After meeting with Somali president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the speaker of the parliament and the prime minister, Mahiga held a joint news conference in Mogadishu with Somali premier, saying that he invited Somalia’s top TFG officials to attend a meeting on Somalia that will be held in Nairobi, Kenya.
“I came to Mogadishu to bring invitation to the president, the prime minister and the speaker to the forth-coming consultative meeting which will be held in Nairobi later this month” Mahiga said in joint press conference with Somali premier in the seaside Mogadishu.
During the meeting, Somali president and parliament speaker will get an opportunity to discuss with autonomous Somali regions to resolve little disagreements between them, said the UN representative to Somalia.
Mahiga said that it is needed the transitional period, which is due to expire in August, to end its time as promised.
Garowe Online:
Sources told Garowe Online, Mahiga handed Somali government top leaders invitation letter to attend the meeting and appealed to President Sharif and Prime Minister Farmajo to revise the government extended for one more year, he stated the international community will never accept the government extended term.
Somali President and Prime Minister opposed Mahiga’s suggestion and said they extended the government’s term one year to complete their incomplete activities in the year.
AFP:
Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed insists that he needs one more year to rid the country of an Al Qaeda affiliated Islamic insurgency and establish a stable government in war-torn Somalia.
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He said he needs about a year to finish the job and that is why his government, due to step down in August, announced on Monday that it will continue in power for another 12 months.
"We were only appointed recently... We still need some more time to defeat the Shebab. That is our priority," said Mohamed, who was appointed in November 2010.
"The solution was to prolong the government's mandate until August 2012... for here on the ground we are still at war," against the Shebab, said Mohamed, whose offices at Villa Somalia are just a few hundred metres (yards) from the frontline.
By then he expects to have finished "restoring security to Mogadishu and probably kicking the Shebab out of the rest of the south of the country."
Then authorities will be in a position to draw up a draft constitution and a new law on political parties, he said, adding "we will establish good governance and put in place a transparent system and we will revamp public services and foster national reconciliation."
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"If we leave now before we finish our task, I am convinced the Shebab will be the ones who benefit," he said.
"Things move forward only slowly. I can't achieve miracles. I need more time."
Somaliland Press: Djibouti and Somaliland reject Somalia peace conferences
The Djibouti government has for the first time publicly rejected an upcoming Somali conference sponsored by the UN to be held in the Kenyan capital, an official said on Wednesday.
Mr. Hamoud Abdi Sultan, Djibouti Muslim Affairs Minister, told VOA Somali services that his government was strongly opposed to the proposed international peace conference in Nairobi because it was undermining the 2009 Djibouti conference that has formed the current TFG.
He said a new conference will only complicate things even further and will reignite the conflict in Somalia. He believes the conference will not move the current efforts forward but instead will backpaddle the whole process.
The conference proposed by Ambassador Augustine P. Mahiga, the Secretary General of the United Nation’s envoy to Somalia, calls for an international peace conference in April that would involve direct negotiations between Somalia’s many warring factions.
During his state visit to Hargeisa last week, Mr. Mahida invited Somaliland to take a center role in the conference but it unilaterally rejected the offer saying it has nothing to do with Somalia’s unrests.
Shabelle Media: Somalia’s cabinet spur to attend UN organized meeting for Somalia
The cabinet ministers of Somali transitional federal government of Somalia on Thursday spurned to attend UN organized consultative meeting that will be held in Nairobi, the capital city of neighboring Kenya.-- -- --
After unusual meeting chaired by Somali prime minister, Mohammed Abdullahi Mohamed better known as Farmajo, all ministers agreed to boycott and not attend the UN meeting for Somalia.
On Wednesday
Hiiraan Online: Al-Shabab Launches Major Road Repair Between Mogadishu and IDP Camps
The Alshabab administration in conjuction with the Banadir Transport Association have begun repairng an important road connecting Garasbaaley and Iveco near Mogadishu Stadium.
The road is said to be designed for use by commuters to and from the Bakara market and other parts of Mogadishu under the control of Alshabab after the main road connecting most parts of the capital known as Jidka Warshadaha ( Industrial Road) was closed by recent fierce fightings between the Alshabab and government soldiers supported by AMISOM.
Construction work to resurface the road has begun after the closure of jidka Warashadaha ( Indutrial Road) which was the only one leading to the Bakara Market. We hope this road will ease the difficulties being experienced by commuters travelling to and from the market'',said Aded Osman Shuriye speaking on behalf of the Banadir Transport Association.
People who go to work in Bakara Market daily now use a narrow way that meanders through Hodan and Holwadag districts in which at least two people are killed by stray bullets which the opposing armies exchange according to people HOL spoke to who use the road on daily basis.
Vehicles transporitng merchendise from Mogadishu port have been unable to access the Bakara Market since last month when heavy clashes erupted between government troops and forces of the Alshabab in Jidka wadanaha ( Central Road) which is the only high way that connects the different parts of the Somali capital under the control of Alshabab on the one hand and the Somali government and their AMISOM allies on the other.
The Alshabab governor of Banadir Region, Sheikh Mohamud Hassan Omar, thanked the Banadir Transport Association at the opening ceremoney for intitiating this project. He said that he hoped the road would alleviate the suffering of the people who use it daily to and from Bakara Market and beyond.
Also, business people who use the road daily have welcomed the repair of the road and said it would go a long way in solving the numerous difficulties they encounter while travelling on it.
The very next day
Shabelle Media: AMISOM to reopen Mogadishu’s largest market
African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Thursday said it will reopen Mogadishu roads linking to Bakaara market, Mogadishu’s largest and busiest market.
Speaking to journalist in Mogadishu, Maj. Barigye Bahoku, the spokesman of AMISOM forces in Somalia said that Nathan Mugisha, AMISOM’s force commander and Somalia’s interior minister and home security met today.
He added that the officials discussed ways could help reopen streets linking to Bakaara market.
Mr. Bahoku rebuffed that African Union peacekeepers are involved the closure of some of Mogadishu important streets.
He pointed out that instead they repaired streets damaged and torn down by what he called al Shabaab militants.
And, Friday
HOL: Government Announce Re-opening of Roads to Bakara Market
The Somali Government and AMISOM have announced that they will work together to reopen roads to the Bakara Market which has been closed for more than one month, after fierce clashes erupted in Mogadishu's Industrial Road, the only road connecting Bakara Market with the rest of the city.-- -- --
In a joint press release, Somali minister of internal affairs and homeland Secuitry, Abdishakur Sheikh Hassan Farah, the governor of Mogadishu, Mohamud Ahmed Nur(Tarsan) and AMISOM commander, Nathan Mugisha, told the Somali media that they all agreed to reopen roads to the Bakara Market.
AMISOM spokesman,Barigiye Bahugo, told reporters that AMISOM and the TFG did not close the roads to Bakara Market, but the Alshabab were behind the blocking of the Bakara roads as they dug deep trenches in the middle of the roads.
'' The leaders of the Somali government and AMISOM have decided to help the Somali business community in Mogadishu by immediately reopening all roads under our control to the Bakara Market so that people and vehicles can travel to and from the market'', said AMISOM spakesman, Major Barigiye Bahugo.
Major Bahugo said that people now access the Bakara Market using Aden Ade Road near the Parliament Building, adding that thousands of people travel on this road each day.
However, the AMISOM spokesman acknowledged that heavy transport vehicles can not reach the Bakara Market, and called on the Ashabab to reopen the roads under their control they had closed to traffic.
Thursday
The East African Standard: High alert as police battle Al Shabaab
Somalia’s dreaded Al Shabaab militia crossed into Kenya and attacked a police station.
The attackers launched a rocket-propelled grenade on the Liboi Police Station at the Liboi border in, North Eastern, but no injury was reported.
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Residents who called The Standard Wednesday said there was tension at the border following the attack, with more security personnel being moved to the area. Area police chief Leo Nyongesa declined to comment on the attack but said security had been beefed up. The incident came days after a GSU officer was shot and injured in a clash with the militia group.
Contingents of General Service Unit officers had, a week earlier, crossed to Somalia and killed at least a dozen of Al Shabaab militants in another clash at the border.
This was after the militants allegedly fired at the Kenyan side and hit and damaged a water tank at a GSU camp at the main border.
And in retaliation, the rag tag launched an attack on the personnel. Security chiefs in the province were in meetings yesterday in Garissa to chart out the way forward.
There has been fighting pitting forces loyal to the Transitional Federal Government and the militia over control of Dobley town. Kenyan troops were have been mobilised to the Liboi border to control an influx of refugees as the fighting raged.
Several hundred kilometers to the north...
HRW: Kenya: Stop Deporting Somalis Fleeing Conflict
Kenya should immediately stop deporting back to Somalia civilians fleeing the conflict there, Human Rights Watch said today. Kenya should allow humanitarian agencies to assist Somalis displaced by fighting and should not close makeshift camps without providing alternative sites and offering displaced people the opportunity to seek asylum.
On March 17, 2011, Kenyan authorities forced the Kenya Red Cross to stop providing services at a temporary refugee camp in Mandera, in northeast Kenya, which was housing 13,000 people, many of them Somalis who had recently fled fighting across the border in Bula Hawo. District authorities, who had given the Red Cross permission to establish the camp, abruptly changed course, ordering the Red Cross to stop providing services and close the camp. That evening, according to several organizations working in Mandera, government officials accompanied by armed Kenyan security forces intimidated camp residents, telling them to leave the camp and return to Somalia by noon the next day.
Friday
Shabelle Media: Heavy fighting rocks Dhobley near Kenya border
Heavy battle and volleys of artillery barrages between Somali government forces allied with Raskmaboni forces and Al shabaab jolted the border town of Dhobley in western Lower Jubba region.and
Reports say that the fighting kicked off after Somali forces attacked an Al shabaab controlled district of Dhobley as local residents, mostly fled already, started displacing from their houses.
Some of the houses in the town are reported burnt by the barrages Somali forces were using during the fighting.
At least 10 people were killed and dozens more injured after Somali government forces on Friday attacked the border with the aim to take control from Al shabaab.
HOL:
Troops loyal to the Somali government and Raaskomboni forces led by Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam ( Sheikh Ahmed Madobe) have heavily shelled Dhobley town in Lower Jubba Region of Somalia since last night according to reports reaching Hiiraan Online Friday morning.
The heavy shelling is said to have destroyed residential buildings although no human casualties have been reported thus far. The affected areas of the town were also the scene of fierce fighting between Alshabab and the allied Government and Raaskamboni forces last week in which Alshabab remained in control of the town.
Witnesses told HOL that the heavy shelling into Dhobley town was coming from Kenyan Somali border, with residents of the town fleeing back to villages around Dhobley town from where they had come back a week earlier.
Reports speak of heavy military movement, with Alshabab fighters said to have encircled Dhobley town where as Somali government and Raasbamboni forces are in an area known as Haar-Haar between Kenya and Somalia in no man's land.
Alshabab officials accuse the Kenyan army of participating in the Dhobley town shelling, but there has been no response from the Kenyan government denying or confirming this.
HOL: Calm Returns to Dhobley Town After Heavy Clashes
Calm has returned to Dhobley town in the Lower Jubba Region of Somalia following heavy clashes pitting Somali government forces supported by their Raaskamboni allies led by Sheikh Ahmed Madobe against the Alshabab group which stills control the town and got the upper hand in yesterday's fierce fighting.-- -- --
Some of the few remaining residents of the town whom Hiiraan online contacted have confirmed that the town was calm and quiet and in full control of Alshabab although fighting may break out any time.
The exact figure of casualties among the combatants of the warring sides is not Known as they are not talking to the media. However, independent sources on the ground report both sides in the conflict suffered heavy number of loss of life and that there was a wide spread destruction of property,death and injury among the civilian population.
The heavy fighting and shelling in Dhobley town come at a time when people who have been displaced from the town by earlier battles started to return to their homes following weeks of a lull in the conflict in this Somali border town.
The East African Standard: Somalia plans to create new state to keep off Al Shabaab
A meeting in Nairobi this week discussed the formation of a semi-autonomous Jubaland that will comprise northern regions of Lower and Middle Juba and Gedo on the Kenya-Somalia border.-- -- --
If the plan goes through, Jubaland would become the third semi-autonomous breakaway region after Somaliland and Puntland.
A group of former Somalia MPs told the Nairobi meeting that if created, Jubaland would act as a buffer zone and frustrate incursions by Al Shabaab into the region, prevent entry of refugees, and smuggling of arms into Kenya.
Kenya has backed the proposal with the hope it would help crush the Al Shabaab insurgents operating along the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia border.
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A former senior police officer, who spoke to The Standard On Saturday, on condition of anonymity because he is still bound by State secrets rules, warned the Kenyan Government to tread carefully on its relationship with the new Jubaland.
"It will not be easy. It may help stop the Al Shabaab in the long run but the Government must be ready for a fight because the militia will definitely resist the creation of the new state," said the former officer.
He added: "I hope our top security advisors weighed the pros ad cons of openly supporting such an initiative. I hope the Government is prepared to deal with the repercussions."
But delegates at the meeting downplayed the fears that the creation of Jubaland would create more security problems in the already troubled region.
Muhammed Gandhi, a former defence minister in Somalia who is co-ordinating the plan said it would bring stability in the region occupied by Al Shabaab.
"We are ready to liberate the three regions from Al Shabaab," he said.
A seven day congress attended by Somali’s Transitional Federal Government members of parliament, representatives from African Union, IGAD representatives and elders from the region are supposed to come up with a roadmap of how to defeat the terror group.
On Wednesday, delegates adopted a regional constitution with 81 Articles to help govern the new state. They also elected Professor Gandhi as the new president of Jubaland.
The new ‘country’ is fashioned on the model of the autonomous Puntland and Somaliland in the north.
Shabelle Media: Ahlu Sunna fighters defected to Shabelle Valley administration
Fighters loyal to Somalia’s moderate Ahlu Suna Waljama on Saturday defected to the administration of Shabelle Valley that operate parts of Hiran region in central Somalia, an official said.-- -- --
Mohammed Nur Agajof, the minister of information for Shabelle Valley administration said in an interview with Shabelle Media Network, that more Ahlu Sunna fighters surrendered to them.
He said that 120 fighters [defecting] from the Sufi [group] are the ones who recently completed traning courses in Ethiopia.
On the morning of the fourth day after being detained, the TFG released the two Shabelle Media Network staffers
Shabelle director, editor freed after days in govt detention
After three days in Somali government controlled detention, Abdirashid Omar Qase, the director of Shabelle and news editor, Abdi Mohammed Isma’al freed on Wednesday.
Shabelle journalists captured over the weekend after Somali government charged Shabelle of broadcasting inaccuracy news-story that may aid what they called terrorists.
Shabelle news editor explained what has happened saying that when they arrived at nations security headquarters to answer a call for the information ministry.
He said that the ministry of information accused Shabelle of airing anti-president story.
NSA has ordered to apologize for the story Shabelle has broadcast about the president failing to visit Mogadishu battle zones, according news editor.
From a CPJ alert on Monday
Security agents with Somalia's Interim Transitional Government arrested the director and news editor of Radio Shabelle on Sunday after the independent station aired a report saying the president was unable to visit areas recently captured by government and AU forces due to security concerns, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. The Ministry of Information deemed the March 22 report "factually incorrect and aiding the terrorists."
News Editor Abdi Mohammed Ismail and Director Abdirashid Omar Qase were arrested upon their arrival at security agency headquarters in Mogadishu and were denied access to food, legal representation, and family, Ali Dahir, Shabelle's head of development, told CPJ.
Other local radio stations and the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Voice of America aired similar reports that said President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's travels had been restricted by insecurity, local journalists said. Shabelle stood by its reporting.
Abdimalik Yusuf, chairman of Shabelle Media, told CPJ the Interior Ministry ordered the media house today to publicly apologize for the report and to sign a letter stating that they would refrain from negative reporting about the government. Yusuf told CPJ he refused.
Here was the March 22nd article the TFG objected to when it countered their PR strategy
President Fails to Visit War Zones in North Mogadishu
Somalia's embattled president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Tuesday was unable to pay a fleeting visit to the battle-zones as heavy battle between Somali government forces and Al shabaab was going on in parts of Mogadishu, particularly Bondhere and Hodan districts.-- -- --
At least 10 people were killed and more than 20 others injured during the fierce fighting that rocked Mogadishu, the capital of horn of African nation, according to local sources.
Witnesses confirmed most of the victims were civilians as all were reported taken to Mogadishu medical facilities.
Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the president of the transitional government of Somalia dressed in the military uniform and flanked by more military convoy of the African Union troops AMISOM had tried to reach at the military bases that the government troops seized from Al-shabab on Tuesday morning, but sources confirmed the leader has failed to visit the Mogadishu frontlines.
Some of officials consulted the president, who dressed in military uniform, that it is unsafe to conduct the visit due to bitter gun battle continued there.
In press conference near the presidential palace, President Ahmed said that the government forces had the upper hand made victories over the fighting.
UNPOS press release: High Level Consultative Meeting to take place on 12 and 13 April
Following a meeting held today with a core group of regional and international partners and stakeholders, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General Ambassador Augustine P. Mahiga, said that the planned High Level Consultative meeting will take place in Nairobi on 12 and 13 April. He called on all Somali authorities to participate.
“It is my obligation under the Djibouti agreement to facilitate dialogue among the Somali institutions and authorities. I urge all Somali leaders to demonstrate their commitment to advancing the peace process by taking part in this meeting”, said Ambassador Mahiga.
AFP: Somalia throws out two UN rights officials
Somalia's transitional government on Saturday banned from the country two officials working with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the foreign ministry said.-- -- --
The pair were named as Scott Campbell, UNHCHR's head of Africa field operations, and Sandra Beidas, who heads the human rights arm of the UN Political Office for Somalia.
"The ministry... has the honour to convey the decision of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia to declare Mr Scott Cambell and Miss Sandra Beidas ...persona non grata," the statement said.
"Our country needs to have the ability to protect human rights but the barriers we are facing... include the High Commissioner for Human Rights who failed to assist us to improve rights agencies and law enforcement institutions in the country," Sahra Mohamed Ali Samatar, minister in the prime minister's office, told reporters.
"We therefore support stopping these United Nations officials from entering the country and they will not be allowed to operate in Somalia," she said.
From an AFP article Saturday:
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) force commander said Friday he sees no way of managing Somalia’s political transition other than by extending the mandate of the transitional government (TFG).-- -- --
“I don’t see any other alternative than that,” Ugandan Gen. Nathan Mugisha said, referring to a one year extension of the TFG’s mandate. “There is no other option, unfortunately.”
“We cannot interrupt the efforts toward pacification. Stabilization has started … we need partners on the other side, AMISOM can not do this job alone without the TFG,” he said in an interview at the force’s base.
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“The TFG is doing a good job, but they’re facing a lot of challenges, political, security, financial. They have done their best,” Mugisha said. ... “Once you disrupt the TFG, then you disempower AMISOM and you’re playing the game of Al-Shabaab.”
Press TV: Clashes kill 38 people in Mogadishu
At least 38 people have been killed during heavy clashes between Somali government troops backed by African Union forces and al-Shabab fighters in Mogadishu.-- -- --
Nearly 17 Somali soldiers died on Saturday after fighting broke out in Mogadishu's northern districts of Bondhere and Yaqshid.
More than 21 al-Shabab fighters were also killed during the bloody fighting, the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported.
Garowe Online: Lawmakers Plan Motion Against UN Envoy
At least 100 Somali lawmakers signed motion against United Nation’s special envoy to Somalia Augustan Mahiga on Saturday, Radio Garowe reports.
Member of Somali transitional parliament held meeting in Somalia’s war-torn capital Mogadishu on Saturday and alleged Mahiga is destroying the transitional federal government of Somalia.
The lawmakers signed motion against Augustan Mahiga and said they will discuss in the first parliament meeting.
“Mahiga is preparing meeting which is obstacle to the government and we are against that meeting, he is planning to destroy the government,” the lawmakers told the press after their meeting.
They appealed to Somali government members to boycott that meeting and Augustan Mahiga to leave interfering Somali government issues.
BBC Monitoring: Somali prime minister rejects UN-sponsored conference
Somali prime minister has rejected a UN-sponsored conference that is scheduled to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, government owned Radio Mogadishu reported on 3 April 2011.-- -- --
In a special interview with the radio, Muhammad Abdullahi Farmajo said Somalia was "a sovereign state".
"It was said that the government should be in transitional period for seven years and nothing was done in those seven years. None of the issues that were supposed to be done during the transitional period were done. The Somali people should now speak out. They should talk about their interests. It is not right that somebody speaks for us," the radio quoted Farmajo as saying.
"We know that the Somali people are brave and very patient people who will not accept in any way to be colonized. They will not accept to be dependent [on others]. We as a government, we are encouraging them. The government will not accept that. We will not go to any country that will invite us. This country is a sovereign state that is independent for its aspirations and future," the prime minister added.
Shabelle Media: Somali govt confiscates Dhobley after days of fighting
After days of fighting, Somali government forces have fully taken control the town of Dhobley in Lower Jubba region in southern Somalia.
Reports emanating from the region Lower Jubba say a number of Somali military forces entered inside the two of Dhobley where al Shabaab has been controlling in the few years.
At least 8 people mainly the combatants were so far confirmed dead and more 15 others injured in that fighting.
Tanks and helicopters are reported to have been seen over the town during the battles between Somali government forces and Al shabaab.
HOL:
Government officials whose names can not be revealed because they are not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the fall of Dhobley town, which had been heavily shelled throughout last night. This was verified by witnesses HOL spoke to who said the town was now in the hands of Somali government forces and their Raaskamboni allies who attacked it from different directions.
Initial reports indicate ten combatants belonging to the warring sides have lost their lives although the exact number of casualties may not immediately be known due to the ferocity of the fighting.
Both sides have used light and heavy weapons, with the Alshabab gunmen who lost control of the town said to be not far from the town on which they want to launch a counterattack.
Witnesses said the bloody fighting in Dhobley Sunday morning had destroyed many houses which had burned in the inferno caused by the heavy shelling preceding the assault on the town.
Mareeg Online:
At least 15 people were killed and 30 others wounded in today’s face to face fighting between these groups and 14 of those injuries were taken into Kenyan hospital from T.F.G side as reports said, though there is no good information found from Shabab side.-- -- --
AP: Somalia creates new state, Azania
Somali politicians on Sunday announced the creation of a new state in the battle-scarred nation, a move condemned by Somalia's fragile government, which said it could further fracture the already chaotic Horn of Africa country.
The creation of Azania was celebrated Sunday in a colorful ceremony in Kenya's capital. Its creation brings the total number of new states to more than 10.
Kenya supports the new administration as it creates a buffer zone near its border with Somalia.
Azania President Mohamed Abdi Gandhi said his first duty is to retake his territory from al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab.
"Our aim of establishing this administration is to first liberate these regions," he said. "We are not breaking away from Somalia."
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Somalia's interim charter allows for new states.
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