May 4, 2017 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Somali Minister Shot Dead Near Presidential Palace

03 May – Source : Aljazeera – 321 Words

Bodyguards for Somalia’s auditor general shot dead a government minister near the presidential palace in Mogadishu on Wednesday evening, police said. Auditor general Nur Farah’s bodyguards opened fire on a car carrying Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji, the public works and reconstruction minister, near a checkpoint close to the palace, said police capt Mohamed Hussein. It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.

Security concerns are high in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, as the al-Shabab armed group continues to target the palace, military facilities and hotels with suicide car bombings and other attacks. A car carrying the minister approached and trailed the vehicle carrying the auditor general, promoting his bodyguards to open fire, Hussein said. The minister’s bodyguards fired back.

Another minister who was in the car with the deceased minister survived, Hussein said. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was elected in February and his new cabinet was sworn in on March 21. The minister who was killed, a former refugee who spent large parts of his life at a camp in Kenya, had been the youngest member of Somalia’s new cabinet. Somalia’s information minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman, sent condolences over the death, calling Abdullahi a “brilliant and rising young star who showed commitment in serving his country”.

The new president has vowed to improve security in the Horn of Africa country, which has seen a quarter-century of chaos. Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab has said it will step up its attacks after the president announced a new military offensive against the group, which has been fighting to overthrow the country’s internationally recognised government. In March, a car bomb blast targeting a security checkpoint near the presidential palace killed at least five people and wounded several others. The US announced last month that it is deploying “a few dozen” troops to Somalia to assist the national army and conduct unspecified security operations – the largest such deployment to the Horn of Africa country in about two decades.

Key Headlines

Somali Minister Shot Dead Near Presidential Palace (Aljazeera)
Somalia’s International Partners Urge the Parties in Galmudug to Prioritize Reconciliation (Garowe Online)
Government Harassment Of Journalists A Global Crisis-UN Rapporteur (Goobjoog News)
Somali Leader Vows To Defeat Al-Shabab Extremists In 2 Years (Associated Press)
Children Worst Affected by Somaliland Drought (Al Jazeera English)
Somali African Union Forces Recapture Central District (Goobjoog)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia’s International Partners Urge the Parties in Galmudug to Prioritize Reconciliation

May 03 – Source : Garowe Online – 141 words

International partners (United Nations, African Union, European Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Ethiopia, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States) are closely following the developments in Galmudug. International partners were encouraged by the positive steps taken by the parties in the past few weeks to open dialogue aimed at achieving reconciliation, holding inclusive elections and establishing a broad-based administration which is critical for the legitimacy, improved security and viability of Galmudug State.

International partners are disappointed to learn that the dialogue has stalled. International partners urge all parties to continue the dialogue in good faith and pursue all opportunities to achieve reconciliation and prioritize the establishment of an inclusive administration in Galmudug. The partners call on all parties to avoid any actions that could undermine reconciliation efforts, and they stand ready to facilitate the reconciliation process if all parties agree.

Government Harassment Of Journalists A Global Crisis-UN Rapporteur

03 May – Source : Goobjoog News – 415 words

Governments must end the demonization of critical media and ensure the protection of journalists, the UN has said while calling on governments to take action against perpetrators of violence against journalists. In a statement marking the World Press Freedom day, UN Human Rights Council rapporteur David Kaye said government harassment of journalists was a global crisis noting the journalists are on the fringes threatened by continuing hostile media environment and unhealthy industry competition.

“On every day of the year, including World Press Freedom Day, those who practise journalism face censorship, criminalization, harassment and, all too often, physical attacks and murder,” said Kaye. Kaye echoed the UN Secretary General António Guterres’ call to end suppression of journalists noting their role in promoting democracy and open society cannot be gainsaid. “On the World Press Freedom Day, I call for an end to all crackdown against journalists because a free press advances peace and justice for all,” said Gutteres.

Kaye called on governments to release journalists in detention while also asking for review of legislations that are ‘manifestly inconsistent with freedom of expression’. Journalists in Somalia continue to work in one of the most difficult environments in the world having to deal with threats from armed groups, arbitrary detention by state apparatus and punitive media law.

Information and Guidance Minister Abdirahman Yarisow pledged last week to present a review bill to parliament over contentious articles in the 2015 Media Act which media practitioners have said is detrimental to media practice in Somalia. The law, among other provisions requires journalists to possess a university degree despite lack of standardized training in the country.

The Human Rights Council has also asked governments to take action to investigate and hold accountable all those responsible for attacks on journalists. The proliferation of fake news has also caught the attention of the Council which it notes erodes public trust of journalists. “Independent journalists everywhere must confront intentionally misleading and deceitful stories (such as “fake news” and disinformation),” the Council said. Meanwhile the watchdog body Human Rights Watch has called on Somali government to address intimidation and arbitrary arrests of journalists. “The government should address threats, intimidation, and attacks on journalists that have long posed a threat to a free and vibrant media. It should encourage independent reporting on sensitive issues, such as corruption and security, revise the media law to bring it into line with international standards, and fully and credibly investigate threats and attacks on journalists,” HRW said in a statement Wednesday.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Leader Vows To Defeat Al-Shabaab Extremists In 2 Years

03 May-Source: Associated Press – 130 Words

Somalia’s president says his country has a comprehensive plan to defeat the extremist group Al-Shabaab within two years.Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed spoke Wednesday during his first visit to neighboring Ethiopia since taking office in February. The Somalia-based al-Shabab has stepped up attacks since his election and vowed revenge for Somalia’s new military offensive against the group.

Mohammed says his government’s plan to defeat al-Shabab includes support from regional countries. He calls the extremist group “a disease” that isn’t interested in humanity.Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is calling on the international community to come up with a plan for Somalia’s reconstruction after a quarter-century of chaos. Ethiopia has troops with an African Union mission in Somalia fighting Al-Shabaab.The leaders spoke ahead of a London conference on Somalia next week.

Children Worst Affected by Somaliland Drought

03 May – Source : Al Jazeera English – Video – 2.37 Mins

More than a million people in the self-declared state of Somaliland are battling the worst drought in a decade.Those mostly affected are children who do not have enough food or water. Doctors are struggling to save many who are brought to hospitals with severe cases of malnutrition, diarrhea and measles.

Somali, African Union Forces Recapture Central District

03 May – Source : Anadolu Agency – 141 Words

Government and Ethiopian soldiers Wednesday recaptured a district in south-central Somalia from Al-Shabaab fighters.Somalia troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers serving with an African Union force took the Halgan district in the Hiiraan province, according to residents and officials.Halgan district commissioner Guhaad Abdi Hassan said there was no fighting when the troops entered the district.He added that Al-Shabaab fighters fled the district before the troops arrived.

A resident who asked not to be named says Al-Shabaab told the people not work with government or African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) forces.The retaking of the district came as Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo begins a visit to Ethiopia.Last October fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group said they had taken control of a town in central Somalia after hundreds of Ethiopian troops serving with the African Union pulled out.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“Piracy dropped dramatically two years later, as U.S., European and Asian navies stepped up their patrols of Somali waters and ships began using stronger protective measures. There were no recorded hijackings of ships off Somalia in 2014, 2015 or 2016,”

Report: Declining Deterrence Gives Somali Pirates a Lifeline

03 May – Source:VOA News – 566 Words

Declining vigilance is giving pirates an opening to renew their attacks on ships traveling near Somalia, according to a report by a maritime group.The report by the NGO Oceans Beyond Piracy says after several years of decreased pirate activity, ships are sailing closer to shore and the number of naval vessels patrolling the waters near Somalia has dropped.

“One of the key findings we found is that pirate groups did not ever go away off the coast of Somalia,” said Maisie Pigeon, the lead author of the report, in an interview with VOA’s Somali Service. “Rather, pirates have continued to possess the capability and the intent to commit acts of crime and now we are seeing that the opportunity to commit acts of piracy is returning as vessels become more vulnerable.”

At least four of the seven ships attacked near Somalia this year were not carrying armed guards.Pigeon said it’s too soon to compare the current situation to the pirates’ heyday. “It think it’s a bit early to say that it has reemerged in the way it was in 2010 and 2011, but the uptick in the attacks is worth noting,” she said.In the peak year of 2010, Somali pirates attacked more than 200 ships and hijacked 49, taking more than 1,000 crew members hostage, according to statistics kept by the International Maritime Bureau. In some cases, pirate gangs received ransoms of $5 to $7 million to release the ships and their crews.