October 23, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somalia Parliament set to be debate Anti-terrorism law
22 Oct – Source: Horseed media – 186 Words
New anti-terrorism bill has been submitted to the Somalia’s Federal Parliament on Wednesday by the government and is expected to be debated by the Members of the Parliament.
The new laws would boost the powers of security officials and police could pass through parliament within weeks. It is expected to ensure government is able to punish groups engaged in terror related acts.
According to reliable sources, the new laws will make it easier to arrest someone for terrorism offences without a warrant. Members of the parliament have been given time to go through the articles of the new bill.
“The law represents one of the most important objectives in the phase which Somalia is going through and which demands decisive response to the terrorist groups,’’ said a legislator who declined to be named.
Somalia Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh had earlier called for the Parliament to accelerate the passing of the bill, which will enable the government to crackdown on groups such as al-Shabaab, which has lost most of its territories to the Somali government and African Union forces since the beginning of this year.
Key Headlines
- Anti-terrorism law set to be debated by the Somalia Parliament (Horseed media)
- Unknown gunmen wounded famous elder in Afgoye (Radio Goobjoog)
- 5 Member UN Delegates Visit Elbuur (Radio Dalsan)
- Federal government to launch intensive security operations in (Mogadishu Radio Goobjoog/Radio Muqdisho)
- Puntland security officials visits Gal-Gala Mountains (Radio Danan)
- EAEF Condemns Kenyan Plot to Annex Somali Offshore Territory (Somaliland Press)
- Somalia President visits El-Bur district (Radio Muqdisho) Radio Danan
- Missing schoolboy traced to Somalia (Daily Nation)
- After the fall of Barawe al-Shabaab and Somali government face new reality (Sabahi Online)
- Somali intelligence agency seizes Mogadishu garage (Sabahi Online)
- Somali pirates still holding 37 sailors: UN Official (RIA News)
- Two Somali reporters released on bail two still jailed (AFP News)
SOMALIA MEDIA
Gov’t officially tells AU not to rotate Sierra Leone army, stop officials visit
23 Oct – Source: Radio RBC – 324 Words
Somali Government officially wrote to African Union and the Sierra Leone government as part of its peacekeeping mission in Somalia and told to halt the rotation of Sierra Leone army operating in Somalia in a bid to minimize the risk of Ebola to this country, Somalia’s Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari said.
The Speaker mentioned that Somali officials do not want see any officials from the Ebola-hit nations in West Africa including Sierra Leone visiting Somalia as far as the Ebola outbreak is there. “To avoid the potential risk of transporting Ebola into our country, we have raised our concern to African Union and the government of Sierra Leone. We have written officially to these entities and told them to stop troops rotation and the possible visit by any individual from there.” Speaker Jawari said during his briefing to the parliament on Wednesday.
The Speaker also reiterated the concern of the nation toward the outbreak of Ebola as Somalia worries the presence of the African Union peacekeeping mission could become the gateway of the disease to the East Africa where millions of people with low income live.
“We are driven by the fact that our people are very vulnerable to the spread of the such disease and we need to stand for the well being of our citizens, so that is why we need to repeat such calls.” he added.
On Wednesday, Somalia’s Federal Parliament raised the issue of Ebola Outbreak during the parliament session in which MPs suggested to launch a tough measures to tighten the country’s borders so that citizens from Ebola-hit countries could not cross into Somalia.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed who returned from his official visit to Burundi said he shared the concerns of Ebola outbreak to different level officials and that he gave directives to the ministries of the national security and the health to do their best to prevent the risk of Ebola into Somalia.
Somalia Parliament set to be debate Anti-terrorism law
22 Oct – Source: Horseed media – 186 Words
New anti-terrorism bill has been submitted to the Somalia’s Federal Parliament on Wednesday by the government and is expected to be debated by the Members of the Parliament. The new laws would boost the powers of security officials and police could pass through parliament within weeks. It is expected to ensure government is able to punish groups engaged in terror related acts.
According to reliable sources, the new laws will make it easier to arrest someone for terrorism offences without a warrant. Members of the parliament have been given time to go through the articles of the new bill.
“The law represents one of the most important objectives in the phase which Somalia is going through and which demands decisive response to the terrorist groups,’’ said a legislator who declined to be named.
Somalia Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh had earlier called for the Parliament to accelerate the passing of the bill, which will enable the government to crackdown on groups such as al-Shabaab, which has lost most of its territories to the Somali government and African Union forces since the beginning of this year.
5 member UN delegates visit Elbuur
23 Oct – Source: Radio Dalsan – 186 Words
5 member UN delegate visited the town of Eelbuur in Galgaduud Region on Wednesday. Three of the five members were from the Department of Human Rights of the UN while the other two were from UN Security.
The delegates were welcomed at the airport by AMISOM officials and the Deputy Chairperson of the Elbur Administration Abdulle Gureey. Among the delegates were Charles Kianpo and Nicholas Vikta who was from the Department of Human Rights of the UN. They met with the commander of SNA in Elbur Col. Mohamed Kaariye Dhega-dheere.
The delegates visited the different parts of the town. Much of the town is however in ruins as it was affected by the protracted civil war and there are no many social amenities. There were two hospitals in the town during the era of the revolutionary government but they both disappeared in the civil unrest.
Currently, there are no hospitals and schools in the town and residents lack clean drinking water. The town experienced violence at different times since the onset of the civil war in 1991 including clan clashes due to clan politics and sectarian violence.
Unknown gunmen wounded famous elder in Afgoye
23 Oct – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 81 Words
Unknown armed men have attacked and seriously wounded a renowned elder Hussein Jiss in Afgoye district of Lower Shabelle region. Three men armed with pistols attacked the elder immediately after evening prayer and disappeared after attacking him.
The elders was rushed to the health center in Afgoye district where he is now being treated. Security forces who reached the scene launched an operations in the area and dozens of people were apprehended and taken to police station for interrogation. No one has claimed the responsibility for the attack yet.
Federal government decides to launch intensive security operations in Mogadishu and surrounding areas
23 Oct – Source: Radio Goobjoog/Radio Muqdisho – 181 Words
A meeting chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Religious Affairs Minister Ridwan Hersi Mohamed attended by National Security Agency chief, senior officers of the police, military, intelligence and AMISOM was held in Mogadishu on Tuesday night. The participants discussed many issues pertaining to security of the country particularly the capital city, Mogadishu and other important areas.
The decisions reached during the intensive meeting include launching joint door-door search operations that will be conducted by the security forces in all the villages and garages in the capital to beef up security and prevent other possible terror attacks.
During a briefing, the spokesman of the ministry of national security Mohamed Yusuf Osman told the media that these operations will be different from the previous operations adding that the federal government will take over any house or garage found with explosives and illegal arms.
Finally the government urged the civilians to collaborate with the security agencies for the intensive operations to succeed by giving important tip-offs. Recently the federal government has seized many weapons and explosives in Mogadishu after launching disarmament operations.
Puntland security officials visits Gal-Gala Mountains
23 Oct – Source: Radio Danan – 140 Words
Delegation led by the Puntland state security minister Hassan Osman Aloore has on Wednesday visited the recently liberated mountains of Gal-Gala. Gal-gala was the biggest Al-Qaeda linked groups stronghold in the northern Somalia.
“Our aim was to review the area situation and give motivation the tirelessly soldiers, who liberated Gal-gala from Al-shabaab” Aloore told reporters. He also said that Puntland government will give an amnesty anyone who defects from the group.
Osman Aloore was accompanied by the minister for finance Shire Haji and the minister for information and telecommunication Abdi-wali Hersi, Puntland maritime chief Abdinaasir Bihi Soofe and other officials.
Puntland forces have recaptured Gal-gala earlier October from the group after fierce gunfire confrontations inside the mountains. Gal-gala was the main regional base for Al-shabaab and they have plotted several assassinations that accrued in Puntland.
EAEF condemns Kenyan plot to annex Somali offshore territory
23 Oct – Source: Somaliland Press – 855 Words
The East African Energy Forum (EAEF), a Somali lobby group, has today condemned the Kenyan government of what it is calling “the slow elaborate annexation of Somali offshore territory.”
Kenya has spent much of the past decade drumming up a non-existent offshore border dispute in the hopes of capturing approximately 120,000 square kilometers of what is thought to be resource rich southern Somali waters.
In 2012, EAEF shed light on and challenged the attempt by Kenya to lease oil blocks in Somali waters to foreign companies from France, Italy, Norway and the US.
EAEF’s lobbying efforts with the US State Department and the Norwegian Government in part resulted in the removal of the American firm, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Norway’s state-run Statoil from those Somali oil blocks.
The group however, admits that French and Italian oil giants Total and ENI have not halted their activities in the matter and continue their attempts to violate Somali sovereignty.
Somalia President visits Elbuur district
23 Oct – Source: Radio Danan /Radio Muqdisho – 110 Words
High level delegation led by the Somali president Hassan Shekh Mohamed is heading to El-bur district of Galgaduud region in central Somalia for the scheduled conferences on concluding the process of the newly announced regional administration for central Somalia.
The president will meet regional elders, region stakeholders, Islamic scholars and the youth groups in the area. President’s visits in Gal-gaduud region will be accompanied by, the minster for Information Mustafe Dhuholow and other important dignitaries.
Somali federal government announced the establishment of a new regional state for central Somalia, despite regional stakeholders including Puntland declined. Recently Somali federal government and Puntland regional state agreed to throw away ex- political rifts.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Missing schoolboy traced to Somalia
22 Oct – Source: Daily Nation – 246 Words
A Form Four student who disappeared from Isiolo Boys High School a fortnight ago has been traced to Somalia. Police said he might have joined a radical group and that his sneaking to the war-torn country confirmed intelligence reports that extremists were targeting students.
Police Spokesperson Zipporah Mboroki Thursday said a phone call that the boy made to his family a week after he disappeared showed that he was in Somalia. Anti-terrorism detectives had visited the school and recorded statements from teachers, students and his family. He was last seen at the school on October 6, but the parents reported his disappearance on October 14.
Somali intelligence agency seizes Mogadishu garage
22 Oct – Source: Sabahi Online – 92 Words
Somalia’s National Security and Intelligence Agency (NISA) seized a garage in Mogadishu’s Warta Nabada district early Tuesday (October 21st) after an overnight explosion gutted a car parked inside, Somalia’s Garowe Online reported.
NISA arrested the garage mechanics following the blast, which was caused by a bomb attached to a civilian vehicle, said Ministry of National Security spokesman Mohamed Yusuf Osman.
Security agencies will pay special attention to garages in future investigations, he said. At least five people were injured earlier this month when a car exploded outside a mechanic’s garage in Hodan district.
After the fall of Barawe, al-Shabaab and Somali government face new reality
22 Oct – Source: Sabahi Online – 823 Words
Before the Somali National Army and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops liberated Barawe from al-Shabaab earlier this month, the port town had in recent years developed increasingly as a strategic headquarters for the militant group.
It served as a key transit point for the import of arms and export charcoal, which the United Nations Security Council banned in 2012. Equally important, it often hosted key al-Shabaab leaders such as Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir “Ikrima” — one of the architects of the Westgate mall attack in Nairobi in September 2013.
Barawe was also used as an important staging ground for al-Shabaab propaganda. For example, after the highly publicised bout of al-Shabaab infighting in mid-2013 in Barawe, the group publicised a “Fun Day” with games and military exercises held on the beach of the port town in an effort to persuade locals that the group remained strong and united.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali pirates still holding 37 sailors: UN official
23 Oct – Source: RIA News – 243 Words
Somali pirates are still holding 37 sailors, raising serious international concern, UN official Jeffrey Feltman stated.
“Somali pirates are still holding 37 seafarers, which is a matter of serious international concern,” Feltman said Wednesday, when reporting a decline in piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia.
“Piracy off the coast of Somalia is one of the manifestations of a political problem, requiring a political solution. State collapse in Somalia and other political challenges lie at the root of the problem.
Two Somali reporters released on bail, two still jailed
23 Oct – Source: AFP News – 309 Words
Two Somali journalists from a major radio station have been released on bail after two months in jail but two others remain behind bars accused of inciting violence, colleagues said Wednesday.
Radio Shabelle owner Abdimalik Yusuf Mohamud was released on bail Tuesday, but was ordered to surrender his British passport and remain in Somalia until the court decides if the case will proceed to trial, the National Union of Somali Journalists said.
Senior editor Ahmed Abdi Hassan was also released on bail.
However, journalists from Shabelle’s sister station Sky FM, senior staff members Mohamud Mohamed Dahir and Mohamed Bashir Hashi, remain in jail.
All reject the charges. “We have done nothing wrong and all charges against us are baseless,” Mohamed told AFP after being released. “I’m like a monkey tied with rope so it can be pulled when needed.”
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“This progress is fragile and reversible. We still see pirates attempting to attack vessels and capture them for ransom…It is imperative that more nations criminalise piracy on the basis of international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
Sustained response to Somalia piracy requires effective State governance – UN political chief
22 Oct – Source: United Nations News Centre – 571 Words
While noting the progress made to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, the United Nations political chief today said that a sustained long-term solution must include the presence of effective Government and State institutions that provide basic services and alternative ways for people to make a living.
Briefing the Security Council on piracy off the coast of the east African nation, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman today said that this multi-pronged approach may be “a daunting, but unavoidable task, for it will enable Somalia to effectively address, and ultimately defeat, piracy.”
“We should not only ask what more needs to be done to ensure that the scourge does not return, but also what kind of support could be provided to Somalia so that the country is able to respond to the threat of piracy without dependence on the countries support of international navies,” he said.
“You don’t have to turn on the news more than a minute to see an example of what happens when there is a breakdown in that relationship between a police department and their community.”
Somali officers relate to immigrant communities
23 Oct – Source: Minnesota Daily – 645 Words
Salah Ahmed wanted to become a cop ever since he moved to the United States from Egypt.
On the other hand, Abdiwahab Ali’s interests gravitated to law enforcement after 9/11 — several years after he moved from Somalia to Minnesota in 1995. After becoming a Minneapolis Police Department officer, he went on to help establish the Somali American Police Association.
Ahmed, who is originally from Somalia, reached his goal when he graduated from the police academy last year. In addition to being an officer for the Metro Transit Police Department, he now serves as SAPA’s vice chairman. Founded in in 2012, SAPA helps Somali-Americans, like Ahmed, find their way into police forces across the nation.
The national organization has at least 10 members — all law enforcement officers — in the Twin Cities. They are working to stop potential recruitment of Somali-Americans by terrorist groups, like al-Shabab and the Islamic State, in the city’s Cedar-Riverside and Franklin Avenue neighborhoods.
“May 1988, clearly marked as the beginning of the end, when a fierce battle broke out in the North between the Government forces and the SNM rebel militia, who long resisted the regime’s repression and became bent on either ousting the authoritarian regime, or seceding from the rest of Somalia proper. Death and carnage ensued.”
Siyad Barre’s divided legacy: 45 years after his socialist revolution
22 Oct – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1, 427 Words
On this day, October 21, 2014 marks 45 years ago when Siyad Barre’s roaring revolution embarked Somalia on a socialist path and changed its fate forever. Though most Somalis are still divided about the question of his legacy, for his supporters there is so much to reminisce about the “good” old days of Siyad Barre’s military rule that transformed the entire country for the better, while for the critics these were the darkest two decades of Somalia’s tumultuous history due to the regime’s unparalleled human rights abuses and ultimately Somalia’s disintegration from a tenuously united nation state into a war-torn.
Despite the ardent arguments both camps on this debate make, we should all agree Siyad Barre’s long two decades at the helm of the country were a time of vaulting ambitions beset by social, economic and political injustices that determined the country’s fate for
the next two decades. It’s equally undeniable that Siyad Barre was by any means a great nationalist who stood up to super powers in order to realize “Greater Somalia” and put the country well ahead of its counterparts, but in the same vein, he was an archetypal African tyrant of his times who spared no punches assailing his opponents and spent most of his political capital on clan politics in order to practice “divide and rule” policy to run the country.
Top tweets
@cwaxidxassanyar SOMALIA: PM gives directives to prevent the risk of Ebola outbreak to Somalia | RBC Radiohttp://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/
@UN_DPA Feltman to #UNSC: Counter-piracy efforts should be an integral part of #Somalia’s state-building process
@cwaxidxassanyar Sustained response to Somalia piracy requires effective State governance UN political chief http://shar.es/1mS1y2 via @sharethis
@dillapress Somalia :Somali pirates still holding 37 sailors – UN official: Somali pirates are still holding 37…http://bit.ly/1CZM0XH
@lecturer115 #Somalia: A delegation led by President #HassanSheikh just landed in Eelbuur District#Galguduud.
@daudedosman The most important priority for #Somalia is institution building, other priorities comes second.
Image of the day
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on an official visit to Ceelbuur today in Galgadud Region of Somalia.
Photo Credit: Radio Muqdisho