In defence matters, the ARS consult Sheikh warlord Yusuf Indha Cadde (the white-eyed priest), who currently holds a sort of a defence portfolio. Warlord Indha Cadde has no known military qualification of the sort that enables him to command an army but rather [is] qualified to switch allegiances at the drop of a hat – he can see from distance which side of the bread is buttered. He is the same guy who invited Al Qaida to Somalia in December 2006 when he was the defence secretary of the then UIC. He is the same warlord who confiscated the lower Shebelle farms from the local peasants and converted them into poppy plantations during the warlord era. He is the only one who laundered his ill-gotten wealth in the sacred city of Mecca - he bought tanker fleets that supply the pilgrims with the blessed ZamZam water – nothing stops him and most of the people who are familiar with his character are eagerly waiting to see where he would land on next. He is currently in charge of Habir Gidir clan Militia that are based in a narrow strip between KM4 to Hotel Taleeh, in the South of the city. Very strong and credible rumours put Warlord Mohamed Dheere (ex–Mogadishu Mayor) as Security Minister in the forthcoming reshuffle of the TFG government and it is anticipated that this might mark the end of Warlord Yusuf Indha Cadde – the two love to hate each other.
and
On the 18th of March, a plot to start all Hawiye war against Al-Shabab was aborted by the leader of Hizbul Islam. Elders and politicians financed by interest groups (anarchist mafia group) held secret meetings with Sheikh Aweys to convince him to declare a tribal war on Al–Shabab but the leader refused strongly to downgrade his Islamist movement into tribal one. The mafia group are engaged in a negative tribal propaganda against Al-Shabab in which they are painting Al-Shabab as a Daarood army that are exacting revenge on the Hawiye clan in relation to the 1992 massacre of the Daarood civilians by the Hawiye USC. This time, however, things are a bit more complex in that the leader of the Al-shabab forces is an Isaaq fellow, Mr. Godane, and may not acquiesce to anti-Hawiye vendetta.
...
There is also yet another group who are out there to recruit fighters from the pool of unemployed youth in Mogadishu to start a new bandit army said to be fighting under the expedient name of Ahlu Sunna Mogadishu wing. Their call for arms revolves around defending the graveyards of the reverend clerics from the Wahabi grave diggers (Al–Shabab). Mr. Bashir Rage (2006 Anti terrorist warlord coalition) and Sheikh Samow are among the men who are behind this movement and they were also behind the staged anti Al-Shabab demonstration held near Villa Somalia. Well-placed sources confirmed that they are in the process of picking a leader for the Ahlu Sunna Mogadishu wing, if it at all [ever] reaches a take-off stage. Nonetheless, they lack a robust policy to appeal to the living masses other than fallaciously weeping over nonliving bones that the new generations were taught by the Wahabi Madras’s teachers to look down [upon]. The candidacy of Warlord Rage is ruled out because of his history of massacre and sale of the clergy to Ethiopia and the former US government but, surprisingly, Sheikh Abdiqadir Samow (most famous Muduloog tribe Sheikh) is prepared to become a figurehead while Warlord Bashir Rage and his likes will be calling for the shots from behind the screen – an unholy alliance. Sheikh Abdiqadir Samow participated, four days after the orchestrated demonstration, [in] a conference attended by the proper Ahlu Sunna Sheikhs held in Mogadishu in which they demanded the resignation of the TFG President, Prime Minister and the speaker of the parliament because of their failure to check the advances of the Islamists. Ahlu Sunna Mogadishu wing houses warlords, suufi sheikhs and is propagated mainly by the Mudulood clan of Hawiye.
-- -- --
How convenient...
The Scotsman: Dutch use flag of convenience
Military officials revealed yesterday that a daring special forces mission to free a German cargo ship from Somali pirates unfolded after the Dutch frigate involved briefly opted out of an European Union anti-piracy mission to bypass Brussels bureaucracy.
The Dutch ship's commander said he sought authorisation from his government to attack the MV Taipan on Monday, after hearing that the 15-strong crew had locked itself in a bulletproof room.
The frigate Tromp took down its EU mission flag and raised the Dutch tricolor so it could attack.
An EU mission spokesman acknowledged yesterday that doing so sped up the operation, which ended with the Taipan and its crew safely liberated and ten Somali pirates arrested.
-- -- --
Garowe Online: Puntland deploys forces to fight pirates in coastal town
The government of Somalia’s Puntland state has deployed heavily armed Puntland land force to the coast town of Bargal, some 400km from Bossasso, the commercial capital of Puntland.
According to reliable sources, who requested anonymity, the forces which left Bossasso last night are reportedly in a mission to bar reinforcement for pirates and subsequently arrest a gang that is holding an Italian vessel in the area.
However, the soldiers were unable to capture any suspect due to what the residents said was prior information received by the pirates. Residents told Garowe Online that the town was cut off from any telecommunication provided by Golis company shortly after the troops left Bossasso.
On the other hand, reports that reached GO say NATO, which operates anti-piracy mission off Somali coast, had information about the Puntland land force mission in Bargal town.
NATO has a working relationship with Puntland authorities in a bid to enhance its fight against piracy scourge along the lawless waters of Horn of Africa. Puntland has offered its help in terms of dealing with the gangs in the mainland.
-- -- --
Very dangerous territory here...
AP: Feds, Somalis partner on Web site to allow nationwide reporting of crimes in native language
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - U.S. law enforcement agencies, community leaders and an anti-crime group announced a new Web site Wednesday that allows Somali immigrants to report crimes in their native language.
The project`s goal is to help Somalis overcome a suspicion of police borne of corruption in their homeland and to crack down on illegal activity from street crime to terrorist recruiting. The site was announced in Columbus, the city with the nation`s second-largest Somali population, but will accept tips from anywhere in the U.S.
...
Somalis accessing the new Web site can enter crime tips anonymously. Central Ohio Crime Stoppers will translate the tips and send them to police.
Somali groups also are working with the U.S. Marshals Service to distribute information in Somali about wanted fugitives. The FBI is also cooperating.
“We`re concerned about any kind of crime that happens,” said FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas. “We work a lot more things than just terrorism, though that`s certainly our No. 1 priority.”
Columbus Dispatch: Locally based Web site lets Somalis nationwide submit crime reports
A Web site has been launched in central Ohio to attract crime reports from Somalis throughout the United States who might otherwise hesitate to provide tips because of a language barrier or a distrust of law enforcement.
Central Ohio Crime Stoppers created the site, www.somalitips.com, in cooperation with the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Somali community.
The site is designed to allow Somalis to submit anonymous tips online on forms printed in the Somali language as well as English, Spanish and French.
Among other obvious issues, if they're anon tips, how is it possible to verify that the tipster is actually a Somali?
-- -- --
Laugh of the week is this ridiculous/delusional column in the Somaliland Press wherein the writer takes credit for having convincing the Obama Administration to use different language wrt U.S. foreign policy than its predecessor - Did Obama Administration Heed a Somali Voice. A mis-attributed date and shifting pronoun only amplify the guffaw.
-- -- --
In another move in the propaganda battles raging in Somalia, on Friday H.S.M. issued a press release warning local FM stations to discontinue airing BBC and VOA programming:
Mogadishu, from today, H (24/04/1431) all FM stations of the BBC in the areas under the control of Islamists would be off aired and its devices/instruments would be taken over.
Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen office for information affairs had reached the decision to off air the BBC station in southern Somalia after long research made by the office on these issues.
* BBC is a media network owned by Britain, and is the first Media for fulfilling the agendas of Christian colony towards Islamic world. It fights against Islam and Muslims. It also opposes the foundation of an Islamic administration in Somalia.
* It fights against Muslims and its reports are far away from the reality or truth. The BBC exaggerates the western ideology that is part of misleading the Muslims.
* It spreads courageously for abusing remarks against the Mujahideen (Islamist fighters) and creates hostility in Somalia.
* The BBC praises and makes baseless propagandas for the Christian agencies and the Apostle government.
How ever, it is the most important and suitable time for banning the activities of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) services in Somalia so as the Muslims recover from the mentally injuries commit the BBC to the Muslim people and to get independent view out from the Christians.
Ultimately, Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen warns the local FM radios who have contracts and contacts with both BBC and Voice Of America (VOA) not to release their news and programs began from today, on (24/04/1431) Hijria.
However biased the reporting on Somalia is by both the BBC and VOA -- and their English-language reports are indeed nearly always pitched entirely from the POV & narratives emanating from the TFG and its western sponsors -- and however focused the international community is now on waging counterinsurgency propaganda campaigns to influence hearts & minds in support of the foreign agenda being imposed upon the country, this move is not likely to help H.S.M.'s cause. Granted, countering the messages used in these type of operations when they are well-financed and widely disseminated has a tendency to put one always on the defensive and consumes valuable time & resources that may be needed elsewhere, but censorship of ones adversaries guarantees you are cast into a defensive role, automatically cedes an advantage to the other side, and can also reflect badly on your own abilities while removing a useful source for strengthening internal unification and political goals.
Almost immediately, A.S.W.J. jumped on the opportunity,
Shabelle Media: Ahlu Sunna: ‘We call aid agencies, BBC and VOA to form centers in areas under our control’
The Islamic administration of Ahlu Sunna Waljama has called for the aid agencies, BBC and VOA to form new centers in the areas under their control in Somalia, official said on Saturday.
Sheik Abdullahi Sheik Abdirahman known as (Abu Yusuf), the head of the information affairs of Ahlu Sunna held press conference for the journalists and talked more issues including yesterday’s order of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen of closing the stations of the BBC in southern Somalia.
“The devices of the banned radios in Mogadishu were taken over. So we call for the local FM radios in Mogadishu to keep the mediation, we also call for the aid agencies, the telecommunications, the banned media, the BBC and VOA to make stations and centers under our control, they are peace,” said Sheik Abu Yusuf.
A.S.W.J. is also trying to score political points off the false story that H.I. invited UBL to Somalia
SMC: Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama strongly opposes Osama’s invitation into Somalia
The council of Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama a moderate Islamist faction in Somalia has strongly opposed the invitation of the leader of Al-Qaida network into Somalia.
The council has denounced the invitations of Osama Bin Ladin into Somali soil which was declared by Hizbul-Islam an armed rival Islamist faction in Somalia which is in war against the Somali transitional federal government and the African Union troops on the ground.
The council said that the invitation of Osama Bin Ladin into Somalia came from unhealthy brain which does not have somalisim in its blood.
The communiqué from the council of Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama was on Friday read almost in all the mosques in Mogadishu, and they said that it is not fair to invite a criminal who cannot even go to his country of origin to your own country.
The council said that this would not be a tolerable declaration, and they will act against anything which is harmful against the existence of Somalia republic.
“We cannot invite terrorists who have terrorized their own people to come and terrorize in our own people instead we shall fight against them” said the communiqué from the council of Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama.
The communiqué urges the Somali people in solidarity manner to fight the foreigners in Somalia who were brought in the country by people with no Somalisim in their blood.
It was on the 3rd of this month when Moalim Hashi the commissioner of Hizbul-Islam has invited Osama Bin Ladin in Somalia.
As Lamadage continues to point out,
I'm in Mogadishu and the Xisbi governer didn't said such thing in black and white. The Xisbi stand is always clear that Osama is muslim brother who has no business in Somali affairs.
It can also be pointed out that the report that the A.S.W.J. communiqué "urges the Somali people in solidarity manner to fight the foreigners in Somalia who were brought in the country by people with no Somalisim in their blood" could easily apply to the foreign fighters of AMISOM.
Last week A.S.W.J. were the source for the claim that H.S.M. are targeting several ports in the HOA:
defpro.news: AU and moderate Islamists warn of planned terrorist attacks
The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the none-militant [sic] Somali Islamists Ahlu Sunna wal Jama'a, which has ties with Somali government, have warned of simultaneous terrorist attacks by al-Shabaab militants in Mogadishu and in some neighbouring states including Kenya and Djibouti.
The spokesman for the moderate Islamist group, Sheik Abdullahi Sheik Abdurahman Abu Yusuf, said in a press conference in the central Somali town of Dhusamareeb late Thursday that his intelligence services have gained reliable information that al-Shabaab are in the final preparations of planned terror attacks which will be carried out in the near future.
“The information we have is very serious and the attacks are planned to be carried out in the sea ports of Mogadishu, Bosasso, Mombassa, Djibouti, Aden and Nairobi’s Wilson airport” the spokesman stated.
“The attacks will be carried out from hijacked boats and the small planes that import Qad [sic] (the green narcotic leaf) from Kenya to the terrorist-administered Kilometer fifty airport in the southern Somali Lower Shabelle region” he added.
Meanwhile, the AMISOM spokesman in Mogadishu, Major Brigye Ba-hoku, said that they are fully aware of the planned terror attacks by the Islamist rebels of al-Shabaab which intended to jeopardise security in the region.
“They have many times in the past tried to use boats to attack Mogadishu sea port but failed. And now they are once again preparing terror attacks by using hijacked commercial boats. That is what we know and we will prevent it,” Major Ba-hoku said in an interview with the state-run Radio Mogadishu.
Last month at least nine commercial boats, which were carrying goods to Mogadishu, were hijacked by Somali pirates. The moderate Islamist spokesman confirmed that some of the boats are in the hands of al-Shabaab or buccaneers related to them, although al-Shabaab themselves condemn the act of hijacking boats carrying supplies for Somalia’s vulnerable people.
The moderate Islamist spokesman called on the governments of Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Yemen to be more vigilant of the imminent terrorist attacks by al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda proxy in Somalia which has already carried out many suicide attacks in the country.
“They want to cause heavy damages on the region’ security and economical sources at the same time,” the spokesman for the Somali none-militant Islamists said in his press conference on Thursday in the city of Dhusamareeb, about 550 kilometres north of the capital.
Sure sounds like A.S.W.J. has found itself an active propaganda department since cementing the agreement w/ AMISOM and the TFG.
And the TFG's propaganda dept is just getting sillier, as a blogger at The Majlis deduces wrt the claim that a dozen boogeyman are moving AQ operations from Afghanistan & Yemen into Somalia (some by way of Eritrea, of course):
this story is woefully thin. Osman didn't say which AQAP leaders made the trip, nor their positions within the group. I'm also skeptical of Osman's sources: This should go without saying, but the TFG -- which controls only a few city blocks in Mogadishu -- does not have the most sophisticated intelligence-gathering operation in the world.
Three other reasons I'm skeptical of the TFG's claims:
* The TFG has an incentive to lie. This might seem counterintuitive -- how many governments encourage the world to think an al-Qaeda affiliate has a strong presence in their country? (The Yemeni government, by contrast, is constantly downplaying the size and capabilities of AQAP.) But the TFG is desperately trying to drum up Western support for its campaign against al-Shabab; warning of a growing al-Qaeda presence in Somalia would certainly attract American attention.
* Is Somalia really a better safe haven? I think you could seriously debate this question. Somalia's the archetypal failed state, yes; the government in Mogadishu has a far smaller writ than the government in Sana'a. And the Yemeni government is under a lot of international pressure to crack down on AQAP.
That said, there are fewer variables in Yemen: No African Union troops garrisoned in the capital, no lingering prospect of another Ethiopian incursion. Direct action by the U.S. military (whether drone strikes or Special Forces raids) is also less likely in Yemen, because it would cause an outpouring of public anger. The U.S. will tread somewhat carefully to avoid destabilizing Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. It won't act with the same restraint vis-a-vis the TFG.
* Al-Qaeda Central is not going anywhere. This makes me really skeptical of Osman's claim: He seems to insinuate that "al-Qaeda Central" and al-Qaeda in Iraq might move to Somalia because they're under pressure in their respective homes. That's... nonsense.
Lastly, just from an operational standpoint, moving to Somalia seems counterproductive: If AQAP's stated goal is war against the crusaders on the Arabian Peninsula, why move to Somalia?
-- -- --
From an analysis by Abdulkadir M. Wa’ays republished at WDN - Music ban on radio stations was expected
The current Somali president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a former leader of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), was named president in January 2009. The Western world hoped that as an Islamist committed to restoration of law and order and political dialogue, he might do better than his predecessors at uniting Somalis behind a central administration and bridging the divide between militant Islam and the secular West. By the same token, the majority of the Somali people hoped that, even in the worst case scenario, he might still retain the unanimous support that his Abgaal clan militia and elders had given him during his reign at the Union of the Islamic Courts — but all to no avail.
I'll interrupt for a moment just to point out my disagreement w/ that popular view, that the moderate Sh. Sharif was seen as a bridge for unification. I've written on a number of occassions that, instead, his selection was an obvious tactic of splitting the political Islam movement in Somalia and pitting factions and clans against each other, as the next two paragraphs in the article illustrate:
Accusing him of being an apostate serving the infidel interests, his Abgaal clan militia and their commanders shifted their allegiances to his new rival Islamist groups. It is these clan militia and their commanders who are now ruling Mogadishu and the Middle Shabelle region, the traditional home of the President’s Abgaal clan, on behalf of al-Shabaab and Hisbul Islam. Such a conventional wisdom emanating from political considerations that the Somali Islamist groups including the radical group al-Shabaab came out of the abstract or from the mountains of Afghanistan does not reflect on the reality on the ground in Somalia.
For instance, the top commanders for Hisbul Islam and al-Shabaab in Mogadishu, Ma’allin Hashi Mohamed Farah and Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, are the President’s Abgaal clansmen, and they used to be leading commanders of his clan militia during his reign at the Union of Islamic Courts before he was named president.
Reiterating his debunking of an all-too-common point one hears in the western media, the author writes:
The decision by [Hizbul Islam] to ban the Mogadishu-based radio stations from playing music was seen by most of the Somalia watchers as yet another success story resulting from a three-decade anti-music campaign by the Somali Wahabi Salafi movement across the county.
While some are more radical than others, the current Somali Islamist groups are nothing but the successors to the previous al-Itihad Islami, which was founded in Mogadishu in 1983, as opposed to the conventional wisdom emanating from political considerations that the Somali Islamist groups including the radical group al-Shabaab came out of the blue, or from the mountains of Afghanistan.
-- -- --
Kismaayo News: Shabab says sorry
The powerfull Somalia Alshabab movement today admitted for the first time that its forces has committed violations and said a rare sorry for the wrong doings.
Speaking at a news conference, Sh. Ali Rage, spokesman for the group said that they are sorry about everything that went wrong within their authority of administration of 10 provinces of Somalia and he went on saying that “we opened offices that the public can open cases against such acts”.
He was speaking after a high level meeting of top leadership that was meant to discuss the achievements of Alshabaab from 2001 when it was formed; he said they have successfully implemented the Sharia throughout their territorial jurisdiction.
-- -- --
To round out the week, quite a bit to ruminate on in part two of Abdikarim Buh's essay now available at WDN, No to the tripartite plot: Islamist Government soon to come. Here are a couple of excerpts:
The pact between Ahlu Sunna and the TFG which was quickly endorsed by the African Union, the Arab League, UN Special Envoy and the Organization of the Islamic Conference was in tatters before it was officially signed. Faction led by the group’s foreign relations office, Sheikh Bashir Abdi Olaad, along with 26 members including Sheikh Abdiqadir Abdirahman (Abu Zakaria) condemned the agreement. This faction made its press statement in Abudwaq town, Galgudud region, in which they labelled the deal as a plot to disintegrate the group. They are of the opinion that the TFG power sharing agreement is an Ethiopian scheme to further its own interest as there is no incentive for Ahlu sunna (galguduud wing) to sign an agreement with a partner, TFG, they consider as a weak link that share Wahabi creed with Al Shabab and Hizbi – Islam.
The chief deputy of Ahlu Sunna (Galguduud wing), Sheikh Hassan Sheikh Abdi, along with four other deputies held a press conference at hotel Barakat in Nairobi and made public that they don’t recognise the agreement signed on their behalf with the TFG in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The group’s European spokesman Mr. Mohamed Hassan Awliyo who was in Addis at the time was arrested in his hotel by Ethiopian police forces to keep him away from the talks that lead to the signing of the agreement because his negative view of the whole project that was known to the Ethiopian secret services.
The members Ethiopia is promoting are the mindless warlords of the region such as Abdi Nur Siyad (aka the mad Abdi), Garaase, Farah Dabageed and etc. The Sufi sheikhs are not part of the project and have no desire to sacrifice their children for an Ethiopian cause. The Ethiopian-assisted warlords are using the religious cover to cloud their bad name. Ethiopian-recruited militia from Godey are soon to cross the border to start war once more in Hiiraan, and also there is concerted massive movement of men and arms from Mogadishu by sea to Eel-bur although the first trial run was slaughtered upon landing.
and
To add some more uncertainty in the standing of Ahlu Sunna as a front, Mr. Abdishakur Haji Ali Hirsi – an American citizen with oil business in Tanzania - was voted as the chairman of the national salvation forces of Ahlu Sunna on 27/03/10 in southern Gaalkayo at Kulmiye hotel. Mr. Abdishakur was the architect and project manager of the failed 2006 CIA funded “Alliance against terrorism” that used to make money out of the sale of Sheikhs and people of Ogaden background to Ethiopia. He is marketing his new project on a nationalist platform (against the infamous pact in Addis between the TFG and Ahlu Sunna Dusamareeb faction) but the question many people are asking is who he is fooling when it is common knowledge that he is full time CIA informer and an Ethiopian stooge.
4 comments: