May 22, 2014 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

AU Special Representative calls for donor support towards Puntland’s priorities and development goals

21 May – Source: AMISOM – 218 words

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Mahamet Saleh Annadif has called on partners and the donor community to support the Puntland State in its priorities and development goals. Speaking during the Puntland Donor Roundtable Meeting, Ambassador Annadif noted that donor support is pivotal to the realization of Puntland’s immediate and long-term development needs, and creates an environment for sustainable peace and development in Somalia.

The AU Special Representative, the first AMISOM leader to travel to Garowe to engage on Puntland development issues, reiterated the importance of Puntland’s stability and its role in setting an example for the rest of Somalia. “I’m encouraged by the developments in Puntland. The last elections are significant proof of positive developments and I call on all Somalis to follow the example of Puntland.” he said.

On behalf of the Chairperson of AU Commission, Ambassador Annadif pledged the AU’s commitment to supporting the Puntland State in capacity building of its security forces especially training of the Police and the Army to tackle terrorism, piracy and human trafficking. The Donor Roundtable Meeting which was officially opened by the President of the Puntland State of Somalia, H.E. Abdweli Mohammed Ali Gaas was attended by representatives from the donor community, the World Bank and the United Nations.

Key Headlines

High level meeting between Puntland and donors opens in Garowe (RBC)
Conference on Tackling Radicalism opens in Djibouti (Somali Current)
Somalia makes another step in journey to 2016 election (Africa Review)
Two clans held reconciliation talks in Galgadud region (Bar-kulan)
Kenyan Police Search For Missing People After Shootout (Barnama News)
Somali National Intelligence presents captured al Shabaab members (Radio Mogadishu)
Pastorals and al Shabaab battle on Buloburde outskirts (Radio Shabelle)
Ugandan troops capture strategic town in Somalia (Shanghai Daily)
Somali foreign ministry receives delegates from Egypt (Radio Goobjoog)

PRESS STATEMENT

AU Special Representative calls for donor support towards Puntland’s priorities and development goals

21 May – Source: AMISOM – 218 words

Speaking during the Puntland Donor Roundtable Meeting, Ambassador Annadif noted that donor support is pivotal to the realization of Puntland’s immediate and long-term development needs, and creates an environment for sustainable peace and development in Somalia.

The Donor Roundtable Meeting which was officially opened by the President of the Puntland State of Somalia, H.E. Abdweli Mohammed Ali Gaas was attended by representatives from the donor community, the World Bank and the United Nations.

SOMALI MEDIA

High level meeting between Puntland and donors opens in Garowe

21 May – Source: RBC/Somali Mirror/Garowe Online/Puntland News – 135 words

Puntland president Abdiweli Ali Gas has launched a high level meeting between Puntland and the donors in Garowe, the capital of Puntland. The one day meeting was also attended by officials of the Federal Government of Somalia led by the Minister of Planning. According to President Gaas, the meeting will address numerous sectors including the security, development and the delivery of basic services, planning of aid assistance and improvement of the infrastructure. Participants from the international community include the United Nations office for Somalia, the UK’s international development department [DFID], the U.S, Turkish embassy, UAE embassy and local partners.

Conference on Tackling Radicalism opens in Djibouti

21 May – Source: Somali Current – 144 words

Djibouti President Ismail Omer Gelle, Minister of Djiboutian Religious Affairs Aden Hassan Aden, religious scholars from East African states have attended conference on tackling radicalism and fundamentalism as the religious scholars promised that they will conduct strategic research on the subject to have further analytical information on the radicalism ideology. Djiboutian president and his religious minister have called for the Ulima to release Fatwa on the Islamic perspective concerning militancy in order to tackle the increasing radicalism ideology. “As everybody here aware, the Islamic religion spread and reached to the East African countries before it even spread to the Islamic state Head Quarters of Madina Al-Munawara.

Two clans held reconciliation talks in Galgadud region

21 May – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 147 words

A meeting aimed at easing tensions between two clans in relation with disagreements over killings of several people in Dhabad and Bali-Adde villages in Galgadud region is underway in the area. Somali government’s representative in Dhabad village, Abdulle Galal told Bar-kulan that the officials have on Wednesday held separate talks with the elders representing the two clans. He said that the sides are expected to meet again in a wider reconciliation conference in an attempt to find a lasting solution to the clan disagreements in the region.

Somali National Intelligence presents captured al Shabaab members

21 May – Source: Radio Muqdisho/Goobjoog – 119 words

Somali National Intelligence Service have on Wednesday presented a journalist who was arrested by the security forces in a massive operation in Darkenley district. Mohamed Qassim Ahmed confessed that he was an al Shabaab member who was working with Andalus Radio in Kismayo between 2009 and 2010. He added that together with two other journalists Farhan and Ahmed carried out assassinations where two lawmakers were killed and another one wounded in Mogadishu last month. Qassim stated that only to create chaos al Shabaab top leaders ordered them to kill Ministers and parliamentarians while national security conference was going on in Mogadishu.

Pastorals and al Shabaab battle on Buloburde outskirts

21 May – Source: Radio Shabelle – 89 words

News reports from Buloburde district in Hiiraan region indicate that that a fierce confrontation eruptedWednesday between pastoralists and al Shabaab insurgents on the outskirts of the town. The territory known as Jameeco Mubarak is approximately 30km east of Buloburde and it was invaded by Islamist militants of the al Qaeda affiliated al Shabaab. The fighters demanded scores of money from pastorals in the town and then attacked them when they refused to pay the money. Witnesses described to Shabelle that in the battle, two were killed from the fighters and pastorals.

Somali foreign ministry receives delegates from Egypt

21 May- Source: Radio Goobjoog- 109 words

The ministry of foreign affairs of federal government of Somalia welcomed delegates from the republic Egypt who reached Mogadishu today. The director of foreign ministry Hersi Haji Ulusow told the media that the Egyptian delegates led by ambassador Khairudin Abdiladif came to Mogadishu to assess the expertise of the workers in the ministry. Mr. Khairudin who spoke to the media said that he is happy to visit Mogadishu to strengthen the eternal ties between the two nations . he promised that his country will continue its support to Somalia to restore law and order.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Somalia makes another step in journey to 2016 election

21 May – Source: Africa Review – 279 words

Somalia moved a step forward in its tough journey towards an election in 2016 with the election of a parliamentary team to finalise a constitutional draft. The sub-committee is expected to help push the realisation of Vision 2016–the holding of a universal suffrage vote. MP Abdi Ali Hassan was Wednesdayelected as the chair of the committee while Elmi Mohamed Nur will deputise him. The ballot took place at the Peoples’ Hall – the seat of the legislative house.

Somali Medical Association opens training for eye care professionals

21 May – Source: Al Shahid – 110 words

Somali Medical Association has on Tuesday opened a two-day training course to address the essential care and the prevention of eye related diseases for Somali ophthalmologists and eye care professionals. Dr. Osman Aden Ade said that the training course is aimed at improving the skills and the capacity of the professionals that provide eye or vision related medical services in the country. He added that the training course is being offered by doctors from Sudan and promised that Somali Medical Association will continue to offer similar trainings to the Somali medical professionals. It is the first time in recent history that training for eye care professionals held in Somali territory.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Kenyan Police Search For Missing People After Shootout

21 May – Source: Bernama – 196 words

Kenyan security personnel have mounted a search for seven people who have gone missing following a shootout Tuesday morning in Mandera in northeastern Kenya, close to the country’s borders with Somalia and Ethiopia. The security personnel are trailing suspected al Shabaab militia after they hijacked some vehicles from Kenya, says Administration Police Spokesman Massoud Mwinyi. He told the kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) by telephone Tuesday that those missing consisted of three police officers and four Kenya police reservists. On Monday, the suspected Al-Shabaab Islamic militants, who are active in Somalia, attacked convoys in two separate incidents.

Ugandan troops capture strategic town in Somalia

21 May – Source: Shanghai Daily/Xinhua – 384 words

Ugandan troops have captured a strategic town from Somali militants al Shaabab in the volatile Horn of Africa country, a top military official said here Wednesday. Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, Chief of Ugandan Defense Forces, told reporters here that the Ugandan contingent captured Koroyel, about 250 kilometers from the capital, Mogadishu. “The boys are doing very well. We are encouraged by what we see in Somalia, not only our successes on the ground but also the response by the Somali community,” said Katumba.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Abdiwahab often arrives at the scene of a suicide bombing but doesn’t photograph much of anything. “Sometimes you cannot bear holding a camera,” he says, acknowledging that his prerogative to help others in their final moments of life is frequently the most important role he plays.”

‘SOMETIMES YOU CANNOT BEAR HOLDING A CAMERA’

21 May – Source: Al Jazeera America – 1128 Words

Our eyes tend to turn to the Horn of Africa only when things go badly. And often, for readers of the world’s media outlets, it is through the lens of Mohamed Abdiwahab that we see Somalia. Since 2011, the 27-year-old Mogadishu-based freelance photographer has transmitted 825 images to Agence France-Presse, the world’s oldest news-wire agency. More often than not, they capture an unpalatable brutality. Sometimes Abdiwahab’s images are transmitted around the globe, gracing the front page of The New York Times; other times they’re deemed too gruesome for publication. One in every three of his photographs transmitted by the wires document the aftermath of a deadly attack in the Somali capital. Of his images, 132 — nearly 17% — were made in the particularly harrowing moments following a suicide bombing. Abdiwahab has even photographed the aftermath of car bombs on the same day of consecutive years. His work is both forensic and explanatory, rendering in sharp contrast the morbid details precisely suited for the photographic medium: severed limb and bloody mist, victims so mutilated as to be barely recognizable as human.