Daily Monitor: We will liberate entire Somalia, says President Sharif Sheikh
What can you list as your achievement ever since you came to office?
I cannot summarise within this short time what I have done since I became president. But I have tried to build a police force and an army that will defend the interests of Somalia. We have spent a lot of time trying to improve the security situation in Mogadishu. We are also are building institutions, justice. We have done a great job.
Somalia has been rated among the most corrupt countries. What are you doing to fight the vice?
It is unfortunate that Somalia has been listed among the most corrupt countries. But this is because we do not have a strong government that can defend our country against these false accusations. ... We really do not have lots of problems like many people have portrayed. Secondly, we do not have resources to steal. We do not have a lot of revenue for people to steal. Somalia is still a poor country. It is unfortunate that Somalia has been bundled with other countries that have been rated as the most corrupt.
There are reports that President Museveni is ruling Somalia from Kampala and that he is the one who forced the Prime Minister (Mohammed Abdallahi Mohammed Fermajo) to resign. What is your comment?
The resignation of the Prime Minister had nothing to do with President Museveni. This was a Somali issue that was resolved internally and we agreed that he resigns to end the deadlock. He resigned for the sake of Somalis and the country. He decided to resign to allow the transition go on. I talked to him and he agreed to resign.
AP: New Somali PM vows to fight militants, graft
Somalia's newly appointed prime minister said on Monday that fighting corruption and defeating al-Qaida-linked militants will be top priorities during his term.-- -- --
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Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, a Harvard-educated Somali-American, was recently put in office as the new transitional prime minister. He will help appoint a transitional government that will operate until elections next year.
In an interview with The Associated Press Monday, Ali said that his upcoming government would be "small but efficient," and that he would build functioning institutions in the chaotic, war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.
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Ali, who previously taught economics at Niagara University in Lewiston, New York, said he would continue Mohamed's security achievements and try to build strong institutions that can withstand changes.
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Ali said his graduate degrees in public administration from Harvard and in economics from Vanderbilt University would be helpful in reviving an economy and institutions destroyed by the country's two decades of violence...
Shabelle Media: Somali official: We are planning to form autonomous states
Somali official in Gedo region says that they are planning to form new autonomous states in southern Somalia.-- -- --
Mohamoud Sayid Adam, a Somali lawmaker, on Tuesday said in an exclusive interview with Shabelle Media Network that talks to form the new states in southern Somalia had been going on in Dolow district in Gedo region for past days.
He said that the formation of new autonomous states will be inclusive as all local clans will participate in the process.
He said they don’t recognize the existence of the newly formed administration of Azania.
On the other hand, he said they are planning to drive out Al shabaab fighters from southern Somali regions.
There's obviously much more behind the current crisis than just a drought...
Shabelle Media: Al shabaab calls for Muslims, non-Muslims to help needy people
Al shabaab movement on Wednesday called upon both Muslims and non-Muslims to act quickly to deliver humanitarian assistance to the drought-affected Somali people.
Speaking about the severe drought that hit many parts of southern and central Somalia, Sheikh Ali Mohamed Rage, the spokesman of Al shabaab said anyone wants to help those staving, could contact Al shabaab officials, saying they will help them in doing the humanitarian activities in the areas under their control.
VOA: US to Test al-Shabab’s Willingness to Allow Food Aid to Somalia
The United States said Wednesday that it is prepared to “test” the willingness of the Somali rebel group al-Shabab to allow Western food aid to reach millions of Somalis threatened by drought. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered a coordinated U.S. response to try to prevent another famine in the Horn of Africa like the one that struck some two decades ago.
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Drought conditions in Somalia and parts of Ethiopia and Kenya are being compared to those of the early 1990s when famine claimed more than 300,000 lives.
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A senior State Department official said now that al-Shabab is “making noises about being a cooperative player,” it is incumbent on the United States and other donor countries to test whether the group is ready to let starving people receive humanitarian aid.
Interesting how VOA chose to emphasize a comparison to just 20 years ago while the UN and other agencies, including USAID itself, are talking of the worst conditions the HOA has seen in the last 60 years.
Not so surprising is the ommission in nearly every MSM article on the humanitarian crisis in H.S.M.-controlled areas of the long-standing U.S. role in specifically blocking the delivery of all humanitarian supplies to the people in those regions as a means of collective punishment for supporting H.S.M.
Others, however, remember, as this laid out in this report from the International Peace Institute, Engaging Somalia’s Al-Shabab to Allow the Delivery of Humanitarian Aid:
Multiple reasons explain the lack of humanitarian access until now.
First, in 2009, more than US$50 million of US humanitarian assistance for Somalia was suspended by the US Government, then the main donor in Somalia, out of concern that it might benefit al-Shabab, designated as a terrorist organization. This designation added an additional burden on humanitarian agencies that risk prosecution under American law for interacting with al-Shabab elements, although such contacts are a necessity to deliver aid as they often are the de facto local authorities.
Secondly, delivery of humanitarian assistance to populations under al-Shabab’s control is under close scrutiny by the United Nations Security Council since its resolution 1916 of March 2010, as the group represents a threat to peace and security and is suspected of diverting humanitarian aid to fuel its own war efforts.
Last but not least, the World Food Programme (WFP), by far the major emergency food provider in the country, has suspended its own operations since January 2010 reportedly due to escalating threats and attacks against it staff and unacceptable demands from armed groups. In turn, al-Shabab banned WFP’s operations in areas under its control and forced Somalis working for WFP to terminate their contract with the agency.
If the appeal of al-Shabab for the return of aid agencies in the areas it controls is genuine and lasts, it could constitute a unique opportunity to re-engage this armed group and allow the essential delivery of humanitarian - and notably food - assistance.
Also, something to keep in the back of one's mind is Clinton's remark in her Senate confirmation hearing that
The United States is uniquely situated to help the world feed itself and has the opportunities to recast its image by making the eradication of hunger a centerpiece of United States foreign policy.-- -- --
AFP: White House defends secret detention of Somali
The White House Wednesday defended the treatment of an alleged leader of Somalia's Shebab Islamist insurgency who was interrogated for two months on a US warship, saying his detention was lawful.-- -- --
In the first known case of the secret detention of a terror suspect by the administration of President Barack Obama, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was captured in the Gulf on April 19 and kept aboard a US Navy ship at sea.
The Somali national was indicted on Tuesday in a New York court on charges of providing material support to both the Shebab and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based branch of the Islamist terror group.
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The Justice Department said in a statement that Warsame was informed of his rights, but had agreed to keep talking to law enforcement officials for seven days after that. He was turned over to the FBI before being flown to New York.
Warsame was questioned first by the military and then by other government interrogators, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters.
He said the interrogations on the ship were carried out strictly according to the Army's guidelines for questioning detainees, which prohibit the use of torture or abusive techniques.
"The Army Field Manual was adhered to during this interrogation," Lapan said.
The military carried out the operation that resulted in Warsame's capture, Lapan indicated, but would not say whether special operations forces were involved or what naval ships participated.
"It was a targeted counter-terrorism operation. We didn't just happen upon him," Lapan said.
"We developed intelligence and we conducted the mission."
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The case provides an insight into how the Obama administration plans to question and try detainees outside war zones after closing the CIA's secret prison network.
Last month, Obama's nominee to be the next chief of US Special Operations Command, Vice Admiral William McRaven, told lawmakers that the United States could hold terror suspects on naval ships if necessary -- until legal charges were filed in court.
Shabelle Media: Aerial attacks against Al shabaab will continue, Somali official says
Aerial attacks targeting top Al shabaab leaders in Somalia will be continuing, a Somali government official said on Saturday.
Somalia’s deputy defense minister, Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig said in an exclusive interview with Shabelle that the primary aim of air-strikes are to force al Qaeda’s foreign militants fighting alongside Al shabaab to leave from the country or be killed.
Hidig stated that [the] friendly country that has been involved in the aerial attacks will contemplate before conducting any raid to avert civilian casualties.
The drone attacks will be targeting only on the group’s military bases in side Mogadishu and other key centers in south-central Somalia, according to the minister.
Press TV: US drone strikes kill dozens in Somalia
Dozens of al-Shabab fighter have reportedly been killed after the US military used remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles to target their bases in southern Somalia.
The US drone attacks were carried out late on Wednesday in Dhoobley and Afmadow towns located near Kismayo, capital of the lower Juba region and a port city located some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, said Somalia's Deputy Defense Minister Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig, quoted in a report by a Press TV correspondent.
The fresh US drone strike comes as the Americans carried out another drone attack in Somalia two weeks ago, The Washington Post reported.
VOA:
The TFG also is receiving the support of the U.S. military, which recently launched drone attacks from its Special Operations Command Unit in Yemen. The strikes targeted and killed at least one Shabab operative in Kismayo on Somalia’s southern coast.
A launch from w/i Kenya is another possibility.
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From the latest chronicles/analysis by Prof. Michael Weinstein, The "Transition" Continues to Drift:
The signing of the Kampala Accord on June 9 brought to an end the first phase of the attempt(s) to control "Somalia’s" "transition" to a permanent government that began in January, 2011. It is worth noting that no steps towards implementing a "transition" have been made yet; all the energies and activities of the various players have been devoted to fighting over who would take over the "transition." That condition has persisted in the weeks following the signing of the Kampala Accord.
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The stark lesson of the first six months on 2011 is that Somalia’s political fate rests on a distribution of power in which the "donor"-powers are predominant and preponderant. Whether they exercise that power or keep in potential and its use uncertain – as they have – the "donor"-powers are responsible for what happens in Somalia, whether or not they acknowledge that fact. It is time to stop blaming Somalis for their plight and it would be realistic for Somalis to stop doing so. It would be expected that the "donor"-powers would shift any blame to the Somalis. Acknowledging the distribution of power and its effects is the first step for Somalis to take in assuming some role in shaping their destiny. Everything comes back to and resolves into how the powerful use their power. The others need all their wits to hold their own.
Shabelle Media: Somali parliament meeting in Mogadishu concluded with uproar
The transitional federal parliament of Somalia (TFP) on Sunday met in Mogadishu to discuss and approve June 9 Kampala Accord extending government’s term for a year, but ended with uproar and shouting.
With the presence of 420-lawmekers out of 550, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adam, the parliament speaker of the parliament has presided over today’s assembly.
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President Sharif has addressed at the session saying that the ten comprised article-Kampala Accord was signed in Uganda and some articles had been automatically implemented. And he asked the parliamentarians to vote in favor of the accord.
The prime minister took his turn delivering an address about the Kampala Accord. He said he had witnessed the deal having signed at Kampala, pointing out the deal would not break any rules of the country or is not against the sovereignty of Somalia and that prompted the MPs to loud and shout at him. Therefore, he immediately scut short his speech in front of the parliament.
The parliament speaker called on the parliamentarians to clam down and keep rules but the noise increased and speaker concluded the session telling the MPs the session will be resumed tomorrow.
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