Press Release: Office of the Somali President: The Speaker of Somali Parliament Resigns, the President to Appoint a New Prime Minister
May 17, 2010, Villa Somalia -- Mogadishu, Somalia) Today the Somali President, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and the Speaker of the Parliament, Aden Mohamed Nur jointly held a Press Conference at the office of the President.
Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur announced his resignation as the Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament effective immediately.
On the other hand, the President stated that he will appoint a new Prime Minister who, in turn, shall form an effective and efficient Government that shall tackle the immense national issues at hand.The President thanked the Speaker for his courageous decision and requested him to consider serving the nation in a new capacity.
The President also called on the Members of Parliament to elect in Unison an interim Speaker and shall in due course elect a permanent Speaker
UNPOS: SRSG supports President Sheikh Sharif's decision to dissolve Government
Nairobi, 17 May 2010 – The UN Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, today said that he would fully support President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in his decision concerning the Government, following his acceptance of the resignation of the Speaker of Parliament, Sheikh Aden Madobe.
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"The President, in the face of a long and unnecessary crisis diverting resources, energy and attention, has taken an appropriate and courageous initiative to resolve the predicament. I would like to take the opportunity to encourage him in his show of leadership and invite all members of the Somali Parliament and former Cabinet to support him. This is an opportunity to appoint a more effective Cabinet that, I hope, will be able to significantly advance the Djibouti Peace Process through improved delivery of services to the suffering Somali population and increased accountability." ...
"The President can count on the backing of the United Nations and the international community at this present juncture. I caution manipulators and profiteers not to interfere with the current situation," Mr Ould-Abdallah said.
A quick summary, taken from an analysis posted at Garowe Online: UN Envoy’s Wrong Prescription
This week, Somalia ’s embattling government edged to collapse after President Sheikh Sharif unilaterally dissolved government, a day after the parliament ousted its speaker, Sheikh Adan Madoobe.
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In a desperate attempt to triumph over his government political disaster before the International Istanbul Summit this week, president Sharif held a press conference with Madobe after apparently persuading him to resign.The speaker said to have stepped down in the interest of the government but would remain as Member of Parliament. In turn, the president “ousted” the government, a move that echoed the murky situation that preceded his cling to power when his predecessor sacked his premier without parliament approval leading into political turmoil that ended up into his resignation. Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke defied the dissolution as unconstitutional.
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The transitional charter states in article 44.2 “The President shall appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and/or dismiss the government if it fails to obtain the required vote of confidence from Parliament”. The same thing applies to Prime Minister Sharmarke.
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what prompted the deadlock remains unclear except massive allegations and rumors that foreign powers were involved in the conflict. These accusations always exist. What is clear though is the partial role of the UN envoy to Somalia, Ahmed Ould Abdallah. Far from international diplomacy, Ould Abdallah backed the decision without looking at the constitutional power of the president, which inarguably questions his neutrality and credibility as peace broker in a country torn apart by civil war. The envoy praised the dissolution, welcomed the speaker’s resignation and recommended him to be included in future government!
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In modern Somalia, when such political standoff occurs, the side with the international support usually emerges as a winner unless the international community itself is divided. The African Union has adopted neutrality with Peace and Security Commissioner, Ramtane Lamamra calling for Somali leaders to end their dispute peacefully.
The AU decision was remarkable; the president extracted his decision on Thursday, and asked the government to shoulder its responsibilities admitted violation of charter. But the question mark is still on UN envoy, who reacted undiplomatically to exacerbate the standoff. United Nation’s credibility is at stake, they need to act responsibly and review the charge against their political office in Nairobi.
The International Community and regional organisations, including the African Union, IGAD should take a unified position against any violation to the transitional charter to prevent future disputes. They need to empower the law not individuals.
Somali president reverses decision to sack PM
Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Thursday rescinded his decision to fire Prime Minister Omar Abdelrashid Ali Sharmarke and dissolve the government.
In a press statement, Ahmed said he took the decision after consulting with constitutional experts and lawmakers on the legality of his move that further plunged the fragile administration into political mess.
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The move come after an overnight meeting between Sharma’arke and Ahmed at the Presidential Palace, Villa Somalia, which was also attended by some close associates of both leaders.
Inner City Press, May 22: On Somalia, UN Ban's Ould Abdallah "Takes All the Money," Bumbles in Politics
At the conference on Somalia in Istanbul, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon read out an unequivocal call for funding and support for that country's Transitional Federal Government, whose control over a few square blocks of Mogadishu is only maintained by Ugandan and Burundian troops shooting wildly including into civilian areas.
What Ban did not mention was even the Somali Parliament's opposition to UN Special Representative Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, who most recently bumbled by issuing loud support to a move by Somali's president which was nearly immediately reversed as illegal.
The UN often says it will not comment on internal legal matters of sovereign states. But Ould Abdallah is allowed by Ban to do whatever he wants, including having called for a moratorium on media reporting of the killing of civilians by the Ugandan and Burundian troops.
Inner City Press has been told by sources in the meeting that when the TFG contingent met with Ban last week, they complained about how Ould Abdallah is taking all the funding, leaving them with nothing.
He gets $25 million, they said, while they get less than a million dollars. Ban said he'd never heard of this. Perhaps this explains his Turkey call for more funding to the TFG?
And, asking Ban's spokesperson about Ould-Abdallah's endorsement of the Sharif's brief firing of PM Sharmarke,
Inner City Press: Yesterday there was a statement put out about the UN – let me see how to put it — backing the President of Somalia’s sacking of the Prime Minister of Somalia. It was put out in your Office that the UN supported the move by the President to fire the Prime Minister. Now the Prime Minister is saying that that was illegal under the Somali Constitution and that the President had no right to do it. What I am wondering is [Ahmedou] Ould-Abdallah essentially taking sides in an internal dispute of Somalia, is it something he did based on legal advice from OLA [Office of Legal Affairs]? Was it his reading — apparently it was — that this was a legal move by the President? And what does the UN say now that many in Somalia dispute the right of the President to make that move?
Spokesperson: First of all, Mr. Ould-Abdallah is well briefed — it’s his area of expertise. As you know, he was here and spoke to you last week. He will be present at the conference in Istanbul on Somalia this coming weekend, and I am sure at the latest at that meeting there will be a chance to discuss this particular matter. I do not have any further comments to add to what we have from yesterday.
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Then neither Nesirky or Marie Okabe answered for two days this question:"Now that the President of Somalia has reversed his firing of the Prime Minister after being advised it was illegal, and with the BBC reporting "Analysts say the row has severely weakened the president's credibility, and the UN's, which had backed him" - I want to reiterate my question from Tuesday, now on deadline:
was 'Ould-Abdallah essentially taking sides in an internal dispute of Somalia, is it something he did based on legal advice from OLA [Office of Legal Affairs]? Was it his reading — apparently it was — that this was a legal move by the President? And what does the UN say now'?"
If and when an answer is provided to this question, we will publish it. Watch this site.
From Ban's comments in Turkey
If we do not redouble our efforts, there will be little chance for peace in Somalia.
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The Transitional Federal Government represents Somalia’s best chance in years to escape from the endless cycle of war and humanitarian disaster.
The only way to restore stability is to support this Government — both in its reconciliation efforts and, where necessary, its fight against extremism.
If the international community acts now, I think we can make a difference.
Aweys:
"We are ready to engage the international community in talks over Somali affairs, but they must first of all accept that they would respect the will of Somalis,” he said.
“We can’t however engage the transition government in talks,” he added.
Sh. Aweys, Hizbul Islam rebel chief, accused the fragile but international recognized Somali government over ‘foreign invasion’ that caused the current suffering of the country and its people, vowing to continue with the war.
“We must continue with the war, we can’t say what time it would end because it is a jihad one that we want to liberate the people,” said the 65-year-old cleric.
Back to Ban's comments,
In return, I urge the Somali authorities to demonstrate the will and commitment to work together, resolve their internal disputes and unite against the threat of extremism.
The Government must also start to deliver improved services to the Somali people, pay salaries to the security forces fighting on their behalf and continue efforts to build up security sector institutions.
Indha Adde:
Somalia's former State Minister for Defense, Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad aka Indha Adde ..., a former warlord, told reporters in Mogadishu that several Somali government forces with their weapons including some 4,000 machine guns US donated, defected to the insurgent after government failed to pay their salaries.
WRT paying soldiers, does this story figure in?
Garowe Online: Controversy as new bank notes arrive at Mogadishu's airport
Somalia’s fragile transition government has received millions of new printed Somali currency that is expected to be distributed across the war-torn country, Radio Garowe reports.
A private jet transported the 22 million Somali shilling note, which was printed in Malaysia, to the restive capital Mogadishu and subsequently handed over to the Somali central Bank.
Lawmaker Asho Ahmed Abdalla said the parliament was not aware of the printing and arrival of the new shilling...
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Somalia’s Finance minister Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, who was recently accused of embezzlement of state funds, did not give official comments regarding the arrival of the currency.
However, his Treasury counterpart, Abdirahman Omar Osman (Eng. Yarisow) said he only know plans to print currency in Sudan.
"We entered into agreement with Sudan to print our new currency, which is yet to come out,” he said.
Traders in Mogadishu have quickly vowed to turn down the introduction of the currency in the market, saying it creates confusion
Garowe Online: Somalia insurgents reject government's new currency
Somalia’s Islamist insurgent groups, Hizbul Islam and Al-Shabaab have warned Mogadishu residents over usage of newly printed Somali currency that government wants to populate in the near future.
Ma’alin Hashi Mohammud Farah, Hizbul Islam’s governor in Mogadishu said they will punish whoever is caught using or carrying the currency, adding that fighters have been deployed in the government-controlled areas to investigate the usage of the currency.
“We are warning Mogadishu residents, wherever they are, against using the currency, if anybody is caught with it, they will face consequences.” He added, “Our fighters have been instructed to punish anyone found with the money.”
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The warning comes after reports emerged that the UN-backed Somali government is planning to bank roll millions of new Somali shillings that were printed in foreign countries.
In Puntland, in the country's northeast state, the regional administration has already stated that it would not allow the circulation or the usage of the currency in the areas under its control
Michael Weinstein's May 25th analysis: A Strategic Analysis of the Istanbul Conference
The outcome of the conference, which was stated in its “Istanbul Declaration” issued on May 22, marked a continuation of the coalition’s position towards Somalia and engendered only perfunctory interest in international, regional, and local media, which noted that it had produced no new substantive commitments. The absence of substance, however, is of interest from an analytical standpoint, raising the question of why the coalition has reaffirmed a position that has allowed southern and central Somalia to enter a state of frozen warfare between the T.F.G. and its domestic allies of convenience, and the revolutionary Islamist opposition to the T.F.G. that controls at least 80 percent of Somalia’s southern and central regions.
The following analysis is an effort to explain the coalition’s strategic position, which for a broad spectrum of Somali opinion, appears, at best, to be counter-productive and, at worst, destructive, and seems to be incomprehensible.
Read it all, but, as, Weinstein observes
Why does the international coalition pursue a counter-productive and destructive strategy in Somalia?
Beyond a reluctance to admit failure and deeper than the coalition’s own internal divisions is an underlying dilemma faced by the coalition’s major players – the donor powers (U.S., European Union, and Western European states). Having created a flawed T.F.G., they are hesitant to provide it with sufficient support in any form. They will not do the intensive diplomatic work necessary for political integration; they will not release the funds for security and reconstruction, because they fear that they will be wasted or diverted to the revolutionary Islamists; and they will not install a U.N. peacekeeping mission or expand AMISOM’s mandate, because their political engineering is defective and they do not want to be responsible for politically and economically reconstituting a Somalia in which the revolutionary Islamists have been defeated. Therefore they persist in deferring decisive action; they have staked their bets on the T.F.G. and have no appetite for starting afresh with another constitutional conference or, at the extreme, making Somalia a trust territory. On the other hand, they are not willing to leave Somali factions alone to sort things out for themselves, because they fear a revolutionary Islamist takeover of the entire country. As a result, they remain in place, because no other option is consistent with their perceived interests.
Some good news?
Garowe Online: UN envoy to leave office
The UN envoy for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah is to leave office at the end of his tenure, Garowe Online has learnt.
Confidential sources said the UN is not renewing his contract amid reports of his replacement by a diplomat from Tanzania.
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The nail hit on him hard, when he immediately threw weight behind the embattled President of Somalia Sharif Ahmed's unconstitutional attempt to dismiss current Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke to push for the appointment of Mohammed Abdirisaq Abukar, a worker at his Nairobi office.
Sharif later rescinded his decision to sack Prime Minister Sharmarke after consulting with constitutional lawyers and lawmakers, a move that put Abdallah in awkward position.
Diplomats from the International Community are reportedly angered by the dispute within the government, according to diplomatic sources in Nairobi.
Confirmation
UN Envoy to Somalia Says He Will Quit Post in July
In exclusive statements to Al-Sharq al-Awsat by telephone from the Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa, where he attends his last meeting at the African Union headquarters, Ould Abdallah said he informed the UN secretary general in April that he does not want to stay in his post or serve a second term.
He added: “Work at the United Nations is difficult and complex. I said I do not want to serve a second term. However, I will remain as adviser to the secretary general on other issues.
He continued: “I will leave my post in July. This is a final decision. My term has been the longest when compared with the terms of my predecessors. Personally, I am satisfied with my work. However, I feel sorry because Somalia, namely Mogadishu, continues to be hostage to personal rivalries.”
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Concluding his statements to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Ould Abdallah said: “I am sorry because the Somalis continue to evade their responsibilities and lay the blame on others.”
He is sorry. [Biyokulule Online points out the similar controversies in his role in Burundi from 1993-95 in Zooming in Ahmedou Ould Abdallah in Burundi Mission]
Meanwhile,
Garowe Online: Parliament speaker elected in Mogadishu for first time in 20 years
Somali lawmakers have on Friday elected a new parliament speaker in Mogadishu for the first time in nearly 20 years , Radio Garowe reports.
Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden accumulated a total of 217 votes against his closest rival, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi, who garnered 143 votes. The election was decided on the second round when Abdullahi abandoned his bid.
This is the second term in office for Sharif Hassan, a close associate of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. He was the speaker of the Somali parliament from 2004 to early 2006 but lost it to Sheikh Adan Mohammed Nur Madobe, who recently earlier this month as Speaker.
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The election of Sharif Hassan, a member of the Alliance for Reliberation of Somalia like President Ahmed, is viewed by many as a possible solution for a bitter behind the scene power struggle within Somalia's fragile transitional federal institutions, that has forced Sheikh Madobe out of office.
Critics argue that ARS politicians now control two key posts of Somali President and Parliament Speaker, giving other factions within the Somali TFG less power and influence.
Hassan is a controversial figure in the TFG, widely accused of corruption in his last role as transitional financial gatekeeper.
The deputy chairman of the finance committee of the parliament told Shabelle Media
that the election of the speaker [position] chosen for Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden was unlawful adding that there [were] ministers circulating money at the whole of the parliament’s centre [during] the electing process
More of that new currency, perhaps?
At any rate,
Garowe Online: President urges new Speaker to hold parliament confidence-vote for PM
According to inner sources in the palace, the meeting held on Friday night lasted for several hours with President Sharif asking speaker Aden to put forth vote of confidence the current Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke government so as to allow him elect a new premier.
"Sheikh Sharif requested changes to be made in the government, but it is not clear if the new Speaker, a close buddy of Sharmarke, would accept," said a top official at Villa Somalia.
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Deutsche Welle: German mercenaries to fight UN-backed government in Somalia
A German security company has sealed a deal with a Somali warlord that politicians say violates UN sanctions. According to German TV, more than a 100 former Bundeswehr soldiers will fight as mercenaries in Somalia.
Former Bundeswehr soldiers are to fight as mercenaries in the civil war in Somalia, according to German public TV station NDR.
Asgaard German Security Group, a company based in Telgte near Muenster in northwestern Germany, has clinched a deal with Somali opposition politician Galadod Abdinur Ahmad Darman, who wants to topple the internationally-recognized Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia.
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"The contract includes wide-ranging tasks and areas of competence: from strategic planning to security to implementation of all measures that are necessary to restore peace and stability," said Asgaard in a press release. The company also provides police and military training and logistics.
Thomas Kaltegaertner, Asgaard managing director and a former master sergeant in the Bundeswehr, told NDR that the Somalia project involved providing armed protection for military, buildings and convoys in the high-risk country. In a statement, Asgaard said it would not act against the interests of the Federal Republic of Germany and would never get into a conflict situation with German armed forces.
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Ninety-nine percent of the personnel are recruited from Germany, he said. The first contingent is reportedly already on its way to Somalia.
The Asgaard deployment would potentially put the German ex-soldiers in direct conflict with the TFG's only protective force, the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), backed by the United Nations.
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The deal between Asgaard and Darman, a member of the powerful Hawiyes clan in Somalia, is especially explosive because the European Union has been training Somali security forces of the interim government in Uganda. Thirteen Bundeswehr soldiers are also participating in the European Union training mission (EUTM) in Somalia.
Darman told NDR that the German mercenaries would be involved in military combat with his militia against pirates, radical Islamists and terrorists. "The government installed by the international community does not have the backing from the country's population", said Darman.
Darman is currently seeking international support for his bid to become president of Somalia.
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Garowe Online: Al-Shabaab insurgents vow to seize presidential palace
Sheikh Ali Mohmmed Hussein, Al-Shabaab governor for Mogadishu said the fighters have already captured the northern districts and are few kilometers away from the palace.
“We are planning to carry out heavy attacks on Villa Somalia that houses top TFG leaders,” he said, adding, “there are absolutely nothing between us and the AMISOM because the so called government forces have fled. We are just 0.5 km from the palace.”
Somalia’s state minister for defense, Yussuf Inda’ade has confirmed the defeat of the government soldiers, claiming they were denied military wares to use in the fighting against the insurgents.
Aweys:
The Islamist leader of Somalia’s insurgent group, Hizbul Islam has called on all the Somali insurgent groups to unite and work as one to wage war against the UN-backed transitional Somali government and its military backer Africa Union peacekeeping troops.
Speaking on Thursday at an Islamic seminar in Mogadishu, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said it was on the goodwill of the population for the insurgents to unite and topple the puppet government.
“It is very important for the fighters to unite instead of staying as factions and turning on each other” said the 65-year old cleric.
“The seminar produced a 14-point communiqué and the most important part of it is the call for more fighting and unite amongst the groups,” he added.
He urged Mogadishu residents to brace for an all out war against the AU and Somali government.
However, Al-Shabaab, a powerful insurgent group has boycotted the workshop for unclear reasons. Aweys had an advice for the group. “Don’t look for more than you deserve.”
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A second analysis from Michael Weinstein, this one based primarily on a closed source in Somalia, detailing the advances/advantages of the opposition -- The Present Strategic Military Balance in Mogadishu -- includes the following:
Reflecting on the result of the success of H.S.M.’s May 21 offensive, the source provides intelligence that morale has been falling among the forces opposed to H.S.M. The morale of the Burundian contingent in AMISOM is particularly low and the source reports a widespread judgment that Burundian troops are selling their arms to Hizbul Islam (H.I.), the other major Islamist revolutionary group opposing the T.F.G., AMISOM and the international coalition. Ugandan troops, who are the other component of AMISOM, have reached the conclusion that they will not be able to partner successfully with T.F.G. forces and that the long promised T.F.G. offensive against H.S.M. will not be mounted. As a result the Ugandan troops and officers feel abandoned by the Ugandan government and chafe under the restrictions of their narrow mandate.
The T.F.G.’s forces also suffer from morale problems. The source says that despite claims that the T.F.G. has thousands of troops, it has, in reality, 1200 active forces, drawn from clan-warlord militias, who are not eager to engage with H.S.M. Reluctance to fight on the part of its forces, says the source, has cancelled the T.F.G.’s advantage of having received more than 500 tons of weapons from Washington, rather than the 40 tons that has been officially announced.
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Only now does it come out... "preparing the environment"
NYT: U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast
The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents.
The secret directive [,the Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force Execute Order, signed Sept. 30] by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces.
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While the Bush administration had approved some clandestine military activities far from designated war zones, the new order is intended to make such efforts more systematic and long term, officials said. Its goals are to build networks that could “penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy” Al Qaeda and other militant groups, as well as to “prepare the environment” for future attacks by American or local military forces, the document said.
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In broadening its secret activities, the United States military has also sought in recent years to break its dependence on the Central Intelligence Agency and other spy agencies for information in countries without a significant American troop presence.
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The order, which an official said was drafted in close coordination with Adm. Eric T. Olson, the officer in charge of the United States Special Operations Command, calls for clandestine activities that “cannot or will not be accomplished” by conventional military operations or “interagency activities,” a reference to American spy agencies.
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Unlike covert actions undertaken by the C.I.A., such clandestine activity does not require the president’s approval or regular reports to Congress, although Pentagon officials have said that any significant ventures are cleared through the National Security Council.
Where's Johnnie? Seems not too long ago when Carson was giving his shuck & jive to the press that
"the United States does not plan, does not direct, and does not coordinate the military operations of the TFG, and we have not and will not be providing direct support for any potential military offensives. Further, we are not providing nor paying for military advisors for the TFG. There is no desire to Americanize the conflict in Somalia."
More this week on u.s.-americanizing the conflict in Somalia:
WAPO: U.S. 'secret war' expands globally as Special Operations forces take larger role
the Obama administration has significantly expanded a largely secret U.S. war against al-Qaeda and other radical groups, according to senior military and administration officials.
Special Operations forces have grown both in number and budget, and are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last year. In addition to units that have spent years in the Philippines and Colombia, teams are operating in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.
Commanders are developing plans for increasing the use of such forces in Somalia, where a Special Operations raid last year killed the alleged head of al-Qaeda in East Africa.
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Obama, one senior military official said, has allowed "things that the previous administration did not."
Special Operations commanders have also become a far more regular presence at the White House than they were under George W. Bush's administration, when most briefings on potential future operations were run through the Pentagon chain of command and were conducted by the defense secretary or the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"We have a lot more access," a second military official said. "They are talking publicly much less but they are acting more. They are willing to get aggressive much more quickly."
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The Special Operations capabilities requested by the White House go beyond unilateral strikes and include the training of local counterterrorism forces and joint operations with them.
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The clearest public description of the secret-war aspects of the doctrine came from White House counterterrorism director John O. Brennan. He said last week that the United States "will not merely respond after the fact" of a terrorist attack but will "take the fight to al-Qaeda and its extremist affiliates whether they plot and train in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond."
That rhetoric is not much different than Bush's pledge to "take the battle to the enemy . . . and confront the worst threats before they emerge."
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Bush-era clashes between the Defense and State departments over Special Operations deployments have all but ceased. Former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld saw them as an independent force, approving in some countries Special Operations intelligence-gathering missions that were so secret that the U.S. ambassador was not told they were underway. But the close relationship between Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is said to have smoothed out the process.
"In some places, we are quite obvious in our presence," Adm. Eric T. Olson, head of the Special Operations Command, said in a speech. "In some places, in deference to host-country sensitivities, we are lower in profile. In every place, Special Operations forces activities are coordinated with the U.S. ambassador and are under the operational control of the four-star regional commander."
CNN: Up to 200 foreign fighters in Somalia, U.S. officials say
As many as 200 foreign fighters affiliated with al Qaeda may now be hiding in southern Somalia, according to the latest assessments by the U.S. military and intelligence community.
Two U.S. military officials confirmed the estimate to CNN, emphasizing it is only an estimate because of the lack of direct intelligence information from the ground.
It comes as a senior U.S. official separately confirmed to CNN that updated plans have been put into place for U.S. special operations forces to conduct operations against al Qaeda personnel in Somalia, if targets can be identified and located.
All three officials declined to be identified because the information involves intelligence matters.
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One official said Somalia is now "the ultimate safe haven." The official added that the United States must operate on the assumption that the core group of foreign fighters are training others to conduct attacks against western targets in East Africa, as well as training individuals to attack targets in the United States.
"They have goals beyond the Somalia border," one official said.
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Inner City Press, May 14: At UN, Illegal Fishing off Somalia and Pirates' Death Scoffed At, Preening Delayed
UNITED NATIONS, May 14 -- "Ensuring that the pirates are treated in an appropriate manner is right at the forefront of our operations," Rear Admiral Peter Hudson of EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta told the Press on Friday. Inner City Press asked about the Russian Navy's reported killing of ten pirates, either by casting them to sea without their navigation equipment or outright execution. "I can't comment on that," Hudson said. The forefront. The very forefront.
Hudson was among the few interesting speakers in a daylong "debate" on piracy in the UN General Assembly. Ahmedou Ould Abdullah, moderating the second panel, refused to let member states like Cape Verde speak, insisting that those on the podium proceed with their speeches and Powerpoint presentations -- Mr. Endo's barely legible from the hall, did include a little cartoon pirate.
The speakers from the Somali Transitional Federal Government and African Union tied the piracy issue to illegal fishing in Somali waters. Inner City Press asked Hudson about this, and about the dumping of toxic waste on Somali shores. Hudson was dismissive, saying there is very little fishing of any kind without two hundred miles of Somalia. He scoffed at any relations between illegal fishing and the seizing of oil tankers for ransom. Video here, from Minute 8:18.
But back in the GA hall, no member states was able to question Hudson on this. As usual with UN "debates," there were a series of prepared statements being read out, the lists between the podium and floor getting out of sink so that no one was responding to what had just been said. There was preening about pirates, a three-quarters empty GA hall filled with angry delegates denied until too late their right to preen.
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Garowe Online reported that the Ras Kamboni Brigade officially split from Hizbul Islam.
Abdiaziz Hassan Abdi, a spokesman for the Ras Kamboni faction, says senior faction members including Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Islam 'Madobe have decided to formally walk out of Hizbul Islam.
“We made the decision in a meeting held on May 19 in Dhobley town. From today onwards, we are an independent group fighting Al-Shabaab,” he said.
The Hizul Islam was a coalition comprising of Asmara-wing Alliance Re-liberation for Somalia, Mu’askhar Ras Kamboni (Ras Kamboni Brigade) and Anole and Jabhatul Islamiya ("Islamic Front").
Hassan Dahir Aweys, the group’s chairman recently accused Madobe of entering into an agreement with Somalia's transitional government and Kenya in waging war against his group and rival Islamist, Al-Shabaab in southern Jubba regions, claims which Abdi denied.
“We are not involved in any war with Hizbul Islam, we used to be a member and now we have decided to walk out politically and militarily,” he stated.
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Garowe Online: 13 killed as residents clash with Ethiopia troops in Puntland
Irritated residents armed with rifles violently confronted the Ethiopian forces who had crossed into Buhodle town, etched between the northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland.
Both regions claim ownership over Buhodle, but local residents fought Ethiopian troops who entered the town for yet-undisclosed reasons.
Elders said three Ethiopian soldiers and at least 10 residents [died] in a shoot-out that resident blame on the Ethiopians.
"The Ethiopians crossed the border two weeks ago and started searching several trucks and held them for several days, the villagers expressed anger and engaged the troops in gun battle," Abdi Mohammud, a resident was quoted as saying.
Reports suggest that more Ethiopian troops were deployed in the area after the clashes.
Other accounts are putting the body count much higher.
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