Sunday, February 8, 2009

Al Shabab Threat Clouds the Horn of Africa

The greatest menace facing Somalia and the Horn of African nations in these trying times is the emergence of Al Shabab Islamic radical group. Al Shabab is a collection of firebrand extremists who are believed to have strong links with Al Qaeda, and prides itself to have launched a holy war against the resurrection of any future secular Somali State. They are bent on pushing their extremist view of Islam to decidedly establish a regime based on the Taliban model of 1990s Afghanistan. Their outlook of sharia-based government is a distorted vision of Islam.
The total membership of Al Shabab is unknown, however according to a report published last year by Kasmo, a Somali newspaper based in London, Al Shabab members are between the ages of 14 – 22. Recent reports have also confirmed the presence of international and foreign extremists within the ranks of Al Shabab. Worse still is the fact that Al Shabab organization drafts new recruits from youth that either have a criminal record, or criminals with little education or knowledge. Quoting from Government officials in Mogadishu, a leading UK Arabic paper, Al-Hayat, states that Al-Shabab supporters are “ less educated and more brutal than the older men of religion. They have no regular work and they earn their livelihood by using their weapons to protect foreigners or carry out dirty jobs to serve the persons who pay them.”[1] Al Shabab has also been credited for introducing suicide bombing into Somalia - something that is alien to Somali culture and religious traditions. In 2007, Former Prime Minister, Ali Mohamed Ghedi, told a reporter that Somalia was “rife with suicide bombings”, adding that this is a tactic “alien to Somalia”. [2] Al Shabab also claimed the responsibilities of numerous assassination campaigns against government officials in Somalia. In November, 2007, the group targeted Bay Deputy Governor, Hasan Bikolo, who was seriously wounded after detonating a landmine against his vehicle. Moreover, in June 03, 2007, Al-Shabab suicide bomber, Abdiaziz Muhammed Samatar, blew himself up at the gate of the Somali Prime Minister’s residence in Mogadishu, destroying completely the premier’s house. The heavy explosion caused several fatalities and wounded body-guards, but missed the Premier. Al Shabab’s latest detonation assault on civilians in Mogadishu occurred in January 20, 2007. They took responsibility for this suicide bombing. The group’s jihad Websites declare that they detonated a landmine in Makka-al-Mukarrama Street in Mogadishu, destroying the vehicle of African Union Force there and wounding seven AU soldiers. [3] Here is a partial list of some of the people that al-Shabab claimed responsibility for assassinating:October 27, 2008: Aisha Ibrahim Dhuholow was stoned to death in the southern port city of Kismayo. She died pleading for her life, buried up to her neck in a hole in the ground.October 08, 2008: Colonel Tobanle (korneyl Tobanle) was assassinated in Hodan district in Mogadishu. October 04, 2008: Al Shabab’s Special Operations Brigade, Al-Usra Army, assassinated Ibrahim Hasan who was government security officer in Baydhabo. August 10, 2008: Al Shabab Brigade in Bakool slaughtered Abdullahi Jahwareer, government official in Hudur, Bakool region. The group claimed that they slaughtered the official according to the Islamic Shariah. August 09, 2008: Brigadier General Ahmed Ali was assassinated by detonating a landmine targeting his vehicle in Mogadishu suburbs. February 05, 2008: Shabab managed to assassinate Sheikh Ibrahim Goonle, Hiiraan Court official. October 01, 2007: Shabab claimed the responsibility of the assassination of Colonel Abdi Haji Ahmed in Mogadishu. The Shabab brand of Islam and the Somali religious extremists in general cannot fully be understood outside the context of international terrorist groups and the post 1991 stateless condition of Somalia.
The rise of religious extremism in the Muslim world in general has to do predominantly with the absence of democratic, accountable and responsible regimes and the failure of governments in some Islamic countries to address problems arising from rapid social, demographic, and economic changes in the last century. In Somalia, in particular, after the fall of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration , extreme clanism emerged in the country which greatly undermined Somalinationalism and has become an obstacle to date to the reconstitution of the Somali state. Clan loyalty became the paramount order of the day. Evidently, Islamists began to make the case that the only alternative to clanism and the failed Somali nationalism is political Islam. Islamic fundamentalism is being used as an alternative philosophy and a unifying factor by the Somali religious movements and the extremist Al Shabab terror group. The stateless situation did not only create a fertile ground for the emergence and development of fanatic and radical groups as political movements in Somalia, but it also created conditions conducive for the free movement of international extremists and terrorist forces. The lack of and deficiency of government institutions, administrative tools, and organized politics became a piece of good fortune for Al Shabab and other extremist organizations. This gave them a relative advantage over the warlords and other clan oriented forces that had no ideology of any kind. The power of the Shabab organization stems from their organized nature, external financial help and their ideological orientation which go beyond plain clanism. The widespread poverty, Ethiopian invasion, war fatigue and the desire for law and order by the Somali people have also contributed to the attraction and appeal of Al Shabab group. The goal of Al Shabab is to impose a government based on the Taliban model on Somalia and beyond. The Taliban, led by Mullah Mohamed Omar, emerged as the strongest faction in lawless Afghanistan, after capturing Kabul in 1996. While they created some stability after nearly two decades of conflict, they immediately applied a tough and narrow interpretation of Islamic Sharia Law and unleashed vicious punitive measures against anyone who disagreed with their primitive regime. The Taliban regime carried out gross human rights violations, restricting freedom of women and girls for education and work outside their homes. The Taliban banned music and sports and embarked on extensive demolition of many statues and artifacts across the country. That is exactly what Al Shabab is currently doing in southern Somalia; raiding cinema houses, desecrating graveyards and banning sports of all kinds and wedding ceremonies. Also, one of the objectives of the Shabab, as a forum member of the Jihadist websites stated, is to make Somalia “the land of training and [jihad] preparation for the youth of Islam”. [4] On another front, the absence of any comprehensive US policy towards Somalia made matters worse. Throughout the Bush years, US policy towards Somalia has been marred with inconsistency, vacillation and short-range political expediency. The Bush administration opted outrageously to support a group of despised warlords who have committed gross human rights violations in Mogadishu which prompted the rise and expansion of the Union of Islam Courts (UIC) - an amalgamation of various outfits of Islamic radicals. Al Shabab is a splinter group from the original UIC that brandish a more radical version of Islam and often boast its affiliation with the worldwide terrorist network of Al-Qaeda. The group’s spokesman, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, had recently admitted, in a press conference in Mogadishu, that foreign fighters are fighting alongside Al Shabab. [5] It may not be feasible to gauge the type of government Al Shabab has in store for the people of Somalia. It is, however, possible to weigh the extent of calamity that Al Shabab could potentially inflict on war-weary Somali populace and the entire region of the Horn of Africa.

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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

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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.

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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.

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