Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
The US Treasury Department announced on Friday that it is imposing financial sanctions on a Kenyan the leader of a mosque in Nairobi's Eastleigh estate. Hassan Mahat Omar &Omar Hammami, an American citizen known as Abu Mansur al-Amriki.(OFAC Takes Aim at Al-Shabaab)
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated two key al-Shabaab figures, Omar Hammami and Hassan Mahat Omar pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13536, which targets for sanctions individuals and entities engaging in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security or stability of Somalia.
As a result of today’s action, U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with today’s designees and any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.
Omar Hammami
As one of al-Shabaab’s key figures, Hammami serves as a military tactician, recruitment strategist and financial manager for al-Shabaab. Hammami has commanded guerilla forces in combat, organized attacks and plotted strategy with al-Qa’ida. He was also involved in organizing a suicide bombing attack carried out by a Somali-American from Minnesota who traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabaab. That attack, and four others organized by Hammami and carried out in October 2008, killed more than 20 people.
Hammami, a U.S. citizen, has been indicted in U.S. District Court in Southern Alabama on a three-count indictment for allegedly providing material support, including himself as personnel, to terrorists; conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, al-Shabaab; and providing material support to al-Shabaab.
In what appeared to be an attempt to increase recruiting among Somalis, including Somali émigrés in the United States, Hammami is also featured in an al-Shabaab video in which militia members are shown training and explicitly stating their allegiance to Usama bin Laden.
He was designated today for threatening the peace and stability of Somalia, and for acting for or on behalf of and providing material support to al-Shabaab, which was listed in the Annex to E.O. 13536.
Hassan Mahat Omar
Omar is a key figure in al-Shabaab’s efforts to recruit new members and raise funds. As an ideological leader of al-Shabaab, Omar exercises leadership and decision-making authority in al-Shabaab’s internal political and operational decisions.
Omar is a key leader of a mosque in the Eastleigh section of Nairobi, Kenya, which he, along with known al-Shabaab leaders, uses to raise funds, recruit and disseminate propaganda on behalf of al-Shabaab.
Additionally, Omar is vehemently opposed to the Djibouti peace process and has issued a fatwa, or religious decree, opposing the outcome of the Djibouti peace process. Such fatwas have provided al-Shabaab with the religious justification to wage jihad against Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Worst President Ever "Obama Meets West African Leaders / Somalia Famine: Al Shabab Leadership or America’s State Department is to blame
We appreciate President Obama for taking time out of the important debate going on in the US to meet with some of the GOOD African Democrats. Each leader President Obama met today are properly elected leader, and I am happy that he met with them. The problem I have is why is the Ste Department sleeping with Meles Zenawi, a man committing GENOCIDE against the Somalis in Ogaden through food aid blockade, since 2007. Why are we handling this double standard, do we not value Somalis? Do they have to be exterminated Somalis everywhere, those in Somalia proper and those in Ogaden for one terrible mishap in 1994??? also Inside somalia Obama did nothing, al Qaida affiliate al-Shabab Somali terrorist group , Al-Shabab prevents food aid from reaching 2.2 million Somalis, people being exterminated are kids and women and elderly, why stand with our arms folded and keeping quiet??? Once a very famous civil rights movement said, in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. At the moment we are the good people watching the crime taking place and saying nothing through our silence we are allowing the crime to happen. We have to hold ourselves to that standard, although that was said some fifty years ago, but we are unable to commit our goodwill even fifty years after those words
Somalia Famine: - Al Shabab Leadership or America’s State Department is to blame
“When the Somalians were merely another hungry third world people, we sent them guns. Now that they are falling down dead from starvation, we send them troops. Some may see in this a tidy metaphor for the entire relationship between north and south. But it would make a whole lot more sense nutritionally -- as well as providing infinitely more vivid viewing -- if the Somalians could be persuaded to eat the troops”.
Barbara Ehrenreich
The above quote from the renowned author and columnist is as true today as it was back then. The country is awash with soldiers and security operatives from both sides of the divide – CIA secret prisons, Al Qaeda operatives, TFG army, the Al Shabab islamist insurgents, explosives sniffer dogs, drones, pirates, AU troops and confused humanitarian agencies. This lethal cocktail of antagonistic forces, in the absence of a strong national government in place, is bound to generate humanitarian crises of epic proportion because of the simple fact that the battle ground isn’t an empty recreational space but at the heart of densely populated regions of a stateless country.
The U.N didn’t take lightly the decision to evacuate their staff and suspend the food aid programme for about a million people in Southern Somalia in May 2010. Al Shabab militants, among the 48 aid workers killed over two years, is accused to have directly assassinated four of WFP staff, looted WFP offices and equipments, barred women aid workers from discharging their duties, demanded protection money and etc. In the face of such untenable requirements from the armed Islamists, the UN staff tried their best to resolve the anxiety through community level talks. The staff engaged village elders and other local notables to bridge the gap but the intransigent Al Shabab leadership bluntly refused to give security guarantees to aid workers on the grounds that the aid workers, in their paranoid mind, are spies and Christian missionaries in disguise.
U.S Policy on food aid needs to be responsive in emergency situations
Al Shabab’s misadventures and narrow mindedness attracted the wrath of the US government, the prime humanitarian food donor, after they went public in declaring that they are part of Al Qaida terrorist network. The U.S in line with its policy towards terrorism withheld half of its funding last year and demanded assurances from Mr. Mark Bowden, the UN’s Humanitarian co–ordinater based in Nairobi that supplies weren’t being diverted to Al shabab and other armed militants. This further complicated the already messy humanitarian situation in Somalia – only two- thirds of the 900 million dollar needed for Somalia was raised.
To accommodate the U.S goverment, U.N aid agencies and other groups that provide humanitarian assistance in Somalia spent months last year in talks with US officials over how to reasonably monitor the aid distribution in the country. Investigations launched by WFP concluded that there was no evidence of diverted food aid to Al Shabab but even that didn’t go well with the American state department. Officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the government's humanitarian aid arm, shared the United Nations' concerns and wanted to resolve the dispute; but the U.S. restrictions appear to stem from higher levels of the administration.
Mr. Bowden out of frustration said in February this year “the United States has asked U.N. agencies to enact impractical measures, which he said could further hinder aid delivery.” For much of the last ten months, Mr. Bowden was raising the issue of impending famine in Somalia at every venue to draw the world's attention to the plight of the captive people of Somalia.
It seems easier for the UN humanitarian coordinator to move mountains than to convince the US politicians to modify and rationalize their stance on humanitarian aid to the destitute and hungry nation that is facing a calamity of apocalyptic proportion. This tragedy is the consequences of a two decade old misplaced U.S short –term policies towards Somalia, and not the U.N, which has brought Al Shabab and its likes to the forefront of the Somali Politics Watch the two discussions on Somali Famine is still the same as today despite all the misfortunes that settled in Southern Somali.
Definition of Famine
•More than 30% of children must be suffering from acute malnutrition
•Two adults or four children must be dying of hunger each day for every group of 10,000 people
•The population must have access to far below 2,100 kilocalories of food per day
The US sanctions have prevented aid from reaching areas under Al Shabab control where 80% of the needy reside. Paradoxically U.S humanitarian and military aid was increased to less affected areas in Somalia and to AMISOM forces by supplying top of the range weaponry including shoulder launched drones and etc. AMISOM is repeatedly accused by Human Rights Organizations of indiscriminate shelling of residential areas of Mogadishu. Despite holding several Mogadishu districts for the weak TFG; AMISOM’s heavy handed tactics emptied civilians from Mogadishu and sustained the IDP camps in what is commonly termed as Afgoi humanitarian corridor. It seems AMISOM’s unchecked actions is pushing people to Alshabab areas as the safe haven of IDPs from Mogadishu is under control of the same Al Shabab AMISOM purports to fight. Having said so; the bottom line is if the $600 million requested by the coordinator is not forth coming and Al Shabab are not coerced to give full access to humanitarian workers then the alternative is one and only one – the spread of famine to the eight regions that lie in the south and central Somalia. Most of the humanitarian and development practitioners are in agreement that the dooms day is round the corner unless the U.S and Alshabab, stop politicizing this unfolding humanitarian catastrophe
Al Shabab are committing genocide by refusing food to Hungary people
To begin with; who should be considered Muslim? Mr. Mark Bowden who is fighting day and night to feed the famine stricken Somali people or Al Shabab who are refusing food to the people they claim to administer? I think this picture from Mr. Amin, the Somali political cartoonist, can serve as the judge and the jury.
Last week’s message from Al Shabab, a movement in leadership crisis, regarding lifting the ban of humanitarian aid workers was ambiguous at least in the Somali version and a thunderbolt to the students of Al Shabab. The proclamation wasn’t adopted unanimously by the leadership of the now factionalized group so it was premature in nature. The message in the Somali language read that Al Shabab are inviting all aid workers irrespective of their religious background to come to the assistance of the Somalis but at the end it emphasized that none should have an agenda that Al Shabab deems as undesirable. In essence Al Shabab wasn’t sincere to give free and open access to the humanitarian teams and to that end the US along with its European partners have to do whatever they can to open the roads to save the millions who are too weak to take the ardous journey to the boarders of Kenya and Ethiopia.
Listen to the speaker of the group denying the existence of famine and accusing the international community of encouraging people to cross the boarders in to the Christian countries of Kenya and Ethiopia. The Al shabab rebels can’t understand why the other 8.5 million in the region who are affected by the drought weren’t classified as famine areas too? The simple answer to this question is, unlike Al Shabab the governments of these "Christian" countries have been working with the UN early warning department and other donors and so made food aid available to the segments of their population that are considered food insecure in goodtime.
The speaker is emphasizing that the aim of the international community is to Christianize the Somali Muslims in the refugee camps of Kenya and Ethiopia. In Conclusion the speaker of the group clearly states that the previous ban on specific aid agencies is still in force. This week’s announcement is the outcome of a meeting the group had in Qoryooley and so can be taken as the final position of Al Shabab. Here is the full and unedited audio press release from Al Shabab on Friday Al Shababs keeps the ban on some aid agencies and disputes the UN declared famine
Conclusion and Recommendations: - No lull until the tide is reversed
“Across the country nearly half of the Somali population - 3.7 million people - are now in crisis, of whom an estimated 2.8 million people are in the south," said a statement by the UN Office for the co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Somalia.
In view of this situation, it is my humble opinion that Amb Johnnie Carson, the US assistant secretary of state for African Affairs should take the lead and break the ice. The immediate resources and the will of the humanitarian workers are there on the ground but the delivery to the needy people rests primarily on the US government and its allies. Most of the Somali people and aid workers were saddened by Mr. Carson's statement yesterday in which he said the US was assessing if they were seeing “real change” from Al Shabab or whether the group planned to impose some kind of “taxation “on aid deliveries.
This is an emergency situation which is nonpolitical and purely humanitarian in nature therefore the international community has to take swift action to address this harsh situation. Al Shabab made clear that eighteen agencies of which WFP, CARE, World Vision International, IMC, Somali Red Crescent, and etc can’t set foot in the territories they control then what the US government’s assessment is for other than ducking from its responsibility and letting Al Shabab get bolder by the hour – Today they already started stopping people from leaving the death trap.
The cheapest option is for the international community to funnel food aid through the Al Shabab approved agencies to alleviate and mitigate the depth of the famine and at the same time to empower the TFG to a level it can take the total responsibility of the security of the country.
Finally Al Shabab is on the creed to win all or to perish so they can’t be realistically expected to join the reconciliation process at all. In that case I believe the international community has only the weak TFG that is crying for empowerment on its side as Al Shabab preferred to travel on the road to nowhere.
Abdikarim H. Abdi Buh
Terror Free Somalia & WardheerNews,Political Analyst London UK
Terror Free Somalia & WardheerNews,Political Analyst London UK
E-Mail:abdikarimbuh@yahoo.com
We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on terror free somalia : please email your article today tf.sf@hotmail.com Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of terror free somalia Via -Abadirahman Warsame
Mama Soul Visits refugee camp in capital Mogadishu Somalia
Mama Soul ’ visit to the newly opened Badbado refugee camp the capital Mogadishu
Mohamud Ahmed Noor (Tarsan) talking to with Mama Soul /down
Mama Soul visited Badbado refugee camp in Mogadishu, to assess the current conditions of those in the camp, focusing on feeding centers, shelters and health status of children in the camp.Mama soul is a brave woman.. God bless her and god bless Somalia
Banadir provincial commissioner who is also the mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamud Ahmed Noor (Tarsan), who briefed Mama Soul on the current situation in Badbado said the camp is a home to over three thousands displaced families from the drought-hit regions of Bay, Bakol, Gedo, Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle.
While addressing the displaced persons in the camp, Mama Soul said she is extremely concerned about their crippling situation and urged the international community to provide humanitarian assistance to thousands of Somalis devastated by the current raging drought in the country.
Up to 100000 internally displaced people have arrived in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, over the last two months
Thursday, July 28, 2011
New Somalia Minister of Finance Abdinasir Mohamed Abdulle ask the solidarity of the international community for conference on drought crisis
update on US to send aid to Al-Shabaab held areas in Somalia. Oxfam says Somalia famine needs better response from Canada, other countries. UN delegation visits Mogadishu amid famine declaration in Somalia . Pree Release: Japan's $5 million donation to the 'Horn of Africa' for food. Access to Al-Shabab-Dominated Somalia Difficult. Norway Boosts Aid to Famine Victims, Seeks Talks With Al-Shabaab
The New Somalia Minister of Finance told journalists in Mogadishu on Thursday that the region is in the grips of a drought that considered being the most severe in the last half a century. He asks for help from international community. Finance Minister Abdinasir Mohamed Abdulle ask the solidarity of the international community for conference on drought crisis “The aim of the meeting is to seek a substantial increase in commitments to fund the humanitarian crisis and agree on a more permanent solution to the problems in the Horn of Africa because over 20 million people are under the threat,” said.
The UN declared a famine in areas of southern Somalia as the region experiences the worst drought in more than half a century. “The number of Somalia’s refugee population has increased from 3.4 million to currently 5 million,” said. Fighting and drought have forced thousands of Somalis into neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia. The whole world knows that Kenya and Ethiopia currently host the largest number of refugees and it cannot shoulder this responsibility alone. He called on the international community need to support Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia by increasing food aid to help the east African nation cope with an influx of Somali refugee in Kenya, Ethiopia and also displaced from
their homes inside the country in refugees’ camps.
Kenya government is set to convene an international conference in Nairobi in late August to find a lasting solution to the refugee and food crisis that has gripped the Horn of Africa.
Minister-Abdinasir Mohamed Abdulle Ph.D. (Economics) New Somalia Minister of Finance, he have a Ph.D. in Economics from Utah State University. … He was economics Professor Weber State University Ogden, UT before becoming Minister of Finance.
by- Abdirahman Warsame
Terror Free Somalia Foundation
AMISOM / TFG Forces contain extremist threat to humanitarian operations in Mogadishu.Government Army with AU Forces Launches Offensive in Mogadishu
AMISOM and TFG forces have this morning (28 July) mounted highly targeted security operations to contain and remove the threat of continued al Shabaab attacks along the front line and increase security for IDP Camps in TFG controlled areas of Mogadishu.This limited and pinpoint offensive has resulted in the capture of the strategically important positions of Florenza, Sinai and Monopolio Junctions in north east Mogadishu. During the course of the operation 41 civilian hostages being held by al Shabaab were able to escape to TFG controlled territory.AMISOM Force Spokesman, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, said: “Following a period of sustained provocation from al Shabaab, our troops have dealt with specific security threats in a short tactical offensive operation. This action will further increase security in the TFG controlled areas of Mogadishu and ensure that aid agencies can continue to operate and get vital supplies to internally displaced persons. “AMISOM fully understands the need to restrain military operations while the aid agencies mount their humanitarian campaign. However, we are here to maintain stability in Mogadishu, and if we perceive a threat from the extremist insurgents, then it is our duty to protect and defend the most vulnerable from this threat.“We can reassure the humanitarian community that they can continue to operate in relative safety, and that we will keep them informed of any necessary future operations while we work with them to limit the impact on their lifesaving activities.”The most recent extremist attack on AMISOM troops occurred two nights ago (26 July) when al Shabaab fighters targeted a Burundian-held position in African Village, central Mogadishu, with small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades and mortars.African Village is situated 4km from Badbado IDP Camp, where thousands of civilians have gathered to receive emergency aid.Lt Col Ankunda, said: "We are concerned about the extremists' reckless attacks given the humanitarian activities being carried out presently. Despite their earlier decision to allow agencies to deliver aid to famine victims, the Al Shabaab has already denied hundreds of thousands of Somalis access to food aid, telling them instead to go back to their areas. We fear that they may attack internally displaced persons in Mogadishu, who are still in range of Al Shabaab mortars and indirect fire."Since AMISOM deployed to Mogadishu in 2007, al Shabaab has launched major offensives every year during the Ramadan period. Intelligence reveals that over the past month the organisation has been bringing additional fighters into Mogadishu and attacks on AMISOM positions are likely to increase.
ENDS
Paddy Ankunda
Major
AMISOM Force Spokesman
Tel: Somalia: (+252) 699 758567
(+252) 615 800500
(+252) 62380889
Tel: East Africa: (+256) 772696070
Pics of Mogadishu, today seized neighborhood from the shabaab terrorists via terror free somalia
Cleaning up terrorest insurgent one neighborhood at a time
Somali government forces and African Union peacekeepers have launched an offensive in Mogadishu, in what is believed to be a pre-emptive strike after militant Islamist group al-Shabaab announced it was planning to step up operations during Ramadan.Early reports say that the government forces have taken three intersections (Florenza, Sinai and Monopolio) in north-east Mogadishu.
The TFG force commander, Ali Anood, said his forces were planning on entering the insurgent stronghold of Bakara Market properly as soon as possible.
General abduladir Sheakh Ali Dini commander of the Somali national told to Terror free Free Somalia. We are Cleaning up One neighborhood at a Time from terrorest insurgent, next coming days further actions were planned against al-Shabaab bases in Mogadishu, naming Mogadishu Stadium, Towfiik, Huriwaa and Suqa-holaha neighborhood.
Ex-Recruit Speaks Out on Al-Shabaab Experience, Methods
MINNEAPOLIS - As a new round of congressional hearings focuses in on the terror group al-Shabaab in Somalia, FOX 9 News delved into a question few have dared to ask: What is the connection between a local mosque and the recruitment of Somali youths?As the nation’s lawmakers take a deeper look into the radicalization of American Somalis, many are asking how the young people became radicalized to begin with. How do you take a teenager and convince him it’s his duty as a good Muslim to fight -- and possibly die -- for a country he may not even remember?In an attempt to answer that question, FOX 9 News spoke with a man who has seen both sides of the Holy War.“They were telling us, ‘One day, we’ll take over the whole world,’” recalled the former recruit, who will be identified only as Marsel.Marsel said he was recruited for jihad in Somalia at just 16 years old.“I was involved with the mother organization,” he admitted.Marsel said he was trained by al-Quaeda for a group that would later become known as al-Shabaab. At training camp, there were religious lectures at night and terrorism classes by day, he said.“They were like a mystery to us,” Mansel recalled. “In the mornings, they were our teachers -- teaching us everything from hand grenades to making bombs.”Mansel’s journey began in the early 90s, when Somalia was beginning its long road into anarchy. Injured and disillusioned, Marsel found his way -- like thousands of other refugees -- to Minnesota, where he married and settled down to raise a family.He sent his three young sons to Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center, the state’s largest mosque located in south Minneapolis, on the weekends to keep them away from drugs and gangs. Then, Mansel said one of his own children brought home a message that spoke to him once before.“’Is America our country, our enemy, or ally? How do we know that, dad?’ When your children approach you and ask you these kinds of questions, a parent is only left to wonder: What am I going to do about my children?” Mansel said.Mansel said it happened slowly -- almost imperceptibly, but he asked his son where those questions came from and was pointed toward several lectures from Sharif Mohamed Umal.Umal is a controversial and charismatic leader based in Kenya, and one of his numerous lectures from Nairobi was delivered via satellite straight into Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center.
The FOX 9 Investigators recovered a recording from a teenager’s iPod of one of Umal’s lectures focusing on Muslims living among infidels.“What we need is the average Muslim to be true to what he has in his heart. That is, to be with the righteous against the evil people,” the recording says.Abdi Bihi is a community leader who has long warned that some of the so-called scholarly lectures at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center were not only divisive, but are also potentially dangerous.“He is radical to the bone,” Bihi said of Umal.Bihi said Umal’s lectures can sound like a call to action for young people hearing news from Somalia that Ethiopian troops are invading their home country, raping women and children in the process.“This guy is building the fundamental beliefs of this community and these young people,” Bihi said. “He’s laying down the bricks of radicalization. That’s his job.”The iPod containing the recording belonged to one of the Minneapolis teenagers who vanished from Minnesota nearly three years ago, presumably to go fight in Somalia. His parents did not want to be identified, but said he attended religious school at Abubakar As-Saddique for years and believe that is where he downloaded the lectures.The device contains a mix of the innocent and the insidious, ranging from children’s cartoons telling the story of Mohammed to dozens of podcasts from Anwar al-Awlacki, the notorious leader of al-Quaeda in Yemen. Since the death of Osama bin Laden, al-Awlacki has topped the FBI’s wanted list and the CIA’s assassination target list.So how does faith turn to fighting? Bihi said it’s a problem that’s not limited just to Islam.“Misinterpretation of our holy book -- that’s what we have to deal with,” he said.Many major religions have sects inside that quibble about details and can lean to the extremes, but Bihi said terror groups are using indoctrination as a tool, and he said he knows those techniques were used to manipulate his own nephew, Burhan Hassan.Hassan attended youth programs at Abubakar As-Saddique and also listend to al-Awlacki lectures before he left Minneapolis in November 2008 to join al-Shabaab in Somalia, where he died. Family members say they believe Hassan was killed by the group when he became too sick to fight.Travel itineraries show many of the missing young men first traveled to Kenya, where they reportedly stayed or visited Nairobi’s renowned Sixth Street Mosque, led by none other than Umal.“He’s going to welcome them to his mosque, the Sixth Street Mosque, where al-Shabaab will take them to Somalia,” Bihi said. “Every missing kid in our comminuty, missing for Abubakar As-Saddique.”Despite repeated requests, no religious leaders from Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center were willing to speak with the FOX 9 Investigators, and some of those attending prayer were less-than-eager to let FOX 9 ask questions on Wednesday.In the lobby of the Islamic center, there’s now a sign warning against recruiting at the mosque, but according to a federal indictment, Cabdulaahi Faarax was doing just that Known as Smiley, the Minneapolis cab driver was a recruiter for al-Shabaab and conducted teleconferences with the group at a mosque believed to be Abubakar As-Saddique. Among those recruited, Faraah Beledi, a former gang member known as Bloody, who lived up to his name two months ago when he blew himself at a checkpoint in Somalia. Beledi killed himself and three others in the attack.Beledi was once a volunteer for youth programs at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center, and was even a speaker at one of the mosque’s open houses held after another man who attended the mosque, Shirwa Ahmed, became the first American suicide bomber in an attack that killed 22 in Somalia.It was that event that caught the attention of the FBI three years ago, according to Donald Oswald, who is the new man in charge of the Minneapolis FBI office.“You hit it on the head when you said they could, in fact, do the same activity in this country,” Oswald said. “Whether it’s a lone-wolf syndrome, that is a problem. We try to stay on top of it.”Oswald was brought to Minneapolis specifically because of his counter-terrorism background. Still, he says that while agents can follow the money trail, the ideological trail is more elusive and First Amendment rights protect the satellite episodes.“Generally speaking, they have the right to worship as they see fit,” Oswald said. “Until they cross the line.”Yet, Marsel said he believes the line has already been crossed and took his children out of Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center two years ago because he doesn’t want them listening to leaders who would have them follow his footsteps into jihad.“They can say whatever they want and don’t’ care about repercussions,” he said. “The mosque is using this to radicalize young people without being responsible and not leaving any paper trail.”The controversial issue has been a point of contention within the mosque itself, which has moderated the tone and tenor of its lectures in the past few months. However, police were called to break up a fight at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center July 4 after some young people accused the mosque of turning its back on Somalia.It is important to note that federal prosecutors have said they believe the suspects indicted on recruiting charges were acting as individuals and proxies for al-Shabaab, not as representatives of the mosque
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Indicted Al-Shabaab Recruiter Continues Jihad on Facebook
Terror recruiter has 500+ Facebook friends, mostly Somali-American high school and college students.
As the House Homeland Security Committee prepares to hold hearings this week on the issue of radicalization in the Somali community, it is important to note the reach that the al-Shabaab terrorist group has into the United States. Earlier this month I reported exclusively here at PJM on a fresh set of al-Shabaab recruits from Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio that were interviewed on their way to Somalia by award-winning Kenyan journalist Fatuma Noor. And in June, I broke the story about an al-Shabaab suicide bomber from Minneapolis — the second Somali suicide bomber from Minneapolis, and only the third recorded case of an American successfully carrying out a suicide bombing (all three were Somali-Americans).Undoubtedly one of the issues that the Homeland Security Committee will be looking at is how more than two dozen young Somali-Americans, many of whom were good students coming from middle-class families, were recruited to travel overseas to join the global jihad. What will likely never be mentioned: how that recruitment continues unimpeded today.Not only is the Minnesota mosque that has served as the “radicalization incubator” for many of these youths still churning out jihadist recruits, but one of al-Shabaab’s top recruiters continues his recruiting efforts openly on Facebook and has targeted hundreds of Somali high school and college students.
Cabdulaahi Faarah (Faarax), a naturalized U.S. citizen, has proven to be one of al-Shabaab’s most effective Western recruiters. Now residing in Mogadishu, he uses his Facebook page to continue his recruiting efforts. In just the past week he has added more than 50 new friends — most of them in the U.S. — bringing the total number of his friends on Facebook to more than 500. His Facebook page was linked in a story by the Minneapolis Mirror following the June suicide bombing.In 2009, Faarah was indicted along with several others for conspiring to kill or injure others outside the United States, in addition to lying to law enforcement investigating the disappearance of more than 20 Somali-Americans who had left to fight with al-Shabaab. According to affidavits submitted to the court at the time of his indictment, Faarah had previously fought in Somalia where he was wounded in the leg, prompting his return to the U.S. But the one-time cab driver continued his support efforts, openly recruiting for al-Shabaab at an unnamed Minneapolis mosque in the fall of 2007, where al-Shabaab officials in Somalia joined in over a telephone loudspeaker. He later led recruiting sessions at a Minneapolis residence. An FBI press release issued upon his indictment said that Faraah was repeatedly interviewed by law enforcement authorities, but each time he denied fighting with al-Shabaab or even knowing anyone who had.In October 2009, Faarah was part of a group that drove to the Mexican border to travel to Somalia. During their trip they were stopped in Las Vegas by police, and were let go despite the fact that Faarah was on the terror watch list. His picture is even kept on the FBI website.
Also traveling with Faarah on that trip was Farah Mohamed Beledi, who was the recruit who carried out the suicide bombing in June. In fact, reports initially indicated that the suspect in that blast was Faarah himself.
He uses his Facebook page for more than just recruitment. In a recent Washington Post profile of anti-terror activist Abdirazik Bihi, whose nephew Burhan Hassan was recruited and eventually killed fighting with al-Shabaab, Bihi said that the day he testified before the House Homeland Security Committee’s much-maligned radicalization hearing in March he received a friend request on Facebook from Faarah. Bihi perceived this as a taunt from the terror recruiter.If the past two House Homeland Security Committee hearings on Islamic radicalization already this year are any indicator, the upcoming hearing will generate more heat than light. And yet the issues they have raised and the attention they have brought to the issue, despite all the faux cries of neo-McCarthyism by Islamic groups and their establishment media allies, are long overdue.As we approach the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, terrorist recruiters are operating openly and without impediment in American mosques and online. Terrorist groups still rely heavily on fundraising in the U.S. and the West. And Islamic groups that promised to tone down their rhetoric after being called out after 9/11 are not only back to pushing their hateful and violent ideology, they are even hosting major conferences at premiere hotels in America’s largest cities. Witness the one held by extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir in a DoubleTree hotel ballroom in Chicago on June 26.If Congress really wants to investigate the problem of Islamic radicalization, they can start right there.
via BJM by our good friend Patrick Poole
Top Al shabab officials killed in an ambush military attack in central Somalia
moderate Ahlu Sunna Waljama ASWJ fighters
MOGADISHU – High profile officials of Al shabab including Kabakutukade, a senior Al shabab commander and governor of Galgudud region in central Somalia have been killed in an ambush attack carried out by the Imoderate clerics of Ahlu Sunna Waljama according to the spokesman of the group on Wednesday.
Sheik Abdullahi Sheik Abdirahman Abu Qadi, the spokesman of Ahlu Sunna had said in a brief statement given to allvoices said that they had killed 5 commanders of Al shabab militants in central Somalia pointing out that the men included Sheik Yusuf Sheik Isse known as (Kabaktukade), who was the representative of Al shabab for Galgudud region
“All praise be to Allah and his messenger blessing, this morning, around 8:00 am. Ahlu Sunna heroes or fighter had ambushed and attacked al shabab at the areas of War-dhumale and Elgod villages in Galgudud, I can confirm to you that we killed 5 high commanders. Shiek Yusuf Kabakutiukade was seriously wounded in the attack and the other 5 men were all murdered by our forces,” said Abu Qadi
The spokesman confirmed that the they could assure they killed 5 commanders asserting their names as Abdikarin Farole, the deputy commander of al shabab in Galgudud region, Ahmed Dhere, head of justice and 3 others including the governor of the region Sheik Kabakutukade who was reportedly died for hid sustained series injuries in the attack.
There is no comment about the ambush attack carried claimed by Ahlu Sunna Waljama from from Al shabab officials in central Somalia so far. Allvoices
ASWJ controls Guri-El, Dusamareb, Abudwaq, Balanbale and Herale, but al-Shabaab has built up its forces in nearby towns such as Elbur, Galhariri, Wabho, Warholo, Mahaas and Elgaras, all of which lie in the Galgadud and Hiran regions,
The moderate Sufi group, which renounced its non-violent creed and entered the conflict after militant Islamist group al-Shabaab desecrated Sufi graves, is often accused of serving as a proxy for Ethiopia, which withdrew from Somalia in early 2009 after a two-year occupation that sparked the ongoing insurgency. As well as handing out weapons, Ethiopia has trained at least 500 ASWJ fighters on its own soil before sending them back into Somalia.
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The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.
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We Are Winning the War on Terrorism in Horn of Africa
The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.