September 16, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

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EU Praises Somali Government Progress

13 Sept- Source: VOA- 442 words
This week Somali government led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud marks its first year in office. The European Union is now calling on officials in Mogadishu to reach out to leaders in southern and central Somalia to help them solve their political differences. The diplomats say the political dialogue between the Somali people is important for the success of the government. This latest call from diplomats comes as the European Union and Somali government prepare to co-host a high-level conference in Brussels Monday, dubbed as “a new deal for Somalia.” The conference will be about ways to sustain the gains made by the government and support the reconstruction of the country after two decades of civil war.

Key Headlines

Compact partnership endorsed for the Brussels Conference on Somalia (Office of the Prime Minister)
Somali president jets off to Brussels (Radio Mogadishu)
Somalia: AMISOM officials reach central Somalia (Raxanreeb)
Turkish’s Favori takes over administration of Mogadishu international airport
(Radio Mogadishu)
Ahlusuna spokesman Sheikh Soomow arrested in Mogadishu (Radio Dalsan)
Skirmishes explosions rock Marka town ( Radio Shabelle)
Somali Government says it foiled more terrorist attacks (Radio Mogadishu)
Curfew imposed on Kismayo as Ahmed Madobe heads to Brussels
(Kismayo online)
‘Milestone’ talks to set Somalia on road to recovery (AFP)
Somalia ‘foils 3000 al Shabaab terror plots’ (African Review)
UNSC welcomes UNSOM deployment in Somalia (Kuwait News Agency)

PRESS STATEMENT

Compact partnership endorsed for the Brussels Conference on Somalia

15 Sept- Source: Office of the Prime Minister- 241 words
The New Deal High Level Task Force meeting chaired by the Minister of Finance and Planning His Excellency Mohamoud Hassan Sulliman today endorsed the Somali Compact Partnership with the International Community in Brussels. The compact will be presented and signed into an agreement at the Conference on Somalia tomorrow.
Finance Minister stated the compact or the agreement with the international community is to ensure the country stays on the path to long-term peace-building and state-building goals. He pointed out that this is a living document produced from an inclusive process and determines the Somalia priorities.
“The compact defines priority intervention areas for Somalia and commits international patterns’ resources to these priorities. The visions of the compact is to achieve a new beginning for a sovereign, secure, democratic, united and federal Somalia at peace with itself and the world, and for the benefit of its people,” Finance Minister said.
The compact document provides strategic framework for coordinating political, security, and development efforts for peace and statebuilding activities over the next three years. The compact was produced based on the Busan New Deal principles initiated in December 2012. It was developed an almost year long consultation process at the national level and with the International Partners.
Somali government with ministers and leaders from over thirty countries, as well as heads of international institutions, civil society organizations met in Brussels to endorse the Somali compact.

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali president jets off to Brussels

15 Sept- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu/SNTV- 138 words

High level delegation led by the Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has travelled to Brussels, capital of Belgium ahead of the conference on Somalia dubbed “New Deal for Somalia” which will officially kick off on Monday. Kamal Gutale, Somalia presidential palace’s chief of staff told the media that the president will attend conference on Somalia which is due to be held in Brussels on 16th September 2013.The Somali head of state was accompanied by foreign affairs minister Fowzia Yusuf Hajji Aden, state minister Farah Sheikh Abdukadir, minister of finance and planning Mohamud Hassan Suleiman and defense minister Abdikarin Hajji Mohamud Fiqi. The international community will gather in Brussels on Monday (16 September) to endorse a ‘new deal’ for Somalia that is intended to ensure that the country becomes a functioning state.

Ahlusuna spokesman Sheikh Soomow arrested in Mogadishu

15 Sept- Source: Radio Dalsan/Jowhar Online/Radio Mustaqbal- 86 words

Somali police forces have on Sunday arrested moderate Islamist Ahlusuna senior spokesman Sheikh Abdukadir Soomow. According to police sources Sheikh Soomow was summoned by the Criminal Investigations Department of Mogadishu police and subsequently detained him. The reason of his arrest was not immediately clear as the police officers rejected to comment. Sheikh Soomow who acts as the Ahlusuna senior spokesman in Mogadishu recently attended conference on radicalization which more than 160 Somali Islamic scholars issued a fatwa against al Shabaab group.

Somalia: AMISOM officials reach central Somalia

15 Sept- Source: Raxanreeb- 123 words

Officials from African Union Police forces have reached central Somalia town of Beledweyn on Saturday where they have started to ground police training mission in the region in the near time.
Hiran police commissioner Colonel Isaq Ali said the officers from Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria came to Beledweyn town to provide a capacity building training course for the Somali Police Forces in the region. AMISOM earlier deployed its Fitmed Police Forces into Mogadishu, but the mission’s spokesman said they will soon deploy the police into other regions including Kismayu and Beledweyn. Hiran police commissioner noted that the re-grouped Somali Police in the region needed a strong capacity building and support so that they can maintain the security.

Turkish’s Favori takes over administration of Mogadishu international airport

15 Sept- Source: Radio Dalsan/Radio Mogadishu/Hiiraan Online/Shabelle- 163 words

Turkish based company, Favori L.L.C has officially taken over the administration of the Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport. Dubai based SKA which has been managing the operation of the airport since 2010, has officially declared that it has handed over the operation of the airport handling services to the Turkish Favori firm. Somalia cabinet of ministers has recently passed a new agreement with the Favori company which will be managing the airport for the coming five years. The information minister of the federal government of Somalia Abdullahi Herso Elmoge said the handing over of the operation of Mogadishu airport started on Saturday afternoon and ended on Sunday morning. Dalsan Radio reporter says he has seen SKA officials departing from the airport on Sunday. Favori company will be responsible for the management of the airport and the commercial aircraft handling services, the minister said.

Puntland launches seventh round of polio vaccines

15 Sept- Source: Garowe Online- 202 words

Puntland Ministry of Health has launched the seventh round of polio immunization campaign which is targeting children under the age of ten with oral polio vaccines on Sunday, Garowe Online reports. Speaking to the media at health ministry headquarters in Puntland capital of Garowe, Puntland’s Deputy Minister of Health Zaynab Ugas Yasin encouraged the parents to make their children available for immunization, “two drops of polio vaccines would be given to every child to prevent wild polio virus from spreading,” said Yasin.

Skirmishes, explosions rock Marka town

15 Sept- Source: Radio Shabelle- 109 words

News from Marka town the headquarter of the lower Shabelle region of Somalia confirm that armed men believed to be al Shabaab fighters launched on Saturday attacks on AMISOM and government military bases located at the outskirts of the town. Witness told Shabelle radio that the militia fired artillery shells onto the bases which forced the allied forces to retaliate. In another incident inside Marka town, a heavy explosion occurred at a government military base located at the heart of the town. Government officials based in Marka town have not yet commented on Saturday night attacks as for now.

Two Kenyan al Shabaab seized in Lower Jubba region

15 Sept- Source: Radio Mustaqbal-126 words

Two Kenyan men suspected of links with Islamist militants of al Shabaab reportedly seized in Dhobley district in Lower Jubba region. The district commissioner of Dhobley for Jubba interim administration Qeex Mohamed Abdullahi told Mustaqbal radio on the telephone that Jubba forces arrested the two Kenyan men near Dhobley district. The commissioner added that the two men were handed over to Kenyan forces in Lower Jubba region for questioning.

3 killed, others wounded in Bay clashes

15 Sept- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 138 words

At least three people were killed and others were wounded in an overnight clashes between Somali government forces and al Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab militant group in Dambal areas near Aw-Dinle district of Bay region.Confirming the clashes, Aw-dinle district commissioner of the Somali government Mohamed Sheikh Abdillahi told Bar-kulan that the clashes began when suspected al Shabaab militants attacked government bases in Dambal areas. The commissioner further added that no causality has yet been reported on the government’s side.Major security operations have been conducted in Aw-Dinle areas over the past few days as an effort to ensure security and stability of the southern Somali region of Bay.

Gunmen kill elder in Kismayo

14 Sept- Source: Kismaayo Onlie/ Radio Dalsan/Dhanaan Online/Kismaayo News- 217 words

Unidentified gunmen Saturday afternoon killed a traditional elder in Kismayo district, Lower Jubba region. Gamadid Nur Siyad was shot dead under unknown circumstances. The assailants managed to escape immediately. No arrests have been made in relation to the killing. Security officials in the region stated that investigations are underway.

Somali Government says it foiled more terrorist attacks

14 Sept- Source: Raxanreeb/Radio Mogadishu/ Jowhar Online- 163 words
Somali government says it has established intelligence system which helped to tackle more terrorist attacks in the capital, RBC Radio reports. “The security forces obtained credible sources telling more attacks would occur in Mogadishu.” the interior minister Abdikartin Hussein Guled said. Speaking at the state-run radio, the minister highlighted a new mechanism to deal with the terrorist attacks in the capital. “In August we have received 330 sources of information about imminent attacks in Mogadishu.” he added.

Curfew imposed on Kismayo as Ahmed Madobe heads to Brussels

14 Sept- Source: Kismaayo Online-137 words

Officials from Jubba administration have on Saturday morning imposed a curfew on the port city of Kismayo, the provincial capital of Lower Jubba region following Thursday’s deadly suicide attack. Heavily armed security personnel have been deployed on the streets of the city and the traffic movement was restricted, residents said. Kismayo has witnessed the deadliest suicide attack in recent memory on Thursday when Ahmed Madobe and his delegate returning from Mogadishu were targeted, killing at least 30 people.

REGIONAL MEDIA

‘Milestone’ talks to set Somalia on road to recovery

15 Sept- Source: Capital news/AFP- 145 words
The EU hosts a “milestone” international conference on Somalia on Monday aimed at underpinning economic and political recovery after two decades of bloody civil war. Some 50 high-level delegations from Africa, Europe, the Gulf and elsewhere are expected for the “New Deal in Somalia” event, gathering President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, other Somali leaders, world aid groups and global finance institutions. “We will not just be managing conflict, on Monday we will be signalling and kick-starting the consolidation of peace and stability in Somalia,” said Alexander Rondos, the EU’s Horn of Africa envoy.

Somalia ‘foils 3,000 al Shabaab terror plots’

15 Sept- Source: Africa Review- 277 words

Somali security agencies have intercepted hundreds of planned attacks by the radical extremist al Shabaab group, a top government official said. Interior Affairs and National Security minister Abdikarim Hussein Guledon Friday said that the state’s security apparatus had in August received 330 reports on planned al Shabaab attacks. “Last month (August), we received 330 [intelligence] reports on assaults being orchestrated by the anti-peace elements (a reference to the fanatical Islamists),” said Minister Guled.

UNSC welcomes UNSOM deployment in Somalia

14 Sept- Source: Kuwait News Agency- 291 words

The UN Security Council welcomed the deployment of UNSOM, and looked forward to it playing an effective role in support of the Federal Government of Somalia. The UN Security Council was briefed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Nicholas Kay and the African Union’s Special Representative Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif on the situation in Somalia last Thursday. In a statement late Friday, The members of the Security Council said they “took particular note of progress in the Lower and Middle Juba and Gedo regions of Somalia.

Ethiopia condemns terrorist attack on leader of Juba Interim Administration

14 Sept- Source: Walta Information Centre- 283 words

Al Shabaab carried out attack on the leader Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam “Madobe” on September 12. Ethiopia strongly denounces the terror attack as an act of desperation aimed at derailing the peace process between Juba and the Federal Government of Somalia. Ethiopia will continue to offer its full support to bring peace and stability in Somalia and for the implementation of the recent agreement signed between Somalia Federal Government and the Juba Delegation.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Islamic center eulogizes American jihadi, backing up reports he was killed by rivals

14 Sept- Source: Fox News/AP- 142 words

A Somalia-based Islamic center says it is mourning the death of the American jihadi Omar Hammami, backing up reports the militant was killed Thursday by his rivals within the Islamic extremist group al Shabaab. The SITE Intel Group, an American private company that analyzes terror threats, said the Islamic World Issues Study Center published a tribute in which it decried the killing of Hammami and two other militants. In the eulogy the center describes the killings as a “tragedy,” saying al Shabaab should be “directing their arrows at the enemies of the group.” Hammami, whose nom de guerre was Abu Mansoor Al Amriki, or “the American,” was reported killed in an ambush in southern Somalia following months on the run after falling out with al Shabaab’s top leader. The militant from Alabama had been reported dead before, only for him to resurface.

EU Praises Somali Government Progress

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The militant organisations from Pakistan to Somalia can take a lesson from Hamas and Hezbollah and become a part and parcel of political activity in a redefining manner.”

The al Shabaab moment

15 Sept- Source: Khaleej Times-397 Words

GOVERNMENTS AND religious scholars from Somalia to Pakistan these days are engaged in a task that is more easily said than being done. Their intention is to speak up against militant groups who, of late, had created a state within a state, and busy gunning down sectarian opponents for no rhyme or reason. The trend continues from Afghanistan to Pakistan and from the marshlands of Iraq to Mogadishu. An important move to address this madness was undertaken by religious scholars of Somalia who unanimously came up with a fatwa (edict) saying that the activities of al Shabaab are un-Islamic and their ideology is anti-state and anti-people. This is a courageous statement, and has come from no less than 160 scholars from all schools of thought. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who opened the conference, enjoyed overwhelming support from not only scholars from across the board but also regional and world powers, who are eager to see a political and negotiated way out of the crisis. It would be quite difficult for al Shabaab, which is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia, to swim against the tide, as the scholars come with popular backing from their respective constituencies. The fact that al Shabaab will find itself marginalised, at least on the ideologue pretext, is an achievement in itself.

“At the Brussels Conference on Monday the UK will set out our pledge in support of the Federal Government of Somalia’s priorities. Collectively our combined efforts will maintain momentum and deliver the change that the people of Somalia desperately need.”

The Brussels Conference – another landmark moment

13 Sept- Source: UK in Somalia-436 Words

Ahead of the Brussels conference on Somalia on 16 September, I wanted to set out why this is such a major milestone and why it is so important in Somalia’s journey to recovery. Somalia has made remarkable progress over the last year. Just over one year ago there was a peaceful handover of power to a new government. At the Somalia Conference in London in May the Federal Government of Somalia received international support for its plans on security, justice and public financial management. Since I arrived, I have been impressed by Somalia’s determination to tackle those issues, in the face of multiple challenges and crises – like the terrorist attack on the Village restaurant last Saturday. The Brussels conference takes this a step further. It will agree a new partnership between Somalia and the international community based on internationally agreed principles for working in the most fragile states.