US-trained Somali ?? Hawiye soldiers defect to al-Qaida

Somali government soldiers. The desertions raise fears that a US-backed drive to strengthen the Somali army may backfire. Photograph: Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP

Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with US funding have deserted, with some crossing over to the al-Qaida-linked militants they are supposed to be fighting, it emerged today.
The troops, backed with millions of US dollars, are leaving the ranks because they are not receiving their $100 (£65) monthly wage. The desertions raise fears that an American-backed drive next month to strengthen Somalia's army may increase the ranks of the insurgency.

The US has spent $6.8m supporting training for nearly 1,000 soldiers in neighboring Djibouti and about another 1,100 soldiers in Uganda, the state department and western diplomats said.
A Somali army officer, Colonel Ahmed Aden Dhayow, told the Associated Press the troops were supposed to earn $100 a month, but about half of those trained in Djibouti deserted because they were not paid. "Some gave up the army and returned to their ordinary life and others joined the rebels," he said.
The state minister for defence, Yusuf Mohamed Siyad, confirmed that some trainees had joined the al-Shabab militant group, but he declined to specify the number of deserters.
During a recent AP visit, dejected-looking soldiers sat under dust-covered thorn trees at the government's main military base, Camp Jazira, which lacks toilets, a clinic or even a perimeter fence. They had not been paid, some for months, they said, adding that their wages were intercepted by senior officials.
Pressed for details, mid-level officers glanced at colleagues clutching plastic bags of spaghetti, the day's lunch ration, before saying they could not discuss the problem.
"There is not enough money to pay everyone," Colonel Ali Hassan said as a group of officers listened, then added hastily: "But we are happy there is some money."
Earlier this year it emerged that army recruits were using sticks instead of guns as they trained for combat. Officials admitted that a long-planned government offensive against insurgents had been delayed partly because of a lack of training and equipment.
Failure to resolve the pay issue could threaten the success of a joint US and EU training program beginning in Uganda next month that has been touted as the biggest effort to rebuild the army in 20 years.
Funding for the Somali army is a complex affair involving contributions from donor nations, the UN and the Somali government. Individual countries sometimes pledge to cover salaries for a limited number of soldiers for a few months, and when the money runs out, salaries go unpaid.
The US has provided $2m to pay Somali soldiers and purchase supplies and equipment in Mogadishu since 2007, according to the State Department. Another $12m went towards transport, uniforms and equipment, but the US has declined to say how much of that paid for training.
Violence raged in Mogadishu yesterday with at least 16 deaths, one from a rare attack on a mosque. Witnesses said a landmine exploded as worshippers were going to the Abu Hureyra mosque in Bakara Market, an area used as a base by rebels fighting the government and African Union peacekeeping troops.
Residents said nine people died when mortar shells hit a house in the south of the city, two rebels and a government soldier were killed in fighting near Bakara Market and two AU soldiers were wounded when they stopped a suicide bomber from ramming a truck laden with explosives into their base.
The turmoil, and the lawless east African nation's proximity to Yemen, where al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is based, has fed fears that Somalia could be used to launch attacks on the west.
Somalia's besieged UN-supported government holds only a few blocks of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, while Islamic insurgents control the rest of the city and most of the country.
Associated Press 
 Unpaid Somali soldiers desert to insurgency‎


Yusuf Mohammed Siad, sometimes known as "Inda'ade" or "White Eyes" (Somali: Yuusuf Maxamed Siyaad (Indhacadde)) is the Somali Defense Minister. He was previously an Islamist member of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia. He is from the Ayr sub-clan^[, part of the Habar Gidir, which is a branch of the Hawiye clan. He has served as deputy and financier for Hassan Dahir Aweys, and served as the security chief.Nick-named "white-eyed" (or Indhacadde), he was a former   Hawiye warlord who occupied Lower Shabelle in 2002. He later allied himself with the Islamic Courts. The Islamic Courts advanced to central and south Somalia regions, including the Kismayo area, before Inda'ade pledged his support, giving them control of Lower Shabelle region in September 2006.In December 2006, he appealed to foreign Muslim fighters to join his movement's Holy War against Ethiopia, On December 12, 2006, he issued the ultimatum that Ethiopian forces should withdraw within seven days. he warned African nations to not send forces to Somalia. On December 19, the deadline for Ethiopia came and went. Analysts considered Inda'ade's hardline stance had caused a split with moderates within the ICU. On December 20, after the Ethiopians refused to withdraw, he admitted fighting had begun between the two sides, marking the beginning of the war at the Battle of Baidoa.Recently he became part of the Islamist restance group, formed in January 2008 known as Hizbul Islam. He however soon started an internal conflict in the group as he claimed to have removed the group's chairman Sheikh Omar Iman abubakr and replaced him with another Islamic cleric. Hassan Dahir Aweys however expressed support for Omar Iman and criticized Inda'ade saying he "has made it normal to destroy every group he is part of."^[On May 17, he defected to the Transitional Talaban Mostly Hawiye Government.

General Hussein Yusuf Dhumal,  Commander in Chief of the Somali military forces  who quit the Somali interim government, resigned over Yusuf Mohammed Siad  and called him "the most dangerous man in  Mostly hawiye somali Taliban government..