May 14, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somali gov’t to take control of Somalia airspace end of year

13 May – Source: Raxanreeb/Shabelle/Radio Kulmiye – 199 words

Somali government has announced on Sunday that it is preparing to take over the control of its airspace by the end of this year, The Minister of Information, Posts, Telecommunications and Transportation said. The minister and other government officials met on Sunday in Mogadishu with officials from the United Nations Development Program and representatives from Civil Aviation Caretaker Authority of Somalia (CACAS) based in Nairobi. The meeting officially declared transfer supervision of the country’s airspace to Somalia federal government in Mogadishu. “We have agreed that the federal government of Somalia to be prepared to take over its responsibilities of the control of its airspace by 31st December 2013,” Abdullahi Elmoge Hersi told reporters in Mogadishu after the Sunday’s meeting.

Key Headlines

Somali gov’t to take control of Somalia airspace end of year ( Raxanreeb/Shabelle/Radio Kulmiye)
Joint troops remove mine planted on Jowhar Bridge (Bar-kulan)
Parents of al Shabaab commanders detained by Somaliland Authorities (Shabelle)
Mogadishu mayor speaks over land dispute saga (Bar-kulan)
Riots In Burao Civilan Casualties & Situation Still Volatile (Qarannews/Garowe Online)
World Bank: Viable Somali State Needed to End Piracy (Al Shahid)
Somalia: Oil thrown on the fire (Financial Times)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali gov’t to take control of Somalia airspace end of year

13 May – Source: Raxanreeb/Shabelle/Radio Kulmiye – 199 words

Joint troops remove mine planted on Jowhar Bridge

13 May – Source: Bar-kulan – 94 words

The Somali government troops and AU peacekeeping forces have together successfully removed a landmine which had been planted on Abshir Ali Gure bridge in Jowhar town of Lower Shabelle region in Southern Somalia today. A senior security official of the Somali government told Bar-kulan that the troops removed the mine after one of the local residents informed the government troops that a mine had been planted on the bridge. The official accused al Shabaab insurgents of being behind this terror attempt, adding that they aimed to harm the innocent residents who use the bridge.

Parents of al Shabaab commanders detained by Somaliland Authorities

13 May – Source: Shabelle – 54 words

The Somaliland administration have detained the parents of two al Shabaab top commanders. Reports from Hargeisa confirm that the parents of Ahmed Abdi Godane and Ibrahim Afghan have been jailed by Somaliland authorities. Anti-terror police and CID police arrested the parents of the two militant leaders and asked them about the whereabouts of their sons.

Mogadishu mayor speaks over land dispute saga

13 May – Source: Bar-kulan – 117 words

Banadir region governor who is also the Mogadishu mayor Mohamud Ahmed Nur (Tarsan) has warned Banadir law court from handling cases concerning disputed land in the capital without the notice of the Banadir region administration. Speaking at the event in London, Mogadishu mayor indicated that a committee on disputed land has been appointed to handle such cases. Tarsan stated that the appointed committee for the disputed land will ensure that everyone claiming to own land in the capital has to submit the legal document showing this ownership of that particular land. Adding that the after cases are handled by the committee then it will forward the outcome of what they have viewed to the Banadir law court.

Riots In Burao, Civilan Casualties & Situation Still Volatile

13 May – Source: Qaran News/Garowe Online/Bar-kulan – 124 words

A demonstration which began in front of the Burao municipal offices has turned deadly when members of the Somaliland Police’s Rapid Response Unit (RRU) began to use live ammunition to disperse the crowd resulting in the death of a young man sitting at a nearby cafe. The administration of President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud “Silaanyo” has been quick to use lethal force in dealing with demonstration and this is not a first time that civilian casualties have occurred as a result of this heavy handed response. According to our reporters in the city, the situation became even more volatile when word spread of the killing of the young man by ammunition from the RRU unit and subsequently the demonstration took a turn for the worse.

REGIONAL MEDIA

World Bank: Viable Somali State Needed to End Piracy

13 May – Source: Al Shahid – 161 words

The World Bank says the only way to end piracy off Somalia’s coast is to create a viable Somali state. In a report Thursday, the World Bank says delivering essential services to the entire country, reducing poverty, and creating opportunity are keys to ending the problem. The report notes Somali pirates have pulled in an average of more than $50 million per year in ransom payments since 2005. Pirate activity has dropped sharply over the past two years but the report says it continues to affect the economies of neighboring countries – particularly in the areas of tourism and fishing exports. The report says current anti-piracy measures such as international naval patrols and armed guards on ship are costly and may not be sustainable. The report notes that Somali pirates rely heavily on onshore support from government officials, business people, clan elders, militias and local communities in order to secure regular access to the coast where they keep their hijacked ships.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia: Oil thrown on the fire

13 May – Source: Financial Times – 180 words

After an absence of more than 30 years, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed has returned to Somalia, the country of his birth. Last year he gave up his job as a civil servant in the housing sector in Canada to take up a position as one of only 10 ministers in Mogadishu’s new, slimline cabinet. As minister for natural resources in a dysfunctional country divided by a continuing war, he has to oversee a bulging portfolio that includes water, agriculture, the environment and livestock. As if that were not enough, his brief now also includes hydrocarbons just as Somalia – and east Africa more broadly – has become one of the most attractive frontiers in oil exploration for leading companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips. “The president and I have discussions every day about oil,” says Mr Mohamed in his office that looks out at the Indian Ocean across the tumbledown city of Mogadishu. Late last year, Somalia caught the attention of foreign oil companies by announcing it intended to auction some of 308 newly delineated oil blocks this year.

Rapes on rise in Somaliland, say medical officials

13 May – Source: AP – 219 words

An upsurge of gang rapes has hit the breakaway region of Somaliland – a normally peaceful enclave considered by many to be a sanctuary from Somalia’s decades of violence. Knife-wielding young men follow women along the dusty streets of Hargeisa, the capital of the region, dragging them inside buildings to rape and rob them. Children are among the victims. At least 84 women have been raped since the beginning of this year, according to rights activists and medical officials. “This year is more terrifying than last year when we were barely receiving two or three in each month. This year we are seeing a new victim for every day,” said a nurse at a hospital in Hargeisa. She insisted on anonymity because she is not authorized to release the details. “It’s rampant and victims are being attacked at homes, streets or anywhere now,” she said. The northern region of Somaliland declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1960, but it has not won international recognition as an independent state. Having escaped decades of conflict in Somalia, Somaliland employs its own security and police forces, justice system and currency.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Turkey has won respect among Somalis for its bold humanitarian efforts – respect it hopes will translate into economic opportunity. In the newest scramble for Africa, Turkey is playing to its strengths, and unsettling its rivals.”

Somalia: ‘The Tears of Somalia’: Turkey’s ‘Moral’ Foreign Policy

13 May – Source: All Africa – 3183 Words

‘The tears that are now running from Somalia’s golden sands into the Indian Ocean must stop’ declared Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2011, following a highly charged visit to Mogadishu at the height of the 2011 Somali Famine. The Turkish Prime Minister had arrived to a rock star’s welcome in the Somali capital – at every stop his motorcade was greeted by crowds shouting ‘Soo dhawoow Turkey’ (Welcome Turkey). Turkish flags adorned the city, and mothers promised to name their sons ‘Tayyip’ and their daughters ‘Istanbul’. Erdogan was the first non-African premier to visit Somalia in twenty years.