Sunday, May 2, 2010

FACTBOX-Who are Hizbul Islam?

Source: Reuters
May 2 (Reuters) - Somali insurgent group Hizbul Islam seized the pirate haven of Haradheere on Sunday without a fight and pledged to take control of more towns in the region, the rebel group said. Here are some key facts about the group:

ORIGINS:

* The group was founded on Feb. 4, 2009. Hizbul Islam is an umbrella organisation of four groups led by cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who has been an influential figure among Islamists.

* The four groups' leaders had previously participated in the Union of Islamic Courts administration of Somalia in 2006. The Islamists ruled the capital Mogadishu and much of Somalia in 2006, until they were defeated in Dec. 2006 by Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces. The Islamists have since regained control of much of the territory from which they were expelled.

* Following the military withdrawal of Ethiopia from Somalia in early 2009 and the election of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the four groups united with the aim of replacing Ahmed's government with a hardline Islamic state.

* Aweys is among more than 180 individuals or entities the United States "linked to terrorism" shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, freezing their assets.

* President Ahmed, himself a former Islamist rebel, had hoped to bring members of Hizbul Islam into his administration after being elected president. There have been a number of attempts to negotiate, but Aweys has refused to join.

* Hizbul has carried out attacks with the main insurgent group -- al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab -- notably in Feb. 2009 in an attack on Mogadishu which killed over 80 people.

* More than 21,000 civilians have been killed in Somalia since the insurgency started in 2007.

RECENT EVENTS:

* While Hizbul Islam and al Shabaab have fought together against the government in Mogadishu, they are rivals in other parts of the country. The two groups have fought over the southern port of Kismayu, which is now under al Shabaab.

* Over the past year, al Shabaab is perceived to have become more powerful than Hizbul Islam and controls more territory.

* In recent months, Hizbul Islam has taken a harder line than in the past, shifting more towards al Shabaab, which wants to impose its own harsh version of sharia law in Somalia.

* Last month, Hizbul Islam expressed its loyalty to al Qaeda for the first time and invited leader Osama bin Laden to the Horn of Africa nation.

* In Dec. 2009 the rebels executed two men for adultery and murder. It was the first time Hizbul Islam guerrillas had executed people in the type of punishment usually associated with the more hardline al Shabaab group.

* There is also some suspicion that two rare attacks on mosques in the capital this week were the result of infighting between insurgent groups seeking to gain the upper hand.

* A landmine killed one person outside a mosque on Tuesday and and nearly 40 worshippers were killed on Saturday by two explosions in another mosque nearby.

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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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