Friday, October 1, 2010

Westerners training as ‘foreign fighters’ a growing threat, study says

Al-Qaeda members participate in  military training in Afghanistan.
Agence France-Presse files
Al-Qaeda members participate in military training in Afghanistan.
Douglas Quan, Postmedia News · Friday, Oct. 1, 2010
The threat from radicalized Westerners who travel to terrorist training camps around the world is “growing in size and prominence” and stopping them is of the “highest priority,” according to a joint American-European study released Friday.
While some so-called Western “foreign fighters” may take up arms and fight battles in foreign conflict zones, such as the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Somalia and Yemen, others may be turned back home following their training, said the study by George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute and the Swedish National Defence College’s Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies.
“Foreign fighters returning to their Western host nations armed with operational expertise, jihadist ‘street cred’ based upon their bona fides as mujahedeen (those who strive and fight in God’s path), and the capacity and intent to orchestrate domestic attacks represents a current and likely growing threat,” the study said.
The warning comes as Canadian and U.S. counterterrorism officials are reportedly trying to hunt down three Muslim university students from Manitoba who have been missing since they travelled to Pakistan in 2007.
A report in a Canadian paper Friday said that University of Manitoba students Ferid Imam, Muhannad al-Farekh and Miawand Yar have not been in contact with their families in Winnipeg and are the subject of an investigation involving the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the FBI.
The trio were spotted in a lawless tribal area near the Afghanistan border believed to harbour senior al-Qaida members and traced to the mountainous region of Waziristan, a magnet for insurgents, the newspaper reported.
Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association in Winnipeg, urged the public Friday not to jump to conclusions.
Siddiqui, who knows the family of one of the missing men, said she is now worried they could become targets of anti-Muslim sentiment.
“Now they have to worry about their own safety and the impact, the backlash, the fallout,” she said. “That’s always the concern.”
Ms. Siddiqui, who described herself as an elder in the local Muslim community, said she has counselled about half a dozen students who have been interviewed by authorities about the missing trio.
She said some students have been approached more than once and that the encounters have caused them a lot of stress.
Idris Elbakri, president of the Manitoba Islamic Association, said in an email Friday that he feels badly for the families of the missing young men.
“Although I do not know the families involved, as a parent, I feel sorry for them not knowing the whereabouts of their sons. I am sure others, whether Muslim or not, feel the same,” he wrote.
A missing persons report for Yar was filed in 2007, but removed a short time later because he was located, Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen confirmed Friday. He declined to elaborate.
A CSIS spokeswoman said Friday she could not comment on details about any investigation.
The RCMP said they could neither confirm nor deny an investigation involving the three men. However, the agency’s headquarters did release a statement saying that it is “concerned about Canadians going abroad to participate in terrorism-related criminal activities and maintains strong linkages with law enforcement agencies around the world to monitor situations such as these.”
According to the study released Friday, there are advantages for foreign recruits to travel to a training camp with companions.
“Bringing a companion and friend to the foreign training camps may serve multiple operational purposes,” the study said. “Being together with a friend reinforces the focus of the mission and reduces the chances an individual will turn back. Furthermore it helps support group cohesion.”
The study said that typical overseas training is sometimes limited to one month in a camp and involves training in basic bomb making. Foreign fighters gain the most experience from participating in actual fighting in conflict areas and achieve almost “rock star” status — which can play an indispensable role in attracting future recruits.
“Due to their image and their ability to operate with a degree of competence upon returning to their Western host nation, veteran foreign fighters are thus the primary concern to host nations as opposed to trained foreign fighters with no applied experience,” the study said.
One mechanism authorities have to prevent terrorist travel is the no-fly list, but getting on that list is reliant on the strength of the intelligence, said Martin Rudner, a terrorism expert and professor emeritus at Carleton University.
If an individual is able to get on a plane and make it to a foreign training camp, the challenge for Canada then becomes how to gather evidence.
The absence of a Canadian foreign intelligence capability — the ability to send agents overseas who can infiltrate a terrorist camp and gather evidence of actual terrorist behaviour — could be a constraint, Mr. Rudner said.National Post



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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 )

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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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