September 19, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somalia: Rebels are reportedly fleeing

18 Sept – Source: New York Times /AP – 130 words
Fighters from Somalia’s Islamist extremist rebels have started to leave their remaining coastal stronghold, Kismayo, in the face of advancing allied African troops, residents and a military official said Tuesday. Armed militants from the Shabaab, a group allied with Al Qaeda, left Kismayo in pickup trucks after freeing prisoners in the town, Muse Hassan, a Kismayo resident, said by phone.

Key Headlines

Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud meets delegation from Sweden (SONNA)
Sheikh Sharif hits back against Ongeri’s graft charges (Shabelle)
Kenyan FM denies linking Sharif to Mogadishu blast (Capital News)
Somali humanitarian “Mama” Hawa wins 2012 Nansen Refugee Award (UNHCR)
Suspected cholera kills a dozen in south (IRIN)

PRESS RELEASE

The second AMISOM Formed Police Unit arrives in Mogadishu

18 Sept – Source: AMISOM – 257 words

The African Union Mission in Somalia has received its second Formed Police Unit (FPU) comprising of officers, women and men from Nigeria who arrived on September 16th, 2012. The FPU from Nigeria will join another unit from Uganda which is already on the ground.

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Boubacar Gaoussou Diarra has described the arrival of the second AMISOM Formed Police Unit as a clear demonstration of the AU’s continued commitment to supporting the Federal Republic of Somalia in its endeavor to improve the security of the country especially in areas liberated by the Somali National Army with the support of AMISOM.

He said, “I wish to sincerely extend my appreciation and that of the Commission of the African Union to the government and people of Nigeria for honoring the pledge of deploying a Formed Police Unit which will go a long way in our effort of supporting the people of Somalia as they strive to improve security in their country. Nigeria already has Individual Police Officers (IPOs) in Somalia and the deployment of FPUs clearly demonstrates its strong commitment to peace and stability not only in Somalia but also the entire continent.”

The AMISOM Formed Police Units will play a crucial role of ensuring improved security in the liberated areas through Public Order Management, provision of VIP escorts and providing protection to IPOs to co-locate with the Somalia Police Force (SPF) in as many police stations as possible to train and mentor their SPF counterparts.

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud meets delegation from Sweden

18 Sept- Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA- 90 words

President of the Somali federal republic, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had a meeting with the Sweidish minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Gunnile Carson who arrived in Mogadishu on Tuesday focused on ties between two countries.

Mrs. Carson congratulated president Hassan and showed support for the newly born government for Somalia, saying that Sweden is committed to support the country.

Somalia’s government and AMISOM troops capture Janay Abdalle near Kismayo

18 Sept – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 163 words

Somalia’s government troops backed by AMISOM have captured Janay Abdalle settlement from al Shabaab fighters. Somali troops supported by Kenyan defense forces launched an attack on the military barracks of al Shabaab militants in the area, military officials said. The officials also said that that the allied forces will soon take over Kismayo town, the head quarter of Lower Jubba region.

Sheikh Sharif hits back against Ongeri’s graft charges

18 Sept – Source: Shabelle – 135 words

Somalia’s former president Sheikh Shariif Sheikh Ahmed has strongly dismissed a report by Kenyan foreign minister Sam Ongeri that accused him of being behind the Jazeera Hotel bombings on September 12.

Speaking at a press conference in Mogadishu, Mr. Ahmed dismissed on Tuesday the allegation as fabricated propaganda and disgraceful indignity, describing it as ‘careless and irresponsible talk’.

Puntland forces carry out security operations in Galka’yo

18 Sept – Source: Shabelle – 121 words

Puntland forces have been conducting security operations in Galkayo, the capital of Mudug region, arresting dozens of suspected al Shabaab members, reports said on Tuesday. The operations, according to Puntand security officer Muhaydin Ahmed Muse who spoke to Shabelle Media, have been to secure the city of Galkayo and to force out al Shabaab agents active in the city.

Sheikh Sharif rebuffs Kenyan accusations

18 Sept – Source: Radio kulmiye/Jowhar Online/Mareeg Online – 98 words

Speaking to the press in Mogadishu the former Somali president Shariif Sheikh Ahmed has rebuffed Kenyan accusations of being behind the suicide bombing in Mogadishu’s Aljazeera hotel where the new Somali president has been sheltering. Kenyan former minister Sam Ongeri has accused Somali former president Shariif Sheikh Ahmed of conspiring to assassinate the new president Hassan Sheikh Mahmud. Mr Shariif responded to the accusations in a strong language in a press conference yesterday, saying “this is a clear aggression against any Somali citizen”.

Thousands flee as Somali forces advance on Kismayo

18 Sept – Source: Racanreeb/BBC Somali Service – 160 wordse

Somali government forces are advancing on Kismayo, the key stronghold of al Shabaab, as thousands of residents flee an expected assault. A Somali government army general told the BBC that his forces were intending to take the port, but did not say when. The United Nations refugee agency has reported a sudden spike in the number of civilians fleeing Kismayo from a few dozen to more than 1,000 a day. Those who can afford it are hiring buses and trucks to leave the city.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kenyan FM denies linking Sharif to Mogadishu blast

18 Sept- Source: Capital News- 361 words

Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Ongeri on Tuesday denied making remarks in Kisii at the weekend, blaming former Somalia President Ahmed Sheikh Sharif for a bomb attack in Mogadishu last week.
Ongeri said the reports attributed to him by a local newspaper are not true and only meant to portray him in bad light. ”How can I have made such remarks yet the former President of Somalia is among the first people who came to the scene and he was very remorseful… of what benefit are those remarks to us?” the minister asked.

Over 300 Somali women set to undergo training on peace building

18 Sept – Source: Daily Monitor – 438 words

Humanitarian and development organization, African Development Solution (Adeso) said on Monday it has launched a new project in the Puntland State of Somalia aimed at strengthening women’s political participation. Adeso said the peace building activities will target over 300 Somali councillors and civil society organizations as well as the Puntland Ministry of Women Development and Family Affairs (MOWDAFA) .

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia: Rebels are reportedly fleeing

Suspected cholera kills a dozen in south

18 Sept- Source: IRIN News- 376 words

A suspected cholera outbreak has killed about a dozen people in the southern Somali village of Hoosingo, in the district of Badade in Lower Juba, say government and health officials. “One of the biggest problems we have is that we do not what this disease is,” Adan Ibrahim Dhaqane, the Hoosingo Village commissioner, told IRIN by telephone. “Schools, madrasas [and] restaurants are all closed to prevent the disease from spreading,” he said.

Somali humanitarian “Mama” Hawa wins 2012 Nansen Refugee Award

18 Sept – Source: UNHCR – 866 words

The UN refugee agency announced on Tuesday that this year’s Nansen Refugee Award goes to humanitarian Hawa Aden Mohamed for her exceptional, tireless and inspiring work for Somalia’s refugee and displaced girls and women. UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in Geneva that the 63-year-old former Somali refugee, who heads the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development (GECPD) in Puntland, north-eastern Somalia, had “carried out her important work under incredibly difficult and challenging circumstances in a country battered by decades of violence, conflict and human rights abuses.”

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“President Mohamud spent much of the grinding, 20-year war period in Somalia, earning much credibility with the country’s civil society. With a four-year term to work with, Mohamud’s government offers Somalia a chance to build legitimacy for state institutions, which the unreliable T.F.G. never could do.”

Somalia’s New Man

18 Sept – Source: New York Times – 853 words

One of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s inaugural acts as president of Somalia was to survive an assassination attempt. After winning a decisive vote among parliamentarians last Monday, Mohamud took the helm of the long-suffering state. On Wednesday, a wave of explosions and gunfire struck the hotel in Mogadishu where he was meeting with Sam Ongeri, the foreign minister of neighboring Kenya. While the dignitaries survived, eight others were killed.

Mohamud’s rough first days on the job were emblematic of the challenges ahead. He’ll have to patch together a nation after two decades of institutional collapse and political paralysis — a feat neither his predecessors nor interventionist global diplomats could manage.

Mohamud has a slim advantage over them: as a moderate Islamist with a background in education, he represents actual change. He should use this unusual mandate to build a more legitimate and inclusive political order — and all the more urgently because the system that brought him to power bypassed the ordinary Somalis who are now welcoming him.

Wait a minute, here comes Somalia with a blank page

16 Sept – Source: Daily Monitor – 664 words

As they gathered to welcome the newly-elected President of Somali, Prof. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, my mind wandered a little bit, landing at the country’s national theatre. I love imaginative stuff and where else, if not inside a theatre?

Before the action on the stage, a bit of the theatre’s recent history rolled through the mind. Last March, the facility that mirrors the country’s rich heritage came back to life after more than two decades of inaction.
At the reopening ceremony, colour and ululation rent the air. The international media that has seemed to followed a certain script on Somalia went ecstatic about it, painting an image of a new dawn. They were not entirely wrong.