Saturday, January 23, 2010

Qaeda threat compounds woes of Yemen's Somali refugees


SANAA — Hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees are now eyed with suspicion in Yemen over a threat by Islamists in Somalia to bolster Al-Qaeda, making bad conditions even worse for an already destitute community.At the beginning of January, a senior official of Somalia's Shebab militia that swears allegiance to Al-Qaeda compounded Yemen's multiple security woes by pledging "to our Muslim brothers in Yemen that we will cross the water between us and reach your place to help you fight the enemy of Allah."Hundreds of newly trained fighters responded to his speech with chants of "Allahu Akbar," or God is greater.The Sanaa government is grappling with a Shiite rebellion in the north, a secessionist movement in the south, and the continuing threat of attacks by the extremist Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).The group has been the target of a sustained crackdown by the country's military after it claimed responsibility for a botched bid to bomb a US airliner on approach to Detroit on Christmas DayYemen responded to the Shebab threat by boosting surveillance and restricting the movement of Somalis who have already braved the Gulf of Aden migration crossing, described by the United Nations as "the busiest and deadliest in the world."Sanaa's director of national security, Ali al-Anisi, told AFP: "We take the threat seriously."Yemen is the only country to have welcomed Somali fugitives. Today there are more than 800,000 of them here. But they have created economic and social problems, and now security concerns."The real number of Somalis currently in Yemen is disputed, with the United Nations last June giving an official figure of 142,000.According to one local expert on jihadists in Yemen, the perceived threat from Shebab is exaggerated."This idea of sending reinforcements from Somalia is mainly just rhetoric," journalist Abdelilah Shaea said."First, in the ideology of jihad, one should help one's brothers wherever in the world they are threatened."Secondly, under Islamist mythology, Yemen is a special country. They believe that, one day, the army that will liberate Palestine and the Great Mosque in Jerusalem will set out from here."Sanaa, which for years operated an open door policy towards Somalis fleeing their violence-ridden homeland, has now given them two months to register in a bid to better monitor and control a community that scrapes a living from mostly menial work.Somalis are automatically accorded refugee status upon reaching Yemen, unlike other nationalities such as Ethiopians whose numbers are also growing.But they are banned from relocating inside the country, and police road blocks have been set up around some refugee camps as Somalis are increasingly eyed with suspicion."Today, every Yemeni will be wary of the Somali washing his car," the country's head of counter-terrorism, General Yahya Saleh, told AFP. "And that will just make their lives more difficult, but Al-Qaeda doesn't give a damn."For Said al-Jemhi, Yemeni expert and author of a book on the local Al-Qaeda affiliate, there is no doubt the Shebab has already established a presence in Yemen."They aren't filling boats with weapons and crossing the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the risk of being intercepted," he said."They already have huge numbers of potential volunteers in the camps. And the more difficult their lives are here, the easier it is to radicalise them."The UN refugee agency said in December the number of migrants fleeing the unstable Horn of Africa and arriving in Yemen rose by 50 percent in 2009, reaching a record high of 74,000.The desperate migrants entrust their lives to people smugglers in a bid to escape the deeply troubled region, which is plagued with civil war, political instability, poverty and famine.Somalia has had no effective government since the early 1990s, and thousands of people have been killed in Mogadishu in recent years as Islamists battle for control of the capital.
Now Yemen, the ancestral home of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a country in which tribal loyalties also hold sway, will be the topic of an international meeting in London focusing on the extremist threat.

No comments:

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

About Us

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.

Blog Archive

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.

Terror Free Somalia Foundation