Somali opposition leader quits ???Eritrea for Sudan ..we break 2 days ago..Jump on the ban wagon

MOGADISHU, March 31 (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline Islamist opposition leader Hassan Dahir Aweyseys has quit self-imposed....???exile in Eritrea for neighbouring Sudan and may return to Mogadishu soon, Somali media said on Tuesday. Aweys, 62, is on a U.S. list of terrorism suspects. He is a former chairman of the Islamic Courts Union that ruled Somalia's capital in 2006 until being ousted by Ethiopian troops. He worked alongside his country's moderate Islamist president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, in the Islamic Courts and they later founded the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. Earlier this year, Ahmed was elected president by lawmakers at U.N.-hosted talks in Djibouti. Radio stations in Mogadishu said Aweys was in Khartoum and held talks on Tuesday with two senior Sudanese officials. They said he was expected to fly to the Somali capital later to offer his support to Ahmed's new administration.
The endorsement of Aweys would be a boost for Ahmed, who faces the daunting task of trying to establish a new national security force and persuade heavily-armed Islamist guerrillas to back his government in the interests of peace
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LV485193.htm
Original Story
Somalia:Terrorist leader Sheik Hassan Daahir Aweys escapes from house arrest in Eritrea...Once a jehadist, Always a jehadist

Somali talaban Government Peace Efforts Receive Cash Boost

The new Somali administration's efforts at restoring peace and stability have received a significant boost from the African Union, which is giving $1 million to Mogadishu to strengthen its security forces. The African Union signed an agreement with President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's government as part of the recently signed Djibouti agreement that led to the formation of the new unity government. Under the agreement, security forces from the former transitional government would join forces with those from the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) to enforce peace in the capital, Mogadishu as well as in other parts of the country. ..more.http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-03-31-voa4.cfm

Terrorist al-shabaab owned radio station opened in Kismayo

A new radio that is said to be an Islamic station has been opened in Kismayo town (southern Somalia) which is controlled by al- Shabaab Terrorist group. the radio administration said that they were independent from the Islamist jehadist group controlling the town????, but that it is an Islamic station.A celebration held in Kismayo yesterday evening to inaugurate the radio was attended by Islamist jehadist administration officials.al shabaab command structure jubaland region, we learnt that the radio is owned by the Islamist jehadist administration in the area though they agreed not make it public in order to make the station free for business.This comes at a time when all other redio in the area are still closed after the station disagreed with the Islamists jehadist over airing of music programmes.This new radio station will be the only station operating in Kismayo

Britain's 'shameful' failure to respond to UN calls for aid

The UK has been singled out for its "shameful" failure to send aid to the world's worst refugee crisis unfolding on the remote border between Kenya and war-torn Somalia.
A flood of refugees fleeing the relentless conflict in Somalia has crossed into the already poverty-stricken north of Kenya prompting an emergency appeal from the UN for fresh funds to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
The UK is among a handful of rich nations who have so far ignored the UN call for $92m and have failed to offer any assistance according to the respected NGO Human Rights Watch.
Three camps around the town of Dadaab are now sheltering 260,000 people, the largest concentration of refugees anywhere in the world, in appalling conditions.
Gerry Simpson, a refugee researcher with Human Rights Watch described Britain's failure to answer the appeal or contribute to the existing UN refugee agency budget for Dadaab as "shameful". "The UK has given nothing which is extremely disappointing considering its close ties to Kenya," Mr Simpson said at the launch of a new report on the refugee crisis, "From Horror to Hopelessness". "It's also questionable considering UK involvement in international policy for Somalia." Somalia was convulsed in late 2006 by a US-backed Ethiopian invasion aimed at overthrowing an emerging Islamic government since which the refugee population in Dadaab has swollen by more than 50 percent. The UK lent its support to the intervention which has been widely criticised for making a bad situation worse in the Horn of Africa. The subsequent failed occupation has seen the already ravaged country become more unstable and some 330 people are reported to be crossing into Kenya every day. ..more..http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/britains-shameful-failure-to-respond-to-un-calls-for-aid-1658053.html

EU anti-piracy mission arrests seven Somali pirate suspects

BRUSSELS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) anti-piracy naval mission patrolling off the coast of Somalia have seized a pirate vessel in the Gulf of Aden and detained seven pirate suspects, the mission said Monday. A German naval tanker, that is currently attached to the EU anti-piracy ATALANTA mission, was attacked 85 miles north of the northern Somali port of Bosaso Sunday afternoon, the Maritime Security Center for the Horn of Africa said in a statement on its website. The German warship returned fire and chased the attacking skiff with helicopter support from nearby Dutch and Spanish warships. A Greek warship belonging to the ATALANTA mission detained the pirate vessel. The seven suspected pirates were taken into German custody on board a German frigate early Monday morning, the statement said. ..more..http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/30/content_11102730.htm

Somali talaban president Sharif Ahmed speech ,Arab leaders convene at Doha summit

Arab summit backs Sudan's Bashir overwarranthttp://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52T1S620090330?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNewsme=worldNews

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1238354475951Post/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1238354475951 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYSneuHG5vo/watch talaban president Sharif Ahmed speech v=rYSneuHG5vow.youtube.com/watch?v=rYSneuHG5vo

Sudan's fugitive president Omar al-Bashir picks up more frequent flier points

The Sudanese president is safe while he stays home -- Khartoum didn’t sign on to the Rome Statute that set up the court -- but risks being nabbed if he travels to a country that is an ICC signatory. Now, like Robert Mugabe, another notorious international pariah, Bashir is picking his destinations carefully. He’s safe sticking to the Middle East, where only Jordan has signed on with the ICC.,,more..http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/03/30/sudan-s-fugitive-president-picks-up-more-frequent-flier-points.aspx

Fighting kills at least 13 in Somali

MOGADISHU, March 30 - Fighting between Somali police and Islamist terrorist gunmen killed seven people on Monday in Mogadishu, witnesses said, raising the stakes as a new president tries to bring stability to the failed Horn of Africa state. Clashes between hardline Islamists from the al Shabaab terrorist group and a rival militia also killed six people in the central Bay region, but officials from all factions declined to comment. Residents said the latest battles in the capital broke out on the road linking the strategic K4 junction with the hilltop Villa Somalia presidential palace. There was no immediate breakdown of the casualties but civilians are often caught up in the bloodshed in Somalia. On Saturday, new President talaban Sheikh Sharif Ahmed condemned a call by al Qaeda leader terrorist Osama bin Laden for Somalis and Muslims worldwide to fight his new administration Ahmed was chairman of the Islamic Courts Union that ran Mogadishu in 2006 before being ousted by Ethiopian forces, wary of having an Islamist state for a neighbour. After forming an opposition party in exile, Ahmed joined the peace process last year. He now faces the daunting task of trying to establish a new security force and persuade Islamist fighters to back the talaban government in the interests of peace. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Angus
Source: Reuters http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LU042322.htm

Relatives of missing Somali men use homeland ties in search

Families of some of the young Somali-American men who are thought to be fighting with Islamic extremists in the Horn of Africa are trying their own methods to bring them safely home. They've turned to friends in the new Somali government and U.S. officials at neighboring embassies to help.

Minneapolis, Minn. — The Somali community in Minneapolis is still well-networked into the homeland. Family and business ties make it surprisingly common for people to stay in touch with the social life and economy of this failed state. Somalia hasn't had a working government since 1991.
Osman Ahmed, whose 17-year-old nephew Burhan Hassan disappeared last November, has been working his contacts back home to try to find his nephew. He knows the FBI is also on the case, but he says law enforcement is mainly concerned with making sure the men don't cause harm in the United States.
Bringing people out of a war zone is another matter, he said.
"Actually, it's very tough [for] law-enforcement agencies, especially the FBI, to go back and get information from Somalia," Ahmed said. "But as Somalis, we know each other, we have a tribe over there, we have friends, we are connected to the Somali government because we supported it. So we are trying in any way we can to get information."
Ahmed reached out to a childhood friend in Somalia. His old pal Abdirashid Mohamed, is now Minister of Commerce in Somalia's new transitional government.
As the minister of commerce, Mohamed said he doesn't have any power to send the men home.
"But as a minister, I'm an influential person and I can bring the issue on the table of the council of ministers," he told MPR in a phone interview from Mogadishu.
The commerce minister admits he's not just motivated to help his old friend. He's got strong political reasons to join the search. The group the young men have allegedly joined, Al-Shabaab, is the government's main enemy. ..more..http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/30/somali_search/

Nationalism is from Venus, al-Qa’ida is from Mars

As observers of Al-Qa’ida’s media strategy we notice a trend in their communication: When a conflict around the world involving a Muslim country heats ups, AQ leadership is quick to jump on the opportunity to provide analysis, encouragement, or criticism for the actions of players on the ground.In the past year, with an imminent U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq and a resurgence of both civilian and military forces in Afghanistan to fight terrorism there, AQ’s leaders have shifted their focus to more localized battles. Their aim is to characterize these fights as part of a larger global counterinsurgency, based upon AQ’s transnational ideology.
By connecting a local conflict to the broader Jihadist movement, al-Qa’ida tries to weave what are almost surely unrelated events into a broader narrative of a global, coordinated, and never-ending attack against the Islamic faith and Muslims. This creates the impression that what appears to be a national issue is really a part of a larger, decades-long conflict. Tapping into nationalist sentiments and manipulating those into a transnational frame appears to be a strategic communication tactic for al-Qa’ida.,,more..http://comops.org/journal/2009/03/30/nationalism-is-from-venus-al-qaida-is-from-mars/

Q & A with Somali Foreign Minister Muhammad Abdullahi Omar

Q) How do you view the Somali government's priorities?
A) Our priority is to rebuild the state institutions and restore our positive role in the Arab world and as a state with responsibilities in the African Horn.
Q) And what is your agenda to achieve this?
A) As a government, we have to achieve security and stability. We have a plan to impose order in the capital Mogadishu and the regions that suffered because of the war. And there are the two statelets -Somaliland and Puntland, both of which are enjoying a reasonable level of security and stability and we do not intend to interfere with them at the present stage. We shall work at consolidating peace and helping displaced people from the capital to return to their homes. We are talking here of about two million people who need help to return to their houses. And we have to build the administrative system of the state, including everything relating to state institutions, which have been destroyed and ruined during the years of the civil war. We have to announce to the world our agenda and programs.
Q) What about peace with the opposition?
A) Our doors are open for peace at all times and they will remain so. There is no minimum or maximum; we are a government of peace and dialogue and we are ready for talks with anyone without any preconditions.
Q) What about your mission as foreign minister?
A) My mission as foreign minister is to convince the world of the need to support these endeavors; without which this country will never have stability. We know that the world and especially those concerned about the region, have to intervene and the Arab world should help us in this.,,more..http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=16236
Related Stories
Foreign minister says security is crucial

Watchdog says Kenya police abuse Somali refugees

Kenya Police Commissioner Hussein
NAIROBI - Corrupt and violent Kenyan police abuse and extort money from hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled volatile Somalia, a human rights watchdog said on Monday.
Kenyan officials did not immediately comment on the report by Human Rights Watch , which also accused the authorities of forcibly deporting hundreds of asylum seekers desperate to reach the world's largest refugee settlement.More than 250,000 people eke out a living in Dadaab's three overcrowded camps near the Somali border in the arid and impoverished northeast of Kenya, the region's biggest economy.Aid agencies expect to see 100,000 new arrivals there this year as a tide of Somalis flee the conflict between an Islamist-led insurgency and the new government in the capital Mogadishu."People escaping the violence in Somalia need protection and help, but instead face more danger, abuse and deprivation," said the report, "From Horror to Hopelessness: Kenya's forgotten Somali Refugee Crisis."More than 17,000 civilians have been killed in two years of fighting in the failed Horn of Africa state. More than a million people have fled their homes and a third of the population -- more than three million people -- depend on emergency food aid.The pro-al Qaeda militant group al Shabaab, which controls large swathes of southern and central Somalia, is the main obstacle for Somalia's new president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who is trying to restore peace after 18 years of violence.The author of the report, Gerry Simpson, said the Dadaab camps were likely to become fertile recruiting grounds for al Shabaab if living conditions there do not improve."When refugees find themselves in dire humanitarian circumstances, frustration and the will to do anything to get out of that situation is likely to grow," Simpson told a news conference in Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya."In our view, the humanitarian crisis in Dadaab is likely to increase recruitment of al Shabaab."BRIBES AND THREATSHRW spoke to dozens of refugees and documented cases of corrupt police officials routinely demanding cash from Somalis as they arrived or left the camps for other parts of Kenya.The Kenyan government closed its porous desert frontier with Somalia in January 2007 after the United States helped push the Islamic Courts group out of power. The United Nations and aid agencies denounced the move at the time as a violation of human rights.HRW said in its report that it recognised Kenya's legitimate security concerns. But it said the closure had failed to stem the influx of tens of thousands of refugees and instead had given rise to the proliferation of people-smuggling groups.Although asylum seekers are paying smugglers up to $500 to ensure they reached Dadaab safely, police corruption was so endemic that the fee did not guarantee safe passage, it added."Emboldened by the power over refugees that the border closure has given them, Kenyan police detain the new arrivals, seek bribes -- sometimes using threats and violence including sexual violence -- and deport back to Somalia those unable to pay," the report said.HRW accused the Kenyan authorities of forcibly returning hundreds, perhaps thousands, of asylum seekers and refugees across the border in a direct breach of international law.Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said he had not read the report yet and so could not comment. Simpson said Kenyan police officials told him they would consider holding internal investigations, after they had read his report.

Somali govt forces 'kill six Al-Shabaab Terrorist

people died when forces apparently loyal to Somalia’s Government of National Unity confronted fighters of Al-Shabaab Terrorist movement at Sedeylow village, 30 km southeast of Baidoa town, the capital of Bay region in southwest of Mogadishu. The violent clashes occurred just before midnight on Sunday and lasted into the early hours of Monday.People in as far as Baidoa could hear gunfire from all sorts of weapons. Residents said they had seen two bodies of the dead, without giving their identities.According to Hassan Moalim Ahmed alias Piccolo, the former government appointed Baidoa District Commissioner; his forces attacked the rural area and killed six Al-Shabaab Terrorist fighters in a clash that lasted for an hour and half. “We are on our way to recapture Baidoa (town) from Al-Shabaab,” said former DC Hassan Piccolo.The former DC’s claim was countered by Al-Shaaab’s Governor of Bay and Bakol regions, Sheikh Hassan Mohamed Ali alias Abu Ayman. He said that his forces killed four pro-government forces that he classified as Burcad (bandits) and that one of their fighters died in the action. “We lost a martyr,” said the governor.“There is no way these bandits can match our forces because they enjoy no popular support and they are no even getting Ethiopian support,” said Sheikh Abu Ayman. “We seized uniforms, mobile phone sets and weapons,” claimed the sheikh. Al-Shabaab fighters chased the former pro-government authority from Bay and Bakol regions in January when the Ethiopian troops withdrew from the area. The officials fled to El Barde district, close to the Ethiopian border. Since then, the officials of the former authority vowed to retake Bay and Bakol regions.That this clash that has occurred just 30 km outside Baidoa, the former seat of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Parliament is a sign that the pro-government forces are gathering strength. “Our forces are supported by followers of Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea (a moderate sect whose followers are in conflict with radical Islamists of Al-Shabaab Terrorist and Islamic Party jehadist in various regions),” stated Hassan Piccolo through a phone call. http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/554610/-/13q0rt9z/-/index.html

Ugandan guards go to Afghanistan

ABOUT 300 Ugandan security guards will leave for Afghanistan next month. The guards were recruited by Watertight Security Services, a Ugandan security firm, which has been taking guards to Iraq. The guards have been trained for the last three months by American security experts who have worked in war-torn regions such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Kuwait. Watertight managing director Moses Matsiko yesterday explained that the guards would provide non-combat security services to boost other security firms. “We have established yet another link that will give Ugandans an opportunity to make money, especially now when there is a global financial crisis,” Matsiko said. He declined to give details about the contracts the guards signed. “The guards will do a similar job that others are already doing in Iraq. Ugandans have done an outstanding job in Iraq and that is why they have been considered for this opportunity,” Matsiko said. In spite of the volatile security situation in Iraq, Ugandans have not been exposed to attacks. Only three cases involving Ugandans have been reported. Sources said the deal had been cleared by security agencies and the External Employment Unit in the Ministry of Labour. The guards will earn $800 (sh1.6m) a month. They will also get compensation in case of injury or death. The head of the External employment Unit, Milton Turyagyenda, said the law allows companies to take Ugandans to any part of the world. ..more..http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/676305

Just like us after all: Islamic supremacists in Somalia ban cigarettes

Better not choose Mogadishu for that major address from a Muslim capital
And khat, which has financed jihad activity in other contexts. In any case, maybe this sort of thing is why Nanny State Leftists have such an easy time making common cause with jihadists. "Somali Islamists ban khat and cigarettes," by Abdulkadir Khalif for the Daily Nation, March 30 (thanks to Maxwell):
The Islamists authority in Dhobley town at the border between Somalia and Kenya Sunday announced a total prohibition of miraa (khat) chewing and cigarette smoking in the area.
Area residents have consequently been ordered to refrain from trading in both commodities.
The authority of the area, which is next to the Kenyan town of Liboi, has also outlawed all kinds of drugs and warned of heavy punishment against any kind of defiance.
Stringent measures
Mr Tayib Mohamed, the top Islamist official in the area, emphasised the seriousness of his administration in enforcing the ban on khat, cigarettes and any substance containing drugs.
“We shall take stringent measures against anybody attempting to challenge the law,” said Mr Mohamed, briefing the media....http://www.jihadwatch.org/

Uganda deploys more soldiers in Somalia despite Osama threat against Sharif

This is not the first time Uganda is training Somali troops, having earlier concluded training of another special unit of 100. Such actions are said to have annoyed radical Islamist al-Shabaab militia elements in Somalia, hence the concerns over terror attacks against Uganda.
For instance, early this month, a Russian-made private plane, an Ilyushin-76, plunged into Lake Victoria 10 kilometres south of Entebbe Airport, from where it had just taken off, killing all 11 people on board. The plane was supposed to deliver “water purifiers” to the peacekeepers in Mogadishu, but its crash has since elicited loaded comments from government officials who said they “cannot rule out terrorism.”Days after the crash, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS quoted the plane’s owner as saying it had been hit by a rocket from a grenade launcher or a Stinger missile. On board the plane were South African nationals, Ugandans, a Russian and a senior Burundi army officer who was returning to peacekeeping duties in Mogadishu. Only Burundi and Uganda have sent peacekeeping forces to Somalia. But the army spokesman said the UPDF presence in Somalia cannot be linked with the plane crash until the black box and flight data are retrieved from the fuselage, which is still embedded in the mud of the lakebed. ..more..http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/553906/-/item/1/-/15d8sk7/-/index.html

Russian ships sail off to fight Somali pirates,Somali pirates kill Yemeni fisherman..troops arrest 7 Somali pirates:Pirates attacked

Another group of Russian Navy ships are heading to the seas off East Africa to counter the growing threat of piracy. It's the second fleet Russia has dispatched to take part in international military operations against Somali gunmen.The ‘Admiral Panteleyev’ destroyer, accompanied by two tankers – ‘Izhora’ and ‘Irkut’ – and a tugboat sailed off from to the Indian Ocean from the Far Eastern port of Vladivostok on Sunday.The new unit will replace those that have been operating in the Gulf of Aden – anti-submarine destroyer ‘Admiral Vinogradov,' tankers ‘Pechenga’ and ‘Boris Butoma,' and tugboat ‘Fotiy Krylov,' Ria Novosti news agency reports. The fleet is set to dock in Somalia on April 26, before starting escorting and patrolling missions. According to Russian Pacific Fleet Head, Vice Admiral Konstantin Sidenko, this group of shipswill not be the last one that Russia sends to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden.In recent months, there have been a number of high-profile hijackings in the region, with the pirates only releasing the vessels after multi-million dollar ransoms were paid.

Somali pirates kill Yemeni fisherman

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2009/3/30/somali-pirates-kill-yemeni-fisherman/

Gas tanker hijacked by Somali pirates released

European troops arrest 7 Somali pirates: Greece

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090330/wl_africa_afp/somaliapiracyshippinggreecespaingermany_20090330110049

Pirates attacked

Somali buccaneers accidently attack German warship, ... pursuit by naval

Suspected Somali pirates got more than they bargained for following the latest attack in the Gulf of Aden.

http://www.tradewinds.no/andalso/article533839.ece

Paying Somalis to stop piracy?

http://piratebook.blogspot.com/2009/03/paying-somalis-to-stop-piracy.html

Somalia's hard-line Terrorist invite aid groups?one of the biggest.Best PR Story of the Year.They Are Responsible Kidnapping and Killing Relief worker

It's Not April Fools Day Yet.

mogadishu News Media are deeply embedded Somali Jihadists..

Somalia's hard-line Islamists Terrorist on Sunday invited international aid groups to regions under their control to assist thousands of hunger-stricken people."We are openly calling aid agencies to operate freely in the region in order to help thousands of people in the drought-hit areas of the country," al-Shabab Islamic movement..Terrorist commander Terrorist Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abuu-Mansoor told reporters."We appreciate how they have assisted the people in the past and wish they continue doing the same," he added." There are some exaggerations released by some biased media which says that al-Shabab targets foreign aid workers helping the starving Somalis; that is null and void. We don’t actually do that "Al-Shabab commander Terrorist Sheikh Abuu-Mansoor Aid workers have been frequently targeted by gunmen in the lawless Horn of Africa country, where up to 3.25 million people—almost half of its population—are in need of humanitarian aid.Abuu-Mansoor condemned the abduction on March 15 of four United Nations aid workers in the city of Wajid, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) northwest of Mogadishu...more..http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/03/29/69493.html
Related Stores .. Propaganda Spreading Terror pr Rape Victim Stoned to Death Somali extremists kidnapped very sick and twisted vedio behead Jihadist Propaganda
hawiye read.watch.listen..Think about it...if You Want to Go ..jihadist stronghold.. area of Somalia ..
you have to tell that bullshit story.or else They Will Kill You

Getting Away With Murder 2009..somali 3 journalists murdered
hawiye (habar gidir)disinformation...crazy domino effects..... The Different Steps.Media manipulation .publishing false information Daily..apparently

Somalia:Terrorist leader Sheik Hassan Daahir Aweys escapes from house arrest in Eritrea...Once a jehadist, Always a jehadist

LATEST The Eritrean security forces are in search for the Islamist leader of Alliance for Re-liberation of Somalia Terrorist Hassan Dahir Aweys who was disappeared mid last night after long been under house arrest in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, officials said on Saturday.Somalia talaban president reacts Al-Qaeda Terrorist message. Officers belonging to the Eritrean intelligence service said they are looking for the Islamist leader in Kenya and Sudan but reliable sources confirmed to Media that Terrorist Aweys is in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan where he is seeking for refuge.Terrorist Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is on the American list of terror groups, is believed to have escaped from Eritrea by car and reached the border with Sudan where the Sudanese troops took him away.Eritrean sources say that Sheik Aweys is planning to have talks with the Sudan president Omar Hassan Al-Bahir and then will fly to Somalia where he will be expected to announce his support to the talaban government led by Sharif Sheik Ahmed Once a jehadist, Always a jehadist .Terrorist Sheik Aweys who was among the founders of the Terrorist Islamic Courts Union in Somalia Somali alQaeda has been under house arrest in Asmara for the three months as the Eritrean government stopped him from going to Somalia for three times.Aweys has long been willing to come in his home grown town of Dhusamareb town, the provincial capital Galgadud region in Somalia but later his hope diminished when he came to know that the region has fallen in the hands of his rival of Ahlu/sunna waljama Islamist sufi group in better fighting with Dahir´s alliance of Al/Shabab Terrorist.....source his own Habar Gidir clan hawiye .. webside..http://www.dahiralasow.com/news.php?readmore=38
hawiye Terrorist leader stuck in Eritrea
Eritrean Leader Allegedly Embezzles Money from Somali terror Group
somalian terrorist leader al shabaab leader Hassan Dahir Aways call Terrorist Sharif Sheikh Ahmed "dictatorship

Gas tanker hijacked by Somali pirates released

BERLIN -- A gas tanker that was hijacked by Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa in January was released Saturday with all 13 crew members unharmed, a company that manages the vessel said. The Longchamp was loaded with liquefied petroleum gas when it was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on Jan. 29. It is registered in the Bahamas and managed by Hamburg-based Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. The company said the ship was released at about 0600 GMT (2 a.m. EDT) on Saturday. It had 12 Filipino crew members and an Indonesian second engineer on board. Bernhard Schulte spokesman Cor Radings declined to comment on how the release was achieved. A statement from the company said it "would like to thank the many parties, agencies and professionals involved for their outstanding efforts in achieving the safe release of the crew and vessel."Radings declined to elaborate, and would not say what happened to the pirates. The ship was en route from Norway to Vietnam when it was hijacked, and the company said it would now head toward its original destination. The management company said that it was taken down Somalia's east coast after the hijacking. Pirate attacks off the Somali coastline hit unprecedented levels in 2008, when pirates made 111 attacks and seized 42 vessels, mostly in the Gulf of Aden -- one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Seven ships have been seized so far this year, although there were roughly 10 times as many attacks in January and February 2009 as there were over the same period last year. There have been almost daily attacks in March..Somalia has been at war since 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 Videos: Jihad Camp in Somalia; English-Speaking Recruits ... Most of the Terrorist are from Hawiye tribe (al-shabaab) The leadership is mostly sub-clans of Hawiye (Habar Gidir clan) With The Exception Of OGADEN CLAN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB2mnoXLoec&feature=related (ONLF )own hassan turki(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Hersi) and Abu Mansur a foot soldier from al-Qaeda.

African Union to send more troops to Somalia

NAIROBI, Kenya – The African Union will soon send more peacekeepers to protect the government of war-ravaged Somalia, a spokesman said, but he did not say how many would be deployed.The Somali government had asked the AU to nearly double its current deployment of troops to the maximum 8,000 allowed by an agreement struck in 2007, Nicolas Bwakira, AU envoy for Somalia, told The Associated Press Friday.AU members have previously been unwilling to send troops because of the high level of violence by Islamist insurgents against Somali and Ethiopian forces backing the government.Bwakira did not say which countries would send troops nor how many.Somalia has not had a functioning government since clan-based militias overthrew a socialist dictator in 1991.The AU has been in the country since March 2007, and last weekend the number of soldiers reached 4,000 for the first time. Bwakira said the organization was planning to put in more troops."We are doing it now. We will send more troops to Somalia soon," he said.The AU is seeking to put more troops into the country amid concerns that the insurgents will make further gains against a weak government that controls only small pockets of territory..more..http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090328/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia_african_union

Yemen's three terror fronts

Jane Novak http://armiesofliberation.com/

Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula took credit in an internet statement Friday for a pair of suicide attacks that targeted South Koreans in Yemen.
A teen-aged suicide bomber killed four South Korean tourists in Shibam, Hadramout on March 15. A second terror attack three days later in Sana’a targeted a convoy of family members and South Korean investigators. The motorcade had left a military camp and was traveling along a highway when a suicide bomber detonated his device between two of the cars. There were no injuries to the passengers.
According to al Tajamo Weekly, the terrorist obtained information on the route and schedule of the delegation from Yemen’s security forces who were aware of the attack twelve hours in advance.
The internet statement said the attacks were an effort to “expel the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula” and were in retribution for the killing of Hamza al Qaiti by security forces after a suicide bombing in Sayoun last August. As additional rationale, the group cited South Korea’s “alliance with Crusader forces” in Iraq and Afghanistan, the corrupting influence of tourism and the spread of Christianity. The statement rejected the concept of a covenant of protection for visitors.
At a special parliamentary session, opposition and majority members of parliament alleged the Yemeni security forces are infiltrated by al Qaeda. MPs also accused the Yemeni government of deploying al Qaeda for political purposes. Independent MP Sakhr Al Wajih said the government itself was involved in many of the terrorist acts which took place over the last years. Parliament called for the disclosure of the ambiguous relationship between Yemeni authorities and al Qaeda. A ranking member of the ruling party said the relationship between the government and al Qaeda had harmed the country. Another MP said that it was clear that al Qaeda had penetrated the Yemeni security forces.
Six “al Qaeda” members were arrested following the attacks. Authorities said they were planning an additional ten suicide attacks on foreign interests, oil infrastructure, and government facilities. Another eight of 22 terrorists present at a terror camp in Shabwa were arrested.
The Shibam bomber had trained in Somalia, authorities said. Yemen and Somalia are separated by the narrow Bab al Mendab strait, which serves as a conduit for weapons, jihadists and contraband from Yemen to the Horn of Africa and for the thousands of refugees who flee Somalia annually. Many Yemenis have fought in Somalia with the Islamic Courts Union, and tens of thousands of Somalis have sought refuge in Yemen since 2005.
Security forces also arrested four al Qaeda members at the Darwa Center in Sana’a in connection with the attacks including a Saudi national, Abu Bakr al Dosi. The Darwa Center denied reports by the newspaper 26 September, the mouthpiece of the military, that the Shibam bomber had attended the center.
26 September also reported the arrest of 10 al Qaeda suspects who had volunteered for jihad in Afghanistan and Somalia, but were deceived by al Qaeda and brought instead to Yemen’s Marib governorate for training and indoctrination for suicide attacks. Security sources said that al Qaeda had recruited numerous young men under 18 to carry out attacks in the country..more..http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/03/yemens_three_terror.php

Looks Like al Qaeda in Somalia is Having a Bad Day

March 26, 2009
Looks Like al Qaeda in Somalia is Having a Bad Day
Al Qaeda's Somalia affiliate's (al-Shabaab) website looked like this yesterday.
Today?

Is somebody having a DNS problem? So. Freaking. Sad.
The downside? All those images I've been hotlinking from their server are no longer available. Oh well, live and learn Shabaab bitches. Live and learn.
Like I said a few weeks ago, there's no need for us to keep their website secret any longer (we've known about it for months). So, when Shabaab's dupes in Syria find another DNS service this is where you'll find them: http://www.kataaib.info/
PS-I didn't do it. Any one want to fess up?

big thank to our friends ..for.. monitoring .. "Somali Jihadists
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/196970.php

We have finally figured out What is going on Somali Jihadists web

we finally find out somali jihadist website webmaster ... Information Come out inter-jihadist fighting with in hawiye habar-gidir jihadist .one of the hawiye jihadist Are Saying", the web-hosting company Shut Down By them .. waaga cusub and they are Threatening to shut him down again , jehadist new web site http://www.kataaib.info/ they file complaint ..against ..http://www.kitaaib.net/ .and shut down before . The reason why Web site shut-down was...After Long Investigation..the Hawiye jehadist whom lives European last nine years , claims to be in mogadishu somalia.. ... They Said jehadist name is Cilmi Cali aka ilmi ali lied to web hosting company.. . the company Finally Shut Down . According to Hawiye Clan ..USC/SNA.. Caydiid famaly Website that belong to Sacad sub-clan of the Habar Gedir, hawiye.. Click the whole document http://www.waagacusub.com/news/29.03.09.11.htm ... They Claim he trying to block .. There Web Site ..they said he is working with shabaab..and they stopped working with.. shabaab..he claims that he owns Company call warsanMedia. in mogadishu somalia..and COMPANY. DOES NOT EXIST. and he use a stolen credit card..To Buy web hosting company ....

This jihadist operation allies know each other very well ..Something Is Going On Here ..inter-jihadist fighting ..

i will translation the whole document ..very soon
Domain ID:D27582445-LRMSDomain Name:KATAAIB.INFO
Created On:29-Jan-2009 23:48:17 UTCLast Updated On:25-
Mar-2009 15:53:01 UTCExpiration Date:29-Jan-2010 23:48:17 UTCS
ponsoring Registrar:eNom, Inc. (R126-LRMS)Status:CLIENT HOLDStatus:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITEDStatus:TRANSFER PROHIBITEDRegistrant ID:b46aeaa5828ffcb5Registrant Name:cilmi caliRegistrant
Organization:warsanMedia..more

Somali Terrorist release 5 Kenyans...kenya government paid ransom money to terrorists .."Most Likely "

Terrorist of Al Shabaab train with weapons on a street in the outskirts of Mogadishu. The militiamen linked to the group have released 5 Kenyans they had "kidnapped." on Wednesday, March 25. Photo/FILE

Five Kenyans abducted by a Somali militant group linked to Al Shabaab on Wednesday have been freed after negotiations between the Terrorist and a Kenyan delegation led by the North Eastern Provincial Commissioner Josephat Maingi. The four government officials and driver were immediately taken to Mandera in north eastern Kenya after being released. They are said to be in good health.During negotiations for their release??? that spanned about four hours, the Kenyan delegation undertook to ensure the release of residents of Somalia's Bula Hawo town currently in the custody of Kenya police. The Al-Shabaab Terrorist group is also said to have demanded that Kenya police stop harassing Somalis along the border. Those who had been kidnapped were Wajir South district education officer Moses Mwangi, his quality assurance colleague Charles Nyakundi, the provincial quality assurance officer Onchiri Onyancha, a Wajir South education official and their driver Abdullahi.Militiamen claimed that they “arrested” the officials after they crossed the border into Somalia “without permission”. The civil servants were abducted at Bula Hawo Town,gedo jubaland a kilometre away from the border town of Mandera. They had apparently gone for shopping on the Somali side of the border, a fairly normal activity in the area. The officials had earlier attended the provincial primary school ball games tournament in Mandera Town.The militants had said that the captives would be investigated and taken to court to explain their mission in SomaliaAl-Shabaab Terrorist is an extremist Islamist group with links to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda. It controls southern and central parts of Somalia, and is opposed to the interim talaban government of President Sheikh Shariff Ahmed. It has on numerous occasions warned the Kenya government over its support for the Somali government and has threatened to wage war against Kenya...http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/554052/-/u3pqrk/-/index.html\

al shabaab command structure jubaland region,

Somali militants to try captive Kenya officials.. Islamists seize Kenya officials

Somali talaban president denounces al-Qaida.??“Talk is cheap. We want to see some action!”

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia's new talaban president on Saturday told al-Qaida to stop interfering in the affairs of the war-ravaged country.In a tape published last week, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden called Somali talaban President ex-jehadist Sharif Sheik Ahmed an "infidel" and urged Somalis to overthrow his government."Al-Qaida has never helped Somalis reach a peaceful solution and has never wanted Somalis to have a government," Ahmed told journalists in the capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday, a day after returning from a tour of African nations. "Al-Qaida did not teach us the Islamic religion and has not given us any support so I urge them to leave us alone," he said.Ahmed, elected president by parliament in January, is a former fighter with the Islamic insurgency that is trying to overthrow the government. His faction signed a peace deal with the government last year and Ahmed is seen by many as a moderate...more.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090328/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia
The growing, and mysterious, irrelevance of al-Qaeda
An Islamic Dark Age Looms in Somalia

Jihad Next Door West Seattle

Seattle Channel has just posted a video that focuses on one of Seattle’s fastest-growing communities, one with a significant presence in the West Seattle/White Center area: Somali immigrants. It’s a look into the community’s traditions, successes, hopes, fears, and faith, all in 15 minutes: Watch online here.
I don't see anyone..talk about Dark Side Dirty Little Secret. jihadists who have infiltrated the Muslim community... It is the the timing of the video's release ..PR..just Left Wing Journalism 'Very Naive, clueless.... misguided..
we are not against our own people .We need fearless peoble to speak up for the somali cummunity.. .we believe in speaking the truth ..nothing but the truth..
It really hurts to see some our of own peoble make us look like we're the enemy... a few bad apples spoil the entire bunch..those In Bed with wahabi ideology ...:

Foreign jihadists join local fighters in lawless Somalia

NAIROBI: Egged on by Osama bin Laden and drawn in by Ethiopia's pullout, foreign jihadists have flocked to Somalia in recent months, joining forces with local fighters to turn the country into an Al-Qaeda haven. Somalia now shelters an estimated 450 foreign fighters who are working with the Shebab, a home-grown hardline Islamist group that has spearheaded a bloody insurgency since 2006. While foreign fighters wanted for links to Al-Qaeda have long used Somalia as a backyard, their numbers have swollen dramatically in 2009, experts say.
"There were maybe 100 foreigners last year but now our estimate is up to 450," said Ismail Haji Noor, a former Somali security official who has established a secular militia bent on rooting out the Shebab and their foreign allies. Noor said the foreign jihadists come from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and often enter the country on regular airlines from the northern semi-autonomous state of Somaliland. Most of them are concentrated in Garowe, in the northern breakaway state of Puntland, and the southern towns of Baidoa, Merka and Kismayo.
"The risk is being taken increasingly seriously that they will look outside Somalia for their operations now," said one Nairobi-based diplomat. Stripped of their arch-enemy Ethiopia, which ended its two-year military occupation in January, the Shebab have revamped their organization and moved closer to Al-Qaeda, intelligence officials said. A 10-member "cabinet" includes several known Somali members who have trained in Afghanistan, including Mukhtar Robow who has been the group's main spokesman. But it is also believed to include several foreigners, from Saudi Arabia and Sudan, as well as Fazul Abdullah, a Comoran-born Al-Qaeda operative who is wanted over the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
"They will be targeting Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia. Western powers will focus their efforts on protecting those neighboring countries instead of tackling the problems inside Somalia," Noor warned. He said Somalia's new moderate Islamist president, Sharif Sheikh Ahmad, needed to be urgently shored up if the threat was to be neutralized...MORE..http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=100428
Italian nuns say Somali extremists kidnapped them
Lawless Somalia draws influx of foreign fighters
Shabaab leader admits links to al Qaeda
Videos: Jihad Camp in Somalia; English-Speaking Recruits

Somali talaban President Returns to Mogadishu Friday a Day After Interior Minister Survives Assassination Attempt

Somali talaban President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is expected to arrive in the capital, Mogadishu today (Friday) from holding meetings with Tripoli about strengthening bilateral ties. President Sheikh Sharif arrives a day after an assassination attempt on the life of Interior Minister ex- jehadist Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar that left at least two people dead late Thursday. The government sharply condemned the attack, vowing to continue with its effort to restore stability in the capital, Mogadishu. Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attempted assassination, hard line insurgent group, al-Shabaab is suspected of carrying out the attack. Described by Washington as a terrorist organization with close links to Al Qaeda, al-Shabaab has refused to recognize the new Somali administration. Abdisalam Guled is spokesman for the new Somali prime minister. He tells reporter Peter Clottey that Somalis are expressing anger over Thursday's assassination attempt...more..http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-03-27-voa3.cfm

Huge Explosion in Garowe..Blast kills an Ethiopian and injures two

Garowe, March 27 2009 — A huge explosion suddenly rocked the Somali town of Garowe on Friday evening killing at least one person and wounding many others. The explosion which rocked the town targeted one of the restaurants where people come to eat food during the nigh hours. Local reporters from the town reported that the police commander of Puntland said in a press conference that the explosion was a grenade that went off by accident from the deceased man. However, other reports suggest that the grenade was thrown by unknown person who managed to escape from the scene. Others say that the restaurant belongs to an Ethiopian man and there is a possibility that members of Islamist groups were behind the attack. Sources close to Puntland state police ..that one suspect was arrested who is also turned to be an Ethiopian after the police took him to the police station.Such explosions are becoming common in the Somalia’s region of Puntland since the last few months. A couple of weeks ago, the coastal city of Bosaso witnessed series of explosions where more than 20 people killed and others wounded. It is not clear who is behind the attacks but the police say they are investigating the incidents...An Ethiopian has been killed and two other Ethiopians have injured in an explosion that occurred in Garowe town, the capital city of Puntland administration in north Somalia, witnesses said on Saturday.The blast occurred in Garowe at about 7:00 pm local time in Garowe and targeted Ethiopian businessman in the city. Separately, a second blast targeted PIS Puntland Intelligence Service station in the port town of Bosasso in Putntland...the attacks came days after Puntland police arrested a famous cleric in Boasso who is suspected to have links with al-ShababTerrorist .

FBI Searching for Missing Somali Men from Minnesota

The midwestern U.S. state of Minnesota is home to an estimated 70,000 Somali immigrants. It is the largest Somali community outside of Africa, made up mostly of refugees who fled decades of war in their home country. But in recent months, a number of young Somali men have disappeared, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation believes some of them went to Somalia to fight with the Islamic extremist group, al-Shabab. Although some U.S. media are reporting that a few of the Somalis have recently returned to Minnesota, the disappearances are a troubling development for law enforcement agencies and a shock to the community where many of the young men grew up...more..http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2009-03-27-voa43.cfm

Three held over terror activities

Police at Kenya's Coast province are questioning three people who are suspected of being members of terrorist groups operating from Somalia.The three were arrested on Sunday by the anti-terrorist unit in Malindi as they travelled from Lamu.Malindi district criminal investigations officer John Kariuki said police were on high alert as the North Coast border with Somalia has been declared a “porous zone”.interrogation“The three suspects, a woman and two men, were arrested by anti-terrorist officers from Mombasa around Gongoni area and locked up at Malindi Police Station for interrogation,” said Mr Kariuki.He said the three claimed to be Kenyans but only one of them was able to produce documents to prove his Kenyan identity, said Mr Kariuki.
“The suspects claimed they were coming from Lamu where they had celebrated Maulidi,” he added. Police are still trying to establish their links with terrorist units operating from volatile Somalia..http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/553736/-/7383c4/-/index.html

Discernment in Counter-Terrorism

The indisputable fact remains that terrorism continues to pose the biggest security threat worldwide. However, the counter-terrorism strategy of many states was often guided by misinformed intelligence and/or misconstrued policies based on knee-jerk reactions. This succeeded in furthering the aim of organisations like the Al Qaeda and other affiliated groups, thus perpetuating the cycle of recruitments. Though reports of a much weaker Al Qaeda may be encouraging, the fact that the group far from being a central, cohesive entity has diffused into hundreds of autonomous cells and sub groups remains a worrisome factor. An indiscriminate targeting of Muslim communities has only served to perpetuate Muslim grievances and turn moderates to extremists, thus the security threat posed by “self-starting militants” is likely to continue. The publication of Britain’s new anti-terrorism strategy that was intended to reassure the public, could, on the contrary, lead to paranoia and much controversy. While the lengthy report “reassures” the British public that Al Qaeda is a weaker entity at present, it warns of a growing threat from “self-starting” militants and attacks using chemical, biological or atomic weapons. Intelligence estimates that the next big terror attack will come from (a) group/s in Europe is likely to be true considering the pattern of attacks, both attempted and enacted. An attempt to justify Britain’s paranoia, manifest in its anti-terror laws and its investigations of terror suspects in rendition, can be made in view of its past experiences of the 7/7 London bombings and subsequent failed attacks in London and Glasgow. Though one may credit intelligence behind the latest anti-terrorism strategy, it is based on a worst-case scenario and an attempt to warn the public of an extreme threat perception the country faces.
The improvements in technology according to the report, makes it possible for terrorist groups or self-starting individual cells to use such extreme weapons in terror attacks, by acquiring them by theft or smuggling. The question, however, is why was it deemed necessary to release a usually highly classified category estimate for public consumption? Is it not likely to create paranoia bordering on hysteria, especially when interior ministry officials have noted that the greatest threat is likely to come from Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The connection with groups within Pakistan, that are allegedly involved in training recruits abroad continues to pose a big dilemma for Britain. Britain has, in the past been blamed for its foreign policy that was held responsible for fuelling extremism among its Muslim citizens, as well as its failure to integrate its Islamic communities. In other instances, a misunderstanding or disagreement with certain individual’s beliefs or positions in an organisation has led to ostracism. It is hoped that a different interpretation of the latest anti-terrorism strategy may not fall in the same trap.
Khaleej Times Online >> News >> EDITORIAL

Arabization of Africa, and Its Killing Fields

We Will Islamize America and Arabize Africa – Dr Hassan Abdallah Turabi from Darfur, Sudan The whittling away of the remains of settler colonialism is proceeding with the increased development of Southern Africa. There is no parallel process of decolonisation in the Afro-Arab Borderlands, rather an internationally co-ordinated aggressive action is underway, to coral the Sudan liberation movements in places such as Darfur and in eastern Sudan, into a peace ‘laager’, with the generous dispensation of petro-dollars. Given that the area of ‘ambiguous relations’(i.e. the Afro-Arab Borderlands) has been pushed southwards into the Sudan as a result of hundreds of years of interaction, it would be illogical to expect such a process of encroachment to stop from one moment to the other. The push southwards by the same forces in the West African region, explains the tensions in the Ivory Coast, and the generalised fighting which took place in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Charles Taylor and Foday Sankor were trained in warfare and met in Libya.It was Turabi, who exercised power in the first half of current Sudan President Bashir’s rule, who pursued a deliberate policy of implanting Islam in north America, whilst Arabization was spearheaded in Africa. It was Turabi who sent some two thousand post-graduate northern Sudanese students to the US with instructions to form friendships with African Americans. Many of these graduates are now in the public service of Sudan. As it happens, the Nation of Islam, led by Louis Farrakan in the USA, grouping Black Muslims in north America, has pursued a policy of support for the Khartoum regime, having taken material assistance from Khartoum. Farrakan has gone so far as to say there is no slavery in Sudan, opposing the Writ issue against Bashir. This has affected African-American understanding and concerns about matters in Sudan. So that those demonstrating in the US against genocide in Darfur have been noticeably white.In Africa, Arabization proceeds apace and now endangers African overall security. This we see in Somalia, where Sharia Law is being introduced. Whereas Somalia has long been Islamic, it always was a united entity, before the collapse brought on by its last military ruler Siad Barre. It had one language and an African culture. This is now being changed. It will stop in Somalia. Arabization will be pushed further south deep into Black Africa...more..http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=3347

Ethiopia: US concerned about al-Qaeda on Somali border

city of Dire Dawa, Harar and Jijiga become offlimits to Americans

The US Embassy in Addis Ababa has, reportedly, sent an email blast prohibiting its citizens residing in Ethiopia to travel to three Ethiopian cities close to Somalia.

Subsequent to al-Qaeda’s recent message urging Somalis to oust their new president owing to his ties with enemy Ethiopia has prompted the American embassy to inform its citizens of a heightened state of alert in Dire Dawa, Harar and Jijiga, 510km, 530km and 630km East from Addis Ababa, respectively. Osama bin Laden, head of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group, urged Somali militants to overthrow the country’s new President in an audio-recorded announcement posted last Thursday on the internet. The US embassy issued the warning to its citizens soon after the announcement was made public. “American citizens who do travel and reside in these areas are advised to avoid public gatherings and public places, including hotels, and should avoid using public transportations and transportation hubs” the email sent to the citizens read.
Apart from the residing citizens it prohibited official staff from traveling to the areas except for essential travel, subject to review and approval on a case by case basis only.
It also reminded all US citizens to remain very vigilant about unattended baggage or packages left on any location, including in public transportations. Bin Laden’s 11 1/2-minute audiotape was entirely focused on Somalia, an impoverished country in the Horn of Africa that has been in chaos for nearly two decades, torn apart by warlords and Islamic militant groups...more..http://en.afrik.com/article15492.html

5/23/08 terror attack in ethiopia kill

Israeli elephant expert dies in Ethiopia blast

Lawless Somalia draws influx of foreign fighters

NAIROBI (AFP) – Egged on by Osama bin Laden and drawn in by Ethiopia's pullout, foreign jihadists have flocked to Somalia in recent months, joining forces with local fighters to turn the country into an Al-Qaeda haven. Somalia now shelters an estimated 450 foreign fighters who are working with the Shebab, a home-grown hardline Islamist group that has spearheaded a bloody insurgency since 2006. While foreign fighters wanted for links to Al-Qaeda have long used Somalia as a backyard, their numbers have swollen dramatically in 2009, experts say. "There were maybe 100 foreigners last year but now our estimate is up to 450," said Ismail Haji Noor, a former Somali security official who has established a secular militia bent on rooting out the Shebab and their foreign allies.
Noor said the foreign jihadists come from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and often enter the country on regular airlines from the northern semi-autonomous state of Somaliland. Most of them are concentrated in Garowe, in the northern breakaway state of Puntland, and the southern towns of Baidoa, Merka and Kismayo...more..http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090327/wl_africa_afp/somaliaunrestattacksfocus_20090327104834

Pakistan's ISI still linked to militants, U.S. says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has indications that elements of Pakistan's ISI military intelligence agency provide support to Taliban or al Qaeda militants, senior U.S. military officers said on Friday.
Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Army General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, said the agency must end such activities.
The officers made their remarks as the United States unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, which promises more aid for Pakistan but seeks increased cooperation in the fight against al Qaeda and Taliban militants in return...more..http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52R03R20090328

The dam that divides Ethiopians

Most people in Ethiopia's lower Omo River Valley continue to exist much as they have done for hundreds of years with virtually no concession to the 21st Century, with one disturbing exception: automatic weapons...more..http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7959814.stm

Somali-Canadian leader doubts ????youths targeted by al-Qaeda-linked group

A leader in Canada's Somalian community is dismissing ?????http://terrorfreesomalia.blogspot.com/2008/07/canadian-resident-asparo-killed-in.html reports of young people being recruited by an al-Qaeda-linked militia to fight in Somalia, despite evidence it is occurring in the United States and elsewhere.Said Omar, a spokesman for Toronto's Khalid bin Walid mosque, which mainly serves the city's Somalian population, said he hasn't heard about any such recruitment efforts."We are a peace-loving congregation, law-abiding citizens, who just want to live peacefully with our Canadian neighbours and friends," Omar said.However, a senior federal government official with knowledge of Canada's security services has told CBC News that Somali-Canadian young men have indeed joined the al-Shabab militia.The issue came to light earlier this month when a Somali-American community leader from Minnesota testified before the U.S. Homeland Security Committee.Osman Ahmed told the committee his 18-year-old nephew, Burhan Hassan, vanished in November along with six other young men from Minneapolis.Hassan called home a few weeks later, saying he was on his way to a training camp for al-Shabab, an Islamic militant group linked to al-Qaeda that has vowed to fight against the government until Islamic law is in place.Washington recently added al-Shabab to the U.S. list of banned terrorist organizations.
Recruiters active in Canada?,,more..http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/03/25/somalia-shabab-recruit-youths.html
Federal Official Says Canadian Youths Recruited By As-Shabaab

Somali militia warned of revenge attacks

abduction of five Kenyans in Somalia could have been a revenge mission by the Al Shabaab militia.It emerged that the militia had warned Kenya over what it termed harassment of Somalis at the border.In a letter, whose copy was faxed to The Standard, they said the attacks, which were to begin yesterday, would target military installations, police stations, Government vehicles and other centres.Written in Somali, the letter said: "We will assault your country with hand grenades, automatic artilleries, kidnapping and if need be, suicide bombing, which will be targeting sensitive Government bases. The letter, which was not signed, was dropped off as leaflets on the police patrol line on the border on March 23. A top Somali administrator claimed Kenya continuously mistreated Somalis crossing the border.And the fate of the abductees will be decided after Al Shabaab’s intelligence agency completes findings over the presence of the Kenyans in Somalia...more..http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144009982&cid=4&ttl=Somali%20militia%20warned%20of%20%20revenge%20attacks

Somali pirates hijack 2 tankers in 24 hours..Tanker with Norwegian captain, 5 Poles among crew, hijacked off Somalia (Piracy)

BRUSSELS – Pirates armed with machine guns pursued and captured a Norwegian chemical tanker off the coast of Somalia on Thursday, the owners said, less than 24 hours after a smaller Greek-owned vessel was seized in the same area. The U.S. 5th Fleet, which patrols the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, confirmed both hijackings and said they happened in the same area but separate from the gulf, one of the world's busiest — and now most treacherous — sea lanes.The 23,000-ton Norwegian-owned Bow Asir was seized 250 miles (400 kilometers) off the Somali coast on Thursday morning, and the 9,000-ton Greek-owned Nipayia, with 19 crew members, was attacked about 450 miles (720 kilometers) off Somalia on Wednesday afternoon, the European Union's military spokesman said.Norway's shipowner's association said the Bow Asir had a crew of 27 with a Russian captain, but the 5th Fleet said there were 23 crew on board. Fleet spokesman Lt. Nate Christensen said the Norwegian ship was Bahamian-flagged, but he did not know its cargo. U.S. Cmdr. Jane Campbell confirmed the hijacking on Wednesday of the Nipayia.Both vessels are chemical tankers but their cargoes were not immediately made public
A Nairobi-based diplomat said the Nipayia had 18 Filipinos on board and a Russian captain. He said the ship is managed by Athens-based Lotus Shipping, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press...more..http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090326/ap_on_re_af/piracy
WARSAW, Poland _ Poland´s Foreign Ministry and a Norwegian ship association say pirates have seized a tanker 500 kilometres off the Somali coast.The Norwegian Shipowners´ Association says in a statement that the Bow Asir was hijacked by between 16 and 18 pirates.It says the ship had a crew of 27, including a Norwegian captain.Polish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Piotr Paszkowski says the ship´s owner had informed the ministry that five seamen on board were Polish.