International Crisis Group

Jubaland in Jeopardy: The Uneasy Path to State-Building in Somalia

from Crisis Group’s blog, The African Peacebuilding Agenda

On 15 May 2013, Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, leader of the Ras Kamboni militia and a close ally of Kenya, was elected Jubaland president by regional clan representatives. Hours later, Barre Hirale, a warlord from a rival clan allied with the Somali Federal Government (SFG), declared himself president. The effort to create a Jubaland state within Somalia will test the limits of federalism in that country, and threatens to touch off clan warfare not only within Somalia but also in its neighbours.

We spoke to Zakaria Yusuf, Somalia Analyst , and Claire Elder, Horn of Africa Research Assistant, to learn more about Jubaland and find out if there is a risk of conflict.

Click here to read the Q & A.

Image reproduced with permission of Asempa Limited, publisher of Africa Confidential (www.africa-confidential.com). Original map first appeared in Africa Confidential, Vol. 52, No. 22, 4 November 2011.

Somalia: Más Que Mogadiscio | Esglobal

Por Cedric Barnes, director director del proyecto Cuerno de Africa

En los últimos seis meses, las noticias de Mogadiscio han sido esperanzadoras. Los titulares apuntan a un aluvión de retornados y de nuevas inversiones que están ayudando a reconstruir la capital. Pero Somalia es mucho más que Mogadiscio y los desafíos a los que tiene que hacer frente el resto del centro y el sur del país –que permanece en su mayor parte bajo control de Al Shabab– siguen siendo tremendos. Y mientras la atención internacional se centra en la ciudad recuperada (y con razón, dada su importancia), zonas antes estables, especialmente la autoproclamada República de Somalilandia y la autónoma Puntlandia, parecen más vulnerables.

Es comprensible que gran parte de la energía inicial del nuevo Gobierno Federal de Somalia (GFS), liderado por el presidente Hasan Sheij Mahamud se haya invertido en la consolidación del apoyo internacional. El reconocimiento por parte de la Administración de EE UU fue un gran premio (aunque siempre había reconocido al país como una entidad estatal) y animará a otros Estados, incluidos grandes actores árabes, como Arabia Saudí, a hacer lo mismo. En el viaje de regreso de su viaje a Washington, el nuevo presidente realizó una visita a Riad -fructífera, según las informaciones disponibles. El nuevo Ejecutivo se siente seguro y ese apoyo externo ayuda a contrarrestar la fuerte influencia de sus vecinos más próximos.

ARTICULO COMPLETO (Esglobal)

Foto: UK DFID/Flickr

Somalia News Website Run By U.S. Military Aims To Counter Insurgents | AP via The Huffington Post

By Jason Straziuso

NAIROBI, Kenya — The website’s headlines trumpet al-Shabab’s imminent demise and describe an American jihadist fretting over insurgent infighting. At first glance it appears to be a sleek, Horn of Africa news site. But the site – sabahionline.com – is run by the U.S. military.

The site, and another one like it that centers on northwest Africa, is part of a propaganda effort by the U.S. military’s Africa Command aimed at countering extremists in two of Africa’s most dangerous regions – Somalia and the Maghreb.

Omar Faruk Osman, the secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists, said Sabahi is the first website he’s seen devoted to countering the militants’ message.

FULL ARTICLE (The Huffington Post)

Photo: U.S. Army Africa/Flickr

Somali terrorists al-Shabaab threaten 7/7 style attack on UK | The Week 

SOMALI militants linked to al-Qaeda have threatened to inflict on the UK a terrorist attack worse than the London bombings of 7 July 2005 for extraditing the Islamist cleric Abu Hamza to the United States.

Al-Shabaab made the threats in a series of messages on Twitter, The Times reports.

One tweet threatened the biggest Islamist terrorist attack yet on Britain: “The nightmare that surreptitiously looms on British shores is bound to eclipse the horrors of 7/7 and 21/7 combined.”

Another read: “Britain will pay the heftiest price for its brazen role in the war against Islam and endless brutality against innocent Muslims.”

Al-Shabaab also said it would “go to every possible length to attain the freedom of imprisoned Muslim scholars”.

FULL ARTICLE (The Week)

Photo: C. G. P. Grey/Flickr

Africa, West combine to rout militants in Somalia | Huffington Post via AP

By Jason Straziuso

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The first Ugandan soldiers to fly into Somalia 5 1/2 years ago came under attack as soon as they arrived: Militants fired mortars at the new mission’s welcome ceremony.

Today, backed by a sweeping multinational effort that includes $338 million in U.S. equipment, wages and training, the force of Ugandans, Burundians, Kenyans and Somalis that was deployed to take on the country’s Islamic radicals can claim a degree of success that had initially seemed highly unlikely.

FULL ARTICLE (Huffington Post)

Photo: United Nations/Flickr

New Somali PM Pledges Competent, Trustworthy Government | VOA

Somalia’s new prime minister,  Abdi Farah Shirdoon Saaid, has pledged to form a competent, trustworthy government ready to work toward developing the country, as it emerges from a United Nations-backed transition plan.

Mr. Saaid told VOA’s Somali Service in his first interview since taking the post that he will base his agenda on Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s six-point plan for building the country’s institutions and make adjustments if necessary.

FULL ARTICLE (VOA)

Photo: VOA/Wikimedia Commons