Site of Somali Government Is Put Under Islamic Law

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The radical Islamist insurgents who have seized the provisional capital moved Tuesday to consolidate their control of the town and announced that they were imposing Islamic law there.The Shabab, one of the most militant Islamist militias fighting for control of the country, captured the town, Baidoa, on Monday, hours after the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops who had been protecting it.
Speaking to thousands of spectators at a soccer stadium in the northeastern part of town, the Shabab spokesman, Sheik Muktar Robow, urged calm and ordered an end to the looting that took place on Monday.more...http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/world/africa/28somalia.html?_r=1&partner=rss

Inauguration Day Terror Threat A Ruse?

So was there a threat or not? According to one report, the inauguration day terror threat was a ruse.
Inauguration Terror Threat Debunked
A potential terror threat just before last week’s presidential inauguration turned out to be a ruse, a top military commander said Tuesday.
However, Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of U.S. Northern Command, warned that ongoing security concerns still face the Obama administration during its early days.
Renuart, the military commander in charge of domestic defense, said reports pointing to a possible threat from an East Africa terrorist group were the result of claims by another faction and turned out to be untrue.
“It was more a function of two factions who didn’t like each other setting the other up,” Renuart said. He did not identify the other faction.more..http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2009/01/27/inauguration-day-terror-threat-a-ruse/

French navy foils Somali pirate attack: military

PARIS (AFP) - The French navy on Tuesday foiled an attack on a cargo ship in the pirate-infested waters off Somalia and arrested nine men allegedly trying to board the vessel, the military said here.The French frigate Le Floreal received a distress call from the African Ruby and dispatched a helicopter which spotted two high-speed skiffs with armed men on board, a military spokesman said.The chopper fired warning shots and the nine men on the skiffs were later detained, he said, adding that the interception took place in international waters off Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of northeast Somalia.It was not immediately known what country the African Ruby is registered in...more..http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090127/world/somalia_unrest_piracy_france
Japan sends navy to fight Somali pirates
TOKYO — Japan on Wednesday ordered its ships to join the international fight against pirates off the shores of Somalia — a move that has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers who fear it could draw the country into military operations prohibited by its pacifist constitution.
The post-Second World War charter limits Japan's military to conducting defensive operations. Its naval ships can only be deployed to protect Japanese boats and their crew. Ruling party members have argued that the battle against piracy is more a crime-fighting operation than a military one.
But opposition lawmakers have expressed concern that Japanese ships could be pressed into protecting foreign ships in an emergency.
Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Wednesday the ships were only being sent to protect Japanese commercial vessels — though the government says none have thus far been hijacked. Pirates have fired at three Japanese vessels. No one was injured.
Mr. Hamada did not say how many Japanese ships would be sent or when, and said his dispatch order was an interim measure until Parliament passes a formal law outlining the ships' activities in their mission.more...http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090128.wjapannavy0128/BNStory/International/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090128.wjapannavy0128

East African Nations Condemn Return of Hardline Islamists in Somalia

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, a regional grouping of six East African nations, has condemned the attempt by Islamist extremists to retake control of Somalia, following the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops. The Somali delegate at an IGAD foreign ministers meeting warned that security is at a critical stage in his country. The IGAD ministers issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the actions of what are described as "anti-peace groups" in Somalia. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development is a regional forum linking Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Djibouti. The emergency meeting was called a day after Ethiopian troops completed their military withdrawal from Somalia. The Ethiopians were immediately replaced in the provisional seat of parliament, Baidoa, by the hardline Islamic group al-Shabab, which already controls a large portion of central and southern Somalia.
An al-Shabab leader was quoted as promising to restore strict Sharia, or Islamic, law, which had been in effect before Ethiopia intervened more than two years ago to prop up the country's fragile transitional government.http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-01-27-voa64.cfm

Ethiopian troops out of Somalia

LUUQ gedo(jubbaland state)-Thousands of Ethiopian troops with a lot of military trucks and tanks crossed the border out of Somalia on Wednesday The Ethiopian troops completely departed from the Somali capital Mogadishu on 15 January 2009, but pulled back to Baidoa where radical Islamists took control of it after the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.The Ethiopian troops accompanied by some Somali MPs and the former Mogadishu mayor Mohamed Omar Habeeb known as Mohamed Dheere reached in the border town of Luuq in southwestern Somalia yesterday. Residents say the Ethiopian troops crossed the border between Somalia and Ethiopia.Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, ruled out Tuesday the return of Ethiopian troops to Somalia and accused al-Shabaab of using Ethiopia's presence in Somalia as a pretext for a campaign of violence that has left an estimated 16,000 people dead.
Ethiopia rejects returning to Somalia despite Islamists' comeback
ADDIS ABABA- Ethiopia on Tuesday ruled out sending its troops back to Somalia after hardline Islamists took over Baidoa, the seat of the country's parliament, following Addis Ababa's pull-out at the weekend. Ethiopia's Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, accused al-Shabab of using Ethiopia's presence in Somalia as a pretext for a campaign of violence that has left an estimated 16,000 people dead."Now that Ethiopian troops are completely out of Somalia, so they have a different a different agenda, leading Somalia to the verge of fragmentation. And they are leading Somalia down the drain. They must not be allowed to lead Somalia into that disaster," he said.
At the same time, the foreign minister emphasized that Ethiopia has no intention of returning to Somalia after failing to bring stability to a country that has been without a functioning government since 1991."I don't think Ethiopian troops are ready again to step into Somalia. That is ruled out. But we will do everything by strengthening AMISOM [the African Union Mission to Somalia] and the Somali institutions to fight anarchy and these terrorist acts inside their country," he said.Earlier in the day, Africa's top diplomat, African Union Commission chief Jean Ping spoke confidently of adding Ugandan and Nigerian battalions to the AU's 3,500-strong peacekeeping mission in Somalia. AMISOM is working alongside 10,000 Somali security service personnel. But the combined force controls little more than a section of the capital, Mogadishu.
Ping shrugged off the fall of Baidoa to al-Shabab, saying it had been expected. He described security conditions as "less serious" than expected.--Agencies

Why Al-Shabaab, an affiliate terrorist organization and off-shoot of Al-Qa’eda killed Ibrahim Elmi (Gab) Warsame?

Left-Ibrahim Elmi Warsame and His Wife Regional Governor of Lower Shabelle March 29, 1987 Right-Professor Abdulwali Sheik Abdullahi and His Wife

Ibrahim Elmi Warsame who was a lifelong human rights advocate was born on 1936 in Eil – the oldest city of the Nugal region of Puntland which also was one of the strongest fortresses of Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan’s gallant Dervishes. That time was only a year before the colonial troops of General Graziani of the fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia from Walwal frontier (Eastern corner of Hawd and Reserved Area) on Feb. 22, 1935.

The inhabitants of Eil refused to take part in that aggression. It was also 11 years after the Fascist Italian Navy bombarded Eil and ruined to ashes on April 24, 1925.Ibrahim completed his Quranic and primary

education in Eil of the then Majertenia Sultanate (Nugal region of today) and he later moved to Kismayo of southern Somalia where he joined the Vanguards of Somali Youth League on 1952. He was detained, tortured and then extradited to Bosaso of then Majertenia Sultanate’s seat (Bari of today) after participating most of the famous battles of Kismayo independence movements that were waged by SYL against the brutality of the colonial rule.After some of the leading figures of SYL betrayed the objectives of independence principles founded for SYL and it became infested and infiltrated with anti-independence opportunists, Ibrahim left SYL and joined Somali Greater League (Somalis known as Gareed), which later transformed to be the Somali Democratic Union (SDU). He continued his struggle for the noble cause of freeing Somalia and took part in its numerous and multifold demonstrations and peaceful protests against the UN-Trusteeship but disguised colonial rule.After Somalia attained its independence on mid 1960, Ibrahim joined the movement of Somali Labor Unions (Syndicates) and he had tirelessly fought for the rights of Somalia’s young workforce for achieving an equal opportunity and social justice for all during those 9 years of the then nascent civilian but corrupted administration of Somalia (1960-69).After the Somalia’s armed forces overthrew the civilian government, Ibrahim became among the benevolent supporters of the new rule. Of course he didn’t have enough experience of military rule and he was sad about how the corrupted civilian government disappointed the aspirations of those who fought for the independence. He took his higher education and leadership courses at both inside Somalia and abroad in the yrs (1970-75).He then held many leadership positions in Somalia’s Interior Ministry on the years 1975-90 such as: Deputy Mayor of Kismayo(1975-76), Mayor of Gabiley – a district of the northwest region of Somalia (1976-83), Regional Governor of Sanag – northeastern tip of Somalia (1983-86) and the Regional Governor of Lower Shabelle (1986-91) since the collapse of Somalia’s central government on January 26, 1991.Ibrahim was a great husband and caring father, and was loved by his colleagues of the work place and the people of the districts and regions he served, but since he was against all kinds of violence, corruption, nepotism, tribalism and partiality as well as the newly spreading Islamic Fundamentalist Extremists (the neo-fascists disguised in Islam) who were and still are the enemies of social justice and gender equality, the falsifiers of Islam and anti-Islam manslaughters ( because Islam is a religion of peaceful co-existence, harmony, tolerance, forgiveness and it values the lives of human being), the invaders of human rights, manipulators or misleaders of women and children, the social chauvinists of our era, the anarchists and inhumane marauders who had devastated Somalia and other countries, so of course, he might have enemies in his country where Al-Qa’eda runs most of Somalia’s money laundering mafia network, drugs and weapons/ammunitions smuggling chains and warlords led blood sucking companies. These anti-Islam bloodthirsty anarchists kill thousands of Somalia’s medical doctors, engineers, educators, human rights activists, university students and all other dignified and civic leaders.Ibrahim had been once kidnapped from Gabiley by a dissident militia group on May 1978 and was freed by the then Somalia’s strong Commandos after 4 days of a bloody and fearsome snipping captivity. That was only of his personal opinion against wars.A younger brother of Ibrahim – a Navy captain Abdisalam Elmi Warsame was hanged by the dictatorial regime of Somalia onOct. 26, 1978 with other 16 highly educated intellectuals and young army officers after they tried to lead an aborted social uprising for a democratic change of Somalia held on April 9, 1978 ..Another younger brother of Ibrahim – a Navy Lieutenant Omar Elmi Warsame was heinously murdered by the tribal militia thugs of the infamous and warmonger General Mohamed Farah Aideed on July 1992 in Kismanyo of Southern Somalia.A third younger brother of his – Mohamed Elmi Warsame was savagely beheaded by the Islamist villains who were terrorizing Somalia on 2004 in the middle regions of the war ravaged Somalia. Over 23 male relatives of Ibrahim were assassinated by either Al-Shabab or Hizbul Islam terrorist organizations who both are affiliated in Al-Qa’ida during the last 6 years. At there, people are executed because of their personal opinions and those who are affiliated in the minority sub-clans of Somalia like that of Ibrahim’s are the most vulnerable, because no revenge is feared. Their extermination is planned.These gruesome situations compelled Ibrahim’s sons and most of his male relatives to escape to the neighboring countries of Somalia such as: Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania because of their fear of being executed or barbarically beheaded by the terrorist murderers who are roaming in every district of the civil war crippled Somalia.Ibrahim’s former wife and their children left Somalia on 1986 before the collapse of Somalia’s despotic central government, but Ibrahim was denied to get a passport to travel with his family and was left behind, so, he later married Laila Hersi Qalinle onMarch 1987. Laila gave birth to her first daughter on early 1988. She went back to Gabiley (her birth place) on May 1989 intending to visit her family while she was pregnant of her second child.Somali National Movement “SNM”, a dissident armed organization that fought against that regime invaded the northern part of Somalia on 27th of May 1988. A year later, Gabiley (where Laila went) was then mercilessly bombarded and ruined to debris by the then dictatorial armed thugs and mercenary aircrafts. Laila and her daughter were among the lucky survivors who fled to their neighboring Ethiopia. She gave birth to her second child (a boy) under an acacia tree of Dibile village (on the eastern edge of Ethiopia) without being assisted by any human attendance, while many of her family members, close relatives and friends were either mass raped (including her while pregnant), abducted for molesting and mutilating females and males were appallingly massacred in their presence, some of the exodus fleeing people starved to death on their exhausted run for safety or were gruesomely devoured by carnivorous animals.Then, Ibrahim began searching for Laila and kids and his former wife and their children for four months but forgave at last where he thought that Laila and kids (he only knew of the daughter) were either buried under the rubbles of the devastated Gabiley, or were among those collected in concentration like camps and murdered by the genocidal villains of the military regime. He returned back to Somalia in vain and bare handed.On January 26, 1991, the central government of Somalia’s dictatorial regime collapsed and a clan based sort of social animosity began in the southern part of the country. That unexpected social animosity and civil strife was perpetrated by the infamous war monger General Mohamed Farah Aideed and his clannish oriented militia marauders (USC). So, Ibrahim left again Mogadishu and escaped to the further south where he reached into the Refugee Camps of Kenya without knowing the whereabouts and state of life of neither his former wife and her children, nor the new one (Laila) and her two infants.With the help of the International Red Cross, Ibrahim left Kenya and returned back to the northeast regions of Somalia (Puntland of today) on Dec. 1993. He stayed there alone for several years distressed. Then he married Faduma Farah Adenon mid 1995.At the end of 1996, Laila and her two children unexpectedly appeared alive or say it -were found in one of the Ethiopian refugee camps. They were moved to the Northeast region of Somalia (Puntland State of Somalia today) where Ibrahim was resettled. It is a common practice and religiously lawful to have such polygamy in Islam, so Ibrahim began to sustain on that circumstances obligated kind of life and raised his 12 kids from both Laila with 7 and Faduma with 5. Most of his grown up children migrated into the neighboring East African states. I know Saida Ibrahim Elmi Warsame had made to enter United States of America and now live in Las Vegas with her husband.Ibrahim became a co-founder of Puntland State of Somalia on August 1, 1998. He was chosen as a member of its 66 parliament body. He is remembered of his unreserved compassion to the needy and being a peace maker, mediator of tribal based conflicts or people says it – an anchor for conflicts resolution, a role model and real leader of the Puntland Parliament where the position he vacated will never be filled, a guru of good governance, a civic leader of the community, a human rights activist, an advocate for social justice and a resourceful figure of the political and socio-cultural processes that Puntland underwent during its existence. He was beloved by all sectors of the society except the bloodthirsty terrorist ruffians and their brain washed killing squads of the cursed Somalia.Ibrahim was cold-bloodedly assassinated on Nov.5, 2009 by Al- Shabab contactors as the President of Puntland State of Somalia Dr. Abdirahman Sheik Mohamed stated in his press conference on that episode. Among the next targets of the Al-Shabab International Terrorists are his bereaved children and widowed wives who are still moaning there helplessly. So, an International effort of saving the lives of these humans is inevitable before it becomes too late. We do request from the USA and UN to extend a life saving hand to the bereaved wives and children of Ibrahim Elmi Warsame.

Professor Abdulwali Sheik Abdullahi
Somali historian,
Somali scholar

Here's hoping

That was the mantra of Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency. It certainly was the leitmotif of his first week in office. If that hope proves misplaced, the national security may suffer serious harm.
Specifically, hope was the order of the day as Mr. Obama issued executive orders to close within a year the detention and interrogation center at Guantanamo Bay (“Gitmo”) – the nation’s only state-of-the-art facility for securely holding and systematically debriefing some of our most dangerous enemies. President Obama’s determination to take as one of his first official acts the closure of Gitmo was not simply a gesture designed to placate those among his left-wing constituency, many of whom have been restive about his more “centrist” cabinet choices. It was also meant to signal to the rest of the world the arrival of a dramatically new order in Washington.
Clearly, Mr. Obama hopes that our friends will respond by doing more to help us counter the threat posed to all of us by what he euphemistically – and inaccurately – called in his inaugural address “a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.” For starters, they could take some of the Gitmo detainees off our hands. more..http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/p17856.xml?genre_id=1

US to send pirates to Kenya

Nairobi - The United States will hand over any suspected pirates its forces capture off the coast of Somalia to Kenya for trial, the American ambassador to Kenya said on Monday.
The US is leading anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia, where piracy is flourishing off the lawless coast. The question of where to bring pirates to justice is among the many issues frustrating naval forces struggling to curb rising attacks on merchant vessels off Somalia, where pirates made more 100 attacks on ships last year and took away millions of dollars in ransom. US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger said it is "a little early to say how (the deal) will be implemented". Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Kenya signed a memorandum on the US-Kenya agreement on the pirates because the hijackings had made it riskier for ships coming to Kenya's main port, Mombasa, which is south of Somalia. more..http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2459353,00.html

Yemenis in Guantanamo set to be released within three months

The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Saturday that a total of 94 Yemeni Guantanamo detainees will be released to Yemen within three months. He said Yemen had refused an offer from the former US administration for the release of the Yemeni men to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation. "We refused the offer to release the Yemenis to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation, and we told them we would establish our own centre for rehabilitating them and helping to rid the country of extremism and violence," said President Saleh in an annual conference for security leaders held in Sana'a Saturday. "Now, within 60-90 days, 94 Yemeni detainees will be here among us," he said Late last week, the Yemeni government announced it has begun to establish a special centre for receiving, re-training and reintegrating its citizens from the Guantanamo detention center after they are released. On his part, the American ambassador to Sana'a Stephen Seche said that his government was in “constant conversation” with Yemeni authorities concerning the Guantanamo issue, as many of the detainees are Yemeni citizens. More than 100 of the 254 remaining detainees in Guantanamo are Yemenis. “We are going to find a way to relocate them at some point. Certainly we would like to be able to bring them back to Yemen and have them integrate themselves back into their own society with their families and make a future for themselves here,” the ambassador Seche said in statements published Saturday by the America.gov website. more..http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10015648.html

Somali lawmakers delay presidential vote

days the time period needed to elect a new president after the post fell vacant with last month's resignation of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. According to the country's transitional charter, a new president should be elected within 30 days of the position falling vacant. Yusuf stepped down on December 29 and the deadline to elect his replacement expires on Wednesday.more,,http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-01-27-somali-lawmakers-delay-presidential-vote

Somali Islamists to rule by sharia law in Baidoa

BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline Islamist insurgent group al Shabaab said on Tuesday it had introduced sharia law in Baidoa, a day after taking the town that had been a government stronghold and seat of parliament.
Fighters from al Shabaab, which is on Washington's list of terrorist groups, captured Baidoa on Monday after the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who had been supporting the government.
They quickly took the airport, parliament building and president's home, and called locals to a meeting at a football stadium on Tuesday to explain how they would govern.more..http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE50Q23Y20090127?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Somali MPs expand parliament as insurgents seize town (Roundup)
Nairobi/Mogadishu - Somali members of parliament on Monday voted to double the number of seats in parliament from 275 to include moderate Islamists and civil society as insurgents seized one of the last government strongholds. The Islamist Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) will have 200 seats, while 75 members of civil society will take up the rest of the new seats. The MPs, meeting in neighbouring Djibouti due to insecurity in Somalia, are also to vote on whether to delay presidential elections due for the end of January. ARS leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is running for the presidency, along with current Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.more..http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1455890.php/Somali_MPs_expand_parliament_as_insurgents_seize_town__Roundup__

Somali-Americans Head to Africa for Jihad

Newsweek ran a story just a few days ago about some 20 young Somali-American men who lived in Minnesota, and recently vanished. These muslim men abandoned their communities and families, and seem to have linked up with some terrorist groups in Somalia. As you may or may not know, Somalia has been ravaged war and governments there seem to be in one day and out the other. From the article, describing the group the FBI believes the men were recruited by

Since al-Shabab is on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations, traveling to Somalia to train or fight with the group is illegal. But security officials involved in the investigation have a bigger concern—that a jihadist group able to enlist U.S. nationals to fight abroad might also be able to persuade Somali-Americans to act as sleeper agents here in the United States. Al-Shabab has no history of targeting the U.S. But the group has grown closer to Al Qaeda since the American-backed invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia in 2006. Al-Shabab has since been working with a number of non-Somali operatives wanted by the United States, including Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, an architect of the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, according to intelligence officials.
It would almost be a sigh of relief to think that these men, willing and capable to serve in a terrorist militia, chose to head overseas instead of pursuing actions here. There was no hard evidence (at least available to the public) that these men were going to work with al-Shabab until reports of arrests in Somalia broke earlier this week, sparking notable concerns about American terrorists abroad. Some simple math yields the conclusion that there are more Americans from the Minneapolis area on the loose in Somalia, assisting the al-Qaeda linked group. Home-grown terror, hitting weak governments overseas. This is a problem.http://shotsonthehouse.com/?p=987

Somali al-shabaab Terrorist insurgents take government stronghold, introduce sharia law

Hardline Terrorist al-shabaab militants in Somalia say they have introduced sharia law in Baidoa just hours after taking the city that seats the country's central government. The assertion by the insurgent group al Shabaab comes two days after the last Ethiopian forces completed their withdrawal from Somalia. Some 3,000 Ethiopian soldiers had been helping the government battle Islamists Terrorist for the past two years. The African Union and the United Nations are now pushing for a unity government as the only option for peace in the country. In the meantime, Somalia's parliament has voted to double its size and invited 200 members of the moderate Islamist opposition to join. The Horn of Africa nation has been mired in violence since 1991, has been plagued by fighting and humanitarian suffering for decades. Continuing instability, coupled with drought, high food prices and the The Horn of Africa nation has been plagued by chaos and clan-based civil war since when hawiye Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATESM ,(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 , The UN says the country is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe, with some 3.25 million Somalis, almost half the population, dependent on food aid.
Dark Day .history of Somalia .January 26, 1991.Collapse of the somali nation( Key Plays)
An Islamic Dark Age Looms in Somalia

Puntland leader rejects reconciliation talks in Djibouti The Puntland president, Abdirahman Muhammad Farole

President of Puntland state of somalia has sent a letter to the UN Special Envoy to Somalia, Ahmadou Ould Abdalla, who is brokering the reconciliation talks in Djibouti.The Puntland president, Abdirahman Muhammad Farole, said as far as they are concerned, the talks do not include all Somalis. The Puntland leader said his administration, which plays an important role in the situation in Somalia, has not been invited into the reconciliation talks in Djibouti.The letter sent by the Puntland leader surprised the UN who were not expecting it. Some UN officials said they would consider the grievances by the Puntland administration.The new Puntland administration views the Djibouti talks as one sided and one that does not have the interest of the Somali people at heart. The new Puntland administration also views the participants of the Djibouti talks as not having been fairly selected.The four most important points in the statement issued by the Puntland Administration are:
1.Puntland will be part of all reconciliation talks and any public resolutions in Somalia as long as they are fairly conducted.
2.That those appointed to participate in such events be representatives of the various sections of the population and the civil society groups.
3.That the Puntland administration be informed in all matters pertaining to the electing of parliamentarians which is currently ongoing and has been decided that it will be on the ratio of 4:5.
4.That the Puntland administration will not acknowledge any Member of Parliament who is elected to represent the region without consulting the administration. Their appointment will be viewed as illegal.
The above resolutions are a set back to many politicians who hail from Puntland Region and have been added on the list of MPs proposed by the group opposing the Transitional Federal Government (TFG)

Ethiopian troops reach jubbalann state of somalia

LUUQ gedo (jubbaland state)-Hundreds of Ethiopian troops accompanied by some Somali MPs have reached in the border town of Luuq in Gedo region in southwestern Somalia (jubbaland state) on Tuesday.Ethiopian soldiers with a lot of military trucks reached the town early on Tuesday. The Ethiopian troops departed Baidoa and were heading to the border between Somalia and Ethiopia in the region.Sources from the town say the Ethiopian troops are accompanied by some of Somali MPs from jubbaland state and the former Mogadihsu mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb who has recently been released by the Ethiopian troops.Mohamud Sayid Aden, and MP from gedo (jubbaland state os somalia) said that some other parliamentarians from other part of the country for safety reason were with him.It is not clear why the Somali MPs are following with the Ethiopian soldiers, but sources indicate that they are with the Ethiopians for security reasons after Islamist hardliners captured the seat of the parliament.The administration of jubbaland state welcome the troops and TFG parliament members ,The jubbaland state Regional Authority & Ethiopia have SECURITY AGREEMENT and good relationship .
Ethiopian troops watch Somalia’s situation on the border

Somalis pressured to elect president this week

DJIBOUTI - The Somali presidential election may be held this week after pressure from the international community, Diplomats from African and western countries at the power-sharing talks in Djibouti has insisted that the Somali presidential election be held within the timeframe set in the Somali Transitional Federal Charter,The thirty-day deadline for the election of a president expires on Wednesday as former president Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed stepped down on Dec. 29. The Somali Transitional Federal Government and ICU \the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) agreed last October on the outline of enlarging Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament and forming Government of National Unity. On Monday, the Somali lawmakers approved the expansion of the parliament to include members of the opposition faction, the ARS, who will be sworn in on Tuesday.
ARS leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed announced on Sunday Sheik Shariif Sheik Ahmed Nominated by (ARS) ICU for Somalia’s Presidency he would contest the presidential election. Sharif and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein are seen as the two main presidential contenders. More than a dozen candidates are expected to vie to succeed former President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed who stepped down last month after falling out with the prime minister over a UN-backed peace deal.

Al Shabaab's Kataaib.net site pwned!

Al Shabaab is an islamic terrorist group linked to al Qaida that operates in southern Somalia. Recently al Shabaab made international headlines for a threat made against Barack Obama's inauguration. Obviously nothing happened but the number of security personnel at Obama's inauguration was extremely high. The FBI is concerned about 20 Somali-Americans who have disappeared from the Minneapolis area. The Somali-Americans are believed to have travelled to Somalia to fight for al Shabaab. Al Shabaab have had a website spewing out their propaganda hosted by Dotster Inc in Vancouver, Washington, USA. Even though al Shabaab is listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department, Dotster refused to shut down the site for free speech reasons. Dotster said they would only shut down the site if the government would order them to do so.Well looks like the government has finally gotten around to order Dotster to shut down kataaib.net! A quick WHOIS search of kataaib.net reveals that the "Domain pending cancelation per government order". .it is never too late to do the right thing.. we have been advancing this issue a long time.Stand up, Speak up, Fight back"Challenge yourself and challenge others to stand up for what is right,seek positive change.The Silent somali majority must speak up or we will become the fearful majority, and begins the journey toward justice,..Stop this Barbaric

hawiye AL-SHABAAB barbaric and genocidal funded, very sick and twisted vedio

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SOMALIA AL-SHABAB GROUP LINKS TO AL-QAEDA THEY HAVE WEBSITE WWW.KATAAIB.NET IN VANCOUVER WA, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR BILL WARNER

Africa Union Condemns Al-Shabaab Takeover of Somali Parliament Building

The African Union has sharply condemned Monday's reported takeover of the Somali parliament building in Baidoa and surrounding areas by Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents. The Islamic group described by Washington as a terrorist organization promised to institute Sharia law shortly after taking over the town.
Al-Shabaab took control of most of Baidoa with reportedly little resistance from local militia groups and government troops who controlled the city after the departure of the Ethiopian troops a few hours earlier. The takeover of Baidoa came as Somali parliamentarians, meeting in neighboring Djibouti overwhelmingly agreed to expand parliament from 275 to 550 members. The new parliament is expected to begin meeting today ahead of the possible extension of the deadline for electing a new president.
Mohammed Ali Ahmed, a former education minister, told VOA that residents of Baidoa welcomed the Al-Shabaab takeover. more..http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-01-27-voa2.cfm

Somali Islamist leader wants peace with Ethiopia

DJIBOUTI (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamist presidential candidate said he wants to make peace with Ethiopia, bring young militia fighters into a national security force, and rebuild the country's social services.
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the moderate Islamist leader from the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), also told Reuters he was ready to discuss any political or religious issues with Islamist insurgents still fighting in Somalia.
Ahmed, a law graduate from Libya, was chairman of the Islamic Courts' Union which ran Mogadishu in 2006. Initially welcomed for bringing order to a city ruled by warlords, Ethiopian troops invaded and ousted them from the capital.
But the Ethiopian soldiers failed to quell a two-year Islamist insurgency and left Somalia on Monday. More than 16,000 civilians have been killed since the start of 2007, a million fled their homes and piracy has flourished off Somalia's coast.more..http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37674220090127?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Islamist fighters seize Somali government seat

CNN) -- Radical Islamist fighters seized control of the seat of Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government Monday, raiding the parliament building and demanding that several lawmakers publicly surrender, according to a journalist who witnessed the spectacle,Al-Shabab fighters took over the parliament building and the presidential palace in Baidoa, in the southwestern part of the country, a day after the Ethiopian troops who had backed up the transitional government left the country.
The insurgents captured five members of parliament and paraded them through the city streets, with hundreds of residents looking on, the reporter said. The five were released after publicly surrendering.
The situation left Somali lawmakers stranded in the neighboring country of Djibouti, where they often convene and where talks on forming a new government are under way.
"We have nowhere to return to," Parliament Speaker Aden Mohamed Nur told fellow lawmakers there.
Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government took office after Ethiopian troops invaded the country at its request in December 2006. The Ethiopian invasion ousted the Islamic Courts Union, an Islamist movement that had claimed control of the capital Mogadishu earlier that year. more..http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/01/26/somalia.takeover/index.html?eref=edition_africa