the community. Some members have suggested a paid informant entrapped the men as they allegedly planned to leave the country and join the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Luger and Thornton said informants and recordings of private conversations are staples of federal criminal investigations, key in pursuing drug, gang and white-collar crime cases. “We don’t entrap people,” said Luger. “We don’t set people up. It’s wrong. It’s contrary to what justice requires.” Sadik Warfa, an organizer of the event, said questions about the FBI investigation leading to the charges have swirled in the Somali community. Some have bashed the use of the informant, a friend of the men who offered to help them with an alleged attempt to leave the country earlier this year. “The community is very concerned about entrapment,” Warfa said. “We don’t want the trust in law enforcement to keep going down, down, down.” Luger pointed out that his office’s work is subject to scrutiny from federal judges and defense attorneys in open court.

Terror Attacks See Kenya’s Tourist Arrivals Fall 31% In First Quarter

10 May – Source: Daily Times/Xinhua News – 574 Words

Tourist arrivals in Kenya declined sharply in the first three months of the year amid increased attacks from the Al-Qaida affiliated terror group, the Al-Shabaab. The country received 177,085 tourists through its two main airports in Nairobi and Mombasa namely Jomo Kenyatta and Moi, which is a 31 percent decline compared to a similar period last year, latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows. The data releasedFriday gives a glimpse into how low fortunes in the sector have dwindled following persistent attacks from the Al-Shabaab. The Somali-based terror group has carried numerous attacks in Kenya, particularly in the northern part of the country, with the latest involving the massacre of 148 people at Garissa University College, including 142 students.

In January, according to KNBS in the monthly Leading Economic Indicators report for March, a paltry 50,953 tourists came into Kenya, down from 95,759 in 2014 and 111,984 in 2013. Of the tourists, the bulk 40,846 came through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while the rest, 10,107, through Moi International Airport. The number increased marginally to 53,053 in February, with JKIA recording 45,171 arrivals. Things warmed up for the industry in March, where a significant rise in tourist numbers was recorded. Some 73,079 tourists visited Kenya but this was a drop from 91,602 that came into the country in 2014. The downturn into the industry has hit the sector greatly, with Kenya experiencing the worst in many years as earnings drop and thousands lose jobs. Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudheiha) in a recent interview estimated that at least 28,000 of its members have lost their jobs. However, Kudheiha put the total job losses in the hotel and hospitality industry at over 40,000 workers, with about 50 hotels particularly at the Coast having been closed.

Gunmen Kill MP In Northern Somalia, Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility

09 May – Source: Xinhua News – 197 Words

A Somalia legislator was killed on Friday in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland by gunmen as he left a mosque after evening prayers, an attack the militant group Al-Shabaab had claimed responsibility. Saeed Nur Dirir, a close ally of the regions president Abdiwali Mohamed Ali Gas, becomes the second lawmaker from the region to be killed in a month after Adan Haji Hussein was felled by a gunshot in the country’s capital Mogadishu. Witnesses said the gunmen hurled grenades around the scene of the incident to cause confusion before fleeing.

President Gas on Saturday condemned the attacks noting that it will not stop his government’s resolve to fight terror and establish peace in the region. “We are determined to ensure there is lasting peace in our state. Such attacks cannot deter my government’s effort to development and peace in the region and the country at large,” Gas said. Puntland has suffered a string of attacks in the recent past which the militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. The militants have been operating in the mountainous regions of Galgala in Puntland, making it difficult for government forces to fight them.

Uganda Army Launches De-Radicalization Campaign

09 May – Source: VOA – 643 Words

A spokesman for Uganda’s People’s Defense Forces says the army has launched a de-radicalization campaign in an effort to thwart recruitment drives by terrorist groups, including the Somali-based Islamist group al-Shabab. Colonel Paddy Ankunda says the move came after the Allied Democratic Front – a terrorist group – began recruiting radical youths for al-Qaida in the region. Ankunda says the military aims to stop the terrorist recruitment by educating the population about activities of the group. “This is targeting areas where those who have been recruiting terrorists and would-be radicals have been operating, particularly in areas of central Uganda. What we’ve done now is to engage with the public to engage with the communities that are being targeted by the terrorists through campaign in the media to ensure that we show them the dangers of getting involved in radical activities,” he said. On Tuesday in New York, President Yoweri Museveni met with U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice and exchanged views on regional developments. Topics discussed include the importance of cooperation between the United States and Uganda to counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism in the region.

Ankunda hailed the significant support the UPDF receives from the U.S. government in the fight against terrorism. “The partnership between Uganda and the United States is very critical, considering the role that we are playing in the region to deal with these radical characters. Right from Somalia through to dealing with the Allied Democratic Forces and the Lord’s Resistance Army, operating now in the Central African Republic,” he said. “With the Lord’s Resistance Army, the partnership has yielded, so far so much including the recent surrender of Dominic Ongwen and his handing over to the International Criminal Court and we appreciate [it]. The united states support I think stands out above all the other countries as being very consistent in supporting those willing African partners to fight terrorism,” he said. Experts say the terrorist groups in the region have been using various social media platforms to radicalize and recruit young people to join them. But, Ankunda says President Museveni’s government has embraced social media as well as using traditional media platforms including radio and television in a bid to combat the activities of the terrorist groups.

Lure Of High-Risk Riches Too Strong For Somalia Refugees

09 May – Source: AFP/Yahoo News – 707 Words

On a good day, Salat Ahmed and his pregnant wife Sadiyo make two dollars (1.80 euro) selling kilogramme bundles of khat, a leafy green herb that is mildly narcotic when chewed. They run their business from a corrugated tin shack beside an extravagantly cratered dirt road in Ifo, one of five camps that together form the world’s largest refugee settlement, Dadaab in northeast Kenya. Most of their money goes on rent, food and medicine for them and their two young children, four-year old Farhiyo and her little brother Guled, aged two. But Ahmed’s dream is big, common and dangerous. He longs to join the exodus of mostly young men who make the arduous journey north overland through Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya, across the Mediterranean Sea and into Europe.

The European border control agency, Frontex, says over 284,000 migrants attempted to enter Europe in 2014, with at least a third coming from sub-Saharan Africa. More than 7,400 came from Somalia. “I dream of a life in Europe,” said Ahmed, who is 21. He knows all about the dangers. He has heard of the mass drownings — most recently of an estimated 900 people in a single tragedy — and of the money-hungry militias turning Libya into a facsimile of his own home country, Somalia. But he has also heard from friends who have made it, and he calculates the risk is worth taking. “I know about the difficulties, but if you compare them to the difficulties I already have here in the camp? They are more than that,” he said. “There’s no bright future here, for me or my children.” Ahmed is one of 350,000 Somali refugees living in the Dadaab refugee camps 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border. They have come to Kenya in waves since 1991, propelled by civil war and famine. The first arrivals fled their collapsing country as warlords wrested the state from dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Famine came after and more crossed the border.

OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE

“The closure of the Somali hawalas is triggered by concerns about financing terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab. The reality is that neither Al-Shabaab nor the remittance companies will suffer greatly by these closures. Al-Shabaab will thrive on the reactive measures that bolster its twisted ideology while the remittance businesses can write off the losses. It is the poor and defenseless population that has to deal with the aftermath of these hasty policies and find alternative paths for survival.”

Closure Of Remittance Firms Hurts The Poor

10 May – Source: Wardheer News – 1,057 Words

For more than two decades, on the first week of every month, I would find myself scrambling to send money to relatives in various cities, towns and village across the Somali territories and neighbouring countries. Despite my good intentions, I rarely succeeded in reaching my hawala (remittance firm) agent on time, though always mindful that too much delay could result in a family’s eviction or student’s suspension. This month, May 1st fell on a Friday and I resolved to discharge my responsibility after work and enjoy a guilt-free weekend. I had planned the evening well and prioritized the month’s beneficiaries: tuition for my nephew, income supplement for my half-sister and the semi-annual payment for my two sponsored boys in an orphanage in Garissa, Kenya. Unfortunately, that plan never materialized. It appeared that my Kenya-based family would not be receiving their money because of the closure of Somali remittance firms in Kenya – a policy response to Al-Shabaab’s recent massacre at the Garissa University College. I contacted my hawala agent who confirmed the news.

“Amid a groundswell of attention to the custom, the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau released a study this year estimating more than half a million women and girls in the United States have undergone cutting or are at risk — the first such estimate in more than a decade. Minnesota came in third among states, with an estimated 44,000 women and girls who have been cut or are at risk. Critics of the study argue that, because of legal and other hurdles, the risk is small in the United States. Nationally and in Minnesota, evidence of “vacation cutting” is anecdotal.”

Minnesota Somalis See Chance To Lead Fight Against Female Genital Cutting

09 may – Source: Star Tribune – 1,542 Words

Minnesota Somalis are setting out to end an ancient custom intended to keep girls virginal and marriageable. In Minneapolis, Fartun Weli enlists a congressman to condemn female genital cutting in a YouTube video. In St. Paul, Imam Hassan Mohamud advises families against flying daughters to Africa for the ritual. And in Somalia’s Puntland region, Anisa Hajimumin, a Hamline University graduate, rolls out a ban on genital cutting. As the number of African immigrants in the United States has swelled recently, the century-old ritual has landed back in the national spotlight. A new federal law went into effect banning “vacation cutting,” the practice of taking girls out of the country to be circumcised; the Obama administration summoned a task force to combat cutting here and overseas. Amid this surge in attention, some local Somalis see their community as a driving force in stamping out the practice around the world. Despite concerns that talking openly about the custom makes the community an easy mark for those looking to stigmatize it, a few have become outspoken activists in Minnesota or Somalia. Others have taken on the role of low-key cultural ambassadors, making their case privately with relatives or friends who might circumcise their daughters.

“The issue needs to be raised from the horse’s mouth,” said Weli, head of Isuroon, a statewide women’s health nonprofit based in Minneapolis. “There’s a leadership role we as a community have to take on.” In one of her signature smart jackets and long skirts, Weli stands before a large screen showing a drawing of female genitals. She is explaining cutting to an auditorium full of University of Minnesota medical students. In the practice’s more common forms, a portion or all of the clitoris and labia are removed. In the more extensive version practiced widely in Somalia, the labia are also stitched together to leave only a small opening. It’s a rite of passage into womanhood, meant to ensure girls stay chaste and marry well. “I myself went through this, and I still can’t look at it,” Weli says with a glance over her shoulder. “So scary looking!” Weli is here to tell the future physicians that patients like her need thoughtful care, not pity. Yes, this ritual can complicate the milestones of a woman’s life: the first period, the first sexual intercourse, the births of her children. Weli sometimes refers to it as genital mutilation, the term favored by activists. But cutting becomes a part of women’s identities, and Weli tells the students, “You learn to live with it. You can’t feel sorry for me.” With a rate of female genital cutting of more than 95 percent, by latest United Nations estimates, Somalia has the highest rate of 28 African and Middle Eastern countries that practice the ritual, in Muslim and Christian communities alike. But by all accounts, in Minnesota — among the first states to ban the practice in 1994 — the Somali community has largely broken with it.

“He called on the international community to address the root causes of the problems in Somalia, pointing out that the international activity in Somalia had been humanitarian focused for 25 years. “Humanitarian assistance is a band aid that allows us only to keep people alive,” said Mr. Lazzerini, calling for a durable solution for IDPs.”

Somalia Remains One Of The Largest, Most Complex Emergencies, Says Country’s UN Relief Coordinator

08 May – Source: UN News Centre – 482 Words

In New York to update Member States and partners on the humanitarian and development situation in Somalia, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia said the “multi-faceted” challenge presented by Somalia is different to that posed in other countries. “We are dealing with a country putting things together again,” said Philippe Lazzarini. “We have a post-conflict situation but we also have a conflict existing. We have military operations but we also have different stages of recovery and development.” That meant that aid delivery remained incredibly dangerous, and Mr. Lazzerini had described to UN Member States the challenges of delivering humanitarian assistance, as highlighted by the attack three weeks earlier in northern Somalia on UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) workers, where four lost their lives and five were wounded. “I think it’s an understatement to say that Somalia remains one of the largest and most complex emergencies in the world,” he said, pointing to figures, such as the fact that three million people need humanitarian assistance or livelihood support, among whom 740,000 are unable to meet food needs, as well as 200,000 children who are severely malnourished.

He stressed the vulnerability of the one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country, whose vulnerability made them “pariahs among pariahs” as they continued to live in appalling conditions. Mr. Lazzerini underlined Somalia’s susceptibility to natural disasters and food insecurity and said it was still too early to say whether the harvest would be sufficient or not. The country also faced challenges due to a money transfer operator ceasing operations there and he pointed out that 40 per cent of Somalia’s population is dependent on remittances. He said they accounted for between $1.3 and $1.5 billion of annual gross domestic product (GDP) and amounted to twice the value of the international humanitarian effort. Mr. Lazzerini also pointed to several achievements including the arresting of a polio outbreak. After a large number of cases was found, there followed “sustained mobilization of the aid community” and the vaccination of 4 million people to put an end to the outbreak. While the country was not polio free, there had been no new cases since August 2014.