May 17, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somali Prime Minister says Puntland entitled to ‘constitution response’
17 May – Source: Garowe Online/Universal TV – 158 words
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas said that the elders’ conference in Mogadishu is continuing as planned and that the delays are not due to disagreement between Puntland and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Garowe reports.
Last week the Puntland government released a response on the Somalia draft constiutuion requesting that the draft constitution be revised and amended. Prime Minister Gaas who spoke to Universal TV on Wednesday said that the Puntland government is entitled to express questions and constraints about the draft constitution.
“Of course as a federal state and a very important region in Somalia, they have the right to request amendments or revision of certain articles they have an issue with,” said Prime Minister Gaas.
Contrary to what some news agencies in Somalia are saying, Abdirahman Omar Osman (Yarisow) spokesman for the TFG said Wednesday that the elders’ conference in Mogadishu has delayed but Puntland’s concerns with the Somalia draft constitution are not the cause of setback.
Key Headlines
- Somali Prime Minister says Puntland entitled to ‘constitution response’ (Garowe Online/Universal TV)
- Somali Gov’t forces clash with al Shabaab in Gedo region (Shabelle)
- Army gets more skills to fight al Shabaab (Daily Monitor)
- Somali forces advance on rebel-held villages near Hudur (Radio Shabelle/Mareeg Online)
- 3 dead as government soldiers exchange fire in Mogadishu (Shabelle)
- UPDF hosts African army commanders (New Vision)
- Police seize ammunition and laptop after Mombasa attack (Coast Week/Xinhua)
- In Somalia TEDxMogadishu conference aims to shift focus to capital’s rebirth (Toronto Star)
- Royal Navy attack Somali pirates ( Ports Mouth)
- Tycoon donates $1.43m to free abducted sailors (Gulf Today)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali Gov’t forces clash with al Shabaab in Gedo region
17 May – Source: Shabelle – 182 words
Fierce fighting between the Islamist fighters of al Shabaab aligned with al Qaeda and TFG troops alongside with Ahlu Sunna militias broke out in the Somalia’s south western region of Gedo overnight, killing two civilians, witnesses told Shabelle Media on Thursday. Witnesses said that the fighting started in and around Garbaharey town, the provincial capital of Gedo region, causing damages to water wells used by locals.
Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, the Spokesman of Ahlu Sunna told Shabelle Media via phone that the militants have completely destroyed several water wells inside the town following their attack against Garbaharey.
“We repulsed the attacking militants soon after we were informed that al Shabaab fighters are planning assault on the town. During the combat, al Shabaab destroyed waters wells that locals used to fetch water to drink for their children and livestock,” he added.
Somali Prime Minister says Puntland entitled to ‘constitution response’
17 May – Source: Garowe Online/Universal TV – 158 words
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas said that the elders’ conference in Mogadishu is continuing as planned and that the delays are not due to disagreement between Puntland and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Garowe reports.
Last week the Puntland government released a response on the Somalia draft constiutuion requesting that the draft constitution be revised and amended. Prime Minister Gaas who spoke to Universal TV on Wednesday said that the Puntland government is entitled to express questions and constraints about the draft constitution.
“Of course as a federal state and a very important region in Somalia, they have the right to request amendments or revision of certain articles they have an issue with,” said Prime Minister Gaas. Contrary to what some news agencies in Somalia are saying, Abdirahman Omar Osman (Yarisow) spokesman for the TFG said Wednesday that the elders’ conference in Mogadishu has delayed but Puntland’s concerns with the Somalia draft constitution are not the cause of setback.
Somali forces advance on rebel-held villages near Hudur
17 May – Source: Radio Shabelle/Mareeg Online – 109 words
Forces under The Transitional Federal Government backed by Ethiopian troops are approaching towards al Shabaab strongholds around Hudur district, the capital of Bakol region in southern Somalia and , an official and locals said on Thursday.
Ahmed Sheikh Mohammed, a Somali MP told Shabelle Media that heavily armed Somali government troops with battlewagons have moved on Wednesday night to conquer several al Shabaab controlled areas near Hudur district.
“If God wills, we will be in the rest of rebel-held locations near Hudur soon. We are only 10km away,” the Lawmaker, told Shabelle Media by phone from the town.
Somaliland military tribunal sentences 17 to death, 5 others receive jail terms
16 May – Source: Somaliland Press/Jowhar Online/BBC Somali Service – 115 words
A military tribunal in Hargeisa has sentenced more than 17 civilians to death by firing squad over the killing of three policemen. The ruling follows deadly clashes in eastern Hargeisa on Tuesday that left more than seven dead including three policemen and scores of others hurt.
The clashes erupted when government forces including the newly-formed and British-sponsored tactical force known as Resistant Reaction Unit (RRU) were deployed in a disputed plot of land on early hours.
Residents in the area confronted the force with weapons and the two sides exchanged fire escalating to an all out war. This was the single bloodiest day in Hargeisa since the 2008 coordinated car-bombings that left more than twenty people dead.
Pirates threaten to kill hostages if attacked
16 May – Source: Somalia Report/Radio Kulmiye – 406 words
After European anti-piracy naval forces (known as EU NAVFOR) carried out their first air strike on Somali soil destroying speedboats and step ladders belonging to the pirates in Harardhere district of Mudug region, Somali pirates threatened to kill the hostages if they are attacked again, according to pirates in Harardhere who spoke Somalia Report on Wednesday evening.
Ali Mumin, a pirate from the Ilays group which released the Italian-flagged MV Savina Caylyn for $11.5M last year, explained the ultimatum.
“They attacked us last night and destroyed two speedboats, and three step-ladders, but there weren’t any casualties. We will not allow them to attack us again. Next time our response will be to kill the hostages we hold. We have a lot of hostages so if they want them to live, they will stop these airstrikes,” he told Somalia Report. Omar, a pirate in Harardhere who refused to give the name of the group to which he is aligned, also vowed retaliation.
Hundreds of al Shabaab officers complete military training
16 May – Source: Amiir Nuur/ Somalia Report/ Somali Memo/Somali Midnimo – 63 words
The pro-al Shabaab website claimed that the militant group has completed training for young Islamist officers selected from various al Shabaab Mujahideen administrations in southern Somalia. The young officers had actual fighting experience at the front-lines and they will be trained as officers that will lead al Shabaab militia. The foreign troops and their supporters are worried about the new military strategy of al Shabaab of training young officers with actual fighting experience.
3 dead as government soldiers exchange fire in Mogadishu
17 May – Source: Shabelle – 129 words
Somali government soldiers have exchanged a deadly gunfire in Mogadishu on Wednesday night, killing three soldiers according to witnesses. Reports say that the infighting came as two government soldiers disagreed over vehicles looted from civilians that led to confrontation between the military and police forces of the transitional government at Howlwadag junction.
The incident caused the death of three among them police officers during the clash and the movement of the traffic and business in the areas was halted as the clash continued there for a while. The latest reports in the areas say that the situation returned normal after government troops had intervened the warring sides.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Army gets more skills to fight al Shabaab
17 May – Source: Daily Monitor – 307 words
Uganda has expanded its military training module for its peacekeepers going to Somalia by including open space warfare tactics in preparation to launch offensive against al Shabaab militants in the open terrain outside Mogadishu.
The commandant of Peace Support Operations Training Centre, Col. Stephen Kashure, told African land forces commanders currently attending a summit in Kampala that the training formerly focused more on urban warfare but the expansion would help the peacekeepers cope with planned battles outside heavily built Mogadishu.
The UPDF operations will mark the beginning of the second phase of the mission, expanding frontiers outside Mogadishu. At least 1,700 UPDF soldiers are undergoing training in Singo Military Army Training Base in Nakaseke District before they are deployed to Somalia in August.
UPDF hosts African army commanders
17 May – Source: New Vision – 309 words
African military chiefs Wednesday visited the UPDF Peace Support Operations Centre in Singo and witnessed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers undergoing training for the mission in war-torn Somalia.
The visiting officers, who included commanders of land forces watched simulations of how the Ugandan soldiers respond to enemy attacks on its convoys and foot patrols while on missions such as that in Somalia. UPDF soldiers soon to be deployed to Somalia under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), held combat drills under US, French and Belgian military instructors.
According to Col. Steven Kashure the commandant of Singo, the centre conducts battle group command training, small arms training, tactical combat and driving training as well as re-orientation and post-mission training for former peacekeepers. The centre has so far trained ten Ugandan battle groups, seven of which have so far been deployed on peacekeeping missions in Somalia, according to Col. Kashure.
He said the passed-out officers and men have contributed to distinguished performances in peacekeeping missions which have earned UPDF a high commendation among African national armies. Brigadier General Alie Sesay, the Joint Force Commander of the Sierra Leone army said the West African nation would be ready to contribute troops to the AMISOM peacekeeping mission next month (June).
Police seize ammunition and laptop after Mombasa attack
17 May – Source: Coast Week/Xinhua – 862 words
Kenya’s anti-terrorism police have impounded a laptop and nine rounds of ammunition from a luggage belonging to the suspect who was among the victims of the Tuesday’ s night attack in Mombasa that has left one person dead and four others injured.
Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said the laptop belonging to the 30-year-old Thabit Jamal Din Yahya, a Nubian, contains “crucial” information that will assist in their investigations into the attack at the popular Bella Vista Night Club. “The information in the laptop includes his whereabouts and links with other suspects both in Kenya and outside.
Tycoon donates $1.43m to free abducted sailors
17 May – Source: Gulf Today – 380 words
In a bid to seek the release of seven Pakistani crew members aboard the MV Albedo, hijacked by Somali pirates, Chairman Bahria Town Malik Riaz Hussain on Wednesday announced his intention to pay Rs130 million ($1.43m) to buy their freedom.
Malik Riaz asserted that he was helping Pakistani hostages out of sympathy and sincerity, as their distraught families had been waiting for their loved ones for far too long. The chairman further held that his Pakistani brothers were in danger and that all resources should be made available to rescue them.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
In Somalia, TEDxMogadishu conference aims to shift focus to capital’s rebirth
16 May – Source: Toronto Star – 294 words
Combating terrorism, piracy, poverty, corruption and other seemingly insurmountable woes traditionally make up Somalia’s to-do list. That may change Thursday if organizers and participants of a TEDx conference are able to highlight another obstacle on the country’s road to recovery: Perception.
“We have a lot of challenges here but one of them is perception — perception that Mogadishu is still a place of war,” Liban Egal said from Mogadishu on Wednesday. “There are still security challenges, but it is a place now where you can do business.”
Egal speaks from experience as the country’s first independent banker. On Saturday, he officially opened the Mogadishu branch of the First Somali Bank — an alternative to the country’s government-operated central bank, crippled by years of corruption.
TEDx is the locally run, independent little sibling of the flashy and well-heeled TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference series, where seats to hear inspirational speakers can cost thousands.
Egal joined forces with filmmaker Sebastian Lindstrom and TEDx veteran Nate Mook to organize Thursday’s conference as a way to bring his story and others to the international stage.
The conference theme is “rebirth” and those on the ground in Mogadishu say despite all the dire headlines, that’s what happening in the capital. “As long as people feel secure enough to come back to the city and start to build their lives, the political will follow,” said Egal. “We don’t want to make the same mistake as they did in Iraq, where they put a lot of effort in the political process but forgot the people’s needs.”.
Royal Navy attack Somali pirates
17 May – Source: Ports Mouth – 94 words
In a huge explosion at sea, the Royal Navy deals a body blow to Somali pirates. The pirate skiff was blown out of the water by HMS Westminster’s Merlin helicopter, which shot at the vessel, setting fire to fuel tanks.
The pirate crew fled to another vessel before the attack and 12 were arrested without a fight by boarding teams from the Portsmouth-based frigate shortly after. It is one of three counter-piracy missions carried out by Westminster in a seven-month stint in the Indian Ocean. The photos of last month’s raid were released yesterday.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
Help Somalia combat piracy
17 May – Source: Gulf News – 192 Words
The first EU land action against Somali pirates was a welcome development as the European Union Naval Force (EU Navfor) used its expanded mandate for the first time to attack pirate bases on the Somali coast, which has become a safe haven where the pirates can auction their hostages and sell off their booty.
Somalia’s national structures have collapsed into vicious tribal fighting. Therefore it is important that military action against pirates runs alongside a concerted effort to rebuild the civil structures of Somalia, which was the topic of a conference in London in February when over 40 nations pledged to support nation building.
In Somaliland in the north west, and Puntland in the northeast, there are functioning local governments, which have established some order for their people. The problem is in the huge territories of the south where the dysfunctional Transitional Federal Government is backed by a military mission from the African Union against its powerful rival, the Islamist group al Shabaab. This is where a new start is urgent, and it is important that the valuable success of EU Navfor is matched by support for rebuilding effective government in Somalia.
“In the end, the only “cure” for Indian Ocean piracy will be stability and economic growth in Somalia. Not even the strongest citadel afloat can hold out till that distant day. But a global agreement among owners and global bodies like the IMO on standards and practices can make the wait less dangerous and costly.”
War on Somali Piracy Needs Rules and Impregnable Citadels
17 May – Source: Bloomberg – 731 Words
The 90th session of the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee, under way in London, will cover much territory, including passenger-ship safety (“Remember the Costa Concordia”), standards for voyage data recorders and the protection of crew members’ hearing from engine noise.
But the big topic is piracy, not just off the coast of Somalia — where there were 237 attacks last year, up from 219 in 2010 — but increasingly off western Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. The incidents cost the shipping industry, insurers, navies and law enforcement more than $7 billion in 2010.
Navies cannot efficiently police an Indian Ocean danger zone that is larger than Western Europe. The European Union forces’ aerial attack on a pirate supply line on the Somali coast on Tuesday was a swashbuckling raid, but will have little long-term benefit.
Picture Post: Take that, pirates!
16 May – Source: National Post – 172 Words
For many years they have been terrorizing everything that floats near the coast of Somalia. They have plundered, hijacked and killed unsuspecting sailors. But now, it seems the tables are finally turning on the infamous Somali pirates.
This image taken between March and April 2012 and released by Britain’s Royal Navy on Wednesday shows HMS Westminster using its guns to destroy a captured pirate whaler as the sailors disrupt piracy in the Indian Ocean. The ship is on a seven-month deployment to the region.
Not only are the pirates being attacked at sea, they are no longer safe in their caves either. European Union naval forces in attack helicopters conducted their first onshore raid on Tuesday on a suspected pirate lair in Somalia.
A pirate said the strike destroyed a supply center and set back operations. No deaths were reported in the Tuesday attack on Handulle village, about 18 kilometers north of Haradhere town, a key pirate lair. EU officials said forces did not go on land during the attack in Somalia.
Top tweets
@amal_leila Any conference regarding #Somalia should be on repairing the country, not #Mogadishu. Every city, town, village should have an equal voice @amal_leila.
@Aynte #alShabaab‘s American commander, Omar #Hammami, is alive & talking in #Somalia http://lnkd.in/
@MohamedMascud “Focus’s alwys on wht’s wrng in #Somalia, violence, warlords. Bt thr’s so much more. Thr r women in my country who wnt change” Fartun Adan.
@MinisterHashi #Puntland
@shephardm Ahmed Abdisalam Adan badly injured in attack May 1 but recovering. Shared @canadaCJFE award with friend Ali Sharmarke, killed 07′. #Somalia.
@mpsmith3 Smart foreign policy. Americans train Ugandans for #Somalia mission: http://
@SomaliYM #TEDx portray their views on the Rebirth of #Mogadishu today. Would you agree? Watch it Live at 12pm GMT on http://tedxmogadishu.com/
Image of the day
This photo released by Britain’s Royal Navy on Wednesday shows HMS Westminster using its guns destroy a captured pirate whaler in the Indian Ocean. Photo: Royal Navy