Al shabaab leader welcomes Islamists’ merger

 UPDATE ON Dispatch: Al Shabaab's Increasing Power
 The leader of Al-Shabad Terrorist Ahmed Godane aka Sheikh Mokhtar Abdurrahman Abu Zubeyer, on Thursday, Al shabaab’s first in command, cordially welcomed the Al shabaab-Hizbul Islam recent unification.

A new audio recording message broadcasted by local FM stations, Abu Zubeyr indicated that the union is a great victory for the Mujahideen, hailing all the fighters to keep the fruits of what he called the holly war in the horn of Africa nation.

Sheikh Mokhtar Abdurrahman Abu Zubeyer, the leader of Al shabaab movement, which US alleges to be al Qaeda’s proxy in war-ridden Somalia, called his fighters to redouble and increase attacks against African Union peacekeepers known as AMISOM and the transitional federal government of Somalia in Mogadishu.

“The victory, we have, must be kept, what is not kept and neglected will be vulnerable and it can easily be destroyed” he said, adding that the only way must be taken is to right path: Al tow-hid and Jihad.

Abu Zubeyr noted Al shabaab have many adversaries whom he said they want to create disagreements and different views among the fighters loyal to Al shabaab.

He called Al shabaab officials to act quickly to assist hundreds of thousands of people who severely affected by droughts hit in many parts of Somalia. He lastly warned plots against Al shabaab which he indicated westerners are organizing in Djibouti... news sources   VIA hol

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The leader of Al-Shabad Terrorist Ahmed Godane aka Sheik Mokhtar Abu-Zubeyr heal from tribal entity sepretest Somaliland . He received his extremist training in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mr Godane received an accounting scholarship to study in Pakistan funded by Saudi millionaires, he use to occasionally travel to Afghanistan during his school breaks.Terrorist Godane returned to Somaliland somalia in late 2001 and by 2002, he started a plot to create a northern-wing for Somalia’s Al-Ittihad al-Islami in Somaliland an armed militant, founded in the 90s. Terrorist Godane preached at the Abu-Bashir mosque in Hargeisa. He landed an accounting job at the Dahabshiil company subsidiary Al-Barakat office in Hargeisa, later the U.S. government listed Al-Barakat and as terrorist organisation, accusing them of providing or transferring funds for radical groups.He was able to recruit and radicalise a small group who would later carry out attacks including the killing of Analena Tonelli, an Italian aid worker working in Borame hospital, the killing of British couples in Sheikh and hijacked a vehicle belong to WFP. He was free by Islamic Pseudo-State of Somaliland Terrorist Godane join Islamic Courts Union (ICU) . Ethiopian war broke out in Southern Somalia. , He became on othe leaders of ICU . He change his name to Abu Zubeyr and rose to the General Secretary of the Islamic Courts Union.After the split of ICU, Mr Godane joined Aden Hashi Farah “Ayro” and According to Separatist mouthpiece somaliland press his long term friend, also heals from Somaliland and a US citizen As Ibrahim Hajji Jama “Afghani” form Al Shabab (The Youth), they seen themselves younger than the other group led by Sheikh Dahir Aweys, a Somali-Ethio 1977 war veteran.Even though Mr Godane has big famaly and a lot of influence in SOMALILAND – He radicalize many of the youth in Somaliland, the unemployment is over 80 per cent, many disapprove of the current administration and Ethiopian ties

Five Arrested in Terrorist Plot in Denmark and Sweden (Video)

Tribal enclave Secessionist Somaliland 'loots' air cargo after plane makes emergency landing

update on

Ken Geraghty/www.alientv.co.za

Cape Town journalists Chris Everson, left, and Anton van der Merwe, centre, were detained in a Somaliland jail for 10 days.

Authorities in Somalia's unrecognized separatist region of Somaliland have fined a cargo plane, confiscated all materials on board and sentenced the plane's crew to jail terms

  court in Somaliland capital of Hargeisa made the ruling on Thursday. The plane's six crew members, who are reportedly of Russian origin, were charged with delivering weapons to an enemy.
Abdirahman Jama Hayan, the judge at Hargeisa Regional Court, sentenced the six crew members to one-year jail terms. Court documents state that the crew members can buy off their sentence instead of serving the full one-year term.
Judge Hayan also fined the six crew members $500 U.S. dollars each, while fining the airplane approximately $4,000 U.S. dollars.
The six crew members had a defense attorney named Khadar Mohamed Guled, but it's not clear that the defense attorney could fairly defend his clients in such a highly-charged political case.
Plane story
A small cargo plane made an emergency landing to refuel at Hargeisa's Egal International Airport on Dec. 10. Somaliland police immediately seized the plane and its eight passengers, but later released two South African journalists.
Since Dec. 10, Somaliland authorities have spoken publicly a number of times claiming that the airplane was delivering weapons to Puntland, a self-governing stable state to the west that supports the establishment of a federal Somalia.
Officials in Hargeisa have claimed that Puntland is violating the 1992 U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, but Somaliland authorities have failed to produce any evidence that weapons were found on board the plane.
Puntland's government has not responded publicly to the plane seizure or Somaliland's accusations about violation of the U.N. arms embargo.
However, the plane's manifest states that a number of different items were on board, including: uniforms; boots; video cameras; T-shirts; mosquito sprays; and rat traps.
Somaliland President Ahmed Silanyo appointed a committee consisting of five Cabinet ministers to oversee the case. However, confidential sources in Hargeisa tell Garowe Online that the committee members "disagreed" about Somaliland's response, with "hardliners" gaining the upper hand.
On Dec. 22, South African newspaper Cape Times reported that the coordinator of the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia, Mr. Matt Bryden, traveled to Somaliland at the authority's request to interview the plane's passengers.
However, the U.N. Monitoring Group has not issued any report of Mr. Bryden's visit to Somaliland or any violation of the Somalia arms embargo with regard to the seized plane.
Furthermore, the Hargeisa Regional Court ruled that the Somaliland government confiscated all materials for government use, which contradicts accusations that the materials was a violation of U.N. arms embargo.
Puntland's anti-piracy force
On Dec. 1, the Associated Press reported that Saracen International is training a 1,050-strong anti-piracy force in Puntland.
The report triggered immediate responses from the U.S. government and the U.N., with mild expressions of concern being voiced.
Puntland's government did not respond to any of these reports or public expressions from the U.N. and foreign governments. Saracen International, which is contracted to train Puntland's anti-piracy force, is currently training the force's second batch of recruits.
In recent years, the international community has repeatedly blamed Puntland and its government for the rising wave of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden waterway that straddles Puntland's northern coast.
Puntland officials say that the international community has failed to help Puntland establish a force to fight pirates, adding that Puntland should not be blamed for setting up anti-piracy force in the face of the international community's neglect.
Political tensions
Somaliland and Puntland have clashed several times since 2002 over control of Sool and Sanaag regions whose inhabitants share kinship ties with Puntland.
In Oct. 2007, Somaliland troops seized Las Anod town, which became the epicenter of the Somaliland-Puntland dispute. Puntland authorities have condemned Somaliland's military aggressions as provocative and demanded the withdrawal of Somaliland forces from Las Anod.
Insiders say Somaliland authorities are politicizing the airplane story after Puntland officials accused Somaliland's government of funding and arming Al Shabaab insurgents in Galgala hills area of Puntland.
In late October, Puntland troops completed a three-month military offensive and seized control over all insurgent strongholds in Galgala area, killing nearly 100 militants.
Puntland officials said that 70 Somaliland soldiers were "fighting alongside" Al Shabaab insurgents in Galgala hills area and some Somaliland soldiers were killed in the conflict.
Somalia's last effective central government collapsed in 1991 when the country imploded and disintegrated. Al Shabaab insurgents now control most regions in south-central Somalia, while Puntland and Somaliland in the north have remained relatively stable.
Puntland supports Somalia's UN-recognized Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which is facing a relentless insurgency since 2007 led by Al Shabaab, listed as a terrorist organization in many countries including the U.S.

 RELATED:

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Somaliland is Becoming Africa's 'Terrorism Secret'

 

Secessionist Somaliland and Al Shabaab two faces of the Same Token (Al Shabaab Puzzle!)

Breakaway One-Clan Secessionist Faction Somaliland and Al shabab connection : accordance with resolution 1853 (2008) REPORTS OF THE MONITORING GROUP AND THE PANEL OF EXPERTS ON SOMALIA SUBMITTED THROUGH THE SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO RESOLUTIONS 751 (1992) AND 1907 (2009) CONCERNING SOMALIA

Somaliland: The Myth of Clan-Based Statehood . Educational Segment : Somali 101

 

Parliament Takes on Contractors in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s Parliament demanded Thursday that the government immediately suspend the operations of several foreign security contractors because the lawmakers said they had no idea what the contractors were actually doing.
While Western officials have recently acknowledged that a number of private security contractors have begun operating in war-ravaged Somalia, little is publicly known about whom exactly they are working for or what their assignments are.
Lawmakers are accusing Somalia’s president and prime minister of making secret deals, and United Nations officials have been raising questions about whether some of these contractors might be helping organize and arm new pro-government militias, possibly violating the United Nations arms embargo on Somalia.
“These companies were hidden from us,” Mohamed Bashir, a Somali lawmaker, said on Thursday.
The Somali government — which is fighting an Islamist insurgency and is confined to a few city blocks in a country nearly the size of Texas — recently disclosed that it hired at least one of the security companies to train soldiers. It identified the company as Saracen International but did not provide details about it, including where it is located.
But lawmakers said there were at least five other foreign contractors doing secretive security work in Somalia.
Several of the security companies are based at Mogadishu’s airport, Somali residents have said.
Somalia’s new prime minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, gave the impression on Thursday that he did not know what the companies were doing in the country.
“I’ve been in office only a month, and these contracts were made by the former government,” said Mr. Mohamed, an American citizen who recently relocated from upstate New York. But, he added, “it is my responsibility to investigate these deals.”
He gave himself a deadline of four weeks to reply to Parliament. It was not clear on Thursday if this would placate lawmakers, who seem to take pride in their feisty and often antagonistic relationship with the other branches of Somalia’s weak government. The lawmakers want the government to suspend the contracts now, until further review.
Last week, Somalia’s Ministry of Information issued a cryptic news release about Saracen and who is behind it. “The funding of these activities is provided by some Muslim countries that have no interest but to help the people and government of Somalia overcome the difficulties they faced for the last 20 years,” the release said, without disclosing which Muslim countries. “This is a rare opportunity.”
The Somali government is facing an uphill battle against the Shabab, a radical Islamist insurgent group that controls much of the country. The Shabab are known for a violent brand of rule that includes executing their perceived enemies or performing crude amputations on them.
The Shabab have sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda and claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Uganda in July that killed dozens of civilians who were watching the World Cup.
About 8,000 African Union troops are based in Somalia, many Ugandan. The Somali government acknowledges that without them it would fall to the insurgents within days, maybe even hours.
The United States and other Western nations have been trying to bolster the struggling government against the Islamist insurgency, with relatively little success. nyt

The Danish-Cartoonist Attack: Sign of a Wider Plot?

A television crew is seen outside the home of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard (center, background) in Aarhus, Denmark, after an intruder was shot and wounded there by police.

Ernst van Norde / Polfoto / AP

A week after the so-called Underwear Bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, exposed intelligence failures in the U.S. when he tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane, Kenya and Denmark are trying to explain a similar gaffe that may have far more fearsome implications.
In Copenhagen on Friday, Jan. 1, a Somali man identified by Kenyan police as Mohammed Muhideen Gelle allegedly tried to stab a Danish cartoonist who drew one of the 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked a furor in the Muslim world in 2005. Kenyan police and intelligence sources have revealed that they arrested him last year on terrorism suspicions and then deported him to Denmark, where he has residency. (See the top cartoons of 2009.)
Both cases exposed intelligence problems, but while the bombing attempt on the Detroit plane was believed to be the work of one misguided youth who may or may not have had links to al-Qaeda, analysts fear that the alleged attack on the Danish cartoonist may signal a wider plot by radical Islamists in Somalia to take their fight abroad.
The al-Shabab militia in Somalia, which is suspected to have ties to al-Qaeda, would not say whether it was involved in the plot to kill the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard. But Sheik Muktar Robow, a spokesman for the group, did say that Gelle, who was shot by Danish police during his arrest, was a "hero to all Muslims." "We are very sad that the mission failed," Robow tells TIME. "Everyone describes him as a brave man, and as a group, al-Shabab prays for him to recover quickly from his injuries." (Read a brief history of al-Shabab.)
Even though al-Shabab has not claimed responsibility for the attack, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service has said Gelle had "close relations to the Somali terror organization al-Shabab and leaders of al-Qaeda in East Africa." Al-Shabab has also made repeated, impassioned proclamations that it wants to carry its fight to the rest of eastern Africa and beyond, possibly to the West. And while its resources are not believed to be extensive, it has shown recent signs of increasing sophistication, like using suicide bombs and improvised explosive devices.
"It's quite clear that al-Shabab has international ambitions," says E.J. Hogendoorn, a Nairobi-based Horn of Africa analyst for the International Crisis Group. "It has an international agenda in that it sees itself in part as relating to the larger Muslim population. So when they can get away with a high-profile attack that they think will generate support, I think they will do so. The question is whether they have the capacity to do so." (See pictures of Muslims in America.)
If this is indeed the case, then the attack on the Danish cartoonist, which may or may not have been part of the group's plans, raises the question of whether the Kenyan police have the capacity to stop potential Somali attackers from entering their country and possibly continuing on to other nations.
In Gelle's case, the Kenyans got several things right. Police officials confirm that he was on a terrorist-watch list and had been arrested in Nairobi last year before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Kenya. An intelligence source in Nairobi tells TIME on condition of anonymity that officers had been following Gelle in Nairobi before Clinton's visit and spotted him with other Somalis with European residency "acting suspicious" at various Nairobi landmarks, including the conference center where Clinton later gave a speech. The source tells TIME that officers eventually arrested Gelle at a hotel in the predominantly Somali area of Eastleigh for having improper documents. He was held for seven weeks and then deported to Denmark, where he had lived since he was a teenager. (See pictures behind the scenes with Clinton.)
Kenya has been an eager U.S. ally in its battle against terrorism ever since al-Qaeda blew up the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1998. In recent months, the government has received U.S. funding for its antiterrorism activities, which include training Somali security forces. The country is increasingly seen as a bulwark against the Islamic extremists in Somalia, its neighbor to the north.
But for all their successes, Kenya's security services have also made their share of mistakes, as this week has shown. On Monday, Jan. 4, the government announced it would deport a radical Muslim cleric, Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal, who had been able to enter the country on Christmas Eve for a series of sermons even though he was also on an international terrorist-watch list and had done prison time in Britain for inciting racial hatred. (Read "A Violent Crime Resurrects Kashmir's Call for Freedom.")
Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang says el-Faisal had slipped over the border at a crossing that didn't have computer access to the international watch list. He did not mention that very few of Kenya's land-border crossings have such access, nor that it may not matter anyhow — the vast majority of Kenya's borders with Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda are unmarked, unfenced and unpatrolled. (Read "The Return of the Prophet's Cartoons.")
"It's impossible to interdict everyone coming to Kenya from Somalia," Hogendoorn says. "The border is just a line in the sand — not to mention, they could sail a dhow down from Somalia to a Kenyan village on the coast. It would be extremely difficult for Kenya to defend against a terrorist attack on a soft target. time

Ugandan bra bomb threat

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Security staff at the entrances of hotels in Uganda are being asked to thoroughly screen women's bras after recent threats by terrorists to use "bra bombs," The New Vision newspaper said Thursday, quoting police officials. 

"We don't always allow men to check women's breasts but we have now got reports that terrorists have devised bra bombs," the paper quoted a police counter terrorism expert, Lodovick Awita, as telling a security briefing with hotel owners on Wednesday.
"We appeal to women security personnel to thoroughly check women's bras," Awita said.
The appeal comes amidst a nationwide security alert recently issued by the chief of police who warned that Somali terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda were planning attacks in Uganda during the Christmas season.
Last July 11, Somalia's Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the twin blasts that rocked the Ugandan capital Kampala while crowds of people were watching the World Cup finals, killing 76 and injuring scores of others.
The group said it was punishing Uganda for sending soldiers under the African Union peace-keeping mission to guard the weak transitional government in the battered Somali capital Mogadishu.
Amid continuous terrorist threats, Uganda has embarked on a rigorous security program. Officials are urging the proprietors of public places including hotels, bars, hospitals, bus and car terminals, markets and shopping malls to deploy security guards and install bomb-detection machines at the entrances.

 

U.S. issues travel warning for Somalia. Somali government claims victory overnight Mogadishu clashes

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. citizens are advised to avoid all travel to Somalia and are warned there is no official presence in the country should trouble arise, Washington said.
The U.S. State Department warned citizens that there is no embassy or other U.S. diplomatic presence in Somalia, leaving citizens who are traveling in the area with little resources for assistance.
The State Department in a travel advisory warned that Somali militants are intent on kidnapping and killing foreigners, posing a direct threat to U.S. citizens in the area.
Somalia hasn't had a functioning government since 1991 and is one of the most corrupt nations in the world. The transitional government controls only a small fraction of the war-torn country. Al-Shabaab, a militant group loyal to al-Qaida, is waging war against forces loyal to the government.
The warning noted that "lines of control" in the Somali capital are unclear, adding relief workers and other foreigners are often the target of terrorist attacks.
Merchant vessels, fishing boats and recreational crafts are also prone to pirate attacks in the region and the State Department said vessels should travel in convoys along the Somali coast.
The U.S. Embassy in Kampala in a Warden Message last week warned that al-Shabaab was an active threat in the region.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for two attacks July 11 in Kampala that killed more than 70 people during celebrations for the World Cup soccer tournament.

Somali government claims victory overnight Mogadishu clashes 

 As fierce confrontations on Tuesday night broke out in parts of Mogadishu between Al shabaab and Somali forces, Dhame Abdulkadir, Somali government military officer, on Wednesday, told Shabelle that killed 18 fighters from al shabaab movement after heavy clashes in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Mr. Abdulkadir said Al shabaab had attacked their military positions 3 times, but said all attempts ended in vain.“We chase them after we had killed dozen of their fighters” he said, adding that they seized many rifles Al shabaab ran away.Al shabaab has not yet commented government’s claim.Local residents said most of the confrontations occurred in the districts of Abdul Azeez, Bondher, Hodan and Howlwadag in northern and southern Mogadishu.

The clashes are reported had broke out after more fighters from Al shabaab movement had attacked government and AMISOM bases in Mogadishu.

At least ten people are known to have died in the last 24 hours clashes, according local health officials.

Denmark arrests 5 suspects over planned attack> Terrorist plan to slaughter newspaper staff is thwarted

Five men planning to shoot as many people as possible at the office of a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad were arrested yesterday in an operation that halted an imminent attack, intelligence officials said.

• Jyllands-Posten daily's Copenhagen office. Picture: AFP

Denmark's intelligence service said it arrested four men in two raids in suburbs of Copenhagen, and seized an automatic weapon, a silencer and ammunition. Swedish police said they arrested a 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin living in Stockholm.

"An imminent terror attack has been foiled," said Jakob Scharf, head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, or PET. He described some the suspects as "militant Islamists with relations to international terror networks" and said that more arrests were possible.

PET said it seized a 44-year-old Tunisian, a 29-year-old Lebanese-born man and a 30-year-old who were living in Sweden and had entered Denmark late on Tuesday. The fourth person detained was a 26-year-old Iraqi asylum-seeker living in Copenhagen.

The Danish intelligence service said the group had been planning to enter the building where the Jyllands-Posten daily has its Copenhagen office and had wanted "to kill as many of the people present as possible." The four men face preliminary charges of attempting to carry out an act of terrorism.

Zubair Butt Hussain, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Denmark, called the plan "extremely worrying."

The organisation "absolutely condemns any act of terrorism regardless of the motives and motivations that may lie behind," Mr Hussain said.

There have been at least four plots to attack against Jyllands-Posten or Kurt Westergaard, the artist who drew the most contentious of 12 cartoons, which were published by the daily in 2005 as a challenge to perceived self-censorship.

"The foiled plot is a direct attack on democracy and freedom of press," Westergaard said. "We may not and won't let anyone forbid us to criticise radical Islamism."

In January, a Somali man broke into Westergaard's home wielding an axe and a knife but the artist escaped unharmed by locking himself in a safe-room in the house. In 2008, two Tunisians with Danish residence permits were arrested for plotting to kill him.

In September, a man was wounded when a letter bomb he was preparing exploded in a Copenhagen hotel. Police said it was intended for the daily.

The cartoons also provoked massive and violent protests in 2006 in Muslim countries where demonstrators considered the drawings as having profoundly insulted Islam. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favourable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

The attacks and threats have caused concern and unprecedented security measures in Denmark.

The JPPOL media group building, which includes Jyllands-Posten, is protected by metal fences and guards at all entrances. Mail is scanned and newspaper staff need identity cards to enter the buildings and the various floors.

Lars Munch, JPPOL chief executive, said his workers were worried. "It is appalling for our group, for our employees and their families to see their workplace threatened," he said.

Danish justice minister Lars Barfoed described the plot as "terrifying."

"The group's plan to kill as many as possible is very frightening and is probably the most serious terror attempt in Denmark," Mr Barfoed said.

Denmark arrests 5 suspects over planned attack

Somali Islamist insurgents threaten US attack. # Obama 'must convert to Islam': # Somali Shabaab's threat to strike US seen empty

Somali Shabaab's threat to strike US seen empty

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A leader of Somalia's Islamist insurgency threatened to attack America during a speech broadcast Monday.
"We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country," said Fuad Mohamed "Shongole" Qalaf.
Al-Shabab has not yet launched an attack outside Africa but Western intelligence has long been worried because the group targeted young Somali-Americans for recruitment. About 20 have traveled to Somalia for training and at least three were used as suicide bombers inside Somalia.
Al-Shabab holds most of southern and central Somalia and has the support of hundreds of foreign fighters, mostly radicalized East Africans. It seeks to overthrow the weak U.N.-backed government, which is protected by 8,000 Ugandan and Burundian African Union peacekeepers.
The al-Shabab militia launched coordinated suicide attacks in Uganda in July that killed 76 people. It has also announced its allegiance to al-Qaida and is believed to be harboring a mastermind of the twin 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.
The radio message was recorded in the town of Afgoye, near the Somali capital, during a meeting of Shongole and Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, formerly the leader of insurgent group Hizbul Islam. The two insurgent groups had clashed several times previously but announced a merger last week. Aweys said his group will fight under al-Shabab's command.
"We have united for the sake of our ideology and we are going to redouble our efforts to remove the government and the African Union from the country," said Aweys on Monday.
In an unrelated development, the Somali information minister said the new Cabinet had approved the use of a private security contractor to train forces in the capital of Mogadishu and the program would start "soon."
Saracen International would train forces for VIP protection, said Abdulkareem Jama. He said he did not know exactly when training would start, what the men's duties would include or how many men would be trained but he said the program included the renovation of a hospital and government buildings.
Somali officials are frequently killed by insurgents, both in single assassinations and en masse in suicide bombings and attacks. The Somali ambassador in Kenya previously said that up to 1,000 men could be trained in the capital for an anti-piracy force and 300 for a presidential guard.
Saracen is already training 1,000 men for an anti-piracy force in the semiautonomous northern region of Puntland.
The program has been criticized by U.S. officials who say it is unclear who is funding it, what its objectives are and whether it breaks a U.N. arms embargo.
Jama said the Somali cabinet had discussed those issues and were satisfied the embargo was not being broken but he did not say who was funding the program.
"There is a need for training," he said. "There was an effort to slow down the project (in Mogadishu) because of those concerns."
The arid Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning government since a socialist dictatorship collapsed in 1991. Its position on the Horn of Africa means pirates can use its long coastline to capture shipping.
Analysts fear that al-Qaida linked insurgents are also gaining ground across the Gulf of Aden in the unstable nation of Yemen. If Yemen fell, that would mean failed states on either side of the shipping route leading into the strategically vital Suez Canal, the route taken by a substantial portion of the world's oil shipments.
The official Somali jihad reunification ceremony pics

http://www.somaliweyn.org/pages/news/Dec_10/28Dec10.html

Obama 'must convert to Islam'

Al shabaab militant body displayed in Mogadishu for viewing by journalists

The transitional federal government of Somalia on Sunday displayed an Al shabaab militant killed

The transitional federal government of Somalia on Sunday displayed an Al shabaab militant killed in overnight Mogadishu fighting.
Abdullahi Hirsi Wardhere, Mogadishu’s Bondhere district commissioner invited a group of journalists to see the body of a murdered Al shabaab fighter.
Wardhere said Al shabaab militant fighters on Sunday night attacked government and African Union peacekeepers’ military bases in northern parts of Mogadishu.
“A number of wounded and dead militant bodies had been dragged by the Al shabaab extremist group during the gun-battle” the district commissioner told reporters.
During the press conference, cross fire and stay bullets could still be heard as the region is rife for insurgent fighting.
Al shabaab was not immediately available for comments about government’s claim.
At least four people have died and seven others are listed wounded after Al shabaab fighters and Somali government forces supported by militarily by African Union peacekeepers clashed in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu, according to witnesses.
Most of the fighting and bombardments took place in Bondhere, a district in northern Mogadishu.
Residents in the middle of the fighting are reporting the confrontations, which erupted north of Benadir region, began early Sunday morning and were joined with the sound of the heavy crackling of machine gun-fire and artillery barrages. ahl

Expatriates return to lead Somalia

For years, Abdulkareem Jama commuted from his home in Fairfax, Va., to a cushy office in Washington. Now, his desk is in Somalia’s war-torn capital. (Sudarsan Raghavan/ Washington Post)

By Sudarsan Raghavan Washington Post / December 25, 2010

MOGADISHU, Somalia — For years, Abdulkareem Jama commuted from his home in Fairfax, Va., to a cushy office in Washington. He commanded a six-figure salary. Now, his desk is in Somalia’s war-torn capital, next to a window with a golf ball-size bullet hole. He is fortunate if he gets paid his much-shrunken salary on time.
“I was standing there when the bullet came through,’’ Jama said, pointing to a spot a foot from the window. “Three bullets also entered my residence.’’

In recent months, a considerable number of Americans have joined or tried to join Somalia’s radical al-Shabab militia, raising concerns among US officials that they could one day pose a threat to the United States.

But Americans of Somali descent have also returned to their motherland to help prevent al-Shabab from gaining power. They are part of a large community of Somali expatriates who have arrived here from all over the world to join Somalia’s fragile transitional government despite immense risks.

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali American from New York, was appointed prime minister in October. His Cabinet includes several members of the Somali diaspora.

“Life is short and I want to put it to good use,’’ said Jama, the chief of staff for President Sharif Ahmed but soon to be the minister of information.

Somalia’s experience is similar to that of other violence-torn nations, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Liberia, where returning immigrants have entered politics and built businesses, providing linchpins amid war and instability. These immigrants remained intimately connected to their homelands via the Internet and satellite television.

Abdi Rashid Sheik Farah, 45, fled Somalia in 1991, following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime. He ended up in McLean, Va., and attended Catholic University. Farah, a lawyer and father of four, became a leader in Washington’s Somali community.

When Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006, he felt compelled to return home. “I wanted to stand up to the Ethiopians who invaded our lands,’’ said Farah, who joined the transitional government and is now a member of Parliament.

Recently, Parliament approved the new government after weeks of disputes over the inclusion of so many technocrats from outside Somalia.

It has been nearly 25 years since Mohamed last set foot in Somalia. After working four years in the Somali Embassy in Washington in the mid-1980s, he earned a history degree at the University of Buffalo. He later worked for the city of Buffalo’s municipal housing authority and taught conflict resolution at Erie Community College.

In August, when Somalia’s previous prime minister abruptly resigned, Mohamed submitted his resume to Ahmed, the president. Somalia’s complex, clan-based political system required that the next prime minister be a member of the Darod tribe. Mohamed fit the bill.

He met Ahmed in New York for a preliminary interview. Then Mohamed got a phone call from Ahmed’s staff asking him to fly to Mogadishu. “I was not aware I was the top candidate,’’ said Mohamed, a father of four.

His family didn’t understand why he was leaving.

When he landed at the airport, Mohamed said, he was informed that he was the new prime minister. It was his first time back in Mogadishu since 1987. Mohamed denied local speculation that he was appointed because of US pressure.

After a recent meeting in which he urged Mohamed to give more rights to minorities, Mahmoud Bare Hussein left the room shaking his head. A member of Parliament, he wondered aloud why the second-most powerful political position would be given to someone who left the country nearly 25 years ago.

“He knows nothing about the country. That’s why he will fail,’’ Hussein said.

One of Jama’s daughters recently sent him an e-mail informing him that she was taking karate classes and that he should be with her, not in Somalia.

“That’s not a good feeling,’’ he said. “But in the overall scheme of things, how people live and die here, that is a small price to pay.’’  Boston.com

China donates over 4 million dollars worth of aid for the AU mission in Somalia

  i hope there are no strings attached.

A press statement from the PM  Office on Saturday read: We appreciate and grateful for the goodwill  of the People's Republic of China. I  hope there is no  stings attached. Somali  PM made it very clear  .. "Motivation behind the financial aid". according to Short's statement, he said We ask  Ethiopian government respect the territorial integrity of Somalia including  North West Somalia  or tribal entity separatist - AKA Somaliland.. we want everyone to know "U.S. oil companies already have exclusive right. Business contracts  has been negotiated and signed by Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with American oil companies  .they Exclusive Have the Right for exploration and production.We have written contract. We ought to abide by it. 
  ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 24  The Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union (AU) Ramtane Lamamra, and the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Ethiopia Gu Xiaojie on Friday signed an agreement on the provision of aid to the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

The grant amounting to 30 million RMB, (over 4 million U.S. dollars), will be used to supply equipment and materials for AMISOM. The signing of this agreement comes in the wake of the adoption by the United Nations Security Council, on Dec. 22, of resolution 1964(2010), in which it, inter alia, requested the Secretary- General to continue to provide a logistical support package for AMISOM, for a maximum troop strength of 12,000, as called for by resolution 1863 (2009).

In resolution 1964(2010), the Security Council also called on UN Member States and regional and international organizations to make direct bilateral donations in support of AMISOM.

By generously providing aid to AMISOM, the People's Republic of China is responding to the call made by the United Nations Security Council and the earlier appeal by the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) for AU partners to support the ongoing efforts in Somalia, AU said in a statement. Gu Xiaojie reiterated China's continued commitment to strengthen its cooperation with the AU in the area of peace and security and to support all endeavors in this regard. He lauded AU's efforts and resolve towards the promotion of peace, security and reconciliation in Somalia.

Speaking on the occasion, Commissioner Lamamra stated said that "China has, over the years, been providing multifaceted assistance to the AU and African countries as they strive to address the many challenges facing the continent. Today's donation is a further testimony of China's commitment and its determination to contribute to the furtherance of peace and security in the continent".

Furthermore, Commissioner Lamamra avails himself of this opportunity to renew the appeal to all AU partners to provide the requisite support to AMISOM as it enters a new phase of its deployment.

China donates over 4 million dollars worth of aid for the AU

 It is also important to know that this week China´s national oil exploration company has been talking to tribal entity separatist aka Somaliland and discussing about Oil Exploration. However american oil companies are now saying that china cant drill anything in Somalia, since they have all the exploraton rights signed by Siad barre i the 80´s.

‘Arms smugglers’ raided : Arms destined for Pirateland Raided in South Africa

 update on

Tribal enclave separatist Puntland sings ‘secret deal’ with Saracen Energy Company, based in Houston

THE MERCURY

Police inspect weapons confiscated in a raid on a Westville, Durban home. Photo: Puri Devjee

Four people, including three women, were arrested on Thursday when Durban police raided a Westville home and seized weapons and ammunition believed to be destined for Somalia to help in the fight against piracy, but which had been illegally diverted.

Among the weapons seized were eight 308 rifles, two shotguns and two AM3 assault rifles with telescopic lens and silencers. They were hidden in one of the rooms in the house.

The firearms were found still in their transportation cases. Police also recovered 592 rounds of ammunition and 12-bore rounds.

Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Mdunge said that preliminary investigations showed the firearms had been transported from Malta.

He refused to say who the weapons were destined for as this was still being investigated.

The investigation which led them to the house in Westville had been ongoing and more firearms could be found.

“We believe the firearms were illegally diverted to South Africa, but how they ended up in Durban remains a mystery,” he said.

“We believe the house was being used as a firearms holding area,” Mdunge said.

Those arrested, two 20-year-old women, a 28-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man, would appear in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court today.

It is believed that part of the house had been converted into offices where two women were working.

Somali pirates have been involved in a spate of hijackings around the Horn of Africa, including that of a Durban couple who are still being held captive.

Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Caitz were kidnapped along with skipper Peter Eldridge on October 26.

Ten days after their capture a Dutch naval vessel gave chase and ran their vessel ashore. The pirates fled along with the couple, leaving Eldridge behind after he refused to leave the yacht. Eldridge was duly rescued by the Dutch and brought back to Richards Bay.

On Thursday Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Clayson Monyela said: “There is nothing new on the South African couple who were hijacked by Somali pirates.”

In another incident involving South Africans, two men from Cape Town who were falsely arrested for ownership of allegedly smuggled goods as well as for “impersonating journalists”, were released and arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday.

Anton van der Merwe and Chris Everson, a cameraman and a sound recordist, who both work for an American documentary news show, were travelling to work on an independent production in Somalia. Their producers had told them to board a charter aircraft at Entebbe international airport in Uganda.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been growing rapidly, with numerous vessels being hijacked and held for huge ransoms.

A number of international organisations such as the International Maritime Organisation and the World Food Programme have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy, incidents of which have contributed to an increase in shipping costs and impeded delivery of food aid shipments.

A multinational coalition naval task force has been established to monitor and inspect vessels along the north-east African coastline.

Countries which are party to this task force include France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. - The Mercury iol
· Some background.

Somalia’s Separatist media committed to spread baseless stories

 

Pirates' Haven - Al Jazeera English

The Pirates Are Winning! :

The pirate kings of Puntland Hijackers get $1.8m for ship

PIRACY SPECIAL The pirate kings of Puntland

Lobbyist hired to combat more Somali pirates??The Pirates of Puntland hired a Lobbyist

Africa Oil war has impacted communities in Galgala, Balanbal and places in the Ogaden

 

Heavy Fighting, Shelling Restart in Mogadishu :Somalia rebel groups 'merge'

 :

(TF.SF) Mogadishu — Heavy fighting and shelling between Somali government forces backed African Union peacekeepers known as AMISOM and Al shabaab fighters early Saturday morning took place in parts of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, killing at least two persons and injuring more than five others.
Residents said the confrontations, which commenced with heavy gin-fire and artillery barrages, broke out after Al Shabaab, which announced its adherence to Al Qaeda, launched hit and run attack on military bases by AMISOM and Somali forces in Bondhere, a district in northern sea-side Mogadishu.
Some of the exchanged bombardments hit very far away from battle-zones, according to locals.
Witnesses confirmed Shabelle that the wounded civilians were taken to the local hospitals for treatment.
However, this confrontation comes as Al Shabaab movement on Thursday announced it will increase attacks on what it described as apostate Somali government and invading African crusaders after Hizbul Islam and Al Shabaab officially united under Al Shabaab movement's name.
Somalia rebel groups 'merge' 
Somalia rebel groups 'merge'

Dutch cops nab 12 suspected Somali terrorists:Dutch police arrest Somalis over terrorism plot

Dutch police arrest 12 suspected Somali terrorists

 Dutch police arrest Somalis over terrorism plot
olice officers on Christmas Eve arrested 12 suspected terrorists for plotting a terrorist attack in the Netherlands, according to Dutch law enforcement officials.
The twelve suspects, between the ages of 19 and 50, were arrested late on Friday after a message was received from the Dutch intelligence and security service, the prosecutors said in a statement.
The message informed Dutch authorities that a number of Somali nationals were plotting to perpetrate a terrorist attack in the Netherlands in the near future, according to prosecutors.
A retail shop and four houses in Rotterdam were searched by counterterrorism teams including forensic specialists, as well as two motel rooms in the village of Gilze-Rijen.
During the searches, police commanders stated they found no weapons, explosives or incendiary devices. Six suspects resided in Rotterdam, while five of the suspected terrorists did not appear to have a home address. One of the men arrested is believed to be a resident of Denmark, police reported.
Counterterrorism experts in the Netherlands believe the suspects are linked to the Somali terrorist organization Al Shabaab, a group affiliated with al-Qaeda.
The Dutch arrests follow an Islamic terrorist case in which British police detectives last Monday (December 20) captured 12 suspected terrorists as a result of INTERPOL warnings regarding possible Christmas bomb attacks in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European nations.
The suspects, Muslim males aged between 17 and 28, were detained in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, and Trent and charged with suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the U.K., security officials said.
Police and MI5 searches began after the arrests at several locations, with detectives and forensic technicians seeking evidence of terrorism such as materials that could be used to make improvised explosive devices.
Interpol had issued an all-points-bulletin last week that told its more than 180 member nations that it "received information... from the Interpol office in Baghdad about possible threats, especially in the U.S. and Europe, due to orders given to al-Qaeda cells by al-Qaeda commanders."
According to a report obtained by the Terrorism Committee of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, Interpol knew about the recent suicide bombing in Stockholm prior to the blast.
During that attack, a suspected al Qaeda attacker detonated a car bomb then killed himself in a separate explosion. Fortunately, there were no deaths and only two people sustained injuries.
Swedish police identified that attacker as Iraqi-born Taimour Abdulwahab al Abdaly, who allegedly was trained by an al-Qaeda cell in the Britain. Warnings about further possible attacks also came from Iraqi government officials.
A member of the NYPD's detective bureau told this writer that a possible terrorist target would be a large public venue with large crowds of people in metropolitan areas. Among the holiday security measures is the wider use of bomb-sniffing dogs in transit systems, airports, shopping malls and other public places throughout the U.S. 

Jim Kouri

 

Somali National News Agency


somali Information Minister
daily news bulletin.

Bulletin-ka Wakaalada  SONNA Sabti 25 Dec 2010.pdf 713K View as HTML Scan and download

 

Al Shabaab Calls Al Qaeda for also Shabaab step up Burundi attack threats

Tanzania on alert after Nairobi blast

1/1

DAR ES SALAAM, Dec 23 - Tanzanian police urged vigilance during the festive season after a Tanzanian citizen detonated a grenade on a bus in Nairobi, killing himself and two other people.

"We have to be very careful and avoid crowds. People should exercise utmost care, since terrorists tend to target huge crowds," Robert Manumba, director of criminal investigations, told reporters late Wednesday.

Kenyan police identified the man who set off his Russian-made grenade while boarding a Uganda-bound bus in central Nairobi Monday as Albert John Olando Mulanda, a native of the northern Tanzanian city of Mwanza.

Manumba said Tanzanian police were still trying to confirm the identity of the Nairobi bomber, pointing out that criminals often use false identification.

Kenya ramped up security measures following the blast while Uganda has been on high alert since suicide attacks claimed by Somalia's Al Qaeda-linked Shebab group killed 76 people in July.

Al Shabaab Calls Al Qaeda for Aid

<< Al Shabaab'spokesman Sheikh Ali  Mohamud Rage

(TF.SF0Mogadishu — Somalia's Al Shabaab, which US alleges to be Al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, on Thursday demanded support and aid from Al Qaeda organization.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the unity of Al Shabaab and the destroyed Islamist group of Hizbul Islam in Mogadishu, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, the spokesman of Al Shabaab called on Jihadists in the world to come to Somalia in order to take part what he called the ongoing jihad in the horn of Africa.
Rage said Hizbul Islam and Al Shabaab merger will make the fighters to redouble attacks on what he described as Somalia's apostate government and the invading African Christians.
Sheikh Abdulfatah Mohammed Ali, former Hizbul Islam's head of information, spoke at the occasion. Ali Said Somali government and African Union peacekeepers have failed attempts in which they sthey wanted to dislodge Islamists from Mogadishu.
In the past, the group has announced its allegiance to Al Qaeda.
Officials of Hizbul Islam and Al-shabab have officially announced their unity in a ceremony held at Nasrudin mosque in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday.
This announcement comes as Al-shabab forces had taken over all military bases and areas under the control of Hizbul Islam in the past few days.

Shabaab step up Burundi attack threats

Bujumbura - Burundi's security minister said on Friday that threats by Somalia's Islamist insurgents remained high in the country after several attempts to carry out attacks were recently foiled.The small central African state has deployed some 3 500 soldiers to Somalia for the African Union force protecting the country's embattled Western-backed government."The threat is very high," said Alain Guillaume Bunyoni. "We urge the population to be vigilant and report any suspicious strangers."We have already foiled several serious attempted attacks and arrested several suspects."The East African states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are on alert over heightened Islamist threats during the festive season after a Tanzanian man detonated a grenade Monday on a Kampala-bound bus in Nairobi.No one has claimed responsibility for the blast. Kenya and Uganda have ramped up security while Tanzania urged its citizens to be vigilant.Uganda in July suffered the region's worst attacks when suicide bombers struck two Kampala bars packed with crowds watching the World Cup final, killing 76 people.

- SAPA

 

Our Time Is Now - By Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed | Foreign Policy

As Al Shabab Looms, Somali Government Running Out of Time

Photo: AFP/AMISOM

AMISOM commander, Major General Natham Mugisha (R) shakes hands with a commander from the Transitional Federal Government army a day after heavy fighting against the Al Shabaab insurgents in the Sigaale District of Mogadishu, 15 Dec 2010

t has been another violent year in Somalia with al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants establishing itself as a terrorist group that can strike beyond Somali borders.  The U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government, mired in its own internal problems, is still relying on African Union peacekeepers to keep insurgents from toppling the government and showing little sign that it will be able to establish a functioning administration before its mandate ends next August.

History in the world's most dangerous city seems to have ground to a halt. Since 1991, violence and warfare have become a fact of daily life on the Mogadishu streets, with one conflict blending into the next since the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre.

But since 2007, a new and more radical threat has confronted Somalia's fragile transitional government, threatening to overhaul southern Somalia and establish a harsh theocracy on the Horn of Africa.

Al Shabab (also known as "The Youth") entered the war-torn Somali scene in 2007 shortly after the Ethiopian Invasion. A successor to the Islamic Court's Union, the al Qaida-linked group has been battling the government to impose Sharia law in the country.

Somalia has never been short of armed insurgents, but 2010 saw Shabab develop into something more ominous. Over the course of the year, al Shabab seized most of southern and central Somalia. Despite the presence of the joint African Union and U.N. peacekeeping force AMISOM, the transitional government struggled to maintain its grip over the capital.

Al Shabab then seized world attention in July when it carried out twin suicide attacks in Kampala, Uganda killing 76 while they watched the final match of the World Cup. The blasts were carried out in retaliation for Ugandan troop presence in the AMISOM mission.

International Crisis Group analyst Rashid Abdi warns that al Shabab, once viewed merely as a regional threat, has become an international player.

"We are talking of an organization that has come of age," said Abdi.  "It is no longer an appendage of al-Qaida, it is now a clone probably which is much more serious and has the ambition to globalize the jihad and has the footsoldiers to do it."

Emboldened by their actions in Kampala, al Shabab launched its Ramadan Offensive, vowing to oust the fractured Somali government from Mogadishu by early September.

One month of bloody fighting ensued, leaving hundreds dead. But miraculously, being pushed back, the AMISOM and Government troops were able to repel the rebel advances and pick up territory of their own.

The gains were highly-touted as a step towards the end of al Shabab, but the celebration was short-lived. Violence has again picked up in Mogadishu, and a string of battles over the past few weeks have left more than 100 dead.

The commitment of the International Community has never wavered in the face of growing violence. In fact, the resolve to defeat Shabab has strengthened since Kampala. On December 22 the United Nation's approved an AMISOM troop increase from 8,000 to 12,000 and Uganda has in recent months promised to bring the number to 20,000 with international funding.

But Crisis Group's Rashid Abdi warns that a military victory in Somalia would be fleeting. Underlying the problem of al Shabab is the weak, U.N.-backed government facing it.

"There is no doubt that there isn't a military solution to this problem," added Abdi.  "A temporary victory over al Shabab is feasible. But that creates a problem by itself because - at the moment - the government has no capacity to hold the territory which AMISOM will help it gain."

A large part of the problem in Somalia is the Transitional Federal Government's inability to eliminate al Shabab and impose order. Established in 2004, the government has been wracked by near constant infighting and corruption.

But a glimmer of hope has recently emerged. In October, President Sharif appointed American citizen Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as Prime Minister. Unknown to Somalia at the time, the appointment was criticized by local leaders.

But Mohamed's insistence on experience rather than clan affiliation and his appointment of a lean, technocrat heavy cabinet has garnered praise and raised some expectations.   Despite the hopes, the new Prime Minister has only months to do what some believe impossible: oust al Shabab, deliver a constitution and hold national elections before the TFG mandate expires in August.

"The unanswered question is: are they really serious - the donors - about having a permanent government come August and how in the world are they going to do it," said U.S.-based Somalia Observer at Purdue University, Michael Weinstein.  "How does this new government fit into that? You would have to have an extended mandate for this government to be able to actually see if it can accomplish anything."

Only time will tell if the current Somali government gets another chance to bring peace to Somalia, but one thing is clear: al Shabab will be waiting for whichever government turns up in 2011. voa

Our Time Is Now - By Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed | Foreign Policy