Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Horn of Africa News: Ethiopian, Somali Forces Set to Advance on Al-Shab...
Horn of Africa News: Ethiopian, Somali Forces Set to Advance on Al-Shab...: In Somalia, government forces backed by Ethiopian troops are set to advance on the Bay and Bakool regions, key strongholds of the militant g...
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
One of the main leader of tribal chief from West Puntland Suldaan Siciid Cismaan Farax killed by armed men in the city. Gunmen kill an elder in Galkayo townTaariikh Nololeedkii Suldaan Siciid Cismaan Faarax Halkan ka baro :acsi ka timid qaybaha kaladuwan ee bulshada Gaalkacyo kuna Socota Ehelada Marxuum.Suldaan Siciid faarax
Unknown assailants on Thursday shot dead a traditional elder in Galkayo town, Mudug region, under unknown circumstances.
reports say the gunmen shot dead the deceased,West Puntland Suldan Sa’id Osman, an elder Born And Raised city of Goldogob, Mudug region of Puntland, Somalia He has been leaving the city of Abudwak In the past several years, as he walk near Puntland’s area administration headquarter. The assailants immediately fled the area.
The elder is said to have arrived the city just recently. Although the identity and the motive of the gunmen are yet to be established, locals suspect that the attack was a revenge attack based on clan rivalry.Local authorities have not yet released any comment regarding the incident.Galkayo has in the past months seen several similar incidents, raising eyebrows among the locals, with local administrations in the south and north of city promising to contain the situation.
Gaalkacyo:(Allpuntland)-Iyadoo
saaka magaalada Gaalkacyo ee xarunta gobolka Mudug lagu toogtay eebe ha u
raxmadee Suldaan Siciid Cismaan Faarax oo kamid ahaa
Salaadiinta Soomaaliyeed islamarkaasna ay malayshiyo hubaysan ay dishay loona
dilay Aano qabiil ayaa ay qaybaha kaladuwan ee bulshada gobolka Mudug gaar
ahaana Waxgaradka & Siyaasiyiinta gobolku ka tacsiyeeyeen geerida naxdinta
leh ee ku timid Marxuum.Suldaan Siciid Shoobare.
Qaybaha
kaladuwan ee Bulshada gobolka Mudug ayaa muujiyey sida ay u taabatay geerida
naxdinta leh ee kutimid Marxuumka oo gudaha magaalada lagu dilay Waxaana ay
tacsi tiiranyoleh u direen ehelada, asxaabta, qaraabadii & Dhamaan Ummada
Soomaaliyeed ee uu ka geeryooday marxuumkan oo ay sheegeen inuu qayb muhiim ah
uga jiray nabadaynta & isku keenista dadka walaalaha dilkiisuna uu ahaa mid
laga noxo.
Sidoo
kalena Siyaasiyiinta & Waxgaradka gobolka Mudug waxay si gaar ah tacsi ugu
direen ehelada Marxuumkan oo ay sheegeen inay la wadaagayaan geerida Suldaanka
oo ay sheegeen inuu ka geeryooday bulshada Soomaaliyeed si gaar ahna uu shacabka
reer Gaalkacyo u taabanayo maadaama uu mudo Suldaanku kusugnaa islamarkaasna ka
qaybqaadanayey hormarka dhanka Nabada ee Gaalkacyo ka
jirto.
Tacsidan
waxaa diraya Siyaasiyiinta & Aqoonyahanada kala ah:-
Dr.Maxamed
Cali Yuusuf (Gaagaab) Madaxweyne xigeenkii hore ee dawlada Puntland.
Jen.Cali Cabdirisaaq Sheekh Cismaan (Cali Baadiye)
Cilmi Cali Guuleed
Maxamed Abshir Dhoo-Dhoole
Cali Maxamed Daahir Afqarshe
Dr.Bashiir Cali Biixi
Faarax Cabdi Doorshe
Eng.Cabdulqaadir Maxamed Maxamuud (Fiyoore)
Cismaan Barre Khalaf
Eng.Yuusuf Cali Xirsi Iyo Dad kale oo aad u farabada.
Xafiiska
Wararka Allpuntland, Gaalkacyo.Jen.Cali Cabdirisaaq Sheekh Cismaan (Cali Baadiye)
Cilmi Cali Guuleed
Maxamed Abshir Dhoo-Dhoole
Cali Maxamed Daahir Afqarshe
Dr.Bashiir Cali Biixi
Faarax Cabdi Doorshe
Eng.Cabdulqaadir Maxamed Maxamuud (Fiyoore)
Cismaan Barre Khalaf
Eng.Yuusuf Cali Xirsi Iyo Dad kale oo aad u farabada.
Monday, January 16, 2012
U.S. Muslims join Somali insurgency fight ,Americans Rise In Rank Inside Somalia Jihadi Group
U.S. Muslims join Somali insurgency fight
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The October al-Qaida video shows a light-skinned man handing out food to families displaced by famine in Somalia. But the masked man is not Somali, or even African — he’s a Wisconsin native who grew up in San Diego.
A handful of young Muslims from the U.S. are taking high-visibility propaganda and operational roles inside an al-Qaida-linked insurgent force in Somalia known as al-Shabab. While most are from Minnesota, which has the largest Somali population in the nation, al-Shabab members include a Californian and an Alabaman with no ancestral ties to Somalia.“They are being deployed in roles that appear to be shrewdly calculated to raise al-Shabab’s international profile and to recruit others, especially those from the United States and other English-speaking countries,” said Anders Folk, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted suspected al-Shabab supporters in Minnesota.
Officials fear another terrorist attack in East Africa. Kenya announced on Jan. 7 that it had thwarted attempted al-Shabab attacks over the holidays. The same day, Britain’s Foreign Office urged Britons in Kenya to be extra vigilant, warning that terrorists there may be “in the final stages of planning attacks.”
More than 40 people have traveled from the U.S. to Somalia to join al-Shabab since 2007, and 15 of them have died, according to a report from the House Homeland Security Committee. Federal investigations into al-Shabab recruitment in the U.S. have centered on Minnesota, which has more than 32,000 Somalis.
At least 21 men have left Minnesota to join al-Shabab in that same time. The FBI has confirmed that at least two of them died in Somalia as suicide bombers. A U.S. citizen is suspected in a third suicide bombing, and another is under investigation in connection with a fourth bombing on Oct. 29 that killed 15 people.
The star of the al-Qaida video was Jehad Mostafa, 30, a Californian who handed out food using the name Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir, according to the SITE Monitoring Service. The Washington Post reported last year that Mostafa served as top lieutenant to Saleh Nabhan, a senior al-Qaida operative killed by Navy SEALs in a helicopter attack inside Somalia in 2010.
Mostafa and the Alabaman, Omar Hammami, 27, are among about a dozen men who have been charged in federal court in the U.S. and are believed to be in Somalia.
The Americans appear to have been motivated by the Ethiopian army’s intervention in Somalia in 2006, which they saw as an invasion. However, many experts believe it’s only a matter of time before al-Shabab turns its wrath on the U.S., which in February 2008 designated it as a terrorist organization. The group killed 76 people in terrorist bombings in Uganda in 2010 during the World Cup final.
U.S. military commanders fear that Americans inside al-Shabab could train as bombmakers and use their U.S. passports to carry out attacks in the United States.
E.K. Wilson, the agent overseeing the FBI’s investigation in Minneapolis, said he cannot comment on whether there is an outstanding order to capture or kill Americans fighting for al-Shabab. The FBI has publicly said the Americans should return to the U.S.
It’s a mystery what caused Mostafa, a young man whom many remember as mild and friendly, to join an extremist group.
Mostafa grew up in San Diego and graduated from the University of California San Diego. Imam Abdeljalil Mezgouri of the Islamic Center of San Diego, the city’s largest mosque, said Mostafa was a respectful teen and good student.
“He was a very quiet, very loving boy. He didn’t talk too much but when he did talk, people liked him,” said Mezgouri.
Mezgouri said Mostafa got married in his early 20s to a woman he believed was from Somalia.
Public records show Mostafa was the president of the now-defunct Muslim Youth Council of San Diego, or MYCSD. The former organization’s Web site says the group was “dedicated to showing the world that Islam is a religion of peace and Muslims are a peaceful and productive part of society.”
Mostafa’s father, Halim Mostafa, a Kurdish Syrian, is a prominent figure in San Diego’s Muslim community who has tried to build bridges with non-Muslims. He made a low-budget film released in 2008 called “Mozlym” to show how the true meaning of Islam is often lost amid the misconceptions of non-Muslims in America, according to the film’s Web site.
Mostafa’s father declined to talk.
“I just don’t want to get involved. I’m really sorry I cannot say anything. God bless you,” he said.
Edgar Hopida, a spokesman for the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Halim Mostafa believes in the most liberal interpretation of Islam and noted that “it’s ironic if his son is involved with al-Shabab.”
Mostafa is believed to have met American militant Anwar al-Awlaki about a decade ago at a San Diego mosque, according to The Washington Post. He went to Somalia in 2005. Federal officials declined to comment.
Mostafa was indicted in August 2010 on terrorism charges for allegedly providing material support to al-Shabab. Mostafa has a leadership role inside al-Shabab and serves as a key liaison to al-Qaida, said Evan Kohlmann, who has assisted government investigations into al-Shabab recruiting and financing.
AP could not reach Mostafa or Hammami for comment. A spokesman for al-Shabab said that the questions AP emailed were “of a personal nature relating to the roles and activities of certain individuals and for that reason they were left unanswered.”
The spokesman also said al-Shabab and al-Qaida were “brothers in Islam.” He did not provide a name but emailed from an address used by al-Shabab’s media outreach wing, which also recently launched a Twitter feed.
The Alabaman, Hammami, 27, has taken on the role of jihadi lecturer and Islamic scholar. After U.S. Navy SEALs killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan earlier this year, Hammami threatened to avenge the killing at a news conference near Mogadishu.
Al-Awlaki’s death by a U.S. drone in Yemen in September left Hammami as the most influential U.S. English speaker in the jihadi propaganda sphere, said terrorism expert Ben Venzke. Hammami is also known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki or “the American.”
“His more accessible image and manner of speaking may prove a growing and significant threat to not just the region around Somalia but for future attacks on U.S. soil,” said Venzke of the Washington-based IntelCenter.
Hammami grew up in Daphne, Ala., a bedroom community of 20,000 outside Mobile known for sunsets on the Gulf of Mexico, seafood and high school football. The phone directory lists 43 Christian churches and not a single Islamic congregation in Daphne.
The son of a Christian mother and a Syrian-born Muslim father, Hammami attended Daphne High School. Then-assistant principal Don Blanchard recalls Hammami as generally well liked.
“Omar I would not classify as a troubled kid,” said Blanchard.
Hammami enrolled at the University of South Alabama, where he was president of the Muslim Student Association. Following the 2001 terror attacks, Hammami spoke to the student newspaper.
“Even now it’s difficult to believe a Muslim could have done this,” The Vanguard quoted Hammami as saying.
Hammami went to Somalia in 2006. He was indicted in 2007 on terrorism charges, and faced more charges in 2009 for providing material support to terrorists.
Hammami, who wears a long beard and often raps in al-Shabab videos, released a nearly 50-minute lecture in October to commemorate five years with the group. He spouts hatred for “Western oppression.” In the video, provided to AP by the IntelCenter, he compares his upbringing in America with his life in Somalia, where he says a microwave — “or even a normal oven” — is a rarity.
The English speaker serves as a recruiter and fundraiser and is one of the top people in charge of al-Shabab’s foreign fighters, Kohlmann said.
Hammami attends morning fighting drills and motivates new recruits, former al-Shabab fighter Abdi Hassan told AP. Hammami avoids mobile phones for fear intelligence agencies will trace him, and uses pseudonyms on the Internet.
“He sometimes cries with emotion, which makes others cry with him,” said Hassan. He added, “Every new American is asked to convince his friends to come. The Americans’ suicide attacks and speeches are meant to attract other Americans.”
The Americans helped produce what Venzke calls one of the most sophisticated recruitment videos ever released, featuring Minneapolis men in a July 2008 ambush of Ethiopian troops along a road in Somalia. Another video features a Minneapolis man who appeals to others to join the cause in English.
Al-Shabab does not just recruit from the U.S. Three suspects accused of having ties to al-Shabab are now in prison in Australia and awaiting sentencing for allegedly planning an attack on an Australian military base.
Dozens of U.K. residents have also traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabab, and the British government is concerned that Somalia shows many of the characteristics that made Afghanistan “a seedbed for terrorism.”
Rick Nelson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in even the possibility of military reprisal might not deter al-Shabab from carrying out an attack inside the United States.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Police foil 29 Ugandans’ bid to join Al Shabaab Al Qaeda-linked Terror Group
Anti-terror police officers are questioning 29 Ugandans who were allegedly headed for Somalia to join the terror group Al Shabaab in fighting "Jihad war".
The 27 men and two women were arrested from a house in Maji Mazuri, Kasarani area.Police had been tipped the suspects had been brought there by an Al Shabaab agent who wanted to facilitate their movement to Somalia.And when the officers staged a raid on the house, they found them in rooms. They told police they had been informed, "they will be taken to Somalia where they will get better jobs".Anti-terror police were on Thursday looking for the agent for questioning amid fears of increased number of foreigners seeking to go to Somalia to join the terror group.The officers were also talking to the detainees as they sought help from Uganda to know their status.Nairobi Area head of CID Peter Muinde said they were contemplating to release the Ugandans because there was no evidence to show they were headed for Somalia or they have terror links."We want to know their motive and if there are others here or on the way. But for now we have not obtained any evidence that can show they are terror suspects or sympathisers," he said.Muinde added they suspect the Ugandans are victims of human trafficking.He added they could not take chances in this era of terrorism and that is why they are questioning the suspects. via The Standard
Kenyan policemen killed near Somalia border.UPDATE Al Shabaab attack Kenyan police camp, kill 7
UPDATE Al Shabaab attack Kenyan police camp, kill 7
Kenyan Police
Gunmen have killed at least five people including three Kenyan police officers in one of the heaviest attack at police camp in north-eastern border region with Somalia, police say.
The Wednesday night attack targeting an Administration Police (AP) Camp in Gerile settlement, Wajir South district, 100 km from Wajir town also killed a local immigration official and a civilian, police said.
Three other officers are nursing wounds and 14 others are missing following the attack that saw the militants escape with a vehicle and weapons from the camp, The Standard reports.
Police say local district registrar of persons, District Officer, Chief and intelligence officers are missing and are yet to be traced after the incident.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe confirmed the attack but said he had not yet “received the full details.”
Senior police officers led by North Eastern Police boss Leo Nyongesa and the area Provincial Commissioner, James Ole Serian flew to the area on Thursday as other senior officers held a crisis meeting in Nairobi, added The Standard.
Locals have reportedly said that the attack caught the officers at the Gerile AP camp in Wajir South by surprise as they had retreated to their tents when it happened.
The officers had been supervising a registration exercise in the area for the better part of the day before they were attacked.
Witnesses said gunmen who crossed from Somalia numbering about 40 drove in five vehicles surrounded the camp before they attacked it with bombs and bullets, according to The Standard.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Kenyan officials have blamed Somali militants for previous attacks.
There have been several attacks on police camps in the three months since Nairobi sent troops into Somalia to fight the Al-Shabaab group.
Gunmen killed three Kenyan police and wounded two others in the latest of a string of attacks in the northeastern border region with war-torn Somalia, police said Thursday.
Hand grenades have been thrown into bars and a church, while homemade explosive devices have been set off, many targeting security forces.
Is Somalia's al-Shabab on the back foot?
Somalia's militant al-Shabab insurgent group stares a possible military collapse in the face as a coalition of African forces, fighting on multiple fronts, steadily advances on its southern heartland and the United States steps up drone and naval attacks.
Its military fortunes have dramatically worsened in the last year.It began when an alliance of clans supported by Ethiopia pushed it out of most of the central regions of Hiran and Galgudud.This was followed by the loss of the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011 - no doubt a big psychological and political blow.Outgunned by the African Union force (Amisom), its ability to wage a conventional war seriously diminished and having suffered huge losses, al-Shabab's badly mauled combat units pulled out of the battered capital they have struggled to control since early 2007.
Al-Shabab has withdrawn from Mogadishu, which has been at the centre of the conflict since 1991
In the southern regions of Gedo and Juba, Kenyan combat troops and allied local militias, backed by heavy armour and fighter jets, have been putting pressure on al-Shabab in the last three months, making significant territorial gains.Ethiopian troops made an incursion into Somalia in the New Year, the biggest since the December 2006 invasion.They quickly overran the strategic south-central town of Beledweyen and rapidly advanced southwards towards the valley of the River Shabelle.That an ambitious and increasingly concerted military campaign is now under way in southern Somalia seems obvious.A formidable array of forces has been mobilised, though it is not yet clear the extent to which the war is being co-ordinated and who, if anyone, is taking the lead.Even if al-Shabab is not decisively defeated, the group is unlikely to withstand the combined firepower of these armies.
Of course, many things could go wrong on the military and political front.Foreign military intervention is deeply unpopular in Somalia and hugely counter-intuitive, at least from a historical perspective.It inflames public passions, radicalizes society and exacerbates political polarization.So far, Somali opposition to the Kenyan and Ethiopian interventions has largely been muted. We have not seen the huge visceral blow back predicted by some critics.
'Gratuitous, indiscriminate violence'More interestingly, the extremists appear to have failed to rally Somalis or to effectively play the nationalist card as they did in 2006.All this does not however mean Somalis are now more accepting of foreign military involvement.
Despite an instinctive opposition to the presence of foreign armies, many are beginning to accept - grudgingly, no doubt - this can only happen through a concerted regional and international military response.
This new attitude of realism and cautious endorsement on the Somali street is fragile.
It could quickly turn into hostility if the war turns messy and protracted and the political dividends fail to materialise or meet expectations.
The onus must be on Amisom, the lead agency on the ground, to prevent this from happening.
It needs to move with speed to craft an overarching military and political strategy and build cohesion and unity of purpose, aware the alliance could become unwieldy and potentially fractious as more countries join the mission.
In particular, there is need to prevent regional rivalries, narrowly perceived national interests and competing agendas from derailing the whole campaign.Two countries whose renewed involvement in Somali has fed such fears are Kenya and Ethiopia.Kenya's decision to join Amisom is partly designed to fend off such suspicions.Nairobi has been stung by the intense speculation its aim is to create a buffer region in the Juba Valley.It is far from clear to what extent, if at all, its new membership in Amisom may have modified the original plan to create Jubaland.If the cynics are to be believed, Kenya has - by joining Amisom - simply obtained a convenient regional diplomatic and political cover to lend legitimacy to its Jubaland project.
Counter-productive?
Ethiopia's renewed military foray into the central regions of Hiran and Galgudud and further south into the Shabelle Valley may be part of the concerted multi-pronged offensive to cripple al-Shabab, as suggested.If true, it is perhaps a signal Addis Ababa intends to stay in the game and ensure it does not lose out on the political spoils of a victory over al-Shabab.
This Ethiopia has done in the past without much success.
The move into the Shabelle and the fact that the Ethiopians are backing a new clan grouping called the Shabelle Valley Alliance has raised speculation the motive may be more ambitious and part of an elaborate strategy to preempt the emergence of Jubaland.
The dilemma for the coalition is that Ethiopia's military help is critical and, perhaps, indispensable, notwithstanding that it could complicate matters for the anti-Shabab alliance politically.
The quest for a quick and decisive military victory over al-Shabab seems to be encouraging the use of massive lethal firepower.
This is heightening Somali fears and may complicate matters and prove costly and counter-productive, not least, because the militant group is now faceless in some parts of the vast war theatre in the south, having successfully blended in with the civilian population.
A cautious, well-paced counter-insurgency campaign must be the preferred option.
Victory will not be achievable within the short time-scale envisioned by regional military planners.
But this is a less costly strategy that will hopefully allow the attrition of fighting on multiple fronts to degrade the group's conventional capabilities systematically.
Political deals
A degraded al-Shabab is unlikely to be amenable to peace or dialogue, though many Somalis would prefer to see that happen.
The more fanatical elements wedded to al-Qaeda's global jihad agenda will seek to regroup and resume the armed insurrection and step up the terror campaign across the region and beyond.
The UN says more than one million Somalis have fled their homes
It is possible some of its less hardline leaders may seek some form of accommodation with their clans or cut political deals with the transitional federal government and other political formations.The glue that holds the new anti-Shabab military alliance together appears to be the common desire to once and for all cripple the extremist Somali movement and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure and support networks.The determination to act decisively and prevail is, certainly, laudable, but not enough to resolve the Somalia crisis.Without a clear and coherent long-term political strategy, any military victory over al-Shabab will be short-lived.Many of the so-called "liberated areas" - whether in Mogadishu, Hiran, Galgudud or Mudug - remain unstable ill-governed pockets, a depressing patchwork of clan fiefdoms filled with belligerent and heavily-armed clan militias.For all its flaws and excesses, al-Shabab did, at least manage to exercise full administrative and functional control over most areas under its control.Could its defeat and the glaring failure to create a credible and cohesive political dispensation to fill the vacuum inaugurate a new era of anarchy? bbc
Somali Al Qaeda-linked Terror Group militants say they captured Kenyan hostages
GARISSA, Kenya—An al-Qaida affiliated Somali militant group said Thursday that it took several hostages in a raid in northern Kenya that killed at least six people.Three policemen, a civil servant and a primary school teacher were among the six killed in the attack late Wednesday, said North Eastern Province Police Commissioner James ole Seriani. A pregnant woman was also killed, said relative Adan Gedi.Seriani said at least four government officials are missing, including a district officer.The press release from the Somali militant group al-Shabab did not specify how many hostages had been taken from the northern town of Gerille, near the Somali border, but said their identities would soon be released."In response to the aggressive Kenyan invasion against the Muslims of Somalia, special forces from Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen's elite units raided a Kenyan Administration Police camp," the statement said. "Taken by surprise and unable to respond effectively to the attack, seven Kenyan administration police and government officials were immediately killed, while others were taken prisoners."A Kenyan police spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.Al-Shabab also said they captured vehicles, communication equipment and a cache of weapons. The seizure of a police vehicle and communication equipment was confirmed by the officer commanding the police division in Wajir, George Tonui.
Seriani said the militants had disabled police communications to prevent reinforcements from coming after they launched their attack. The militants came around sunset, as the Kenyan security services were holding prayers, said Sgt. Yusuf Osman, who was hospitalized with a bullet wound.The raid follows a Kenyan army claim that they killed a high-ranking al-Shabab commander in southern Somalia last week, and the arrest of a man in the town that police said was charged with handling explosives.Al-Shabab says the raid on a police camp was in response to Kenya's decision to send troops into Somalia in October.Kenya said it sent in the troops after a string of attacks by Somali militants on Kenyan soil. But the militants deny the attacks, blaming them on freelance gunmen instead.In a separate development, a British man and two Kenyans were on Thursday charged with handling explosive materials by a court in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa. Jermaine Grant had already received a three-year jail sentence for being in the country illegally after using false documents that claimed he was a Canadian called Peter Joseph.
Police say the three were arrested along with a Kenyan woman in December in a house with chemicals commonly used to make bombs.
Grant's arrest was followed by a warning from the British government that it believed militants linked to Somalia's al-Shabab group were about to carry out a terror attack in Kenya.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Suspect too radical for local Muslim community
By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune
Jan 11, 2012
Jan 11, 2012
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Sami Osmakac
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TAMPA -- Sami Osmakac would visit local mosques, say he was the only good Muslim in the building and tell other worshippers they were infidels.
Osmakac showed no respect to religious elders, who tried to steer him away from his extremist beliefs, community leaders said.
He repeatedly threatened one civil activist for encouraging Muslims to vote and promoting democracy.
That's the picture the local Muslim community paints of the 25-year-old Osmakac, who was arrested over the weekend, accused of trying to obtain guns and explosives to blow up clubs, bars and a law enforcement agency in Tampa.
Osmakac was such a disruptive element to the Muslim community that people considered a conference to discuss diffusing what they called "a ticking time bomb," said local civil rights activist Ahmed Bedier.
"Before the general public was harmed, he was threatening Muslims and Muslim leaders," said Bedier, president of United Voice for America. "This kid has very radical views. If Muslims see radicals in the community, they will be reported."
The Muslim community was instrumental in providing information that led to Osmakac's arrest, federal authorities said.
"This case is not about the Muslim religion," Tampa FBI Chief Steven E. Ibison said. "It's not about the Muslim community. It's about an individual" accused of trying to commit a violent crime, he said.
Bedier said he became aware of Osmakac when the Pinellas Park resident showed up at Bedier's speaking engagements and started challenging the activist on his democratic views.
"Sometimes I'll go to faith centers and talk about the importance of voting," said Bedier, the former director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Tampa. "He was there, in a group of two or three people, and told me that promoting democracy is anti-Islam. They told me, 'If you speak about democracy at mosques again, we'll hurt you.'"
Osmakac posted a video on YouTube, recorded in front of First Baptist Church in downtown Tampa, denouncing democracy. In the video, he calls Bedier and CAIR "infidels" and says, "We're on to you."
Those confrontations prompted Bedier to ask people in the Muslim and Bosnian communities if they had any dealings or confrontations with Osmakac, who was born in Yugoslavia and whose family owns a bakery in St. Petersburg.
What Bedier found out concerned him.
"He's new to this religious identity, maybe two or three years," Bedier said. "Before that, he was just a kid listening to hip hop. He was not religious. Business owners in the Bosnian community said he was a punk; disrespectful. Then he made this complete shift. All of a sudden, he started acting holier than others."
In April, Osmakac clashed with a Christian group protesting a Lady Gaga concert at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Osmakac and one member of the Christian group got into an argument which escalated when Osmakac struck the protester twice, according to a Tampa police arrest report.
Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Tampa office of CAIR, said Osmakac was banned from at least two Tampa mosques because of his extremist views. Shibly said he met Osmakac last summer outside a local mosque, where he was arguing with one of the elders.
Shibly said he stepped in because the elder appeared to be having a hard time and Shibly thought he could help calm the situation. When Shibly asked Osmakac which mosque he attends, Osmakac said he didn't go to any mosques because, "they're all infidels and because they allow organizations like CAIR to have a presence."
"At that point, I was really taken back," Shibly said. "Who is this young kid calling people infidels and giving people edicts and thinks he's right and everybody's wrong? The prophet Mohamed said, 'Whoever calls his brother an infidel is himself an infidel.'"
Osmakac "had no understanding about anything of Islam," Shibly said. "I asked him some very basic questions about Islam and he could not answer any of them. He was very clearly misguided."
Bedier agreed with Shibly, saying that Osmakac's understanding of Islam is "very shallow" and that he believes that Osmakac picked up his extremists beliefs "from the Internet."
Source: The Tampa Tribune
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Federal court deals blow to anti-Shariah efforts 10th Circuit Court shoots down Oklahoma anti-Sharia law as unconstitutional
10th Circuit Court shoots down Oklahoma anti-Sharia law as unconstitutional
ederal court deals blow to
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Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations prays in Foley Square in New York on Nov. 18. Walid was part of a rally against heavy-handed surveillance of the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Muslim communities by police and the CIA. Profiling by law enforcers is just one facet of a civil rights battle being waged by American Muslims.
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By Kari Huus
msnbc.com
Jan 12, 2012
msnbc.com
Jan 12, 2012
In a decision that Muslim legal advocates celebrated as a major win, a federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed with a lower court that blocked an Oklahoma law that would have barred state courts from considering or using Shariah law — the Islamic code of conduct.
The law would likely dampen similar legislation proposed in at least 20 U.S. states over the last couple of years, said Noah Feldman, professor of law at Harvard University.
The decision “should have a good, positive, desirable chilling effect,” said Feldman. “It should tell people in those jurisdictions that (similar laws) almost all will be judged unconstitutional.”
In the November 2010 election, Oklahomans voted overwhelmingly for referendum SQ 755 — described by its author, Rep. Rex Duncan, as “a preemptive strike against Sharia Law coming to Oklahoma.”
The amendment stated that: “The courts shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia law."
Muslim challenged law
A lawsuit filed two days after the election by Oklahoma resident Muneer Awad, a Muslim, charged that the law violated his First Amendment rights. In addition to stigmatizing him and other Muslims, Awad argued, the amendment would invalidate his last will and testament, which made reference to Islamic writings.
A lawsuit filed two days after the election by Oklahoma resident Muneer Awad, a Muslim, charged that the law violated his First Amendment rights. In addition to stigmatizing him and other Muslims, Awad argued, the amendment would invalidate his last will and testament, which made reference to Islamic writings.
A federal judge in Oklahoma agreed that the amendment was most likely unconstitutional and granted a permanent injunction preventing its implementation until a final determination could be made.
On Tuesday, a judge for the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colo., agreed with the lower court and upheld the injunction — rejecting an appeal by the state of Oklahoma.
“Because the amendment discriminates among religions, it is 'suspect,'" the higher court ruled, "and 'we apply strict scrutiny in adjudging its constitutionality.’”
The case returns to Oklahoma for a final determination, but the circuit court decision was met with enthusiasm by Muslim civil rights advocates.
“The decision today is an extremely strong signal that the Oklahoma anti-Muslim amendment will be stricken,” said Gadeir Abbas, staff attorney for the Council on American Islamic Relations, who wrote the lawsuit.
“It’s not as if the 10th circuit is a bastion of left-wing activism,” he said. “This is coming from a very conservative court … It is unequivocal that there are really serious, very clear violations of the constitution that this amendment poses.”
Problem doesn't exist, lawyer says
Although Islam’s detractors suggest that “creeping sharia,” left unchecked, will undermine U.S. freedoms, Feldman says that these laws play on fears of a problem that does not exist.
“The Constitution of the United States, and the constitution of every state -- that is 51 constitutions -- already make it illegal to implement Islamic law,” said Feldman. “Just as Jewish law can’t be the law of the United States, and canon law can’t be the law of the United States, shariah law can’t be the law of the United States.”
“It’s like a law that says we absolutely ban alligators on the South Pole,” he said.
On one hand, the court can consider the Islamic passage referred to by plaintiff Awad in his last will and testament, as a means of ascertaining his wishes.
On the other hand, if his wishes somehow run afoul of U.S. laws — regardless of his personal wishes — then the court will rule them a violation of law.
The final disposition of the case remains uncertain, but this decision strongly suggests the Oklahoma law ultimately will be defeated.
Most lawyers will see the 10th Circuit Court ruling as a “dog bites man story, not the other way around” Feldman said, showing that “the constitution works the way it is supposed to.”
Source: msnbc.com
Islamic Terrorists Feel Oppressed . Al-Shabaab propaganda video declares Jihad against Kenya
Islamic Terrorists Feel Oppressed
January 10, 2012: Kenyan forces inside Somalia have noted al Shabaab
sharply declining in numbers and lethality. In the last week, Kenyan troops took
control of several towns (Fafadun and Eladeand) that al Shabaab withdrew from
without much of a fight. It is believed that al Shabaab moved forces from the
Kenyan border in order to retake the larger town of Baladwayne to the north.
Baladwayne was taken with the help of Ethiopian troops, which al Shabaab finds
particularly humiliating. Now al Shabaab is concentrating forces outside
Baladwayne for what appears to be a counterattack. Al Shabaab is also waging a
propaganda offensive, using twitter and slickly produced videos to portray
themselves as victims of various foreign plots to destroy virtuous Somali
Moslems (al Qaeda) as part of a Western war on Islam. Meanwhile, al Shabaab
continues to become less popular among Somalis. The Islamic terror group is also
having a hard time recruiting, and has been caught enticing kids as young as ten
to take a gun and join the fighting...more
Al-Shabaab propaganda video declares Jihad against Kenya
Kenya navy officers take 24hr patrol within the Somali waters at Ras Kamboni, monitoring any activities of al-shabaab
The report of the UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group indicates that
Sheikh Ali, a former chairman of Muslim Youth Centre in Pumwani, Nairobi, was
central in the recruitment of non-Somalis in Nairobi to join Al- Shabaab
fighters in Somalia.The report says Al-Shabaab “has extensive funding, recruiting and training
networks within Kenya” and has “established connections with jihadist groups
across the continent.”.more
Al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia Al-Shabaab executes a Kenyan in Kismayo for allegedly spying for Kenyan troops
Al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia AL-Shabaab has on Tuesday executed one of its fighters in Kismayo town for allegedly spying for Kenyan troops.Reports say rebel fighters executed a Kenyan national in public after rebel court allegedly found him guilty of spying for the Kenyan troops in parts of the region.Hundreds of locals witnessed the execution.The man is said to be one of the foreign rebel fighter popularly known as the “Muhajirin brothers” in Somalia fighting alongside Al-Shabaab rebel group.He is also said to be a none-Somali ethnic Kenyan who come to Somalia to fight alongside with the rebel group.He was accused of leading Kenyan warplanes in bombarding rebel bases in Jilib, Middle Shabelle region.Reports say the man was among three Kenyan men who were kept in rebel custody after they were accused of spying for Kenyan military in southern Somalia. no evidence was presented to support shabaab claims
update Ex-soldier in Al-Shabaab case returns to court Craig Baxam of Laurel was arrested Friday for trying to aid Terrorist Group.
Ex-soldier in Al-Shabaab case returns to court
WASHINGTON (AP) - A former soldier from Maryland has been charged with attempting to join a foreign terrorist organization in Somalia, authorities said Monday.
Federal prosecutors in Maryland said 24-year-old Craig Baxam of Laurel was arrested Friday. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to al-Shabab by joining its ranks and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Baxam was in the Army from 2007 to July 2011 and served in Baghdad and Korea. According to a court document, Baxam converted to Islam about a week before leaving the Army.
Prosecutors say Baxam left the United States in December and was arrested by Kenyan authorities who suspected he was traveling to Somalia to join al-Shabab. He was interviewed by FBI agents in Kenya and arrested on his return to Maryland after traveling in Africa.
Prosecutors say that when he was asked what he thought his role would be with the group, he said "he would just be another body there." He also allegedly said he was "looking for dying with a gun in my hand."
Reached by telephone on Monday, Baxam's father declined to comment. He said he was undergoing dialysis. The court document charging Baxam says he told officials that if he was released he would take care of his dying father and, if his father should die, he would then try to join al-Shabab again. WUSA9..
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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir
Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979
Sultan Kenadid
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Sultanate of Obbia
President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,
Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan
Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )
MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen
Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake
May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government
The Honourable Ronald Reagan,
When our world changed forever
His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Government in Paris from 1974 to 1979.
Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.
Soomaaliya الصومال Somali Republic
Somalia
