Ethiopia to South Africa Human Trafficking RIng

Most Ethipians in this trafficking network were looking for work, but Some Ogaden Somali's may become part of the South African Islamist network unpon arrival. Some will likely have trained with al Shabaab, and may become militant trainers in planned future South African Islamist militias. This is how Boko Haram in Nigera, the recent UN bombers , were trained by AQIM.

Shimron Issacahr
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EAC urged to fight human trafficking
The man, who was found with the passengers in his lorry by Ethiopian police, is believed to be the mastermind of a human trafficking ring operating between the two countries. He operates between Isiolo and Moyale.

Eastern police boss Marcus Ochola said he was yet to be briefed on the arrests. He, however, said the Ethiopian authorities had been very cooperative in the war against human trafficking.

“They have a lot of information and for the last two months they have assisted us a lot in arresting the perpetrators,” said Mr Ochola.

The Counter Trafficking in Persons Act, 2010, spells out stiff penalties for such offences. Conviction carries a 30-year-jail term or a Sh30 million fine.

In Mombasa, police arrested 19 Ethiopians believed to be on their way to South Africa via Nairobi. The group was planning to enter Tanzania through panya routes, it was said.

Working on a tip-off, the police raided a bus booking office at Mwembe Tayari where the Ethiopians were waiting to board a morning vehicle for Nairobi.



The shocked foreigners were ordered to remove their luggage from the bus and accompany the officers to Central Police Station where they were locked up.

Speaking at the station, local police boss Kipkemoi Rop expressed concern over the number of Ethiopians passing through the country.

“Every week, we are arresting roughly between eight to 10 Ethiopians on transit and this is worrying,” he said adding they were liaising with their counterparts in Kilifi and Lamu to know the point of entry.

Meanwhile, sixty (60) street families arrested on Saturday night in Mombasa town will on Monday appear in court to answer different charges.

Police raided street families on Digo, Moi, Nyerere and Haile Sellassie roads.

Mr Rop said the police would work with the Mombasa Municipal Council to rid the town of street families.

At the same time, police recovered two firearms and arrested two suspects in Eastleigh, Nairobi, on Saturday morning.

Buruburu police boss Hassan Barua said police got information from the public that some people were hiding firearms in their house.

The Rest @ The Nation (Kenya)

South Africa Soldiers Protect South Sudan's Independence Day

Johannesburg – South African soldiers were in Juba in southern Sudan on Thursday to help with security measures during celebrations to mark the creation of Africa’s newest nation on the weekend.

The Mail and Guardian newspaper quoted Consul General Gabriel Setlhoke as saying that South Africa felt that in order to ensure the safety of its large delegation travelling there, it needed to safeguard the entire event.

“We told the government of South Sudan that if we were to help, it must be something that the South Africans can take care of alone, not together with other countries which would be difficult to co-ordinate,” Setlhoke said.

“We said we would do it because it is critical for the staging of independence.”
The South African government was also asked to secure the new country’s airspace for the duration of the celebrations.

Residents in the south voted in a January referendum to break away from the north following a bloody civil war and will officially celebrate their independence on Saturday.

The Rest @ In Depth Africa

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Fazul Abdullah Mohammed reported Dead

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed is reported dead. (see story below). Of note is that he was carrying $40,000 in Cash and South African Passport.

It has been speculated that Fazul was trying to escape, as room for sanctuary in Al Shabaab's land is disappearing as Transitional Government Troops.

It is interesting that he was taking $40,000 when al Shabaab is suffering from a lack of cash.

I wonder of the rest of al Qaeda Mujahadeen in Somalia are sitting on large caches of "escape" funds.

Any thoughts?

-editor

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Al-Qaida militant who masterminded attacks on two US embassies in East Africa shot dead by security forces

The mastermind of the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in East Africa – the attack which brought the al-Qaida terrorist group to global attention – was reported killed in Somalia.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who had a $5m (£3m) price put on his head by US authorities, was widely seen as one of the most wanted Islamic militants in the world.

The 1998 attacks killed more than 200 and injured several thousand people. The vast majority of the casualties were local African staff or passers-by caught in the multiple explosions that destroyed the embassies.

The then US president Bill Clinton ordered punitive missile strikes into Afghanistan and Sudan following the bombings, which had little effect other than reinforcing the notoriety of those responsible.

The news comes six weeks after al-Qaida's leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a US special forces raid in Pakistan. Last week, Ilyas Kashmiri, another senior militant with ties to al-Qaida, was reported to have been killed.

Kenyan police, who cited Somali officials, said on Saturday that Abdullah had been shot dead after he and an associate refused to stop at a checkpoint northwest of Mogadishu earlier last week.

The dead man, thought to be 38-years-old, carried a false passport and $40,000 in cash.

"We have confirmed he was killed by our police at a control checkpoint this week," Halima Aden, a senior national security officer in Somalia, told Reuters.

"He had a fake South African passport and, of course, other documents. After thorough investigation, we confirmed that it was him," Aden added.

It was not immediately possible to confirm Abdullah's death independently – though the AFP news agency published images of the face of the dead man which resembled images previously published by US investigators.

There was also confusion over what had happened to Abdullah's remains: some reports said they had been buried and others claimed they had been handed to US authorities.

In addition to acting as operational chief for the 1998 attacks, Abdullah is thought to have organised the 2002 attacks on Israeli targets, including a plane, in Mombassa and to have narrowly escaped death in a US air strike in Somalia in 2007. Born in the Comoros Islands, he was educated in Saudi Arabia before travelling to Afghanistan in the early 1990s. He is thought to have been in Mogadishu in 1993 during fighting there.

US authorities have steadily tracked down almost all those responsible for the 1998 bombing attacks, and many were brought to trial in the US in 2001.

The death of Abdullah will be a loss for al-Qaida in east Africa, where he was active, area but is unlikely to have a significant impact on the overall capabilities of the leadership element based in Pakistan. Like most regional branches of al-Qaida, even those violent Islamic extremists in east Africa who have sworn allegiance to Bin Laden have remained largely autonomous. Abdullah was one of the few militants based in Africa who followed a global agenda and who was willing to launch attacks on international targets.

The Rest @ the Guardian (UK)

Darfur - 3 UN Helipcopter Crews Kidnaped

KHARTOUM — Three Bulgarian helicopter aircrew working on a UN contract were kidnapped in Sudan's troubled Darfur region on Thursday, the United Nations and the Bulgarian foreign ministry said.

The trio, seized by unidentified gunmen, were reportedly well.

"A crew of three Bulgarian nationals, working for a Bulgarian airline company operating flights on a UN contract, were kidnapped in north Sudan," the foreign ministry said in Sofia.
UNAMID, the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur, said the three were working on a World Food Programme (WFP) mission when seized at Um-Shalaya southeast of El-Geneina in West Darfur.

"The incident occurred as the crew landed their helicopter at approximately 10:35 hrs and were subsequently met by unknown armed men," said a statement from UNAMID. It said no other details were immediately available.

The three work for the UN Humanitarian Air Service, which is managed by the WFP.
Bulgarian foreign ministry spokeswoman Vesela Cherneva told national radio: "We have confirmed their identities but cannot disclose any details at this stage."

The executive director of Bulgarian company Heli Air Sau confirmed to Focus news agency that their helicopter and its three Bulgarian aircrew had been kidnapped.

"It is our helicopter and crew," he was cited as saying. "We have information that our employees are well... The information is indirect but at least we have it."

Amor Almagro, WFP spokesperson in Sudan, said the three "were abducted this morning at 10:30 by armed men in the landing field of Um-Shalaya, 60 kilometres (36 miles) southeast of El-Geneina, in West Darfur."

"We don't know who they are," Almagro added, referring to the kidnappers.
Since 2003, Darfur been gripped by a civil war that has killed 300,000 people and displaced another 2.7 million, according to UN figures. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died in the conflict.

A wave of kidnappings for ransom has plagued Darfur since March 2009, when the International Criminal Court indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in the region.

Thirty people, including 26 foreigners, had already been kidnapped there since the indictment, with all the hostages released unharmed a few days later.

Just last week Istvan Papp, 56, a Hungarian civilian working for UNAMID in Darfur, was released.

He had been abducted by gunmen along with two colleagues from a compound in El-Fasher in October, and had been the last remaining hostage in the war-torn region.

Meanwhile, retired US general Scott Gration, Washington's special envoy for Sudan, on Thursday wound up a two-day visit to Darfur, a UNAMID statement said.

Accompanied by US senior adviser on Darfur Dane Smith, Gration met the leadership of the peacekeeping force to be briefed on the latest developments in the peace process, as well the current security situation in Darfur

The Rest @ AFP

Hidden South Africa Search for The Golden Chain

Someone in South Africa at the IP Range
41.208.203.94 appeared to be huting down Information from The Golden Chain List, on or about 8-18-09.

The Open Search String:

" @gmail.com saudi arabia commercial chamber "

The Hidden String:

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=781&url=http A FF shimronletters.blogspot.com F2008 F10 Fgolden-chain-list.html gmail.com B saudi arabia commercial chamber

To be more precise
http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=781&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshimronletters.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F10%2Fgolden-chain-list.html&ei=sRaKSpfHEpfUjAeq7blY&rct=j&q=%40gmail.com %2B saudi arabia commercial chamber&usg=AFQjCNE-ySLKKBArq38DnXWQyaW1y9


8/18/2009 3:49 Time Frame
8/18/2009 3:58

Tessa Beetge Arrested In South Africa for Trafficking

March 17th,
The wife of Siyabonga C. Cwele, South Africa's Minister of Intelligence, has been implicated by South African and Brazilian authorities in an international drugs trafficking case.

Sheryl Cwele, whose husband has headed South Africa's intelligence Ministry since last September, was found to have exchanged dozens of emails, letters and text messages with a woman arrested last June in Brazil, while secretly transporting over $300,000-worth of raw cocaine.

The woman, Tessa Beetge, from Margate, a resort town in KwaZulu-Natal, traveled last summer from South Africa to Colombia and Peru, and from there to São Paulo, Brazil, where she was arrested on June 13, while transiting through on a flight to Johannesburg.

The Rest @ Intelnews

Hussain Bhayat Detained for "Charity Work" in Uganda

JOHANNESBURG - The arrests of two South Africans in Uganda on suspicion of terrorism has left the local Islamic community angered, frustrated and in fear for their safety.
The wife of one of the two South Africans who were arrested told The Citizen yesterday that she hoped her husband would return home safely.

Speaking to The Citizen, the angry and concerned woman, who did not want her name printed in the media, said that her husband, Haroon Saley, together with the Islamic cleric Mufti Hussain Bhayat, left for Kenya last week on Tuesday before heading to Uganda where they had been doing relief work.

Saley, aged 56, is a community leader from Azaadville near Krugersdorp on the West Rand.
He is part of an organisation known as the Crescent of Hope which has been involved in humanitarian work since 1992.

The organisation also seeks to help people from impoverished communities by donating clothes food and carrying out skills training.

News of the arrests reached South Africa when an Ugandan source reportedly told Radio Islam that the two men had been detained on Sunday at Entebbe International Airport in Kampala, Uganda.

A government source also confirmed this, saying the duo were stopped by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force of Uganda.

The duo are reportedly being held by the Chieftaincy of military intelligence in Uganda.

The Rest @ The Citizen in South Africa

(thanks for the Heads Up, JihadWatch )

Lekota Threatens any African Acountry who Hosts Africom

Wyndham HartleyCape Town
More armed US soldiers are not welcome in Africa, said Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota yesterday.
Any country that allowed itself to be a base for the US strategic command in Africa (Africom) would have to live with the consequences, Lekota said.

Africom's recent creation has been interpreted as the US suddenly recognising the strategic importance of Africa to the US.

Last month it was reported that Lekota was not responding to US requests for him to meet the first Africom commander, Gen Kip Ward.

Briefing the media yesterday, Lekota said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) defence ministers had, at the summit in Lusaka this month, decided that no member states would host Africom and more armed US soldiers.

He said this was also the "continental position" of the African Union.

However, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has evidently already offered her country as a base for Africom.

Lekota said as far as he knew most African countries supported the view that the Americans should keep their distance.

The Rest @ All Africa.com

Organized Crime In Africa

This is Almost three weeks old

23 July 2007

Gumisai Mutume
In one swoop in April, authorities in Guinea-Bissau seized 635 kilogrammes of cocaine, worth an estimated $50 mn. But the traffickers managed to escape with the rest of the 2.5-tonne consignment because the police could not give chase.

United Nations Office on Drug Control (UNODC) Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa commended the seizure, but lamented the poor state of policing in the West African nation. "It is regrettable that the rest of the consignment was not intercepted, but hardly surprising as the police are woefully ill-equipped and often do not even have enough gasoline to operate their vehicles."

That same month, media reports noted that drug traffickers had established a transit area along the Gulf of Guinea as a way to elude tighter policing off the coast of Europe.

Fragile states in Africa are often overwhelmed by other pressing challenges such as poverty, weak public institutions or political instability and can provide a haven for such groups.

One of the illicit networks, operating in Guinea-Bissau, is made up of South American suppliers, African transporters and European distributors.

Mr. Koli Kouame of the UN International Narcotics Control Board reports that tighter policing on the Iberian Peninsula, which has traditionally been the transit point for drugs heading for Europe from South America, is forcing the syndicates to seek alternative routes through Africa.

Strategically located close to Europe and with a porous coastline made up of a labyrinth of islands, Guinea-Bissau provides an ideal sanctuary.
The case of Guinea-Bissau illustrates some of the challenges facing many poor African countries. With weak enforcement capability, underpaid officials and porous national borders, these countries provide an ideal environment for organized criminal rings to extract or tranship illicit commodities.

Africa has far fewer police per citizen than other regions. There are only 180 police per 100,000 people on the continent, while in Asia there are 363. Moreover, when police officers are underpaid and government officials are susceptible to corruption, the job of traffickers only becomes easier. Public officials can be bribed to look the other way or even be induced to work in direct collusion with traffickers.

Transnational crime syndicates deal in a wide range of illicit commodities, including narcotics, diamonds, petroleum, ivory and weapons. They also smuggle human beings. The UN has reported that 90 per cent of African countries are affected by human trafficking flows, either as a source, transit site or destination.

Policeman in Rwanda: Many African police forces need to be better trained, equipped and financed to tackle the challenges of organized crime and smuggling.

Because drug trafficking, prostitution, gambling, loan-sharking and official corruption are illegal and many transactions are consensual, experts note that the extent of organized crime is hard to establish on the basis of official data, in Africa or elsewhere.

"But perception surveys, as well as international crime intelligence and seizures of contraband, suggest that Africa may have become the continent most targeted by organized crime," UNODC states in a 2005 report, Crime and Development in Africa. "Lack of official controls makes the continent vulnerable to money laundering and corruption activities, both of which are vital to the expansion of organized crime."

Although current data is scarce, the South African police estimated in 1998 that the country was losing more than $3 bn annually in potential revenue as a result of the operations of more than 30 Asian, Italian, Nigerian and Russian crime groups in the country.

• Angola, another country recovering from conflict, is one of many in Africa that are losing millions of dollars' worth of national resources that could be ploughed into development. The Southern African nation attracted scores of transnational crime syndicates during its decades-long civil war as the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) traded diamonds and other natural resources to fund its war against the government. When the war ended in 2002, some of its fighters switched from military activities to transnational crime.

The Rest @ AllAfrica.com

South Africa to Train Guinea-Bissau forces in drug Enfrcement

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 6 (Reuters) - South Africa will help Guinea-Bissau fight drugs cartels that have made the tiny West African country a key trafficking hub, the two countries said on Monday.

• Latin American drugs gangs use Guinea-Bissau's unpoliced shores, remote islands and bush airstrips to ferry millions of dollars worth of Colombian cocaine to lucrative European markets.
• "We do have a serious drug problem in our country although we do not produce drugs," Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Martinho Ndafa Kabi said after meeting Deputy South African President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on Monday.
• Several tonnes of cocaine have been seized in Guinea-Bissau and neighbouring Senegal in the past year.
• Experts say a critical lack of resources have hampered efforts by Guinea-Bissau's police to fight smuggling.
• Some officials have been accused of complicity with traffickers, although top members of the administration have denied involvement.
• Kabi said his country wanted to benefit from South Africa's experience in training its police and defence force.
  "I do not think that we position ourselves as a country that has all the answers or the capacity to respond, but we can exchange lessons, even where we have failed, since we have common challenges," Mlambo-Ngcuka said.

Reuters