COMMENTARY ON ISLAMIC WEBSITES
Amiir Nuur - The pro-al-Shabaab website claimed that the Islamic Administration of Lower Shabelle nominated a new leader for Afgoye Administration. Al-Shabaab's leader of Lower Shabelle Sheikh Abu Abdalla announced that Sheikh Hassan was appointed as the new leader of Afgoye administration and will replace the outgoing leader, Sheikh Bashir Abu Hafsa. Somali Language
POLITICS
Voice Of America - Somalia’s Constituent Assembly conference has convened a series of meetings in Mogadishu, bringing together more than 100 traditional elders to decide the selection of the assembly that will adopt a constitution and a new parliament. Some analysts said elders from areas still under the control of al-Shabaab and those clans supporting the group may elect members of parliament who favor the Islamist militant group. Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdisamad, a Somalia analyst with Southlink consultants in Nairobi, said elders from al-Shabab-controlled areas will push the militant group's agenda in the assembly. "They are going to influence the elders, so what they are saying to them is 'Elect so-and-so.' The members of parliament who will be attending the parliament might be someone who is pro-al-Shabaab; that’s one key issue al-Shabab is going to fight for," Abdisamad said. "They, al-Shabaab want to make sure anyone who goes to the parliament must fulfill the policy of al-Shabaab."
Sun Journal - The draft national constitution under consideration for Somalia — one that is supported by the United Nations — would create further destabilization, which could result in that country's further descent into chaos. Somali clans want peace and reinstitution of the 1961 Constitution. It is the most viable option to initiate a lasting peace and credible governance for all Somalis. The Somali Constitution was adopted in 1960 and ratified in 1961 after a nationwide election supported by all Somalis. The CDPRS has proposed the adoption of the 1961 Somali Constitution to the U.S. State Department for over a year. We are hopeful of its support.
The Telegraph - A brawl broke out at the Somali embassy in the Zambian capital Lusaka after the East African country apparently sent a new ambassador to take over without recalling the incumbent, according to reports. Sources at Zambian police headquarters said they were summoned to the embassy on Friday morning by Ambassador Shirwa Ibrahim and found the two men squaring up. "Ambassador Ibrahim said there was a man who was bothering him at the office claiming that he had been appointed by their president to take over his job," the source told a Zambian newspaper. "The situation got very tense because the two got physical." Since both presented diplomatic credentials, neither could be arrested.
SECURITY/AL-SHABAAB
Mareeg - The Administration of Dayniile district of Mogadishu claimed that they have welcomed men who defected from al-Shabaab. The Chairman of Dayniile Dahir Hassan Hussein stated that there are men surrendered to their administration after defecting from the Islamist group. Somali Language
News Day - While thousands of children have been killed or injured in the conflict that began in 1991, millions more have been displaced and an overwhelming number orphaned. The warring factions — Al-Shabaab included — have been using children as porters, spies, informants, bomb planters or suicide bombers and combatants, and the Amisom security forces have arrested and handed over hundreds of children. It is also estimated that there are over 2,5 million IDPs in Somalia, one of the highest in the world alongside the Sudans. Within this panorama of internal violence and forced acquisition of properties women and children have been adversely affected.
MARITIME
The Standard - Somali pirates captured on the high seas and prosecuted in other countries are now being transferred to a new prison in Somalia. The new prison is in Hargeisa, the capital of the self-governed breakaway enclave of Somaliland. Seychelles, Kenya and Mauritius have offered to prosecute and hold pirate prisoners, but the capacity to keep up with the flood of new arrivals is overwhelming their jails, according to U.S. officials. "Finding adequate prosecutorial venues and places to incarcerate the pirates is increasingly a challenge as we become victims of our own success in apprehending more pirates," according to a senior State Department official who briefed Security Clearance on anti-piracy issues.
The Canadian Press - The Royal Canadian Navy says one of its warships has intercepted an illicit drug shipment in the Gulf of Aden. The navy says HMCS Charlottetown made the seizure Saturday as part of a 26-nation counter-narcotics task force in the gulf, which is on the west side of the Arabian Sea, north of Somalia. In all, eight packages were retrieved from the water, containing 270 kilograms of hashish. The suspect skiff was later searched by a navy boarding team.
MEDIA
UN News Center - The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today called on authorities in Somalia to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of radio journalist Farhan James Abdulle. Mr. Abdulle, 27, was shot dead on 2 May by unidentified gunmen in the village of Garsoor in Central Somalia. He was a reporter for the Galkayo branch of Radio Daljir, and the fifth journalist to be murdered in the Horn of Africa nation this year. "Every effort must therefore be deployed to find the killers of Farhan James Abdulle and bring them to justice," UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova, said in a news release. "There must be no impunity."
Shabelle - Ten years ago since the establishment of Shabelle Media Network in 2002, the leading Media organization in Somalia has faced multiple violations from warring sides in the horn of African nation. (Editor's Note: This is timeline of crimes and violations committed against Radio Shabelle staff by the warring factors in Somalia.)
RADIO ROUNDUP
Radio Mogadishu - A pro-government radio station
The traditional elder committee of Hiiraan region on Monday elected Mohamed Hassan Nuriye to be the new mayor of Beledweyne city. After days of meetings and consultations, the regional elders democratically elected the new mayor. Two hundred delegates from all walks of life participated in the mayoral election process. The governor of Hiiraan region Abdifatah Afrah urged the new mayor to tighten the security of the town and also to cooperate with the people of Hiraan region.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who is currently in Kuwait, met with the Kuwaiti leader Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and the speaker of Kuwait. The president thanked the people and leaders of Kuwait for their role they played in supporting the Somali people. The leaders of Kuwait promised that their government will take part the rebuilding of the Somali nation.
Radio Andalus - A pro-al-Shabaab radio station
Al-Shabaab Mujahideens waged attacks at traffic intersections in Argentine village of Karaan District and Bar Ubah of Hodan District, killing TFG officers and soldiers. The Mujahideens inflicted heavy casualties on the infidel-supporting TFG forces in the early evening attack.
Radio Al-Furqaan - A pro-al-Shabaab radio station
Al-Shabaab's military spokesman, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Mus'ab, stated that they killed at least 30 Ethiopian soldiers in fighting that took place at Elbur district of Galgadud region on Sunday night. The spokesman said that five Mujahideens were killed in the fighting, but the Mujahideens succeeded to destroy the enemy.
Radio Kulmiye - An independent radio station
Yemen's Ministry of Interior announced it arrested fourteen suspected Somali pirates in Socotra Island, southeast of the Yemeni province of Hadramout. A senior security officer said today in a press release that the security forces detained the four suspects while they were at Samaha Island in Qalansia. The Somalis were diving with full diving gear. He said that the four suspects are aged between 26 and 40 years old and were referred to prosecution for further interrogation.
Radio Bar-Kulan - An independent radio station
Reports from Lower Juba region indicate that a rift has emerged between senior leaders of al-Shabaab rebel group in the region after the group allegedly dismissed Mohamed Abu Sa’ad who has been the Afmadow district commissioner and replaced him with Ahmed Adde. Sa’ad who is now in the port city of Kismayo denied his dismissal insisting that he still remains the legitimate Afmadow district commissioner, prompting infighting among the ranks of the militant group.
Al-Shabaab militants arrested 15 people in Kismayo in the past 24 hours for allegedly being involved in criminal activities. The accused were reportedly rounded up from Farjano and Gul-wade neighborhoods.
Fierce fighting erupted between Somali troops and al-Shabaab in Beledweyne town on Sunday night. The fighting occurred when heavily armed militants launched attacks on a government military base on the outskirts of the city. Hiran deputy regional governor Ahmed Osman Abdalle told Bar-Kulan that al-Shabaab militants attacked their base prompting deadly gunfire in the area. He added their forces repelled the attackers.