Jubaland president accuses Federal Gov of 'organizing clan violence

KISMAYO, Somalia May 25, 2013 (terror free somalia) - The president of Somalia’s Jubaland state Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) has accused the Somali Federal Government of “organizing clan violence” in Kismayo and the Jubba regions, terror free somala.org reports.President Ahmed Madobe told the BBC Somali Service during a Saturday morning interview that the Federal Government sends delegations to Kismayo “without informing the administration” in Kismayo.“We invited the Federal Government to the Jubaland conference. However, the Federal Government is interfering directly by organizing meetings with local clans and even military officials,” said President Ahmed Madobe.“The Federal Government will take full responsibility for any violence in Kismayo. If the Federal Government violates the [Federal] Constitution that established it, then for whom will it [Federal Government] be the Government? The Jubaland people will recall their Members of Parliament and open consultations on future relations with the Federal Government,” the Jubaland President warned.He blamed the Somali Federal Government in Mogadishu for “funding persons to declare themselves ‘president’” including former Kismayo warlord Barre Hirale, who declared himself ‘Jubaland president’ on the same day as Ahmed Madobe’s election on May 15, 2013.The Jubaland leader called on the Federal Government to “change the course” before its too late.

Implications of the IGAD Report on Jubbaland

The IGAD fact-finding mission to Jubbaland has issued its report. Spins notwithstanding, there can be little doubt that the report supported the Federal Government’s position. It recognized that the Government should have led and still should lead the process of establishing regional states. It has recognized that the process’s inclusivity is contestable. It has called on the interim regional administration to enter into dialogue with Mogadishu. On the surface, it is a clear diplomatic victory to the Federal Government of Somalia. It should please all Somalis if neighbouring countries, who had been undermining the sovereignty of Somalia, are reversing their negative policies. But has the IGAD report altered the power equation and reality in Jubbaland or Somalia in any significant way? Does it change the status quo? Will the actions of the IGAD member countries – particularly Ethiopia and Kenya – be consistent with their political statements? These are an answered questions, which should be interrogated.

It is my opinion that the IGAD report:

1) Has put President Hassan on the spotlight by denying him the “foreign meddling” scarecrow. Whether calculated for this effect, or by default, the IGAD move shifted the political stage from Addis Ababa and Nairobi to Mogadishu and Kismaayo. Mogadishu will have to own up its failure henceforth.

2) Did not move the essential parameters of the political conflict between Mogadishu and Kismaayo that much. If the FGS calls for reconciliation conference in Mogadishu, and Sheikh Madoobe and Fartaag refuse to attend, they will be outlaws but as long as AMISOM and Kenyan forces do not move to fight Ras Kambooni militia, they will remain outlaws who rule their fief. They have already withdrawn to the castle of their clans, and that constituency will remain with them.

3) If the President asks foreign forces to attack Somalis who disagreed with him, it is a worrying reversal of his pronounced political belief. A President using foreigners to impose his will on a rebellious political constituency – not terrorits like Alshabab – in a fragile country, can lead to the break-up of the country. More so when the national healing agenda has not moved an inch forward. For him to be able mobilize international forces against Ras Kambooni and the interim Jubbaland adminstration, he will need to have the support of at least some sections of the D block, so that it is not seen as persecution against a clan.

4) Any potential reconciliation or reconstitution of the Jubbaland adminstration will have to include Ahmed Madoobe and Fartaag, and has little chance of succeeding without yielding ground to their core desires. In short, the President will negotiate with the same people he wanted to avoid, only after losing so much political capital by way of sulking clans.

5) Both sides need to show due care and compromise
a. The SFG must accept the formation of a federal state of Jubbaland and take its mandated role in the process.
b. Ahmed Madoobe and the current admin must accept and accommodate all the demands of the SFG regarding the formation of the federal state of Jubaland even if that means re-elections, widening the process, restructuring the current conference organisers.
c. The SFG mustn't have any decision making nor dictate matter but allow the people of Jubbaland and elders to own the process and have the final decision making.

In a nutshell, all parties will have to stick to the rules in the books as all eyes including that of IGAD and IC will be on everyone's actions in order to stay away from further conflict, blame and counter blame of both parties and reversal of the progress made against Alshabaab thus far.

In conclusion, there are no new beginnings. We are back to square one. Compromise and negotiation between Somalis is the solution.

 

 

Gulf of Aden Security Review - May 23, 2013 | Critical Threats

Gulf of Aden Security Review - May 23, 2013 | Critical Threats

London Jihad Live: suspect #1 wanted to join Al Shabaab in Somalia

UPDATE: MI5 admit they KNEW about fanatics who 'slaughtered soldier': Police raid house in Lincolnshire village as friends say British-born suspect became 'obsessed with radical Islam as schoolboy'

• Suspect identified on internet forums as Michael Adebolajo
• Accomplice believed to be from Harold Hill, Romford
• Two officers fired shots and one officer discharged a Taser
• Raids carried out in Lincolnshire, Romford, Greenwich and Woolwich
• Suspects in attack on a soldier are not believed to be part of a terror group
• Both are being treated in separate hospitals
• Sources: "Adebolajo was arrested on his way to join Al Shabaab in Somalia"

UPDATE: British police have arrested two more people as part of the probe of the brutal cleaver attack that killed a British soldier. A man and a woman, both 29, were arrested Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, Metropolitan Police said. No further details were given.

Warranted searches have been carried out at six residential addresses, police said. "This is a large, complex and fast-moving investigation which continues to develop," police said in a statement. "Many lines of inquiry are being followed by detectives and the investigation is progressing well."

Hawiye Violence in Somalia Scares Investors, Aid Workers

A spate of attacks by Islamic insurgents in Somalia's capital is forcing investors, businessmen and aid workers to have second thoughts about expanding operations in Mogadishu.

African Union and Somali troops pushed al-Shabab insurgents out of the capital in August 2011, fostering a relatively secure peace that Mogadishu hasn't seen in years. Somalis living overseas are returning, bringing new foreign investment capital with them. The last 18 months have been Mogadishu's best in years, say residents.

But a recent spate of attacks is threatening those gains.

The Turkish Red Crescent is reviewing its Somalia operations, a Somali official said, because of security concerns after a series of attacks. One such attack struck a car carrying Turkish aid workers on a day when gunmen and suicide bombers killed 35 people at the nation's court complex.

"What I know is that they are reviewing their activities because of the security situation," said Abdirahman Omar Osman, Somalia's government spokesman, said by phone. "Because of the security, it's difficult. They have every right to be upset, but what we say to them is that their assistance and help has changed the landscape."

Turkey is playing a big role in Somalia's reconstruction. Turkish Airline is the first international airline to fly direct to Mogadishu. Turkish Red Crescent aid workers have been undertaking development projects, including street renovations and the construction of schools. Turkish aid workers are also rebuilding one of Somalia's biggest hospitals.

A Western diplomat based in Nairobi who works on Somalia said Turkey has become wary of the capital's violent attacks but has also come to learn that making progress in Mogadishu can be frustratingly difficult, given the inexperience and inefficiencies of the new government. The diplomat insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly.

Omer Tasli, the director general of the Turkish Red Crescent, said that security can be a concern in Mogadishu but that there would be no pull-out.

"From time to time, we have to stop what we are doing if there is a security concern, but we are not suspending operations," Tasli told The Associated Press.

The al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab often accuses Turkish aid workers of importing secularism into the largely conservative Muslim nation and has threatened attacks against its workers. The militants have attacked restaurants and hotels in Mogadishu, making businessmen wary of investing money.

Ahmed Jama is the owner of a popular restaurant in the city that has been attacked by militants. "There's no security left here. The violence is also denying us any reasonable profits," Jama said. "We receive few customers these days. It's discouraging. I wish I could leave here soon."

Another hotel owner echoed the sentiment: "It's not easy doing business here. It's a real sacrifice," said Ali Hassan. "It has changed from a year ago."

The deterioration in security has increased demand for protection, leading some businessmen to set up unregulated private security companies.

"They have no permits from the government whatsoever, their work is worrying," said Dahir Amin Jesow, a Somali parliamentarian who heads a security committee. "We shall put the issue before the parliament soon. We don't want to see any other forces other than our armed forces or AMISOM here," he said, referring to the African Union forces in Somalia

In the latest security operation, Somali security forces this week began rounding up hundreds of suspects in an effort to smoke out militants in Mogadishu. Col. Ali Hamud Mahad, the spokesman of the African Union force in Somalia, said that troops were conducting house-to-house searches to find militants posing as civilians.

"The operation will be carried on until we ensure that no militants are in hiding in Mogadishu to carry out attacks," he said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The mass arrests have some in the city concerned. "They arrested anyone they could see, that's wrong," said Mohamed Abdullahi, a university student who said he spent hours in a prison before being released on Tuesday night. "Only criminals deserve such mistreatments." via AP

UK soldier butchered on London street in ‘Islamist attack’

London: A British soldier was hacked to death by two men shouting Islamic slogans in a south London street on Wednesday, in what the government said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

A dramatic clip filmed by an onlooker just minutes after the killing showed a man with hands covered in blood, brandishing a bloodied meat cleaver and a knife. (Watch an amateur video here.)

“We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day,” the black man in his 20s or 30s, wearing a wool jacket and jeans and speaking with a local accent, shouted in the footage obtained by Britain’s ITV news channel. (Watch the exclusive ITV footage here.)

“This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

The attack was the first apparent Islamist killing in London since suicide bombers struck transport in July 2005. The capital was shocked by the bizarre scene of a killer covered in gore, declaring his motive to onlookers.

Police shot the two suspects while trying to arrest them, and the wounded men were taken into custody. No information was immediately released about the identity of the suspects, but two sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters authorities were investigating a possible link to Nigeria.

“I apologise that women had to witness that, but in our lands our women have to see the same thing. You people will never be safe. Remove your government. They don’t care about you,” the videotaped man said before crossing the street and speaking casually to the other attacker.

Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a visit to France to return to London and chair an emergency national security meeting.

“The police are urgently seeking the full facts about this case but there are strong indications that it is a terrorist incident,” Cameron said before cutting short talks with French President Francois Hollande to return home.

“We have had these sorts of attacks before in our country and we never buckle in the face of them,” he said.

• The attack happened on the edge of London’s sprawling Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, a south London working class district which has long-standing historic links to the military.
• In signs of a backlash after the attack, more than 100 angry supporters of the English Defence League, a far-right street protest group, took to the streets, some wearing balaclavas and carrying England’s red and white flag. They were contained by riot police.
• Separately, two men were arrested in connection with separate attacks on mosques outside London. No one was hurt.
• Help for Heroes
• The authorities did not immediately confirm the identity of the slain man, but a source told Reuters the man may have been a member of the military. The British government normally withholds the identities of slain servicemembers until their families are informed.
• The victim was wearing a T-shirt saying “Help for Heroes”, the name of a charity formed to help wounded British veterans. Britain has had troops deployed in Afghanistan since 2001 and had troops in Iraq from 2003-2009.
• Before he was stabbed to death, the victim was knocked over by a blue car which then rammed into a lamppost. The attackers pounced on him in broad daylight in a busy residential street.
• Witnesses said they shouted “Allahu Akhar” (“God is Great” in Arabic) while stabbing the victim and trying to behead him.
• “I am afraid it is overwhelmingly likely now to be a terrorist attack, the kind the city has seen before,” London mayor Boris Johnson said. Police said in a statement late on Wednesday that the murder investigation was led by the Counter Terrorism Command, a specialist branch within the London force.
• Fred Oyat, a 44-year-old local resident, said he witnessed the attack on the soldier from the window of his high-rise apartment overlooking the scene.
• “The victim was white,” he told Reuters. “I was in my house when four shots rung out. I went to the window I saw a man lying on the ground with a lot of blood.”
• London was last hit by a serious militant attack in July 2005, when four young Islamists set off suicide bombs on the public transport network, killing 52 people and wounding hundreds. A similar attempted attack two weeks later was thwarted.
• British counter-terrorism chiefs have recently warned that radicalised individuals, so-called “lone wolves” who might have had no direct contact with al Qaeda, posed as great a risk as those who plotted attacks on the lines of the 2005 bombings.
• The bombing attacks on the Boston Marathon last month, which U.S. authorities blame on two brothers, have raised the profile of the “lone wolf” threat in the West. A French-Algerian gunman killed three off-duty French soldiers and four Jewish civilians on a rampage in southern France last year.
• Britain’s involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the past decade has often stirred anger among British Muslims and occasionally made soldiers a target at home. British police have foiled at least two major plots in which Islamist suspects were accused of planning to kill off-duty troops.
• Ahmed Jama, a 26-year-old Woolwich resident, laid flowers down at the scene as a sign of respect to the families involved.

“This has nothing to do with Islam, this has nothing to do with our religion. This has nothing to do with Allah,” he said “It has nothing to do with Islam. It’s heartbreaking, it’s heartbreaking

Terrorism Watch: US formally takes responsibility for killing Awlak...

Terrorism Watch: US formally takes responsibility for killing Awlak...: WASHINGTON: The United States formally said for the first time on Wednesday that it had killed radical Yemeni-American Anwar al-Awlaki ...

Somali Piracy Business Model and the ‘Costs’ | Neptune

Somali Piracy Business Model and the ‘Costs’ | Neptune

Ethiopia and Somalia: Being Good Neighbours

Ethiopia and Somalia: Being Good Neighbours

After decades as ’world’s most dangerous’ place, has Somalia turned the corner?

After decades as ’world’s most dangerous’ place, has Somalia turned the corner?

IGAD fact-finding delegation meets weak and unpopular Somali prime minister in Mogadishu

fact-finding delegation from Inter-Governmental And Droughts IGAD- comprising seven-ember states has arrived in Mogadishu on Thursday as they met with weak and unpopular Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon,

The information minister of Somalia Federal Government Abdullahi Elmoge Hersi said the delegation held a closed door meeting with the prime minister as they discussed several issues.

“The prime minister at large explained the position of the government towards Jubbaland crisis as he mentioned the way to form regional administrations through national reconciliation process.” Minister Hersi told reporters in Mogadishu today.

He added that they have also met listened some comments from members if civil society and traditional elders from Jubbaland clans in Mogadishu.

The minister also noted that the delegation will soon travel to Kismayo to meet with the Jubbaland government as well as traditional elders there.

In its communique issued on May 3rd, The IGAD Heads of State decided to conduct a confidence-building mission to Kismayu led by the IGAD Executive Secretary and composed of representatives of the federal government of Somalia and one senior delegate from each member state of IGAD with the aim of assessing the situation and submitting a report to the IGAD summit to be held on the sidelines of the upcoming AU summit in May 2013.

Somalia: Senior leader in al Shabaab terrorist Aweys blames Al Shabaab Chief for ‘targeting foreign fighters’

MOGADISHU, Somalia May 17, 2013 (terrorfresomalia) - In an audio recording distributed to Somali media on Friday, high-ranking Al Shabaab member terrorist (habar gidir sup clan )(Hawaiye calan )      Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has blamed Al Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane for “targeting foreign fighters” and for “unilateral decisions” that led to the militant group losing territory to Somali government forces aided by AMISOM peacekeepers, somali chanal .. reports.  listen the audio in somali

Sheikh Aweys, who was leader of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006 that led to Al Shabaab splinter group, said in the audio statement that Mr. Godane “rejected” a proposal to set up new leadership for Al Shabaab militant group.Aweys blamed Godane for “targeting, arresting, killing, and hunting down foreign fighters” who fought alongside Al Shabaab militants since 2007.“Godane has made unilateral decisions that led to Al Shabaab loosing control over territory in south-central Somalia,” said Sheikh Aweys. Al Shabaab foreign fighter, Abu Mansur Al-Amriki, from the U.S., recently published posts on his Twitter account claiming that he had survived an “assassination attempt” by Al Shabaab gunmen. In April, senior Al Shabaab member Ibrahim Afghani, issued an 8-page report written in Arabic and addressed to Al Qaeda leadership in central Asia, demanding new leadership for Al Shabaab militants in Somalia.Both Godane and Afghani hail from Somaliland, a separatist region in northwestern Somalia that unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally.

Ethiopia Playing at Being Good Neighbours

Ethiopia Playing at Being Good Neighbours

Somali government worried over Kismayo situation

Somali government worried over Kismayo situation

The EU celebrated its first Europe Day in Mogadishu

The European Union celebrates today, for the first time, "Europe Day" in Mogadishu with its Somali and international partners. Europe Day known for the Schuman declaration marks the day that Europe decided to join forces to prevent further conflict by 'making war not only unthinkable, but materially impossible', to quote Robert Schuman. This is ever so relevant for our common ambitions in Somalia.
"Celebrating Europe day after 22 years in Mogadishu is part of the paradigm shift and allows us to mark the unwavering friendship between the European Union and Somalia. I very much appreciated the commitment witnessed today by President Hassan Sheikh to our partnership and a new Somalia. The EU and Somalia have the same hope and desire for lasting peace and solidarity." states the EU Special Envoy, Michele Cervone d'Urso.
A key event on this special day translating in concrete terms the EU's efforts to work inside Somalia and in partnership with the Somali Government and people is the launch of the EU Training mission (EUTM) in Mogadishu. This is a game changer for EU engagement in Somalia in the security sector and beyond.
We are proud to also have a special focus on the Somali youth this year. They are the backbone of Somalia's future. We need to empower youth to play a constructive role in the new Somalia. The EU will be at their side as they look for better opportunities and stand up for their values. END
Magali Uytterhaeghe Press and Information Officer Delegation of the European Union in Kenya Somalia Unit P.O. Box 45119 00100 Nairobi Tel: +254.20.271.28.30

EUROPEAN UNION TRAINING MISSION TO TRAIN SOMALI FORCES IN SOMALIA

15 April 2013, Mogadishu – The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, today welcomed the deployment of the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) to Somalia, calling it a “paradigm shift in relations" between the EU and Somalia.

For the last three years the EUTM has trained over 3,000 Somali troops at a base in Uganda, and today the full training operation opened in Mogadishu, where the Third Mandate will continue to support the training and mentoring of Somali security forces. By the end of 2013 all EUTM training will be conducted in Somalia.

The President said: “Our partnership with the European Union is of immense value and has proved that recruitment from across the clans, disciplined training and effective deployment of good soldiers is totally achievable.

“Thanks in large part to the EU, we are beginning to see the development of a Somali National Army (SNA) that is diverse in origin as well as structure, and a force that is accountable, inclusive, proportionate and sustainable, and with a respect for the chain of command, the rule of law and human rights.

The President also underlined the critical shortage of arms and equipment that restricts Somalia’s security capacity.

“Security is the priority concern to everyone and indeed an essential prerequisite for further progress in all spheres of government and development. But our forces today lack critical capability, and suffer a critical shortage of equipment and supplies that restrict our capacity to protect ourselves.

“Therefore I emphasize the need for adequate and sustained training and resourcing for our armed forces and I am very grateful to the EU in leading this support.

“I wholeheartedly welcome the European Training Mission (EUTM) to Mogadishu and our Minister of Defence, the Force Commander and other military officials will work hand-in-hand with you to further develop structures, policy and processes that will produce a self-sustaining Somali force for the future.”

ENDS

For further info please contact Malik Abdalla, Director of Communications for the Office of the President. Email media@presidency.gov.so.

Somalia: Puntland Congratulates Jubaland People and the New President-elect

PRESS RELEASE

 

 

The people and Government of Puntland State of Somalia warmly welcome the election of the new President of Jubaland State of Somalia, His Excellency Ahmed Mohamed Islam, who was elected by a majority of community delegates at the Jubaland Constitutional Conference in Kismayo.

Puntland congratulates the people of Jubaland State and the new Presidentelect, on organizing a community-led consultative conference, adopting a new State Charter, and electing a new President today.
Puntland also congratulates the other Presidential Candidates and calls on them to respect the election results.

Puntland reaffirms that the Jubaland State formation process is fully in accordance with the Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC) of Somalia, and Puntland calls upon the Somali Federal Government, IGAD, and the wider international community to recognize and cooperate with Jubaland State.

Additionally, Puntland encourages communities in the remaining regions of south-central Somalia to establish States in a similar consultative and open process, in order to complete the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Puntland urges the new Jubaland leadership to implement policies that develop government institutions, engender political and social cohesion, and contribute positively to the common purpose of rebuilding the Somali nation

Finally, Puntland declares that the spoilers who opposed Jubaland State formation have failed again. Puntland reiterates that the spoilers wish to keep Somalia embroiled in a vicious cycle of violence, lawlessness and political instability, and that the Jubaland process has sent a clear signal of the Somali people’s true aspirations for peace, security, democracy, and unity in aFederal Republic.

 

— END —

Jubaland Defence Forces (JDF) CONGRATULATES THE NEWLY PRESIDENT-ELECT OF JUBBALAND

kismayu, 15 may 2013

                                               Jubaland Defence Forces (JDF)
                                                           Gen- Abdi egal Jama

Jubaland Defence Forces (JDF )Republic of Jubbaland  , congratulates the newly President-elect Republic of Jubbaland  of, H.E. Ahmed Mohamed Islam(Ahmed Madobe)

” On behalf of the Army  the people and government of jubbaland , I would like to convey my heartfelt congratulations on your election as the President –elect of the Republic of jubbaland. I am confident, that with your inspired leadership jubbaland will go on to make progress in the years to come.”

“The outcome of the elections is indicative of the will and choice of the jubbaland general public entrusting you with their future.Also, we belief that the brotherly and friendly relations and cooperation that exist between Somalia  federal government in mogadishu, jubbaland and Kenya will continues to expand into the future.”

 

Jubbland Ministry of Defence

Jubaland Defence Forces (JDF)
Gen- Abdi  egal Jama

Kismayu Jubbaland  Somalia

ENDS!

two hawiye shabaab somali american Mahamud Said Omar, 47, and Kamal Said Hassan, 28 get 20 years in the big house in Somali terror probe

Minneapolis - A man who authorities say played a key role in funnelling young men from Minnesota to a terrorist group in Somalia was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison, while another man who was a foot soldier for al-Shabaab received a 10-year sentence

Mahamud Said Omar, 47, and Kamal Said Hassan, 28, learned their sentences on Monday as a federal judge in US District Court in Minneapolis began doling out penalties in what has been called one of the largest efforts to recruit US fighters into a foreign terror group.

Hassan is among the more than 20 young men who have left Minnesota since 2007 to join al-Shabaab. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the US.

Hassan pleaded guilty in 2009 to two terror-related counts and one count of lying to the FBI. He admitted he trained with the al-Qaida-linked group in Somalia and participated in an ambush of Ethiopian troops before returning to the U.S.

"I helped al-Shabaab and I lied to the US government, your honour. I can't take back what I did, but I can show you and my family and the government and the Somali community that I can do better," a tearful Hassan told Chief US District Judge Michael Davis in Minneapolis before he was sentenced.

Hassan apologized during his 2½-hour sentencing and said he no longer supports al-Shabaab or any similar group. He faced a maximum of 38 years in prison, but the government sought a reduced sentence because Hassan gave "extraordinary" cooperation as authorities were building their investigation.

But Davis said he is not convinced that Hassan is not still lying. The judge had a recruitment video played in court that shows Hassan urging others to join the cause in Somalia to show that Hassan can be persuasive.

"I don't know you. The government doesn't know you. Your family doesn't know you," Davis told Hassan. Still, he said Hassan was the first person to come forward and shed a light on terror recruiting in Minneapolis, and he granted the lower sentence.

Mental disabilities

Hassan will also be on supervised release for 20 years after he is out of prison.

Authorities say the conspiracy began in 2007, when small groups of Somali men began holding secret meetings to talk about returning to their homeland to wage jihad against Ethiopians. The Ethiopian army was brought into Somalia in 2006 by its weak UN-backed government, but the troops were viewed by many Somalis as invaders.

Hassan has said he was told it was his "duty" to fight against Ethiopians.

Omar also made a lengthy statement before he was sentenced — much of it was incoherent and rambling. He denied taking part in the conspiracy, and said his attorneys were "disrespecting" him because they told him not to write the judge a letter.

During Omar's trial, prosecutors alleged Omar, a janitor at a local mosque, used recruits as "cannon fodder" and helped feed them into a pipeline of violence in their homeland. They said he continued to help travelers with logistics and money even in the days after a Minnesotan carried out a suicide bombing in Somalia in 2008. Prosecutors say most of men who left in that group of travellers have died.

Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 50 years in prison.

Omar's defence attorneys argued in court documents that he was a passive participant who didn't know any better and held no power.

"Mr Omar was a pawn who, because of his mental disabilities became involved in an organization whose evil was far more advanced than he could comprehend," defence attorney Andrew Birrell wrote.

Hassan, who was convicted on two terror-related counts and one count of lying to the FBI, has admitted that he went to Somalia to fight against Ethiopians, trained with al-Shabaab and left after participating in an ambush of Ethiopian troops.

Prosecutors wrote that, to date, neither al-Shabaab’s designation as a terrorist group nor the prosecutions of men in the US have stemmed the flow of support from Minnesota.

Germany Accuses Man of Being Somali Pirates’ Accountant

The authorities in Germany said Monday that they had arrested a man, identifying him only by the initial “M,” who had acted as the accountant for a band of Somali pirates who hijacked a German oil tanker three years ago.

The man, who “partially confessed,” according to a police statement, is believed to have been responsible for “the bookkeeping, which was the basis for the proportional division of the ransom between the participating pirates.” He faces a potential prison sentence of 5 to 15 years on charges of kidnapping and grievous bodily harm.

“This is another outstanding and international success against sea piracy,” Uwe Kolmey, the president of the state police in Lower Saxony, said in the statement. He singled out the investigators for their “meticulous search for evidence” on the tanker after the ordeal.

The suspect, arrested Wednesday, was initially found with false travel documents at a refugee center in the city of Giessen, the authorities said. His fingerprints, they said, matched prints collected on the ship, the Marida Marguerite.

The police released a photograph of a crime scene investigator in a surgical mask, a white suit and green gloves kneeling next to empty cans and other refuse on the deck of the ship. The man being held was responsible for provisioning the ship with food as well as dividing millions of dollars in ransom money, the authorities said.

International forces patrolling the waters off the Horn of Africa have sharply reduced the number of pirate attacks over the past year and a half. According the European Union naval force, only five ships were successfully captured last year and none so far this year, compared with a 47 ships in 2010, the year the Marida Marguerite was taken.

A group of armed men fired on the German ship with machine guns and rockets off the coast of Oman before seizing the tanker and capturing its 22 crew members in May 2010. During an ordeal that lasted months, the crew members said, they were chained to chairs for days, tortured by their captors and terrorized with simulated executions.

The ship and its crew were finally ransomed in December 2010 for a sum the authorities described as several million dollars.

A federal jury in Virginia convicted a Somali man last year for his role as the hostage negotiator in the hijacking of the German tanker, as well as in the hijacking of an American yacht in which all four Americans aboard were shot to death.

A court in Hamburg convicted 10 Somali men of piracy in October in what was said to be the first trial of pirates in Germany in centuries.

Somalia: Flight to Kismayo ‘forced to return to Mogadishu’

                                                H2  Interior minister with sakiin

MOGADISHU, Somalia May 1 3, 2013 (terrorfreesomaia) - A flight carrying some 25 passengers flew from Mogadishu to Kismayo on Sunday, but the flight returned to Mogadishu’s airport, terrorfreesomalia  reports.

Mohamed Amin Abdullahi, a former Somali parliamentarian, told the VOA Somali Service during a Sunday interview their flight was “forced to return” to Mogadishu.

“We flew from Mogadishu, and we had permission from AMISOM headquarters here in Mogadishu. However, when we entered Kismayo airspace, the pilot informed us that he was ordered to return to Mogadishu because the flight does not have permission,” said Mr. Amin.

Continuing, he stated that, since their flight had the permission of AMISOM in Mogadishu, “it is clear that Kenyan troops [in Kismayo] rejected our flight and therefore Kenya is not part of AMISOM.”

Mr. Amin condemned the role of Kenya, saying that “Kenya cannot rule Somalia” and claimed that all the flight’s passengers were “going to their homes” in Kismayo.

Asked if he had any communication with Kismayo’s interim administration, Mr. Amin said: “There is no administration I recognize in currently in Kismayo.”

In March 2013, Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon visited Kismayo and was hosted by the city’s interim administration, led by Sheikh Ahmed “Madobe” Mohamed Islam.

Kismayo officials denied any report of a flight forced to return to Mogadishu.

Inside sources tell tf.sf Online that Kenyan police at Nairobi airport earlier in 2013 deported Mr. Amin and a fellow traveler, referred to only as ‘Lugadhere’.

Moreover, reliable sources in Mogadishu tell  tf.sf Online that Mr. Amin’s claim that all the passengers were “going to their homes” is a false statement, particularly since Mr. Mohamed Hassan Haad was among the flight passengers.

Mr. Haad, the self-declared chairman of Hawiye clan elders, hails from Galgadud region and does not have a home in Kismayo. Moreover, Somali media quoted Mr. Haad in recent months declaring “jihad” on Kismayo and he has been actively promoting clan violence targeting Kismayo.

Unconfirmed reports say Mr. Amin and fellow flight passengers were “appointed as Lower Jubba regional officials” by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who has publicly opposed the Jubaland state formation process underway in Kismayo.

Meanwhile in Kismayo, the 500 delegates allocated among local clans are expected to convene later this week for the election of Jubaland’s president and vice president, sources say , follo wing the successful passing of the new state's