Thursday, September 10, 2009

Did Somalia’s al-Shabaab Plan to Attack the Australian Military? yes


Terrorism Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 27
September 10, 2009 06:04 PM Age: 6 hrs
Category: Terrorism Monitor, Global Terrorism Analysis, Home Page, Terrorism, Africa, Featured
By:
Raffaello Pantucci

Federal Police after arrests in Melbourne on August 4, 2009
Operation Neath, one of the largest counterterrorism operations in Australian history, culminated in a series of early morning raids in Melbourne on August 4. The four men arrested were all Australian citizens of Lebanese or Somali descent and apparently part of a larger group of 18 individuals under observation by police (The Australian, August 4). In a press conference on the day of the arrests, police laid out their central charge that the men were “planning to carry out a suicide terrorist attack” on an Australian military base using “automatic weapons” in “a sustained attack on military personnel until they themselves were killed.” According to police, some individuals in the plot had been to and presumably trained in Somalia, and had sought a “fatwa” (religious ruling) that would authorize them to carry out attacks in Australia. [1]Four men (Saney Aweys, 26, of North Carlton; Yacqub Khayre, 22, of Meadow Heights; Nayef El Sayed, 25, of Glenroy; and Abdirahman Ahmed, 25, of Preston) were arrested in the raids, while a fifth man (Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 33) was already in custody on unrelated charges. Police were apparently alerted to the cell late last year after individuals at a local mosque reported the increasingly extremist rhetoric of one of the plotters. Telephone wiretaps were obtained and the security services soon overheard discussions between a key plotter and individuals in Somalia. The Australian plotter appeared to be seeking assistance for individuals to go and train with al-Shabaab in Somalia (The Australian, August 4). Reports indicate that two men apparently did go and train, one of whom (believed to be Walid Osman Mohamed) remains in Somalia, presumably training or fighting with the Somali Islamist fighters. The other man, Yacqub Khayre, is alleged to have returned to Australia on July 14, having obtained a “fatwa” or legal ruling from Somalia authorizing a terrorist attack in Australia (Australian Associated Press, August 27).Telephone intercepts released by police during a bail application hearing revealed Saney Aweys telling an individual believed to be a Somali cleric, “They [the accused] know where they can get them [the guns]. Then they want to penetrate the military forces stationed in the barracks. Their desire is to fan out as much as possible ... until they would be hit [by defensive fire]. Twenty minutes would be enough for us to take out five, six, ten, eight, whatever Allah knows.” In a later conversation between Nayef el Sayed and Wissam Fattal, Fattal says, “We are doing something very terrific for Allah. We are working together on a great monstrous thing and we will need to persevere.” Fattal and El Sayed are alleged to be the central figures in the plot, with El Sayed apparently acting as a local recruiter for al-Shabaab, while Fattal was seen by police scoping out the Holsworthy Military barracks in New South Wales, the cell’s presumed target (The Australian, August 25). Located outside of Sydney, Holsworthy is one of Australia’s largest military bases. However, police also admitted during the hearings that they had so far uncovered no actual weaponry during their searches of properties related to the case (The Australian, August 25). Furthermore, there was some suggestion during the bail hearings that police may have relied on a covert “civilian” agent within the group to obtain information. While defense lawyers did not pursue this avenue of questioning during the bail application, they did state they would pursue it during a later trial (The Age [Melbourne], August 26). It was unclear how much the apparent leak of the story to The Australian newspaper prior to the arrests would affect the trial. Australia’s Federal Police have vowed to carry out a thorough investigation. [2]The bail applications by El Sayed, Khayre, and Aweys were all rejected, with the judge assessing the men as a “serious flight risk” and the charges against them serious enough to warrant continued detention. The men’s lawyers used the opportunity to complain about the manner in which their clients were being detained, likening them to “Guantanamo Bay-like conditions” (AAP, August 27).At least partly in response to the alleged plot, the Australian government officially announced that it was listing al-Shabaab as a terrorist organization on August 21. The proscription of the group means that it will be an offense “to be a member of, associate with, train with, provide training for, receive funds from, make funds available to, direct or recruit for al-Shabaab.” [3]While it has been involved in military and intelligence operations in the global struggle against Islamist extremist groups, mainland Australia has thus far mostly been spared the threat of home-grown terrorism. Australians have been targeted abroad, however, most notably in the 2002 Bali bombings in which 88 were killed. More recently three Australians were among those killed in the July 17 attack in Jakarta. At home there have been fewer such plots, with the cell around radical preacher Abdul Nacer Benbrika (who was incarcerated for 15 years along with six followers earlier this year) proving an exception to the rule (Herald Sun [Melbourne], February 3). A 2007 investigation codenamed Operation Rochester investigating possible links between Australia’s 16,000 strong Somali community and international terrorism apparently dissipated after nothing was found (The Australian, August 4)...more..http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35478&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=9884eb64d7

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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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