Somali Famine Illustrates Al Shabaab Recruiting Methods

September 06, 2011 02:07 AM

Heart-wrenching images of emaciated and dying children in Somalia have brought the country back to the world’s attention. The difficulty in delivering food to the needy because of the opposition of the Islamist Somali insurgents has also put a spotlight on Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, or Movement of the Warrior Youth. Famine or not, Al-Shabaab’s “jihad” continues.

Even before the United Nations declared famine in parts of Somalia, suicide attacks by Al-Shabaab on an African Union post in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, drew world attention to the role of the Somali diaspora in the insurgency. Of the two suicide bombers dispatched by Al-Shabaab, one was 27-year-old Somali-American Farah Mohamed Beledi, killed before he could set off his device. In July, Omer Abdi Mohamed of Minnesota pleaded guilty to charges that he had facilitated the travel of young Somali-American men to Somalia to join the insurgent movement.

Now the famine may have given Al-Shabaab new opportunities.

• The insurgent movement has its own emergency drought-relief committee, currently headed by Hussein Ali Fiidow, formerly an official in Al-Shabaab’s governing administration in the district of Banaadir, where Mogadishu is located.
• This committee organized modest relief programs that included collection of food, water and medical supplies as well as refugee camps.
• Senior Al-Shabaab leaders, including Hasan Dahir Aweys, recently visited one of these camps in the Lower Shabelle district.

Despite these efforts, the massive scale of the famine has proved to be too much for the insurgent movement to deal with alone, leading Al-Shabaab leaders to state publicly that they would allow international humanitarian aid organizations to operate in territory under its control. However, some organizations, including the World Food Program, previously barred from distributing aid because they were allegedly disrupting sales by Somali farmers in 2006, remain banned.

Since its rise to public prominence following the U.S.-supported December 2006 invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia, Al-Shabaab has sought foreign recruits to bolster its military strength. It emerged as the main insurgent group fighting the Ethiopian military occupation of Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia.

Al-Shabaab has aggressively recruited in Somali diaspora communities in Europe, North America, East Africa and the Middle East, estimated to number 1.5 million people. Estimates suggest that Al-Shabaab has attracted around 1,000 recruits from the diaspora and several hundred non-Somali Muslim recruits.

A controversial Homeland Security congressional hearing convened by U.S. Representative Peter King produced a report claiming that 40 Americans, most of Somali descent, have joined the movement.

It’s difficult to draw a single general profile for Al-Shabaab recruits. A number of Somali-American recruits, including Beledi, came from single-parent households, leading lives of petty crime.

Others, such as Abdisalan Hussein Ali, were enrolled in college before joining. Many of the Minneapolis recruits, including Beledi and Shirwa Ahmed, a Somali-American who carried out a 2008 suicide bombing in Somaliland, attended the city’s Abubakar as-Saddique Mosque.

The lion’s share of attention from Western media and law-enforcement agencies has focused on Al-Shabaab’s ability to attract scores of men from Somali immigrant families in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. Evidence suggests, however, that the movement views East African recruitment as a priority.

There are several reasons for this: The largest Somali communities reside near East Africa, along the Kenyan-Somali border in places such as the Eastleigh district of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Travel logistics for regional recruits are simpler. Somali refugees in East Africa also endure economic hardships in countries such as Kenya, making them more susceptible to recruitment. Regional recruits typically require less time to adjust to the battlefront than those coming from Europe or North America. Finally, Al-Shabaab maintains a well-established support network throughout East Africa, useful for fundraising and potential refuge during battlefield setbacks.

Many recruits from Somali diaspora communities are wooed by Al-Shabaab’s mixing of a relatively simple creed composed of a peculiar form of militant Islamism with appeals to Somali nationalism.

Most of the estimated 20 Somali-Americans who traveled to Somalia and joined Al-Shabaab did so when Ethiopia was still occupying Mogadishu and other parts of the country in support of the Transitional Federal Government. Other non-Somali recruits are Muslims, like American Al-Shabaab member Omar Hammami, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mansur al-Amriki, or the American.

The movement’s media foundation, the Al-Kataeb, or the Brigades, continues to produce increasingly polished propaganda films that serve as recruitment vehicles.

• Young Somalis in North America and the United Kingdom have been targeted since 2007, as evidenced by the appearance of multiple English-speaking young men in insurgent films released in 2007 and 2008.
• A lengthy video recruitment message released in August 2008 from Saleh Ali Saleh al-Nabhani, an Al-Qaeda operative in East Africa with Kenyan and Yemeni citizenship, was subtitled in English.
• More recent Al-Shabaab videos have also included subtitles or narration in English.

In its recruiting appeals, Al-Shabaab’s methods vary depending on the audience.

• For the Somali diaspora, appeals rely on a mix of Somali nationalism and militant Islamism that painted first the Ethiopian military and now the African Union Mission in Somalia, a 9,000-soldier force in Mogadishu, as foreign interlopers propping up a corrupt government.
• Al-Shabaab’s call to non-Somali Muslims is largely transnational. For example, Swedish recruit Abu Zaid in “Message to the Ummah” speaks about Lars Vilks, the controversial Swedish cartoonist who drew derogatory cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that offended many Muslims around the world.
• These calls are not Somalia-specific and are aimed at a wider audience of discontented Muslims.
• Similar religious exhortations, combined with Somalia-centric messaging, are also made to the Somali diaspora.

Al-Shabaab’s desire and ability to recruit from outside the country signals both strength and domestic weakness. On the one hand, its recruitment networks abroad have been relatively successful in attracting recruits through diverse recruitment appeals based both on a virulent interpretation of Somali nationalism and militant Somali Islamism, influenced by militant Islamic trans-nationalism. However, the insurgent movement’s need to recruit abroad is also a sign that it is incapable of meeting its manpower needs domestically.

The Rest by By Christopher Anzalone @ The Daily Star

A Call to al Shabaab for Peace

Thursday, July 14, 2011

It is said “all wars are evil;” even a just one, albeit necessary. “A son dies, and not born of war,” said also our Somali ancestors.

Today, in Somalia, people are facing the worst humanitarian drought disaster in 60 years.

• In the last 100 days, 200,000 Somalis fled to neighboring countries in search of food.
• This catastrophe is just unfolding.
• Thousands of Somalis have perished so far, and Millions more are most assuredly at grave-risk of starving to death.

With no effective government to respond, and a raging war, this looming cataclysm could not have happen to our people at a worst time.

While it is beyond human capability to prevent natural disasters, it is Man who always must prepare for and alleviate such disasters. Drought and a resulting famine are not new in the Horn of Africa. This has happened to us Somalis before, and not just to us but to the whole region, as it is happening now.

Most of us are old enough to remember about the not so long ago of early 70s drought, where our government then successfully evacuated drought-victims on planes and resettled them. We are not so lucky this time, and it should make us cringe about the potential cost to Somali lives in the offing with this just beginning tragedy.

It is this disaster in progress, more than any other reason, which impeaches the persistent war by Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahidin. It begs the question, “Al-Shabaab: For whom and what do you keep fighting?

• What benefit of your war, if it only brings death and misery to your own people?
• To carry on a war in the name of Islam, in a Muslim country, where the primary victims are the most vulnerable innocents is beyond basic human character.
• It certainly is not Islamic!

It is simply not enough, though much welcomed, that you the leaders of Al-Shabaab have allowed International Aid Agencies into areas under your control. Nor is it acceptable for you to see this human tragedy as a bonanza for public relations.

The stakes for innocent Somalis are much higher than Sheikh Dahir Aways and other Al-Shabaab leaders visiting drought victims in camps inside Somalia and distributing some aid. The people need, more than ever, a total cessation of the conflict.

What use of this war?

• Al-Shabaab, your so-called holy war, of which you so proudly claim to be martyrs of (Al-Mujahidin), is only destroying your country.
• It is killing, by bullet, famine or shear neglect, Somali babies and mothers.

Why [is] seeking peace-terms with your own follow Somalis, to save the people, so unacceptable to you?

Surely, it was more than acceptable for the last messenger of Allah, Muhammad (SAW), who left no stone unturned in search of peace with his pagan persecutors—his own people nevertheless!

Because of the pending devastation of famine, the people of Somalia are crying out for an end to their long suffering.

And, if you Al-Shabaab leaders are listening with your hearts (if they are not turned into stone completely), you will immediately confess of a willingness to an urgent and all-enveloping ceasefire followed by peace negotiations.

Take your terms for peace and put it on a negotiating table.

On your policy to-date, as the only organization, which sees “war” as a strategic option in Somalia, only you Al-Shabaab can end the war peacefully. Others can end your war by war.

There could be peace within Somalia in days, only if you are willing. It is up to you, for no other insists on war in Somalia—not the so-called government or Ahlu-Sunna! For the people, why not at least explore peace?

• By the way, the fastest way to remove foreign troops from Somalia (in case that is the only reason for continuing fighting) is for the Somalis to stop fighting each other!

Abdul-Aziz Mohammed

Amohammed4@insight.rr.com

The Rest @ Garoweonline

AL Shabaab feeling The Pain of Refusing Aid Groups Access

As Somalia continues to suffer through the worst drought in decades, Arab nations have clearly failed to act quickly to assist drought-displaced people in the country, a high ranking Al Shabaab official charged Friday.

In a fleeting visit to internal refugee camps in Mogadishu, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys accused Arab states of neglecting and abandoning their Somali brothers and sisters as a severe drought claims many Somalis and their domestic animals.

Aweys, the former leader of the dismantled Hizbul Islam organization, made the comments as thousands of drought-displaced Somalis flood into the capital, Mogadishu, seeking food and water.

He said that Arab nations stopped sending humanitarian aid to Somalia after having a serious misunderstanding with the extremist group, although he didn’t provide any details about the nature of the misunderstanding.

“Everyone who intends to deliver humanitarian assistance is very welcome in the areas we control,” the official said to emphasize the group’s previous statement lifting the ban of aid agencies.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, the spokesman of the militant group, said anyone "whether Muslim or non-Muslim" can provide urgent assistance in the areas they control as long as they have “no hidden plan.”

The United Nations welcomed the move by Al Shabaab, but said it would need security guarantees for its staff.

"I welcome all efforts to ensure the people of Somalia can access the assistance which they have a right to," the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, told the BBC.

Nonetheless, Aweys reiterated his call for Arab nations to extend charitable and humanitarian aid.

On Jan. 12, Aweys called for Somalia’s poor and needy not to seek assistance from humanitarian aid agencies.

The United States has accused Aweys of having links to al Qaeda. In April, the U.S. froze the assets of Aweys and others accused of being terrorists.


The Rest @ AllNesHeadlines

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys Prouodly Recruits Child Soldiers

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, top Al-Shabaab militia's commander confirmed that his group is using underage children in their fight against Somali Transitional Government.

• "We recruit underage children to fight for us, the children are ready to die for their country and religion" said Sheikh Aweys while addressing people in a mosque at Elasha Biyaha camps in outskirt of Mogadishu, the restive capital of Somalia.
• He adds they will continue recruiting underage children to fight against Somali government forces and African Union troops.

"There was an incident where 13 year fighter shocked when he heard the loud sounds of the artillery while he was fighting and he said the fighting is terrible but the Jihad is sweet and later he was dead in the clashes," said Aweys.

Human Right Agencies alleged Somali Islamic militants force hundreds of children to serve as soldiers in Somalia, and the international community called on the Somali Islamist not to use children in the fighting.

Somali radical Islamist insurgents are well-known turning children of soccer to fighters, but Aweys is the first commander, who assured that his group use underage children as fighters.

Aweys was former leader of Hizbul Islam militias before they joined Al-Shabaab radical militants late last year.

Al-Shabaab, is fighting to overthrow the Somali government backed by African Union troops to control the country and set up a strict Islamic state.

The militias control much of central and southern regions including large parts of the capital Mogadishu.

The Rest @ AllAfrica

Life Under Al Shabaab in Somalia

Picture this

• All functioning government outside of your local home town leaders disappears.
• A local kid, who has been off to college in Saudi Arabia or Egypt comes back and says that he will set up local law according to Sharia (Islamic Law) an elder from another town is appointed "judge"







• He says that He will need a local security force of police/military to maintain order.


(Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Mukhtaar Abu Mansur Robow,


• Your city is in severe draught, and your local-son-leader demands that every one bringing food or any aid of any kind must pay a $5000 per year registration fee, and 20% of all the food the aid agency brings in goes to Him - (in reality he keeps 50%)
  
  
  
  
• He brings in military "consultants" from outside to train up his new security force. These are foreigners trained by al Qaeda.







• In exchange for training the security, the al Qaeda consultants set up training camps for other foreign fighters in your town.







• The town leaders are told that they must pay a tax, and that they must offer up their daughters as wives for the foreign fighters that have come to your town.





• Every so often, the security force gathers up all its fighters and goes into the capital, where many are killed or captured. Each time they come back to your town.
• Sharia law is strictly enforced, like the cutting off hands, and the stoning of young women who report rapes by Mujahdin.
• Soon, every male of 13 years or older gets "drafted" in the the local militia, and there is no one to plant the crops, and the drought gets worse.
  
  (child soldier chewing the Narcotic plant Khat)
  

Some of you kids are sent of to be suicide bombers in other towns

This same thing is happening in every cluster of small towns in your part of the country. Your Young children are starving, your older children are serving as mujaheddin or "wifes" of Mujaheddin.

You just try to hold your family together. More and more foreign fighters come, and less and less food arrives.

• If you find you are a Sufi Muslim, that your faith has been declared heretical. Taliban like laws keep women oppressed.
• Your local police leader ( al Shabaab) sends some of your kids out to surrounding areas and countries to commit bombings. These are aimed at spread this form of government, the one you currently enjoy.

There is no way out unless some outside force comes in and does it for you.

This is life under Al Shabaab

-Editor

-Shimron

Islamist Unity in Somalia

There is a big show of unity between Awayes and leaders and some Junior leaders of al Shabaab. Actually, it looks like al Shabaab defeated Hizbul Islam, and offered the survivors death or enlistment. Aweys cares not, as long as he becomes the head of an Islamist state in Somalia. Conspicuous in his absence is Adbi Godane, or Mukhtar Abdirahman Abuu Zubeyr). Where is he?

Shimron Issachar


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At least 17 people were killed in the Somali capital Mogadishu during Tuesday clashes, as Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys publicly declared his support for the merger of Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam insurgent factions, Radio Garowe reports.




The fighting started overnight Monday and continued into Tuesday, with Somali government forces and allied African peacekeepers (AMISOM) repelling attacks by Al Shabaab insurgents.

Most of the violence was concentrated around Mogadishu's Hodan, Bondhere and Abdiaziz districts. Medical workers reported more than 32 wounded persons were admitted to local hospitals.

Witnesses said 8 civilians were killed in two separate incidents when an artillery shell hit residential areas in Kaaraan and Howlwadaag, which are districts outside of Tuesday's fighting zone.

A businessman in Bakara Market, a notorious insurgent stronghold since early 2007, confidentially told Garowe Online that AMISOM peacekeepers had moved "too close" to the market.

"There is plenty of fear that the fighting will spread into Bakara Market," said the business source who declined to be named for security reasons.

Al Shabaab-Hizbul Islam merger

Mogadishu has been wracked by insurgent violence since early 2007, when Islamist fighters went underground and spearheaded a bloody insurgency to overthrow the country's internationally recognized but weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

In Feb. 2009, a new Islamist faction was established under the leadership of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who formed the Hizbul Islam insurgent group with the goal of toppling the TFG and installing an Islamist regime in Mogadishu.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Aweys appeared at a public rally with Al Shabaab leaders including Sheikh Fuad Shongole and Sheikh Ali Dheere, Al Shabaab's propaganda chief and spokesman, respectively.

The event was held in Afgoye, a small farming town 30km south of Mogadishu and formerly a major base for Hizbul Islam faction.

Sheikh Aweys said: "I am pleased to witness the unity of Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam. I urge all Islamist fighters and all Muslims to join the war."

He called on AMISOM troop-contributing countries, namely Uganda and Burundi, to "pull out your troops or they will return to you dead."

Sheikh Shongole, who is Al Shabaab's third-in-command and chief of propaganda, bragged that he survived a mosque last May to "witness to the unity of the Mujahideen [holy warrior] in Somalia."

Aweys' failure

It is a major change of fortune for Sheikh Aweys, who led all Somali Islamists under the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) umbrella in 2006. The ICU militia seized Mogadishu in June 2006, but were ousted by the Ethiopian army's invasion six months later.

The ICU splintered into three factions: Al Shabaab; Hizbul Islam, led by Sheikh Aweys; and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who became TFG President in Jan. 2009.

Insiders say Sheikh Aweys, who was the leader of all ICU splinter groups in 2006, has now surrendered his seniority and leadership over to junior officers within the former ICU group, but who are now top leaders in Al Shabaab group.

Those who know Sheikh Aweys describe him as a man obssessed with becoming the President of Somalia one day, but his aspiration faces many obstacles not the least of which is that he is on the U.S. terrorism watch-list.

Somali insurgents have remained unable to over-power the 8,000-strong AMISOM peacekeeping force, which guards the port, airport and presidential compound.

Upwards of 21,000 have been killed in the Somali insurgency since early 2007, with more than 1million people displaced.

The Rest @ Garowe Online

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Hizbul Islam has surrendered and joined Al Shabaab Insurgents

we will wait and see what Aweys hinself has to say

-Shimron
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Somali Islamist hardliner Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and the Hizbul Islam insurgent faction he leads has surrendered and joined Al Shabaab insurgents, on a day when at least four Somali government soldiers were killed in a Mogadishu roadside bombing, Radio Garowe reports.

Sheikh Mohamed Osman Arus, the spokesman for Hizbul Islam insurgents, told local media that "the name Hizbul Islam no longer exists."

"All the officers of Hizbul Islam have joined Al Shabaab and no one refused, including our leader Sheikh Aweys," Arus told reporters in Mogadishu.

He stated that Sheikh Aweys informed his Hizbul Islam loyalists that an "Islamic government will be established for Somalia," adding: "We have adopted the Al Shabaab name and our forces have joined Al Shabaab."

• On Monday, Hizbul Islam fighters were seen pouring into areas of Mogadishu controlled by Al Shabaab, which is an Al Qaeda-affiliated group that controls most regions in southern Somalia.
• Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam have fought many times since 2009, with Al Shabaab seizing military control over key towns like Kismayo and Beledweyne through violent force.
• Most recently, earlier this week, Al Shabaab fighters seized control of Burhakaba town in Bay region in two days of fighting where at least 30 militants were killed.

Soldiers killed in roadside bombing

• At least four Somali government soldiers on patrol along Industry Road in Mogadishu were killed in a roadside bombing Monday, witnesses and officers said.
• Six people were killed including two civilians described as a woman and a young male.
• Both victims were bystanders who were killed when a car transporting soldiers exploded.
  Ahmed Yare, a Somali military official, told Garowe Online that Somali troops had been conducting search operations in the vicinity when the explosion happened.
• Al Shabaab insurgents claimed responsibility for the bombing.
  

The Rest @ Garowe Online

Robow challenges Godane (Zubeyr)

Islamists in control of South and Central Somalia are fighting internally as they try and recover from battle losses. Shabaab fought and took Burhakaba town, formerly held by Hizbul Islam.

-Shimron
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A months-long dispute among senior members of Somali insurgent group Al Shabaab took a worse turn Saturday when a senior commander condemned the group’s top chief, Radio Garowe reports.

Sheikh Fuad

Sheikh Fuad Mohamed Khalaf “Shongole” gave a publicly address at a mosque in Mogadishu’s Bakara Market, saying that Al Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane alias Sheikh Muktar Abdirahman Abu-Zubeyr has “hidden agendas.”

“A leader is he who addresses his people and leads his people towards all good things, but fighting everyone is not part of the solution,” Shongole said.

Local sources report that the dispute among Al Shabaab’s top leaders intensified earlier this month when Al Shabaab insurgents attacked and seized Burhakaba town, located in Bay region northwest of Mogadishu.

Upwards of 30 people were killed in the clashes between Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam insurgent factions. Burhakaba had previously been under the control of Hizbul Islam, a group led by Islamist hardliner Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.

“The fighting in Burhakaba was not jihad, because its haram [prohibited] for a Muslim person to kill another Muslim person and then brag about it,” Shongole said publicly at the mosque.

• Insiders say Shongole is allied to Al Shabaab’s deputy commander, Sheikh Muktar Robow “Abu Mansur,” a native of Bay region. Godane, Al Shabaab’s top chief, is a native in northwestern Somalia separatist region of Somaliland and has no population base in southern Somalia.

This is the first time that a senior member of Al Shabaab has publicly condemned Godane, thereby publicly revealing the fractures that occurred within the group since September fighting when upwards of 800 Al Shabaab fighters were killed in Mogadishu clashes with African Union-backed Somali government forces.

Abu Mansur [Robow] was reportedly angered by the massive losses suffered by Al Shabaab, but his dispute with Godane briefly disappeared from the public until Shongole’s public comments.

The U.S. government designated Al Shabaab as a terrorist organization in early 2008, subsequently followed by other Western powers including Australia.

The Rest @GAROWE ONLINE

The displaced people on the southern outskirts of Mogadishu are living in an increasingly insecure situation due to in-fighting and tension between radical Islamist groups
Al-Shabaab and Hizbu Islam have both exhibited the desire to expand their territories.

Most of the war displaced peoples from Mogadishu live on a strip of land between the city and Afgoye town, 30km south of the Somali capital. Indeed, the thousands of families are facing an increasingly uncertain situation as al-Shabaab fighters keep targeting more positions held by Hizbu Islam.

According to sources, which requested to remain anonymous due to fear of victimisation, the anxiety among the displaced is forcing them to prepare themselves for self defence.
Militias’ movements around the camps make the mobilisation more critical.

The same sources indicate that on Tuesday night, Hizbu Islam’s top brass that included the movement’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, militia commander Abdulkadir Komandos, political strategist Mussa Abdi Arale, and other members of the Shura (consultative council) and Fulinta (executive body), held a meeting at undisclosed site. The group is said to have rejected the motion of counter-attacking al-Shabaab.

Any resistance

However, the Hizbu Islam leaders are said to have adopted a self-defence strategy against the advancing al-Shabaab fighters.

Hizbu Islam is apparently reacting to series of advances made by al-Shabaab fighters against their loyalists in southern Somalia recently.

- Source unsited

Zubeyr (Godani) being Exposed to Capture by Robow and Aweys?

It may be, that as part an al Shabaab "reorganization" being conducted by Sheikh Hassan Dahir and Mukhtaar Abu Mansur Robow, that Sheikh Mohamed in Juba and Mukhtar Abdirahman Abuu Zubeyr are being deliberately exposed to capture or death by the release of their whereabouts to the press.

This would explain why there has been certain releases of information about Sheikh Mohamed in Juba being in a Kenyan Jail, and Mukhtar Abdirahman Abuu Zubeyr (Abdi Godane)'s recent trips to visit his family in UAE after recent discussions about the merging of al Shabaab with other Islamist Groups....


-Shimron Issachar

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Mogadishu (Sunatimes) Al-shabab militias in Kismayo have for the first time said that one of their leaders named as Sheikh Mohamed in the Juba region has been in a Kenyan jail for the last six months.

Malim Adan Mohamed Abdullahi blamed some of Al-shabab leaders in Kismayo for not providing money that was needed to secure the release of the arrested senior militia man of the group.

Malim Adan claimed that Kenyan authorities asked for $1000 to release their member but A-shabab’s treasury officer and head of the militia in Kismayo Hasan Yakub Ali refused to provide the funds.

However, Malim could not explain where and how Sheikh Mohamed was arrested by Kenyan authorities.

Another member of the insurgent group sneaked out of a Kenyan prison early this year after allegedly bribing the Kenyan police when he was arrested at the border between Kenya and Uganda.




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Somalia:Alqaeda’s Alshabab leader seen in United Arab Emirates

Dubai (Sunatimes) Some very reliable sources report that the leader of Alshabab, an insurgent groups allied to Alqaeda, Ahmed Aw Mohamud Godane, aka Sheikh Mukhtar Abdurahman Abu Zubeyr, had visited Sharjah, UAE, at least two times so far this ending year.

The reclusive leader made unreported trips to United Arab Emirate to visit his wife and children are had been living in UAE since 2008.

The report says that

• Abu Zubeyr traveled to UAE in March 3, 2010, through Kenya Khat flight and second time was crossed the border as a normal man.
• March 3, 2010“He took a flight which brought Khat, green stimulant leafs, to KM50 airport, an air strip controlled by Alshabab which locates 50kms in the south of Mogadishu"
• Some investigations we made confirmed that Abu Zubeyr crossed the Kenyan border in November 11, 2010 to make his trip to UAE and visited his wife the second times this year.
• Abu Zubeyr was confirmed having a Kenyan passport with unidentified name, and he also has a resident permit from UAE which some Somali businessmen facilitated for him to make sure that he can visit his family when needed.
• A source close to Alshabab, which is in UAE told us that Abu Zubeyr visited his wive Muna Sheikh Abdirahman (Barawe) who lives with his in Sharjah. And he spent six days with them according to the source which claimed anonymity because of security reasons.

This wife, Muna, who is descent from Shiiqaal-Hawiye clan but her mother is Issa-Musse of Isaq clan got the resident permit from one of the Amirs of UAE who had relationship with her father who was working for the Amir long time, according to the source.

She moved from Hargeysa in October 2008 when Alshabab launched the deadly suicide targeted to the Somaliland presidential palace, the Ethiopian business council in Hargeysa and the UNDP head quarters.

A maid who used to work for the family of Abu Zubeyr in UAE confirmed that She saw Abu Zubeyr in the house but didn’t know that he was the unpopular leader of Alshabab.
“I saw him, I didn’t think that he was Abu Zubeyr, but I was told two months later that the man who was in the house was Abu Zubeyr, but I couldn’t talk about that” she said. “I couldn’t talk his information to anyone because I was in UAE without resident permit, I didn’t want to be in trouble” she added.

A Somali businessman in UAE who is neighbor to Abu Zubeyr’s family in Sharjah told Sunatimes that he saw Abu Zubeyr and formally knew him because he used to teach him religion in Hargeysa early times.

“I saw him, he was entering the house, but I didn’t know if the house was his own, I was surprised why such this man who is in the international wanted lists to move freely in such place” said the man whose surname is Hamza.

“In 1999 I was one of his students, he was teaching us the book of the prayers, Safina, I have his photo with me, so I can make sure that in November 23, 2010, he was in his house in Sharjah” he added.

Investigative reporters from Waagacusub, a popular Somali portal website who have long been tracking down about Alshabaab leaders’ profile.

They have secretly received four pictures, one of them is Ahmed Abdi Godane, Alshabaab leaders’ picture To secure the authenticity of the picture, the reporters have discussed with a well-known Somali businessman about his knowledge about Godane by asking if he personally knew Godane.

He acknowledge that he know the militant leader well and selected Godane’s picture from our already-held pictures which confirms that Waagacusub has the personal photo of Ahmed Abdi Godane, Alshabaab’s reclusive leader.

• Abu Zubeyr was the secretary general of the union of Islamic courts regime (UIC) which rules much of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006, but he was hiding himself even as he was in that position.
• He was part of UIC delegation that went to Khartoum to participate the peace deal between the transitional government of that time led by then president Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed and the UIC regime led by the current president of TFG Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
• He was using a passport with the name Mukhtar Abdi rahman, the same name he is using as his war name now, and in the passport it says that he was born July 10, 1977.
  

By Dahir Alasow,
dahiralasow@yahoo.com

The Rest @ Sunna Times

The article that follows is a bit dated, (6 October, 2010) but of interest. It suggests that al Shabaab and affiliated groups are trying to reorganize, and that there is a finacial struggle. Aweys and Robow met recently. Keep in mind that Aweys, in many ways is the estranged father of the al shabaab movement, and Robow is an out of Favor Former al shabaab leader, who has recently challenged Godane's leadership.

add to this that
a recent TBDA visit suggests that Abdi Godane may have taken a trip to Dubai recently.

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http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oG7nuigwZNzQkB76xXNyoA;_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGFvAzEEZnIDeWZwLXQtODkyBGhvc3RwdmlkA1FXenpVVW9HN3Y0a1JuVm9UT1llX3cuRXhNbVhRMDBHZzZJQUFiUVQEbl9ncHMDMARuX3ZwcwMwBG9yaWdpbgNzcnAEcXVlcnkDZ29kYW5lIHZpc2l0IHRvIGR1YmFpBHNhbwMxBHZ0ZXN0aWQDREZENQ--?p=godane visit to ...

Afast (africa) Network Second Net
196.201.151.68
13th December 2010 20:37:33

yahoo search phrase

"godane visit to dubai"
using internet Explorer 8 and Windows 7 (newer computer)


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Somalia


Somalia: Secrets meeting between Aweys, Abu-Mansor over new insurgent group

6 Oct 6, 2010 - 1:44:30 PM

Somali insurgent leaders Sheikh Mukhtar Robow and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys met in Mogadishu for secret talks, according to reports that Garowe Online received.

The two opposition leaders, Former Al-Shabaab’s top ranking official Mukhtar Robow also known Abu-Mansor and Hizbul Islam’s Hassan Dahir Aweys discussed about how to assemble new insurgent group.Abu-Mansor quit Al-Shabaab over dispute between him and his group official, now urging to establish new radicals group with his counterpart. “There is a new group that called Al-islamiyah which comes from broken branch of Al-shabaab and Hizbul Islam, the group will take over southern Somalia where Al-shabaab controls,” one of senior Hizbul Islam told Garowe Online who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of matter.According to Hizbul Islam top official, no comment about who will be the leader of the new group but they are ready to build it.However, Abu-mansor blast what he called ‘poor leadership’ in Al-shabaab, accused the group’s Leader Ahmed Godane.“Disagreement brought out when Godane and Abu-mansor failed to agree on Financials issues, Godane wanted to give head of financial department to one of his clan,” a high-rank of Al-shabaab told the reporters.Abu-Mansor claimed that he will withdraw his soldier from Somali capital Mogadishu.Al-Shabaab strongly opposes the policies of the government in Somalia. It is accused of having links with terrorist groups.

Somalia has had no effective central government for 19 years and although the administration of President Ahmed has the backing of the United Nations and AU, he faces a stubborn insurgency from the insurgent groups.

The Rest @ Garowe Online

AL-ITIHAAD - (Hizbu Da’wah) the US Circle That Recruits Somali Suicide Bombers?

This article appeard on the fifth of October 2009 in Hiiraan Online, and appears to be a reprint of an article by Abu Raas Hasan, who publishes the aburaas Blog. In it, he describes the people, organizations, and methods used to recruite American-Somalias into Jihad.

He has written previously about Hassan Dahir Aweys, with particular effort to assign blame for the current state of Somalia. I have been unable to corroberate his entire chain of events an d conversations, but they are generally consistent with other events I have found from other sources.

-Shimron Issachar

Since 2006 when the Somali conflict became well-known to me, I started a very extensive research which I shall demonstrate throughout this article. My research included reading countless number of articles, books, and as well as listening to thousands of hours of audios. In addition, I have observed much in the media concerning the missing Somali men (or boys)—some who were reported to have become the first suicide bombers that ever carried American passports. A lot of these men (or boys) had links to the Somali Diaspora in Minnesota, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, and Ohio. After researching the lives of these young men, I was stunned to find out that none of them had the traits of extremists. For this reason, I started to wonder as to exactly how these youths became so fanatical in such short-time that they would perpetrate such evil practises. Just to give a quick example, many of these youth had facebook accounts whereby they posted their pictures! Hence, I started to ask myself, ‘what terrorist puts his pictures on facebook?’…things were not adding up. In this paper, I will expose some of the elements that were a crucial to the radicalization of these youth.We should all asks ourselves the question, who sent our youth to Somalia so that they could become terrorist? Because so many people are scared of this question, I have taken it upon myself to clear this matter and to provide some tangible answers in which we may rely on. Many will rush to criticize me and call me names, but my intent in writing this is, first is, to please Allah, and then to show the true reality of certain organization within our community. In other words, I have no concern over other people feelings because our own dignity as Somali people is in great jeopardy, while also the name of our beautiful religion is tainted.

SHORT HISTORY OF AL-ITIHAAD aka AL-‘ITISAAMI n the early 90s when the ugly civil war erupted in Somalia, the members of the Islamic movement called, “al-Itihaad al-Islaami” held an emergency meeting on whether they should take part in the civil war or not. Interestingly, amongst the top leaders of this group at that time was nobody else but Mr. Hasan Daahir Aweys. A group of people from the members of al-Itihaad al-Islaam refused and thus were either expelled or left the group because they saw the civil war as a ‘fitnah’ (trails) between fellow Muslims.

• At this point it was clear that certain figures such as Mr. Bin Laden had made contact with Hasan Daahir Aweys and other elements within the al-Itihaad al-Islaami group. The evidence for this is the fact that Mr. Bin Laden himself speaks of it in some of his audios.
• When the civil war broke out, Mr. Aweys and his group decided however that they would join the war and thus ended up deploying their military might in what is known as the ‘Araale’ bridge. This is the first military operation that was ever conducted by al-Itihaad.
• What was also interesting was that their claim that this was a part of ‘global Jihad front,’ although, all parties involved in the war adhered to the Islamic tenets. This campaign miserably failed and Al-Itihaad did not achieve much progress.

Almost a decade later, Mr. Hasan Daahir Aweys is back to square-one again in mobilizing his militia to successfully drive-off the warlords who controlled Southern Somalia.

• For the first time, he had actually completed what seemed to be a successful military campaign against his foes. But we all witnessed that it was short-lived after Aweys’ hunger for power and his eyeing other regions of Somalia caused him the biggest loss ever as the Ethiopian army once again invaded Somalia.
• The Ethiopians have always proofed Aweys wrong by showing that he was only capable of fighting his fellow Muslim brothers in the battlefield.

As a result of Mr. Aweys weird military tactics, a new group is born. They are young; they are motivated by the whole chaos in Somalia. They look to the east for leadership, as Mr. Aweys has failed them too many times…they see Bin Laden. The appearance of this group is mostly due to that fact that people in the ‘Jihadi’ movement were fed up with Aweys as he always aligned himself with his tribe. This group calls themselves “Harakatu al-Shabab al-Mujahideen.”

Mr. Aweys and others amongst his group (al-‘Itisaam) fled to Eritrea where they formed a lose alliance with many different groups including those very warlords they had once fought in the streets of Mogadishu. Aweys’ alliance included secularist who did not even support the idea of a ‘Sharee’ah state.’

• This left many wondering as to what his true intentions were as one of the members of the alliance was a former war-lord named Hussien Aideed. The infamous character is responsible for the some of the worst atrocities that has ever occurred in Somali soil, yet, Mr. Aweys saw him fit for his alliance.
• Not only this, but Mr. Aweys made takfeer (lit: excommunication from the fold of Islam) of Hussien Aideed for supporting the government and for also saying that both countries would turn into a single country. Anyhow, Mr. Aweys led the Ethiopians into Somalia, then all of the sudden, he is in Eritrea—relaxing in one of the most beautiful cities in earth, and all this was at the expense of the blood of the innocent Somalis.

President Sharif Ahmed who was once part of the Islamic Courts Union broke up with Mr. Aweys for several reasons. It was mainly due to the fact that they did not even belong to the same ideological group.

Mr. Aweys is al-‘Itihaad while Sharif Ahmed is from al-Islaah. To cut the story short, Sharif took the place of old Mr. Abdullah Yusuf and successfully made the Ethiopians leave Somalia soil only leaving behind the AMISON troops that numbered 8,000.

In brief moment after the Ethiopians pulled out of Somalia, Mr. Aweys shows up in Mogadishu with a smirk in his face. In matter of weeks, him and his rebellious ‘offsprings’ (i.e.al-Shabab) attacked Mr. Sharif’s government and battle continues until today.

• As we speak, Mr. Aweys is trying hard to unite with al-Shabab and has said this in the media several times, but only time will till their true fate. But if you ask me, I highly doubt that Bin Laden, who is the legitimate leader of al-Shabab will ever allow this to happen.
• The proof for this is the latest fighting that is occurring in the port city of Kismayo between Hizbul “Islam” and al-Shabab militia.

COMING TO THE WEST

• Back to the beginning of the civil war in Somalia. Al-Itihaad or al-‘Itisaam first came to the west along with the Somali migrants.
• Some of them even boldly lied about their clan status so that they could be admitted as refugees to the United States. Take the example of a man by the name “Shayk” Ibrahim who was deported after government found out that he lied concerning his status. He is now in Ethiopia heading ONLF, the al-Itihaad branch.

This is just one of the cases amongst many. Upon arriving in the west, they were able to use community funds to establish a chain of mosques across the west.

• For instance, in the United States, they were able to build mosques in Minnesota, Ohio, California and Washington.

One of al-Itihaad’s representatives for the west was “Shayk” Muhammad Idrees.

• He was a deputy to the main leader in Somalia, Mr. Bashir Salad. Mr. Idrees is no longer in America as he has fled after his activities were detected by government radars. Many believe that Mr. Bashir Salad along with Mr. Idrees, and “Shayk” Ibrahim were behind uniting all of the mosques in American under what they called, “Golaha Imaamyada” (lit. Umbrella of Imaams).
• After the disappearance of Mr. Idrees from America, nobody really knows who the new deputy is, but many speculate that it is probably one of the local Imaams in either Nashville, Tennessee or Saint Paul, Minnesota. I say it is the ‘Shayk” Abdirahman in Minnesota and this is only for the blind to see.
• The main important thing here is the fact that this group remained a secret club in the Somali community; and for this reason, it has become diffuclt for many of us to identify who is who.

CONNECTIONS BETWEEN AL-‘ITISAAM IN SOMALIA AND AL-‘ITISAAM IN AMERICA

Now, you are probably wondering how such connections can be made. Allow me to demonstrate. When Mr. Hasan Daahir Aweys was exiled (or fled) to Eritrea, guess who paid for his expenses there?

• Yes, it was members who attended local Somali mosques around North America and perhaps they might have been running the mosques...And you know what, that money came out from the pockets of innocent Somalis who had no idea what this sinister group was up to; and that they only paid this money in good intention when they were told that money was being sent to “orphans in Somalia.”
• Moreover, an associate of mine called me in one late evening to share with me something very interesting. It was Mr. Hasan Daahir Aweys doing a phone conference with bunch of Somalis from North America (the phone number had an area code 612!).
• This is one of the famous conferences rooms where lectures are broadcasted and many attended.
• The conference had a moderators who would put forth questions to Mr. Aweys while others advised Mr. Aweys to be patient…one particular individual said, “O Shayk, supplicate for us.”

Now, do you see the connection here? There must been over hundreds of people logged on to that conference room. It was also in this particular phone conference room that I listened to a gruesome discussion concerning some events that took place in Somalia.

• It was when a group of women, Mogadishu residents to be precise, were cleaning the streets, when one of these fanatics (al-Shabab) attacked them with bombs which caused them to die. So, one of the particular nights, there was much discussion in the room concerning this topic to point that some of the people showed dislike of such actions.
• Interestingly, an individual logs into the room while the conversation is still fresh and claims that he “had just spoken to Mogadishu and that those women who were targeted worked for the Ethiopian kuffar.”
• Then, many people started to say, “Maashallah.” I felt so sick to my stomach that I decided to never attend this conference room again, and that I was even more determined now to expose those who were promoting these sick ideas.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RADICALIZATION OF OUR YOUTH?

With all this in mind, we shall move on to discuss how these young men became so radicalized that they would actually go thousands of miles to war ravaged Somalia in order to slay innocent Somalis.

No doubt, there are individuals who are promoting extremism in the midst of our community, but by what median are they using to lure all these youth. This is very simple to explain.

• The youth are divided into two categories:One type of youth is those who are able to understand the Somali language easily and can listen to lectures in the Somali language.
• On the other hand, you have the second type of youth who can only understand the English language as they spent most of their life in the west.

With regards to the first, they listen to wide number of lectures in Somali language. And I am not afraid to name the speakers.

• Hasan Daahir Aweys
• Hasan Turki
• Hassan Hussien Aadam,
• Muhammad Abdi Umal

are amongst some of the audio tapes that are widely listened to by the Somali speaking youth [who attend al-‘Itisaam controlled mosques in North America).

Furthermore, all of Hasan Daahir Aweys and Hasan Turki’s lectures are underground and that they are not published openly (as both men are on FBI most wanted list).

Next, Hassan Hussien Aadam is the main speaker and all time favorite for many youth because of the fact that this man enjoys a quality that no other Somali “Shayk” enjoys. He is charismatic, funny, and young.

It is my personal belief that he is the most to radicalize the young Somali speaking youth—He uses all types of median to reach his audience be it, DVDs, Audio cassettes, and internet conferences (i.e. via Paltalk).

In one of his audio tapes, he says that the whole World is darul Kufr, while also in another tape he claims that Saudi Arabia is the land of kufr even though Mecca and Medina are located there.

Shayk Muhammad Abdi Umal on the other hand is also one who enjoys the support of large audience. Many youth are fond of his lectures in which he preached Jihad and by the way, most of his lectures with regards to this topic are pre-dated in the early 90s. In the past couple of months he has become very critical of the way al-Shabab and other fanatics in Somalia are operating, however the case, many Somali youth are still being lured to listen to his old recorded lectures and because they are widely accessible through audio recordings and internet.

One of the main reasons for his split with this group whom he once called “mujahideen” is that he feared the Kenya government as there was a lot of reports indicating that he was radicalizing youths.

Some even accused him of helping to fund the war in Somalia. However, I must state that these are baseless claims.On the other hand, the second type of youth as we have mentioned have no idea of the Somali language, yet, they still become radicalized. So, how does this happen?

• Let it be known that even for the English speakers there are such materials that can turn an innocent Somali-youth into a kamikaze-like terrorist who is only quenched by the blood of the innocent. Interestingly, I have observed that these individuals are using a person by the name, “Shayk” Anwar al-Awlaki.
• He is an American-born of Yemeni decent who somehow became radicalized in a very strange way (properly due to the fact that most of what he knows about Islam is self-taught). This man openly promotes suicide-bombing and boldly claims that it is part of Jihad! He also started to interfere with the affairs of Somalia when al-Shabab came into the picture. And for this reason, he became well-respected by Somali fanatics everywhere.
• In his website, he gives them counsel and tells other Muslims to aid them in their “Jihad” against the “infidel” government of Shayk Sharif Ahmed. He further translated a book about “Jihad” written by, al-Qeada member named, Yusuf al-‘Uyaree (who was shot dead by Saudi security forces!). He is currently located in Yemen where he records lectures online in conference rooms.
• Uponing visiting his website, I was surprised as to how many Somali youth were listening to him. And surprisingly, many of the youth who left for Somalia were all fans of al-‘Awlaki.

Thanks to this man, there are Somali youth who were on drugs six months ago and are now talking about martyrdom-operation through suicide bombings.

For starters, one could observe the website called, al-qimmah, where Hassan Hussien Aadam and Anwar al-‘Awlaki are some of the all-time favorite speakers. Hassan Hussien Aadam wrote a lengthy treatise declaring the government of Somalia to be disbelievers and this can be viewed on that website for anybody who can read the Arabic language.

In addition, there are letter of thanks from al-Shabab leaders to Mr. Anwar Awlaki thanking him for his counsel.

WHO IS WHO?

So who are these individuals and what organization do they operate in? Allow me to introduce the ‘Wolf in Sheep’s clothing.’ In my research, I also focused on the different groups that exist amongst the Somalis. There are four main groups, and they are

• a.) al-‘Itisaam (formerly al-Itihaad)
• b.) Soofiyah (they call themselves ahl Sunnah wa Jama’ah)
• c.) al-Islaah (former al-Ikhwaan al-Muslimeen)d.) Salafiyah (opponents call them, salafiyah Jadeedah).
• The aforementioned groups all control different mosques in the Somali communities throughout the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom.

However, our main concern is the group called al-‘Itisaam, as all of the youth who went to Somalia for “Jihad” are linked to their mosques.

• None of the other groups supported these fanatics. It is also interesting to note that out of all of these groups, al-‘Itisaam are the ones who are pushing an agenda and that they are also the most organized in comparison to the rest of the other groups. For example, a number of years back, they were able to unite all of the mosques that were controlled by them via what they called, “Golaha Imaamyada” (lit. The Umbrella of Imaams). In this way, if something was to happen to any of them, they could hire powerful lawyers to represent them through the support of the community.

Like it or not, Al-‘Itisaam are the wolf in Sheep’s clothing. They have exported the ideas of Hasan Daahir Aweys, Hasan Turki, Hassan Hussien Aadam and the rest of the preachers of hate to the innocent Somali youth in the west.

• That is way I am not surprised when FBI is questioning them at the airport.

AL-‘ITISAAM DECIEVES PEOPLE

• Recently when all this came to light, they (al-‘Itisaam members in US) started to condemn these youth and free themselves of their actions. How can they condemn terrorism in America while they are committing it in Somalia?
• Many mothers are without their children now and members of al-‘Itisaam continue to enjoy wearing their white thobes with nice salaries. This is injustice. And quite honestly, I don’t blame the mosque per say as it is only a physical structure, but I blame those men who are hiding inside the mosques claiming to be community leaders.

Let me reiterate that the mosques were established as places of worship and not for some ‘secret club’ with a political agenda.Recently in Columbus, Ohio and many other cities in North America, they (al-‘Itisaam) started to make all this noise when one of their leaders was detained by authorities while he was on his way to “hajj.”

They organized a community forum in Columbus, Ohio and they were spreading and saying that, “our ‘ulemaa our being harassed by authorities.” If you ask me, here is what they’re trying to do: They are trying to make it seem as if authorities are hunting for Somalis so that they can have the community to fight for them;

I say nay, authorities are hunting for people that they suspect of being part of al-‘Itisaam and not the common Somalis. Hence, they want to use Somalis as scapegoat. I say this because we should ask ourselves the following question, how come all of the other Somalis who were going to Hajj were not detained? I hope we all see the point now here.

CONCLUSION AND FINAL REMARKS

Finally, al-‘Itisaam has always operated as a ‘secret club’ within Somali communities. They have managed to take our sons away right before our very eyes and turn them into extremists by exporting the preachers of hate.

• We should resist this and expose them in every opportunity we get because it is true as the saying goes; they are indeed a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
• Readers should also be aware that they have recently changed the name of their organization to the “Hizbu Da’wah” after they started to come under fire from all directions, we should not be fooled by this.
• We should prevent them from our gatherings and our communities.

I advise my fellow Somalis to wake up from their slumber and realize that there are people who are pulling the rug under our feet. I suggest that we should purge these people from our mosques and places of worship as they are nothing but trouble. These are the very people that have destroyed our country and the blood of our innocent people is on their hands.

- Abu Raas Hasan

Abu Rass Hasan is young a true Somali in every sense of the word. He believes his people’s culture, religion, and way of live have been hijacked by warlords, fanatics, and ignorant fools. In the the year 2006, he decided to be active part of his community by bring relevant issues to the table. He currently runs the blog: http://aburaas.wordpress.com/. For any questions or comments please contact me at: raasthepirate@gmail.com

The Rest @ Hiiraan Online

Aweys - Why he left Asamara

Watch his attempt to climb to power in Somalia

Somalia Civil War Update

The following is an summary of Ted Dagne's own testimony to The US House of Representatives in Congress, published on June 26, 2009 by all Africa , concerning prospects for Somali peace.

I support most of his conlcusions, especially his statement that only a Somali -Muslim led solution will be supported by the people.

I believe the Pirate Issue should be kept separte from the civil war issue, except for the Shabaab units that are getting paid for training the Pirates.

I believe Aweys is trying to become the leader of all the opposition. If he succeeds and comes into power in the TFG, or wins out by force of war, He will use Sudan as a model and launch a jihad into Ethiopia, Kenya and continue to assassinate politacl moderates. He will continue to play games, practicing Taqiyaa borrowed from the Shiia, about his inttentions, including his connections with al Qaeda.

One more Question... where is Zubayr, (Godane)? anyone seen him?

-Shimron Issachar

The following is the prepared testimony of Ted Dagne of Congressional Research Service before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health on June 25, 2009 in Washington, DC. The hearing was entitled, "Somalia: Prospects for a Lasting Peace and Unified Response to Extremism and Terrorism."

Chairman Payne, Ranking Member Smith, and members of the sub-committee, let me first express my appreciation for the opportunity to testify before your sub-committee. I am sure some of you have seen the images on TV, read about it in the newspapers, and some of you have witnessed the untold suffering of many Somalis over the years. I have stopped counting how many innocent civilians have been killed, maimed, or how many more people displaced from their homes because of fighting. Unfortunately and sadly, many more people will die in the coming weeks and months. A Somali friend recently told me that he has given up dreaming about a better future for his family.

In April, Chairman Payne and I traveled to Mogadishu to obtain a firsthand account of conditions in Mogadishu. Some questioned the delegation’s decision to go to Mogadishu, while others praised it. An important thing to remember is the fact that children and the most vulnerable live in these conditions everyday. The day we arrived in Mogadishu five innocent civilians were killed and over a dozen injured.

Almost three years ago this week in a testimony before this sub-committee, I read a short Somali proverb in an attempt to describe conditions on the ground. The proverb: “Sorrow is like rice in the store; if a basketful is removed everyday, it will come to an end at last.” I stated then that Somalia’s tragedy would come to an end, we just don’t know how soon. Three years later, I still cannot tell you with certainty what the future hold for the millions of Somalis.

One thing is clear: the determination and commitment I saw 15 years ago at the height of the civil war by Somali women, human rights advocates, and Somali nationalists, is still very much alive. The leadership of the current government is not staying at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. They are in Mogadishu facing the challenges and risks everyday with their people. Some left family members, friends, and safe environment here in the U.S. so that they can help their people and help secure a lasting peace in Somalia.

Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have died due to factional fighting, famine, or disease over the past decade. I have witnessed the untold suffering of the people of Somalia over the past decade in the refugee camps in Kenya and in Somalia. A generation of Somalis is growing up surrounded by violence, poverty, and face a very bleak future. Many have been internally displaced or forced to flee their country. In the refugee camps in Kenya, you find Somali teenagers, some of them born there, who have never been able to see their country or the opportunity to live a normal life.

Indeed the most affected by the violence and chaos in Somalia are women and children. Many Somali girls have been raped and violated by the so-called militia. And even a rape victim is stoned to death for reporting what happened to her. If the extremists waging the war against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) succeed, we are likely to see more of these acts by Al-Shibaab.

Recent Developments

In early May, Somali extremist groups backed by foreign fighters launched a major offensive against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and the African Union peacekeeping forces (AMISOM).

• Over the past six weeks, more than 300 people have been killed and many more wounded. The primary objective of this offensive is to oust the TFG from power and force AMISOM to leave Somalia.
• Several Al-Shibaab factions, Hizbul al-Islam, and foreign fighters have been engaged in a series of battles against government forces.
• Al-Shibaab has also carried out a number of assassinations, including the police Chief and the Minister of Interior, who were killed last week, in an attempt to create a leadership crisis.
• More than 400 foreign fighters reportedly from Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, the United States, Canada, Britain, Kenya, and several other countries have been engaged in the fighting in support of the Al-Shibaab forces.
• More than 290 fighters reportedly entered Mogadishu in early May, while an estimated 50 fighters were in Mogadishu for much longer.
• Some of these fighters have been killed in battles in Mogadishu.
• Some of the fighters characterized as foreign fighters are actually Somalis who look like foreigners.

The insurgents receive support from the outside and from some Somali businessmen, who are unhappy with the TFG leadership.

• In May 2009, the spokesman of Al-Shibaab admitted that foreign fighters have joined the fighting.
• In early June 2009, Al-Shibaab and Hizbul Islam made important gains in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia, in large part due to defections to the insurgency and lack of resources.
• The TFG forces regrouped, and by mid-June managed to regain some lost grounds in Mogadishu. But the TFG remains vulnerable and its ability to defeat the insurgents depends on resources, including Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), mobility, and a well organized and sustainable military operations.
  

The presence of the African Union force has helped prevent the takeover of Mogadishu by the insurgents. But the African Union force does not have a Chapter 7 mandate, requiring the force to be on the defensive rather than taking offensive measures against the insurgents.

The African Union force has used its long range artilleries against the insurgents. These measures have weakened and forced the insurgents to remain outside the range of these weapons. But the most serious challenge facing the TFG forces and those of the AU is that the insurgents are highly decentralized and move in small units, and operate independently of one another.

The Leadership of Al-Shibaab and other Factions

Who are the leaders of the insurgents? The leaders of Al-Shibaab are not well known, with the exception of a few. Some of the key commanders and leaders of Al-Shibaab come from Somaliland.

• Ahmed Abdi Godane, who is on the U.S. terrorism list and who trained and fought in Afghanistan, is a key commander from Somaliland.
• Mukhtar Robow, who is also on the U.S. terrorism list, is considered one of the key leaders of the Shibaab and a former spokesman, although in recent weeks he has been marginalized and has been at odd with the other commanders, especially Godane.
• Another key leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama, who is on the U.S. terrorism list, reportedly trained and fought in Afghanistan.
• Hassan al-Turki, a member of the Ogaden clan from Ethiopia, has openly called for Jihad, and works closely with foreign fighters.
• Indha Adde is another commander, who fought against the Ethiopian occupation and worked closely with Sheik Hassan Aweys, a former leader of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS-Asmara).

In February 2008, then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice designated Al-Shibaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.

The TFG was able to win over some Al-Shibaab fighters to join the government side. However, several hundred fighters who recently joined government forces were sent by the extremist groups to infiltrate the government security force.

In May 2009, at the height of the recent fighting in Mogadishu, most of these fighters went back to rejoin the militia groups they left earlier, Sheik Sharif Hassan Aweys.

In late April, Sheik Sharif Hassan Aweys, who is on the U.S. terrorism list, returned to Mogadishu from Eritrea. Sheik Aweys had remained in Eritrea and formed his own faction after the top leadership of the ARS signed an agreement in Djibouti with other Somali parties, which led to the formation of the current government.

ARS-Asmara, under the leadership of Aweys, did not garner significant support, although Aweys intensified his support for extremist groups inside Somalia. ARS-Asmara leaders were not in full agreement with Aweys and his support for the extremist groups inside Somalia.

They provided written documentation to this effect to a visitor in April 2009. These leaders stated that they formed their own organization and would disassociate themselves from Aweys. These leaders left Eritrea in May.

In late April I met with Sheik Aweys in Eritrea. He seemed confused at times and several times contradicted himself.

• When asked if he was prepared to state publicly his support for a peaceful participation in the current political process, Aweys responded positively.
• However, when he was asked whether he would renounce terrorism and call for an end to violence against civilians, Aweys stated that since he considers the American interpretation of terrorism as anti-Islam, he “cannot condemn terrorism.” Doing so, he asserted, is “denouncing his own religion.”
• When asked if he wished to be removed from the terrorism list, Aweys stated that he will not seek to be removed because that would be going against his religion.
• When confronted about his role in support of terrorism and violence in Somalia, he characterized these acts as a struggle against the enemies of Somalia.

Upon his return to Mogadishu in late April 2009, Sheik Aweys discovered that the clan elders and militia who had supported him in the past now wanted him to work with the government and end the violence. The militia group he helped create, Hizbul al-Islam, also was split and some have joined Al-Shibaab.

Some of the top leaders of the Al-Shabaab also want him to declare an alliance with Osama Bin Laden. Aweys is unlikely to emerge as the leader of the insurgency and he seems to be losing support even within his own inner circle.

Human Rights and Humanitarian Conditions

In 2008, humanitarian and human rights conditions became worse than in previous years.

The recent fighting in Mogadishu has added more challenges to already poor conditions on the ground. An estimated 1.1 million people have been displaced and more than 475,000 have fled to neighboring countries in the past two years.

Human rights groups and Somali observers estimate more than 22,000 people have been killed over the past two years. Civilians, humanitarian workers, journalists, and human rights advocates have been the primary targets of the insurgents, TFG, and Ethiopian security forces. According to Amnesty International, “rape, killings and looting have become widespread. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed.” A number of Somali journalists covering the crisis in Somalia have been assassinated by insurgents and security forces over the past eighteen months.

Dozens of humanitarian and human rights advocates have been killed, injured, or imprisoned. Because of these targeted attacks, many human rights advocates and journalists have fled Somalia to neighboring countries for safety.

Somalis working for international NGOs and foreign media have also been attacked by insurgents and TFG/Ethiopian security forces.

According to the May 2009 Complex Emergency report by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an estimated 3.2 million people are in need of emergency assistance. In the first two weeks of May 2009, an estimated 27,500 people have been displaced due to the recent fighting in Mogadishu.

The United States has provided an estimated $177.6 million in humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance to Somalia in FY2009.

In FY2008, the United States provided $318 million in assistance to Somalia. The Obama Administration has requested $103 million for FY 2010.

The United States has also provided material support in support of TFG forces.

Somali Piracy in the Horn of Africa

I will now speak briefly to the issue of piracy in the Horn of Africa.

Somali pirates have intensified their attacks in the Gulf of Aden, carrying out attacks on over 111 commercial ships, and successfully hijacked an estimated 40 ships in 2008.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), piracy in the first quarter of 2009 has surpassed that of 2008. According to IMB, “in 2008, there were 111 incidents including 42 vessels hijacked. So far in 2009, there have been 29 successful hijackings from 114 attempted attacks.” In January-February 2009, Somali pirates released several ships, including a Japanese-owned ship, MV Chemstar, and the MV Faina.

• The pirates have reportedly earned more than $120 million in ransom payments, and in return have released a number of ships and crew members.

On December 16, 2008, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution authorizing the use of “all necessary measures” by foreign military forces to stop piracy in Somalia.

• The resolution authorizes military operations inside Somalia and in its airspace for one year, with the consent of the TFG.

The United States, Russia, India, and several other countries have deployed warships to tackle piracy in the Horn of Africa region. In February 2009, the U.S. Navy arrested 16 suspected Somali pirates.

In December 2008, the Indian Navy reportedly arrested 23 Somali and Yemeni pirates. Moreover, the Russian Navy also arrested a number of suspected Somali pirates. In January 2009, the United States and Britain signed legal agreements with the Government of Kenya to extradite suspected pirates to be prosecuted in Kenya. Some insurgent leaders have warned the pirates to end the piracy and to release crew members and ships currently controlled by the pirates.

Who Are the Pirates?

The number of Somali pirates is unknown. While there are more pirates now than previous years, the pirates do not seem to have a unified organization with clear command structure. Many of these pirates are reportedly fishermen and former militia members of the Somali warlords. The pirates primarily come from Puntland region of Somalia and are members of different clans.

Some press reports have suggested that the pirates are being controlled and directed by the Islamic insurgents in south-central Somalia. I am not aware of any evidence, however, to support this assertion.

What do Somalis say about the piracy problem? Some Somalis view the piracy crisis as a foreign problem with little impact on their daily life. Some argue that the piracy problem will continue as long as the ship-owners are willing to pay the pirates ransom.

In the face of difficult economic conditions and growing humanitarian crisis, many Somalis resent the fact that the piracy problem has received a great deal of international attention. Some Somali community leaders contend that some Somalis get involved in criminal activities in order to survive, while many others have made these kinds of criminal activities a lifetime profession. Many Somalis contend that in the absence of a better alternative, they have come to accept life with all the difficulties they face daily.

Some Somalis argue that the fishermen have become pirates because their way of life was destroyed by illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping that has been ignored by foreign governments.

In 2005, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released a report documenting the damages resulting from toxic waste dumping on Somalia’s shores. According to a UNEP spokesman, “there’s uranium radioactive waste, there’s lead, there’s heavy metals like cadmium and mercury, there’s industrial waste, and there’s hospital wastes, chemical wastes, you name it.”

According to the report, the primary reason for toxic dumping in Somalia is cost. The report states that it costs $2.50 per ton to dump toxic waste in Africa compared to $250 per ton to dump waste in Europe.

Policy Options in Dealing with Political and Security Problems

The current government in Mogadishu is generally seen as the last defense against the extremist and terrorist groups currently waging war in south-central Somalia. Effective policy options available to deal with these threats are limited.

The international community may consider engagement with the Islamic insurgents and clan elders to deal with the political and security problems facing Somalia. Regional and U.S. officials are convinced that it is pivotal to strengthen the moderate elements of the Islamic movements. Most observers believe that the Al-Shabaab can only be contained by another Islamic movement supported by clan elders.

• Some Al-Shabaab leaders are determined to continue their military campaign and are not inclined to participate in negotiations. Targeted measures, including sanctions and other measures against the most extreme elements of Al-Shibaab, might pave the way for other moderate leaders to emerge.
• However, others believe that harsh or violent measures are likely to backfire in the short term and increase anti-western violence.

A more effective option for containing the extremists may be to look for a Somali-led solution. The TFG, Somaliland, Puntland, and other moderate Somali forces could possibly form a coalition to contain the advances of the most extreme elements of the Al-Shabaab politically and militarily.

Such a coalition is likely to get the support of the Somali population. A Somali-led initiative would take away one of the most powerful justifications used by the Al-Shabaab to wage war, the presence of foreign forces. Most observers agree, however, that a unified regional approach is pivotal, however.

In conclusion, there appear to be no easy solutions or options to bring a lasting peace in Somalia. Somalis continue to make great sacrifices to achieve this objective. There is a very telling Somali proverb: The best bed that a man can sleep on is peace. Thank You.

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