November 6, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
120 Somali Pirates Want To Plead Guilty In Court
06 November – Source: The Times of India – 314 Words
In a significant development, the 120 alleged Somali pirates nabbed in four operations expressed their intention to plead guilty in the case. This intention was communicated to the visiting officials of the Somali embassy from Delhi earlier this week, which in turn was relayed in writing to the state home department on Wednesday.
In the event the plea is accepted after all the legal procedures are completed, the accused face conviction. Special public prosecutor Ranjit Sangle communicated the development to the court conducting the trial. The accused could end up serving their jail term in their home country, court sources said. So far, all of the 77 Indian witnesses listed have deposed during the trial over the last three years. Statements of several international hostages rescued in the operations have also been received while some others are awaited.
Key Headlines
- 120 Somali Pirates Want To Plead Guilty In Court (The Times of India)
- Puntland Head Jets Back To Garowe From UAE State Visit (Wacaal Media)
- Strong Storm Destroys Hundreds Of Houses In Puntland (Goobjoog News)
- Speaker Calls On Youth To Take Part In Nation Building (Radio Muqdisho)
- Chinese-backed Program Empowers Women In Mogadishu (Xinhua)
- AMISOM Appeals For More Resources To Stabilize Somalia (AMISOM)
- Al-Shabaab Sells Terror In Safari Propaganda Video (CNN)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Head Jets Back To Garowe From UAE State Visit
06 November – Source: Wacaal Media – 79 Words
Puntland Head Of State, Dr. Abdiweli Ali Gas, yesterday arrived back in Garowe after a state visit to the United Arab Emirates. Speaking to media at the Presidential Palace in Garowe, Dr. Gas termed his UAE visit a success discussing issues such as security, economic development among other agendas with his host leaders. On arrival, the head of State was received by his deputy Abdihakim Abdullahi Omar – Ameey, Deputy Speaker Abdihamid Abdisalan and a section of the public.
Strong Storm Destroys Hundreds Of Houses In Puntland
06 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 97 Words
A tropical cyclone struck several coastal villages in Puntland where it has destroyed hundreds of houses and uprooted hectares of date trees, Puntland’s interior ministry said. The government has described the situation as a “disaster”, and appealed for international assistance. The minister also said that Barreda and Aluula villages have been hit the worst where many residents have been left homeless. According to reports the storm has affected pastoralist community the most. This is not the first time a cyclone hit Puntland, over 150 people died and thousands of livestock was lost during the last cyclone in 2013.
Speaker Calls On Youth To Take Part In Nation Building
06 November – Source: Radio Muqdisho – 160 Words
The Speaker of the Somali parliament who spoke in a graduation ceremony at the Benadir university has called on the graduates to take part in the reconstruction of the country. In his speech, the Speaker said: “ All other countries development is dependant on the hard work shown by its scholars, these developed countries you have seen are fully reliant on research and education , that is what lead them to where they are. It is expected from you to do the same by your people and country, Somalia is now recovering from the destruction and it needs you and similar people.” The speaker called on youth to also take part in the strengthening of the country’s security saying they are now working for the Somali people, and as leaders they are ready to hand over the reins of power to the young people who have gone to school for their country. The speaker reiterated that the youth are critical part in the development of the country.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Chinese-backed Program Empowers Women In Mogadishu
06 November – Source: Xinhua – 474 Words
The over two decades conflict in Somalia has deprived many women of their husbands and economic lifelines, making them vulnerable as they were left behind to fend for their children and take a position in building their country. But the quest to empower women with practical skills and entrepreneurship is gradually making a difference in the war-torn country. The Somali National Women Organization (SNWO) in Mogadishu has attracted 100 women from various parts of the city to learn tailoring skills.
Thanks to a donation from the Chinese Embassy in Somalia in June, the organization is now helping women gain knowledge and skills on sewing with an ultimate goal to enable them start their own businesses. “We teach them to use the sewing machine and train them on how they can later set up their small scale businesses upon which they are able to support their families,” Anab Hassan Elmi, SNWO Deputy Director told Xinhua on Wednesday.
Elmi believes this would make a big change in lives of the most vulnerable Somali women. “We register women mainly from internally displaced people’s camp, those who are divorced and widows. This is one of the most vulnerable groups in the society; tasked with having to raise children on their own. But this training is going to empower them, to let them earn some income and support their families,” said Elmi.
AMISOM Appeals For More Resources To Stabilize Somalia
05 November – Source: AMISOM – 578 Words
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is appealing for more humanitarian support to help resettle residents in the areas liberated from the militia group, Al-Shabaab. Maj. Gen. James Nakibus Lakara, in charge of the Mission’s Support and Logistics, said there was an urgent need to help locals resume normal life after being displaced in areas formerly under control of Al-Shabaab.
“I am pleased to note that the local population support AMISOM, they work hand in hand with AMISOM and this is good for the mission. In the near future the people will be able to stand on their own and not depend on AMISOM for support. To achieve this goal, AMISOM’s mission is to ensure that it builds the needed capacities. First of all of security institutions and mentor local officers to take charge, this is AMISOM’s exit strategy”, Maj. Gen. Lakara said after distributing food and other products to locals in Dinsoor, Bay region.
The AMISOM deputy force commander said infrastructure in Somalia was dilapidated and in need of reconstruction and urged the international community to increase resources to help stabilize the horn of Africa country. In the recent past, AMISOM troops drawn from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi and Djibouti have managed to seize control of large areas in rural Somalia, which were formerly under the control of Al Shabaab. As a result, AMISOM needs more resources to help resettle locals who had fled in fear of Al Shabaab.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“They have no idea how (Al-Shabaab) fighters really live. They don’t live in the thick, green jungle with beautiful rivers and animals and great barbecues every day. They live in the dirt, in the sand, in fear, hiding under whatever cover they can. Their leadership is draconian and fractured, and many fighters are disenchanted and leaving, or trying to leave, to fight in Syria or elsewhere. The front lines are not at all what they look like on the Internet.”
Al-Shabaab Sells Terror In Safari Propaganda Video
05 November – Source: CNN – 1,780 Words
The hunter slips through tall grass in a green forest, closing in on a herd of giraffes. Shots ring out, and he machine-guns down one of the majestic animals. But he’s no regular big game hunter in Africa. He’s a jihadi militant — on safari.The shooting is just one of the surreal scenes in the latest of a series of high-definition videos called “Front Lines” that al Qaeda-linked Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab uses to recruit members. The U.S. government designated the militant group a terrorist organization in 2008.
But this video is different from earlier ones. It features young men — with their faces blurred — diving off fallen trees into rivers and laughing and joking in Arabic and Somali. Several clips show the richness and beauty from the location where they say they are operating. The narration says it is inside Kenya, Somalia’s neighbor. Wild buffaloes and giraffes watch inquisitively as the extremists march past them. The men stalk the wild animals with their weapons. Once the giraffe is gunned down, it is skinned, cut up and eaten. Later a buffalo is shot and eaten and finally a Kenyan antelope called a Topi.
“Don’t be deceived into believing that when people fight jihad they are accompanied by hunger,” one man says in Swahili. He wears a camouflaged balaclava, with ammunition wrapped around his waist like a belt. He gestures at the bloodied buffalo at his feet. “Just look at the meat here,” he bellows. “What are you waiting for?” The video also quotes Osama Bin Laden’s supposed mentor, Abdullah Azzam, with a slick graphic: “You eat, drink and hunt for free. Not in Bangkok or Los Angeles, or paying $500 a night at a London hotel. It is an entertaining journey of tourism and hunting. Indeed, the tourism of my nation is jihad.”
Terror expert Matt Bryden told CNN that the video was “one of their less sophisticated pieces of propaganda.” “Every scripted speech by a fighter on screen seems to be shot next to the carcass of a game animal that they are about to eat. It would surprise me if this ‘come and eat all this meat’ sort of the ‘paradise of nyama choma’ (Swahili for “roasted meat”) pitch will actually appeal to an East African audience,” Bryden said from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi
TOP TWEETS
@TerrorFreeSomal: #AlShabaab sells terror in safari propaganda video – http://goo.gl/alerts/9xk1 #Somalia
@Abdi_AlSheikh: Tropical Cyclone Megh, Category 1 storm (74-85 Mph) expected to arrive in Sunday, hitting eastern cities. #Somalia.
@_hozint: #Somalia : 6 #killed, 12 injured by Al #Shabaabfighters in Beled Hawo city https://horizon.hozint.com/
@Eye_on_Somalia: #goobjoog AMISOM Appeals for More Resources to Stabilize Somalia: African Union Mission in Somalia (A… http://bit.ly/1Hf2PG8 #somalia
@KafiaO14: Ceebla, a free hotline, has been launched in#Somalia for victims of gender violence among IDPs http://bit.ly/1Q7SP4o
@SOMALIAMOI: In central #Somalia clans disarm; handed over weapons and fighters to the local govt.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
In a packed Mogadishu Stadium, Heegan women’s basketball team win national championship beating Horseed.
Photo: @HarunMaruf