May 30, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Chinese naval escort taskforce wraps up escort mission for WFP ship

30 May- Source: People’s Daily Online- 139 words

The guided missile destroyer “Changchun” of the 17th escort taskforce of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) completed a successful escort mission with the“Nawa 3”, a ship belonging to the World Food Program (WFP), which reached the sea area near Somalia’s Bossaso Port on May 24 2014, carrying humanitarian relief materials.

This is the eighth occasion on which a Chinese naval escort taskforce has escorted a ship carrying humanitarian aid on behalf of the WFP. Throughout the journey the “Changchun”provided an escort to the Nawa 3, deploying its weapons to ensure the safety of the escorted ship, and guaranteeing its communications.

Key Headlines

Somalia: Intelligence Finds outs Plans of al Shabaab (Radio Mogadishu)
Al Shabaab executes three men in Lower Shabelle region (Radio Bar-kulan)
Somaliland’s ruling party officials arrested (Hiiraan Online)
Ethiopian Embassy on Alert against Explosion (Radio Dalsan)
Somali physician nominated candidate for ‘Nobel Prize’ (Hiiraan Online)
Minister of Information Relaunches Somali Pop Idol in Mogadishu (Horseed Media)
Canadian family donates kit to Kismayo airport marshaller in Somalia (Horn Post)
KDF Not Leaving Kismayo (intelligencebriefs)
Somaliland: VP Sayli Opens New Ultra-Modern Studios for SLNTV (Somaliland Sun)
AMISOM Gender unit conducts media awareness workshop on the Somalia Draft National Gender Policy and Gender Based Violence (AMISOM)
Five named to review Somali provisional constitution (Africa Review)
Kenya: Police accused of hurting refugees (Daily Nation)
Chinese naval escort taskforce wraps up escort mission for WFP ship (People’s Daily Online)
Kenya: Police accused of hurting refugees (Daily Nation)
Women’s basketball restarts in Somalia after 24 years (AFP)
UN Mission in Somalia to stay (CCTV Africa)
UN’s Kenya meeting to go ahead (AFP)
Living And Dying In The Crosshairs Of A Holy War: Jihad In Kenya (VICE News)
THY official shot dead in Somalia is laid to rest in İstanbul (Todays Zaman)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somalia: Intelligence Finds outs Plans of al Shabaab

30 May- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SNTV/Radio Dalsan-74 words

The commander of the National Security Agency of Somalia Bashiir Ahmed Jaama alias Bashiir Goobe said the security intelligence found out that al Shabaab are planning to carry out more attacks in the country during the month of Ramadan. He added that he alerted the security agencies on this so that they can be alert against attacks and explosions by al Shabaab. Last years, al Shabaab have announced a war which they called “Nihayatul-Mu`tadiin” which affected Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab executes three men in Lower Shabelle region

30 May- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Risaala/Radio Star/Radio Shabelle- 110 words

Somalia’s al Shabaab militant group has executed three men accused of being spies for the federal government of Somalia and the neighboring Ethiopia in Bulo-Mareer location, Lower Shabelle region. Two of those executed, Ali Isak Abdi and Osman Mahad Osman were accused of being Somali government spies while the third man, Marale Maallim Ali Abdirahman was accused of spying for the Ethiopian government. The three were executed at a public park in Bulo-Marer where hundreds of people gathered to witness the execution following the group’s announcement of the execution exercise.
The execution of the three accused spies took place on Thursday.

Somaliland’s ruling party officials arrested

30 May- Source: Hiiraan Online- 235 words

Amid increasing political turmoil within the ruling party of Somaliland, Kulmiye, three high ranking officials of the Party have been taking to custody. This has been confirmed by Mr. Muse Bihi, Kulmiye Chairman on Thursday

The officials were arrested for siding with the ruling Kulmiye party leader Muse Bihi who has been challenging the incumbent president of the breakaway region, Ahmed Silanyo.

Reports indicate that the detained officials were attending a political meeting to show support for Mr. Bihi who recently declared his intention to run for Somaliland’s presidency.

The jailed officials were identified as: the governor of Saaxil region, Halac Dhagoole local MP Dahir Aw-Nur and Rashid Aw-Hassan who were taken by police as they gathered at a compound in the city of Ber-Bera to talk to their supporters.

Ethiopian Embassy on Alert against Explosion

30 May- Source: Radio Dalsan- 93 words

The Ethiopian Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia is on high alert against explosions and attacks from Al Shabaab. The Deputy Ambassador of the Ethiopian Embassy in Somalia Jamaaludiin Mustafa Omar told the media that they are taking precautions against attacks from al Shabaab. Mr. Jamaaludiin pointed out that the embassy will not be moved from where it is at the moment and that they will defend themselves from any danger from Al Shabaab. Al Shabaab recently said they will attack the countries which sent troops to Somalia and all the foreign embassies in Mogadishu.

Somali physician nominated candidate for ‘Nobel Prize’

30 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 199 words

The Giuseppe Pitrè International Institute in the Italian city of Palermo announced that it has nominated a well known physician, Dr. Osman Mahamud Dufle, as its candidate for Nobel Peace Prize. The institute also presented awards to several doctors from the Banadir Medical University in Somalia for the role they played in maintaining the country’s health services for over two decades, during which the country has been engulfed by a devastating civil war.

Professor Giuseppe Chambini, Chairman of Pitrè International Institute, announcing the candidacy of the Somali physician for the Nobel peace Prize, said that it was an honour for his institute to nominate Dr. Dufle as their candidate. Prof. Chambini presented Somali physicians “Pitre Award.”

In an interview with the VOA, Dr.Osman Mohamud Dufle, said that the Institute nominated him because of his humanitarian role and other volunteer work he undertook during the 23 years of civil war in the country.

Minister of Information Relaunches Somali Pop Idol in Mogadishu

30 May – Source: Horseed Media – 137 words

Mustaf Duhulow, the Minister of Information last night re-launched the well known Singing Competition in Mogadishu Heesaha Hirgalay (Somali pop idol). The last time Somalia ran such a program was 1979.

The Minister said “Relaunching the Singing Competition will showcase the young people of the city’s talents and will bring forward new singers. And I am sure some of them will become famous Somali singers.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdirahman Baileh, the Minister of Information, Mustaf Duhulow and the Deputy Ministers of Post & Telecommunications and Information were present at the event as well as well known and well respected Somali singers such as Hibo Nuura, Barrow, Jiir, Sungub and others.

Minister of Information, speaking at the relaunch event said, “Young people came to me and said that they want to become singers but they needed help.

Somaliland: VP Sayli Opens New Ultra-Modern Studios for SLNTV

29 May – Source: Somaliland Sun – 6 words

The Somaliland National Television-SLNTV has enhanced its production capacities after acquiring new studios. This development follows the official opening of a fully equipped ultra-modern studio at the station’s Hargeisa premises during a ceremony officiated by Vice president Abdirahman Abdilahi Sayli.

Upon a brief on the diversified developments affected in the country by the administration of his boss President Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo which he termed unprecedented the VP, congratulated the ministry of information, culture and guidance for successful implementation of the studio and theatre construction and equipping.

AMISOM Gender unit conducts media awareness workshop on the Somalia Draft National Gender Policy and Gender Based Violence

28 May- Source: AMISOM-253 Words

The Gender Unit of the African Union Mission in collaboration with the Somali Ministry of Gender and Human Rights conducted an awareness workshop on the Somali Draft National Gender Policy and Gender Based Violence for Somali media practitioners.

Speaking on behalf of the African Union Special Representative for Somalia (SRCC) Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the Deputy SRCC, Mrs. Lydia Wanyoto Mutende in her opening remarks urged the participants to take the opportunity to identify challenges and translate them into strategies to report violence against women and children and tackle gender stereotypes.

“Today’s awareness event can have a great impact in shifting attitude towards gender stereotypes and take initiatives such as gender-sensitive language guidelines for editors and reporters to decrease gender disparities and gender based violence,” she added.

During the forum, the participant’s identified key opportunities, challenges and strengths allowing them to develop a deeper understanding of the role the media can play in raising public awareness on gender issues and the fight against gender based violence to give a voice to the people who most need it.

The Africa Union Mission in Somalia is engaged in strategic gender mainstreaming in all area of operations as it continues to support the Federal Government of Somalia achieve sustainable peace and stability. The event ended with a common declaration from the Media industry in disseminating the Gender Policy, joining the fight against GBV and using this forum as an entry point to develop a media strategy for a gender editorial policy to be developed and implemented.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Canadian family donates kit to Kismayo airport marshaller in Somalia

30 May- Source: Horn Post-730 Words

In a rare gesture of kindness, a Canadian family donated airport gear to a Kismayo airport marshaller after they were moved by his story of working without proper gear which was published in the African Union Peacekeepers in Somalia, AMISOM twitter page in January.

Canadian economist, Sean Paterson from Salmon in British Colombia who is a chief technical advisor working for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO,) says after reading the story of 63 year old Adan Mohamed his 14 year old son Noah Jordan asked him what they could do for the poor old Somalia airport marshaller.

The story moved Sean and his son Noah so much that they decided to buy the kits themselves.

They spent $ 35 Canadian dollars to buy a reflector jacket, a pair of reflector gloves and paint and used some of their free time to make two luminous red reflector sticks using wood for Mohamed Adan, the marshaller to use for directing planes during taxing and take off at the Kismayu international airport in southern Somalia.

KDF Not Leaving Kismayo

30 May- Source: intelligencebriefs.-316 words

Kenya Defense Forces may be in Kismayo for the long haul, intelligence sources report after African Union Mission for Somalia AMISOM changed an earlier stance that sought the removal of Kenya Defense Forces from the port city of Kismayu.

Djibouti forces were to be deployed to Kismayu to replace the KDF who took the port city through an amphibious strike force in an operation code named sledge hammer.

AMISOM have denied the existence of these plans, an indicator of change of heart about who gaurds a highly volatile and violence prone port and region.

Five named to review Somali provisional constitution

29 May – Source: Africa Review – 147 words

A team of five prominent persons has been appointed to review Somalia’s provisional constitution. The team was named by a council of ministers led by Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Thursday. The Cabinet proceeded to endorse the names that were tabled by the ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

A statement released after the Cabinet meeting named the law review team members as Ms Aisha Ghelle Dirie, Prof Hassan Omar Mahadalle and Mr Osman Jama Ali (Kalluun). Others are Mr Mohamed Abdalla Salah and Mr Hassan Hussein Haji.

Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir stated that it took his office a lot of time to select individuals with the capacity to lead the review and completion of the provisional constitution. The proposed constitution will then be subjected to a nationwide referendum. “I thank my fellow ministers for overwhelmingly supporting my ministry’s nomination,” said Mr Abdulkadir.

Kenya: Police accused of hurting refugees

29 May- Source: Daily Nation- 327 words

Kenyan security forces waged a campaign of torture, extortion and forceful deportations targeting the Somali during the recent crackdown on suspected terrorists and illegal immigrants, a global human rights body has claimed.

Amnesty International claims that hundreds of Somalis were forcibly rounded up, tortured and deported or taken to refugee camps in northern Kenya during the crackdown dubbed ‘Operation Usalama Watch.’

The government, through the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Coordination, Mr Joseph ole Lenku, has previously rubbished claims that the operation targeted the Somali community.

The rights group in its report published on Tuesday and titled “Somalis are scapegoats in Kenya’s counter terrorism crackdown”, accuses Kenyan security forces of arresting and detaining thousands of Somalis in deplorable conditions before forcibly deporting them to Somalia.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Chinese naval escort taskforce wraps up escort mission for WFP ship

30 May- Source: People’s Daily Online- 139 words

Women’s basketball restarts in Somalia after 24 years

30 May- Source: AFP- 00:59 sec

Women’s basketball teams have competed in a tournament in Mogadishu, the first in 24 years to be held in Somalia, a country that has for years been ravaged by civil wars and radical Islamist attacks.

UN Mission in Somalia to stay

29 May- Source: CCTV Africa-02:33mins

The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia, or UNisom is here to stay. The mission has been in the country a year now, and it’s mandate has now been extended. It focuses on several areas of peace- and nation-building, while the UN-backed African-Union force, AMISOM, is actively engaging Al-Shabaab militants. The UN in Somalia hopes the country will soon achieve political stability, despite the ongoing security concerns. CCTV’s Mohamed Hirmoge has more

UN’s Kenya meeting to go ahead

29 May – Source: AFP – 224 words

The United Nations said Thursday a major environmental conference would go ahead in the Kenyan capital next month despite mounting security fears and travel warnings from several nations. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, close to 100 ministers and a total of 1 200 delegates from around the world are due to attend the first ever UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi from June 23-27.

“My confidence in Kenya is unshaken,” Achim Steiner, a UN Under-Secretary-General and head of the UN’s Environment Programme (UNEP), the host of the event, told reporters. “It is also the responsibility of the international community not to be intimidated. This is a signal that our work is not compromised by issues of insecurity,” he said.

Nairobi as well as the port city of Mombasa have been the target of a string of bomb attacks in recent months blamed on Islamic militants with ties to Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab rebels, prompting the United States, Britain, France and Australia to issue new travel warnings.

The US embassy in Nairobi, which is located opposite the huge UN headquarters, has also raised security and is in the process of cutting staff numbers, while UN sources have said security at their compound has also been tightened. But Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Martin Kimani, said security was a “top-priority issue” ahead of the UN meeting.

Living And Dying In The Crosshairs Of A Holy War: Jihad In Kenya

29 May- Source: VICE News-22:46mins

A series of bloody attacks has rocked Kenya since the September 2013 Westgate mall massacre in Nairobi that left 67 people dead. Curiously, some recent victims in these attacks have been Muslim sheiks that were associated with al Shabaab, the jihadi group that took credit for the deadly Westgate attack. Even more curiously, all of the high-profile sheik murders have taken place in the same area in Mombasa, Kenya’s second largest city.

VICE News headed to Mombasa to speak with Abubaker Shariff Ahmed, the highest profile radical sheik in Kenya, before he was assassinated in April, and to get a close-up view of those living and dying in the crosshairs of a holy war being fought on Kenya’s streets.

THY official shot dead in Somalia is laid to rest in İstanbul

29 May – Source: Todays Zaman – 136 words

Sadettin Doğan, a Turkish Airlines (THY) security chief who was shot dead in an armed assault in Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu on Tuesday was laid to rest on Thursday.

Doğan was killed on Tuesday when gunmen attacked a car carrying THY officials in Mogadishu. He was chief of security for THY in the Somali capital, a city still beset by unrest and disorder amid sporadic attacks by al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab, and responsible for the safety of the company’s employees there.

On Thursday, Doğan’s body was taken from the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine (GATA) and brought to the Selimiye Mosque in İstanbul’s Üsküdar district, where a military ceremony was held in his honor. Later, Doğan was buried at the Çengelköy Graveyard. Doğan’s relatives, friends and colleagues attended the funeral. His mother had a nervous breakdown.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Somali Parliamentarians should always be a critical friend to investors, international partners and to the national government and Executive. They should scrutinise, debate and vote on the future of their nation. Nothing less is expected of them. However, with the Airport contract matter regarding the Turkish company Favori it was unprofessional to attack one of Somalia’s few international investors which happen to be working towards connecting it to the rest of the world.”

Somali MP’s: Don’t drive away our development partners

30 May- Source: Hiiraan Online-944 Words

The Somali parliament failed during the early part of this month, May 2014, to reach a decision regarding a contract signed by the Somali government awarding a Turkish company, Favori, the contract to manage the capital’s airport. The motion to revoke the contract was tabled by Somali parliamentarians who opposed it on the grounds that Parliament had not agreed it and that the former awarding Minister received a bribe making his decision null and void.

Despite all the noise and publicity, 90 out of 275 Somali lawmakers who ought to have discussed and voted on the matter attended Parliament on the day it was due to to debated. This, naturally, was not enough for the debate to go ahead. Why they had not turned up is to date unexplained.

Somali Parliamentarians inquiries and scrutiny of key issues of such national importance is a sign of progress and a shift towards dialogue over the violent confrontations of the past. However, on this matter they have been unprofessional and have played politics with our national interest.

“Pre and post-civil war trade relations between the two regions remains strong and the generation that were born after the civil war have not witnessed the major role the tradesmen and women from Hargeisa played in Mogadishu market.”

Safeguarding the Brotherhood between Mogadishu & Hargeisa

30 May- Source: Hiiraan Online-1679 Words

If one thing can best describe the relationship between Mogadishu and Hargeisa, it is without a doubt the stormy surface of the ocean and its peaceful depth. In other words, the relationship between the two politically is like the stormy surface of the ocean, whilst their sense of brotherhood is like the depth of a peaceful ocean.

There are many examples that show the brotherhood between the two is still intact. For example, the intermarriage between both communities is still on and business partnerships between the two are still existent and growing. However, the political storm is as delicate as separating conjoined twins and the media, self-seeking politicians as well as educators at home and school are negatively fuelling the issue.

We really need to be in touch with our inner true Somali self of brotherhood that we remained exile to it for many years and safeguard it even if we fail to come under one banner. We also need to revisit the initial union settlement and trace how the dysfunctional distrust began and escalated as Somalis say “Taladii Xumaata iyo gudniinkii xumaadaba dib ayaa loogu noqdaa”.

“The bitter reality is that after almost two years the fanfare of being ‘internationally’ recognized as a ‘sovereign’ is replaced by the emerging signs that the aspirations of the Somali people for peace, security, unity and progress are by far unattainable.”

Somalia: a client state?

28 May- Source: Hiiraan Online-1271 Words

My formative experiences that shaped my views on conspiracy theories (not the paranoia-based) , globalization and the crude reality of the war on resources made me question whether there are ‘entities’ engaged in plotting against Somalia to the extent of reconfiguring its sovereign status to a client state. By definition a client state is a country that is dependent on a larger and more powerful country for its political, economic or military welfare.

If there are, who are such entities? How could a sovereign state be reduced to a sub-servant status? What is the process that made achieving such aim possible? How long does it take? Is there any benefit for becoming a client state?

Somalia has been in socio-economic and political turmoil since gaining independence; mainly due to a two decade long history of being under a brutal military regime and subsequent vicious civil war that lead to total anarchy. Although the international community claims to have tentatively contained the Somali tragedy and that it is no more a ‘failed’ state, the road to recovery has proven a very hard, slow and extremely controversial.

Top tweets

@UNLazzarini Want to know more abt the food security situation in #Somalia? Read @WFPSomalia’s latest report:http://bit.ly/1oouMkb #SomaliaAlert @WFP

@WFP Thanks to @WFP school meals, girls in #Somalia have been able to transition from daily work to daily school.http://bit.ly/1pBjsPh

‏@OCHASom It’s #FollowFriday! This week we recommend following @unicefsomalia and @Barkulanradio for update’s on#Somalia

@IOM_news Here is IOM Somalia’s latest situation reporthttp://ow.ly/xqa7M @AlertNet @reliefweb @IOMatUN

@amisomsomalia #tbt VIDEO: #SOMALIA Go2School Initiativehttp://bit.ly/1j8SUzQ

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Image of the day

Image of the day Canadian family donated gear to a Kismayu airport marshaller after they were moved by story published by #AMISOM. Photo: @amisomsomalia