Global Security Studies Practicum

8 December 2011 With the withdrawal of Al-Shabaab from Mogadishu back in August, the government declared the city under control. Recently the Somali Capital has experienced a drastic change with numerous clashes between al-Shabaab militants and government forces backed by African Union troops in the northern districts of Karan and Huriwa. Reports imply the AU used tanks and artillery. Al-Shabaab failed to gain territory. Claims imply several al-Shabaab fighters instead of leaving, merged in to Mogadishu’s population. Since Al-Shabaab’s tactical withdrawal from Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, it has been suffering from several suicide bombings. Source: Somalia fighting: New clashes in capital Mogadishu http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16083451 Reliability: 9

Al-Shabaab and Kenya have been constantly exchanging insults through twitter, regarded as a media war. Emmanuel, Kenya’s army spokesman who currently has a twitter account with 10,000 followers, posts updates on the military state of play in the incursion into Somalia. With the screen name @HSMPress Al-Shabaab has joined the twitter community, it has currently posted 80 times and has about 3000 followers. Starting it first tweet in Arabic with a Qu’ranic phrase saying “ In the name of god, the most gracious, the most merciful.” Al-Shabaab has released its messages in fluent English. In recent months, Al-Shabaab has been running sophisticated media operations, including press releases in English with photos attached to them. Through this medium they have exaggerated claims such as total number of military victories. HSMPress has been self described as “Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen is an Islamic movement that governs South & Cen. Somalia & part of the global struggle

13 December 2011 Saudi Arabia (CNN) – Accused of witchcraft and sorcery, Amina bint Abdel Halim Nassar, was executed on Monday, (12 December 2011), by beheading. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy and practices Islam; due to their conservative nature, such practices as witchcraft, sorcery, and blasphemy are punishable by death. The London based newspaper, Al-Hayat reports, a search of Nassar’s home by the Saudi Arabia’s religious police found books on sorcery, talismans, and glass bottles filled with liquids supposedly used for magic. The Saudi police claim that Nassar was selling the liquids for $400 each. The executions of Saudi Arabia have tripled in 2011 according to the human rights group, Amnesty International; 79 people, including 5 women. Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Interim Director of Middle East and North Africa Programme, states, “… executions are punishment for unfair trails of Saudi citizens exercising their freedom of speech.” Amnesty International is promoting the hal

25 November 2011 Islamabad (CNN) – A Pakistani woman was arrested under suspicion of killing and cooking her husband. Zainab Bibi, 32, was arrested by Karachi authorities for supposedly stabbing her husband, Ahmad Abbas, to death, with the help of her 22 year old nephew, Zaheer Ahmad. Authorities also suspect Bibi of having cut her husbands body into little small pieces, with the sole intention of cooking his body to dispose of him to not get caught. Neighbors of Zainab Bibi complained of a foul smell in the neighborhood to police, which lead them to the home of Bibi shared with her husband. Zainab Bibi claims she murdered her husband because he wanted a physical relationship with their daughter. “I killed my husband before he dared to touch my daughter,” she told ARY News. She also claims to not regret killing her husband. Bibi is currently being held at the southern city of Karachi’s police station. Source: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-11-25/asia/world_asia_pakistan-husband-stew_1_c

12 December 2011 UK- The physical abuse experienced by domestic partners [wives] in the UK is likely to change based on new definition by the Liberal Democrat ministries. Under the new proposed definition of domestic violence laws, husbands can now be prosecuted for treating their wives in controlling ways even if they do not physically abuse them. The new laws will also extend to cover forced marriages of children by parents. Additionally, it will encompass economic control, manipulation of children, and awareness focused towards teenage girls who are experiencing abuse from their boyfriends. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone are set to propose the new changes. In general, the new definition of domestic violence laws will change its definition; not solely geared towards men but for abuse females who abuse their partners [husbands]. The ministers are also considering the allowance to women to find out if boyfriends have criminal histories. Sour

06 December 2011 London (Reuters) — The crisis in the Horn of Africa which has left more than 13 million people at risk of starvation is said to continue into the spring, and possibly the summer. The crisis, triggered by the worst drought in decades, has affected Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti. Kristalina Georgieva, European Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, said the Sahel region faces very dramatic hunger next year and feared some countries there are ignoring the problem. Georgieva said she was extremely concerned about the famine’s long-term repercussions on the region because of the vast numbers of Somalis who had fled to refugee camps in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen. Instability in Somalia meant they were unlikely to return home once the crisis was over. The commissioner said there were probably 400,000 to 500,000 Somalis in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, plagued by unrest, and that the flow of refugees from poor country to poor country has stability and security impl