September 13, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
British terror suspect cleared of all charges
13 Sept – Source: The Star – 265 Words
A British national, Jermaine John Grant has been acquitted by a Nairobi magistrate of terror charges and other counts after the prosecution failed to provide evidence of his alleged terrorism activities.
Grant who was arraigned before magistrate Kiarie Waweru Friday morning at the Milimani Law Courts was cleared of terror charges as well as robbery with violence charges after the prosecution failed to show a clear link between him and the al Shabaab who the prosecution had accused him of colluding with.
Despite the prosecution proving that Gant was in the country illegally and had not identification, since he had not been charged with those, Waweru cleared him of all charges. Grant was first arrested in Kenya on May 31, 2008 at a roadblock in Dadajabula area along the Garissa-Moyale road.
Grant was in the company of two men and was disguised as a woman. Police believed that Grant was making his way to Somalia for training by the al Shabaab militia. The three were booked at an AP post nearby.
Key Headlines
- Somali president Hassan Sheikh condemns attack on Ahmed Madobe in Kismayo (Radio Mogadishu/Dalsan)
- Somali Government deplores attack on Ahmed Madobe (Raxanreeb/Somali Channel TV)
- British terror suspect cleared of all charges (Star News)
- Somali workers start to clamour for employment rights (Radio Ergo)
- UAE calls for ‘unconditional’ release of hostages (Khaleej Times)
- Jubba police arrest 20 over deadly blast in Kismayo (Kismaayo News)
- Forced evictions in Mogadishu put thousands of displaced at even greater risk (Amnesty International)
- UN Envoy: with Somalia on verge of ‘great things’ more international assistance needed to secure gains (UN News Center)
- Puntland condemns suicide car bomb attack on Juba leader (Garowe Online)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali president Hassan Sheikh condemns attack on Ahmed Madobe in Kismayo
13 Sept – Source: Radio Mogadishu/Dalsan – 138 words
Somali federal president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who is Dubai, UAE has condemned the attack against the leader of the interim administration of Juba in port city of Kismayo on Thursday. “Somali government strongly deplores the attack against the convoy which was carrying Sheikh Ahmed Madobe in Kismayo,” the president said in a statement from his office.
“I call on the people in Jubba regions together they should face the fight against the militant groups killing the people,” president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud added.
The president sent his condolences to all those whose the loved members were killed in the attack and wished all those who were wounded for quick recovery.
Somali Government deplores attack on Ahmed Madobe
13 Sept – Source: Raxanreeb/Somali Channel TV – 157 words
The cabinet of the ministers of the federal government of Somalia have strongly deplored the suicide bomb attack against the leader of the interim administration of Jubba Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Ahmed Madobe) in Kismayo on Thursday killing more than 15 people and injuring nearly 38 others.
“The council of the ministers condemn the terrorist attack carried by the terrorist groups against Sheikh Ahmed Madobe.” the information minister of the federal government of Somalia Abdullahi Hersi Elmoge said after the end of the ordinary cabinet meeting.
“We have reports saying that the leader Ahmed Madobe was wounded in the attack.” he added. The ministers also sent condolences to those whose their beloved ones were killed in the attack.
Somali workers start to clamour for employment rights
13 Sept – Source: Radio Ergo – 332 words
Professional and domestic workers in Somalia are starting to complain openly over the lack of basic labour rights. Some are lobbying for new laws and proper employment regulations. Hassan Mohamed Roble, who works for a business company in Mogadishu, said he and other workers were routinely forced to work long hours without overtime pay.
“We work more than 10 hours a day without any benefits or earnings other than the basic salary,” Roble told Radio Ergo’s local reporter in Mogadishu. He said he could not name his employer for fear of being fired because of his complaints to the media. Roble is one of many Somalis becoming increasingly determined that the Federal Government must take workers’ rights into account to end exploitation.
Ali Sheikh, who works for a local NGO, said normally there is no written contract between employers and employees. “The lack of written contracts has helped employers to abuse, mistreat and force workers to work extra hours without pay,” Sheikh told Radio Ergo. He said employees can be fired at any time without a reason and without any notice being given by the employer. ‘”When you’re coming to work, the guard at the gate can tell you “Go back, you are not working here anymore,” and you will never see your boss or get to know why you are fired. It’s so serious,” Sheikh complained.
Jubba police arrest 20 over deadly blast in Kismayo
12 Sept – Source: Kismaayo News – 220 words
Jubba police in Kismayo have arrested 20 youths in connection with Thursday’s car bomb suicide attack targeting the leader of the Jubba administration that killed at least eight people. The arrests were made after police launched security operations in the city.
Police officials were quoted as saying the detained suspects are undergoing interrogations at Kismayo central police station regarding the assassination attempt on the Jubba leader.
Puntland condemns suicide car bomb attack on Juba leader
12 Sept – Source: Garowe Online – 100 words
Puntland Government strongly condemns September 12 suicide car bomb attack on the convoy of Juba President Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) in the southern port city of Kismayo.
The people and Government of Puntland send condolences to the Jubaland people and administration and the families of victims killed in this heinous, ruthless, and indiscriminate attack by al Shabaab terrorist group, whereby soldiers and civilians were killed and injured.
The Jubaland leader was unharmed in the attack, which is another attempt by terrorists to undermine the concerted efforts of restoring peace and stability in Somalia by attacking the leaders.
Somaliland FM Behi: “We are Fighting Piracy with one Hand Tied behind our Back”
12 Sept – Source: Somaliland Sun – 121 words
Underfunded thus limited resources the coast guard has managed to thwart piracy activities within the territorial waters of the republic of Somaliland where over 100 pirates are currently serving stiff sentences while suspected 10 others are awaiting trial in Berbera.
This revelations were made by the Somaliland foreign minister Mohamed Behi Yonis during an address at the closing session of the 3rd UAE Counter-Piracy conference Dubai in which he also thanked the community for continued support while urging recognition of his country that he said is , “fighting piracy with one hand tied behind its back” due to non recognition and attendant benefits. Read below the verbatim excerpts of the Speech by the Somaliland Foreign Minister at the 3rd UAE Counter-Piracy conference.
REGIONAL MEDIA
British terror suspect cleared of all charges
13 Sept – Source: The Star – 265 Words
A British national, Jermaine John Grant has been acquitted by a Nairobi magistrate of terror charges and other counts after the prosecution failed to provide evidence of his alleged terrorism activities.
Grant who was arraigned before magistrate Kiarie Waweru Friday morning at the Milimani Law Courts was cleared of terror charges as well as robbery with violence charges after the prosecution failed to show a clear link between him and the al Shabaab who the prosecution had accused him of colluding with.
Despite the prosecution proving that Gant was in the country illegally and had not identification, since he had not been charged with those, Waweru cleared him of all charges. Grant was first arrested in Kenya on May 31, 2008 at a roadblock in Dadajabula area along the Garissa-Moyale road.
Grant was in the company of two men and was disguised as a woman. Police believed that Grant was making his way to Somalia for training by the al Shabaab militia. The three were booked at an AP post nearby.
UAE calls for ‘unconditional’ release of hostages
13 Sept – Source: Khaleej Times – 289 words
A senior official from the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the international community to exert greater efforts in securing the release of fishermen and sailors held as captives by Somali pirates.
“Until now, some fishermen and sailors are in custody of the pirates and we would like to send a message to release them unconditionally,” said Faris Al Mazroui, Assistant to the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs on Military and Security Affairs.
Man executed and another’s limbs cut by al Shabaab
12 Sept – Source: Daily Nation – 502 words
Reports from Buloburte town, 200 km north of Mogadishu, confirm that militants loyal to al Shabaab, the radical Islamist group, carried out execution, hand and leg amputations yesterday. At a town square, the militants first fired at the head of a man named as Ahmednur Sheikh Ali.
He was charged and found guilty of spying for the Somali government and for the peacekeepers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). “The spy was apprehended by Hisbah (the al Shabaab militants in charge of public order,” said a local judge.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Forced evictions in Mogadishu put thousands of displaced at even greater risk
13 Sept – Source: Amnesty International – 132 words
Thousands of people are being forcibly evicted from makeshift camps in Mogadishu as the government presses ahead with plans to clean up the capital, Amnesty said in a briefing released Friday. Forced evictions have continued and gathered pace in recent months despite the authorities’ failure to find an alternative safe location.
“It is completely unacceptable for people who have fled to the capital for protection to be forcibly evicted. It has resulted in large scale human rights abuses. The government has a responsibility to protect this vulnerable sector of society and ensure their security,” said Gemma Davies, Amnesty International’s Somalia researcher.
More than 300,000 live in settlements in Mogadishu where they are sheltering from cyclical drought, famine and a two-decades-long armed conflict which have already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
UN Envoy: with Somalia on verge of ‘great things,’ more international assistance needed to secure gains
12 Sept – Source: UN News Centre – 860 words
While praising the people and Government of Somalia, along with their international partners, for being “on the brink of achieving truly great things,” the top United Nations Envoy in the country warned the Security Council that overall success is not guaranteed and that “in no sense at all is the Somalia ‘crisis’ over.
“Where we stand is […] precarious. We cannot afford to lessen our focus or investment – despite the many competing claims for our attention in the rest of the world,” said Nicholas Kay, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia, as he briefed the Council on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the situation in the country.
Hammami: From Deep South Bible school to ‘rapping jihadi’
12 Sept – Source: AFP – 494 words
American extremist Omar Hammami, who was reported killed in Somalia on Thursday, switched a mundane life in Alabama for a spot in the global Jihad, earning a $5 million bounty on his head from the US but eventually falling foul of his fellow fighters.
The Rambo-inspired Hammami — better known as Al-Amriki or “the American” — was reported killed in a shootout with the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents he had left America to fight alongside.
Born in 1984 to a southern Baptist mother with Irish roots and a Muslim father with a Syrian background, Hammami said he had an unremarkable upbringing in Daphne, Alabama, with the usual teenage crushes on girls and occasional deer hunting.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Romans did not build Rome in a day or in a year. Rebuilding takes time. After more than Twenty years of darkness, it’s understandable that we are impatient and rushing to the light we see at the end of the tunnel. But we ought to give the president a chance to deliver.”
Somalia: A Year of Progress!
13 Sept – Source: Hiiraan Online – 680 Words
This piece is a response to IPS’s “Somali President Rides Through a Bumpy Year.” IPS quotes HIPS Director, Abdi Aynte saying the president has failed to deliver in his first year. IPS has highlighted President Hassan’s Six Pillar Policy: security, stability, justice, economic recovery, and service delivery as a failed ambitious policy.
Al Shabaab’s top commanders have accused each other of destroying their organization. Ibrahim Afghani and Omar Hammai (Al Amriki) are both dead. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has surrendered. It is a fair conclusion to say al Shabaab is weaker now than a year ago.
It is also a fact that the Mogadishu security is better now than it has been in the previous administration. Everyone can agree the new Chief of Police General Abdihakim Dahir Saaid is doing far much better job than his predecessor. We often hear when things go wrong, but not when they’re going well. The security apparatus in Mogadishu led by President Hassan and Prime Minister Shirdoon have been working hard thwarting and dismantling terror operations.
Somali Diasporas from all over the world are returning to Somalia & particularly to Mogadishu in record numbers. That says much about president’s security plan, which is one of the Six Pillar Policy. Terror attacks are world phenomena and not unique to Mogadishu. They take place in the US, in the UK, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Hargeysa, and in Garowe. It’s a challenge that we all hope we must prevail.
“If his death is confirmed, it is significant in terms of further streamlining al Shabaab’s leadership, which has joined forces with al Qaeda and waged an internal war against dissenters.”
Life and death (?) of American rapping jihadist
12 Sept – Source: Toronto Star Blog – 536 Words
Hammami, better known as “Al Amriki” (the American), a one-time militant with Somalia’s al Shabaab, was killed in a shootout Thursday. Hammami’s death has erroneously been reported before, but multiple news outlets were confirming the news, which first broke on Twitter by Voice of America journalist Harun Maruf.
Maruf interviewed the Alabama-born Hammami last week, where he reportedly told Maruf that coming back to the U.S. was not an option “unless it’s in a body bag.” As for his life now? Maruf tweeted that Hammami told him: “Wake up in the morning, drink tea, eat beans, read Qur’an, drink more tea, more beans, pray, and sleep.”
Hammami has been a marked man for a couple years now – tracked both by al Shabaab’s hardline leadership, with whom he had a very public falling out, and also by Somali and Western forces since the U.S. put a $5 million bounty on his head in March.
“Somali Islamist insurgent group al Shabaab, which has joined al Qaeda, has been pushed out of all of the main towns they once controlled in southern and central parts of the country but they still remain a potent threat to the UN-backed government.”
The fractured land that once was Somalia
12 Sept – Source: Markosun’s Blog – 448 Words
The political breakup of certain countries is always a possibility. In Canada the never-ending headaches caused by the Quebec sovereigntists (separatists), seems to be a perpetual curse on the country as a whole. It will never go away. China has major problems with Muslim areas in the west of the country that want to secede.
In China the government doesn’t hold referendums, they send in the army with orders to stomp out the problem. Same in Russia, when the Chechen republic tried to secede in the 1990′s, Moscow sent in the army with orders to crush the rebels by any means necessary. They bombarded the rebel capital of Grozny (population 500,000) with 2,500 artillery guns until the city was literally flattened.
Some countries do not have the democratic institutions or the willingness to use power to deal with dissolution of the political make-up of the country. This is what has happened to Somalia. The very poor country situated in the Horn of Africa. The country hasn’t had an effective central government since the 1970′s. Some areas have become pirate controlled bastions of lawlessness and outright chaos. Such is the miserable plight of Somalia.
Top tweets
@cfpaar A healthy local politics within #Somalia‘s leadership is the primary foundation that the support by the…http://fb.me/2Rc0b1dqg.
@AfricanDevJobs Somali #Women take advantage of self-defense training in efforts to protect themselves from sexual violence http://www.voanews.com/
@UNDPSomalia Do you know there is a New Deal for#Somalia Conference in Brussels on 16 Sept. 2013?http://ow.ly/otT1u #SomaliaNewDeal.
@EUCouncilTVNews EU trains #Somalia #coastguard how to arrest pirates- gathering evidence: #EUCAP #Nestor #justiceWatch here! http://bit.ly/18VAhvd.
@AustraliaUN #Somalia a model of #UN & #African Union cooperation. Here w/ #AU Special Rep Mahamat Saleh Annadif#OzPrez pic.twitter.com/VlUL818mXB.
Image of the day
Trainees drawn from camps for the internally displaced in Banadir and Middle Shabelle region practice personal defence skills during a training programme designed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to teach basic and practical self-defense skills to women. Photo: AMISOM.