Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Youth are Older:The Iraqization of the Somali Mujahidin Youth Movement

By Reuven Paz Introduction – Al-Tawhid wal-Jihad

In 30 September 2008, the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), one of the principal media functions of global Jihad, posted on Jihadi Internet forums a new Jihadi magazine titled "Millat Ibrahim" (The Religion of Abraham), published by the Somali Mujahidin Youth Movement (Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahidin).1 The new magazine is the first of its kind by this Jihadi movement. As all the MYM publications—statements, interviews, video and audio tapes—this magazine was posted by GIMF. In recent years, the latter became the sole publisher of publications by the various groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Arabia, primarily the MYM, AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), and the Islamic Army in Gaza.
The new magazine, in 51 pages, was also published by a new title of a "research center" – The Zarqawi Center for Studies and Research in the Horn of Africa (Markaz Al-Zarqawi lil-Dirasat wal-Buhuth fi al-Qarn al-Ifriki), a supposedly research center of MYM. Its entire content is in accordance with the doctrines of the traditional Al-Tawhid wal-Jihad. This trend, which emerged from Wahhabiyyah and has been primarily shaped through the Jihadi-Salafi writings of the Jordanian-Palestinian Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, became an integral part of Al-Qaeda under his best known follower, Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi. The title—Millat Ibrahim—is also one of Al-Maqdisi’s most
1 See the magazine in: http://www.e-prism.org/images/Millat_Ibrahim_1_-_Oct08.pdf
Somali insurgents vow to keep fighting
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/world/BO100032/
Insurgents vow to fight until Islamic law governs
Somalia
An insurgent group that appears set to seize control of Somalia said on Wednesday it will not stop fighting until Islamic law governs the country.The vow to continue fighting came from the leader of al-Shabab on Wednesday as thousands of troops from neighbouring Ethiopia prepared to leave the country after two years propping up the government, and days after the Somali president resigned.
"We will not stop fighting even if the Ethiopian troops withdraw because our aim is to implement Islamic law across Somalia," said Sheik Muktar Robow, whose group is considered the most aggressive of the Islamic insurgency groups fighting in Somalia.
Al-Shabab, which the U.S. accuses of having links to al-Qaeda, already controls most of the country after making major territorial gains over recent months.
Nine civilians were killed and 15 others injured in the capital Mogadishu Tuesday after al-Shabab fired mortar shells at government and Ethiopian bases. more..http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/12/31/somalia-ethiopia.html

Somali insurgents vow to keep fighting

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A powerful insurgent group poised to take over Somalia said Wednesday it will fight until the country is ruled by Islamic law, even as Ethiopian troops who have been propping up the government packed up to leave.The presence of the Ethiopian troops, whom many Somalis see as occupiers in their land, has been a rallying cry for the insurgents to gain recruits even as the militants' strict form of Islam terrified people into submission.But on Wednesday, the most powerful insurgent group said the departure after two years will not be enough to stop them fighting the government.more..http://beta.ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081230/twl-af-somalia-1be00ca.html
The Ethiopian withdrawal could lead to a power vacuum.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7806014.stm

Ex-President to play 'neutral role' in Puntland election

GAROWE, Somalia Dec 30 (Garowe Online) - Somalia's former president, Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, has assured a group of opposition candidates in his native region of Puntland that he will play a 'neutral role' in the January 2009 election, Radio Garowe reports.
On Monday, Mr. Yusuf received a massive homecoming in Garowe, the capital of Puntland. Yusuf resigned earlier that day as Somali president after four years in power more..http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Ex-President_Yusuf_to_play_neutral_role_in_Puntland_election.shtml
related stores
Somalia: Puntland parliament elects new Speaker
Puntland Election

AU chief seeks urgent replacement for Somali President
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African Union Commission Chief Jean Ping said Tue sday the Somali parliament should meet urgently to pick a new President to lead t he Transitional Federal Government after President Abdullahi Yusuf's resignation .Ping, who appeared unemotional about the resignation of Yusuf, said the former l eader quit at a critical time when efforts were underway from a number of region a l and international organizations to find a solution there. more.http://www.panapress.com/newslatf.asp?code=eng006895&dte=30/12/2008

The Evil Solution

Young and desperate, Somali pirates aren't afraid to commit heinous acts of destruction, says one of their leaders.

Somali pirates last September captured a Ukrainian cargo ship, the MV Faina, loaded to the gunnels with heavy weaponry, including 33 Russian-designed T-72 battle tanks. Since then, American and Russian naval vessels have been shadowing the ship at its anchorage off the fishing village of Hindawao, 300 miles north of Mogadishu. This month there were reports that the ship's owners had agreed on ransom terms, but the Faina and its crew are still being held. NEWSWEEK's Rod Nordland interviewed Shamun Indhabur, who is thought to be the leader of the pirates who took the Faina, and the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker with $100 million worth of oil aboard. The interview was conducted by satellite telephone to the bridge of the Faina, through Somali translator Abukar al-Badri. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: What is your background, and how did you capture the MV Faina? Shamun Indhabur: I was a fisherman before I turned to piracy, a crewmember of a small fishing boat. We used to capture lobsters and sharks.When we hijacked MV Faina it was early morning 24 September 2008, in Somali waters. We took it after 60 minutes of fighting between the crewmembers and our gunmen and eventually the captain decided to surrender after we fired some rockets to warn them that we were close to destroying the ship if they didn't surrender. The captain tried to escape, but he didn't succeed. He had a pistol and he refused to surrender until we were close to killing him. When we intercepted the ship and saw the shipment [of arms], then we thought it was going to Somalia and belonged to the Ethiopians [whose army is supporting the transitional government in Somalia], but the captain told us that it was going to South Africa. Then later we saw that it was going to southern Sudan, after we forced the captain to show us the manifests.What's the situation on board the Faina now? more..http://www.newsweek.com/id/175980?GT1=43002
Another Malaysian ship hijacked by Somali pirates
Bad times ahead for Somali pirates
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Fedyashin) - The next year will be a bad one for the Somali pirates, as on December 16, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution giving special forces of its member countries the right to track and detain pirates on the sea and on land.
This surgical operation will not cleanse the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean of the pirates overnight, but it is a good start. Experts have been saying that you can successfully fight pirates only on land, with victory on the sea as an additional bonus.
Another important change is that China has agreed to join the multinational force against the pirates. In early January, China's best missile destroyers, Haikou and Wuhan, and the supply vessel Weishanhu, with over 800 sailors and 70 Marines on board, will reach the Gulf of Aden. They will coordinate their operation with the warships of other countries that are already in the Gulf or headed for it.
Some 1,200 Chinese merchant vessels pass by Somalia every year, and the pirates attack approximately 20% of them. more..http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20081231/119292146.html
Crew fights off Somali pirates with water jets
ATHENS, Greece – Crewmen fired high pressure water jets Friday to fight off heavily armed Somali pirates trying to board a Greek oil tanker in the dangerous Gulf of Aden, officials said. It was the fourth pirate attack of the new year.
Armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, pirates in three speedboats twice tried to board the Greek-flagged Kriti Episkopi but were driven away when the crew turned fire hoses on them and EU aircraft scrambled from a nearby European Union naval flotilla to help, shipping company and Greek government officials said.
The attack came a day after Somali pirates seized an Egyptian cargo ship and its 28 crew in the waterway, one of the world's most important sea routes. Also Thursday, a Malaysian military helicopter saved an Indian tanker from being hijacked and a French warship thwarted an attack on a Panamanian cargo ship and captured several pirates. more..http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090102/ap_on_re_af/piracy
French navy hands over eight Somali pirates to
Puntland
The French navy has handed over eight suspected pirates captured in the Gulf of Aden to the authorities of Somalia's breakaway state of Puntland, an official said on Friday.
"The Puntland regional government received eight pirates from the French navy, who intercepted them while they were attacking a commercial vessel," Puntland assistant minister for seaports Abdelkadir Musa Yusuf told reporters.
"They will be charged for their crimes according to criminal law. This is the second time the French navy has transferred captured pirates to Puntland," he said.
The Premier Maitre L'Her, a French frigate patrolling the waters as part of a European Union taskforce, intercepted the pirates on Thursday after twice responding to a distress call from the Panamanian-flagged S. Venus. more.. http://www.theage.com.au/world/french-navy-hands-over-eight-somali-pirates-to-puntland-20090103-799q.html

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Fighting starts in Gedo region

LUUQ TOWN JUBBALAND SOMALIA Heavy fighting between the Islamist Insurgents and Ethiopian troops has begun at a around Garsow checkpoint and the bridge of Luuq town in Gedo region last night, Shabelle correspondent Ahmed Omar reported ..The fighting has started after the Islamist insurgent fighters attacked two Ethiopian military bases those have checkpoint in the town using heavy weapons including mortar shells and machine guns and fighting has been going on for hours in the town as reported. Islamist insurgent official has claimed the responsibility of the attack and said that they were behind that attack which was targeted the Ethiopian troops’ military bases in Gedo region and he added they have inflicted more casualties to the Ethiopian troops in over there. No casualties have been reported until now as the reports from Gedo region say and the fighting between both Islamists and the Ethiopian troops in Luuq town has been stopped and the situation of the town is calm now.The Ethiopian troops have been in Gedo region since eight years and were working with the (JUBBALAND)of that region and but this was the first attack that Ethiopian troops those have bases in Luuq town targeted by Islamist insurgents in Gedo region who are greatly against the foreign troops’ presence and government policy.

Is Al Shabaab poised to take power in Somalia?

Be careful what you wish for — because you may just get it.”
This conventional wisdom has come up trumps in Somalia, where for years the country wished and prayed Siad Barre would go away. The dictator finally did make his exit in 1991, but so did the Somali state.Eighteen years later and after multiple attempts to reconstitute a functional government, it has yet to reappear.The last such initiative under the aegis of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) produced a constitution and a parliament elected in Nairobi. Abdullahi Yusuf, a long-time protégé of Ethiopia, became the surprise choice of president of the Transitional Federal Government.Like the Transitional National Government before it, the TFG failed to take root in Somalia’s clan-fractured environment.In the case of President Abdi Salad’s TNG, opposition by clan-based warlords was ostensibly the problem.
They were subsequently included in the Igad process — Abdullahi Yusuf, who had dislodged more..http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/opOrEd/comment/-/434750/507238/-/a3121h/-/index.html

Dozens die, more hurt in Somalia fighting
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/30/Dozens_die_more_hurt_in_Somalia_fighting/UPI-36511230642664/
The US Role in Somalia's Calamity
Somalia’s Fate Still Unclear After Leader Quits
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/world/africa/30somalia.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Good riddance to a bad year

If U.S. President-elect Barack Obama can walk on water, then change really is coming to the United States and the world. If there are no more big unexploded bombs buried in the world's financial systems, then this may be just an ordinary recession. But the most telling image of 2008 was Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush. What he did had enormous resonance elsewhere.
This is the end of an era, and everybody knows it. In the minds of most people we are not just saying farewell to 2008, but also saying good riddance to a long period when brutal and ignorant policies reigned supreme. We are saying goodbye to Bush, and al-Zaidi said it most eloquently more..http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20081231gd.html

Leadership void root problem in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The ongoing instability in Somalia is the result of a vacuum of leadership in the country, according to a top United Nations official.
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, U.N. secretary-general special representative to Somalia, said Wednesday the crisis in the country has less to do with the decades of violence and more to do with a lack of political leadership, the United Nations reported.
Somalia, which hasn't had a functioning government since 1991, has drawn increased international attention for the escalation of pirate attacks on ships passing through the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast. Ould-Abdallah's comments echo a growing chorus of criticism from groups like the Belgium-based International Crisis Group, which point out the root of the security problems are largely the result of the country's ongoing political crisis more..http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2008/12/31/Leadership_void_root_problem_in_Somalia/UPI-65331230762933/

Official: Ethiopia will leave Somalia this month

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Ethiopian troops who are propping up Somalia's government will leave the country within days despite the turmoil caused by the Somali president's resignation, an official said Tuesday. Wahide Belay, a spokesman for the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said he did not want to discuss a specific date for the departure, which many fear will create a power vacuum and allow Islamist insurgents to take over Somalia. "We are leaving at the end of December," Wahide said. "Give or take a couple of days." The plan to pull the troops from Somalia had been announced earlier. Belay's statement was confirmation that the withdrawal will proceed in spite of the fresh political uncertainty. Somalia's president, Abdullahi Yusuf, resigned Monday. During his four-year term, his Western-backed government failed to extend its power throughout the country, which is crippled by infighting and a strengthening Islamist insurgency. Yusuf's resignation could usher in more chaos as Islamic militants scramble for power. The government controls only pockets of Mogadishu, the capital, and Baidoa, the seat of Parliament. For two decades, Somalia has been beset by anarchy, violence and an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing for their lives. Some of the insurgents are alleged to have ties with al-Qaida. more..http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Dec30/0,4670,AFSomalia,00.html

(SAVAGE HAWIYE) habargidir Jihadist killing each other' ...power struggle


At least 40 people have died in clashes between Islamist groups vying to control key towns in central Somalia. Fifty others were wounded as a self-styled moderate Islamist group, Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, continued to battle militants from the hardline al-Shabab. In the capital, Mogadishu, 10 people died as insurgents fired mortars at the bases of government troops. Monday's violence came as Somalia's president quit, adding to the chaos as Ethiopian troops prepare to withdraw. Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, a relatively new Islamist group, has declared a holy war on al-Shabab, blaming it for the bloodshed in Somalia. It seized two towns in central Somalia over the weekend, triggering fierce clashes. Various Islamist and nationalist groups control most of southern Somalia. Government forces only control parts of the capital, Mogadishu, and the town of Baidoa. more..http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7804335.stm

Somalia at the crossroads

The Somali government and its Ethiopian allies – now backed by United States military force – have won the battle for Somalia. But the war cannot end without a political settlement

enigmatic conflict has taken yet another dramatic turn. As 2006 ended and 2007 dawned, after six months of political stand-off and military build-up going on side-by-side, the situation exploded into full armed confrontation.
The result was a lightning victory for the Ethiopian army and its Somali allies, namely the Baidoa-based transitional federal government (TFG) and the "freelance" warlords supporting it. Their adversaries, the militias of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), were defeated and scattered (and, from 7 January 2007, subjected to heavy bombardment by the United States air force). In the space of ten days, Somalia's political prospects have been reversed in the most unpredictable circumstances.
A conflict that grew from small, local beginnings has now exploded onto the front pages and television screens of the world's media, reflecting the sudden "global" reappropriation of the Somali conflict into the far larger narrative of the United States's "war on terror" (or "long war").
The latest developments on the ground, and comments by United States officials, confirm Somalia's new status as a third "theatre" in this war (after Iraq and Afghanistan). US planes launched a further wave of air strikes in southern Somalia on 10 January, following bombing raids targeting (according to these officials) al-Qaida leaders who allegedly have found refuge among elements of the ICU forces in the area. In a significant move, the European Union and the United Nations have criticised the US's tactics.
The US has named three men, whom they accuse of involvement in the August 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which claimed 250 lives: Fazul Abdullah Mohamed (from the Comoros Islands); Abu Talha al-Sudani (a Sudanese) and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan (a Kenyan). There has been no confirmed sighting of the three men in Somalia, though reports suggest that Fazul Abdullah Mohamed was killed in the latest raid; in any case, the anarchy in the country and the lack of strong central government have exposed its borders (air, sea and land) to all kinds of abuse for a long time.
The area the US planes are bombing is a large jungle stretching for about 200 kilometres along the Somalia-Kenya border where the ICU militias are putting up stiff resistance. The US's main military objective is to crush the remnants of the ICU to a point of no return. The ICU here may still have more than 2,000 men in arms and ready to fight. The Somali media report that Ethiopian troops on the ground took heavy casualties on 7-8 January and hence asked for the US bombardment. Ethiopian MIG jets themselves had been bombing this area for about ten days but are unlikely to have the capacity for the pinpoint strikes that the US's superior technology can guarantee. In all this military escalation, it is too easy to forget that innocent civilians - including those already displaced by and fleeing from the war - are being killed, perhaps in considerable numbers. Some farmers of the region are also losing the animals that are the foundation of their livelihood. This situation has the ingredients of a humanitarian disaster that compounds Somalia's already endemic human insecurity.
Harun Hassan worked for Associated Press and the BBC in Somalia. He currently works as a freelancer
Also by Harun Hassan in openDemocracy:
"Not housewives any more: Somali women of the diaspora"(November 2002)
"Black Hawk Down: the Baghdad sequel?"(April 2003)
"In Mogadishu objectivity is a luxury most journalists cannot afford"(April 2003)
"The ‘Axis of Anarchy'"(June 2003)
"Iraq: the lesson from Somalia"(October 2003)
"Somalia: exit into history?"(February 2004)
"America's two faces in Somalia"(August 2004)
"Yahya: death of a peace campaigner"(July 2005)
"Somalia twists in the wind"(April 2006)
"Somalia's new Islamic leadership"(June 2006)
"Somalia's thorny road"(August 2006)
"Somalia's stony path"(5 October 2006)
"Somalia slides into war" (3 November 2006)
"Somalia: diplomacy's last chance" (6 December 2006)
Dispersal and retreat
The war for Somalia, then, has entered a decisive new phase. Even less than a month ago, the current situation would have seemed an astonishing outcome. On 12 December 2006, the commander of the then-confident Islamic Courts Union militias in Somalia gave the Ethiopian troops supporting the Somali government a week's ultimatum to leave the country or face being ousted by force. But even as he made the announcement, Ethiopia had (amid scornful denials of any such activity in Addis Ababa) deployed several mechanised brigades inside Somalia and prepared them for war.
On 20 December, a day after the ICU deadline passed, gunfire crackled at the frontline between the two sides near the Somali government's temporary base at Baidoa. A new phase of the war had begun. Eight days later, the Ethiopian army had (with their Somali allies) captured the Somali capital Mogadishu and other major urban centres previously controlled by the ICU. The militants of a crumbling ICU, losing one town after the other, were forced to flee further south into the jungle-ridden region bordering Kenya.
There were two crucial factors in the unexpected good fortune of the Somali government, which had been at the receiving end of a fierce onslaught just before the final conflict. The first was the ICU's underestimation of the power of the Ethiopian army. Between 8,000 and 10,000 Ethiopian troops were reportedly involved in the fighting, armed with US-made helicopter gunships and tanks, jet fighters and heavy artillery. This force, aided by 3,000 government militias, was almost twice as large as the ICU militias, armed only with AK-47s, machineguns and bazookas.
The second factor was that the ICU's tactical plan - to capture Baidoa and turn the battle into urban and street warfare (which most of its fighters are familiar with) - went disastrously wrong, as they were forced to take on a conventional army in an open frontline. Even so, for seven days neither side had made any significant territorial gains until the ICU's defences in the central regions of Somalia collapsed.
At that point, the Ethiopian and Somali government forces took the initiative and forced the ICU militias to retreat from Baidoa. Soon, one town after another fell and the ICU was never given a chance to regroup. On 27 December the Ethiopians and their Somali allies marched into the capital unopposed. ICU fighters had been expected to fight in Mogadishu and the southerly town of Kismayo; instead they opted to retreat, and perhaps for a guerrilla war from the bush.
On 28 December 2006, Somalia entered a new era.
Victors and vanquished
Three winners and three losers emerge from the latest battle for Somalia.
The first winner is Somalia's transitional federal government itself. This body is now expected to relocate to Mogadishu (for the first time since its formation in Kenya in 2004) to fill the political vacuum, backed by a contingent of African Union troops to be deployed in the country soon.
The second victor is the Ethiopian government, which executed a decisive political and military strategy by crushing the potential for the emergence of a powerful, hostile neighbour. At the least, Ethiopia has averted (perhaps for several years) the arrival of a Somali government led by individuals combining strong religious beliefs with nationalistic tendencies.
The third winner is the United States, which has for the time being won its proxy war against Somalia's Islamic leaders whom it accuses of having links with al-Qaeda and harbouring wanted terrorists (claims yet to be substantiated).
The first of the three losers in this conflict is the Islamic Courts Union. The ICU has paid the price of its political immaturity and rash decisions. The very strength of its militias compared to the forces of the TFG, and the huge territory it came to control in the course of 2006, proved a double-edged sword in terms of its capacity for flexibility and compromise (see "Somalia's new Islamic leadership", 13 June 2006).
The second vanquished element is Eritrea, which has lost a key ally in its proxy tussle with Ethiopia for regional influence. It has, however, been learned that Eritrea had no military personnel in Somalia (against UN claims that as many as 2,000 Eritrean troops were present).
The third loser is international diplomacy, which has lost ground to violence and the preference for military action. Somalia's latest armed confrontation could have been avoided if there had been honest and firm diplomacy at crucial moments. This failure casts shame on the international community as well as the immediate combatants.
The involvement of an Islamist group helped give Somalia's latest conflict an international dimension. Yet for months, the United Nations, United States, European Union, African Union and the Arab League chose to look on as the trouble escalated towards armed confrontation. These agencies may have had conflicting interests, and doubts about Ethiopia's deployment of its army across the border "in defence of the national interest" - but they chose silence or consent. Their attitude is a green light to similar "pre-emptive invasions".
Ethiopia and Somalia
This conflict has been depicted as a regional, proxy or even (in ideological terms) a global conflict. The deeper if less headline-friendly truth is that it is yet another round of the long history of conflict between the two societies of Ethiopia and Somalia.
Ethiopia's main daily papers have used the term "mission accomplished" after their forces entered the Somali capital. Likewise, many Somali media outlets have described 28 December 2006 as a dark day in Somalia's history. This gives us an indication why these two countries may be the biggest losers in this conflict.
There is a long history of tension between these lands. Ethiopia's ancient kingdoms - from the 2nd-century CE kingdom of Aksum - invaded and ruled many parts of Somalia. The Somalis (or "black Berbers" as they were then known) were pushed towards coastal areas where they enjoyed close, trade-based relations with the ancient Egyptians. Somali dynasties and sultanates thus experienced torrid contacts with their Ethiopian equivalents; but tension worsened even further when Islam reached Somalia in the 9th century.
In the early 16th century, one of the most catastrophic wars took place. A Somali warrior with a desire to expand the rule of Islam, Imam Ahmed Gurey (or Ahmed Gran), was aided by the Ottoman empire to invade Ethiopia and defeat the army of its emperor Lebna Dengel. Along the way he captured vast lands and slaughtered many people who refused to convert to Islam. But the Ethiopians regrouped and (with the help of Portugal) counter-attacked, defeated and killed Gurey.
Four centuries later - in the wake of the imperial "scramble for Africa" at the beginning of the 20th century - another Somali warrior, Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, took up arms against the British who then occupied parts of Somalia. To stay on good terms with the European colonialists, the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II joined the campaign against the Somali leader in support of Britain by invading Somalia's Ogaden region.
In an early stage in its own era of imperial retreat, Britain in 1948 granted the Ogaden to Ethiopia and asked the UN to consider other parts of Somalia for independence. Somalia launched military operations in 1964 and 1977 to regain this region, but failed.
It is this history which overshadows the current predicament and Ethiopia's presence in Somalia. It is a past that haunts many people from the two countries.
In practice, this may not be a war between two governments, because the internationally recognised Somali government is at present in a mutually supportive relationship with the Ethiopians. But theoretically and ideologically, it is also war between the two societies.
In this light, the political soundbites and the international dimension of the current situation are less important than this latest black spot in the relationship between the two neighbouring societies. The reason for this is that history will not recall Ethiopia's triumphant operation in Somalia as the work of two allied governments, but rather as one of the greatest military success against the rise of political Islam in Africa - if not the whole world.
War and politics
Somalia's president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, says that this moment is a new beginning for Somalia and a chance for the international community to help. The US, EU and the AU have responded. It is now official that AU troops will be sent in - perhaps as early as the end of January - although their mission's mandate has not been specified.
Ethiopia's leader Meles Zenawi says it intends to keep its troops in Somalia for only a few weeks, and to leave once the AU troops arrive - a position supported by the US and British government. But the victorious Somali prime minister, as he returned to the capital, says the Ethiopians will stay as long as the Somali government needs them to stay. This very sensitive option is a real possibility. Could it also turn victory into defeat?
There are two reasons to think so. The first is that the Ethiopian intervention is a diplomatic nightmare for the international community. When the east African regional states initially proposed - after long and painful two-year negotiations - sending troops to Somalia in support of the Somali government, they were careful to exclude countries bordering Somalia (Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti) - as all three had conflicting interests over Somalia as well as large ethnic Somali populations.
This view was echoed after the formation of the Somali government in 2004, when the transitional parliament approved the deployment of African troops but specifically excluded the same neighbouring countries. In December 2006 too, when the United Nations adopted a resolution allowing the deployment of 8,000 African forces in Somalia, these same three nations were again excluded. All this makes a strong case that the Ethiopian entry into Somalia violated international norms and legality.
Second, the three engaged governments - Somali, Ethiopian and American - will find it hard to change the perception of Somalis towards the Ethiopian forces, considering the circumstances of their entry, specifically if the situation on the ground becomes unfavourable to the latter (if, for instance, the TFG fails to deliver and insecurity continues to reign, and/or the ICU re-emerges from the bush).
There have already been anti-Ethiopian demonstrations in Mogadishu in protest at attempts to collect arms. The Somali government has now delayed the arms-collection policy indefinitely. Meanwhile, tension is rising in the central town of Beletweyne after the Ethiopians detained a high-ranking commander of the Somali government forces after he pardoned and refused to hand over the local chairman of the Islamic Courts to the Ethiopians.
The problem for the government with regard to the defeated ICU is that the latter carries no political stigma other than the allegation by the US and Ethiopia of links with terrorists. Thus, if it survives the current onslaught, it will not be surprising if some ICU officials reappear in major towns in a few months.
Present and future
This makes a diplomatic option continually relevant. The prospective deployment of African Union troops will also need new and creative political initiatives in order to reach a solution. The Somali government will have to act in a reconciliatory manner and avoid vengeance and scapegoating; militias and clans will have to be disarmed across the country on equal terms and in return be given guarantees of justice and security; the government will have to avoid disunity while trying to perform miracles of delivery.
The Somali government and its Ethiopian allies have occupied places where the ICU has ruled for several months with a substantial record of achievement: it implemented law and order, opened all the ports (along the longest coastline in Africa), rebuilt major government institutions (the presidential palace, Mogadishu's international airport, the high court, the prison, and the foreign- and information-ministry blocks) - and disarmed all the warlords. It is a tall order for the government, but even half of what ICU has managed in the same period would be seen by many Somalis as a significant step.
The military success of the Somali government and the Ethiopians, and the post-war deployment of troops, will count for nothing if no solution is found to the politics of one of Africa's most complicated conflicts. Any failure here will haunt African Union's military commanders who will have to deal with the political fallout, and the Somali people will continue to suffer.
Somalia, Ethiopia (and the US) have already made one major political error, by installing four warlords (none even members of the Somali government) to govern areas they ruled before the ICU ejected them.
This raises in sharp form the question of whether the ICU could make a comeback. Somalia's political process has been stagnant for most of the past sixteen years - dominated by the same warlords and clan leaders. The dramatic turn of early summer 2006 brought the ICU to a commanding position, which they went on to lose after six months. The present stage will see two major deployments of foreign troops within a short period. The chances of yet more surprises are real. Will one of them be the return of the ICU through guerrilla war, or in the form of another resistance group.
Two scenarios could contribute to the return of the Islamic Courts Union. The first is that the transitional federal government continues to rely on foreign support - from Ethiopia or other African troops, or both - but does not earn the trust of ordinary Somalis. The second is that the TFG does not find a political mechanism either to accommodate or to expunge the freelance warlords, thus making the restoration of security very difficult. The longer these warlords stay outside the government the more opposition groups are likely to increase.
The battle has been won, at least for the moment. Yet there is no sign that the war will end soon. Somalia remains at the crossroads

Leader's exit puts Somalia in limbo

Resignation offers faint hope of more inclusive rule in fractured African nation, or power grab by militants.
Stephanie McCrummen / Washington Post
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned Monday, conceding that Islamist insurgents had overtaken much of the country and that he had been unable to unite the perpetually fragmented Horn of Africa nation. "Most of the country is not in our hands," Yusuf said in a speech before parliament in the town of Baidoa, describing the nation as "paralyzed." The 74-year-old leader was accused by his opponents of ruling like a warlord, encouraging clan divisions and blocking a U.N.-backed political settlement that many now see as a long-shot hope for salvaging Somalia's first central government since 1991. more..http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081230/NATION/812300324
New year heralds new Somali fears
Many soldiers loyal to Somalia's recently resigned President Abdullahi Yusuf have been fleeing the capital.
"I sold my gun and left Mogadishu on Sunday after I realised President Yusuf was going to resign," said 28-year-old Farah Abdi.
He is heading back to Mr Yusuf's semi-autonomous region of Puntland in the north because as a government soldier, he said, he would be a target "if the insurgents take the town". more..http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7803564.stm

Al-Qaida-Linked U.S. Citizen Addresses Shabaab al-Mujahideen; Shabaab Responds

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a statement issued by Anwar al-Awlaki, an Al-Qaida-linked U.S. citizen, addressed to the Shabaab al-Mujahideen, as well as a communiqué Shabaab issued in response. On December 21st, al-Awlaki released a message titled "Salutations to al-Shabab of Somalia”, in which he stated, "We are following your recent news and it fills our hearts with immense joy. We would like to congratulate you for your victories and achievements. Al-Shabab not only have succeeded in expanding the areas that fall under their rule but they have succeeded in implementing the sharia and giving us a living example of how we as Muslims should proceed to change our situation. The ballot has failed us but the bullet has not.” However, he also urged Shabaab to "be kind and soft with the masses; to excuse them for centuries of ignorance and false beliefs; to teach first and hold responsible last. I would advise you to go by certainty and to leave doubts; to prefer forgiveness over revenge."
Al-Awlaki served as an imam in Colorado, California, and Washington D.C. and worked as the Muslim Chaplain at George Washington University. He was the “spiritual advisor” to 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Midhar, and the Congressional Joint Inquiry on 9/11 reported that “the FBI agent responsible for the September 11 investigation informed staff that ‘there’s a lot of smoke there’ with regard to…[al-Awlaki’s] connection to the hijackers.” Returning to Yemen, he was arrested in 2006 and held for over a year. He reports being interrogated by FBI agents about a number of subjects, including 9/11. A February 2008 Washington Post article notes that U.S. officials now "believe that al-Awlaki worked with Al-Qaida networks in the Persian Gulf after leaving Northern Virginia” and has been involved in planning attacks on the U.S. and its allies.
Responding to al-Awlaki on December 27, Shabaab blamed the media for purportedly misreporting events in Somalia: "[The media] are continuously throwing accusations at those who want to live by the law of the Creator. For example, we can take the issue of the stoning of the woman in Kismayo. The disbelievers have falsely reported that she was 13 years old, unmarried, and was raped. The reality and truth is that she was over 20 years old, married, and was practicing adultery. This is just one example of how they twist the news, so we would like to take this opportunity to advise our brothers not to believe any news reported about us except from our official Media Department.”
Copies of the two statements can be downloaded from the NEFA Foundation website

Somalia facing further power struggles

With few friends at home and abroad, Abdullahi Yusuf had little choice but to quit as Somalia's president.
His decision to go could not have come at a more critical point for Somalia.
In his nationally broadcast resignation speech, Mr Yusuf reminded Somalis of the promise he had made when he was elected more than four years ago.
"When I took power, I pledged three things," he said.
"If I was unable to fulfil my duty, I will resign. more..http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7803413.stm

US hails resignation of Somali leader

The United States hailed the resignation of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed on Monday, but called for a swift election of his successor and formation of a national unity government.
The 74-year-old stepped down following a bitter power struggle, two weeks after his attempt to sack and replace Prime Minister Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein in defiance of lawmakers failed.
The move also came just days from a planned Ethiopian troop pullout.
Ethiopia sent in troops in late 2006 in a bid to rescue the internationally-backed transitional government and prevent the emergence of an Islamic republic on its doorstep, but has said it will withdraw its forces by January 5 at the very latest. more..http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_hails_resignation_of_Somali_lead_12292008.html

Monday, December 29, 2008

President Abdullahi Yusuf, today's Receives Huge Welcome in Puntland Capital

Soo dhaweyntii Madaxweynihii Hore ee Soomaaliya Warbixin Faah faahsan (Sawiro + Waraysiyo)Pictures and speech.. hero's welcome .. Welcome Home event

A Hero's Welcome .The Founding Father of Puntland State Of Somalia This show is a Image <> Next >Show of heart warming events and the peace loving buntland region residence.. . There were several thousand line up .. people Welcome back, President

Hundreds flee hawiye jehadist town

Thousands of people have fled the hawiye clan town of Guriel, after days of intense violence said to be the worst, eyewitnesses reported.Many used a lull in the fighting to flee the city on Monday, after days of fighting between

hawiye jehadist Alshabab and Ahlu sunna waljamea group..

However, hundreds of extra Ethiopian troops have also arrived in Guriel today "It is really a horrible place to be, you can hear the sounds of heavy gunshots and wounded people are in a state of helplessness," Resident Muhudin Ghelle said."Thousands are fleeing carrying their belongings. Some have no money so they are in the streets crying for urgent help from other Somalis."But reports said that hundreds of Ethiopian reinforcements drove Al-Shabab Terrorist fought with a moderate local Islamist group Sunday in the central Somali hawiye town of Dusamareeb, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) north of Mogadishu, leaving 10 dead, said witness Mohamud Jama Aden. The local militia accuses al-Shabab of harassing its members and destroying temples and tombs of respected clerics. A separate clash between hawiye jehadist rival militias left five dead Sunday in the central town of Galinsoor, said clan elder Guhad Yusuf Aw-nure. Meanwhile, Ethiopian troops in southern Mogadishu shot dead four civilians following a bomb blast near one of their bases, according to resident Abdi Haji Isaq.Any political solution would also depend on the powerful Hawiyre clan warlords and the businessmen who have profited from the chaos in Somalia, Somalia has not had a functioning government since hawiye warlords overthrew 1991, The Horn of Africa nation has been plagued by chaos and clan-based civil war since when hawiye Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATESM ,(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 into the town.


10 killed in renewed Sufi, Al Shabaab clashes in hawiye town Somalia
DHUSAMAREB, Somalia Dec 30 - Heavy fighting erupted again in central Somalia after Al Shabaab guerrillas attacked a town they withdrew from two days earlier, Radio Garowe reports. Al Shabaab fighters reportedly received reinforcements before attacking Guri El, a small town in the central Galgadud region along the key north-south highway that connects Somalia. The fighting ensued for four hours, leading to more than 10 deaths and wounded nearly a dozen people, according to hospital sources. Militias loyal to Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamee'a, a Sufi group, took control of Guri El after overwhelming Al Shabaab guerrillas in the town on Saturday. Ethiopian soldiers arrived in Guri El later Monday, with the latest reports indicating that Somali fighters both groups withdrew from the town. Yesterday, the fighting spread further south to Dhusamareb, the capital of Galgadud, where the latest reports indicate that Al Shabaab maintains control


Kerry urges caution on 'hot pursuit' of Somali pirates

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a young Navy swift boat commander in Vietnam, Sen. John Kerry was no stranger to the perils of hot pursuit in combat.
He was awarded a Silver Star for beaching his boat after a rocket attack and racing ashore to chase down and kill a Viet Cong fighter armed with a rocket launcher.
Nearly 40 years later, as incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry favors using hot pursuit against pirates in the waters off Somalia, but urges a cautious approach before U.S officials consider sending American forces to chase them ashore. Kerry plans committee hearings next year looking at the problems posed by piracy.
The Massachusetts Democrat, who was on President-elect Barack Obama's short list to be secretary of state, said a hot pursuit policy on Somalia's coastline is "long overdue." But he warns against any "haphazard, sloppy" military missions.
"You gotta know what you're getting into and where you're going and under what circumstances," Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said in a telephone interview Friday with The Associated Press. "I mean, if you send five police officers raging into the center of Mogadishu, you are asking for trouble. You gotta be smart." more..http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-12-29-somali-pirates_N.htm?csp=34

Islamist militants in Somalia begin to fight one another

NAIROBI, Kenya: Somalia's Islamist militants, long a bane of the country's weakening government, are now officially fighting one another.
On Sunday, a powerful, newly militarized Islamist group declared a "holy war" against other Islamist factions, and it seems to have the muscle to back up its intentions. Over the weekend, the group, the Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama, killed more than 10 fighters from the Shabab, a rival Islamist faction known as one of Somalia's toughest.
The group issued a statement calling on its followers to "prepare themselves for jihad against these heretic groups," referring to some of the other, more hard-line Islamist factions, and "to restore stability and harmony in Somalia and achieve a genuine government of national unity."
Many Somalia analysts had been predicting that this would happen: that as Somalia's transitional government headed toward collapse — it now controls just a few city blocks in a country almost as big as Texas — the Islamist insurgents of varying agendas would begin to slug it out themselves. This weekend's violence is a strong sign that the infighting is under way. more..http://iht.com/articles/2008/12/29/africa/29somalia.php

Somali President Yusuf resigns, appoints speaker

BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned on Monday, ending a deadlock at the top of the interim government and paving the way for a new administration in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation.Yusuf told parliament that speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe would take over and blamed the international community for failing to support the government. Yusuf flew home to Puntland, Somalia's semi-autonomous northern region.A surge in sea piracy in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has seen some 110 ships reported to have been attacked and 42 hijacked this year. Fourteen of the hijacked vessels are still being held hostage by the pirates, along with 240 crew, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
"As I promised when you elected me on October 14, 2004, I would stand down if I failed to fulfill my duty, I have decided to return the responsibility you gave me," Yusuf said.
The president of Somalia's fractured, Western-backed government had become increasingly unpopular at home and abroad and was blamed by Washington, Europe and African neighbors for stalling a U.N.-hosted peace process. more.http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE4BS0TG20081229
Somalia's president resigns in frustration after 4 years
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/12/29/somalia-president.html

Somalia's President to Quit After 4 Years in Power

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia's president has told lawmakers he is resigning as the head of his country's U.N.-backed government.
Abdullahi Yusuf made the announcement in a speech Monday before parliament in Baidoa — one of the only towns controlled by the weak government.
He said he would hand in his resignation letter later Monday after four years at the helm of the administration. The government has failed to bring security to the war-ravaged nation http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473484,00.html
Somali President Yusuf Resigns http://voanews.com/english/2008-12-29-voa6.cfm
Somali President Ahmed resigns
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j0qmdS6YfsXfzjlaD4F5oJj96yzA
Somalia's president quits office
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7802622.stm
Somalia's president resigns, ending 4 years in power of war-ravaged office
http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D95CAB0O8

Somalia's interim President Yusuf resigns

BAIDOA, Somalia Dec 29 - The i nterim President of Somalia, Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, has told the country's federal parliament that he is stepping down as head of state after four years in power.President Yusuf told lawmakers on Monday that his resignation was "a personal decision," but cited consultations with loyal lawmakers in Baidoa, the seat of parliament.Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf"As I promised before, when you [parliament] elected me, I cannot do the job any longer and so I have returned the duty [back] to you," said Mr. Yusuf, who offered a brief address declaring his resignation.He handed his resignation papers over to Adan "Madobe" Mohamed, the Speaker of parliament, who becomes the acting President under the transitional constitution.Mr. Yusuf told the MPs that he is "ready to work with" whoever becomes the country's next president.Security in Baidoa was extra tight, as Somali and Ethiopian troops roamed the roads, especially around ADC Hall where the parliament meets.
Yusuf's resignation was expected, after being labeled an obstacle to peace and pressured by the U.S. and regional powers to resign.The former Somali leader flew out of Baidoa on a private plane, but there was no information on the plane's destination.
Somali President Yusuf resigns
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned on Monday and blamed the international community for failing to support the interim government in the Horn of Africa nation.
Yusuf told parliament that speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe would take over his duties and left for the airport. It was not clear where he was going. "As I promised when you elected me on October 14, 2004, I would stand down if I failed to fulfil my duty, I have decided to return the responsibility you gave me," Yusuf said. "Most of the country was not in our hands and we had nothing to give our soldiers. The international community has also failed to help us," Yusuf told legislators in Baidoa, Somalia's seat of parliament. more..http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/12/29/africa/OUKWD-UK-SOMALIA-PRESIDENT.php

Somali President Yusuf resigns
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a790e984-d590-11dd-a9cc-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
FACTBOX-Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf resigns
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LT467026.htm

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Somalia's President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigns

Somalia's President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has told parliament he is resigning, reports say.
The news comes a few days after the resignation of the man he had recently appointed as prime minister.
Ex-Prime Minister Mohamed Mahamud Guled quit last week saying his appointment was destabilising the government.
Mohamed Mahamud Guled said he had chosen to resign "so that I am not seen as a stumbling block to the peace process which is going well now"the parliament after replacing the prime minister.
"I have handed over my letter of resignation to the speaker of parliament who will be the president in line with the transitional federal charter. I don't want to violate and never violated the charter," he added

United States Providing $5 Million to Somalia Security Force

spokesman said.
The announcement, issued in a December 29 press statement by acting deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid, came on the same day Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf announced his resignation.The United States supports and respects Yusuf's decision to resign after four years as president of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG,) Duguid said. He said the United States acknowledges "President Yusuf's contributions to long-term peace and stability in Somalia."Duguid said the United States welcomes Yusuf's commitment to continue supporting the Djibouti peace process. Members of the TFG and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), an opposition party, met in Djibouti in June 2008 and agreed to take concrete steps toward reducing hostilities, including establishing a joint security force more..http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/December/20081231105841hmnietsua0.14526.html?CP.rss=true

Pressured To Join Radicals, Many Young Men Flee

DADAAB, Kenya - By the time Mohamed Abdi Ibrahim decided to leave Somalia, life in the southern city of Kismaayo had become, as he put it with consummate understatement, "complicated."
Young men there long had shouldered AK-47 assault rifles and joined clan militias. But as an Islamist militia known as al-Shabab took control this year, it had become a place where boys were paid $50 to throw bombs, soccer fields served as militia training camps and Islamist leaders walked into classrooms to take names of potential recruits.
Ibrahim and two friends fled several months ago, just after the Shabab began beating people not attending Friday prayers and just before the group stoned to death a 13-year-girl it had convicted of adultery.
The options for young men like them, it seemed, had narrowed to two: sign up or run.
"For us, it was not good to join," said Ibrahim, a lanky 22-year-old who fled to this overflowing refugee camp across the Kenyan border. "Because if we join one side, the other side will hunt us and kill us."
The scenario now unfolding in Somalia is the very one a U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion nearly two years ago had been intended to thwart: a takeover by radical Islamists.
At the time, Ethiopian forces ousted a relatively diverse Islamic movement that had briefly gained control of the capital, Mogadishu. In its place, they installed a transitional government headed by a warlord who allowed the United States to launch counterterrorism operations in the moderate Muslim nation. more..http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/29/na-pressured-to-join-radicals-many-young-men-flee/news-nationworld/

Somalis in U.S. draw FBI attention

The FBI is expanding contacts with Somali immigrant communities in the U.S., especially in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, fearing that terrorists are recruiting young men for suicide missions in their homeland. FBI Special Agent E.K. Wilson, spokesman for the Twin Cities FBI field office, described the effort as community outreach. Many members of the Somali community are concerned over disappearances, he said. Officials would not provide the exact number of missing, but about 20 men in their late teens and early 20s have disappeared in recent months and are thought to have joined Islamist rebels who are on the verge of overthrowing the U.S.- and U.N.-backed government in Somalia. Most were from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, the site of the largest concentration of ethnic Somalis in the U.S., but other Somali communities have had young men go missing as well. The FBI assisted in returning the remains of one Somali man, Shirwa Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen killed Oct. 29 in a suicide bombing in northern Somalia.
The FBI would not say whether Mr. Ahmed was a bomber or victim in the attack, in which five terrorists killed themselves and 29 others. In another incident, U.S. officials confirmed that a missile strike in Somalia had killed a Seattle man suspected of being an Islamist radical working with an al Qaeda-affiliated group. Ruben Shumpert, a Muslim convert who changed his name to Amir Abdul Muhaimin, had been wanted on federal gun charges. He was killed in Somalia sometime before Oct. 1, said U.S. officials who described the strike as part of anti-terrorist military operations carried out in recent months.
"The FBI is aware of the issue," said Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman in Washington. "We know many in the Somali community are concerned about it."
Mr. Kolko declined further comment. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/29/somalis-in-us-draw-fbi-attention/

President Yusuf's personal security force and Puntland Army force supporting the TFG leaving Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia Dec 28 More than 120 people including soldiers and their families flew out of Mogadishu Sunday, 3000 Puntland Army force supporting the TFG are about to leave from Mogadish , they are preparations begin for the expected resignation of interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf,African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers stood guard at Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport, watching as the plane loaded its passengers.passengers.Most of the passengers are members of President Yusuf's personal security force, who protected his residence at the Villa Somalia presidential compound.The plane reportedly landed in Galkayo, in the very peaceful region of Puntland, the Somali president's stronghold... NGO AND The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development has failed in somali peace- Some of the IGAD projects the regional body working include training on counter-terrorism, peace building. long-term agenda have been blackmail .. hawiye EX Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein.. Terror Sympathizer never have any power.responsible for successful dismantling TFG..The TFG has lost ground to Islamist insurgents since came to power .. YUSUF accused the IGAD regional body of sabotaging the TFG and trying to dismantle it before their term ended. IGAD does not want the TFG to function.. he said Negotiating with terrorists is not an option.. he call meeting in Djibouti political conspiracy against TFG and Hawiye clan deal.fraud. The prime minister and the leaders of the opposition groups who have negotiated a peace deal for Hawiye clan only.. he call self-interest groups belonging to one single clan, ..(HAWIYE)The Somali people had very high hopes in TFG and its o HAWIYE Own political power and tribal interest above that of the whole nation.Hawiye usc and SNM isaaq somaland have destroy our country

Key Somali official says president to quit Monday

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia's president will resign Monday to try to end government infighting before the country's Ethiopian allies leave, a senior ally said Sunday in the latest in a series of conflicting statements on the leader's future.
President Abdullahi Yusuf will address a special session of the country's parliament to announce his retirement from politics, said Abdirashid Sed, a confidant of Yusuf and the most senior figure to comment so far on the president's plans."He decided to step down because he does not want to be seen as an obstacle to peace in Somalia," Sed told The Press. "He wants to give a chance to the younger generation The announcement came as 19 people died in clashes in the Horn of Africa nation that has been ravaged by 18 years of civil war.
The president's position has been in doubt since parliament last week blocked his attempt to fire Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. The political infighting has crippled the Somali government, which came to power two years ago after Ethiopian troops attacked an mosty hawiye jehadist that had ruled much of south and the capital for six months. Terrorist insurgents now hold most of southern and central Somalia hawiye hartland . TFG administration only controls a few pockets of territory in the capital and one other town. The Ethiopian allies are due to pull out within days and the government will be forced to rely on their own unpaid and ill-disciplined fighters to tackle the insurgency. Terror Sympathizer Hussein a hawiye , a former humanitarian worker with broad international support, has welcomed talks with factions fighting in the civil war. He backed a peace deal signed with Islamic moderates that was criticized by Yusuf, a . Some analysts hope Yusuf's expected resignation and the departure of the Ethiopians may persuade the strongest and most hardline Islamic militia, al-Shabab, to enter peace talks. But some analysts say al-Shabab's Terrorist territorial gains have put it in a strong position and would have little incentive to talk with the pm hussein government.
Al-Shabab Terrorist fought with a moderate local Islamist group Sunday in the central Somali hawiye town of Dusamareeb, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) north of Mogadishu, leaving 10 dead, said witness Mohamud Jama Aden. The local militia accuses al-Shabab of harassing its members and destroying temples and tombs of respected clerics. A separate clash between hawiye jehadist rival militias left five dead Sunday in the central town of Galinsoor, said clan elder Guhad Yusuf Aw-nure. Meanwhile, Ethiopian troops in southern Mogadishu shot dead four civilians following a bomb blast near one of their bases, according to resident Abdi Haji Isaq.Any political solution would also depend on the powerful Hawiyre clan warlords and the businessmen who have profited from the chaos in Somalia, Somalia has not had a functioning government since hawiye warlords overthrew 1991, The Horn of Africa nation has been plagued by chaos and clan-based civil war since when hawiye Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATESM ,(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

Rival jehadist Militias seize town from jehadist al-shabaab Terrorist

GELINSOR .Local Somali militias jehadist have taken control of Gelinsor town 600 kilometers (360 miles) north of Mogadishu from jehadist known as Jabhal Islamia after heavy fighting that killed 8 people,witnesses said on Sunday.Spokesman for Jabhal Islamiya said a group that Ethiopia organized attacked them, he added the group used to rob and loot civilians in the town.
"Five battle wagons were captured from the Jabhal Islamiya insurgent group and were driven from the town," a resident, who did not want his name in print said.The Militias took control of the town after heavy fighting between the two sides.The clashes come as fighting is underway in Dhusamareb the provincial capital of Galgadug region in central Somalia between Al-shabab and allied local militias and Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a organization. Jabhal Islamia and Al-shabab jehadist are both insurgent groups that are fighting the Ethiopian troops in Somalia. There is power struggle among senior army commandants, .... divided between the three principal Hawiye Habar \Gidir clans cayr \ saleeb one side.e .and sacad from gal-mudug 'Other Side ..all of them of the SAVAGE hawiye clan\Habargidir... the Abgal subclan of the Hawiye clan. ..is Mogadishu- based faction of the Hawiye ..Government of Somalia [TFG], Nur Hasan .and.Djibouti-based Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia [ARS], Sheikh Sharif ..and Mogadishu shabaab

YouTube - Mogadishu 1960
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSfJp-4AQWY&feature=related 1986
somalia hunters 1960
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ElL8PF_rIQ&feature=related
Somalia Somali history 1960-91
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiArXXJl2UQ&feature=related
that was the beauty of somalia when darood was the goverment, then came Hawiye animals..Look how darood bulid it, and hawiye animals destory
Somalia A pradise destroyed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSyWZzm9Jo&feature=related
mogadishu when it was clean of habargidir cancer
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/xamar-when-it-was-clean-of-habargidir-cancer/3264643773

Rival Islamist Militias Clash in Bloody Struggle for Somalia


Somalia al-Shabaab insurgents arrive in capital Mogadishu, Decemcer 27, 2008. Twelve people were killed on Saturday when an Islamist group seized control of a central Somali trading town in a battle with hardline al Shabaab militants, residents said. REUTERS

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473244,00.html

Somalia Facing More instability as President Resigns

http://www.worldthreats.com/?p=457

Somalia at War – Between Radical Islam and Tribal Politics


The S. Daniel Abraham Center
for International and Regional Studies,
Tel Aviv University

Moshe Terdman
Research Paper No. 2
March 2008

New rebel group formed to fight Al-Shabaab

An uprising against the armed religious al-Shabab group has begun in Dhoblei district in lower Jubba Region [southern Somalia]. The district is controlled by al-Shabaab. A group called the Jubba Resistance Front has been formed in the district Jubba Resistance Front spokesman Muhammad Adan told the press that the new group was set up by local people who could no longer endure the problems al-Shabaab were causing in the locality. "The group struggles for the restoration of rights of people living in Jubba regions as well as fights against those stirring strife among them," the spokesman said. He claimed that some local people were taken out of their homes and killed. He also stated that the group planned to establish in Jubba regions an autonomous administration called Jubbaland. He, however, said the group supports peace in Jubba regions and Somalia as a whole. This is the first time that war has been openly declared on al-Shabab, which is spearheading groups involved in armed resistance and has seized localities that had administrations. jubbaland consists Gedo, Lower Juba, Middle Juba region.
Analysis
Where is all of this leading?
For the foreseeable future, clan and intra-clan loyalties will continue to be the primary political forces in Somalia. The sub-“states” of Somaliland, Puntland, and Jubaland are all based on clan organizations. The most stable of these,
Somaliland, has the advantage of being controlled by a relatively homogenous clan, the Issaq, which dominates all of the other clans in the area Darood clans occupy the eastern border regions of Somaliland
jubbaland is for Two other Darood sub-clans, the Mareehan and Ogaden and the advantage of being controlled by a relatively homogenous clan mareehan.
Puntland is for Darood: (Sub-clans: Majeerteen, Mareehan, Dulbahante, Warsangali,) is controlled by majeerteen clan Those hawiye (usc\usc.sna\icu\shabaab\Islamist group of Ahlusunna .Government of Somalia [TFG], Nur Hasan ..Djibouti-based] Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia [ARS], Sheikh Sharif ..r Al Itihaad commander, Sheikh Hassan Dahir ‘Aways’Asmara-based wing of the Alliance for the R-libration .. (USC)Somali faction leader Already Dead Mohamed Farah Aideed http://www.netnomad.com/aydiidmort.html and
cayrow .http://terrorfreesomalia.blogspot.com/2008/05/background-about-adan-hashi-harahayrow.html savages are killing each other again, The Hawiye occupy central regions the The capital of Mogadishu

Terror Free Somalia Foundation
Related Store from jubbaland in the past
Jubbaland army will be doing with Military Exercises with the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF)
http://terrorfreesomalia.blogspot.com/2008/10/jubbaland-state-mareehan-tribe-and.html
Plans for a new state between the Juba River and the Kenyan border
Terror Free Somalia Foundation: Terrorist Islamist Al-Shabab ...
Bare Adan shire an interview with bbc .. AL-SHABAAB WITH ONLF Video: Terroristers 'capture Kismayo'
Somalia: MP's Against Islamists
Condemnation of genocide in Kismay city (jubbaland state of somalia)
al- shabaab Terrorist official addresses residents of seized southern port city
Somali jihadists al-Shabaab Terrorist DEMOLISH church
Somali youth for peace workshop in Beled Hawa City (GADO) JUBBALAND
Barre Hirale steps up campaign against islamists