Somalia's Shebab put the squeeze on foreign NGOs

NAIROBI — Somalia's Shebab fighters, increasingly under the spell of Al Qaeda ideology, are gradually weeding out the few foreign aid groups still operating in the country's central and southern regions.The Islamist armed group last week raided the offices of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Baidoa, on the same day its local administration issued a decree banning the organisation from the region.The Shebab accused UNMAS of spying, charging it had been "surveying and signposting some of the most vital and sensitive areas under the control of the mujahedeen (holy warriors)."The incident was the latest development in an uncompromising drive by the group to remove foreign presence from the territories it controls.The humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa country, mired in civil conflict since 1991 and plagued by recurring natural disasters, is regularly described as one of the worst in the world.The Shebab turned the screw on humanitarian organisations in one of their main operational hubs last month when "the Islamic state of Bay and Bakool" regions (central) issued a list of 11 rules with which they should comply.The list, distributed to local aid group representatives in early November, includes a registration fee of 20,000 dollars, payable twice a year.Drawing fresh comparisons with Afghanistan under the Taliban in 1996-2001, the Shebab also imposed conditions complying with the strict brand of Islamic law they enforce in the regions under their control.Aid organisations "should distance (themselves) from anything that will affect proper Islamic culture... like promoting adultery and establishing women's groups," said the document obtained by AFP.World Women's Day is singled out along with Christmas and World Aids Day as proscribed celebrations, while "preaching democracy" is also listed as a value "interefering with Islam" that should be banned.The Shebab also reiterated a ban on alcohol and movies and also insisted that all humanitarian organisations' logos should be removed from vehicles and all flags be taken down.The main architect of the Shebab's "11 comandments" in Bay and Bakool is the regional Shebab governor, Sheikh Mahad Omar Abdikarim, a hardliner within the movement who has publicly urged foreign jihadi fighters to flock to Somalia.The new rules and regulations proclaimed by the Shebab triggered an intense round of consultations between humanitarian organisations and the various Somali players on the ground.Mahad "is the key person in the current process," a UN official told AFP on condition of anonymity.Community leaders are keen not to stop the flow of foreign aid and the jobs that come with them. Shebab officials argue that putting an end to food distribution by UN agencies will rekindle local farming.Senior Shebab leader and erstwhile spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, once the main pointman for foreign NGOs, is not involved in the talks, the same UN source said."He made it clear that the decision to impose the 11 conditions was the governor's and that he would only intervene should the ongoing negotiations fail," the aid official said.Robow, despite being an Afghanistan veteran and one of the Shebab's most prominent figures in recent years, "has lost some of his influence to more radical elements," he said.The UN official went on to explain that "the situation in Bay and Bakool should be viewed within the context of the Shebab's general strategy, which is now significantly influenced by foreign jihadi groups."
Along with an increase in suicide attacks, the campaign against aid groups is a fresh illustration of the ever-greater influence of these foreign groups, whose exact role in the Shebab's hierarchy however remains unclear.
Unconfirmed rumours in recent days have alleged that Fazul Abdullah -- a Comoran national believed to be Al Qaeda's top leader in East Africa and wanted for bombings in Kenya -- has replaced Somali Ahmed Abdi Godane (Abu Zubayr) at the head of the Shebab.