(CNN) -- Fresh fighting erupted Sunday between Somalia's transitional government forces and Islamist rebels, continuing a wave of violence that a top United Nations official called a "grave violation of human rights" that could possibly amount to war crimes.The fighting restarted Sunday with heavy fire in a district north of the capital, Mogadishu, Somalia's Shabelle radio reported, quoting officials and witnesses.On Saturday, the security director for the transitional government was killed and at least 40 people, mostly civilians were rushed to Mogadishu hospitals, according to Shabelle.The United Nations' human rights chief said the strife in Somalia has caused "enormous suffering and massive displacement.""In this new wave of attacks, it is clear that civilians -- especially women and children -- are bearing the brunt of the violence," said Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.She said attacks against civilians have been a signature feature of the conflicts that have plagued the Horn of Africa nation."There needs to be a much greater effort to protect civilians. Displaced people and human rights defenders, aid workers and journalists are among those most exposed, and in some cases are being directly targeted," she added...more..http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/07/12/somalia.fighting/
Somalia: Al-Shabaab Vows Deadlier War Tactics - Al-Shabaab's spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dh... http://ow.ly/15HC5m
Another Somali-American killed waging jihad in Somalia
Government displays the body of foreign fighter
Yemen sentences six to death as al-Qaida members
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/13/yemen-death-sentence-alqaida-embassy
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Another Somali-American killed waging jihad in Somalia
Spokesman: Third American Killed In SomaliaAnother Minnesota man recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia has been killed in the war-torn African country, according to a spokesman for the man’s family. Family members of 20-year-old Jamal Bana found photos of his bloody body online, according to Abdirizak Bihi, who has represented many of the families whose loved ones left the Minneapolis area last year to join al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006.
The FBI has been looking into how more than 20 young, Somali-American men from the Twin Cities and elsewhere were recruited to train and possibly fight alongside al-Shabaab.
Like many families of men who left unannounced for Somalia, Bana’s mother had been regularly searching the Internet for any information about her son in Somalia, according to Bihi.
She came upon a series of photos on a Somali Web site, purporting to show an Afghan or Pakistani fighter who was killed during a fight in Mogadishu on Saturday. But, Bihi said, Bana’s mother knew instantly that the gruesome photos – depicting a person with a bloody gunshot wound to the head – were that of her son. “He doesn’t look Somali. He has very light skin,” Bihi said. “So they thought he is a foreign jihadist from Afghanistan or Pakistan.” Bihi said the Somali government took the photos to show the world that they had killed a foreign fighter. He said most of the photos were taken inside the Somali Presidential Palace, after Bana’s body was removed from the streets of Mogadishu. One photo shows the body being carried on a stretcher in the middle of a street, as soldiers and a man in a red collared shirt, with a rifle slung over his shoulder, look on. Fox News has decided not to show the photos in full, due to their graphic nature. An FBI spokesman in Minneapolis said the FBI is aware of the photos, but he would neither confirm nor deny that they show Bana’s body. Before leaving for Somalia, Bana had studied electrical engineering at a community college. Bana would be the third known American to die alongside al-Shabaab. Bihi’s nephew, 17-year-old Burhan Hassan, was killed in Somalia last month. He was a senior at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis when he left for Somalia with Bana in early November last year. It’s unclear exactly how Hassan died. Law enforcement officials said Hassan was likely killed by artillery fire or a stray bullet. But his family has accused al-Shabaab of murdering him. Bihi suggested that Bana was also killed by al-Shabaab, after being “brainwashed” to join them. In October 2008, 27-year-old college student Shirwa Ahmed of Minneapolis became “the first known American suicide bomber” when he blew himself up in Somalia, killing dozens, according to the FBI. Bihi was planning to hold a press conference about Bana late this afternoon.Article.
I do feel for the kid’s mom. But I wonder how many more “moderate” muslims living in the US are preparing to undertake the same quest Bana did. More pictures ..
Government displays the body of foreign fighter, from Minneapolis 20-year-old Jamal Bana »
Spokesman: Third American Killed In Somalia. 20-year-old Jamal Bana
Another Minnesota man recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia has been killed in the war-torn African country, according to a spokesman for the man’s family.
Family members of 20-year-old Jamal Bana found photos of his bloody body online, according to Abdirizak Bihi, who has represented many of the families whose loved ones left the Minneapolis area last year to join al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006.
The FBI has been looking into how more than 20 young, Somali-American men from the Twin Cities and elsewhere were recruited to train and possibly fight alongside al-Shabaab.
Like many families of men who left unannounced for Somalia, Bana's mother had been regularly searching the Internet for any information about her son in Somalia, according to Bihi.
She came upon a series of photos on a Somali Web site, purporting to show an Afghan or Pakistani fighter who was killed during a fight in Mogadishu on Saturday. But, Bihi said, Bana's mother knew instantly that the gruesome photos – depicting a person with a bloody gunshot wound to the head – were that of her son.“He doesn’t look Somali. He has very light skin,” Bihi said. “So they thought he is a foreign jihadist from Afghanistan or Pakistan.”Bihi said the Somali government took the photos to show the world that they had killed a foreign fighter. He said most of the photos were taken inside the Somali Presidential Palace, after Bana's body was removed from the streets of Mogadishu.One photo shows the body being carried on a stretcher in the middle of a street, as soldiers and a man in a red collared shirt, with a rifle slung over his shoulder, look on.Fox News has decided not to show the photos in full, due to their graphic nature.An FBI spokesman in Minneapolis said the FBI is aware of the photos, but he would neither confirm nor deny that they show Bana's body.Before leaving for Somalia, Bana had studied electrical engineering at a community college.Bana would be the third known American to die alongside al-Shabaab...more..http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/07/11/spokesman-third-american-kille
Terror Free Somalia Foundation: Government displays the body of foreign
Family members of 20-year-old Jamal Bana found photos of his bloody body online, according to Abdirizak Bihi, who has represented many of the families whose loved ones left the Minneapolis area last year to join al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006.
The FBI has been looking into how more than 20 young, Somali-American men from the Twin Cities and elsewhere were recruited to train and possibly fight alongside al-Shabaab.
Like many families of men who left unannounced for Somalia, Bana's mother had been regularly searching the Internet for any information about her son in Somalia, according to Bihi.
She came upon a series of photos on a Somali Web site, purporting to show an Afghan or Pakistani fighter who was killed during a fight in Mogadishu on Saturday. But, Bihi said, Bana's mother knew instantly that the gruesome photos – depicting a person with a bloody gunshot wound to the head – were that of her son.“He doesn’t look Somali. He has very light skin,” Bihi said. “So they thought he is a foreign jihadist from Afghanistan or Pakistan.”Bihi said the Somali government took the photos to show the world that they had killed a foreign fighter. He said most of the photos were taken inside the Somali Presidential Palace, after Bana's body was removed from the streets of Mogadishu.One photo shows the body being carried on a stretcher in the middle of a street, as soldiers and a man in a red collared shirt, with a rifle slung over his shoulder, look on.Fox News has decided not to show the photos in full, due to their graphic nature.An FBI spokesman in Minneapolis said the FBI is aware of the photos, but he would neither confirm nor deny that they show Bana's body.Before leaving for Somalia, Bana had studied electrical engineering at a community college.Bana would be the third known American to die alongside al-Shabaab...more..http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/07/11/spokesman-third-american-kille
Terror Free Somalia Foundation: Government displays the body of foreign
Mix of politics, faith motivating some Minneapolis Somalis to heed call of jihad.A Call to Jihad From Somalia, Answered in America
For a group of students who often met at the Carlson School of Management, on the University of Minnesota campus, the motto "Nowhere but here" seemed especially fitting.
They had fled Somalia as small boys, escaping a catastrophic civil war. They came of age as refugees in Minneapolis, becoming naturalized U.S. citizens and embracing basketball, the prom, hip-hop and the Mall of America. By the time they reached college, their dreams seemed within grasp: One planned to become a doctor; another, an entrepreneur. But last year, in a study room on the first floor of Carlson, the men turned their energies to a different enterprise. "Why are we sitting around in America, doing nothing for our people?" Mohamoud Hassan, a skinny, 23-year-old engineering major, pressed his friends. In November, Hassan and two other students dropped out of college and left for Somalia, the homeland they barely knew. Word soon spread that they had joined the Shabaab, a militant Islamist group aligned with al-Qaida that is fighting to overthrow the fragile Somali government. The students are among more than 20 young Americans who are the focus of what may be the most significant domestic terrorism investigation since 9/11. One of the Minnesotans, Shirwa Ahmed, blew himself up in Somalia in October, becoming the first known American suicide bomber. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Mueller, has said Ahmed was "radicalized in his hometown in ..ore,,http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_12818257
A Call to Jihad From Somalia, Answered in America
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/us/12somalis.html?_r=1
They had fled Somalia as small boys, escaping a catastrophic civil war. They came of age as refugees in Minneapolis, becoming naturalized U.S. citizens and embracing basketball, the prom, hip-hop and the Mall of America. By the time they reached college, their dreams seemed within grasp: One planned to become a doctor; another, an entrepreneur. But last year, in a study room on the first floor of Carlson, the men turned their energies to a different enterprise. "Why are we sitting around in America, doing nothing for our people?" Mohamoud Hassan, a skinny, 23-year-old engineering major, pressed his friends. In November, Hassan and two other students dropped out of college and left for Somalia, the homeland they barely knew. Word soon spread that they had joined the Shabaab, a militant Islamist group aligned with al-Qaida that is fighting to overthrow the fragile Somali government. The students are among more than 20 young Americans who are the focus of what may be the most significant domestic terrorism investigation since 9/11. One of the Minnesotans, Shirwa Ahmed, blew himself up in Somalia in October, becoming the first known American suicide bomber. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Mueller, has said Ahmed was "radicalized in his hometown in ..ore,,http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_12818257
A Call to Jihad From Somalia, Answered in America
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/us/12somalis.html?_r=1
Another Minneapolis Somali reported killed in Mogadishu.Minneapolis Somali man killed in homeland
St. Paul, Minn. — Another young Somali man who disappeared from Minneapolis is reported to have died in Somalia. Community members say 20-year-old Jamal Ahmed, also known as Jamal Bana, was shot in Mogadishu. They say Ahmed was one of several young men from Minneapolis who returned to Somalia last November to join the fighting in that country.Omar Jamal from the Somali Justice Advocacy Center is calling for the authorities to step up the investigation into the disappearances. "The investigation is taking forever," he said. "We need someone to be held accountable for this - for this human trafficking of young boys into harm's way, into a war zone. They are getting killed one after another every day."
Another Minneapolis man, 17-year-old Burhan Hassan was killed in Mogadishu last month. Federal authorities are investigating a possible connection between terrorist groups and the disappearances of about a dozen young Somali men from the Twin Cities over the last two years.
The FBI could not be reached for comment.
minneapolis Somali man killed in homeland
http://www.startribune.com/local/50542727.html
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Consequences of the Liberals' Death Wish
R Emmett Tyrrell 
WASHINGTON — Witnessing the current attempt by liberal Democrats in Congress to investigate CIA officers and possibly prosecute them for a covert initiative allegedly undertaken in time of war (a war that still is going on) inspires a happy thought. Perhaps these liberals have a death wish. The American people do not want another 9/11 attack on our shores. They approve of operations against al-Qaida, covert or otherwise. If the liberals continue in their harassment of the CIA for its efforts to protect American national security, for a certitude the electorate will turn these liberals out. Sayonara , my liberal friends!
If the liberals' death wish only extends to themselves, they have my full support. Yet it is conceivable that their death wish extends to the country itself. They rarely have anything very complimentary to say about their homeland. President Barack Obama talks about the United States as though it were a failed state. Liberals in general talk about the United States as though it were the provenance of slavery, bigotry, male chauvinism and — oh, yes — cowboy diplomacy. The only favorable thing about America that I have heard from the liberals recently is that America was the birthplace of Michael Jackson. In Congress, they observed a moment of silence to commemorate his assuming room temperature.
The liberals' present furor over the CIA's covert operations against al-Qaida suggests that they harbor a death wish not only for themselves but also for the whole country. Nations at war are not supposed to divulge military or intelligence operations. Often they keep them confidential for generations. British historian David Reynolds, in his superb book about Winston Churchill's World War II memoirs, tells us that both Churchill and the Labour government kept state secrets hidden from the British public and from the world years after the war had ended. Reynolds relates in "In Command of History" how Churchill's famous Nobel Prize-winning memoirs abound with evasions and inaccuracies, for instance, Churchill's silence about cracking the Nazi code (Enigma) and Churchill's true assessments of Dwight Eisenhower and Josef Stalin.
Had Churchill been forthright on those matters, the Labour government might never have allowed the volumes to be published.,,more..http://www.creators.com/conservative/r-emmett-tyrrell/consequences-of-the-liberals-death-wish.html
If the liberals' death wish only extends to themselves, they have my full support. Yet it is conceivable that their death wish extends to the country itself. They rarely have anything very complimentary to say about their homeland. President Barack Obama talks about the United States as though it were a failed state. Liberals in general talk about the United States as though it were the provenance of slavery, bigotry, male chauvinism and — oh, yes — cowboy diplomacy. The only favorable thing about America that I have heard from the liberals recently is that America was the birthplace of Michael Jackson. In Congress, they observed a moment of silence to commemorate his assuming room temperature.
The liberals' present furor over the CIA's covert operations against al-Qaida suggests that they harbor a death wish not only for themselves but also for the whole country. Nations at war are not supposed to divulge military or intelligence operations. Often they keep them confidential for generations. British historian David Reynolds, in his superb book about Winston Churchill's World War II memoirs, tells us that both Churchill and the Labour government kept state secrets hidden from the British public and from the world years after the war had ended. Reynolds relates in "In Command of History" how Churchill's famous Nobel Prize-winning memoirs abound with evasions and inaccuracies, for instance, Churchill's silence about cracking the Nazi code (Enigma) and Churchill's true assessments of Dwight Eisenhower and Josef Stalin.
Had Churchill been forthright on those matters, the Labour government might never have allowed the volumes to be published.,,more..http://www.creators.com/conservative/r-emmett-tyrrell/consequences-of-the-liberals-death-wish.html
Joining the Fight in Somalia
More than 20 Somali-Americans have gone to Somalia to enlist in the Shabaab, an Islamist group battling the country's government
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/12/us/20090712-somalia-timeline.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/12/us/20090712-somalia-timeline.html
Government displays the body of foreign fighter
Somali government has displayed the body of “a foreign fighter” in Villa Somalia, the presidential palace on Saturday. A spokesman for the military of the Somali government, Farhan Asanyo, showed reporters the body of a white man which he described as a fighter from Afghanistan.the body of the foreigner that the governmnet displayed 11 July 2009Farhan said the fighter was killed in fierce fighting between the Islamist forces and the government soldiers which took place in Abdi Azizi district in Mogadishu early on Saturday. Somali government has been repeating that foreign fighters were fighting alongside Al Shabaab and Hzbul Islam Islamist groups. Separately, foreign fighters addressed hundreds of people in Mogadishu’s Heliwa district in the north of the capital on Friday afternoon where al Shabaab has a main base and said they came to Somalia to help the Somali Islamists to form an Islamic government through out Somalia. Witnesses said the foreign Islamist fighters spoke to the people in English and Arabic and some of them claimed they were from Britain and the United States of America.
Government Military Commander, General Yusuf Hussein Dumal Department of Defense put on public display death shabaab terrorist Warning: Graphic Pictures http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-296562
Somalia Threatened by Foreign Invasion, Neighbors Warn
Somalia's neighbors are pleading for urgent international help to prevent the strategic Horn of Africa nation from falling into the hands of foreigners bent on turning it into a haven for terrorists. Regional foreign ministers held an emergency session to rally support for a last ditch effort to defend the transitional Somali government against a foreign invasion force.Six Horn of Africa countries comprising the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, met in extraordinary session Friday with representatives of the African Union and the United Nations. The subject was how to save Somalia's embattled government from imminent collapse.A day after the U.N. Security Council threatened sanctions against regional rogue state Eritrea, Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said Somalia's conflict has changed from a civil war to a foreign invasion by forces hoping to create a radical Islamic state...more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-10-voa32.cfm
A culture on the brink of extinction
At a village square painted gold by the setting sun in Wajir District, residents gather for a wedding. The young and old mingle freely as they dance to jiisow — a Somali folk dance.The master of ceremonies, Mr Hassan Abakiyo, clad in tunic and flip-flops, calls the crowd to order. "We are about to lighten up," he announces to rounds of applause. Women form a line as they clap and beat plastic cans. Abakiyo, a charming 73-year-old, struts around the human ring to the beat of jiisow. The old codger lifts his right leg and trudges forward using the left leg. He straightens his body and with hands curved like a cobra preparing to strike, he lumbers towards a group of stamping men,Like one possessed, he scuttles his right leg downward as the left leg shoots up in split seconds. He repeats the sequence for a few seconds before stepping back to the line. These are the marvels of jiisow, a Somali traditional dance that is fast losing glitter.
Such dances would hardly excite in other parts of the country but in this conservative community, jiisow represents a stark departure from the norm. Religious leaders often discourage the dance, arguing it corrupts morals. But defenders of the cultural boogie say it stands above the rest and creates no room for mischief...more..http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144019060&cid=4&ttl=A%20culture%20on%20the%20brink%20of%20extinction
Somali troops clash with insurgents, 20 killed
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Clashes between Islamist insurgents and Somali troops killed at least 20 people on Saturday including a senior police officer and a foreign militant in the heaviest fighting for a week, residents said.President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's government is struggling to take control over the Horn of Africa nation and the capital Mogadishu from hardline opposition fighters bent on overthrowing his western-backed government.Government soldiers battled their way into some rebel strongholds in north Mogadishu where the two sides exchanged mortar and machinegun fire, residents said."The streets are scary and smell of blood today," ambulance driver Ali Musa told Reuters.A senior police officer said that the director of Mogadishu's security department was killed in clashes early on Saturday.The government showed the body of what it said was an Afghani national fighting with Hizbul Islam, an umbrella opposition group led by hardline Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys."He was an Afghani senior commander with the anti-peace men fighting the government. He has his country's passport," military spokesman Farhan Arsanyo told Reuters...more..http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE56A12420090711?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Foreign fighter may be among 16 killed in Somalia,Department of Defense put on public display death shabaab terrorist
MOGADISHU, Somalia – A foreign fighter and a top government security official are among 16 people killed in Saturday's fighting between U.N.-backed government forces and Islamist insurgents in the north of the capital, a Somali official said.
Presidential information officer Abdulkhadir Wehliye said the foreign fighter is believed to be Bangladeshi because of identity documents found on the body.
An Associated Press reporter saw the body of the man, who appeared to be of non-African origin, displayed at the presidential palace on a stretcher.
There are believed to be hundreds of foreign jihadi fighters in Somalia supporting an Islamic insurgency. Government officials have claimed there are thousands of foreigners fighting against them but most analysts dismiss this as a ploy to wring cash and support for the international community, which is worried about the failed state becoming a haven for al-Qaida-linked terrorists...more.
.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia_1
Government Military Commander, General Yusuf Hussein Dumal Department of Defense put on public display death shabaab terrorist http://www.dayniile.com/Juli/1Juli56.htm
Presidential information officer Abdulkhadir Wehliye said the foreign fighter is believed to be Bangladeshi because of identity documents found on the body.
An Associated Press reporter saw the body of the man, who appeared to be of non-African origin, displayed at the presidential palace on a stretcher.
There are believed to be hundreds of foreign jihadi fighters in Somalia supporting an Islamic insurgency. Government officials have claimed there are thousands of foreigners fighting against them but most analysts dismiss this as a ploy to wring cash and support for the international community, which is worried about the failed state becoming a haven for al-Qaida-linked terrorists...more.
.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia_1Government Military Commander, General Yusuf Hussein Dumal Department of Defense put on public display death shabaab terrorist http://www.dayniile.com/Juli/1Juli56.htm
Al-Shabab wants Shariah law in Somalia (the world eventually!); leader mocks Obama
I’m posting this Voice of America article to show what Al-Shabab (sometimes Al-Shabaab) in Somalia is doing and the kind of life it wants for the people of Somalia. And, this is what our Somali former refugee youths are going to Somalia to participate in?Seven beheaded:
Al-Shabab militants in the south-central Somali town of Baidoa have beheaded seven people in what is believed to the largest mass execution carried out in Somalia by the al-Qaida-linked group since 2006.
According to relatives of the victims, the charges against the seven Somalis ranged from being Christians to spying for the Transitional Federal Government. They say none of the people were tried before the executions were carried out on Friday.
Women are the property of men:
Al-Shabab follows the ultra-conservative Wahabi tenet of Islam and its fighters have imposed strict Islamic laws in areas they control. They have forced women to cover their faces, segregated men and women in public places, and have banned music and all forms of entertainment.
They have also punished thieves by cutting off limbs and have stoned women accused of adultery. Beheadings have been relatively rare, but their numbers have been increasing. Last month, al-Shabab beheaded three people in the same region.
Could be considered a war crime? Could be? This is such a joke, so what is the big bad UN going to do about it?On Friday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said carrying out such punishments without due process violated Somali and international laws ..more,,http://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/al-shabab-wants-shariah-law-in-somalia-the-world-eventually-leader-mocks-obama
Video of the week ..Peacekeeping in Mogadishu: Part 2,
related stores. ... previous videos
Rocketboom Field Correspondent Ruud Elmendorp continues his report on The African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. Watch Part 1 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4aAbZrMx1E
Vedio of the week ..Somalia: caught in the war of Mogadishu
Rocketboom Field Correspondent Ruud Elmendorp continues his report on The African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. Watch Part 1 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4aAbZrMx1E
Vedio of the week ..Somalia: caught in the war of Mogadishu
U.N. rights boss sees possible war crimes in Somalia
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief said Friday both sides in Somalia's conflict are committing attacks and using torture against civilians, which may amount to war crimes.
Islamist insurgents are executing civilians, planting mines and bombs in residential areas and using torture while their tribunals hand down death sentences by stoning and decapitation, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.
Pro-government forces are also said to have committed grave violations, including firing mortars on residential areas and using torture, she said in a statement.
Civilians, especially women and children, are bearing the brunt of the latest violence in the Horn of Africa country, Pillay said as government troops sought to drive insurgents from their bases in the capital Mogadishu.
"Witnesses have told U.N. investigators that the so-called al Shabaab groups fighting to topple the transitional government have carried out extrajudicial executions, planted mines, bombs and other explosive devices in civilian areas and used civilians as human shields," Pillay said.
"Fighters from both sides are reported to have used torture and fired mortars indiscriminately into areas populated or frequented by civilians," she said. "Some of these acts might amount to war crimes."
Al Qaeda-linked fighters in al Shabaab control much of southern and central Somalia and all but a few blocks of the capital. Western powers fear that if the Somali government is overthrown, the country will become a safe haven for al Qaeda training camps and that militants will destabilize the region.
'DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES'
Concerns are also increasing about living conditions inside the country, where aid agencies are struggling to reach needy people including more than 200,000 who have fled the capital.
"During the past week, heavy fighting in Mogadishu continued with devastating consequences for the civilian population and limited access for humanitarian agencies," the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said in its latest weekly bulletin issued Friday...more..http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5691ZP20090710?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Islamist insurgents are executing civilians, planting mines and bombs in residential areas and using torture while their tribunals hand down death sentences by stoning and decapitation, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.
Pro-government forces are also said to have committed grave violations, including firing mortars on residential areas and using torture, she said in a statement.
Civilians, especially women and children, are bearing the brunt of the latest violence in the Horn of Africa country, Pillay said as government troops sought to drive insurgents from their bases in the capital Mogadishu.
"Witnesses have told U.N. investigators that the so-called al Shabaab groups fighting to topple the transitional government have carried out extrajudicial executions, planted mines, bombs and other explosive devices in civilian areas and used civilians as human shields," Pillay said.
"Fighters from both sides are reported to have used torture and fired mortars indiscriminately into areas populated or frequented by civilians," she said. "Some of these acts might amount to war crimes."
Al Qaeda-linked fighters in al Shabaab control much of southern and central Somalia and all but a few blocks of the capital. Western powers fear that if the Somali government is overthrown, the country will become a safe haven for al Qaeda training camps and that militants will destabilize the region.
'DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES'
Concerns are also increasing about living conditions inside the country, where aid agencies are struggling to reach needy people including more than 200,000 who have fled the capital.
"During the past week, heavy fighting in Mogadishu continued with devastating consequences for the civilian population and limited access for humanitarian agencies," the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said in its latest weekly bulletin issued Friday...more..http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5691ZP20090710?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Somali Islamist hardliners behead 7,Al-Qaeda link as Somali Islamists behead seven for being Christians
MOGADISHU, July 10 (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline Islamist rebels beheaded seven people on Friday for being "Christians" and "spies" in the latest imposition of strict sharia, Islamic law, by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, witnesses said. Al Shabaab, which controls large tracts of south Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu, has carried out such executions before, but the beheadings on Friday were believed to be the largest number of killings at one time, Somalis say. "Al Shabaab told us that they were beheaded for reasons they described as being Christian followers and spies," said one relative, who gave his name only as Aden, after the killings in the south-central town of Baidoa. The group, which western security services say is a proxy for al Qaeda in Somalia, beheaded three people in the same region last month. Al Shabaab, which means "Youth" in Arabic, has vowed to rule the majority Muslim nation by a hardline interpretation of Islamic law. The group has dug up Sufi graves, forced women to wear veils, closed down movie halls and cut off limbs for theft. "My husband was missing up to 20 days. Al Shabaab confirmed to us that he and six others were beheaded. We are waiting for his dead body," said Maryan, the wife of one of the victims.Somalia's government has been unable to beat back al Shabaab militants who are making guerrilla-style attacks on Somali troops and an African Union (AU) force there.
FOREIGN WAR
The government says the insurgency is being led by foreign fighters in al Shabaab's ranks. The United Nations and the AU say hundreds of jihadists have flocked to Somalia to battle the government led by ex-rebel leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
"The current war is a foreign war led and supported by outside forces. The money and ideologies are foreign-based. Somalis all support the government," Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar told reporters in the Ethiopian capital.
"This is not a war between Somali clans. It is a war against foreign forces who come into the country to overthrow the government that has been elected constitutionally by the Somali people and supported by the international community." On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council warned Eritrea that it would consider action against anyone undermining peace prospects in Somalia, which has been devastated by civil conflict since 1991 [ID:nN09472865]. Asmara has repeatedly denied claims that the Red Sea state was providing support to insurgents battling the western-backed government, also supported by Eritrea's arch-enemy Ethiopia. The AU, which has 4,300 peacekeepers in the Somali capital, has called for sanctions against Asmara. Ethiopian tanks and troops crushed an Islamist movement in Somalia in late 2006, but since then a revived insurgency has killed 18,000 civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands. U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay accused al Shabaab on Friday of extrajudicial killings, setting off bombs in residential areas and using civilians as human shields in their fight against Ahmed's administration. [ID:nLA443362] The insurgents say they are nationalists seeking to rid Somalia of a western-imposed government which has no popular support. (Additional reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; writing by Jack Kimball
Al-Qaeda link as Somali Islamists behead seven for being Christians
BAIDOA, Somalia, July 10 (UPI) -- Seven Somalis, charged, but not tried, were beheaded Friday by Al-Shabab militants in the south-central Somali town of Baidoa, relatives of the victims said. Full Article at United Press International
U.N. Criticizes Beheadings in Somalia
UNITED NATIONS -- The top United Nations human-rights official said that extremists trying to overthrow a fragile transition government in Somalia are carrying out ad hoc trials and killing prisoners by stoning, decapitation and amputation of limbs -- acts that "might amount to war crimes."Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in Geneva that the al Shabaab militant group, which is attempting to gain control of the capital Mogadishu, had also been using human shields and indiscriminately firing mortars into populated areas where they have also planted bombs and mines."In this new wave of attacks, it is clear that civilians -- especially women and children -- are bearing the brunt of the violence," Ms. Pillay said. "Displaced people and human-rights defenders, aid workers and journalists are among those most exposed, and in some cases are being directly targeted."The militants on Friday beheaded seven prisoners, accusing them of abandoning the Muslim faith and spying for the government, the Associated Press reported.The fighting has displaced 200,000 people in the past month. There are now 1.2 million displaced Somalis.Ms. Pillay called on those able to do so to gather evidence that might one day be used in court.Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991, when Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown. Since then, competing groups of warlords and Islamic groups have vied for control. Western diplomats say the current transitional government of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, which came to power in February, offers Somalia the best hope in years for political stability.Toward that end Western governments, including the U.S., have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to help shore up the government's and other regional security forces.
Friday, July 10, 2009
A Call to Jihad, Answered in America
MINNEAPOLIS — The Carlson School of Management rises from the asphalt like a monument to capitalist ambition. Stock prices race across an electronic ticker near a sleek entrance and the atrium soars skyward, as if lifting the aspirations of its students. The school’s plucky motto is “Nowhere but here.”..more..http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/us/12somalis.html?_r=2&ref=us
Speech may provide clues to missing Somalis' motivation
Minneapolis — The FBI is investigating what may have motivated the Somali-American men to take up arms in the chaos of their homeland. A fiery speech given by a visiting Somali opposition leader in Minneapolis may provide some clues.
In late 2007, when the first of about a dozen Somali men from Minnesota began to travel to their homeland to fight in a bloody civil war, a tempest was building in the Twin Cities Somali community. Many Somali-Americans were upset about Ethiopian troops that invaded their homeland.
A Twin Cities group called the United Somali Diaspora organized and videotaped the rally, in November of 2007, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The main purpose was to raise awareness of the Ethiopian invasion.
But one keynote speaker, a middle-aged man in a cream-colored suit, seemed to cross the line.
Zakariya Abdi, who was bent on pushing the Ethiopians out and taking down Somalia's transitional government, encouraged Somalis in Minnesota to fight.
"Enlist yourselves. Come to see us in Asmara," Abdi said to the crowd. "Let us get to know each other. We will offer training. Then whoever wants to fight for two months, like the Eritreans used to do, can then go back to school."
At the time, Abdi and other members of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia were based in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. In his speech, Abdi also urged recent college grads who had computer expertise to enlist in what he called a "war of technology."
He said: "We need their minds."
Attempts by MPR News to reach Zakaria Abdi, who lives in London, were unsuccessful. ..more..http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/08/call_to_action/?refid=0
In late 2007, when the first of about a dozen Somali men from Minnesota began to travel to their homeland to fight in a bloody civil war, a tempest was building in the Twin Cities Somali community. Many Somali-Americans were upset about Ethiopian troops that invaded their homeland.
A Twin Cities group called the United Somali Diaspora organized and videotaped the rally, in November of 2007, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The main purpose was to raise awareness of the Ethiopian invasion.
But one keynote speaker, a middle-aged man in a cream-colored suit, seemed to cross the line.
Zakariya Abdi, who was bent on pushing the Ethiopians out and taking down Somalia's transitional government, encouraged Somalis in Minnesota to fight.
"Enlist yourselves. Come to see us in Asmara," Abdi said to the crowd. "Let us get to know each other. We will offer training. Then whoever wants to fight for two months, like the Eritreans used to do, can then go back to school."
At the time, Abdi and other members of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia were based in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. In his speech, Abdi also urged recent college grads who had computer expertise to enlist in what he called a "war of technology."
He said: "We need their minds."
Attempts by MPR News to reach Zakaria Abdi, who lives in London, were unsuccessful. ..more..http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/08/call_to_action/?refid=0
Thursday, July 9, 2009
UN Security Council Considering Sanctions Against Eritrea, Others
The U.N. Security Council said it will consider implementing sanctions against Eritrea and other spoilers to the Somali peace process. The council's decision Thursday followed an appeal from the African Union for the council to take action against those undermining the peace process in the Horn of Africa country. The Security Council expressed its support for Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, and said the Djibouti peace process provides a framework for finding a lasting resolution to the decades-long conflict in Somalia.But noting recent attacks on the government, civilians and African Union peacekeepers, the Security Council said it would consider the African Union's call for the council to enforce sanctions against parties undermining the peace process...more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-09-voa41.cfm
Without global support, Somalia will fall to opposition – top UN political official
Security Council considers situation in Somalia9 July 2009 – If the international community allows Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) – forged in a process of consensus – to fail, the poverty-stricken Horn of Africa nation will be taken over by opposition groups employing tactics of coercion and intimidation, the top United Nations political official cautioned today. Last year’s UN-facilitated Djibouti Agreement ended the conflict between the TFG and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, with President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed taking office in January and a new Government being formed in February.“The choice before us is a stark one: either we help the Somali people overcome the current attempt to thwart efforts towards peace or we allow the new unity Government based on consensus and the Djibouti Accords to fall to a radical armed opposition,” B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told an open meeting of the Security Council.
The TFG is being challenged by insurgent forces, backed by foreign fighters, but “strives to maintain cohesion despite the obvious difficulties faced by any government of national unity,” he said. It is reaching out, he noted, to opposition forces and working to broaden its support among community, religious and civil society leaders, while trying to project a moderate vision of Islam in line with Somali culture. In contrast, the rebel Al Shabaab has been assassinating clan leaders and Government officials, doling out harsh punishments for minor offenses, Mr. Pascoe said.
He also called for nations to honour the pledges made in April at a donors’ conference in Brussels for both the Government and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), emphasizing that it is in the world’s interest to ensure that the TFG does not collapse. “To enable the Government to enhance its legitimacy and broaden its base, we must invest in building the security institutions and improve its capacity to deliver public services and employment, which would have a positive impact on the hearts and minds of ordinary Somalis,” the official said...more..http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31426&Cr=somali&Cr1=
'Critical moment for Somalia'
United Nations . The UN Security Council warned Eritrea on Thursday it would consider action against anyone undermining peace in Somalia, in a threat of possible sanctions on Asmara for alleged support to rebels.The warning, in a formal statement, followed an appeal by African Union leaders last week to the 15-nation council to impose sanctions on Eritrea, which the AU said was aiding Islamist insurgents fighting Somali government forces.Noting that request, the British-drafted statement said the council was "deeply concerned in this regard and will consider expeditiously what action to take against any party undermining the ... peace process" in the Horn of Africa state.Somalia's government and others have accused Eritrea of supplying arms to the insurgents in breach of a UN embargo that allows such shipments only to the government. Diplomats said any sanctions would be considered after a UN group monitoring the embargo reports back later in July.Al-Qaeda-linked fighters belonging to the al Shabaab insurgent group control much of southern and central Somalia and most of the capital Mogadishu. Last week over 70 people were killed as government troops tried to drive back insurgents who have been advancing on government position in Mogadishu.The top UN political official, Lynn Pascoe, told a council debate it was "a critical time for Somalia," where 1,3 million people are internally displaced."The choice before us is a stark one," Pascoe said. "Either we help the Somali people overcome the current attempt to thwart efforts towards peace, or we allow the new unity government ... to fall to a radical armed opposition."Eritrean officials deny the charges of arms supplies. "We haven't given any weapons to Somali insurgents, or to the government for that matter," the Red Sea state's UN envoy told Reuters. "They don't have any evidence at all.""They want to corner us by putting sanctions, which is totally ridiculous," Ambassador Araya Desta said. He called the allegations a "fabrication" by Eritrea's rival Ethiopia.But US Ambassador Susan Rice told the council Washington was "particularly concerned about the financial, military, logistical and political support that the government of Eritrea is offering to al Shabaab and other extremists."Rice said the Eritreans had rebuffed repeated US attempts to discuss the issue. "But even now it's not too late. The United States calls on the government of Eritrea to seize this window of opportunity to change course," she said.French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert also noted the insurgents were reportedly receiving arms from Asmara and said France was prepared to undertake sanctions against those blocking peace.Pascoe and Security Council envoys urged UN member states to fulfill pledges of support for Somalia's interim government and for a 4 300-strong AU force that backs it. A donors' conference in Brussels pledged over $200-million in April."Without our support, Somalia risks becoming a lasting safe haven and training ground for those plotting terrorist attacks around the world," Rice said.Rice told the council that despite a strong international response to piracy off Somalia's coast, more countries needed to take responsibility for prosecuting captured pirates.Condemning the widespread practice of paying ransoms to pirates to win the release of hijacked cargo ships, Rice also proposed creation of a group of "no concession" states to work together to slow the rise of piracy. - Reuters By Patrick Worsnip
Renewed US-Ethiopia relations to safeguard stability in Somalia
Jacob Lew, Deputy Secretary of State of United States, last week made his first official trip to Ethiopia to strengthen the Obama administration’s ties with the Eastern African power. His visit which coincided with US concerns over the exacerbation of instability in the horn of Africa has, however, been linked to the expansion of development assistance to the government of Ethiopia.The United States’ relationship with Ethiopia is based on a number of shared concerns, and these strategic relationships will remain the same in the new Obama administration, said Mr. Lew. Last week, the Deputy Secretary arrived in Addis Ababa where he held a press conference followed by a discussion with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Ethiopian troops have recently been redeployed to Somalia to help avert insecurities posed by Islamist insurgents to both the country and its Transitional Government. This measure has been lauded as a proxy intervention by the US administration which is deeply concerned over Somalia’s growing reputation as a shelter for terrorists groups.
Inasmuch as concerns over advancing insurgents have been raised in the international community, their reluctance to support Ethiopia’s effort led to a withdrawal of Ethiopian troops without achieving its target. A move that did little to improve the instability of the country.
Following the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, rebel Islamist group, Al-Shabab has shown strong a determination to remove President Sharif Sheik Ahmed’s government and force the African Union peacekeeping force out of Mogadishu.
The Islamist group has resorted to the use of suicide attacks ias they target officials affiliated with the government. The group murdered former Somali Ambassador to Ethiopia, Abdulkarim Farah in a recent suicide attack in the town of Beledweyne close to the Ethiopian border.
Al-shabab’s increasing attacks have prompted the US government to rally support for Somalia’s transitional government. Last week the US administration provided the Somali government with weapons worth 10 millions dollars, to help consolidate the country’s security.
"Our relationship is based on a number of shared values, shared concerns," said Lew at the press conference. According to him, this “strategic relationship (with Ethiopia) remains a very important one, and we value it. I think it is mutually valued by the government of Ethiopia and the government of the United States."
The Obama administration is also keen to continue the relationship beyond the fight against common international threats. Mr. Lew said the US assistance should also go beyond emergency food supplies and fighting HIV/AIDS.
This partnership should be an incentive to encourage Ethiopia, now reluctant to redeploy its troops in Somalia, to do more towards peace in the horn of Africa.
UN, US warn of influx of foreign fighters into Somalia
Foreign fighters have increased their presence in Somalia, threatening efforts by the transitional government to work out a political settlement with the various warring groups, the United Nations Security Council was told Thursday. The government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is also faced with problems from the locally armed group Al Shabaab, which this year has intensified a strategy of coercion and intimidation of the population, and targeted assassination of clan leaders and government officials, said UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs B Lynn Pascoe.'While there have been some solid successes in consolidating the government, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) continues to face intense pressure from insurgent forces - backed by foreign fighters - seeking to seize power,' Pascoe said in updating the situation in the Horn of Africa nation. US Ambassador Susan Rice and other council members also warned of the increasing number of non-Somali fighters entering the country. Rice said the United States has provided 149 million dollars in humanitarian assistance to Somalia this year because of the increase in internally displaced Somalis and flow of Somali refugees into neighbouring countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen. The UN said there are now 1.3 million Somalis displaced by the fighting. 'The international community must stand united in its support of the TFG,' Rice said. 'If the extremists are successful, we can lose yet another generation of Somalis to war, diseases and desperate poverty.' The UN undersecretary general for field support, Susana Malcorra, told the council that the African Mission in Somalia needs more assistance to pursue its task of building security and stability in that country. The mission, which works closely with the African Union, is currently composed of 4,274 troops from Uganda and Burundi and needs to be strengthened to its authorized ceiling of 8,000 troops.Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1488820.php/UN_US_warn_of_influx_of_foreign_fighters_into_Somalia_#ixzz0Kne43QUf&C
American Jihadist Attacks Obama in Extremist Audio Tape
Abu Mansoor al-Amriki Calls For American Muslims to Leave U.S., Join JihadAn American jihadist tied to Al Qaeda has released an extremist audiotape attacking President Obama, calling for American Muslims to leave the U.S. and join the armed Islamic struggle around the world. Abu Mansoor al-Amriki, an apparent American citizen, is a member of the Somalia-based Islamist militant group al-Shabaab and speaks in English with a flat American accent addressing American Muslims.
Titled "A Response to Barack Obama: The Beginning of the End," the tape is a belated reply to Obama's speech in Egypt addressed to the Muslim world. In it, Abu Mansoor praises Osama bin Laden and refutes various points Obama made during his speech from Cairo.
Abu Mansoor al-Amriki (the American) has raised his profile in recent months, and followed in the footsteps of the better known Adam Gadahn, an American al Qaeda operative based in Pakistan. Gadahn is wanted by the FBI, and the State Department has offered a $1 million reward for his capture. Abu Mansoor has not risen to that level of infamy yet, but appears to be making efforts to land on the notorious Rewards for Justice list. Abu Mansoor first appeared in a September 2007 video that aired on al-Jazeera. Near the end of the message, Gadahn and three other apparent Americans jihadists are shown. ..more..http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8041575&page=1
American Commander of al-Shabaab Releases Audio Tape Mocking Obama, Threatens Attack on Homeland....http://www.weaselzippers.net/blog/2009/07/american-commander-of-alshabaab-releases-audio-tape-mocking-obama-threatens-attack-on-homeland.html
Terror suspect could serve less than a year more,Seven-year sentence for Canadian al-Qaida recruit. Originally From Somaliland,U.S. to deport Canadian
MINNEAPOLIS - A terror suspect who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al-Qaida could serve a little less than a year in prison and then be deported to Canada. U.S. District John R. Tunheim sentenced Mohammed Abdullah Warsame on Thursday to seven years and eight months in prison, but gave him credit for the time he has already spent in custody. With credit for good behavior, Warsame could be out of prison in about 10 months.Warsame, 35, has spent over 5 1/2 years in solitary confinement in Minnesota. His attorneys were hoping for a sentence of only the time he has already served. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 12 1/2 years. U.S. Attorney Frank Magill issued a statement saying the sentence shows that "those who knowingly provide support to terrorists will be held accountable for their actions." In his plea agreement, Warsame admitted to conspiring with others to help al-Qaida beginning in 2000. Authorities claim he attended an al-Qaida training camp run by Osama bin Laden, dined with the terrorist leader, attended another camp and fought with the Taliban.
Warsame's uncle, Abdullah Warsame, said that Warsame's wife left the courtroom in tears after he was sentenced. "I was not expecting this," Abdullah Warsame said. "We expected the time served ... considering his hardship."
He said his nephew went to Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks, at a time when the U.S. was negotiating with the Taliban, not fighting them. He said Warsame has not had physical contact with another person for nearly six years, and when his wife visited she could see him only over a video screen...more..http://www.startribune.com/local/50378627.html
Seven-year sentence for Canadian al-Qaida recruit
TheStar.com World U.S. to deport Canadian guilty of aiding Al ...
Somalis protest CAIR in Minneapolis - "CAIR out! Al-Shabaab out! Terrorists out!"
.youtube.com/watchThousands of Somali Americans in Twin cities are expected to protest Suicide radical Islam, suicide bombing, terror attacks In Somalia this Friday July 3rd 2009, from 3:00 PM- 6:00 PM. It will be held at Peavey Park (730 22nd street, Minneapolis, MN – Peavey Park is located at the intersection of ( E.Franklin Ave & Chicago Ave).Somali community public relations organizers are requesting that the protesters bring signs. Organizers state: The Somali-American Community in Minnesota is taking a stand and we want the world, the mainstream Community and the Somalis in the Diaspora to know our stand and strong opposition to these terrorists. The Somali-American Community in Minnesota will release a press release and voice the community stand on issues related to suicide bombings and terrorism in the protest. The Somali-American Community in Minnesota is requesting you to attend and cover the protest and to join us in the condemnation of the violent extremists and their suicide bombings.BackgroundSomalia has been in civil war for the past 20 years. However...more
Somali Americans to rally against terrorism/extremism
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Somalia MPs 'visiting'tribal enclave of sepretist Somaliland , Somaliland somalia capital
HARGEISA, Somalia July 8 (TF.SF) - Lawmakers in Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) are currently in the capital of the tribal enclave of sepretist Somaliland , northern breakaway republic of Somaliland. despite threats by Somaliland authorities, inside sources tell TF.SFO.Three TFG lawmakers flew from the Somali capital Mogadishu weeks ago and spent some time in Nairobi, Kenya, before boarding a plane to Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland .Two lawmakers were identified as MP Abdalla Haji Ali and MP Ahmed Dahir Dakir, while the third unnamed MP was described as a new lawmaker from the Somali Diaspora. The TFG Parliament was expanded in Jan. 2009 to accommodate Islamists, TFG dissident lawmakers and civil society representatives, including Diaspora activists.
"The [TFG] lawmakers are in Hargeisa and they have reunited with their families after a long time," said a Somali lawmaker in Mogadishu, who spoke with Tf.SF on the condition of anonymity.
Somaliland officials have previously vowed to arrest and send back any member of the TFG who sets foot in Hargeisa and other towns in Somaliland. In Feb. 2009, Somaliland police arrested arrested TFG lawmaker Mohamed Mohamud "Indhobur" for 11 days before putting him on a plane back to Mogadishu.
SOMALILAND is located in northwestern Somalia and unilaterally declared independence in 1991. The Terrorist separatist region has not been recognized internationally.
"The [TFG] lawmakers are in Hargeisa and they have reunited with their families after a long time," said a Somali lawmaker in Mogadishu, who spoke with Tf.SF on the condition of anonymity.
Somaliland officials have previously vowed to arrest and send back any member of the TFG who sets foot in Hargeisa and other towns in Somaliland. In Feb. 2009, Somaliland police arrested arrested TFG lawmaker Mohamed Mohamud "Indhobur" for 11 days before putting him on a plane back to Mogadishu.
SOMALILAND is located in northwestern Somalia and unilaterally declared independence in 1991. The Terrorist separatist region has not been recognized internationally.
War is Boring: Somali Extremists Willing to Kill to Cover Up Eritrea Connection
It was a question worth killing over, in the minds of some Somali Islamic extremists. In May, Ahmed Omar Hashi, a reporter for Mogadishu's Radio Shabelle asked Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to explain his country's support for al-Shabab, the hardline Somali Islamic group. Afwerki explained that Eritrea only wanted to enable "Somali nationalists" in their efforts at "ensuring Somali unity, sovereignty and independence." Just days prior to the interview, which took place in the Eritrean capital of Asmara, al-Shabab had launched a major assault on the Western-backed Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu. The attack came as moderate Islamist Sharif Sheikh Ahmed -- elected as president of the TFG in January and a personal and ideological rival of Al-Shabab leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -- was beginning to move major elements of the TFG administration to Mogadishu, from their hideouts abroad. President Afwerki's reply to Hashi was a softball answer to a softball question. But that didn't matter to the Mogadishu-based Islamic extremists, who later called Hashi on his cell phone, accusing him of spreading lies about al-Shabab, and threatening to kill him. They almost made good on their threat. On June 7, gunmen attacked Hashi and a colleague, Moqtar Hirabe, while th
e two were walking in Mogadishu's Bakara Market. Hirabe, Radio Shabelle's widely respected director, died in the attack; Hashi sustained injuries to his hand and stomach, but survived. As Hashi was recuperating in a neighboring country, his attackers e-mailed him. "Neither a Muslim nor a Christian can give you safe haven," their message said. "And we know the people you were working with and the propaganda that you are waging." Al-Shabab's reaction to Hashi's reporting is indicative of a mounting identity crisis inside the hardline group. Al-Shabab insists it is fighting for a Somalia governed only by Somalis, and has declared the TFG a "puppet" of Western powers, particularly the U.S. and the U.K. To be sure, the TFG counts on high levels of foreign assistance, from arms to protection by a 5,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force. But al-Shabab, too, relies on recruits, cash and weapons shipments from other countries, especially Eritrea. Neither side likes to admit it, but Somalia's combatants are, to varying degrees, proxies for foreign powers, each with their own agendas. "This is an international war," Somali peace activist Abdullahi Shirwa said two years ago, at a time when Somalia was occupied by as many as 50,000 Ethiopian troops. The Ethiopians had invaded Somalia, with U.S. support, on the pretext of preventing the "Talibanization" of the country. Addis Ababa withdrew its forces earlier this year, but Shirwa's assessment is no less true today. The U.S., the U.N., the African Union, Ethiopia and Eritrea, all have a major stake in the current fighting. ..more..http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=4040
Turkish ship seized off Somalia,Pirates hijack Turkish ship in Gulf of Aden
A Turkish cargo ship with 23 crew on board has been seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia.Istanbul-based Horizon Shipping said pirates in speed boats had surrounded the Horizon I vessel in the Gulf of Aden at about 0530 GMT. Three attackers managed to board the tanker, which was heading from Saudi Arabia to Jordan, the firm said. Maritime officials believe pirates in Somalia are now holding 12 ships, with about 200 crew, for ransom.
See map of the worldwide effects of piracy
The country has been without a functioning central government since 1991, allowing pirates to operate almost uninhibited in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes..more..http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8139917.stm
Pirates hijack Turkish ship in Gulf of Aden
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE5670AS20090708?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
NTARC Weekly Intel Briefing
al Qaeda Plotting Multiple Attacks on US-Israel-bound Airliners
Pak Report – 25 Vehicles Fitted With Explosives Enter Major Cities
Nuke-o-meter, How Many Nukes Within Range of Your Location
The Wanted – NBC News Sets Premiere for Anti-terror Series
Government Agencies, Washington Post Targeted in Cyberattack
Cyber Attack Hits South Korean Web Sites
GAO: Major Security Flaws at Federal Buildings
FBI: Russian Programmer At Goldman Sachs Stole Stock-Trading Secret Code
Military Chief Mullen Says Clock Ticking On Iran Nuke
PA. – Police Uniform Discovered In Bomb Suspects Home
Everett Couple Injured In Pipe Bomb Blast
Brad Thor’s The Apostle – A Must Read
3 Kentucky Congressmen Receive Suspicious Letters
SC Serial Killer Believed Killed In Shootout
Cybercriminals Steal $415,000 From Bullitt County Kentucky
Tunisia – Soldiers Arrested In Terror Plot Against US Military Officers
Al-Qaeda Cell Was Preparing To Attack Middle East Gas Pipelines
UK – Bomb Seizures Spark Far-right Terror Plot Fear
Terror Suspect Could Be Forced to Manhattan Hearing
Homeland Security Gives NYPD Radiation Detectors
Pipe-Bomb Thrown Inside Buffalo Church
China Riots – Muslim Group Riots, At least 140 Dead
Philippines Church Bomb Blast Kills Five
Domestic Terrorism, 6th Bomb Damages B.C. Pipeline
Terror Drill Planned For New York Harbor
WHO Warns Swine Flu ‘Unstoppable’
New York Police Expand Dirty Bomb Security
U.S. Soldier Captured in Afghanistan
Iran Claims Newsweek Reporter Confessed
U.S. Begins Major Offensive Operation Against Afghan Taliban
Group of Somali-Americans Indicted on Terror Charges
NYPD: High-profile Buildings Need Tighter Security
US Navy Ships Target of Terror Plotters
Lebanon Unmasks 4 al-Qaeda Suspects ..more..
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/
Pak Report – 25 Vehicles Fitted With Explosives Enter Major Cities
Nuke-o-meter, How Many Nukes Within Range of Your Location
The Wanted – NBC News Sets Premiere for Anti-terror Series
Government Agencies, Washington Post Targeted in Cyberattack
Cyber Attack Hits South Korean Web Sites
GAO: Major Security Flaws at Federal Buildings
FBI: Russian Programmer At Goldman Sachs Stole Stock-Trading Secret Code
Military Chief Mullen Says Clock Ticking On Iran Nuke
PA. – Police Uniform Discovered In Bomb Suspects Home
Everett Couple Injured In Pipe Bomb Blast
Brad Thor’s The Apostle – A Must Read
3 Kentucky Congressmen Receive Suspicious Letters
SC Serial Killer Believed Killed In Shootout
Cybercriminals Steal $415,000 From Bullitt County Kentucky
Tunisia – Soldiers Arrested In Terror Plot Against US Military Officers
Al-Qaeda Cell Was Preparing To Attack Middle East Gas Pipelines
UK – Bomb Seizures Spark Far-right Terror Plot Fear
Terror Suspect Could Be Forced to Manhattan Hearing
Homeland Security Gives NYPD Radiation Detectors
Pipe-Bomb Thrown Inside Buffalo Church
China Riots – Muslim Group Riots, At least 140 Dead
Philippines Church Bomb Blast Kills Five
Domestic Terrorism, 6th Bomb Damages B.C. Pipeline
Terror Drill Planned For New York Harbor
WHO Warns Swine Flu ‘Unstoppable’
New York Police Expand Dirty Bomb Security
U.S. Soldier Captured in Afghanistan
Iran Claims Newsweek Reporter Confessed
U.S. Begins Major Offensive Operation Against Afghan Taliban
Group of Somali-Americans Indicted on Terror Charges
NYPD: High-profile Buildings Need Tighter Security
US Navy Ships Target of Terror Plotters
Lebanon Unmasks 4 al-Qaeda Suspects ..more..
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/
Yemen: Al-Qaeda reveals new information on attacks against Koreans
The recent suicide attacks against South Koreans tourists in Yemen, four of whom were reported killed last March, have been detailed by al-Qaeda in a new video statement released entitled “I Have Won I Swear to Kaaba's God.” The videotape was released through the jihadi media outlet Al-Malahim (al-faloja.info, June 28), reporting that the two separate attacks against South Korean official investigators and tourists in March were premeditated. An al-Qaeda's approach which some analysts say it seems destined to damage the government's reputation. It also claimed that it had known the Korean security officials' movements - who came to Sana'a to investigate the earlier assault against Korean tourists - before they raided them while en route to the Sana'a International Airport as leaving Yemen."Al-Qaeda's main plan is to weaken Yemeni President Saleh's regime, and defeat his government in the field of security and economy," says Abdul Elah Shayea, a writer and terrorism specialist who conducted in last January an exclusive interview with al-Qaeda's leader in Yemen, Nasir Abdul Kareem al-Wuhayshi (a.k.a. Abu Basir). "They have the capacity to freely move, collect information, recruit new would-be suicide bombers and carry out a string of suicide attacks..more..http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=1010
ETHIOPIAN, SOMALI LEADERS HOLD TALKS
ADDIS ABABA, July 8 (NNN-ENA) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has held talks here with the President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, Sherif Shiek Ahmed, on matters of mutual interest.The two sides discussed Tuesday how to mobilize the international community in support of the peace efforts in Somalia, a senior official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told journalists.Foreign terrorist groups coming from various parts of the world have been escalating pressure on the Somali government and on the African Union (AU) peacekeeping forces (AMISOM) in Somalia, the official said.Thus, the transitional government of Somalia had recently called upon the international community for assistances as the problem wais beyond its capacity, he added.After the Somali government’s quest for support, the internation
al community understood the situation on the ground and began to reconsider the issue in Somalia. The discussions between the two leaders focused on how to use this opportunity in order to pull the necessary assistance from the international community, he added. The two also discussed the contribution of Ethiopia in support of the peace-building efforts in Somalia, he said.They underscored the need to intensify efforts against terrorist groups in Somali who had cross-border agendas of destabilizing the region.President Sherif Shiek Ahmed is here for a two-day official visit. -- NNN-ENATuesday, July 7, 2009
ETHIOPIAN FM URGFES US TO PLAY ROLE ON EXECUTION OF AU ERITREAN RESOLUTION
ADDIS ABABA, July 8 (NNN-ENA) -- Ethiopian Foreign Seyoum Mesfin has urged the United States, as a member of the United Nations Security Council, to play its role for the effective execution of the 13th African Union (AU) Summit resolution on the Eritrean government.Seyoum, who made the call here Tuesday during a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, stressed that the US government and the international community should support Somalia.Seyoum urged the international community to live up to their pledges for enhancing the African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), according to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Carson told journalists after the talks that he had extensive discussion on situations prevailing in the region with the minister and said Washington would work together to ensure the two countries' mutual interests.The two countries had a similar stand concerning the overall situation in the Horn of Africa region, he said.The 13th AU Summit, held last week in Sirte, Libya, called for UN sanctions on Eritrea, saying it was unable to refrain itself from supporting terrorist groups in Somalia which were working for the instability of that country. Meanwhile, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has urged the UN Security Council to take urgent measures to bring about durable peace and stability in Somalia.Briefing journalists after conferring with ambassadors of member countries of the UN Security Council here Tuesday, Seuoum, who is the current chairman of the Minister of Council of IGAD, said the problem in Somalia was threatening the Horn and the Security Council should take immediate action to ease the dire situation of the country.He recalled that the AU Summit in Sirte had unanimously approved a decision to impose sanctions on the Eritrean government, the intruder in the region.Hence, he added, the UN Security Council should discharge its mandate for the effective resolution of AU summit urgently.The minister said he conveyed IGAD’s message to the ambassadors that the Security Council should hold back the Eritrean government from its mutinous act.Seyoum said the Security Council was expected to pass resolutions on the situation in Somalia at its meeting to be held soon. -- NNN-ENA
KENYA TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING EFFORTS TO RESTORE PEACE IN SOMALIA -- PRESIDENT
NAIROBI, July 8 (NNN-KBC) -- Kenya will continue supporting efforts geared towards restoring peace in Somalia, says President Mwai Kibaki. ho notes that the growing insecurity in Somalia is a threat not only to Kenya's socio-economic progress but the whole of the East African region.Commending the decision of the African Union (AU) at the recently concluded AU summit in Sirte, Libya, to assist in resolving the Somali conflict, he said: "Kenya fully supports the African Union and IGAD's efforts geared towards the peaceful resolution of the Somali conflict,"President Kibaki, who was speaking at his Harambee House office here when he met a goodwill delegation from North Eastern Province Tuesday, said the government would increase funds for the Kazi Kwa Vijana programme in all parts of the country, including North Eastern Province, to ensure that Kenyan youth are gainfully engaged and not involved in criminal activities.The president stressed that the government was committed to ensuring equitable distribution of the Kazi Kwa Vijana funds and urged youth to take advantage of the programme to earn a living and also contribute to national development. He assured the people of North Eastern Province that he was aware of the problems facing the region and had stepped up efforts to address them.Referring to the famine which had adversely affected many people in the province, President Kibaki said the government would increase the provision of relief food to alleviate the suffering of the people while long-term measures were taken to curb the problem."Plans are underway to import more maize to cushion the peopel from the famine that has affected many parts of the country," the Head of State said. -- NNN-KBC
Fighting forces 204,000 to flee Mogadishu
UN says offensive by Islamist militias devastating Somali capital, as almost 500,000 people forced to live in temporary shelter
Fighting between Islamist militias and government-aligned forces has caused 204,000 people to flee Mogadishu since May and forced the closure of some of the Somali capital's few health centres, the UN refugee agency said today.
The eight-week offensive by the al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam guerillas was devastating parts of north Mogadishu that had until now been "islands of peace", UNHCR said. Many residents were fleeing their homes for the first time since the country's descent into anarchy in 1991.
At least 105 people have been killed in the past week alone. Almost half a million people are living in temporary shelters made from sticks and plastic sheeting along the road to Afgooye, west of Mogadishu.
Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) said there was a "desperate" shortage of food and water there. The aid organisation added that continuous shelling and open combat had forced it to close three clinics and a paediatric hospital in north Mogadishu last week.
"The population is terrorised, and in the past two weeks the number of dead and wounded has drastically increased. It has become impossible to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to those in need," said Monica Camacho, general co-ordinator of the MSF mission in Somalia.
The eight-week offensive by the al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam guerillas was devastating parts of north Mogadishu that had until now been "islands of peace", UNHCR said. Many residents were fleeing their homes for the first time since the country's descent into anarchy in 1991.
At least 105 people have been killed in the past week alone. Almost half a million people are living in temporary shelters made from sticks and plastic sheeting along the road to Afgooye, west of Mogadishu.
Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) said there was a "desperate" shortage of food and water there. The aid organisation added that continuous shelling and open combat had forced it to close three clinics and a paediatric hospital in north Mogadishu last week.
"The population is terrorised, and in the past two weeks the number of dead and wounded has drastically increased. It has become impossible to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to those in need," said Monica Camacho, general co-ordinator of the MSF mission in Somalia.
Fighting forces 204,000 to flee Mogadishu
UN says offensive by Islamist militias devastating Somali capital, as almost 500,000 people forced to live in temporary shelter
Fighting between Islamist militias and government-aligned forces has caused 204,000 people to flee Mogadishu since May and forced the closure of some of the Somali capital's few health centres, the UN refugee agency said today.
The eight-week offensive by the al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam guerillas was devastating parts of north Mogadishu that had until now been "islands of peace", UNHCR said. Many residents were fleeing their homes for the first time since the country's descent into anarchy in 1991.
At least 105 people have been killed in the past week alone. Almost half a million people are living in temporary shelters made from sticks and plastic sheeting along the road to Afgooye, west of Mogadishu.
Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) said there was a "desperate" shortage of food and water there. The aid organisation added that continuous shelling and open combat had forced it to close three clinics and a paediatric hospital in north Mogadishu last week.
"The population is terrorised, and in the past two weeks the number of dead and wounded has drastically increased. It has become impossible to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to those in need," said Monica Camacho, general co-ordinator of the MSF mission in Somalia.
Fighting between Islamist militias and government-aligned forces has caused 204,000 people to flee Mogadishu since May and forced the closure of some of the Somali capital's few health centres, the UN refugee agency said today.
The eight-week offensive by the al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam guerillas was devastating parts of north Mogadishu that had until now been "islands of peace", UNHCR said. Many residents were fleeing their homes for the first time since the country's descent into anarchy in 1991.
At least 105 people have been killed in the past week alone. Almost half a million people are living in temporary shelters made from sticks and plastic sheeting along the road to Afgooye, west of Mogadishu.
Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) said there was a "desperate" shortage of food and water there. The aid organisation added that continuous shelling and open combat had forced it to close three clinics and a paediatric hospital in north Mogadishu last week.
"The population is terrorised, and in the past two weeks the number of dead and wounded has drastically increased. It has become impossible to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to those in need," said Monica Camacho, general co-ordinator of the MSF mission in Somalia.
Ethiopia adopts strict anti-terrorism bill
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Ethiopia's parliament on Tuesday adopted a new anti-terrorism bill despite criticism by rights groups that the legislation violates civil liberties.The law, proposed last year after a string of bomb attacks in the capital, comprises 38 sections and paves the way for arrests and searches without court warrants.
The legislation championed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was voted for by 286 lawmakers in Ethiopia's 547-seat parliament, 91 against and one abstention, an AFP correspondent reported.
"Whosoever writes, edits, prints, publishes, publicises, disseminates, shows, makes to be heard any promotional statements encouraging... terrorist acts is punishable with rigorous imprisonment from 10 to 20 years," it says...more,,http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090707/wl_africa_afp/ethiopiaterrorismrightslaw
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir
Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979
Sultan Kenadid
.jpg)
Sultanate of Obbia
President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,
Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan
Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )
MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen
Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake
May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government
The Honourable Ronald Reagan,
When our world changed forever
His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Government in Paris from 1974 to 1979.
Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.
Soomaaliya الصومال Somali Republic
Somalia
