September 17, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
National Security Council Meeting Is Postponed
17 September – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 173 Words
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has announced the postponement of the National Security Council meeting that was to be held today in Mogadishu after regional leaders failed to show up. A statement released by the regional administrations in Kismayo following their meeting of September 4th to 8th, condemned the Federal Government on interfering with internal affairs of regional administrations and for failing to implement the national security policy. As a result, the regional governments declared the move to cut off links with the Federal Government.
President Farmaajo interjected by inviting the leaders to a consultative meeting this Monday. However, on September 14th, the regional leaders issued a statement listing their conditions for attending the conference. The Governor of Benadir region, Abdirahman Omar Osman, who is a member of the National Security Council urged the regional leaders to attend the consultative meeting to resolve any disagreements. The relationship between the Federal Government and the regional states has reached the lowest point, since the formation of the regional administrations. This has caused political instability in the country.
Key Headlines
- National Security Council Meeting Is Postponed (Radio Kulmiye)
- PM Khaire Rejects Proposals For International Community To Intervene In FGS And Regional States Disputes (Goobjoog News)
- Somali Parliament To Debate On Security Of The Capital (Halbeeg News)
- Adelaide Student Guilty Of Being A Member Of ISIS (9News.com)
- Somalia Under Renewed Scrutiny Over FGM After Two More Young Girls Die (The Guardian)
NATIONAL MEDIA
PM Khaire Rejects Proposals For International Community To Intervene In FGS And Regional States Disputes
17 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 157 Words
Prime Minister of Somalia Hassan Ali Khaire has rejected the proposal by regional leaders to have the international community mediate between their dispute with the Federal Government. The PM was categorical that the idea of foreigners mediating in Somali affairs was unwelcome.
“I am very pleased to inform the regional state leaders that the Federal Government of Somalia now has the capacity and authority to independently resolve disagreements in this country and that we do not need to call in the international community to mediate in our problems,” said the Premier.
PM Khaire has also responded to a statement issued by the leaders of regional states commenting on the security of Mogadishu. “The capital city of Mogadishu is safe enough to hold any meetings and the capital city will always stand as our national symbol.” The Federal Government and the Federal Member States (FMS) are currently embroiled in bitter disagreements that are are yet to be resolved.
Somali Parliament To Debate On Security Of The Capital
17 September – Source: Halbeeg News – 153 Words
Members of Lower House are expected to debate on security issues during today’s sitting at the Parliament Building. Members of the security forces were stationed near Parliament and along Sayidka street and other roads leading to the House as early as 5 am on Monday.
Legislators of the Lower House will debate on the security of the capital amid several insecurity incidents, which have taken place in the city over the recent months. The move comes barely two days after a member of Somalia’s Federal Parliament cheated death in a car bomb attack.
Meanwhile, Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire has dispelled claims that the city could not host a national conference. The remarks were prompted by claims by the leaders of Federal Member States that Mogadishu was insecure. PM Khaire dismissed their allegations saying the capital is relatively peaceful to host the anticipated conference between the regional leaders and the Federal Government.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Adelaide Student Guilty Of Being A Member Of ISIS
17 September – Source: 9News.com.au – 366 Words
An Adelaide nursing student has been found guilty of being a member of the terror group ISIS. A Supreme Court jury returned the verdict against 23-year-old Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif on Monday after three hours of deliberations. Abdirahman-Khalif was remanded in custody for sentencing at a later date. She moved to Australia from Somalia when she was 14.
The nursing student was arrested at Port Adelaide TAFE campus by Australian Federal Police in May last year. Abdirahaman-Khalif was accused of singing ISIS propaganda songs at her home and swearing her loyalty to the group online. At the time of the arrest, Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney from Australian Federal Police said “there was online activity in terms of her engaging with … (terror) suspects around the world”. “She is of Somali origin, but we’re not targeting race. We’re targeting ideologies (and) we’re targeting criminality,” he said.
The court previously heard Abdirahman-Khalif was stopped by police at Adelaide Airport after she tried to board a plane to Istanbul in July 2016. Carrying only hand luggage and less than $200 in cash, she told officers she intended to work for an aid organisation and expected her living expenses and the cost of a flight home would be covered. She was later released, but arrested at the Port Adelaide TAFE SA campus in May 2017, following a year-long investigation.
In evidence, a counter-terrorism police officer said 127 video files of “investigative relevance” were found on her phone, and the jury was played a compilation of violent scenes. The court also heard she had been in communication with three young women and knew about their deadly terror attack on a police station in Kenya before it occurred.
In his closing, prosecutor Chris Winneke QC said Abdirahman-Khalif had “wholly embraced the concepts and aligned herself with the ideology of the Islamic State”. He said she had gone a step further by taking action to become a member of the group. She set off to go to Turkey, to engage with terrorists in the view of lending her support to Islamic State,” he said. “In doing so, she became a member of Islamic State.” Abdirahman-Khalif was remanded in custody to re-appear before the court in October.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Their mother tried to take them to nearby Bursallah town to seek medical help but the girls died during the journey, according to Mohamed. Somali-born FGM survivor and campaigner Ifrah Ahmed said the sisters’ deaths were “very upsetting” given Puntland’s professed interest in outlawing the practice.”
Somalia Under Renewed Scrutiny Over FGM After Two More Young Girls Die
17 September – Source: The Guardian – 561 Words
Two more girls in Somalia have died after undergoing female genital mutilation, just weeks after a high-profile case prompted the attorney general to announce the first prosecution against the practice in the country’s history. Two sisters, aged 10 and 11, bled to death last week after they were cut in the remote pastoral village of Arawda North in Galdogob district, Puntland, said activist Hawa Aden Mohamed of the Galkayo Centre.
The deaths of Aasiyo and Khadijo Farah Abdi Warsame have come at a time of transition in Somalia, where 98% of all women and girls undergo FGM, the highest rate in the world. Most cases go unreported. The case of Deeqa Dahir Nuur, 10, who haemorrhaged to death in July after she was operated on by a traditional cutter, prompted Somalia’s attorney general Ahmed Ali Dahir to send a team of investigators to her remote village with the aim of prosecuting those involved in her death.
The move was heralded at the time as a “defining moment for Somalia” by Mahdi Mohammed Gulaid, the deputy prime minister, , who said: “It is not acceptable that in the 21st century FGM is continuing in Somalia. It should not be part of our culture. It is definitely not part of the Islamic religion.” However, activists in the country say the death of the two sisters proves that the government is not moving quickly enough to prevent further incidents.
“It is shocking that, with the massive publicity of the Deeqa case and subsequent commitment by the Somali government to do more, on the ground change does not yet seem to be happening,” said Brendan Wynne of Donor Direct Action, an international women’s group that runs a fund to end FGM. “Girls continue to die from this devastating abuse while we wait for politicians to move.”
FGM is technically illegal in Puntland, a semi-autonomous state in north-eastern Somalia, where lawmakers recently approved legislation outlawing the practice. “Yet there seems to be reluctance in discussing and passing the anti-FGM law in Puntland, which was recently approved by the cabinet,” said Mohamed. “We hope that this will serve as a wake-up call for those responsible to see the need to have the law in place to protect girls from this heinous practice.”
Most girls in Somalia undergo the most severe form of circumcision – during which external genitalia are removed or repositioned and the vaginal opening is sewn up, leaving only a small hole through which to pass menstrual blood – between the ages of five and nine. The operation is often performed by untrained midwives or healers using knives, razors or broken glass.
@Goobjoognews: #Somali PM Hassan Khaire says country does not need external help to solve row between fed. and state governments.
@HarunMaruf: In an apparent response to regional leaders @SomaliPM rejects suggestions that Mogadishu isn’t safe for Somali leaders to meet. He also rejected calls for “third-party” mediation as requested by the regional leaders.
@GEEL_Somali: We are at the Access to Finance for#WomeninBusinessForum2018 #Mogadishu. What a fantastic networking meet up for the #somalibusinesswomen, finance & service providers in attendance. Thanks to minister@AmbGamal for coming to share this occasion with us.#BuySomali #BuildSomalia
@UKinSomalia: The #UK welcomes the analysis the@WorldBank continues to produce on #Somalia – reflecting on the gains and resilience of key sectors such as mobile moneyhttps://africa.cgtn.com/2018/
@MowliidHaji: #UPDATE: A meeting between leaders of the federal government and regional states which was expected to begin today has been delayed after the leaders of the regional states failed to arrive in the capital for the meeting. #Somalia
@SomaliaToday1: Efforts underway to free 18 Iranian fishermen kidnapped by Somalis, http://www.somaliatoday.so/
@SolarGenTech: Did you know that the first 2 solar mini-grids in Somalia were installed by @SolarGenTech? Join our conversation live from @WeAreMettaNBO where we discuss more on how we did it in partnership with @ARCrelief, @NIS_F &#SomaliaStabilityFund
@Magdashi3: #SouthAfrica: Well-known Somali journalist, who turned into businessman, Yusuf Hussein Hassan (Yusri-Fuuda) shot dead in #Capetown, amid frequent xenophobic attacks on foreigners, especially Somali youths. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire meeting with Mayor of Mogadishu Abdirahman Omar Osman and officials at the Mayor’s office.
Photo: @engyarisow