Community News :Somali Cultural Night" Fashion Designer Najma Ahmed and Faduma Hassan present their latest collections .Somali Fashion show in Nairobi, Kenya

culture Nigth art Fishing Show..Celebration in Nairobi Kenya ...

 

 Other Related Stories ...somali  women and  fashion segment

Empowering Women 

Somali culture Nigth art Fishing Show..Celebration in Nairobi Kenya

International Women's Day absurd says supermodel

Iman: Michelle's No Great Beauty,GIRLS CATFIGHT Puntland region of Somalia VS South Side of Chicago

 On A Lighter Note...happy pieces of news on the culture front The supermodel Waris Dirie from JUBBALAND Somalia

Supermodel Iman calls for fight against Somalian pirates

Matano S/S 10.11 Africa fashion week

 Somali women:The Most beautiful women in The world.

 

somali  women are at the forefront of a culture war

Somalia: Washington D.C Metropolitan Area Somali Community welcomed Mrs. Asha Haji Elmi, winner of 2009

 

Speaking out for the rights of women in war-torn Somalia

Terrorists will be defeated, says Uganda internal affairs minister Kivejinja also Security Council urges interim Somali authorities to complete remaining tasks

Security Council urges interim Somali authorities to complete remaining tasks

THIRD deputy Prime Minister and internal affairs minister Kirunda Kivejinja has said the terrorists in war-torn Somalia will be defeated at all costs. Presiding over the pass-out of 60 mid-ranking Somali policemen who have undertaken an eight-month course at Mandela National Stadium in Namboole yesterday, Kivejinja said Uganda has vast experience in fighting terrorists.
Somalia, he said, helped Uganda during its hard times.
“We had problems within two years after independence in 1962 and four years later, we were in turmoil. From 1971, Idi Amin caused us problems with our neighbour, Tanzania. Somalia played a big role in restoring this relationship after we signed the Mogadishu Peace Accord under the guidance of former president Siad Barre,” he said. On October 7, 1972, Uganda and Tanzania signed the agreement, whose main purpose was to defuse the crisis between the two countries. The agreement called for the withdrawal of all military forces to a distance not less than 10km from the common boundary and the halting of hostile media propaganda. Kivejinja said because of Somalia’s mediation, an avenue in Kampala was named after Siad Barre.
“The situation in Somalia can change and will change for the better. So when you go back home, be ambassadors and take that message that the situation in Uganda was worse,” he said. “When we emerged from the bush, our army was in rags, but had a nationalistic spirit. Up to now, the greatest crime a soldier can do is to assault a common man,” Kivejinja said. He emphasised the need for a Pan African ideology, saying lack of this spirit turns brothers like the Muslims in Somalia against their own. The Somali ambassador to Uganda, Seyd Ali, expressed gratitude to Uganda for hosting the training, saying their embassy lacked the finances and facilities to conduct such courses. United Nations Development Programme funded the training. He thanked President Yoweri Museveni for visiting Somalia on Sunday, adding that he is the second head of state to visit the country after George Bush Senior. The commissioner of Police in charge of human resource development, Felix Ndyomugenyi, regretted that they had lost one of the trainees, Maj. Mohammed Muhamoud, to a terminal illness.
He appealed for health screening for future trainees and age consideration, noting that most of the trainees were of advanced age.New Vision

Did the Internet incite Portland's bomb plot? Related Stories. Terror Cases Strain Ties With Some Who Can Help

• Attys say entrapment an issue in foiled bombing
  

PORTLAND, Ore. – In the year before the bomb plot, authorities say Mohamed O. Mohamud reached out to websites promoting violent jihad. And they were easy to find.

Indeed, authorities say al-Quaida – the Afghanistan-based group that took credit for the Sept. 11 attack on the New York twin towers – and its supporters are trying to recruit more people to commit attacks inside the United States. Their primary tool is the Internet for spreading this radical ideology.
Every month, new English-speaking websites pop up that promote violence against the West. Ten years ago, an analysis completed by Homeland Security found about 15 of these extremist websites on the Net. Today there are more than 6,000.

"To continue the holy war beyond Afghanistan," reports defense and aerospace expert John Pike's GlobalSecurity.org, "al-Qaeda's current goal is to establish a pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems 'non-Islamic' and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries."

With a few clicks you've entered the world of radical jihad – and it's no longer just in Arabic. The al Quaida-run websites hope to create homegrown terrorists by reaching out on sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

"Our feeling is, if even one youth knows about these sites, that's one too many," said Portland-based Harris Zafar of Muslims for Peace.

Indeed, FBI agents believe Mohamed O. Mohamud – the teen accused of a plot to blow up downtown Portland Friday – wrote articles for two of these English-speaking online publications: "Jihad Recollections" and "Inspire," which features articles like "What to expect in Jihad" and "How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom." The articles, written under the name Ibn al-Mubarak, focus on two major topics: physical preparation for jihad and al-Quaida media coverage.

• April 2009: "Getting Into Shape Without Weights" by Ibn al-Mubarak (cover)
• May 2009: "Preparing for the long nights" by Ibn al-Mubarak (cover)
• August 2009: "Assessing the Role and Influence of As-Sahab Media" (cover)

The Somali Mission to the United Nations in New York has received thousands of calls since Friday. We spoke with its secretary, Omar Jamal, who credited the Internet for Mohamud's radical beliefs – given that Mohamud had not been to the war-torn country of Somalia since he was a child. Indeed, those within the Somalian community argue that one of their own had to be influenced by the Internet if indeed he is responsible for Friday's downtown Portland bomb plot.

"I do feel that the Web played a significant role in not only him finding a group he can associate with, but then strengthening him to a point where he could write articles that would get published on such sites," said Portland-based Harris Zafar of Muslims for Peace. Zafar says the online magazines reach out to youth, and that the underlying message is that the United States and our allies are enemies. (Example: The cover of the August 2009 edition of "Jihad Recollections.")  

One terror expert even suggests the "Jihad Recollections" writings make it seem as if the 19 year old was trying to form an Internet community of his own.

"His language about past glories and the visuals he refers to tells me that he [could be] the creator of Internet terrorist network," said Ronald Tammen, director for Portland State University's School of Government – Urban & Public Affairs, after briefly reviewing the articles earlier this week.

There is no doubt that the Internet contributed to the position Mohamud finds himself in now, facing the charge of "Attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction" in Multnomah County court. Indeed, if it weren't for a repeatedly bounced-back e-mail sent meant for an Internet contact in Pakistan, the FBI may never have tapped into what they say were Mohamud's jihadist plans  .KATU

Terror Cases Strain Ties With Some Who Can Help

Somali woman in terror money case to stay in jail

 
 update on Affidavit: Woman sent $800 to Somali terror group
(TF.SF )SAN DIEGO -- A Somali-born woman in San Diego accused of routing money and people to a terrorist organization in her native country will remain in jail for now.

Nima Ali Yusuf appeared briefly Tuesday in U.S. District Court, where she waived her right to a custody hearing and agreed to remain in jail with the option of arguing for her release at a later date.
Prosecutors say the 24-year-old permanent U.S. resident sent about $800 to al-Shabab and tried to recruit fighters.
Yusuf is among seven people of Somali descent indicted nationwide in recent weeks and accused of conspiring to provide support to the organization al-Shabab.
The al-Qaida-linked militia is trying to overthrow the African nation's transitional government and install a strict brand of Islam.

UN council may help AU send more troops to Somalia

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Security Council members support the idea of increasing the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Somalia to help support the country's fragile government, Britain's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.
The AU mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, would like to increase its upper limit of 8,000 troops to 12,000, provided it receives a green light and financial and military aid from the 15-nation Security Council.
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said no council member had raised any objections to the idea of raising the limit on the number of AMISOM troops during a closed-door meeting.
The lawless Horn of Africa nation has been mired in violence and awash with weapons since the ousting of a dictator in 1991. In addition to an Islamist insurgency raging across the country, pirates have become the scourge of the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.
Although AMISOM is an AU mission, it has a Security Council mandate and receives support from the United Nations. Burundi and Uganda are the sole suppliers of troops for the mission.
Before the council can approve an expansion, it will need to sort out the extra costs, U.N. diplomats say.
African countries have asked the United Nations to fund AMISOM troop's salaries to make them equal to those of U.N. peacekeepers, who get just over $1,000 per month, envoys say.
AMISOM soldiers are currently paid around $700 per month.
Council diplomats said the extra troops should enable AMISOM to secure Mogadishu from Islamist al Shabaab rebels, who seek to topple the government and impose a harsh form of sharia law.
Western security officials say Somalia is a fertile breeding ground for Islamist militants and is attracting increasing numbers of foreign jihadists. AFP

The Latest al-Shabaab Propaganda:Terrorist launch public sanitation initiative in Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab-controlled areas

 

Dirty Nasty Stinking  Terrorist should start cleansing themselves first 

Let them do whatever they like, their reign is over soon anyway

14 Fatuma was forced to married, and at 17 she was burned by Her Husband According to the victim, EX Husband called her from USA and her current husband got jealous ..Shar'a law in Kenya ?

November 29, 2010  (TS. SF)  This year most disturbing story 004.JPG 1187K View Scan and download

007.JPG 1196K Vie

Her husband burnt her because she received a call from her ex husband who she was married  to when she was 14 years old. She's in Kenya..motherfucker needs to be burned alive. how can you do shit like this to a fellow human being let alone your wife.
the girl cant sleep, cant do nothing for self, not even use the Toilet, and she dint have a Father or a Mother, she is on her own, another Lady is taking care of her who's not even related to her.
That actually brought tears to my eyes. My heart goes out to her!! I'll try my best to show this video to as many people as I can, she needs to be helped. I could only imagine what was going through her head and what she has to go through on a daily base! Somali (Hawiye)  jehadest People are so fucking sick  . Hawiyeare the most ignorant, poor, violent, and dirties in the world. Their violence and ignorance is manifested in this video. Look at how Somali women is treated by their so-called husbands.
Faysal abdi Samad  send  this   disturbing story  to Terror Free Somalia , He Interview fatuma  in Nairobi, Kenya  please contact more details. at   004551320725  
Viewers discretion is advised
Viewers discretion is advised
Viewers discretion is advised

Sharia law let a“Evil” radical jihadist man do this  evil and inhuman act

 

 

 

 

 

US 'horrified' by Somali girls' execution..Obama Administration all talk and no action

 Hawiye are definitely not fully Human ..Amisom soldier dragged by mostly hawiye terrorist al-Shabaab supporters

Last year most disturbing story  2009

Friday, November 13, 2009

Somalia Islamist militants Mostly Gabar-gidir Hawiye Jehadest Hizbul Islam execute 2 men accused of murder and adultery in lawless country,

Sunday, January 18, 2009

hawiye al-shabaab wing barbaric and genocidal funded, very sick and twisted vedio 

most disturbing story in 2008

Sunday, November 23, 2008

 

mother and father.Brother of 13-year old Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow Speaking 13-Year-Old Somali Rape Victim Stoned to Death in Front of 1000 Spectators

Remembering 13-year-old Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow from Somalia

CONDEMNING STONING IN SOMALIA

Al Shabaab Blamed In Assassination Of Puntland Official. Somali PM on country's 'limited challenge to al-Qaeda'

Bosaso, Puntland, Somalia (AHN) - Masked men armed with pistols gunned down a Puntland court official on Monday in Bosaso, Somalia's Puntland commercial town, officials and witnesses said.
Abdullahi Salah Shirwa', Puntland's high court attorney, was killed after sundown at the center of the port town of Bosaso, about 1,500 kilometers north of Somalia's capital Mogadishu. He was recently nominated to the position, according to authorities

Witnesses said the assailants escaped from the scene shortly after the murder. Mohamed Hassan, Puntland's attorney general, told the media that security forces were conducting search operations, adding that the perpetrators would be arrested and brought to justice.Hassan said that Al Shabaab militants fighting in southern Somalia had masterminded the assassination. He ruled out the murder as being engineered by pirates.Al Shabaab did not release any comments about the charge.Insecurity and violence in parts of Puntland have reportedly been rampant in the last few months. Puntland and Somaliland are the most stable areas in Somalia.

Somali PM on country's 'limited challenge to al-Qaeda'

 

The Somali prime minister says his government is "the most capable... government that has been assembled" in the country, but it still needs international support if it is to defeat jihadist fighters linked to al-Qaeda.
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed told Andrew Harding he would like to "solve the problems ahead" for his country, but "without international support... we will have limited capabilities to challenge al-Qaeda". bbc

How do we understand terrorism? What were major terrorist acts in Somalia?

the collapse of the government happened because of  Hawiye islamic warlords of the wahhabi extremist movement (like Al-Shabaab).

Mogadishu diary part 2: Can returning ministers restore glory days? Andrew Harding, the BBC’s Africa correspondent,

Going to Mogadishu  update

After 20 years of almost non-stop warfare, Somalia's capital Mogadishu is not an easy place to get around.
We're tearing along a pot-holed street, squeezed inside one of the heavily armoured trucks that the Ugandan peacekeepers use to patrol their territory. In our flak jackets and helmets, we jolt against each other like beer cans in shopping bag. The reinforced windows bear the cobweb-like scars of bullets. The Ugandan troops stand, heads through hatches in the roof, manning three big guns.

Through the windows, two strong, conflicting impressions: Mogadishu is rubble, and Mogadishu is impressively busy.
Two decades of litter and debris cover the roads. Many buildings are in ruins, others pockmarked with an acne-rash of bullet holes. It is impossible to look in any direction without seeing a Kalashnikov - slung over a shoulder, resting at someone's feet, brandished on a street corner. Some men stand swaddled in bandoleers of bullets. In a side-street, an anti-aircraft gun sits welded to the back of a truck. It all feels - just like it did a decade ago when I first came to this city - like wandering into a Mad Max movie.
And yet, look past the guns and the ruins and there is also another city visible from the armoured truck. We pass a market - its stalls full of oranges and mangoes. A crowd of elderly men are sipping tea in the shade of a tree. Small shops are open. Goats foraging in the rubbish. Adverts for mobile phones.
After about 15 minutes, the sea comes into view again on our right, then we dip down a hill and our convoy of trucks turns ponderously up towards Villa Somalia - the country's once-elegant state house that is now home to the besieged inmates of an unelected Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that would probably be overrun within hours by al-Shabab, the Islamist mlitia which has links to al-Qaeda, if it weren't for the Ugandan peacekeepers manning the front lines a few blocks away.
A boom of artillery, and a few close pops of automatic gunfire greet us as we climb out of the truck. It might well have been this incident.

Inside, in a dark, gloomy but elegantly furnished room, we are introduced to half a dozen members of the country's new, streamlined, technocratic cabinet. Many have just returned from years in exile in the hope that change is finally coming to Somalia.
I struggle to contain my scepticism. Ten years ago I covered my first major Somali peace initiative on a sweltering hilltop in nearby Djibouti. Everyone seemed convinced it would work - that this time, things would be different. The diaspora was thrilled. It all went nowhere.
But Doctor Maryan Qasim tries hard to convince me things have finally changed. She got off the plane four days ago from Birmingham, UK, after over 20 years in exile there.
"My family said: 'You're mad,'" she admits. "But my country needs me. I told them it's challenging but I have to make a sacrifice." After years as an English primary school teacher, she suddenly finds herself waiting for the transitional parliament in Mogadishu to confirm her as Minister for Women's Development and Family Affairs.
"If we are optimists and work hard, the rest will follow," she insists, claiming that "now is the right point. People have suffered a lot and now for 20 years they don't want this to carry on more and more. I have a big hope this is a turning point."

Doctor Maryan Qasim's family thought she was mad to leave Birmingham for Mogadishu

Sitting near her, the incoming Minister of Information, Abdulkareem Jama, may be toying with his worry beads, but he's pushing the same positive message. "It may seem to some that we're fidgeting. But there is a process," he says of the political wrangling that has deadlocked the TFG.
"The government has expanded control of Mogadishu to over half the city. The opportunity we have now is one that has not come along any time in the last 20 years. No two clans are fighting. The civil war is essentially over." Al-Shabab's forces, he declares, are not nearly as strong as they seem - just a few men with guns filling a political vacuum in most towns and villages. "We can succeed in bringing Somalia back to its glory days."
Next up, the irrepressible mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamoud Ahmed Nur. He's come back from London to try to breathe life into the ruins of what many regard as the world's most dangerous city. "It's not the most dangerous," he insists. "Baghdad and Kabul are worse - but they have lots of money. We have none because here there are no Americans."
The mayor may have almost no budget, and is constantly in danger of ambush by al-Shabab, but his talk of "mobilising the people" and "harnessing the business community" chips away at the edges of my scepticism. "If we get five years' peace," he declares, Mogadishu "will come closer to Hong Kong." That's a big "if", I point out. "Yes, it's a big 'if'."
Then it's time to grab a few words with the new Prime Minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who brushes aside my criticisms of the TFG's few accomplishments and endless political deadlocks. Instead he's anxious to remind me that Somalia's problems are the world's problems. He wants more money from the west, and more troops for the Amisom peacekeeping force:

"Al-Qaeda and al-Shabab cannot be defeated by the TFG. For sure. The international terrorists... have more financial resources. We are energising the population here now. This is doable. The only thing lacking is international support."

The armoured convoy is revving up outside, ready to take us back to Amisom's fortress beside the airport. I grab a last word with the new foreign minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar. He talks proudly of the 2,000 university graduates produced in the city each year; of the vast resources and skills possessed by the diaspora - now hopefully poised to return to the country. But is there not, I wonder, a reality gap between the government's ambitious plans, and the fact that they're stuck in a besieged corner of a ruined city? He sets me straight.
"There is," he says, "a subterranean iceberg of normality" here. An image to ponder.
More to come from Mogadishu tomorrow. bbc

Somali National News 
Wasaarada Warfaafinta, Muqdisho Somalia's Ministry of Information
Daily Briefing  
Bulletin-ka SONNA Talaaddo November 30 2010.pdf
577K View as HTML Scan and download
waa Bulletin-ka  SONNA Isniin November 29 2010.pdf
1233K View as HTML Scan and download

Somalia: The Ethiopian Factor part # 3

Returned exiles offer Somalia its last chance : Mogadishu diary part 2: Can returning ministers restore glory days?

Mogadishu diary part 2: Can returning ministers restore glory days?

A bureaucrat from Buffalo, a primary school teacher from Birmingham and the Oxford-educated brother of broadcaster Rageh Omaar. These are, respectively, Somalia's new Prime Minister, Women's Minister and Foreign Minister. And collectively they represent their country's last chance for a generation of piecing together a central government in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation.

Sounding like a politician anywhere else in the world, Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed talks of his first 100 days. Then he checks himself and changes that to 80 days, because "we don't have time to waste". Speaking in the favoured political clichés of his adopted country, he says the new "team" is made up of "professionals and scholars" with the "energy to bring change".

Eight months from now, the mandate for the UN-backed transitional federal government (TFG) will run out. The international community warns that it is ready to give up on the administration unless clear progress is demonstrated. Diplomats admit that it will take "a miracle in Mogadishu" to tu

A walk through the wreck of the old parliament in central Mogadishu offers a warning to anyone who thinks they can make politics work in this divided country. Goats wander through the rubble of its hallways, while African Union soldiers are camped under canvas among its smashed walls. On the second floor is the amphitheatre where MPs once sat. The roof has been blown away and a mural featuring a woman breaking chains above a crowd of Somali faces has been blasted to a faint outline by the sun.

Parliament now meets in the basement function room where the plastic chairs – in blue and white, to reflect the Somali flag – offer the only hint of a national purpose. To date, the internationally funded peace process has delivered a succession of expensive governments in exile, a boon for the five-star hotels of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and nothing for most Somalis.

Despite the reassuringly familiar accents of many of the new ministers, politics in Mogadishu is nothing like anywhere else. Government officials live as virtual prisoners in the compound of Villa Somalia – the city's presidential palace – travelling to meetings in the back of armoured personnel carriers mounted with machine guns. The vehicles reverse to the door of meeting rooms to shield their VIP cargo. Five Somali cabinet ministers have been killed in attacks by Islamic extremists, al-Shabaab, in the past year.

This is the world Dr Maryan Qasim has just stepped into. For the past eight years she has been working at a primary school in Birmingham. After less than a week back in her home city after an absence of more than 20 years, the softly spoken former doctor is struggling to adjust.

She speaks of the problems facing Somali immigrants in the UK before seeming to remember where she is now. "Everything has changed," she says. "After 20 years of civil war I could imagine what I would find but there is no word to define the suffering here."

Only a fortnight ago the telephone rang in her "nice house" in Britain's second city. It was the new Prime Minister's office asking her to come home. "My family begged me not to go," she admits.

She says she is still getting used to going to sleep to the sound of heavy weapons. The university where she earned her degree in the 1970s is now in ruins, stuffed with sandbags and razor wire for its new life as headquarters for the Burundi contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia force, Amisom. Like anyone else visiting the capital, the new Women's Minister sees no evidence of international support. "Where is Unicef?" she asks. In an effort to describe things in terms that would make sense in Britain, she says that Somalia needs its own "Sure Start" programme for families.

With the impeccable manners of a bygone era, the Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar concedes that the international community has supported past governments to little effect and that Somali politics has been sunk in a mire of corruption and infighting. But he insists "clean government" has arrived. He believes that the TFG can defeat al-Shabaab in the capital within four months and this will "provide proof positive of change".

The Prime Minister has been in the country less than a month and speaks as though he were a local party hack for the US Democrats. A little over a month ago he was still a commissioner for ethnic minority rights in Buffalo, New York. He says: "We need good government and reconciliation. Without them we are wasting time." Overflowing with his can-do attitude, he says: "We have energy and fresh ideas. A lot of people are buying that."

But not everyone. The decades-long bid to restore some measure of central government to Somalia has disappointed everyone involved. "We've heard it all before," says a senior UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "What these people have to demonstrate is that they can change lives of the people of Mogadishu. Posturing is not enough."

In the coming weeks, the UN Security Council will sanction the expansion of the Amisom force from 8,000 to 12,000 troops at international expense. A senior diplomat from one of the main donor countries says: "There will be no extension of the TFG's mandate if they fail. It's definitely over."

For its part, the government of expats is hoping its willingness to come to this war-torn city will prompt international agencies in cosy Somalia postings in Nairobi to follow suit. The UN said in July it would be returning to Mogadishu "within six weeks". But a suicide bombing followed and that timeline was quietly abandoned. The man who oversees the closest that Mogadishu has to a "green zone" is Ugandan Major-General Nathan Mugisha, head of the Amisom mission. He says the time has come for aid agencies to leave the comfort of Kenya and risk return. "There's no reason why the biggest shots shouldn't come here," he says. He points to the weekend visit by the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the first of its kind in two decades, as evidence of improved security. "The military has done its part," General Mugisha says. "We need them to come and fill the gaps."

The "plan B" for Somalia being discussed if the new cabinet of "outsiders" doesn't work boils down to recognising that parts of the country have continued to work despite anarchy in central and southern areas. The northern breakaway, Somaliland, is not internationally recognised but it carried out arguably the most successful African election this year. The semi-autonomous province of Puntland has fared better in the war against al-Shabaab.

A Western diplomat working with the new government says that some governments were already switching focus: "The new strategy will mean directing support to the parts of the country which work and containing the parts that don't." Optimism, like everything else in Somalia, is in short supply....nice piece of journalism from  independent.co.uk

Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Last week's interview . The Arabic language aawsat .. his first interview to foreign media

New Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmajo) told «Middle East» no doubt that al Qaeda can only live in an environment such as Somalia

 

We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on Terror Free Somalia Foundation Send your comments and  articles to  terrorfreesomalia@gmail.com

Abdirahman Warsame is the Executive Director of the Terror Free Somalia Foundation.a national grassroots organization that opposes terrorism and supports democracy in Africa. regular contributor American Thinker http://www.americanthinker.com/abdirahman_warsame/ . .Pajamas Media and .other American conservative organization   

 Somalia: The Ethiopian Factor part # 3

Somalia the new hotbed for terrorist groups

In a statement that came as no surprise to U.S. security and law enforcement experts in January 2010, the Somali-based Muslim terrorist group Al-Shabaab announced that its fighters are aligned with al-Qaeda's global terrorism campaign. While the U.S. continues to battle the Taliban and remnants of al-Qaeda, Somalia has morphed into a haven for terrorist groups and their training camps.

Over the weekend, U.S. law enforcement nailed a Somali national after he attempted to blow up an improvised explosive device at a Christmas tree lighting celebration at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon.

FBI agents and Portland cops thwarted the teenager's plot to blow up a van full of explosives at a crowded venue.  According to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police's Terrorism Committee, the Somali teen's IED was a fake device supplied by undercover agents and civilians were never in danger.

The terror suspect, 19-year old Mohamed Osman Mohamud, was captured on late Friday afternoon after dialing a cellular phone he believed would detonate a large explosion at the Christmas ceremony. At that point, FBI agents and local police officers swarmed the suspect.

The FBI report that described the counterterrorism investigation reveals that the suspect plotted the attack for months, going as far as mailing bomb components to FBI undercover agents who told Mohamud they would build a deadly explosive device for him to use in his terror plot.

In their report, FBI agents stated that the Somali teenager  was warned several times about the seriousness of his plan, that women and children could be killed, and that he could back out, but he told agents: "Since I was 15 I thought about all this;" and "It's gonna be a fireworks show ... a spectacular show."

U.S. authorities charged the naturalized citizen with attempted use of a WMD (weapon of mass destruction). He will appear before a federal judge for arraignment on Monday morning.
This case involving a Somali national is but one of a series of terrorism cases.

SOMALIA AND AL-QAEDA

In a statement that came as no surprise to U.S. security and law enforcement experts in January 2010, the Somali-based Muslim terrorist group Al-Shabaab announced that its fighters are aligned with al-Qaeda's global terrorism campaign. The deadly group said in the statement, broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, that the "jihad of Horn of Africa must be combined with the international jihad led by the al-Qaeda network". The group's statement also announced that its militants had joined forces with a smaller insurgent group called Kamboni, another radical Muslim organization.

SAN DIEGO JIHAD

San Diego residents Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, aka Mohamed Khadar, and Issa Doreh were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, and related offenses.

The indictment, handed up on October 22, 2010, alleges that Moalin, Mohamud, and Doreh conspired to provide money to al Shabaab, a violent and brutal terrorist group based in Somalia. In February 2008, the Department of State designated al Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization. The indictment alleges that al Shabaab has used assassinations, improvised explosive devices, rockets, mortars, automatic weapons, suicide bombings, and other tactics of intimidation and violence to undermine Somalia’s transitional federal government and its supporters. In addition, al Shabaab is associated with the al-Qaeda group in Somalia.

The indictment further alleges that, in late 2007 and early 2008, Moalin was in direct telephone contact with Aden Hashi Ayrow, who was a prominent military leader of al Shabaab. Ayrow requested money from Moalin, who then coordinated the fundraising efforts and money transfers with Mohamud and Doreh.
According to the indictment, Moalin also provided a house in Somalia, knowing the house would be used in preparation for, and to carry out, a conspiracy to kill persons in a foreign country. The indictment alleges that after Ayrow’s death on May 1, 2008, the conspirators continued to transfer money from San Diego to Somalia to fund terrorist activities.
With the assistance of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, special agents of the FBI arrested Moalin on Oct. 31, 2010, at San Diego International Airport, shortly before Moalin was scheduled to board a flight. On November 1, 2010, agents arrested Mohamud and Doreh, also in San Diego.
According to U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy, the arrests arose from a lengthy investigation by the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force.
OTHER SOMALI ARRESTS
St. Louis, Missouri resident Mohamud Abdi Yusuf was indicted and arrested on four charges of providing material support to a designated terrorist organization and one charge of conspiracy to structure financial transactions. In addition, Minneapolis, Minnesota resident Abdi Mahdi Hussein was indicted and arrested on a charge of conspiracy to structure financial transactions.
According to the indictment returned on Oct. 21, 2010, from February 2008 through at least July 2009, Yusuf and a third defendant, Duwayne Mohamed Diriye, a resident of Kenya and Somalia, were involved in a conspiracy to provide funds to al Shabaab, which was designated by the U.S. Department of State as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2008.
The indictment alleges that Yusuf sent funds to al Shabaab supporters in Somalia, including Diriye, from licensed money remitting businesses operating in the United States, in part by using fictitious names and telephone numbers to conceal the nature of their activities. Yusuf is also charged with conspiring with Abdi Mahdi Hussein, an employee of a licensed money remitting business, to structure financial transactions to avoid record keeping requirements.
Al Shabaab, which loosely translates to “The Youth,” operates as a terrorist organization based in Somalia whose objective is the violent overthrow of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the ouster of African Union support, and the imposition of Shariah law in Somalia. Until his death in May 2008, Aden Hashi Ayrow was the principal military leader and commander of al Shabaab.

Jim Kouri   Law Enforcement Examiner

U.S. military prepares for Horn of Africa mission.."What Took You So Long?"

Somalia: The Ethiopian Factor part # 3

US sentences Somali pirate to 30 years in prison.. Jail scumbags for life...Hampton Roads knows pirate justice...Somali Pirate related news:Somali pirates said to hold 627 captives

Hampton Roads knows pirate justice

update  on Somali Pirate related news.. U.S. Jury Convicts 5 Somali Men In Navy Ship Attack : Tide turns on Somali pirate
(TF.SF Norfolk VA)A federal judge in Virginia sentenced a Somali man to 30 years in prison Monday after he pleaded guilty to his role in an April attack on a US Navy vessel off the coast of Africa.

This photo released by the US Navy shows the burnt hull of a suspected pirate skiff drifting near the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland on April 2010 in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia. A Somali man was sentenced to 30 years behind bars Monday after pleading guilty to his role in an April attack on the USS Ashland.

Jama Idle Ibrahim was sentenced on three charges related to the April 10 attack on the USS Ashland amphibious dock landing ship: attacking to plunder a vessel, engaging in an act of violence against persons on a vessel and using a firearm during a crime of violence.In August, a federal judge dismissed different charges of piracy against Ibrahim and five other Somalis, who allegedly mistook the Ashland for a merchant vessel.
"Today marks the first sentencing in Norfolk for acts of piracy in more than 150 years," US Attorney Neil MacBride said in a statement."Piracy is a growing threat throughout the world, and today's sentence, along with last week's convictions, demonstrates that the United States will hold modern-day pirates accountable in US courtrooms."Last week, a Norfolk jury found five Somalis guilty of piracy for attacking another US Navy ship, the USS Nicholas frigate, also in April. They now face life in prison if sentenced as convicted at a hearing set for March 14.Piracy has long been a problem in the Indian Ocean off Somalia, where the lack of a functioning government over most of the last 15 years has turned its vast coastline into a refuge for criminal gangs.But the number of attacks and the ransoms demanded have spiked over the past two years, according to the London-based International Maritime Bureau.Warships now patrol the Indian Ocean after a series of spectacular hijackings in the Gulf of Aden propelled Somali piracy to the forefront of international attention in late 2008 and early 2009.Pirates now hold about 30 ships and more than 500 sailors, according to the Ecoterra International group, which tracks piracy in the region.

Totally Different Approach in United Kingdom...Why the UK sucks

Two members of the Somali pirate gang that held Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage for 388 days are believed to have family in the UK. 

Two members of the Somali pirate gang that held Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage for 388 days are believed to have family in the UK.

Somali pirates said to hold 627 captives

Somali Pirate related news.: Ten 'Somali pirates who hijacked naval ship' go on trial in Germany:ANALYSIS-Militant raid on tanker shows Gulf security gap

Somali PM calls for help to defeat jihadist fighters.. Andrew Harding reports video

29 November 2010 (TF.SF)Somalia has become a base for Indian Ocean pirates, kidnappers and Islamist militants but its prime minister has called for greater international support to help defeat jihadist fighters linked to al-Qaeda. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed says with outside help his government can end 20 years of civil conflict. Andrew Harding has travelled to the capital Mogadishu to witness the battle against the militants video BBC

Going to Mogadishu

Somali militants lose more territory

Museveni greets a Ugandan female Police officer serving in the peacekeeping force in Somalia

By Joshua Kato in Mogadishu

THE al-Shabaab Islamist insurgents fighting the Somali government are slowly losing control of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as the Transitional Government Forces, backed by the African Union forces (AMISOM), continue capturing more areas of the battered capital.“In July, we controlled about eight positions in Mogadishu. But by the end of September, we had 16 positions,” said the Ugandan contingent commander, Col. Michael Ondoga.A young soldier, who was watching the al-Shabaab positions just a few metres away, said: “They regularly try to push us back, but every time they attack, we chase them away and capture more territory.”Such is the closeness of the two forces that sometimes the al-Shabaab attack the AMISOM forces using stones.


“When you call al-Shabaab, they answer back with insults,” said Ondoga.According to Ondoga, the capture of eight more positions brought the total share of Mogadishu by the government to around 50%.“This is the largest share ever enjoyed by the government since AMISOM came to Mogadishu three years ago.The force deployed tanks at the frontline to counter any threats.“In September, they came as far as Malkalamu Road, the major avenue in Mogadishu, but we pushed them further,” said AMISOM spokesman Maj. Bahoku Barigye.Gunshots can be heard almost every hour at the frontline.“The al-Shabaab fire at our positions all the time and we fire back. If we do not fire constantly, it becomes dangerous for us because they take positions and attack,” said Lt. Col. Francis Chemonges, the in-charge of the Ugandan Battle Group 5, which is in charge of Urubah, JUBA, Fishbay and other areas.
The best way to stop this endless firing, Ondoga said, is to capture more of the high ground. He said their next move will be to capture Bakara market. However, he added, their plan had been hampered by lack of troops to take over rear positions and consolidate new ones.“That objective is achievable. All that we need is more soldiers on the ground. Our current 8,000 troops are not enough,” Ondoga said.President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday made a surprise visit to Mogadishu, becoming the first foreign head of state to set foot there in almost 20 years, officials said.Museveni, who was accompanied by a group of army officers, spent several hours in Mogadishu, arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon,.While inspecting the peacekeepers’ bases, Museveni appealed for more international support to bolster the African Union (AU) force.“We want more troops from Uganda or from anywhere in Africa. Uganda is a country of 33 million people so we could mobilise three million people. But who will pay for it? International support is not enough. They don’t take the Somali problem seriously,” Museveni said.He also met with Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, new prime minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and other officials, AMISOM officials said.Museveni’s visit comes a day after Somali lawmakers overcame differences over the new prime minister, a relatively newcomer to Somali politics, and approved the cabinet he appointed.The AU and the seven-nation east African Intergovernmental Authority on Development have promised to take about 20,000 troops to Somalia. New Vision

Going to Mogadishu

Dawn at Nairobi's international airport. A solitary giraffe outside the perimeter fence. Herds of foreign tourists heading on safari, draped in khaki and cameras.
At Gate 4, a noticeably sombre atmosphere - perhaps 60 Somalis preparing to board a scheduled flight for Mogadishu. One man recognises me and cameraman Phil Davies from a previous trip we made about seven years ago. He used to be a journalist but not now.

Camera? Check. Tripod? Check. Flak jacket? Check.

"Too dangerous," he says with a frown, then mimes the action of a saw, amputating his arm. He lives in an area of the Somali capital controlled by the Islamist militia, al-Shabab. "They lash people there. Every day - for the smallest thing."
He's now working for a foreign aid organisation - still a risky choice. "Al-Shabab call us the hands of the infidel. Their eyes are on us all the time." For a while he sent his seven-year-old daughter to a Koranic school in the city, in order to "try to fit in", but took her out when she came home saying she'd been taught how to "use a pistol... The world must understand what al-Shabab are. How dangerous they are."
We fly north-east for an hour and a half. First over flat, seemingly empty scrubland, then over a messy quilt of fields.
There's another old acquaintance on the flight, a senior western diplomat I've met in other conflict zones who has years of experience in - and apparent patience with - Somalia. He's coming here with, he says, a tough message for the Transitional Federal Government - the unelected, heavily western-backed, besieged administration that clings on to power in a chunk of Mogadishu, defended by some 8,000 African Union troops.
The TFG stands accused of wasting the last two years bickering among themselves and failing either to bring change to the area they control or to broaden their political base by reaching out to the feuding clans and groups across the country. The TFG's mandate expires next August and the international community wants a broader coalition assembled to take over, otherwise it may abandon the TFG altogether.
There's a growing consensus that the "top-down" approach to state building isn't working in Somalia, and it may be time to shift focus to the handful of local administrations that are actually making some headway. The northern region of Somaliland is a prime example.
As we come in to land, the plane swings out over the Indian Ocean, hopefully out of range of al-Shabab's guns, before landing on the beach front. Mogadishu airport sits in a sliver of coastal territory controlled by Ugandan troops. It's the second time I've been here in under a fortnight - the last trip was prompted by the release of the Chandlers, the British couple held by pirates.
This time, we're "embedded" with Amison, the African Union peacekeeping force. Curiously, after a period of little, or negative, international media coverage, they've taken the trouble to hire - via the UN - some British PR consultants to help arrange our visit.
Amisom, with their heavy armour and Ugandan soldiers, offer some serious protection from the snipers, the mortars, the roadside bombs and the kidnappers. But their forces are also the principle targets of al-Shabab right now - and because of incidents like this, none too popular with some civilians either. Would we be safer with one of the clan-based militia groups in the city? Probably not. The word on the street here is that al-Shabab are offering $1.5m (£1m) for a foreign/white hostage. There are no easy options in Somalia.
Speaking of options - the BBC has just unveiled the results of a new opinion poll conducted in Mogadishu. In a place as dangerous as this, the circumstances of the process may well be as revealing as the actual results.
Crossing the frontlines here, pollsters braved gunfire from rival militias to visit most of the city. In areas controlled by al-Shabab, it was considered too dangerous to ask people directly, what they thought of the group, instead they spoke of "the opposition."
The poll reveals a resilient population - overwhelmingly optimistic about eventual peace, but worried about the short term.

• 
  

  Mogadishu has been left in ruins by two decades of conflict
  Ninety two percent of households say they're are unable to meet their basic needs.
• More than half feel the world has forgotten Somalia.
• As for al Shabab - the opposition - a full 71% of respondents see them as a force for bad.
• Seventy-two percent are unwilling to see them in power.
• Just over half of all respondents believe African Union peacekeepers now controlling roughly half the city can end years of conflict in Somalia.
• Fifty-seven percent of the randomly selected households live in makeshift camps under plastic or iron sheeting.
• Forty-one percent are illiterate.
• In a country with nothing resembling a social safety net - only 27% of those interviewed consider themselves unemployed.
• And one percent, retired.
• bbc

Mohamed Osman Mohamud: Terrorist or Victim?

Mohamed Osman Mohamud: Terrorist or Victim? - by Stephen Lendman
November 27 major media headlines accused him, including New York Times writers Colin Miner, Liz Robbins and Erik Eckholm triple-teaming him in their article titled, "FBI Says Oregon Suspect Planned 'Grand' Attack." Their saying so becomes accepted fact, according to corporate media reports - guilty by accusation.
It happens repeatedly. It's usually strategically timed, in this case to defuse anger over enhanced airport screening. It's also nearly always against Muslims, America's target of choice - of course, to justify imperial wars against Muslim nations. The topic was addressed often in previous articles, including one accessed through the link below:...more

Mosque target of arson, possible hate crim : Local Somali community reacts to fire apparently set at Portland moque ::New alarm among Somalis in Minnesota

New alarm among Somalis in Minnesota

Local Somali community reacts to fire apparently set at Portland moque

 Ahson Saeed, of Corvallis, Ore. reacts to a pile of burnt debris pulled from the local mosque in Corvallis, Ore. where an arsonist set a fire in the early hours November, 28, 2010. (AP PHOTO/JESSE SKOUBO) Loading… The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office are investigating as a potential hate crime an arson fire that damaged part of a Corvallis mosque.

Investigators from the FBI and the Corvallis Police Department are investigating whether The Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center at 610 N.W. Kings Blvd. might have been targeted because it occasionally was attended by Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a former Oregon State University student.
Mohamud remains jailed on federal terrorism charges in connection with his attempt Friday to detonate a van full of what he thought were explosives near a crowd of families watching the Christmas tree lighting at Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square. Over the past six months, undercover FBI agents convinced Mohamud they were helping him carry out a bombing plot. They became aware of Mohamud after the teen sent e-mails to two suspected terrorists in Pakistan.
FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele out of the Portland office said Sunday that the arson fire is being investigated as a hate crime because it appears that it was an attempt “to interfere with the civil right of the members of the church to freely worship.”
A Corvallis police sergeant on patrol discovered the fire about 2:15 a.m. when he noticed smoke coming from the Islamic Center. The Corvallis Fire Department sent two fire engines, a ladder truck and a command vehicle to the scene and about a dozen firefighters quickly knocked down the blaze and limited damage to one office.
People at the scene said it appeared that the fire might have started from someone throwing a glass full of a flammable liquid through the window.
The fire heavily damaged the office of the Islamic Center’s director, Mohammed Siala. The rest of the building, including the main worship area, was unharmed, and there were no injuries.
Sunday afternoon, federal and local officials held a press conference to clarify the connection — or lack of it — between the fire and Mohamud’s arrest.
Joined by U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton and Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson, Art Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Portland Division, said the fire is under federal investigation because of the potential for a civil rights violation, since the attack was done at a place of worship.
Although the FBI was involved in the investigation and arrest of Mohamud, Balizan said the fire is not connected in any other way with the attempted attack on Pioneer Courthouse Square.
Yosof Wanly, the imam of the mosque, said Mohamud occasionally attended prayers, but did not consistently spend time at the mosque.
Mohamud is being held at Multnomah County Detention Center and will appear in federal court at 1:30 p.m. on Monday.
Currently, Balizan said investigators are methodically gathering information from neighbors by going door-to-door in the community.
“We don’t know who started it, or why it was started,” he said.
Haroldson said the DA’s office and the Corvallis Police Department will work closely with the FBI. He said he was saddened to hear the news of the fire because such violence is rare here.
“Corvallis is not accustomed to a high number of violent crimes,” he said.
The mosque is not the only place of worship in the area to be damaged by fire recently.
On Oct. 2, Corvallis firefighters responded to a fire at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 501 N.W. 25th St.; the blaze, found outside the church, was almost out by the time they arrived.
Also, in the early morning of Sept. 2, a fire was reported at Grace Lutheran Church at 435 N.W. 21st St., and a group of recycling bins and a wooden enclosure were damaged.
Steele said those cases were not investigated as federal crimes at the time because they were small fires, outside of the buildings, and did not seem to be set so as to interfere with the right of church members to practice their faith democratherald.com

Undercover Bomber How do FBI agents pass as Islamic militants?

The FBI used undercover agents posing as Islamic militants to ensnare a Somali-American teenager who'd been identified as a potential al0Qaida recruit. The agents helped Mohamed Osman Mohamud plan the car-bombing of a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore., before arresting him on Friday. How does the FBI train undercover agents to act like Islamic militants?
With a few catchphrases. There is no organized jihadi network in the United States—most aspiring terrorists discussed in the media, like Mohamud, have been young, inexperienced, solitary actors. Prolonged infiltration of a criminal enterprise under deep cover therefore isn't required, and agents only need to be convincing enough to hoodwink one or two novice criminals. Moreover, since jihadis come from many parts of the world and speak different languages, the undercover agent doesn't necessarily have to speak fluent Arabic without an accent. The bureau does prefer agents who could pass as South Asian, East African, or Middle Eastern, but if they can't, that's not a deal-breaker. Training boils down to educating undercover agents in a certain brand of radical Islamic theology, and teaching them expressions—like the traditional Arabic greeting As-Salamu Alaykum.
The FBI does have a long history of infiltrating the Sicilian Mafia with inventive recruitment and training techniques. If an Islamic terrorist network were to establish itself in the United States, the bureau would likely employ some of the lessons they've learned from taking down the mob.
important as you might think when selecting an operative. Internal FBI memoranda concerning recruitment for undercover agents don't typically mention physical appearance, and the agency has made some surprising choices. Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, an American of Cuban extraction, became one of the agency's more successful undercover agents by infiltrating the Sicilian Mafia—an organization with far more cultural uniformity than domestic Islamic terrorists. Garcia so thoroughly convinced La Cosa Nostra of his authenticity that they offered to make him an official wiseguy.
If the agent is going to be working in the field over an extended period, the agency creates a complete identity for him. Garcia played Jack Falcone, a fourth-generation Italian-American with roots in Sicily. Before appearing on the mob's doorstep, the fictional Falcone had worked as a jewel thief and extortionist. Agent Robert Mazur brought down several drug kingpins by establishing an undercover identity as an international money laundering specialist. The FBI chose his name, Bob Musella, from a baby who died in New Jersey a few years after Mazur was born. Then it opened bank accounts in Musella's name, gave him a career background, and set up references who could vouch for him.
If cultural education is a requirement, the Bureau can provide that as well. The FBI assigned a genuine Italian-American staffer to put Garcia (aka Jack Falcone) through "mob school." He learned what it would have been like to grow up in an Italian household, was outfitted with Armani suits, wore garish jewelry, and spent hours watching Italian cooking shows on the Food Network so he could offer his targets a few shavings of ParmigianoReggiano without tipping them off.
Got a question about today's news? Ask the Explainer.
Explainer thanks terrorism analyst J.M. Berger, Peter Earnest of the International Spy Museum, and Marc Sageman, author of Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century.  slate

How al-Shabaab Targets Western Youth