COMMENTARY ON ISLAMIC WEBSITES
Somali Memo - The pro-al-Shabaab website claimed that TFG's Information Minister Abdulkadir Jahweyn has defected from the Somali government, and that he sought refuge at the mansion of former warlord Mohamed Afrax Qanyare, who hails from the same clan. It is reported that the minister was confronted by the presidential palace security officers over lax security preparations leading to the recent suicide bombing attack at the National Theater. The incident caused a political rift between the Somali president and the minister. Somali Language
POLITICS
Somaliland Sun - Somali parliament members (MPs) have cautioned Somaliland President Silanyo and his administration against holding talks with President Sheikh Sharif and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) which he leads. During the Somali parliament session held in Mogadishu on Monday, the MPs said that President Silanyo should be aware that not only have Sheikh Sharif and his TFG government lost the confidence of the Somali people, but lack a mandate to fulfill any agreements which might be made. The first deputy speaker, Ahmed Dhimbil Roble aka "Asoowe", revealed that parliament has finalized arrangements to hold presidential elections on April 30th 2012, which will replace Sheikh Sharif and the TFG with a popular elected president and government.
MPR News - The deputy mayor of Somalia's war-battered capital is making the rounds in Minnesota, imploring local Somali-Americans to help reconstruct Mogadishu. Deputy Mayor Ali Ahmed Gure is promoting a program called "Bring Mogadishu Back." He's asking members of the Somali diaspora to adopt infrastructure projects in his city. Somali-American community organizer Hindia Ali said Minnesotans will form a committee and decide which projects -- such as hospitals, streets, or schools -- deserve funding for reconstruction. Then a private company will handle the work. Somali communities in London and Toronto are signing on, she says. "It's like an adopt-a-highway kind of thing," Ali said.
SECURITY/AL-SHABAAB
KOIN Local6 - Musse Olol helps Somalian refugees escape violence, government crackdowns and instability by coming to Oregon. Now, more than 30 years after Olol came to the U.S. himself, he is being praised by the FBI for helping keep Somali's refugees on a safe, productive path once in Portland. "It's a very different reality from the country that I came from," Olol said, "where in order to get higher positions you have to know somebody or connected to somebody, or have the blessing of the government."
MARITIME
Daily National Post - The war on piracy in the Horn of Africa has received a major boost following the capture of one of the world’s most wanted Somali pirate leaders, Mohamed Garad. Garad, a former British soldier, is said to have been arrested together with 12 other suspected pirates on April 4 by Iranian commandos after they hijacked a Chinese cargo ship. "Garad had been on the run for many decades. He was elusive and sly, and had slipped out of all the security dragnets before. His capture is the greatest good news in the war against piracy and terrorism," Mr. Andrew Mwangura, The co-ordinator of the East African Seafarers Association, said yesterday.
MEDIA
Shabelle - The governor of Banadir region for Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Mohamud Ahmed Nur (aka Tarsan), has sent a verbal threats to the independently owned media outlets based in Mogadishu for their reporting of the reality on the ground. The governor says: "The local media stations in Mogadishu have exaggerated criticism by so-called Somali politicians, who oppose, politically and strategically, the administration of Banadir region for TFG." He threatened to take strict measures against the self-governing privately owned media stations based in Mogadishu soon, after accusing them of playing a role in the chaos in the capital. The politicians denied these accusations.
RADIO ROUNDUP
Radio Mogadishu - A pro-government radio station
Somali Defense Minister Hussein Arab Isse and Chief Commander of Somali National Forces General Abdukadir Dini on Tuesday flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The two officials will attend an AMISOM meeting, to be held in Ethiopia. The Defense Minister stated that the meeting will discuss how to rebuild the Somali National Forces.
Al-Qaeda-linked militants fled from the Dinsor district of Bay region on Tuesday, while the Somali National Forces and Ethiopian troops are heading to that district. The chairman of Dinsor district, Osman Mohamed Haji, told Radio Mogadishu that they will enter Dinsor as soon as possible, and called on the residents to welcome the national forces.
Radio Al-Furqaan - A pro-al-Shabaab radio station
At least five Kenyan military vehicles were burned, and dozens of Kenyan soldiers were killed, after al-Shabaab mujahideen fighters attacked Kenyan military bases in the Moodaale village of Gedo region on Monday. Al-Shabaab mujahideen chairman for the Gedo region, Sheikh Abbas Abdullahi, told Radio Al-Furqaan that the bodies of the Kenyan soldiers are still lying on the ground.
Radio Kulmiye - An independent radio station
Somali President Sharif Ahmed has sharply denounced al-Shabab militants for attacking and killing innocent Somali civilians in Baidoa on Monday. The president stated that al-Shabaab is accustomed to targeting innocent civilians, and this attack is part of al-Shabaab aims and means. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing attack in Baidoa market on Monday which killed 12 people and wounded 30, according to the government officials in the region.
Radio Bar-Kulan - An independent radio station
Hundreds of khat traders, mainly women, took to the streets in Kismayo on Tuesday protesting against al-Shabaab’s ban on khat, a mild narcotic leaf that is chewed by most of Somali men. The protesters marched outside al-Shabaab's Kismayo headquarters demanding reversal of the ban on khat selling in the city. The rebel group earlier gave khat traders in the port city a warning period of 20 days to end the selling of khat. Protesters said they support their families through selling of khat. Abdirahman Mudey, an Al-Shabaab leader in the region, told the protesters that they will stick to their order, saying that nothing will change their minds and reverse the ban.
A breakdown of the water pumping machine at a borehole well in Gadon settlement, located 40 kilometers northeast of Dusamareeb, has created a critical water shortage in the area. The borehole is reported to be the only drinking water source for over 30 villages in Galgadud region for the last two decades. Ali Mire Abukar, one of the elders in the area, stated the acute water shortage is compounded by the the worsening drought situation, which has become a major concern for the locals since they risk losing their livelihoods. The local elders of the affected villages have raised alarm of what they said was an outbreak of diarrhea and other mysterious diseases. A person is already reported to have succumbed to the unknown disease in the area.