Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Doubts over Uganda's role in Somalia


An injured woman at hospital in Kampala 
Many Ugandans are questioning their government's role in Somalia

 BBC Although not everyone is entirely convinced, it is widely assumed that there is a link between Sunday's deadly explosions in Kampala and Uganda's military presence in Somalia.
It is therefore not surprising that some Ugandans are questioning the wisdom of becoming embroiled in Somalia's complicated conflict.

The Ugandan government's position is clear.

"The act of bombing Uganda is a confirmation of the need to take control and pacify Somalia. This is an effort that everybody in the world has to realise," said Uganda's army spokesman Felix Kulayigye - who is adamant that despite the deaths in Kampala, Uganda's 3,200 troops should stay in Somalia.
He is not the only one. In a BBC interview, Uganda's Inspector General of Police, Maj-Gen Kale Kaihura said that the Ugandan troops presence should not be limited to this number.
"They only attack in self defence," Maj-Gen Kaihura said.
"They are using force within the limited mandate they have. Otherwise if it was not so limited. Oh God the whole of Mogadishu would be under the transitional government."
With that bravado from Uganda's leadership there would seem to be no chance of the troops withdrawing any time soon.
But the pressure will grow for other nations to send troops in and make it a truly African force or even a UN-mandated force rather than leaving Uganda and Burundi to what is a very daunting task.
A vital role
The Ugandan soldiers may be viewed as the enemy by the Somali Islamist militant group, al-Shabab, but the international community sees them as playing a vital role in Somalia by propping up the beleaguered transitional government.
Maj-Gen Kaihura stressed the importance of keeping al-Shabab out of Mogadishu's presidential palace.
"If you tolerate a group like al-Shabab to take over power in our neighbourhood, they will start there and will want to spread. It would be worse if they were in charge of state power. That's why Africa is united against it," he said adding that al-Shabab was linked to al-Qaeda.
"We are not there as Ugandans we are there as African troops because of the threat to African peace and security," he said referring to the fact that Ugandan troops are part of an African Union mission known as Amisom.

It is very sad and I am sure we are not going to be prepared to let the blood of Ugandans be spilt over an issue that we have not been convinced about” End Quote Hussein Kyanjo Opposition MP


It has more than 2,000 Burundian soldiers. Promises of soldiers from Nigeria, Ghana and other countries have so far been empty as most feel the mission is simply too dangerous.The black, yellow and red striped flags lining the route to Uganda's parliament are all flying at half mast following Sunday's bomb blasts.As 76 funerals are held across Uganda and relatives pray for the injured, the future of the Ugandan peacekeeping contingent is being debated in parliament.'We're in control'Three years ago all but a handful of MPs backed President Yoweri Museveni's decision to send the troops in.The president's party dominates the seats in parliament and so when he calls for something to be approved (including the scrapping of presidential term limits without which he would now be a former president) there tends to be little resistance from the legislators. They know on which side their bread is buttered."All the time there has been this reply from the government side that 'we are in control and nothing can happen to Uganda'," said the opposition MP Hussein Kyanjo who was always against the deployment."Now it has happened. It is very sad and I am sure we are not going to be prepared to let the blood of Ugandans be spilt over an issue that we have not been convinced about," said Mr Kyanjo who believes other issues are at play beyond regional security when it comes to Uganda's troop deployment in Somalia.
"We are now getting into the electioneering period and the Americans have long supported people for their interests - not because of their principle of rightness. That is why they should be willing to continue supporting President Museveni much in the same way as they have been supporting Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia.
"The people in Ethiopia are crying because of the dictatorship of Meles Zenawi but the Americans are still willing to go with him an extra mile."If President Museveni calculated it that way he wouldn't be wrong. But the country should not suffer because of the mind of the president," said the MP who would like to see Uganda's troops back home.A Ugandan rebel groupThe Ugandan police suspect that with assistance from al-Shabab, the attacks were carried out by the Ugandan rebel group the Allied Democratic Forces, ADF.
This Muslim group, which had no clear agenda, was active in the late 1990s and carried out numerous grenade attacks in public places.Uganda has long said the ADF was linked to al-Qaeda and was also backed by the Sudanese government in retaliation for Uganda's support for the former southern Sudanese rebels, SPLA.Given the nature and scale of Sunday's blasts there is suspicion that the ADF could have received sophisticated training from al-Qaeda.
Map of Kampala
On the streets of Kampala views are mixed about Uganda's involvement in Somalia although, amongst the people I spoke to, the calls for Ugandan troops to come home were in the minority.
"Beef up security here and send more troops to Somalia," a businessman said.
"I would advise our president to remove his troops and to come and keep security right here in Uganda," a young woman said.One lawyer told me it would be far too dangerous for me to broadcast what he really thought about the issue.
"Uganda's involvement in Somalia is not about protecting the region. This is all about getting hands on Obama's money. Let's just put it like that," he said off microphone before walking away.
After numerous deployments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and the Central African Republic, the Ugandan leadership has frequently been accused of engaging in military adventurism - Ugandan soldiers are rarely contained within the country's borders let alone the barracks.
At a recent regional meeting it was agreed that Amisom would increase the number of peacekeepers in Somalia to 8,100.Many of the additional troops will most likely be Ugandan. At the African Union summit to be held in Uganda later this month, Somalia and the Amisom force will dominate the agenda. Troop numbers and the mandate will be discussed."Peacekeeping" seems an inappropriate name for the mission to Somalia.

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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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