September 1, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

U.S. Designates Former Shabaab Leader Allied To IS As ‘Terrorist’

31 August – Source: Reuters – 214 Words

A former recruiter for the al Shabaab militant group who pledged allegiance to Islamic State was designated as a global terrorist by the U.S. government on Wednesday, a move that bars him from using the U.S. financial system, the State Department said. Abdiqadir Mumin, who is based in Puntland, Somalia, pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants last year along with 20 of his followers, the State Department said in a statement. It said Mumin has expanded his cell by kidnapping boys age 10 to 15 and forcing them to take up militant activity.

Mumin was the first of the senior commanders of the Somalia-based al Shabaab to pledge allegiance to Islamic State, which seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014 and has been expanding its influence to other regions. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Mumin had been add to its counterterrorism list. The State Department said he had been placed on its specially designated global terrorist list.

“Today’s action notifies the U.S. public and international community that Abdiqadir Mumin is actively engaged in terrorism,” the State Department said in a statement. It said the designations “expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and result in denial of access to the U.S. financial system.”

Key Headlines

U.S. Designates Former Shabaab Leader Allied To IS As ‘Terrorist’(Reuters)
Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle State Formation Talks To Resume on September 3 (Goobjoog News)
SNA Retake Village In Gedo From A-Shabaab (Shabelle News)
Puntland President Heading To Galkayo Ahead Of Mogadishu Talks (Garowe Online)
Chairman Of Somali National Civil Service Commission Dies In Mogadishu (Radio Dalsan)
Puntland Commandos Stage Mutiny Seize El Bur-bound Technicals (Garowe Online)
Somalia: UN Envoy Condemns Terrorist Attack On Mogadishu Hotel (UN News Centre)
Egypt Condemns Somali Terror Attack (The Cairo Post)
Somali Refugees Left In Kenya’s Dadaab Face Dangerous Choices (News Week)
How Minnesota Cops Are Making Mogadishu Safer — And Why It Matters For Minnesota (Minn Post)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle State Formation Talks To Resume on September 3

31 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 362 Words

The state formation conference for Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan state will resume on September 3 a year after talks collapse following disagreements and mistrust between the Federal Government and elders from the region. Interior Minister Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein announced Wednesday the conference will kick off in Jowhar following talks with the regional body IGAD in Mogadishu. “We have been in talks with IGAD for the last two months exploring ways to reconvene the conference and we are now in the final stages before the start onSeptember 3,” said Hussein.

IGAD special envoy for Somalia Mohammed Abdi Afey said the conference must be inclusive and adhere to constitutional framework. Afey added a committee comprising representatives from IGAD, EU and the Federal Government will meet starting tomorrow to finalise the preparatory process before next week. Afey said the Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle is the only remaining state to be formed before the polls which start next month. Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Arte called on delegates who will be participating in the conference to embrace a spirit of compromise noting despite differences which existed before there was need to reach a common ground.

“I know there were teething issues during the conference. I urge all delegates to reach consensus through compromise so that we can be able to finish this process in time and satisfactorily,” said Arte. The state formation process was first set to start September last year but was later postponed to November but shortly thereafter collapse by end year. Elders accused the Federal Government of interfering with the selection of delegates to the conference, a matter which degenerated into collapse of the talks.

The government sent delegations to Baletweyne and Jowhar to convince the elders to resume the talks on a number of times but the overtures did not yield any meaningful results as the elders gave the talks a wide berth. President Hassan Sheikh went to Beletweyne in March 25 to engage the elders but the talks ran into resistance from the public on the first day resulting into demonstrations. However the President managed to convince some of the elders who later converged in Jowhar but the talks never materialized.

SNA Retake Village In Gedo From A-Shabaab

31 August – Source: Shabelle News- 130 Words

Somali National Army (SNA) have wrested full control of a key village in Gedo region from Al-Shabaab on Wednesday following a fierce fighting. Col. Osman Nur Hajji, a Somali army commander in Burdhubo confirmed the capture of Hudur Wayne village, which is located 30 km south of the city. Hajji said the SNA troops moved in the vicinity, after fierce fighting with Al-Shabaab fighters, that left at least 2 SNA soldiers dead, and many wounded.

“We secured Hudur Wayne and pushed the insurgents out of the area after gun battle, we lost two brave soldiers during the operation,” Hajji added. However, Al-Shabaab did not comment on seizure of the village near Burdhubo town in Gedo region, whereby the militants had bases to plan and execute attacks against KDF and SNA.

Puntland President Heading To Galkayo Ahead Of Mogadishu Talks

31 August – Source: Garowe Online- 136 Words

The President of Somalia’s Puntland Government Abdiweli Mohamed Ali is expected to return from visits to Ethiopia and Turkey on Friday, Garowe Online reports.Ali will land in central Galkayo city where Al Shabaab suicide bombers killed scores of people in an inferno on August 21. The deadliest suicide attacks tore through women traders inside busy Dayaha market and municipality complex where government ministers were to attend a meeting.

Puntland leader will fly to Mogadishu for talks to be joined by federal leadership and regional Presidents onSeptember 4. High level IGAD summit in Mogadishu was also delayed for unknown reasons. Ali alongside other political leaders is then scheduled to accompany President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on a trip to the holy city of Mecca for annual pilgrimage. President Mohamud is seeking re-election in decisive October vote.

Chairman Of Somali National Civil Service Commission Dies In Mogadishu

31 August – Source: Radio Dalsan- 141 Words

The chairman of Somali National Civil Service Commission, Mr. Ali Mahmoud Rage Ibrahim known as “Ali Dhere” passed away Tuesday night in Mogadishu after a short illness. “Mr. Ali has been working to reform civil servants and he was the chairman of the committee,” a colleague to the deceased told reporters in Mogadishu. The Somali Foreign Minister Abdisalam Hadliye Omar and his ministry staff have sent condolences to the family and friends of the late chair as well as to Somali public and private servants and the Somali government.

“Mr. Ali Mahmoud Ibrahim, (Ali Dhere) has served his country and people for a long time. He has shown loyalty to his people and was a good performer . He has served in a number of different positions. He also coordinated the structured approach to work and employment,” the foreign minister’s statement said.

Puntland Commandos Stage Mutiny, Seize El Bur-bound Technicals

31 August – Source: Garowe Online – 219 Words

Complaining of delayed salaries, Puntland commandos have seized central Somalia-bound technicals, Garowe Online reports. The commandos captured four technicals and a bullet-proof Toyota Land Cruiser bound for Somali government troops in central El Bur town. The military equipment was embedded in a ship carrying food aid for Puntland, Interim Galmudug Administration (IGA) and flood-hit Hiran earlier this month. Before leaving for Ethiopia, Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali ordered Bossaso Port Authority to unload the consignment exempt from any tax.

Nugal clan elders intervened in the seizure of technicals, however, efforts to set the consignment free ended in failure in the last 24 hours. The soldiers had already tinted the cars with a camouflage with which Puntland forces are popular. “The new step taken by the soldiers opens the gate for destabilization. Now, the solution is for the government to curb such a mutiny in the near future and address underlying causes,” an elder said anonymously.

The mutiny is reported to have been triggered by lack of salaries, welfare and the absence of the repair of pick-up trucks used by Puntland troops. The incident comes on the heels of massive security operations conducted by Puntland Special Forces in the capital, Garowe. State civil service workers and security forces have protested non-payment of government salaries and overdue entitlements in recent years.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia: UN Envoy Condemns Terrorist Attack On Mogadishu Hotel

31 August – UN News Centre – 247 Words

The United Nations envoy in Somalia has spoken out against the bombing yesterday of a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, that killed at least 13 people and injured more than 20. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Somalia, Michael Keating, “strongly condemned” the truck bomb attack on the SYL Hotel in the capital, according to a statement issued yesterday by the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).

In the statement, UNSOM stated that at the time of the blast several senior government officials and members of the country’s federal parliament were attending a meeting inside the hotel, which is located near the presidential palace and the federal parliament building, but none were among the fatalities. The militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. UNSOM highlighted that greater loss of life was averted as security guards halted the explosives-laden vehicle as it was approaching one of the gates.

“Violent extremists have once again bombed a hotel in the Somali capital,” said Mr. Keating in the statement, noting that the bombing marked the third such attack on the SYL Hotel since the beginning of 2015. “On each previous occasion, its management and staff have repaired the damage and reopened its doors for business in short order,” he added.

“The SYL Hotel provides powerful evidence of the extraordinary resilience of the Somali people, who refuse to be cowed by al-Shabaab’s campaign of terror.” Mr. Keating also expressed condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a full and speedy recovery.

Egypt Condemns Somali Terror Attack

31 August – The Cairo Post – 99 Words

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a hotel in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu on Wednesday, Youm7 reported. “The Egyptian people stand in solidarity with the Somali nation in these hard moments,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement.

A truck bomb has exploded outside a hotel in Mogadishu nearby a presidential palace on Wednesday, killing 22 people. Abu Zeid expressed condolences and support for the families of the victims, the Somali people and government, saying that the recent terror attack “confirms that terrorism is a global phenomenon requires consolidation of all efforts.”

Somali Refugees Left In Kenya’s Dadaab Face Dangerous Choices

31 August – News Week – 662 Words

Hot, dusty wind has constantly passed through the thatch and thorn of Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps since they opened in the early 1990s. In May, however, a new wind created a chill among the estimated 340,000 mostly Somali refugees living here when President Uhuru Kenyatta declared that Dadaab would be closed by the end of 2016.

After the announcement, Kenyan authorities, together with officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), stepped up a program to identify and process refugees willing to go back to Somalia. Refugees opting for “voluntary repatriation” were promised a cash grant of $200 per person upon leaving and another $200 upon arrival, as well as utensils and other household items and a promise of six months of food assistance—though it is unclear that continuing support is really occurring. Those who refused were given no assurances that they would be allowed to stay.

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) team was in Dadaab from August 17-24 interviewing refugees about the nightmare they have endured for the past four months and the anxiety they are now experiencing about the four months to come. Some have agreed to return, others have said they want to stay, but all express the same fear: “What happens if we don’t accept the money and assistance to repatriate now? Will we be loaded onto trucks and forced back with nothing later in the year?”

No official has assured any of the people we interviewed that they will not be forced back if they do not agree to go now. Conditions in Somalia do not appear conducive to refugees returning. The U.S. Agency for International Development’s July 2016 assessment of conditions in Somalia said that malnutrition rates in the Horn of Africa country remain among the highest in the world and recorded 10,000 cholera cases in the first six months of 2016. UNHCR’s latest assessment of conditions in southern/central Somalia in May found: “Civilians continue to be severely affected by the conflict, with reports of civilians being killed and injured in conflict-related violence, widespread sexual and gender-based violence against women and children, forced recruitment of children, and large-scale displacement.” At the moment, it is not even clear whether local Somali factions will allow returns to and through their areas of control.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“Siraach, who in 2013 became the first Somali-American sergeant anywhere in the United States, added that Somalia and the U.S. have a common enemy: ISIS and al-Shabab. “We know those groups have recruited young Somalis from Minnesota and other states.”

How Minnesota Cops Are Making Mogadishu Safer — And Why It Matters For Minnesota

31 August – Source: Minn Post – 1375 Words

The first time Metro Transit Police Chief John Harrington visited Mogadishu, he was startled when he saw Somali criminal investigators and police forces respond to terrorist attacks — they had no bulletproof vests or other safety equipment. Later, Harrington learned that the Somali government — which depends on foreign aid to maintain its personnel — is unable to provide protective gear for law enforcement. “Vests for the officers were the exception, not the rule,” he said in a recent interview in his Minneapolis office. “The government has been working through the international community just to get uniforms for everybody.”

That was a year ago. After Harrington returned to Minnesota from the weeklong visit to Somalia, he spent months connecting with police agencies throughout the state, asking them if they had surplus equipment they would be willing to donate to the East African nation. The response was overwhelming: In six months, Harrington collected 1,700 pounds of equipment from various Minnesota police departments, including Moorhead, Savage and the Three Rivers Park District.

“I’m not surprised that they would donate materials,” Harrington said earlier this month of the police agencies. “But I had no idea that it was going to be 11 pallets and almost one ton of materials.” The support isn’t just a feel-good effort, though. Nine years ago, al Shabab, an al Qaeda linked group, recruited more than 20 Somali-American college and high school students from Minnesota, sparking alarm in the Somali community and among U.S. intelligence agencies.

Since then, and amid intensifying terror recruitment concerns in the Twin Cities, U.S. law enforcement has increased its collaboration with the East African country, which has seen decades of violence that’s uprooted hundreds of thousands of people to Minnesota, Canada, Europe and other parts of the world. “I really believe that if Mogadishu is safer, the Twin Cities is safer,” said Harrington, who also served as a former St. Paul police chief and a state senator. “The two cities are not disconnected. They’re directly connected.”