COMMENTARY ON ISLAMIC WEBSITES
Somali Memo - The pro-al-Shabaab website claimed that Puntland President Abdirahman Farole is set to impose martial law all over Puntland and declared him as being a non-believer. The website claimed he will seek the help of Ethiopia and Israel or any other group to defeat the Mujahideens. The Puntland president is aiming to justify one-year extension of his presidential term but the people of Mudug and Qardho are strongly opposed to any term extension. (Editor's Note: The truth is al-Shabaab opposes any Somali leader and this is propaganda to project themselves as defenders of Islam and the interests of the Somali people.) Somali Language
POLITICS
AFP - The forecast by the Kenya Meteorological Department confirmed the one released earlier by the IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre, that Kenya and Somalia would receive inadequate rainfall this season. During the 2009-2010 drought, more than 3.5 million Kenyans suffered starvation, the number was higher in neighbouring Somalia. Food prices in the two countries doubled, while the price of livestock, the main source of livelihood in the arid and semi arid regions plunged, as pastures turned to desert and animals began dying. Apart from planting drought resistant crops, scientists believe the full implementation of the 2003 Maputo Declaration, in which all the East African member states promised to allocate at least 10 percent of the national budgetary resources to agriculture and rural development, would help the economies tackle perennial food shortages linked to climate change.
Somaliland Sun - The Somali president has appointed a technical committee to jump-start talks with Somaliland. The 10 member Somaliland talks committee which was appointed by President Sheikh Sharif before he left for Addis Ababa to attend an AU meeting is led by TFG's Minister of interior and national security affairs Abdisamad Mo'allin Mohamud. The TFG committee will join its five man counterpart committee appointed by President Silanyo in London where ground rules for forthcoming talks between the two countries will be laid. The Somalia Somaliland talks are as a direct result of the London conference on Somalia held late February where article six of the final conference communique urged so.
SECURITY/AL-SHABAAB
Garowe Online - Al-Shabaab insurgents attacked the airport, state house and a hospital in Baidoa with mortars, Radio Garowe reports. Shortly after sunset al-Shabaab agents bombarded the city of Baidoa with mortars. It is unclear at this time how many people were killed or injured in the attacks since authorities in Baidoa have shied away from questions. Ethiopian Somali and AMISOM troops fired a barrage of mortars back at the al-Shabaab which were believed to be firing the artillery from one or both nearby districts Makuto and Sheikh Asharow.
PUBLIC HEALTH
World Bulletin - 200,000 Somali people have been treated at two field hospitals and one polyclinic established by Turkish Health Ministry in Somali capital of Mogadishu in the last eight months. 987 Somali people underwent operations in hospitals, Dr. Musa Temel, head physician of field hospitals, told AA correspondent. Temel recalled that they came to famine-stricken Somalia on August 19, 2011 and Turkish physicians achieved important successes since then. 150,000 tons of medication have been distributed to Somali people so far, he added.
OIL DRILLING/PUNTLAND
Oil and Gas Journal - Horn Petroleum Corp., Vancouver, BC, said its still-drilling Shabeel wildcat in Puntland, Somalia, has confirmed the presence of an active petroleum system in the Dharoor Valley. Horn, operator, said the Shabeel well is at 2,703 m where 9-5/8-in. casing is set. It has been drilled through primarily tight limestones and shales of Lower Tertiary to Upper Cretaceous age and encountered a 355-m section of Upper Cretaceous sands and shales of the Tisje/Jesomma formations at 1,660 m. Horn is operator with 60% interest in the Dharoor and Nugaal blocks in a Jurassic rift basin in Puntland, Somalia. Perth independents Range Resources Ltd. and Red Emperor Resources NL each have 20%.
PHOTO ESSAY
Hiiraan Online - This is over 70-photo essay showcasing the revival of Mogadishu, especially the boom of construction, fishing industry and salt productions at Jazeera lagoon area.
RADIO ROUNDUP
Radio Mogadishu - A pro-government radio station
Libyan security forces have released hundreds of Somali immigrants who were detained in prisons over the past months after the Libyan Police seized them trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European continent. The Somali Ambassador in Libya confirmed the release of 266 Somalis, 76 women and 190 men.
Radio Al-Furqaan - A pro-al-Shabaab radio station
Eight TFG soldiers and their weapons have surrendered to al-Shabaab Mujahideen Administration of Lower Juba region on Saturday. The eight men were showcased in Kismayo by al-Shabaab officials including the chairman of Kismayo Sheikh Hassan Yacqub Ali. Sheikh Hassan called on the TFG militias to take advantage the amnesty offered and surrender to the Mujahideens.
Radio Andalus - A pro-al-Shabaab radio station
Dozens of Ethiopian, Kenyan and the infidels of Uganda and Burundi were killed after three separate fightings took place in Lower Jubba, Bay and Mogadishu over the last 24 hours. The heaviest fighting erupted in Qoqani district of Lower Jubba when the enemy forces tried to attack the Mujahideen military bases in that area, but the Mujahideens rebelled and chased away the infidels and burned their military vehicles. Al-Shabaab Mujahideens have also ambushed Ethiopian convoy in between Beradle and Baidoa of Bay region and inflicted huge loses to the enemy.
Radio Bar-Kulan - An independent radio station
At least 68 Somali children died of measles in the last two months in Mahaas district of Hiiraan region, medical sources said on Saturday. A health worker in Mahaas, Abdiwali Mohamed Omar, confirmed the incident to Radio Bar-Kulan, and stated that another 814 children are suffering the disease.
Radio Shabelle - An independent radio station
Several Somali lawmakers held a meeting on Saturday in Mogadishu to voice their concern about the escalating violence in Beledweyne town, the capital of Hiiran region. Dahir Sheik Amin Jesow, a Somali legislator who hails from Hiiraan region, told Shabelle Radio that the goal of their meeting was to talk about a power sharing deal between people living in the region after the Somali president recently nominated a regional administration. The lawmakers also accused TFG's Ministry of Home and National Security of corrupting the appointed Hiiraan Administration.
Several Somali parliamentarians also held a meeting in opposition to the Somali government led by Sharif Sheik Ahmed based in Mogadishu. Sulayman Mohammed Ibrahim, a lawmaker who spoke with Shabelle Radio, said the meeting was held to show the Somali people that the president and his prime minister are not leading the country towards peace and stability. "These two leaders have lost the legitimacy of their responsibility so that Somalis should come together and work hardly for rebuilding their home country. I’m sure they will be able to get back their home peaceful," he said.