COMMENTARY ON ISLAMIC WEBSITES
Somali Memo - The pro-al-Shabaab website claimed that Somali students studying in Australia declared Somali President Sheikh Sharif as someone who betrayed Allah by siding with the infidel forces in Somalia. The students also declared that al-Shabaab Mujahideens are on the right path since they fighting to protect Islam in Somalia. Somali Language
POLITICS
Garowe Online - President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed stated today that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia can no longer wait for the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) to solve their disputes, Radio Garowe reports. President Sharif spoke about the divided parliament and was asked if the division could threaten the Roadmap's proposition for a new parliament by August. "To achieve our goal by August we will not be hindered by divisions in parliament or other spoilers who wish to see Somalia return to anarchy," said President Sharif. President Sharif stated Tuesday that a lot of energy, time and money was spent to resolve the division but to no success. According to local sources MP Madoobe who visited Ethiopia met with Ethiopian officials as well as President Sharif to discuss the division of the TFP. But sources say that they could not reach a solution.
Africa Review - Somalia's prime minister has said that a draft constitution has been finalised, bring to a near end an eight-year search for an acceptable document and edging the strife-torn country towards a permanent government. In an official statement released Monday, Dr Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said that the draft drawn by the Independent Federal Constitution Commission (IFCC) and the Committee of Experts (CoE) had been in conformity with charter stipulations, roadmap timelines and the principles agreed at a ley meeting in Garowe. "The efforts of the TFG and the IFCC and the CoE was a culmination of eight years of sustained concentration on the constitutional making process, marred by failures, setbacks and successes," said the statement.
SECURITY/AL-SHABAAB
EuroAsia Review - Al Shabaab presents a growing threat to Somalia. After it formalised its association with al-Qaeda, the momentum of attacks, especially suicide attacks, increased. By making inroads to Africa, al Qaeda will exploit Al Shabaab’s long standing links with like-minded threat groups in a fragile continent. Al-Qaeda’s union with al-Shabaab threatens both the Horn of Africa — Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti — and East Africa, which includes Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Although al-Qaeda has suffered massive degradation since Osama bin Laden’s death, its footprint is expanding in Africa. It has already established an ideological and operational presence in three areas on the continent — the Maghreb, the Sahel and West Africa.
Business Daily - Former Somalia Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh says he is pessimistic about the effectiveness of the peace talks orchestrated by the West and rushed in order to bring a ‘quick resolution’. Having attended close to all national conferences called to chart a way out of the ‘Somali mess’, the erudite Dr Galaydh is under no illusion where the current peace effort, lauded internationally and increasingly seen as viable with an envisaged election later this year – the first in decades –is headed. "It is rushed, and an exercise in futility." Dr Galaydh says that the international community has failed to wrap its head around the complexities that have for years stalked the elusive search for a functioning government in Somalia.
MARITIME/CLIMATE CHANGE
AlertNet - Climate change threatens to reduce catches from fisheries and worsen hunger among some of sub-Saharan Africa's poorest people, who rely on fish as a major source of protein and earnings, according to new research from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). "When you look at Ethiopia and Kenya, for example, our study shows that a 10,000 tonne reduction in fish production would make these two countries reach a hunger level that is categorised as 'extremely alarming'," said Essam Yassin Mohammed, IIED researcher and co-author of the paper, which will be published in the coming months. But policy makers have overlooked the sector in their plans to adapt to climate change, mainly because little is known about the role of fisheries in fighting poverty and food insecurity, Mohammed added.
MEDIA
Star Africa - Reporters Without Borders calls on the authorities of the semi-autonomous northeastern region of Puntland to immediately release radio Voice of Peace director Awke Abdullahi Ali, who has been held in the region's capital, Bossasso, for nearly two months. Ali has not been charged although, under the law, no one should be held for more than 48 hours without charge. "We call for Ali's immediate and unconditional release in the absence of any legal grounds for his arrest and continuing detention," Reporters Without Borders said. "Ali should be freed for humanitarian as well as legal reasons, as his state of health is worsening by the day. We also urge the authorities to allow the station to reopen."
Voice Of America - In the Somali neighborhood of Eastleigh, in the eastern suburbs of Nairobi, two businessmen have launched a Somali film production company called Eastleighwood. Ahmed Shariff, one of the founders, hopes to change people’s impressions of Somali society. "What has been dominant in the mass media outside was an image that represents a people that are violent and extremists, people who are starving to death. With Eastleighwood, what we want to show is the other side of the story," he said. Eastleighwood aims to fill in the gaps by depicting the everyday lives of Somalis, mainly of those living in the diaspora.
RADIO ROUNDUP
Radio Mogadishu - A pro-government radio station
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Ali met with the director generals (DGs) of government ministries and informed them that the DGs will remain in their cabinet positions during the transitional period and it will not impact their designated official positions. The Somali PM announced that the goal is continuity of government functioning in this crucial period.
Radio Al-Furqaan - A pro-al-Shabaab radio station
Somali militiamen who defected from the Kenyan forces in southern Somalia were presented to the public and media in the port city of Kismayo today. The six defectors were showcased as reported by the Islamist journalist Abdirahman Abaa Hureyra. The men asked forgiveness of working with the Kenyan forces and the Islamic administration has welcomed the defectors.
The Islamist Administration of Middle Shabelle has assigned Gambooley as a new district since Gambooley district occupies large portion of the region. The ceremony for declaring Gambooley as a new district was attended by the traditional elders, religious scholars and residents of Gambooley. Sheikh Yusuf Isse (known as Kaba Kutukade) who spoke at the occasion claimed that Gambooley district made a tremendous progress in many aspects including economic strides and it deserve to be declared as a district in the Middle Shabelle region.
Radio Andalus - A pro-al-Shabaab radio station
A curfew was imposed today on Bulo Hawo and Luq towns of Gedo region after planned assassinations took place in the area. Based on reports from Mujahideens in the area, the pro-infidel militias has carried out assassinations against their own military officers. It is also reported that the Ethiopian troops have conducted security operations in Luq town and they arrested several youths in those operations.
Radio Shabelle - An independent radio station
Armed men belonging to al-Shabaab Mujahideens, the radical Islamist movement in Somalia, beheaded a businessman living in Eel-Adde town, about 90 km southwest of Mogadishu, relatives confirmed on Tuesday. The body of the beheaded man was found on the outskirts of Eel Adde town on Tuesday. Eel Adde is a stronghold of al-shabaab and it is part of Middle Shabelle region of southern Somalia.
Radio Bar-Kulan - An independent radio station
TFG soldiers in the south-west Somali region of Gedo have reportedly executed three men for allegedly the killing Eel-Adde district commissioner two days ago. The three faced a firing squad at El-Adde town, some 60 kilometres from the area regional headquarters, Garbaharey, after they were found in possession of pistols. Mohamoud Sayid Adan, an MP in the region, told Bar-Kulan that the men were responsible of the murder of the DC, Yahye Hussein, who was kidnapped out of his house and his body dumped in the forest.