Sunday, September 30, 2012

Two Shabaab chiefs The commanders, Sheikhs Hassan Yakub and Abdikarim Adow were killed


Al Shabaab has lost two key regional commanders in Saturday morning raids by Kenya Defence Forces airtsrikes in Kismayu, Somalia.The commanders, Sheikhs Hassan Yakub and Abdikarim Adow were killed a day after KDF alongside Amisom took control of Al Shabaab stronghold and headquarters of Kismayu in Somalia.“Al Shabaab loses two key regional commanders: Sheikhs Hassan Yakub and Abdikarim Adow killed in late morning raids by KDF airstrikes”, read KDF tweet
Five militants were also killed in the Kismayu night attacks by KDF and SNA and a lorry and an assortment of weapons recovered.Kenya military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna said Kismayu fell at 2am Friday after a fierce battle with the terror militants.The troops are urging the residents of the port to avoid areas under their control to avoid any form of collateral damage.The port was the last bastion for the Somalia militants Al-Shabaab which has been in control for the last couple of years.

Jihadists flock to Mali and al-Shabaab leaves Kismayo in Somalia: Gulf Islamism

Events on the ground in northern Mali and in Kismayo in Somalia are gathering apace. This applies to the al-Shabaab (al-Shabab) leaving their last major stronghold in Kismayo after coming under attack from African Union forces in Somalia. At the same time, international Sunni Islamists from various West African countries are joining the fray in northern Mali.
The second trend in northern Mali is extremely worrying because while the exact figures are not known, it highlights a worrying reality that Islamists are now recruiting and spreading their ideology throughout West Africa. Already, you have a brutal Sunni Islamists insurgency in northern Nigeria which kills Christians and mainstream Muslims indiscriminately. Therefore, it would appear that new jihadist networks are bent on spreading their hatred to other parts of West Africa....read more

A comprehensive strategy: The newly elected Federal Government of Somalia’s political dispensation

 


Post-conflict reconstruction has become the foreign policy menu in the international community. Recently, the international community’s endeavor in Somalia has demonstrated that planning, financing, coordination, and execution of their programs for rebuilding war-torn countries are extremely inadequate. In early 90’s after US (restore hope) and UN mission failed its interventions in Somalia, the country disintegrated into anarchic battleground of competing warlords, sectarian groups and also foreign and local militants used as a staging ground for attacks and escape route for their operations.
 
 
The crisis in governance, especially poverty stricken states poses a serious threat to its neighboring security. Terrorism, power struggle, and regional instability are on the rise on some African and Asian countries and the consequence will not only be felt locally but will have a domino effect and spread globally. Somalia’s failure inevitably harmed regional security and the economy that provided neighboring countries prosperity, peace and security.

An effective sustainable strategy is to focus on crisis prevention, rapid response, centralized and coordinated decision-making to prevent internal threats. The best assessment is to recognize the root cause of state failure, and seek for long-term solution by concurrently undertaking development programs (especially in public services) with practical reconciliation process while at the same time cementing stable and accountable strong institutions.
Currently, in Somalia, some segments of the population (especially certain districts/provinces) are cut off from government controlled areas because of the lack of disarmament and endemic insecurity.
Spoilers take advantage of borders and ports economies to establish operational bases from which they secure financing, recruit militants, and plan attacks; even major regional powers are far from immune. In addition, the violence, epidemics, and refugee crises often spill into neighbors, destabilizing entire regions. Poverty ridden countries are 10 times more susceptible to internal conflict.
To overcome these anarchic barriers, the newly fragile “Somali Federal government” must provide basic services such as effective development programs, education, health care, and rebuilt socio-economy infrastructure. An inability to do so creates a capacity-gap, which can lead to a loss of public confidence, and consequently lead to political violence. To foster its legitimacy, the government needs to protect the basic rights and freedoms of its people, enforce the rule of law and return looted properties, and allow broad-based participation in the political process to enhance democracy.
International Community’s Role & Responsibility (UN, Donors and World Bank)
The International community’s past efforts at nation-building for development and stability have often disintegrated nations such as Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. Nevertheless, it needs an innovative, comprehensive, and sustainable strategy to reverse such trend in order to disrupt the wave of ongoing violence, humanitarian crises, poor development and political upheaval that is sweeping across these countries.
Before it imposes its primitive foreign policy into Somalia’s newly fragile government, it must examine and learn from their previous attempts and failures. Apparently, money cannot buy effective governance; strengthening good governance requires much more than just transferring cash. It relies on building a state's capacity to protect its borders, provide essential social/public services, and ensure basic human rights for its people. If committed swiftly and strategically, it can be a cornerstone of rapid-response.
The international community's tough action on reform must accompany new and unconditional infusions of aid, along with an ongoing supportive sanity check. Its policymakers must be gradually candid to sustain a long-term nature of the state-building enterprise. African Union and Arab league must multilaterally grant Somalia access to its markets, such as free trade which could help millions of people fight poverty, expanding regional trade is surely the way to energize stagnant economies.
If World Bank could inject $5 billion for development programs annually into Somalia, it will create jobs, enhance trade, and rebuilt war-damaged infrastructure. We would suggest donors and international financial institutions to provide Somalia 100% debt relief program, which can be a major blessing to start. These institutions should find a framework that relieves Somalia’s debt possibly as much as 100%, to prevent further eruption of unsustainable debts. Evidently, World Bank needs to issue more grants instead of loans with higher interest rates.
State collapse can also be prevented by helping poverty-ridden states reform their security forces using contingency funds to advice, train, or support its police and military forces. Strengthening Somali Federal Govt. capacity to police its territory is a crucial element of state building. AMISOM’s contract that undermines Somalia security-sector must be reconfigured. One of the fundamental reasons for AMISOM's success in reacting to emergencies is its limitless supply of contingency funding from international donors. Courageously these African multination armies have shown an increased willingness to take some responsibility to contain turmoil in the region.
Evidently, Somalia’s National Army and its security sector has no comparable capacity but logically can be mobilized only if they have adequate logistical and transport capabilities to realistically counter the dangers of the modern insurgency and terrorism.
The newly Somali president should establish an office of joint-coordinator for stabilization, reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement (close to 1.5 million people were uprooted from their homes and had lost their means of livelihoods) emergency program that come directly under his office administration. Such emergency program will create a cohesive rapid-response to free from the myriad of constraints that Somalia currently faces. Furthermore, it will establish an early-warning directorate charged with monitoring short-term crises. There is no strategy that promises a silver bullet instead it is designed to improve federal government's institution-building capacity to prevent crises before they occur, and to respond quickly and effectively when they do. The new leaders of the Federal government should show a remarkable ability to promote economic growth, and develop capable police and military forces which demand sustainable commitment.
The international community should begin to revamp one of the most primitive pieces of legislation on their cook-books of today, and reduce overlapping mandates, and patchwork which encourage confusion and disruption. Obviously, without strategically centralized leadership, Somalia’s development efforts will continue to remain on the outside of debates about policy, security, and diplomacy.
Human Capital: Somali Diaspora Communities
Diaspora, the Human Capital is a major source of foreign investment in the economic, social and political spheres. Somali Diaspora communities are force multipliers, which in return provide people the tools to initiate life saving approach. Furthermore, they seek to maximize the country’s income stream from remittances directly to households, businesses, which bear fruit in the longer-run depends very much on the success of national development policies. The Government should build an umbrella or an organization that registers Diaspora businesses in order to encourage and provide temporary tax relief. Diaspora groups may have a role to play in peace and reconstruction processes, and the governments that host them should carefully consider encouraging the involvement of those who can be seen as honest brokers.




Prof. Liban A Egal
liban.egal@gmail.com
Prof. Liban A Egal is a professor at George Mason University's Engineering Dept. Prof. Liban Serves as Senior Political and National Security Analyst Terror Free Somalia Foundation

 

Somalia, allies batter al Shabaab, but gains may be fragile


MARKA, Somalia (Reuters) - "Paradise lies under the shade of swords," reads the Arabic inscription on an arch leading into the Somali port of Marka, abandoned last month by Islamist al Shabaab militants under pressure from advancing African Union peacekeepers and government troops.
The inscription, along with a white column by the beach where al Shabaab held public executions, is one of the reminders of the al Qaeda-allied rebels' four-year occupation of the coastal town, 90 km (55 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu...mor Somalia, allies batter al Shabaab, but gains may be fragile

The Somali Spring - By Ken Menkhaus | Foreign Policy

The Somali Spring - By Ken Menkhaus | Foreign Policy

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Somalia's Chief of Staff Gen. Abdikadir Sheikh Ali Dini inspects a guard of honour with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Necdet Ozel, unseen, at the Turkish army headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012.

Somalia's war on journalism - Listening Post - Al Jazeera English

Somalia's war on journalism - Listening Post - Al Jazeera English

How Al Shabaab's stronghold fell to SNA/AMISOM

(AMISOM )Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) have just done what none of any other armies in the world have ever done: defeating an Al Qaeda linked militant outfit.
Even the US and other mighty African armies have tried in Somalia but failed miserably. However KDF have proved to the world our might, skill and firepower.
Our boys and girls in uniform have made us proud and proved to the world that Kenya continues to flex her muscles as a regional military superpower.

On the night of Thursday, 27th September, four Kenyan warships approached the port city of Kismayu stealthily and in the silence of the night, deployed hundreds of special forces into the beaches of Kismayu in the morning of Friday 28th 2012.
 
According to David Goldman, a defense specialist, the special fighting troops made the beach landing using 11M Naval Special Warfare Rigid Inflatable Boats from Kenya naval warships.

Their spectacular beach and air landing, the first by an African country, helped main fighting units of the KDF storm the port city of Kismayu, and last lifeline of the Al Shabaab terrorists based in Somalia.
Kenya Air Force shelled Al Shabaab’s main armory and warehouse near the coast destroying both facilities completely denting the long term capacity to resupply.

According to strategic intelligence, KDF soldiers stormed Kismayu after mop up operations by elements of the special forces of the Kenya Army, sorties by the Kenya Air Force and strategic naval attacks on main enemy positions, assets, and defenses by the Kenya Navy.

Early Thursday, many Al Shabaab small unit leaders were dead forcing the key militia leaders to flee the city on Thursday afternoon. Anti- aircraft guns, ammunition, grenades, guns, and machine-guns were destroyed. The objective was to deny the militants arms, supplies, ammunition, communication, and leadership capabilities as the final push into the nerve center of the port city was made.
At exactly 0200HRS, Kenyan dreaded special forces landed in Kismayu from the air and sea while main fighting troops stormed the city from the north and west of the city as naval warships shelled the positions and defenses using 75mm guns from sea.
At about 0315 HRS, Kismayu port jetty and its west and north had finally fallen to the fighting battalions of the Kenya Defense Force who are now operating deep inside the port city.
KDF, took control of Kismayu’s heartbeat last week after special forces made drops to the city from special forces aircraft’s, while other KDF special forces slithered into the port city killing Al Shabaab fighting unit leaders, destroying their positions and blowing up their armory’s, ammunition supply centers and facilities.
Deaths of the militants unit leaders left units of the Al Shabaab without commanders hence hasty retreat far east of the city leaving the city without defenders.

The Kenya military is among the best trained in the developing world. Kenya's Air Force is the best in Africa. With arrival of one of the best and well-equipped naval ships, KNS Jasiri, The Kenya Navy's might is incomparable to any other in the whole of the East African coast.

BREAKING NEWS:Pic of Al shabaab Fleeing Kismayu with their belongings, Somalia's al-Shabaab Islamists abandon last major stronghold of Kismayo after government assault . SNA/AMISOM kills Shabaab commanders and takes over bases

Where are the drones when you need them?
BREAKING NEWS:Pic of Al shabaab Fleeing Kismayu with their belongingsSomalia's al-Shabaab
We would like to congratulate our soldiers for taking over the port of Kismayu from Al Shabaab.
  SNA/AMISOM kills Shabaab commanders and takes over bases


Islamists abandon last major stronghold of Kismayo after government assault





update onAfrican Union assault on al-Shabaab strongold in Somalia: Somalia's al-Qaeda-linke Islamists , Amisom soldiers have taken control of Al shabaab stronghold and headquarters town of Kismayu.

Government of Somalia press release on SNA/AMISOM securing Kismayo after al Shabaab abandoned the city:

Report
(Mogadishu – September 29, 2012) - Today, the Somali Armed Forces with support from the African Union Mission in Somalia have secured the port town of Kismayu from the grip of the terror group of Al Shabaab who controlled the town for nearly three years. The Kismayu Operation has encountered no resistance with the radical militia abandoning the town overnight and escaping towards the country.
The Somali President, His Excellency Hassan Sh. Mohamud, commends the heroic efforts as well as the extraordinary sacrifices of the Somali Armed Forces and AMISOM in rooting out the enemy and denying them safe havens in Somalia.
“This marks an important milestone for the people of Somalia – especially the residents of Kismayu who have endured hardships under the brutal rule of Al-Shabab” said President Mohamud.
With an appeal to the public, the President calls out the public to remain calm and work with the government security agencies and AMISOM in improving the security of Kismayu. President Mohamud stated the importance of extending humanitarian support to residents in the region who were cut off from outside world during the drought of last year.
“We appeal to the International Community as well as the humanitarian agencies to provide aid to the affected communities in the region who suffered under the reign of Al Shabaab which restricted access and humanitarian operations throughout Juba regions” said the President.
The government is committed to lead on inclusive and broad-based reconciliation process that harmonizes the communities in the region to ensure the establishment of local administrations that are transparent and responsive to the needs of the people.
###


 

Friday, September 28, 2012

African Union assault on al-Shabaab strongold in Somalia: Somalia's al-Qaeda-linke Islamists , Amisom soldiers have taken control of Al shabaab stronghold and headquarters town of Kismayu.





Heavy Fighting is going on at the port of Kismayu as special forces and naval vessels destroy Al-Shabaab

Fierce fighting erupted outside Kismayo city and was continuing through the morning, residents and a Kenyan military spokesman said. The African Union offensive, which has been expected for weeks, involved land, sea and air forces, with helicopters strafing al-Shabaab emplacements and coalition reinforcements making their way to the city from the north.
Several hundred Kenyan soldiers staged an amphibious landing on Kismayo’s main beach at 2am on Friday, after launching off from Kenyan Navy ships patrolling close offshore. “Kismayo has fallen, with limited resistance,” Cyrus Oguna, Kenya’s military spokesman, said. “Kenyan maritime forces with Somali national army assistance landed with full surprise early this morning. There is some fighting still continuing, but we are in control.”
People living in the city, roughly midway between Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, and the border with Kenya, said however that Islamist defence forces had fought back.
“The town is not yet captured,” said Jamac Ukun, contacted by telephone in Kismayo.
"Helicopters are flying over the town and they have launched several missiles on various bases. Many young men have taken their guns and are taking part in the fighting.
“There is no heavy fighting in the town, but the coalition forces came onto the beach with ships and battle wagons, and al-Shabaab are deploying their fighters. I can hear the fighting, there are heavy weapons.”
Al-Shabaab’s radio station was back on air and calling for the city’s residents to join the fight to repel the coalition troops, Mr Ukun added.
An Islamist spokesman said that they would “defeat the invaders, God willing” and would keep control of the city.
Kismayo, with a population estimated at 200,000 people, is al-Shabaab’s last major stronghold after a series of attacks by African Union peacekeepers forced them from other towns over the last six months.
The group, allied to al-Qaeda, earns most of its revenue from taxing imports and exports that pass through Kismayo’s port. Loosing control of the city will leave the Islamists bankrupt, one diplomat said.
But there are concerns that once it is pushed out, al-Shabaab will morph into more of a guerrilla army and will increasingly focus on suicide bombings and what security specialists call “asymmetric warfare”.
Already more than 12,000 people have fled Kismayo in the run-up to Friday’s offensive, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said.

Somali army with army with Kenyan forces surround Somali rebel bastion - Africa - Al Jazeera English


BREAKING NEWS: KDF capture crucial Somali port city of Kismayu, which has been an Al Shabaab stronghold.
Kenyan forces surround Somali rebel bastion - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Who are al-Shabab? - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Who are al-Shabab? - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Thursday, September 27, 2012

UN Video Press Stake out for the Caretaker PM Abdiwali and Senior UN and AU officials


Video:


Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman; Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga; Prime Minister of Somalia, Caretaker H.E. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali; and African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security

Ethiopia: First Signs of A New Dawn for Ethnic Relations? | Think Africa Press

Ethiopia: First Signs of A New Dawn for Ethnic Relations? | Think Africa Press

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Ohio mall terrorism defendant facing deportation

Federal authorities are preparing to deport a Somali immigrant who federal prosecutors say plotted to attack an Ohio shopping mall.Nuradin Abdi completed his prison sentence last month and is in federal custody in Louisiana while final preparations are made to return him to Somalia.The Justice Department accused Abdi of suggesting a plan to shoot up an unidentified Columbus shopping mall during an August 2002 meeting at a coffee shop with two friends, both of whom were later convicted of terrorism charges. Early reports indicated the threat might also have included bombing a mall.When investigators learned of the threat in spring 2003, authorities conducted top-to-bottom searches of Columbus malls late at night after shoppers had left, looking for possible explosive devices. None was found.One of Abdi's friends at the coffee shop that day, Columbus truck driver Iyman Faris, pleaded guilty in May 2003 to terrorism charges stemming from allegations that he scoped out the Brooklyn Bridge for destruction at the behest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks.

The second friend, Christopher Paul, a convert to Islam who grew up in the Columbus suburb of Worthington, was charged with plotting to bomb European tourist resorts frequented by Americans, as well as overseas U.S. military bases. Paul also pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges. Both Faris and Paul were sentenced to 20 years in prison.Abdi, 40, entered the U.S. in 1998 and received political asylum based on false statements, according federal court records.A cellphone salesman, he was arrested the day after Thanksgiving 2003 without a warrant, with FBI and immigration authorities worried he might carry out an attack on Black Friday, the busy shopping holiday.

U.S. Immigration Judge Elizabeth Hacker in March 2004 ordered Abdi deported to Somalia after determining that Abdi lied on his asylum request. That order was delayed during Abdi's criminal proceedings.Abdi disputed the charges against him and was prepared to go to trial, then abruptly decided to plead guilty in summer 2007 to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, a conspiracy that included the mall plot. His attorney alleged it would be impossible to get a fair trial in post-9/11 America. Abdi received a 10-year prison sentence with credit for more than four years already served.The shopping mall threat was just part of the allegation against Abdi. Prosecutors said Abdi had illegally traveled out of the United States to search for holy war training and that he provided stolen credit card numbers to buy equipment like laptop computers for use in terrorism.They also said Abdi made about 40 calls to terrorism suspects in 2003.Abdi, currently housed at the Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex in central Louisiana, spent most of his time behind bars in the federal prison in Marion, Ill.Beginning in March 2011, he enrolled in Ohio University's College Incarcerated Program, completed two general education courses for credit and was enrolled in one for credit in August, according to the university, which said federal privacy laws prohibit them from providing class titles.Abdi is not granting interviews and declined to release any information about an attorney, said Vincent Picard, an ICE agent and spokesman in New Orleans.Abdi's sister, formerly of Columbus and now living in Minneapolis, said her family is confident Abdi will be fine in Somalia.

"You know that we come from a culture that is very supportive of one another so Nuradin will not be in need financially as his whole family and those who loved him and cared about him will be there to get him start his new life," Kaltun Karani wrote in an email last month.
"My brother is strong, smart and very business minded," she added...via

Monday, September 24, 2012

The Somali Spring - By Ken Menhaus | Foreign Policy

The Somali Spring - By Ken Menhaus | Foreign Policy

ONLF WITH Kenya’s massacre against Somali civilians; “Another Butchery in Janaay Abdalla”


KDF & ogaden clan onlf reportedly kill 9 marehan clan civilians in Janaa Abdalle Ethnic cleansing will spark ethnic tensions

At least 9 Somali civilians were massacred while two others were seriously wounded in Janaay Abdalla location, some 60km west of Somalia’s port town of Kismayo on Sunday, officials and residents told RBC Radio.

Seven pastorals men were intentionally shot to death at once and two others critically injured by the Kenyan forces “KDF” in Janaay Abdalla on Sunday noon, Col Adam Hersi, a Somali military officer at Janaay Abdalla told RBC Radio on the phone.

“The shooting came after Al Shabab rebels attacked the town and we resisted them back but as soon as the intense fighting ended and the town were still under our control, the Kenyan forces captured nine pastoral men who were buying sugar at nearby shop and they immediately killed” Col Hersi admitted to RBC Radio.

Kenya’s massacre against civilians;

Col Hersi added that before the killing of the seven men, the Somali military officials asked the KDF to investigate the men “but they did not listen”

“We heard that the men were arrested before they were shot and we soon asked the Kenyans to probe up them incase if they had any suspicion… Unfortunately they did mistake great..great mistake and they shot the men” he added.

Meanwhile, Muhumad Farah who is the spokesman of Somali National Army in the Lower Jubba region while upset told RBC Radio that the butchered pastoral men were from same sub-clan at the region.

“This is not the first killing of civilians committed by the KDF in this region, they massacred many civilians since they crossed the border in last year.” he said calling the new president of Somalia to intervene the situation to protect the civilians.

“Infact it is too difficult to understand what the objective of the Kenyans is; we as Somali military are dying to defend our people and they are here to kill the innocent people. I call the new president of Somalia to do something” he concluded.

There were no immediate response from KDF spokesperson but AMISOM spokesman, Col Ali Aden Humud told the BBC that he was appalled by the reports of killing and that AMISOM will launch urgent investigation on the case.

The Kenyan forces crossed into Somalia border October last year to pursue onto Al Shabab rebels in Somalia after constant abductions of aid workers alleged to Al Shabab occurred in Kenya but since the offensive started there had been great allegations of KDF’s mistreating against civilians ,,,.VIA  RBC

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Somalia Names New Prime Minister, The president of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Announce Today officially ABDI FARAH SHIRDON SAAID AS COUNTRY'S NEW

 
The president of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud  has named  ABDI FARAH SHIRDON SAAID the new prime minister of Somalia...He will  name a Cabinet as soon as possible
 

Statement from Somali American Community and Terror Free Somalia Foundationon the killing of Mustaf Mohamud Ali MP




 "On behalf of the Somali American Community and Terror Free Somalia Foundation , I wish to express my deep condolences to the family of Mustaf Mohamud Ali MP, and to the Somali people, following his murder in Mogadishu earlier today.

"This is another cowardly act of hatred by ki

llers who reject change, progress and the chance of a more stable future. Their selfish intention is instead to perpetuate a cycle of intimidation and violence.


"Having witnessed Members of the new Parliament electing a new President earlier this month, I reaffirm that the Somali American Community and Terror Free Somalia Foundation stands with them and the Somali people as they continue on their path towards peace, security and democracy."


Here is some Information about the Assassination

Unknown gunmen Most Likely from  the Islamist militant movement al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated group   in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu have assassinated a Somali parliamentarian, the latest in series of killings in the capital, Witnesses said.

Mustaf Mohamed Mo’allin, MP in the newly formed Somali parliament was killed after being shot several times in the head and chest in front of his house in the Waaberi neighbourhood in the south of the capital on Saturday evening after Maqrib prayer by gunmen, a villager said. Two Masked men armed with pistols killed the parliamentarian and disappeared before the government soldiers arrived at the shooting scene,” a witness, who who  says he was there confim to the media

There was no immediate information on the possible motive for the murder of the lawmaker.

Friday, September 21, 2012

FBI won't confirm report of Minn. man joining al-Shabab | Minnesota Public Radio News

FBI won't confirm report of Minn. man joining al-Shabab | Minnesota Public Radio News

In Somalia, UN charcoal purchases could be funding Al Shabab terror group

In Somalia, UN charcoal purchases could be funding Al Shabab terror group

Somalia's Shabaab urge attacks on West


Somalia's Shabaab urge attacks on West: Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab has called on Muslims to attack the West in retaliation against a movie that "insulted" the Prophet Muhammad and has spread anger around the Muslim world.

Judge explains contempt order for woman who wouldn't stand in court

UPDATE ON  Al Shabaab Apologists Occupy United States Courthouse -Prosecutor: Women knew group involved in terrorism. On wiretap Amina Farah Ali jihadist fundraiser siad (The Mujahidin should be supported "let the civilians die.)" Mujahidin is a term for holy warriors.Shabaab Sympathizer Come out in Full Force federal courthouse in Minneapolis.



If a Muslim woman wasn't punished for refusing to stand when a federal judge entered his Minneapolis courtroom, others would have been emboldened to show disrespect for the court, the judge has ruled.


Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis wrote that defendant Amina Farah Ali's silent gesture -- which she said was rooted in religious principle -- could have led to chaos during her trial on terrorism-related charges last year.

"If Ali were allowed to sit while court is called, it may have been possible that her many sympathizers would have begun to emulate her in a show of support," Davis wrote in an opinion and order.

"The court was also concerned that allowing Ali to show disrespect for the court by failing to rise would encourage additional signs of disrespect, leading to a loss of control in the courtroom."

Ali, 36, is one of two Rochester women awaiting sentencing for raising money for al-Shabaab, a group fighting the government of her native Somalia.

In a pretrial hearing and during the first two days of her trial last October, Ali refused to stand when Davis entered or left the courtroom. The "standing requirement," as it is known, is intended as a show of respect for the legal system in general and not the judge in particular.

After the first incident, Davis warned her that he would find her in contempt if she did it again. She did, and in all, the judge issued 20 contempt citations against her and gave her five days in jail for each.

Ali ...MORE

US Says Fight for Kismayo Could be Decisive Blow Against al-Shabab

STATE DEPARTMENT — The U.S. State Department says East African troops advancing on the Somali port of Kismayo could deliver a decisive blow to Islamic extremists who oppose Somalia's new government.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson says Kenyan military advances are part of a major push by the African Union mission in Somalia known as AMISOM.

"The Kenyans appear to be making steady progress," he said. "We believe that if they are successful as a part of the AMISOM effort in driving al-Shabab out of Kismayo, they will have taken hold of the last major city and last major port controlled by the extremists."Carson says losing Kismayo would be a major set back for the al-Qaida-affiliated group. "It will be another success for the recovery and rehabilitation that we are all fighting for in Somalia," he said.

Kenyan military spokesman Army Colonel Cyrus Oguna says there are naval and aerial bombardments of al-Shabab positions in Kismayo as well as a ground assault that have reached the town of Jana Cabdalla, about 50 kilometers from the port.

The State Department's Johnnie Carson says political advances in Somalia, including the election of a new president, are underpinned by the military successes of AMISOM troops from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, and Kenya."We have Mogadishu, the capital, under the control of a central government that has been elected by representatives of all of the major clans and sub-clans. That's in large measure to the military success of AMISOM," he said.An al-Shabab radio transmitter that was dismantled earlier this week in Kismayo is running again, broadcasting the group's message and urging residents to stay calm, while vowing to fight to the death.

New president, new laws and old enemies | Article Preview | Africa Confidential

New president, new laws and old enemies | Article Preview | Africa Confidential

Somalia: Newly-elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's Tough First Week | Think Africa Press

Somalia: Newly-elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's Tough First Week | Think Africa Press

Somali-Canadian politician and journalist escapes death in suicide bombing

Ahmed Abdisalam Adan and his wife Falastine Iman have both worked as journalists in Somalia and narrowly escaped death in separate terrorist attacks.

Ahmed Abdisalam Adan is a survivor and despite nearly dying in a suicide bombing that killed two of his friends, the Somalia-born Canadian considers himself one of the lucky ones.“I’m alive,” he says in his first interview since the May 1 attack in central Somalia, his red and watery eyes the only visible reminder of the injuries he suffered when shrapnel tore through his body. “I’m not surprised it happened. I wasn’t expecting it but I wasn’t surprised.“At some point,” he says. “You don’t look for the logic, you just thank God you’re alive.”This has been the reality for years for those on the front lines in Somalia — a country that may finally be on the road to recovery with last week’s election of a new president after two decades of chaos, corruption, conflict and internationally-appointed governments that failed to bring peace.Adan, a former journalist who co-founded the media company HornAfrik, was a member of Somalia’s transitional parliament when he was targeted in the bombing. His delegation was visiting the region of Dhusamareb when a suicide bomber rushed toward them, killing seven, including two MPs.Al Shabab, the Al Qaeda-affiliated group that claimed responsibility, is at its weakest since its rise to power in 2007. But what the organization lacks in support or territory hasn’t stopped its targeted assassinations of political leaders and journalists, or the deaths of civilians killed in large-scale bombings.
“It’s difficult to guard yourself against someone who wants to die,” says Adan. “This is the phenomenon of this war.“And at the end of the day this is the tragedy of this — young boys are killing themselves without knowing why, without understanding, without planning it themselves.”With burning metal embedded in his stomach and head, Adan was airlifted to neighbouring Ethiopia for emergency surgery, then transported to Washington and finally to Toronto, where he is undergoing treatment at Sunnybrook Hospital for lingering ear and eye injuries. For Adan, there is no time spent pondering “why me” and “what if” scenarios. He is pragmatic and positive about Somalia’s future. The only dark moments come when he thinks about the past and is overwhelmed by the loss of friends and colleagues.,,,more ..read

Gulf of Aden Security Review - September 21, 2012 | Critical Threats

Gulf of Aden Security Review - September 21, 2012 | Critical Threats

How Africa's Most Threatening Terrorist Group Lost Control of Somalia - The Atlantic

AMISOM peacekeepers on patrol after capturing the Elmaan seaport from al Shabaab insurgents on September 4th, 2012


How Africa's Most Threatening Terrorist Group Lost Control of Somalia - The Atlantic

Family: Minn. Somali left to join al-Shabab

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minnesota man recently traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabab, a spokesman for his family said, renewing fears that the terror group is continuing to recruit Somalis living in the U.S. to return to their homeland to fight.

The investigation into al-Shabab's recruitment of young men has been going on for years, and authorities have never ruled out that more men could be traveling from Minnesota - home to the largest Somali population in the U.S. - to join the terror group. Still, there have been no public reports of travelers from Minnesota since 2009, and the investigation has been largely out of public view for more than a year.

But in recent weeks, some Somalis here have been visited by the FBI and subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury - possible signs that the investigation has picked up. The reasons for the subpoenas were not immediately clear. Authorities would not confirm that additional men have recently traveled to join al-Shabab, and they would not say whether any increased FBI activity is connected to reports of recent departures or to the overall investigation.

But according to a spokesman for his family, 21-year-old Omar Farah left Minneapolis several weeks ago and called his aunt after his departure to say he was in the Somali town of Merca - and that he was with al-Shabab.

Abdirizak Bihi, a member of the Minneapolis Somali community who has worked with families of some men who left Minnesota, spoke to The Associated Press on behalf of Farah's family. He said Farah told his aunt he wouldn't return to the U.S.

The date of Farah's departure was not immediately known because Farah had moved out of his aunt's home about 10 months ago and she did not realize he was gone until he called from Somalia, Bihi said. Farah's aunt, who brought him to the U.S. and raised him, declined a request to speak to the AP directly.


"When he told her that he was in Somalia and with al-Shabab, she was shocked," Bihi said Thursday. "As of today, she is still confused."

Bihi said Farah, who also went by the name Khalif, went to Edison High School in Minneapolis and attended the University of Minnesota for a year, but was not in school last year and was unemployed. Minneapolis Public Schools confirmed that a student by the name of Omar Farah graduated from Edison in 2010; the University of Minnesota confirmed a student by that name was enrolled in fall 2010 and spring 2011, studying electrical engineering.

Since 2008, Minneapolis has been the center of a federal investigation into travels and recruiting of people from the U.S. to train or fight with al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaida and is considered a terror group by the U.S.

Authorities have previously confirmed that more than 20 young men left Minnesota starting as early as 2007. Some of those men have returned to Minnesota and been charged. Four have been confirmed dead by family members or authorities.

E.K. Wilson, the supervisory special agent overseeing the FBI's investigation in Minneapolis, said he could not confirm whether there have been any recent departures or whether the FBI is currently investigating those reports.

"The whole investigation into recruiting and the departures of Somali kids from the Twin Cities in 2007, 2008 and 2009 is definitely ongoing," Wilson said. "We're continuing to look hard at the possibility of continued recruitment and radicalization."

Reports of travelers and recruitment have died down in the past year, possibly because law enforcement has tried hard to stop it, and those who have supported al-Shabab or returned from camps in Somalia have been prosecuted, said Evan Kohlmann, a terror consultant who has assisted government investigations into al-Shabab recruiting.

But Kohlmann said there is now a sense that al-Shabab is under siege in Somalia, as the group faces increasing military pressure from African Union forces, so supporters might feel drawn to help. Recruiting also could just be a matter of timing.

"If you happen to have somebody who is an effective recruiter in a particular area, when he is there, there's a spike in recruiting," Kohlmann said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations' Minnesota chapter said that after about a year of quiet, it has seen a dramatic uptick in calls from concerned Somalis who have been contacted by authorities. Executive director Lori Saroya said that since the start of September, her office has heard from several Somalis who got calls or visits from the FBI or received grand jury subpoenas. Saroya said the purpose of the calls and subpoenas wasn't clear because the callers hadn't yet met with the FBI or gone before the grand jury.

U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Jeanne Cooney said she could not confirm whether a grand jury had been convened.

Bihi, the family spokesman, lost his own nephew, Burhan Hassan, after Hassan traveled in 2008 to Somalia, where he died. Bihi testified before a U.S. House committee in 2011 on Islamic radicalization.

He said this week that he believes recruiters are preying upon vulnerabilities of young Somali men who are often without a father figure and looking for a sense of belonging.

"I believe that the root causes of this problem, are a lack of programs for young people," Bihi said. "We have to have a door that they can come in. They are outside, looking in."

Thursday, September 20, 2012

United Nations News Centre - Security Council encourages new Somali president to appoint inclusive government

Kenyan court jails confessed al Shabaab member for 59 years

UPDATE ON Terror suspect shocks court with guilty plea. Suspect: I am an Al Shabaab


A Kenyan court sentenced a Somali national to 59 years in jail on Thursday after he confessed to being a member of the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebel group following his arrest in the capital Nairobi last week.East Africa's biggest economy has been on a heightened state of security since sending troops into Somalia to crush al Shabaab, an Islamist group which carried out a double suicide bombing in neighboring Uganda in 2010.Abdimajid Yassin, 26, was arrested last Friday when police seized a cache of explosive-laden vests, grenades and automatic rifles in an apartment in the Nairobi's Eastleigh district.Yassin pled guilty to 10 counts of possession of explosives, ammunition and illegal possession of firearms. There was also a charge of engaging in organized criminal activity and one of being in Kenya illegally.A second suspect arrested in the raid pleaded not guilty to the same charges.Earlier this week police said they believed Yassin intended to carry out a suicide bombing but provided no further details.
"I have considered the interest of the country and national security of the state ...the accused is not remorseful and I convict him on his own plea of guilty," Magistrate Lucy Nyambura told the court.
Western embassies in Kenya have warned of potential attacks several times in the last nine months.

Suicide bombings in Uganda's capital Kampala in July 2010 which killed 79 soccer fans watching the World Cup final were al Shabaab's first on foreign soil and highlighted both their intent and capability to strike beyond Somalia's borders.

Hundreds of disenchanted Kenyan Muslims and Muslim converts have been lured into the ranks of al Shabaab since its militants launched their insurgency in Somalia five years ago.

Deadly blast rocks Somalia capital - Africa - Al Jazeera English

At least 15 killed in Mogadishu suicide bombingTwo bombers blow themselves up at a restaurant in centre of Somali capital, Suicide Attack Kills Three at Popular Journalist Hangout


                                          Abdi sitaar iyo Liibaan Ali Nuur R.I.P
Suicide Attack Kills  Popular Journalist
UPDATE - press release


Abdisatar Daher Sabriye

Mogadishu — The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns in strongest terms possible the killing and wounding of journalists in a horrifying suicide attack in Mogadishu restaurant frequented by journalists.

Two suicide bombers walked into "The Village" restaurant, at the Mothers' House - a well-known building near National Theater - on Thursday evening after Maghrib prayer (just after sunset). The two suicide bombers reportedly blew themselves killing and wounding those who were sitting around them.

The journalists who were killed in this attack are Liban Ali Nur, head of News of Somali National TV, Abdisatar Daher Sabriye, Head of news of Radio Mogadishu, and Abdirahman Yasin Ali, Director of Radio Hamar (Voice of Democracy).

At least four journalists were wounded in this attack. The injured journalists are Mohamed Hussein, aka gentlemen, reporter for Somali National TV, Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Suldan of Radio Kulmiye, Abdirisaq Shine of Radio Kulmiye, and Nure Mohamed Ali of Radio kulmiye. The wounded journalists were all admitted in Madina and Daru Shifa hospitals.

"We strongly condemn this gratuitous and bloodthirsty attack on journalists. We are absolutely convinced that this was a targeted attack on journalists," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General.

Al-Shabaa has immediately claimed the responsibility of this "cruel attack" which they stated that they wanted to target journalists and send them a message.

NUSOJ is outraged as the number of journalists and other media workers killed since January this year reaches 12. "2012 has sadly turned today the single deadliest year for journalists in the history of our country" declared Osman
WARNING: Video is extremely graphic

3 explosions - 2 suicide bombers - in a suspected al-shabaab attack at a restaurant in

Two suicide bombers walked into a restaurant in central Mogadishu and blew themselves up on Thursday killing at least 15 people, less than a week after militant bombers targeted the country's new president.

"So far we have confirmed 15 dead people including two local journalists and two policemen," said General Abdullahi Barise, police spokesman and the head of criminal investigation department.


"Two suicide bombers targeted a restaurant called the Village opposite the theatre. There are bodies and there are wounded people," said Muhammad Sheikh, a security guard at the national theatre located opposite the blast site.


The election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as president last week was hailed by his supporters as a vote for change in a country mired in conflict for more than two decades. But the latest attacks underscore severe security challenges the political newcomer faces as African forces battle to quash a five-year insurgency waged by the Islamist rebel group, al-Shabaab.

The restaurant is owned by a well-known Somali businessman who returned to Somalia from Britain recently.

Somalia: Amisom Kills 50, Captures Town Near Kismayu

At least 50 Al Shabaab militants were killed in yet another deadly attack at Jana Cabdalla, a town 40 kilometers from the port of Kismayu.Military Spokesman Col Cyrus Oguna said the town is now under full control of AMISOM troops who will pacify it enroute to Kismayu which is the main target."This is a key al Shabaab stronghold in lower Jubba region, but it has now fallen," Oguna said.

Oguna has told Capital FM News that there could be many more Al Shabaab militants killed in the attack because they fought in the forest."During the operation, the allied forces encountered resistance in the last three days that culminated in the capture of the town," he said in a statement, adding "Several Al Shabaab militants were killed in the engagement and assorted weapons and ammunition recovered."

During the 2pm battle, two Kenyan forces and five Somalia National Army soldiers sustained minor injuries. "The injured soldiers were flown to Dobley for medical attention."Oguna described the capture of the town as a "major milestone in AMISOM offensive towards the liberation of the port city of Kismayu."Last week, Harbolle town in Sector II also fell into the hands of AMISOM when the militants tried to block the forces from advancing to Kismayu--resulting to the killing of 50 others.

The AMISOM forces, under whose umbrella the Kenya Defence Forces are fighting are racing against time to capture the port of Kismayu which is considered an Al Shabaab bastion.


Nice little analysis of Somalia's new president. A new President for Somalia – By Sally Healy

The election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud by Somalia’s Transitional Parliament is an unexpected success for the hugely discredited political process in the country. It could prove to be a turning point in Somalia’s recovery. With twenty five candidates standing, numerous doubts about the integrity of the new parliament and widespread reports of bribery for their votes, it was widely assumed that the post would go to the highest bidder. And it seemed a certainty this would be one of the usual suspects: President Sheikh Sharif, Prime Minister Abdi Weli or former Speaker Sherif Hassan. How nice it is to be wrong!

Hassan Sheikh’s victory is a useful reminder of the capacity of Somalia to surprise the outside world. Beyond the façade of internationally constructed governments, we know so little about how this country without a national government really works. Hassan Sheikh is largely unknown outside Somalia but he is very well known and respected in Mogadishu where he founded and runs the Somali Institute of Management and Development, now a university. He has also played a leading role in the various civic and philanthropic forums that provide the backbone of social and economic support so essential to Somali survival. The most important of these was a civic initiative known as the Mogadishu Security and Stabilisation Plan that tried to re-establish administrative structures before the rise of the Islamic Courts. His own account of this period provides a good insight into his political principles, above all a consistent message that without reconciliation no real progress can be made in rebuilding formal institutions.

I have worked with Hassan Sheikh on a couple of assignments. He is a very engaging, thoughtful and sincerely religious man. But what struck me most was his quiet confidence in the future of Somalia. He believes in the strength and the integrity of the Somali people and in their capacity to recover and to thrive again. Perhaps this is because he has operated for so long within Somali civil society, where such huge achievements have been made. Maintaining that confidence will be tougher in the grubby world of politics where we have become conditioned to expect failure.

Needless to say, the problems he will face are enormous. Al Shabab remains the immediate challenge in South Central Somalia, although it is contained for the time being by AMISOM forces. The formation of national security forces to replace AMISOM is still at a rudimentary stage. Neither the long drawn out political “transition” (in progress since 2004) nor the hastily concocted constitution has resolved the big questions about Somalia’s political future, including the nature of the federal system and the relationship with Somaliland. There is no legacy from the TFG in terms of government structures, institutions or even the beginnings of a functioning civil service.

Hassan Sheikh Nonetheless starts with some important assets. He is his own man. He is not part of the discredited political establishment. He Lives in Mogadishu and has not been plucked from the Somali diaspora. He is not in the pocket of any foreign power. The political party he formed in April 2011 has provided a structure and network of supporters that will certainly have been working through informal clan channels to deliver this unexpected election victory. He offers a new approach to solving Somalia’s problems of government, first and foremost a political approach, with reconciliation as its starting point.

Some credit is due to the international actors. They have stuck with grim determination to their “roadmap” to end the transition and put an end to the self-serving extensions of the TFG mandate. Whatever its shortcomings, the process to end the transition – the expansion of parliament, the involvement of clans, the insistence on the timetable and the unavoidability of the election created just enough political space for a credible Somali leader to slip through.

Hassan Sheikh will undoubtedly face enmity from the people who have profiteered for so long from Somali politics. He may be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task he confronts. But if he can tap into and draw strength from those enduring civic networks that he has helped to nurture, he stands a better chance of succeeding than any of his predecessors.



Sally Healy is a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute (and co-author with Hassan Sheikh of a 2009 report for UNDP on the role of the Somali Diaspora in Development).


This piece is also published by the Rift Valley Institute.

The last stand of al-Shabaab

The notorious Islamist army has terrorised Somalia for years. But will the fighters soon be wiped off the map?




Abdirahim Sheikh joined al-Shabaab after they visited him on his farm in southern Somalia to tell him that "foreign invaders" were abusing the Koran. He says the next three years of his life fighting for the radical Islamic militia were unimaginably tough. There was frequent bloody action on the front line and little or no care for the wounded who died in large numbers. But his morale only started to drop when he heard that fellow jihadists had killed worshippers at a mosque.

"If someone who is praying in a mosque can be killed then al-Shabaab are the infidels," said the 30-year-old. Standing in Mogadishu's ruined stadium, which the militia used as a training base during their long battle for the Somali capital, the farmer has switched sides and joined the war against them. He decided to defect, he said, after seeing a friend executed in front of him. The man was accused of planning to defect and the commander slit his throat as a warning to the others. That warning backfired. "After that the defections became a flood," said Abdirahim.

It is just over a year since al-Shabaab abandoned the crumbling sports ground and the rest of the city, leaving behind them the huge rusted metal plates speckled with shrapnel where their gunners practised piercing the armour of the African Union forces. The bowels of the stadium are now occupied by their former foes and a handful of al-Shabaab defectors who fled across the lines of a battle that the Islamic extremists appear to be losing.

The retreat that began at the height of the Horn of Africa famine in August last year has now reached the militants' once unassailable stronghold of Kismayo. The militant fighters last week trekked out of the historic port of Marka to the south of the capital. African Union forces have this year seized control of strategic towns like Afgoye outside the capital and Afmadow in the south. Now, the Islamists' commanders are reported to have left Kismayo, with residents in the port city seeing the militants withdraw their heavy weapons and larger trucks this week.

The series of reverses has led some observers to question whether a military defeat of Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen is now within reach. Abdirashid Hashi a Somalia analyst with the International Crisis Group (ICG) said that he expects Kismayo to be recaptured but that the war will continue in another guise. "Al Shabaab has been deserting or retreating from towns and cities since last year. But their ideology and many of their fighters are still there," he said.

"They are wounded and their strategy will now be to bide their time in the countryside and wait for the foreign forces to leave. They believe that time is on their side and they can fight a guerrilla war."

It is only six years since Ethiopian forces swept into Somalia with the political and military backing of the United States to topple the Islamic Courts Union, an Islamist movement which had taken control much of south and central Somalia after years of disastrous feuding between warlords. Ethiopia's vastly better-equipped forces quickly routed the youth militias loyal to the courts with hundreds killed or driven from the cities.

However, the Ethiopian intervention bolstered nationalist support for the courts' military wing helping to create al-Shabaab in its current form. Within a year the occupiers wearied of the guerrilla war and withdrew.

Now the foreign forces – comprising troops from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Sierra Leone, as well as Kenyans in the south – have some legitimacy under the umbrella of the African Union. After costly early mistakes, the AU force in the capital has restored some semblance of order enabling a freshly assembled parliament to elect a new president last month. The government of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the surprise winner among the MPs, has UN backing but also, crucially, some support among Somalis themselves who were largely contemptuous of his predecessors in the corrupt and squabbling Transitional Federal Government – an administration that a UN report uncovered was stealing 7 out of every 10 dollars it received in aid. The relative security in Mogadishu has seen people and money pour in from the Somali diaspora. Something of a revival is clearly underway.

But there is mounting concern that a botched operation to recapture Kismayo could undermine support for the new government and for the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom). Thousands of residents have streamed out of the port city in recent days as Kenya's navy has rained indiscriminate shellfire on the city.

"They are shelling everyone, everywhere," a Kismayo resident told The Independent by telephone from the besieged city. "The people are now understanding that the Kenyans have no plans to save the people." Kenya's land forces, operating under the banner of Amisom, have advanced to within 40 kilometres of the city. They have so far ignored appeals to establish a humanitarian corridor. Witnesses in nearby villages said the troops are firing on "anything that moves in front of them".

An equal or greater threat to southern Somalia may come from an imminent power struggle for the port city between competing clans. Similar struggles between Somalia's complex of clans and sub-clans were largely responsible for 20 years of civil war that followed the collapse of the last central government in 1991.

Al-Shabaab proved adept at managing the clan system in cosmopolitan Kismayo. In recent days they have allowed hundreds of lightly armed fighters from the Hawiye clan to move into the city. A warlord from the rival Marihan clan, Barre Hiiraale, is reported to be bringing his fighters to the city with the backing of Ethiopia. Meanwhile, the Kenyan advance from the south has been achieved with the backing of the Ras Kamboni militia from another rival clan, the Ogadeni.

The convergence of forces could see a three-way fight between proxies of Ethiopia, Kenya and al-Shabaab, an outcome that could restore some nationalist support for the Islamic militants after a year at bay.


Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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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.

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