Saturday, March 15, 2008

Where there's smoke there's fire...TF.SF take on this article

RIGHTS-NORWAY: That Question Again, Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?
By Tarjei Kidd Olsen

OSLO, Mar 14 (IPS) - Charges against three Somalis in Oslo of providing "support to terrorism" have outraged many Somalis in Norway. The charges are that the Somalis may have sent money to rebels in Somalia, but their defenders say they were supporting freedom fighters. This has not gone down well with a large section of the 18,000-strong Somali population in Norway, many of whom strongly oppose the transitional government and its Ethiopian protectors. Some say the accusations fit a pattern of prejudice against Norwegian Somalis by the media or security services.
"I have my doubts regarding these accusations," Hamsa Mohamed, a Norwegian Somali politician told IPS. "Similar accusations were levelled against Somalis here in 2001, but were found to be false after four years of investigations. I would have thought that the authorities had learned from that experience so that the Somali community could be spared a repeat."According to senior researcher Stig Jarle Hansen at the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), Norwegian Somalis are "a group that has received a lot of unfair criticism previously. What we need from the media is an increased focus on the positive things that Somalis contribute, rather than punishing whole groups because of the actions of three persons who haven't been convicted yet," he told IPS.

Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991. In 2006 the Islamic Courts, rooted in Sharia courts that had provided some order since the late 1990s, defeated warlords to take control of Mogadishu and other parts of southern Somalia. A UN-backed transitional government enlisted Ethiopian help to defeat the Islamic Courts in December 2006, sparking an insurgency.While the Islamic Courts were composed of many moderates as well as some extremists, the three accused Somalis are alleged to have supported an extremist rebel group known as al-Shabab (the 'Youth Organisation'), a former militant faction of the courts which has split from the other organisations battling the transitional government and Ethiopian troops.On its website al-Shabab describes itself as an organisation fighting to liberate Somalia, but also to introduce a strict version of Islamic Sharia law. It praises Osama bin Laden, and targets both civilians and the Somali bureaucracy.Two of the accused Somalis have insisted to police interrogators that they should be compared with exiled Norwegians in London who sent money to the Norwegian resistance during Nazi occupation.Given the nature of al-Shabab, Stig Jarle Hansen disagrees with this comparison."The Norwegian resistance seldom targeted the civilian service, the Norwegian resistance did not attack churches, and they did not attack soft targets," Hansen told IPS, adding that this, coupled with al-Shabab's ideological affiliation with al-Qaeda, makes it very different from other more moderate groups fighting in Somalia.Hansen says that a lot of Norwegian Somalis may not be aware of the extreme tactics employed by al-Shabab, simply viewing it as a part of the larger opposition to Ethiopia and the transitional government.The situation is further complicated by the fact that the Ethiopians and the transitional government are also responsible for serious crimes against the civilian population, including shelling of residential areas by Ethiopian troops, looting by police, and severe media repression. Sixty percent of Somalis who were living in Mogadishu are estimated to have fled the city.
This stands in stark contrast to the relatively disciplined and peaceful rule of the Islamists in southern Somalia in 2006, and has strengthened resentment among ordinary Somalis against the transitional government and its United Nations sponsors. The United States, which has labelled East Africa a new front in its 'war on terror', supported the Ethiopian invasion with bombing raids and sea patrols.
"By viewing Ethiopian and transitional government human rights violations too leniently, the international community has contributed to the support for extremist organisations. Somalis are angered by the double standards displayed when organisations like al-Shabab get criticised while the Ethiopians and transitional government are allowed to get away with their abuses," Hansen told IPS.
The presence of Ethiopia in Mogadishu is particularly galling for many Somalis. In 1964 and 1977 Ethiopia and Somalia fought wars over a Somali-inhabited territory known as Ogaden which was forcefully incorporated into Ethiopia in the 1880s. Ogaden remains a nationalist cause for many Somalis."No peoples in the world want to be occupied by others, and especially not by neighbours with this kind of historical baggage. The fact that Ethiopian forces are in Somalia makes the situation much more difficult," Hamsa Mohamed told IPS.It is alleged that the accused Norwegian Somalis transferred money to al-Shabab using the so-called Hawala system, an unofficial money transmission service that Somalis worldwide use to support their relatives in Somalia in the absence of a functioning central banking system.Partially due to the prohibitive costs of official registration, Hawala operates outside of official Norwegian control mechanisms designed to prevent money laundering and other dubious transfers.Ironically, the arrests have spurred Norwegian authorities to now take up what many Somalis here have wanted for years – regulation of Hawala transfers. (END/2008)

No comments:

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

About Us

The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.

Blog Archive

We Are Winning the War on Terrorism in Horn of Africa

The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

Terror Free Somalia Foundation