November 28, 2012 Morning Headlines.

Main Story

National security force remove illegal waylays in the capital

27 Nov- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/Radio Mustaqbal/Kulmiye/Jowhar Online-131 words

National Security Forces of the Somali Federal Government carried out an operation clearing roadblocks in which illegal charges used to be collected from civilian buses in Yakshid and Karan district north the capital Mogadishu.

The National Security Forces took 7 checkpoints and arrested over 50 people, as national security chief commander Khalif Ahmed Erag told reporters when the operation ended.

Key Headlines

Newly inaugurated Hiiraan elders’ leader killed in Beledweyne (Bar-Kulan)
EU delegation lands in Somali capital (Shabelle)
Seminar against rape roadblocks concluded in Mogadishu (Bar-Kulan)
Many still struggle with food insecurity in the south (ICRC)

SOMALI MEDIA

National security force remove illegal waylays in the capital

27 Nov- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA/Radio Mustaqbal/Kulmiye/Jowhar Online-131 words

The National Security Forces took 7 checkpoints and arrested over 50 people, as national security chief commander Khalif Ahmed Erag told reporters when the operation ended.

EU delegation lands in Somali capital

27 Nov- Source: Shabelle/Universal TV/Radio Mogadishu- 131 words
A European delegation led by the EU’s special envoy to Somalia, Michele Cervone d’Urso arrived in Mogadishu on Tuesday.
Somali government officials received the EU delegation at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde international airport; D’Urso held talks with Somali PM Abdi Farah Shirdon and other ministers in the new cabinet.

Newly inaugurated Hiiraan elders’ leader killed in Beledweyne

27 Nov- Source: Radio bar-kulan/Shabelle/Hiiraan Online/Radio Risaala- 136 words

Reports from Beledweyne town, provincial capital of Hiiran region, says the newly inaugurated leader of Hiiraan regional elders has been killed, just a day after he was inaugurated in the same town.
Sheikh Mohamud Sheikh Hussein who assumed leadership on Monday was yesterday assassinated in Beledweyne by three men armed with pistols.
Area police boss Col. Issack Ali Abdullahi told Bar-kulan one of the assailants has been arrested while the other two are being hunted for.

Seminar against rape, roadblocks concluded in Mogadishu

27 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 118 words

A two-day long seminar concerning ways to remove roadblocks in parts of the capital and tackling rape cases against women concluded in Mogadishu.
The seminar organised by Somali Women Development Center (SWDC) was attended by all walks of the society, with participants focusing on removing roadblocks said to be causing problems to the public.
SWDC legal advisor Sahro Mohamed Ahmed welcomed the recent utterances by president Hassan Sheikh ordering immediate removal of roadblocks.

Government Administration in Hiiraan province reopens roadblocks

27 Nov- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA- 152 words

Hiiraan Provincial administration under the Somali federal government and the African Union peacekeeping forces – especially the Djiboutian contingent – on Monday removed roadblocks in the strategic city of Beledweyne city allowing traffic and civilians to pass and cross freely into the two sides of the town.
One of the roadblocks taken out yesterday laid in between the headquarter of Hiiran region and Lik-likato bridge that closed when a suicide attack occurred there on 24 January this year.

13 youths arrested in Garbaharey

27 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 87 words

Government and Ahlu Sunna forces conducted an operation in parts of Garbaharey district, provincial capital of Gedo region, and arrested several people suspected of having links to al Shabaab.
The operation conducted at Tulo-Barwaqo village and Rays-Qode netted 13 youths.
Ahlu Sunna spokesman Mohamed Hussein Al-Qadi said seven of the suspects were members of al Shabaab while the remaining six are now undergoing investigations.
He said the suspects found to have cases to answer will be arraigned in court while those found innocent will be released.

Big blast hits AU soldiers in Marko, south Somalia

27 Nov- Source: Shabelle- 121 words
Witnesses say a huge blast tore through a military personnel carrier with soldiers serving for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia in Marko town, just 110 Km south of Mogadishu.
Local residents in Marko said they heard a loud explosion at about 2pm on Tuesday that targeted AMISOM forces as they were passing on one of the streets in the city.

REGIONAL MEDIA

EU appoints new chiefs for military operations in Bosnia and Somalia

27 Nov- Source: KUNA- 141 words
The EU’s Political and Security Committee Tuesday decided to appoint new force commanders for two EU military operations.From 6 December, Rear Admiral Pedro Angel Garcia de Paredes Perez de Sevilla of Spain will be force commander for anti-piracy operation Atalanta.

EAC locks out South Sudan and Somalia

27 Nov- Source: Africa Review- 684 words

South Sudan and Somalia have been locked out of the East African Community (EAC) after the economic bloc’s officials advised against admission.

The decision comes as a blow to the businesspeople who will continue to face restrictions in moving goods and investment capital, especially into Juba which had made an application for admission.

A team of technical experts appointed by the bloc early this year to review its economic and political pillars has advised the Council of Ministers to withhold South Sudan’s admission, pending key institutional reforms.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Many still struggle with food insecurity in the south

27 Nov- Source: ICRC- 341 words

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has just finished distributing food and seed to over 170,000 people in the Lower Juba and Gedo regions of southern Somalia.

The population of these regions remains vulnerable due to a poor rainy season and the ongoing conflict.
The ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent Society distributed seed to 15,000 farmers, who in turn will be able to feed around 90,000 people, given that the average family consists of six persons. In addition, 84,000 destitute people in the same areas, over half of whom displaced from scenes of conflict in and around Kismayo over recent weeks, received enough rice, beans, oil and other basic food to last them a month.

Minnesota Somalis call for actions to support new government

26 Nov- Source: tcdailyplanet- 850 words

Somali-Americans assembled November 24 for a profound and, sometimes emotional, discussion in Minneapolis that sought ways to rebuild their war-torn homeland.

The two-and-a-half-hour “What’s Next for Somalia” forum drew nearly a hundred community members to Hiawatha Business Center. It was quite different and even more intense than many previous formal and informal talks the community has held.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“At the beach we joined dozens of young boys playing football – back to back games for miles up and down the sea front, in their Arsenal, Barcelona and Liverpool shirts. At the old port fish market local fisherman said business was good as they showed me their catch of giant tuna and lobster. But this is only one side of Mogadishu. It’s still a very dangerous place. The heavy protection gear and armed guards is ample proof of that. The noise of gunfire and constant threat of improvised explosive devices is with you at all times.”

A Tale of Two Cities

27 Nov- Source: Huffington Post Blog-961 Words
With the world turning its attention away from the violence in Gaza, back to the turmoil in Syria and the rising floodwater here in the UK, there’s not much room left for the beleaguered country I’ve just returned from. Hunger, war, and drought have turned this nation in the Horn of Africa into possibly the hardest place in the world to be a child. Flying into its ravaged capital, Mogadishu, looking down at the bright blue sea and the white sandy beaches, it’s at first hard to believe that this is the case. But as the battle-scarred buildings come into view, the old familiar shiver of fear and expectation runs down your spine.