President Museveni yesterday called for the deployment of more troops in Somalia. The President, who is attending the UN general assembly in New York, said soldiers should be deployed in the areas of Baidoa and Kisumayu, which are controlled by the main rebel group.
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According to a State House statement issued yesterday, Mr Museveni said al shabaab can be defeated if more peacekeepers are deployed in Somalia. “The population in Somalia is against the terrorists, they are just imposing themselves. People who don’t care about dying will do anything and therefore they must be paid in their own currency. The interest of Uganda is to ensure total peace in Somalia,” he said while meeting US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.
Ms Rice commended President Museveni on his leadership role and strong commitment to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
New Vision: US praises Museveni for Somalia role
THE US government has commended President Yoweri Museveni for his leadership and commitment to the peace-keeping mission in Somalia, State House said in a statement yesterday.
The US also sent sympathy to the Government for the fallen soldiers and those injured during last week’s attack in Mogadishu. Four UPDF soldiers were killed and 21 wounded in a double suicide bombing on their base on Thursday.
The Washington message was delivered during a meeting between President Yoweri Museveni and Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, at the St. Regis Hotel in New York.
Rice, according to the press release, pledged her government’s support to Uganda and its partners to restore total peace in Somalia and the region.
restore???
Reuters: U.S. raid in Somalia raises concerns-Kenyan minister
NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. raid in Somalia that [allegedly] killed a [suspected] senior al Qaeda militant last week raises questions about "lone ranger behavior" by the United States, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said on Monday.
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Asked about the U.S. raid, which analysts say risks further inflaming anti-Western opinion a region of growing concern, Wetangula expressed mixed feelings.
"To the extent that the United States has said that the operation had some limited success ... if their operation has any value to add, we would welcome it," Wetangula told Reuters in New York where he was attending the U.N. General Assembly.
"What I do not feel comfortable with is the fact that the U.S. would want to conduct operations in our neighborhood without information or cooperation or collaboration," he said.
"That lone ranger behavior has often not succeeded in many places."
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"(Regional countries) would welcome engagement with partners. But when we get to know after the fact, of course it raises some justifiable degrees of concern as to the value of our partnership in certain respects," Wetangula said.
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Last week's twin suicide car bombs that killed 17 peacekeepers at the main AU military base in Mogadishu reinforced the need to expand the mandate of the force to include peace-building as well as peace-keeping, he said.
"Where is the peace? There is no peace."
So why not just dispense with keeping up this silly pretense of "peace-keeping" altogether? The reality, though, is that it's a highly-loaded term whose efficacy is very useful in the ongoing subversion of attempts at authentic Islamic / democratic rule in Somalia. Or, as the State Department has gotten into the habit of spinning 180 degrees, relying on the images conjured up in the notion of 'peacekeepers' while decrying "those who ... seek to strip the Somali people of an opportunity to determine their own future and achieve lasting peace and stability". It works quite effectively on those who have no idea that it is the U.S. and the so-called "International Community" actually stripping the Somali people of the opportunity to determine their own future and achieve lasting peace and stability. To the point that the intensifying Orwellian inclusion of the term "peace" to describe its very antithesis in nearly every edict emanating from the TFG and its backers rarely raises any remonstration.
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Mareeg Online: US to redouble its support for AU Mission in Somalia
NAIROBI (Mareeg)—US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger said on Tuesday that the United States will redouble its support for the AU Mission in Somalia.
Ranneberger held a press conference in Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi where he visited some wounded AMISOM peace keepers who were injured in twin suicide attacks that targeted in their main headquarters in Mogadishu on Thursday..
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“The United States will redouble its support for AMISOM and the Transitional federal Government and this attack really shows why it is so important that the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia succeed in Mogadishu in order to insure the future of stability of that country,” Ranneberger told reporters in Nairobi.
He added that ninety people were wounded in the suicide attacks claimed by al Shabaab militants and welcomed the commitment of AMISOM.
“We want to welcome the fact that the AU and AMISOM have reassured the Somali people that they will remain engaged, and indeed continue strengthening their force in Mogadishu.”
“We were already the largest supporters of AMISOM and we will continue to do that.”
US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger, also talked about al Shabaab recruitment of Somali Diaspora.
“The al Shabaab for sometime had been recruiting from the Diaspora in the United States and in other places in Kenya, and in other countries they are relying on misguided young people who don’t know any better and convincing them to come and fight in Somalia. However, we are taking steps, we are working with Kenya and other countries to try to prevent that, but what that shows you is that the al Shabaab is dependent of foreign fighters to help to carry out their cause and that tells you that al Shabaab is not a legitimate Somali movement.”
Ranneberger noted that the United States is working with the Somali government to help get moral support from Somali people.
More confirmation that when we hear exaggerations of "foreign fighters" in Somalia, they're largely referring to members of the diaspora who return to their native land.
And this part of an article in the Daily Nation supports what I was pointing out in last week's thread
An intelligence officer whose duty is to monitor Somalia describes the attack last Thursday that killed 17 African Union soldiers and four Somalis as a well-planned operation and not an act of revenge.
The officer says the strike had very little to do with revenge over a US raid that killed a top terror suspect, Sheikh Ali Nabhan.
Says the officer who sought anonymity: “What happened on Thursday was planned in advance. Nabhan was just a catalyst. You need time to train suicide bombers.’’
Prior to the bombings that targeted the African force’s headquarters in Mogadishu and a US firm known as Dyncorp, said the officer who serves with the African forces, there were plans for a major operation by Somali government to take positions held by al-Shabaab and other radical groups in Mogadishu.
The bombing means the plans leaked out and it shows the militants have very good intelligence and are sending a message that says: “We can hit you anytime we want."
Or, by attacking during the meeting, trying to cut off the head before escalated operations begin.
The article also states that
The AU force has so far lost 51 soldiers in militant raids since it was deployed in the country in 2007 and the bombing last Thursday was the 10th suicide attack by militants all over Somalia.
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More govt shelling of the Bakara market in retaliation for Tuesday's raids. Logistics courtesy of DynCorp, perhaps?
APA: At least 12 people die in fresh fighting in Somali capital
At least 12 people died on Tuesday when fighting broke out in the Somali capital Mogadishu, eyewitnesses and health officials said here on Tuesday night.
The fighting erupted on the road in south Mogadishu when Islamist fighters attacked the bases of government and the troops of the African Union peacekeepers in the capital.
Seven civilians died in Bakaro market when consecutive mortar shells landed in a building where some people were hiding from the heavy weapons.
“Six of the residents died instantly as the result of the consecutive heavy mortar shells,” Sahal Farah, a resident in Bakaro market tod APA.
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The head of the ambulance services, Lifeline Africa and Nationlink told APA that they witnessed more than four people dead in the market.
“We admitted ten people to hospital,” Ali Muse, head of the ambulance service, Lifeline Africa and Natiolink, told APA, by telephone.
“We saw more dead bodies but we were only trying to save the injured people,” he added.
And now that it has been acknowledged by the AU that DynCorp has a physical office inside the AMISOM bunker in Mogadishu, will anyone start raising questions about how that impacts what the State Department has let on so far with respect to the tons of weapons it has been adding to the conflict?
Nairobi's East African Standard article on Ranneberger's press briefing that abruptly ends with the sentence
He denied claims that weapons from US had fallen in wrong hands.
I'm assuming at that point the reporter laughed so hard he broke his pencil, thus unable to finish the article.
And from Uganda's New Vision:
US soldiers train East African armies
OVER 450 United States military officers will camp in the country next month to conduct joint military drills for Uganda and the four other East African countries in Kitgum district.
The three-week military exercise codenamed “Natural Fire 10”, will include disaster management drills.
US embassy public affairs officials told journalists at a luncheon at Fang-Fang Hotel in Kampala yesterday that the operation is a routine training exercise for EAC partner states. Army representatives from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda will participate in the exercise.
“US personnel will only remain in Uganda for the duration of the exercise. Upon completion, they will return to their home stations,” John Dunne, the deputy public affairs officer, said.
Dunne said the 450 US military officers are in Uganda at the invitation of the Ugandan government and the EAC partner states.
“Working together, all parties will learn from each other to increase regional capabilities to respond to complex humanitarian emergencies,” Dunne said.
He noted that increased cooperation between the US and African partners would enhance mutual understanding, stability and security on the continent.
He said the US was committed to long-term capacity-building in Africa to prevent or mitigate the effects of conflict.
Mitigate? or, escalate?
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Reuters tells lies, spreads fear in their Wednesday article, Somalia risks being "new Afghanistan"-EU aid head
Somalia will become "the new Afghanistan" unless Western nations give its U.N.-backed government the necessary tools to prevent al Qaeda from getting a foothold in Africa, the EU's humanitarian chief said on Wednesday.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's fragile administration is facing a campaign by Islamist insurgents who killed at least 12 people and wounded 17 others on Wednesday during an attack on African Union peacekeepers in the capital, Mogadishu.
As pointed out in the APA link upstream, at least 7 of the 12 people were killed by AMISOM and TFG forces in their shelling of the Bakara Market. Reuters even alludes to this in a separate article, Fighting kills at least 12 in Somali capital , published hours earlier on the same day.
Fighting in Somalia's capital Mogadishu killed at least 12 people and wounded 17 others after Islamist insurgents attacked government forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers, witnesses said on Wednesday.
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With its credibility increasingly in doubt, the government said it was planning a fresh offensive against the rebels -- but the guerrillas appeared to have attacked first. Witnesses said AU troops later fired shells at the capital's sprawling Bakara Market, which has long been an insurgent stronghold.
But since that doesn't help further the propaganda of the EU official's claims, the reporter and editor of the former article deliberately mislead the reader.
And then the next sentence skips the standard line you find in practically every western news story that mentions Harakat al-Shabaaab Mujahideen -- but a line which the other article published that day did not: "which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia" -- and instead states
The Shabaab insurgents, who have links to al Qaeda, ...
Usually it's "alleged links to" or "influenced by", or, like above, "which U.S. officials say" or similar. But the definitive phrasing there sounds like it was (or might as well have been) written by one of those people in Washington or Langley.
And it goes on to unquestioningly/uncritically promote the misrepresentation of events in Somalia by the EU commissioner,
"We are in a very, very difficult situation. But we cannot leave Somalia to the extremists. There is an al Qaeda influence in Somalia ... which is growing, seeking a foothold and we have to stop them somewhere," European Union Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Karel De Gucht told Reuters after meeting with U.N. diplomats and officials.
"If we let this happen, then the next question is what is the next country. We have to be resilient and to stand firm. It is extremely difficult, risky, but we have no choice.
"They (al Qaeda) are looking for strongholds ... in failed states. That's what happened in Afghanistan. The government did a deal with the Taliban and we cannot let that happen or we will have a new Afghanistan," De Gucht added.
All I can offer is that persons like this official suffer from a form of sickness, more of cynicism than paranoia; arrogance rather than empathy; desperation, not rationalism.
"The government needs more aid from the international community to be able to outreach outside of Mogadishu to deliver basic social services and own resources to show the people that they have credibility and not to turn to the insurgents."
A complete misrepresentation (misunderstanding?) of the root of the problem - the so-called govt is already formed by and completely dependent upon outsiders. Therein lies the rub and pouring more support into the quisling entity will not make it 'serve' the people. Most are completely aware of this. Evidently the EU commissioner is either daft or being deliberately deceptive, though i suspect it could be a little of both.
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Shabelle Media: ICU chairman in central Somalia joins Hizbul Islam Organization
BELEDWEYN (Sh. M. Network) – Sheik Abdirahman Ibrahim Ma’ow, the chairman of the Islamic Courts Union in Hiran region has held a press conference in Beledweyn town on Thursday and announced that his administration joined the Islamic Organization of Hizbul Islam.
Sheik Abdirahman said in his press conference that they completely handed over their forces, armed vehicles and weapons to Hizbul Islam Organization...
The chairman called for the people in the region to support the unity of both Hizbul Islam and Islamic Courts Union administration in the region which he leads and work the peace and security of Beledweyn town.
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Sheik Abdirahman also called for the government soldiers in Elgal village in the region to stop committing actions against the people in the region or else will be taken legal step by the Mujahideen (Islamist fighters) there.
The statement of the ICU chairman Sheik Abdirahman Ibrahim Ma’ow comes as there had been talks between his administration and Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen officials in Hiran region. But he lastly announced today that his administration formally joined to the Hizbul Islam in the region.
Hiiraan Online adds
The Governor’s announcement of his decision to join Hisbul Islam and that the region in general and the city of Beledweyne in particular is under the administration of Hisbul Islam comes after talks he had had in the last few days with traditional elders of the region. It is also noteworthy that the Governor has just come out of a meeting with some of the region’s traditional elders before he made the announcement.
There is no news yet regarding the Governor’s announcement from MPs and senior officers from the TFG who have been in the city of Beledweyne for a while so that they could establish an administration that is allied to the TFG.
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Kismayo Islamists reject Uganda leader's plans
KISMAYO, Somalia Sep 23 (Garowe Online) - Somali Islamists who control the Horn of Africa country's southern port of Kismayo have rejected comments attributed to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Radio Garowe reports.
Sheikh Hassan Yakub, spokesman for Al Shabaab administrators in Kismayo, told reporters Wednesday that the Ugandan leader's plan to deploy African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) to Kismayo and Baidoa is aimed at "misleading" the international community.
"He [Ugandan President] wants to gain project funds from the international community," said Sheikh Yakub, who was speaking at a press conference in Kismayo.
According to the spokesman, the Al Shabaab administration in Kismayo has formally changed its name to the "Islamic Walaayah of Jubba."
It is not clear whether or not all armed factions in Kismayo agree with this new name, but a political dispute has been brewing over the administration of Kismayo in recent months.
Kismayo was seized in Aug. 2008 by a coalition of clan militias and Islamist fighters, including Al Shabaab, Ras Kamboni and Anole. While Ras Kamboni and Anole merged with other factions to form Hizbul Islam in early 2009, Al Shabaab has remained fiercely independent and has maintained an iron-grip control in Kismayo.
Inside sources say Hizbul Islam political leaders have been attempting to mediate between Al Shabaab and the Ras Kamboni-Anole alliance.
While Al Shabaab is a multi-clan faction that primarily draws support from the outside, Ras Kamboni and Anole draw support from the local Darod clans in Middle Jubba and Lower Jubba regions.
Islamist leader snubs Al Shabaab rulers in Kismayo
KISMAYO, Somalia Sep 24 (Garowe Online) - A well-known Islamist leader in southern Somalia has snubbed a new administration appointed by Al Shabaab hardliners for the strategic port city of Kismayo, Radio Garowe reports.
Sheikh Hassan "Turki" Abdullahi, the leader of Ras Kamboni Brigade and a reputed member of Hizbul Islam faction, told reporters in the Somali capital Mogadishu during a Thursday press conference that he "will not accept" the new administration in Kismayo.
"I will not accept the new administration for Kismayo and I support the former administration, which did not favor [any] particular group," said Sheikh Hassan Turki.
On Wednesday, Al Shabaab spokesman in Kismayo, Sheikh Hassan Yakub, told reporters that the city's new administration has changed its name to the Islamic Walayah of Jubba and comes under the direct control of Al Shabaab.
Kismayo has been tense in recent weeks as Islamist factions compete for control of the city, which is prized with an international airport and a main port along Somalia' s Indian Ocean coastline.
"We were not informed about the new administration [for Kismayo] and we feel that we were ignored and Al Shabaab has violated the promise to jointly rule Kismayo," said Sheikh Hassan Turki.
He urged Al Shabaab leaders to "end the bias" against Hizbul Islam factions, which control parts of southern Somalia and are actively fighting to topple Somalia's UN-backed interim government in Mogadishu
Fighters and weapons 'pour into Kismayo'
KISMAYO, Somalia Sep 26 (Garowe Online) - Islamist fighters and weapons are pouring into the southern Somali port of Kismayo, days after a political dispute among Islamists surfaced publicly, Radio Garowe reports.
Fighters loyal to Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam factions are reportedly pouring into Kismayo, with unconfirmed reports that the fighters have taken up positions in different parts of the town.
"Kismayo is full of fighters and armed trucks that are pouring in. Al Shabaab is based in north Kismayo and Hizbul Islam fighters are in the south [of Kismayo]," said a resident speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Another resident said leaflets have been proliferated throughout Kismayo, with messages opposed to the Al Shabaab administration in town.
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On Saturday, Al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali "Dheere" Mohamud told Mogadishu-based radio stations that Sheikh Turki is the "one of the founders" of the Islamist movement in Somalia.
"We admire Sheikh Hassan Turki…He is the father of the blessed war in Somalia and we declare that we [Al Shabaab] are ready for unity," said Sheikh Ali Dheere.
He downplayed the possibility of an outbreak of violence between Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, two factions that have cooperated in the violent insurgency to overthrow the Somali interim government and its African Union backers in Mogadishu.
Al Shabaab withdraw from Kismayo
KISMAYO, Somalia Sep 27 (Garowe Online) - Fighters loyal to Somalia's Islamist faction Al Shabaab have withdrawn from the important southern port of Kismayo, Radio Garowe reports.
Fighters loyal to Ras Kamboni Brigade and Anole have poured into Kismayo, forcing the bulk of Al Shabaab guerrillas to peacefully leave the port town overnight Saturday, local sources told Puntland-based Radio Garowe.
Some Al Shabaab elements are still in control of the police station and the city is calm, the sources added.
Al Shabaab fighters have regrouped in the agricultural town of Jamame, located north of Kismayo, but also in Lower Jubba region.
Relatedly, this was from Gettleman's NYT mostly useless article last week
According to United Nations and Somali officials, the Ugandan military plans to invade Kismayo, a port town in southern Somalia controlled by a Shabab-allied group, as soon as more peacekeeping funds arrive.
So what will they do now that Harakat al-Shabaab Mujahideen no longer operates in Kismayo?
Gettleman, in the same article, also writes
And Somali officials say the C.I.A. will open a base in the old officer quarters near Mogadishu`s airport. They said three C.I.A. officers visited Villa Somalia in late August to discuss training Sheik Sharif`s struggling intelligence services.
American officials acknowledged that the United States was helping in unconventional ways, but would not specify further. At the palace, a tall, thickly built white man, wearing khaki fatigues and carrying an American assault rifle, stood guard outside a meeting room. It was not clear whom the man was working for. When he saw a journalist looking at him, he stepped inside and quietly closed the door.
"unconventional" here meaning "covert" and likely "illegal", as they would probably be in violation of the terms of the UN arms embargo.
And still no media discussions re the AU press statement acknowledgement of the DynCorp office being a target of the recent suicide bombing attacks and how that requires some followup explanations from the State Department on how AMISOM and TFG forces get their U.S.-supplied weapons shipments.
2 comments:
Sigh. Thanks, b real.
i appreciate the comments, maxcrat. thx. gets pretty frustrating following this stuff, doesn't it...
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