Al Shabaab Arrests Elders in Bardhere Town in Gedo

Bardhere — The Al-Qaeda inspired militants of Al-shabab have early morning on Thursday detained a number of prominent elders in Gedo province southern strongholds of Somalia, according to witnesses and residents.

• Local residents indicated that Al-shabab fighters seized several elders, including a well-known community chief from their houses in their strong held-Bardhere town in Gedo region, which is located close to Somalia's border with neighboring Kenya.
• Mahamud Arahay, one of the intellectuals in Somalia's southern Gedo region confirmed to Shabelle Media in Mogadishu by the telephone, that elders were arrested by Al-shabab militants, while they were departing to El-gadud village in the same region, he added the reason behind the arrests is unclear so far.
• "The imprisoned local elders are not absolutely involved the country's politics or link with one of power struggling sides, they are impartial peace lovers and this is a part of problems against civilians committed in by Al-shabab fighters." Mr.Arahay. 
• Al-shabab fighters have not yet commented about the arrests in Gedo region of Somalia.

The Rest by the Shabelle Media Network. @AllAfrica.com

Black Market Disaster Relief Food Widely for Sale in Somalia

As humanitarian aid flows into Somalia in increasing quantities to feed over three million people suffering the effects of a famine that the UN says has killed tens of thousands, allegations of widespread aid diversion have been rife.

• Local militias and government soldiers have raided camps, killing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as they make off with food aid
• World Food Programme contractors have faced accusations of skimming maize off the top for sale on the local market, most notably in an article published last month by the Associated Press.

Somalia Report deployed a team of journalists to spend several weeks looking into the issue, which is particularly pertinent given that the UN and US sent a peacekeeping force into Somalia during the 1992 famine to secure aid being looted by warlords (a repeat of such actions is extremely unlikely).

Looting from camps

The direct theft of aid from camps is well-documented and impossible for the Transitional Federal Government to dispute.

• There have been over half-a-dozen cases of armed men, often in government uniform, shooting IDPs and stealing. 
• The government claims that, for the most part, these looters are freelance militia or members of militant Islamist group al-Shabaab in uniform, although it has admitted to several cases where its own men were guilty.

“The government has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or crimes against food aid. Several people have already been convicted and sentenced for looting in Bakara Market,” the government said in a statement after the AP story, also denying there was any evidence aid diversion was taking place on the scale AP journalist Katharine Houreld reported.

Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali announced the creation of a special force to protect aid deliveries and distribution in camps. According to IDPs, though, they are still not receiving any protection.

“We do not receive enough aid to feed our children even though it is widely seen and sold in the open market,” Abdiyow Aden, an IDP from Bakol region, living in Mogadishu’s Tawakal camp, told Somalia Report.

Early this week, IDPs in Waberi protested against militias stealing aid after a government soldier opened fire in the camp, killing more than ten people.

“The theft of aid is continuing more than before,” Mahad Mohamoud, an elderly man in the Waberi camp, told Somalia Report.

• A foreman at a camp, who wished to remain anonymous, said that militia had been hired to protect camps, but they were the very people who had previously been stealing aid.
• “The militias do not belong to a certain warlord - most are affiliated to clans dominating the area where the camp is located,” he told Somalia Report on condition of anonymity. 
• “If you do not hire them, IDPs and aid are in danger.”

Camp administrators are also accused of getting in on the act. Another source in a camp said that up to half of ration cards intended for IDPs are withheld, and the aid sold on.

“I came here last week and got nothing,” Batulo Nasir, who said she left her two children dead by the road as she trekked to a camp in Hamar Jajab, told Somalia Report. “Some people who run the area told me they will help me but so far there is no action.”

Independent analyst Omar Abdulle says that the sheer scale of the hunger means that soldiers and camp leaders are being driven to steal aid, for personal use or sale.“The troops’ families are also in need of food,” he told Somalia Report. “Even on the frontline, Somali military forces may loot food aid because of the scale of the humanitarian crises in the country.”

Alleged contractor theft

• WFP contractors are also accused of diverting aid even before it reaches camps, with dozens of activists, IDPs and local traders lining up to deliver accusations, most of which cannot be verified. 
• One of the most popular accusations is that a group of government and business individuals from the Warsangali sub-clan are operating under an umbrella called Warsan Star. 
• Somalia Report was given a list of names of these people, and others, but is withholding it due to a lack of any real evidence of involvement.

The WFP says it has distributed over 13,000 metric tons of food to Somalia since July, with around 40,000 metric tons expected to be delivered in the coming months, to feed 1.9 million people. The AP believes a significant amount of this aid is being diverted before it reaches the intended recipients, a claim many local activists believe to be true, with some even saying over 50% of aid goes missing after it arrives in Mogadishu’s port on vessels that are escorted by the European Union’s anti-piracy naval force.
“Aid is stolen after its shipment from the port to the IDP camp,” Abdulahi Mohamed Osman, an activist and local aid coordinator, told Somalia Report.

• Bille Abdi Hussein, a shopkeeper in the KM4 area, said traders were encouraged to profit from stolen aid.“A few months ago a friend of mind, whom I do not want to name, came to me and informed me that if I had $15,000 I could make a booming business here in Mogadishu,” he told Somalia Report. 
• “You have to go to WFP sub-contractors and their stock-keepers whenever they are in the capital. For example if you tell them you need to get 40 sacks of maize, then stock keepers may take the money from the dealer.”
• Aden Qoley, aid coordinator at the interior ministry, told reporters in Mogadishu this week there is evidence food aid is not being managed properly.

What is clear is that aid is being sold in large quantities in stores around Mogadishu.
A Somalia Report correspondent observed aid being sold by local traders in Hamar Weyne and Hamar Jajab districts. Our correspondent witnessed three trucks carrying food aid marked with the WFP stamp arrive nearby the Afar-Irdod police station in Hamar Weyne. The food, consisting of 50-kilogram sacks of maize and five-liter containers of oil, was divided amongst four stores.
A businesswoman who requested to be called Sahra Yusuf told Somalia Report that the food was bought by Hamar Weyne traders from areas near the KM4 junction.
“Here, the buying and selling of food aid has never been secret,” she said. “It has been going on for years.”
Some key locations where aid is sold (non-exhaustive) follows:

A cluster of stores consisting of six wide rooms, next the Ex-UK Embassy building in Hamar Jajab district. It is close to the sea port, and locals say that shortly after vessels have delivered aid, five or six trucks turn up at the store laden with WFP aid. Businessmen in the area say one truck goes for $6-7,000.
Opposite Afar-Irdod police station in Hamar Weyne there are three stores. One is always open for the sale of WFP maize and oil. Abdi Karin, who rents the store space, says he can sell once sack of maize for $21.5. A container of cooking oil costs $30.5 in Hamar Weyne market.
On Haw-Tako road, also near the police station, there are two stores which store looted aid, next to Hotel Muno. More than 300 sacks of WFP food aid were seen on sale recently, according to a local businessman.

According to Hamar Weyne trader Ismail Hashi, it is easy to get your hands on stolen aid for a good price – particularly food looted from camps, which needs to be got rid of quickly. The aid normally changes hands under the cloak of darkness.
“It is for sale, it is open to everybody,” local businessman Muse told Somalia Report. “WFP sub-contractors, camp leaders and government administrators in Hamar Weyne are aware of this.”
The AP had this to say in its article:

The AP found eight sites where aid food was being sold in bulk and numerous smaller stores. Among the items being sold were corn, grain, and Plumpy'nut — a specially fortified peanut butter designed for starving children.

WFP spokeswoman Challiss McDonough said that the only recorded case it had of theft was looting at a food distribution point on August 5, but said the organization treats “all and any allegations with the utmost seriousness and will deploy all means available to recover the losses and will hold those responsible to account.”

• All contractors are thoroughly screened to ensure theft does not happen, she said.
• “Since July 2011, WFP has begun again to work with seven former WFP cooperating partners in Mogadishu,” she told Somalia Report. “All partners are subject to strict screening to prove they have a history of providing the services required and the ability to perform the job specifications.”

Separating the aid that has been stolen and that which has been sold by IDPs can be difficult. Monetization of aid is a phenomenon that has been recorded in every area worldwide where aid has been distributed, and is driven by the needs of IDPs to buy basic goods not provided in food deliveries. Aid agencies accept this, although none of them will reveal their estimates of what percentage of aid gets onto markets in this manner.

“WFP has zero tolerance for any food misuse and takes all reports of our food for sale on markets very seriously but there are often legitimate and understandable reasons for some food being sold by beneficiaries,” said McDonough. “For example, a beneficiary may need to buy medicine or soap. WFP does not have a percentage for this but believes it to be very small indeed compared to the vast amount of food that reaches those in need of food assistance.”

For example,

• Somalia Report followed up on a tip that looted aid was delivered from a warehouse behind the Nasa Hablod hotel to markets in Seybiyano and Hamar Weyne, especially a shop called Geedi in Seybiyano. 
• However, our correspondent found 20 sacks of maize for sale (at $21 each), which traders around the store saw they saw being sold to the store by individual IDPs looking to cash in.

Tony Burns, operations director for local NGO SAACID, which delivers wet food to IDPs through feeding kitchens in Mogadishu, said he believed the majority of the aid on the market was sold directly by IDPs, and that the scale was exaggerated. He believes less than 1% of aid is being diverted.

“There has always been a strong barter trade in donated food - families need more than food, so they sell some or all for cash to buy other goods and services,” he told Somalia Report. “Concomitantly, the marginalised in Somali society cannot secure food for long periods, as it will be looted by militias – so they sell food for cash, which can much more easily be hidden.”

• “If people have to travel any distance to collect food, they will need to sell it, as they cannot risk it being stolen on the way home,” he added. “These reasons are much more likely for food to be in the markets than diversion.”
• Burns said the amount of aid reaching the market from IDPs would shoot up in the coming months.

“If you think you have seen food in the markets now, wait for a few weeks,” he said. “The recipients of the WFP distributions in the coming weeks will sell a lot of what they receive.”

Specific allegations

SAACID was one of the organizations named in the AP report as being involved in the theft of aid.

• The AP cited eight businessmen as saying they bought food from WFP contractor, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, known as Enow. 
• They also said that Enow’s wife, Khadija, was the head of SAACID, implying that he was using his contacts to get aid from the organization.
• However, Enow has been suspended by WFP since early last year – his only contract is drilling boreholes for the AU peacekeeping mission - while Khadija has not been country director of SAACID since 1997. 
• AP later issued a correction about Enow contracting for the WFP.

Khadija has not had any formal links with the organization - other than registering SACCID International in the US in 2008 and doing small-scale fundraising as a favor - since 1997, when she quit as country director, Burns said. Raha Janaqow has been country director since Khadija left.

Enow also issued a statement saying his company DEEQA Construction & Water Well Drilling Co. Ltd had not been involved with WFP since March 2010 and that the AP’s accusations the businessmen had paid money into his Dahabshiil account to secure stolen aid were untrue.

“The 'Mogadishu warehouse' operated by DEEQA (not mentioned in the AP story) is empty of food, and has been so for 16 months,” he said. “The allegation that I am selling WFP food from warehouses around the city is therefore baseless. Indeed, DEEQA's only warehouse in the Abdiaziz area of Mogadishu was destroyed during fighting in the city and looted - even its roof was taken. DEEQA does not have any other food warehouse in Mogadishu.”

Yet accusations against SAACID and Enow persist. The agency's name was mentioned by four traders Somalia Report spoke to, all of whom said there was a clan-based mafia linked with the aid agency running aid theft (which could suggest malicious rumors spread by rivals from other clans).

The site behind Nasa Hablod hotel was mentioned in the AP report as one of the hotspots for stolen aid to be sold, but Burns says this and the other claims are nonsense.

“The allegations have no substance at all,” he said. “Most of it is the recycled 2010 allegations that the UN has retracted. SAACID monitors our district partners, who implement the programme. DRC has monitors at all our sites and warehouses on a daily basis. WFP’s third-party monitors regularly visit our kitchen sites and warehouses.”

The site behind Nasa Hablod is a grinding and milling site, where SAACID has a temporary warehouse for the milled corn meal, before it goes on to the kitchen sites, and the land does not belong to Enow, but the government, Burns said (the AP reported that Enow was selling aid from the warehouse, not that he owned it).

“How many layers on monitoring do you need to have to accept that the program is delivering the agreed outputs? If we were not delivering, the best indicator for diversion would be the recipients themselves," he said. "They would be demonstrating and making it abundantly clear to everyone that we were stealing food. “
Janaqow also rejected the accusations, saying she has no links whatsoever with Enow.

“I’m very disappointed with the AP story in which it was stated that SAACID has been involved in stolen food aid,” she told Somalia Report. “Such a story was not exhaustive, and shameful.”

SAACID gave Somalia Report full access to its warehouses, administration offices and feeding sites in Mogadishu, including its main warehouse and the second grinding warehouse behind the Nasa Hablod hotel.

The storekeepers said they had over 21,000 sacks of maize and over 4,000 containers of cooking oil. The warehouse behind Nasa Hablod transports wet food to 16 sites across Mogadishu, and carries 2-3 days of stock.


Somalia Report, while admittedly on an accompanied and organized visit, saw no signs of irregularities. Equally, people living around the area were not able to provide any evidence, often confusing the movements of trucks carrying food aid along the road between the sea port and KM4 with trucks supposedly taking aid from the warehouse.

SAACID said companies with direct WFP deals were responsible for transporting both wet and dry maize, and that it had nothing to do with the movement of aid. SAACID signs a WFP Way Bill to confirm receipt of stock from companies, then hires independent truckers to take wet food to the feeding centers, it said. Our correspondent trailed several trucks, and once again was not able to find any hard evidence of aid theft.
Specific allegations were also made against Ahmed Makaran, Commissioner of Waberi district in Mogadishu, but he denied any wrongdoing.

“We are not involved in the corruption and stealing of food aid intended for the drought-stricken people; instead we support them and carry out nightly routine security patrols around the camps in our district,” he told Somalia Report.

We will not publish other names accused of wrongdoing due to a lack of evidence, and the refusal of those implicated to respond to the allegations.

The Rest @ Somalia Report

Jordan IP Searching for Al Shabaab Training Camp in Somalia

28 Aug 14:48:01 (GMT)Amman, Jordan IP Address 213.139.60.79 (Governorate) Searched on Russian Search engine Yandex for an Al shabaab Jihadist training camp in eel arfid, Somalia.

Search Data:


yandex.ru — eel aarfid
Host Name: Browser: Opera 11.5
IP Address: 213.139.60.79 — [Label IP Address] Operating System: WinXP
Location: Amman, Amman Governorate, Jordan Resolution: 1440x900
Returning Visits: 0 Javascript: Enabled
Visit Length: 0 seconds ISP: Jtc

Navigation Path

Date Time WebPage
yandex.ru — eel aarfid
28 Aug 14:48:01
Shimron Letters: Pakistani Clerics and Shabaab Recruiting Efforts

Somali Piracy Ransom Payments Funding Al Shabaab

Written July 6th, 2011

NAIROBI – Ransoms paid to Somali pirates to free merchant vessels are ending up in the hands of Islamist militants, laying shipping groups open to accusations of breaching international sanctions, U.N. officials told Reuters.

John Steed, the principal military adviser to the U.N. special envoy to Somalia and head of the envoy’s counter-piracy unit, said links between armed pirate gangs and Somalia’s al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were gradually firming.

“The payment of ransoms just like any other funding activity, illegal or otherwise, is technically in breach of the Somalia sanctions regime if it makes the security situation in Somalia worse,” said Steed.

“Especially if it is ending up in the hands of terrorists or militia leaders — and we believe it is, some directly, some more indirectly,” said Steed, a retired military officer.
Ransom demands have risen steadily in recent years. According to one study, the average ransom stood at $5.4 million (3.3 million pounds) in 2010, up from $150,000 in 2005, helping

Somali pirates rake in nearly $240 million last year.
Steed acknowledged he had no proof of an operational relationship between the pirates and the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels who control much of southern and central Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu.

Some political analysts said the policy of some Western governments to endorse the payment of ransoms, seen as fuelling the insecurity, is at odds with their financial support for the Somali government and the African troops propping it up.

Under the terms of the arms embargo on Somalia, financial support to armed groups in the Horn of Africa country is banned. Both the United States and Britain regard al Shabaab as a terrorist organisation.

The U.N.’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says pirates are increasingly launching their cross-ocean raids from the al Shabaab-controlled southern coastal city of Kismayu. Recruitment for pirates from the region was also on the rise, it said.

“Detained pirates tell us that some level of cooperation with al Shabaab is necessary to run a criminal enterprise,” said Alan Cole, piracy program coordinator at UNODC.
Al Shabaab sources agree.

“If there was no relationship between us, there is no way the pirates would be able to operate, or carry their weapons within zones we control,” said an al Shabaab militant based in the pirate haven of Haradhere, north of Mogadishu.

BIGGEST GAMES IN TOWN

Natznet Tesfay of Executive Analysis said al Shabaab was heavily involved in

• Smuggling through Kismayu,
• Slapping taxes on illegal charcoal exports to the Gulf,
• Arms shipments from Yemen
• Electronic goods destined for the region.

“Piracy and contraband smuggling are the two biggest games around,” said Tesfay at the specialist intelligence company.

Tesfay said she had yet to see evidence of an “operational relationship” between the pirates and al Shabaab but that the militants had a reputation for monopolising key income-earning sectors once they had taken control of an area.


In February al Shabaab seized a number of pirate gang leaders in Haradhere and forced them to accept a multi-million dollar deal under which the pirates would hand over 20 percent of future ransoms.

A Reuters investigation found the following payments had been made to al Shabaab’s “marine office”:

• On February 25: $200,000 from the release of the Japanese-owned MV Izumi after pirates received a $4.5 million ransom.
• On March 8: $80,000 from the $2 million release of the St Vincent & Grenadines-flagged MV Rak Africana.
• On March 9: $100,000 after the Singapore-flagged MV York was freed for $4.5 million.
• On April 13: $600,000 from the release of the German ship Beluga Nomination after a $5.5 million ransom was paid.
• On April 15: A $66,000 share of the $3.6 million ransom handed over for the Panama-flagged MV Asphalt Venture.
• On May 14: $100,000 from the release of two Spanish crew of the Spanish-owned FV VEGA 5.

The amounts were corroborated by pirates, al Shabaab militants and residents of Haradhere.

ONLY WAY TO FREE HOSTAGES

“Some money has to be ending up in al Shabaab’s hands,” said Michael Frodl, a Washington Lawyer and head of C-level Maritime Risks, which advises Lloyd’s of London underwriters.

Frodl questioned whether payment of ransoms would be even an indirect breach of the arms embargo, but said that if proved, it might break laws in the United States and Britain against funding terrorism.

Sanctions experts said ransoms could violate the arms embargo if they were voluntary financial support to armed groups in Somalia, but said the payments could be considered extortion, and therefore involuntary, blurring the issue.

Some Horn of Africa experts argued there appeared to be no clear systematic link between pirates and al Shabaab’s central command, but there probably were ties at a more local level.

It was likely there was a bleeding of pirate money to local rebel commanders through clan ties, “taxes” or even protection money, they said.

C-level Maritime’s Frodl said the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) carried out reviews of all potential ransom payments to determine if the pirate group in question had ever handed over part of a ransom to al Shabaab.

• “Most times OFAC has authorised payment because it has found no link,” Frodl said. “But if there is indeed a 20 percent ‘tax’ being applied by Shabaab against pirate ransoms in Haradhere, a major pirate hub it now controls, then things could change.”

In April 2010, President Barack Obama issued an executive order barring any financial dealings with 11 masterminds of the Somali conflict. According to the OFAC, two of them are in charge of pirate gangs.

While Washington has firmly opposed ransom payments, counter-piracy experts say London — home to the world’s shipping and insurance industries — has demonstrated a conspicuous lack of appetite to follow suit.

The UK Chamber of Shipping said it would continue to consider piracy a criminal activity, until proof emerged of financial ties between the sea-bandits and insurgents.

The association welcomed what it called the government’s “balanced view” in refraining from preventing ransom deals.

“Frankly, that’s the only way we get people released,” said Mark Brownrigg, the chamber’s director-general.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu and Jonathan Saul in London, editing by Tim Pearce)

The Rest @ Reuters via Somali Diaspora News

Shabaab Threat Continues in Uganda

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA, May 27 (Reuters) - Uganda police warned soccer fans on Friday that Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents could attack them while they watch Saturday's Champions League final.

Abbas Byakagaba, the director of the police anti terrorism unit, told a news conference that the al Qaeda-affiliated insurgents could also strike on June 3, the Matyrs' Day public holiday and that they had boosted security in the country.

Al Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency against Somalia's Western-backed government, claimed responsibility for the bombings in Kampala while fans watched last year's World Cup final on television, killing 79.

The Somali insurgents have in the past issued warnings of possible strikes the east African country to try to force it to withdraw its peacekeeping troops deployed in Somalia, as part of an African Union mission (AMISOM).

"We have several events coming up: we have European Champions League finals, there's the Martyrs Day and the information we have is that al Shabaab is targeting these events," Byakagaba said, referring to the match at London's Wembley stadium between Manchester United and Barcelona.

Byakagaba said they had intelligence indicating that an unspecified number of al Shaabaab operatives had entered the country and were planning to launch attacks on crowded areas and big events, adding: "We have heightened our vigilance."

Earlier this week Uganda's opposition dismissed as scaremongering a police warning that al Shabaab was planning to assassinate their leaders and said it was a ploy to scare them off protests against food and fuel riots.

Al Shabaab has criticised Ugandans for re-electing President Yoweri Museveni, who they blame for invading their country.

AMISOM -- which also comprises soldiers from Burundi -- says its forces now control more than 60 percent of Mogadishu. Horn of Africa experts say they are all that prevent the insurgents from toppling an administration plagued by rifts and corruption. (by Elias Biryabarema, )Editing by George Obulutsa)

The Rest @ Alert Net (Reuters)

Internet Out in al: Bakara Market, Mogadishu Somalia

Nairobi — Telecommunications companies based in Somalia's largest open-air market have been hit by stray shells in the latest round of fighting, leading to internet failure in the past four days.

"Our internet service has been down since 24 May," a senior official of an internet service provider, who requested anonymity, told IRIN on 26 May.

The official said many people's livelihoods depend on internet use; "for many businesses and journalists, the internet is their lifeline".

He said his company was trying to revive the service. "We depend on the telecoms companies and when they get hit we are also hit."

A local radio journalist told IRIN he was unable to send his reports to his station based outside the country. "It is very frustrating."

The three major telecommunications companies, Nationlink, Hormood and Olympic, have their most important equipment at Bakara market, which has been a flashpoint in the fighting between insurgents and government troops backed by African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers in the past two weeks.

"When we were setting up, in the 1990s, Bakara market was the safest place but now it is the most dangerous," another official of a telecommunications company said.

The official told IRIN the headquarters of Hormood - the largest telecommunications firm in the country - in Bakara had been repeatedly hit by shells, killing and injuring staff and destroying equipment.

"It is not easy for us to move the equipment we have here, so we are caught in the middle of a war zone," the official said.

In the past eight days, government and AMISOM troops have intensified an offensive to dislodge Al-Shabab insurgents who control Bakara market and parts of the city.

AMISOM spokesman Maj Paddy Ankunda told IRIN on 27 May that the mission was urging civilians not to expose themselves to crossfire.

"We have secured the road nearest Bakara as well as the southern and western edges of the market; I cannot put a time tag on how long the fighting will go on but we are urging civilians to get out of entanglement [in the fighting] as they will become increasingly vulnerable," Ankunda said.

"About 80 percent of civilians [in Al-Shabab-held areas] have left for areas controlled by the government because of insecurity; if Al-Shabab chooses to continue fighting, they will bear the responsibility for the damage caused to Bakara market," Ankunda said

Al Shabaab Mujahadeen

Al Shabaab Taxing Afgoye

May 15, 2011

al Shabaab taxing business people in Afgoye, L0wer Shabelle

****************

Afgoye — Al shabaab, which is in fighting in several frontlines in Mogadishu, southern and central Somalia, on Saturday, imposed strict financial orders on the businessmen in Afgoye town in Lower Shabelle region in south of the country.

Witnesses said that the officials of the group held a meeting local traders discussing to support their battles against Somali government and AMISOM forces.

After the meeting, the traders of small business stalls were ordered to pay amounts ranging between 20 and 40 $.

The officials of Al shabaab also ordered the businessmen with big stories and big businesses to pay 200 or 100 $.

Also, the IDPs, who live in the former government building in Afgoye town, about 30 km southwest of Mogadishu, have to give 10 up to 20 US $.

The Rest @ All Africa

Al Qaeda's Africa Express East -Khartoum to Mogadishu

There seems to be an al Qaeda resupply route running fro Khartoum to Mogadishu.

Another al Shabaab member was just detained in the same area as the other four, carrying bomb making materials from Kenya to Somalia. This time, an Arab. He claims to have come a similar route as the other four. They seem to have no papers or forged papers and when they have passports, they have no stamps in them.

This suggests that there is a regular route from South Eastern Sudan, across the Northern frontier of Kenya near the Ethiopia border, crossing over into Southern Somalia.

It's worth Exploring whether the South Sudan Liberation Army in South Sudan are providing safe conduct for Islamist terrorists connected to al Qaeda from Khartoum through South Sudan, being handed off to Somali tribes in North Kenya who then move them through to the Somali border.

This would be third land resupply and route for al Shabaab, and suggests that the Kenya border with Somalia is tighter now than it used to be. If this is true, then there is probably a small but key transportation organization lead travelers on that route.

-Shimron Issachar

*************

By Cyrus Ombati

A man believed to be an Al-Shabaab militant was arrested and bomb-making material seized from him as he tried to cross into Somalia at the Liboi border.

The man who police said is of Arab origin was carrying a powder and other chemicals used in assembling explosives.

He told police he had come from Sudan via Uganda before entering Kenya through the Busia border.

Anti-terror police who are interrogating him are, however, puzzled his passport does not bear the stamps of the borders he claims to have crossed.

"We do not know why his passport is not stamped, but he insists he came from Sudan and is headed to Somalia to teach his followers," said a senior officer, who sought anonymity.

Train militants

A Ugandan national who wanted to cross into Somalia was also nabbed at the same border. Police say they are yet to establish the pair’s motive for crossing into Somalia but suspect they were going to train the militant group.

Both men were driven to Garissa where anti-terror police interrogated them. Police on Thursday issued a terror alert, citing intelligence reports, that Al-Shabaab was planning attacks during Easter.

Commissioner of Police Mathew Iteere cautioned Kenyans to be careful when visiting shopping malls, places of worship, Government buildings and recreational centres.

"We wish to inform the public that Police headquarters has received intelligence that Al-Shabaab has threatened to carry out violent attacks on certain targets," said Iteere.

The police boss advised the management of targeted places to enhance security.

"Members of public are also reminded it is their civic duty to co-operate with legitimate security personnel to improve security and safety. We also wish to encourage the public to promptly report any suspicious activities or characters to police.

"It is encouraging to note that due to this co-operation there is a marked improvement in the flow of information between police and the public," he said.

This is the second time this year that the terror group threatens to hit Kenya for supporting Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

The group had two months ago threatened to hit Kenya for training TFG security personnel.

TFG is battling with the gang at the Kenyan border to oust them from the region. The group was blamed for the bomb attacks on fans during the World Cup finals in Kampala that killed more than 70 people, last year.

At least eight Kenyans are among suspects being held over the bombing. The same group was also blamed for the bombing of a bus in Nairobi that killed at least one person last year.

President Obama Signs Executive Order to Continue Somali "Situation"

WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- Piracy and persistent violence in Somalia requires an extension of a national emergency as it pertains to U.S. interests, the White House said.

The transitional government in Somalia is struggling to expand its control beyond a small portion of Mogadishu as it battles against al-Qaida fighters in al-Shabaab bent on establishing an Islamic state.O

U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order describing an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national and foreign policy interests.

Obama said there was a deteriorating security situation in Somalia complicated by acts of piracy off the Somali coast.

"Because the situation with respect to Somalia continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on April 12, 2010, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond April 12, 2011," the presidential statement read.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a February suicide attack at a police station that killed 10 people, including civilians and high-ranking police officials.

Four Americans were killed that month off the coast of Somalia after gunfire erupted during an attempt by the U.S. Navy to broker their release

The European Union, meanwhile, agreed recently to support the African Union mission in Somalia with around $92.5 million to help its work in the war-torn country.

Somalia hasn't had a functioning government since 1991.

The Rest @ UPI

New Somali State of Azania Declared

Somalia creates new state, Azania

MALKHADIR M. MUHUMED

Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya

Somali politicians on Sunday announced the creation of a new state in the battle-scarred nation, a move condemned by Somalia's fragile government, which said it could further fracture the already chaotic Horn of Africa country.

The creation of Azania was celebrated Sunday in a colorful ceremony in Kenya's capital. Its creation brings the total number of new states to more than 10.

Kenya supports the new administration as it creates a buffer zone near its border with Somalia.

Azania President Mohamed Abdi Gandhi said his first duty is to retake his territory from al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab.

"Our aim of establishing this administration is to first liberate these regions," he said. "We are not breaking away from Somalia."

Much of Somalia's southern and central regions, including large swaths of the capital of Mogadishu, are controlled by al-Shabab.

But Somali Information Minister Abdulkareem Jama said the new states are a bad idea.

"Taking that path is a disaster," he said. "The idea that every region and every group of people has to form their own government without the consultation of the national government will only create more differences among communities and encourage Somalis not to come together."

Somalia's interim charter allows for new states. The idea is appealing to many, who still bear hatred toward the country's last centralized government, which failed to accommodate many residents outside the capital. Somalia has been mired in chaos since the fall of that government in 1991.

In 1991, inhabitants of northern Somalia formed their own administration called Somaliland. The region is independent from Mogadishu but does not have international recognition.

In 1998, residents of the northeast followed suit by creating the semiautonomous region of Puntland.

"The whole process is being driven by local people who just said 'let's try at different options that are responsive to our local needs,'" said Rashid Abdi, a Somali expert at the International Crisis Group.

Many say the rush to form these states may create conflicts among communities because of the lack of demarcated borders. The national government can do little, as it can barely control a few blocks of the capital, where it is busy battling Islamist militants.

"The biggest danger of this trend is that in a few contested areas the declaration of regional administrations could trigger armed clashes between clans or other social groups," said Ken Menkhaus, a Somali expert at North Carolina's Davidson College.

By law, the government is required to promote and develop state governments to ensure that the process of federalism takes place within two and a half years.

"The government has failed those people who are establishing new administrations," said Asha Gele, Puntland's minister for women and family affairs, and one of the founders of the administration. "If the government gave them directions they would not have acted by themselves. What is missing is the government's role."

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Al Qaeda Moves Deeper into Africa

No new news... Al Qaeda is increasingly moving their efforts South and West to their outposts in the Sahel (AQIM) Yemen and Somalia....

-Shimron


Terrorism experts say the world has every reason to be concerned about terrorism in 2011 and beyond. They say al-Qaida may be slowly dying in Afghanistan, but its tentacles around the world live on in very remote areas.

They also say frustration among the poor in the Middle East and Africa could lead to new ethnic and political conflicts. The turmoil, they say, could embolden al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb popularly known as AQIM in that region. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of an Islamist insurgency movement in Algeria, merging with al-Qaida in 2006 and spreading through the Sahara and the Sahel region.

Ronald Noble, secretary-general of the police organization Interpol, has said those portions of Africa along with Somalia may become the next Afghanistan for al-Qaida.

Former CIA official and counter-terrorism expert Charles Allen says the recent turmoil in the Sahara and Sahel could further embolden al-Qaida, because it could see the unrest as a result of its own campaign.

"They have appealed continuously, whether it is in Yemen or in North Africa, that there are impoverished communities and then there are wealthy oligarchs who control the masses. This is a long standard ideological campaign that has been relatively effective," he said.He says al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb or AQIM, along with its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, has been using this region as a breeding ground for its activities."It functions as an umbrella organization for a disparate collection of Sunni Muslim terrorist elements determined to attack what they see as apostate regimes in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania and Morocco.

The bulk of AQIM forces are located in southern Algeria, northern Mali and Mauritania," he said.Morocco’s ambassador to Washington, Aziz Mekouar is more concerned about the Sahara region in particular because it is now being used by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs to Europe. He says AQIM is trying to take advantage of the situation.

• "We see these Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers using West Africa and the Sahara region to covey drugs to the European markets. That is very dangerous.
• You will see in the future a combination of al-Qaida, drug traffickers, and human traffickers," he said.
• He says the countries of the region should come together to stop this activity and prevent al-Qaida from exploiting the situation.
• Last year, Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger set up a joint headquarters in southern Algeria to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts.
• The four countries' army chiefs met to establish a joint strategy against al-Qaida.

Allen says the focus in 2011 should be to make it more difficult for the al-Qaida leaders to recruit the unemployed and frustrated youth. That, he says, will require cooperation on a global scale to push for political and social reforms and poverty reduction. It will also require, he says, a global effort to educate the younger generation what he calls the real Islam that he says teaches that killing one person means killing all of humanity.

the Rest @ VOA

Friends of al Shabaab

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Al Shabaa Claims it will retake Mogadishu

Insurgent group al Shabaab has made a dramatic statement, one day after Somalian Prime Minister Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed said the government, allied with the international community, has the ability to eliminate the threat posed by militants.

In a press conference in Mogadishu, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, the spokesman of the al Qaeda-inspired group, described the government’s comments as a "dream."

Rage said the fight is between al Shabaab and the transitional federal government of Somalia, which has international support. “The [United Nations Security Council] special meeting on Somalia in New York was a forum in which Somali government officials were begging for infidels,” Rage said.

He called on Somalis, already exhausted from civil war, to "get ready" for new combat with the Somali government, vowing al Shabaab will retake Mogadishu.

Rage also criticized local media, saying that they were spreading news about al Shabaab that was baseless and false. He called on the people to not believe the reports.

Al Shabaab’s statements come as the Somali prime minister stated in an interview with Voice of America that it is in the interest of the international community to help his government eliminate the threat posed by the insurgents. He warned that failure to do so will create a haven for terrorists, including al Qaeda, in Somalia.

The Rest @ AHN

Somali Bound Arms Captured in South Africa

Dec 23 2010

An arms-shipment from Malta, purportedly earmarked to 'help fight Somalian pirates', was 'illegally diverted" to the illegal arms trade in South Africa claims the SAPS, whose task force raided a Westville Durban home and confiscated

• 308 rifles,
• two shotguns,
• two AM3 assault rifles with telescopic lens and silencers, and
• 592 rounds of ammunition.

The South African harbour is well known among international security agencies for its many illegal shipments of weapons to African 'rebels' and terrorist groups

Four people of unknown origin including three women, were arrested on Thursday when Durban police raided a Westville home and seized weapons and ammunition which the Mercury wrote was 'believed to be destined for Somalia to help in the fight against piracy, but which had been illegally diverted".

Nompumelelo Magwaza and Kyle Venktess wrote in the Mercury that the weapons came from Malta (which has no arms industry…).

Police spokesman Lt-Col Vincent Mdunge refused to tell the Mercury who this arms shipment had been designated to, claiming 'itwas still being investigated".

The investigation which led them to the house in Westville had been ongoing and more firearms could be found. "We believe the firearms were illegally diverted to South Africa, but how they ended up in Durban remains a mystery," he said. "We believe the house was being used as a firearms holding area," Mdunge said.

Those arrested, two 20-year-old women, a 28-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man, would appear in the Pinetown Magistrate's Court today. It is believed that part of the house had been converted into offices where two women were working.

Who was buying these weapons headed for Somalia?

There is indeed a rather strangely-convoluted and secretive trade going on between South African business people in Zululand and Somalia's mineral-rich, self-styled independent Puntland region (pop. 2.4-million) which also is important to the international naval task force fighting Somalian piracy. There apparently is an an ethnic-cleansing campaign going on against the Warsangali tribe living in the mineral-rich villages, allegedly being led by warlord Cabdiraxman Faroole if Western military sources are to be believed.

They claim that he used to be engaged in human trafficking and piracy but that the traditional council of Puntland has lately 'taken a hard line against piracy.' Faroole apparently has signed deals to sell the region's rare minerals and tin to an Australian mining company. To do all this, he obviously needs lots of firearms to make the area secure for mining.

Puntland warlord Cabdiraxman Faroole training more than a thousand soldiers:Puntland's warlord is said to be training more than a thousand soldiers: to 'fight piracy' as he claims, but Somalia and the Pentagon are accusing him of mounting an ethnic cleansing campaign against local Warsangali tribesmen to make the region secure for an Australian company to mine the region's 30,000 tons of tin mineral worth about 250 million American dollars.

Two villages in particular are being converted into safe mining regions: Galgala and Mijayahan. Somalia's provisional 'government' arrested "six Russian crew members" and seized this hired South African plane which was 'carrying military supplies to Puntland' the Somalian authorities claimed.']

However it may all have been a terrible mistake… the plane may have been hired by an American documentary-producer to transport a South African TV-crew to cover a news story in Somalia… all the equipment found on board were of a 'non-lethal' nature…

Somaliland's interior minister, Mohamed Abdi Gabose, was adamant however, telling reporters in the regional capital Hargeysa that the cargo plane was in violation of the international arms embargo on Somalia.

"The aircraft was originally coming from South Africa and Kampala. They asked for permission to land at our airport after experiencing a fuel shortage," Gabose said. "But it landed before we officially gave our green light and we have seized the plane," he said, adding that the six crew members were arrested.

"This aircraft was heading to Puntland and carried military uniforms as well as other supplies for the newly recruited militiamen," the minister claimed. -----------Puntland is crucial to the multinational task-force which fights the Somalian pirates: most of their naval bases are along its shoreline.

The US-government has however been vehemently opposed to Somalia's use of the UK-based 'private security company' Saracen International to help 'train a dedicated anti-piracy force'.

The Pentagon was angered by the move, claiming that it was concerned over 'the lack of transparency regarding the funding'. "This company that is training the militiamen is doing illegal business and violated the international arms embargo on Somalia," Gabose said. "The military training provided to Puntland is a threat to Somaliland's security and to that of the region in general," he said. Airport officials said heavy security was deployed around the plane as its cargo and manifest were being further investigated.http://ping.fm/x4voE '

Afrikaner TV-journalists released by Somalia: mistaken for mercenaries: The Mercury noted in their story however that Afrikaner TV-journalists Anton van der Merwe and Chris Everson from Cape Town were released by the Somalian authorities.

They were mistaken for mercenaries and were arrested in Somalia on December 10.The two journalists work for SPA, an American documentary news show and had been enroute to cover an independent production in Somalia. They were arrested when boarding a charter aircraft which had been arranged for them by the American company.http://ping.fm/kK14M---------------------------------------------Somalian pirates still hold two white South Africans:

Somali pirates have been involved in horrifically cruel kidnappings and hijackings of ships and their crews along the entire East Coast of Africa up to Kenya for the past two decades. As their wealth grew, they have become more sophisticated: purchasing hi-tech equipment and focussing on kidnapping the most lucrative targets: whites on board ships passing the East-African coastline.

White captives fetch millions of dollars in ransom and because the pirates also use the news media to put pressure on the families of their captives, they usually get paid very well indeed. At the moment, one white couple from Durban is still held captive: Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Caitz were kidnapped by the armed pirates along with skipper Peter Eldridge on October 26. Within ten days, a Dutch naval vessel ran their vessel ashore; forcing the pirates to flee with the couple while leaving Eldridge behind: he refused to leave the yacht. Eldridge was then brought back to Richards Bay by the Dutch naval vessel.

The International Maritime Organisation and the World Food Programme have expressed concern over the alarming rise in piracy along the East African coastline. For the past ten years, companies have increasingly been diverting their ships around the Cape of Good Hope, causing soaring shipping coasts and seriously interfering with the shipments of emergency food-aid to famine-struck regions.

A multinational coalition naval task force including Russia, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, the USA and Japan has been set up to patrol the vast stretches of Indian ocean to combat the scourge. Increasingly wealthy Somalian pirates in their high-speed boats have kidnapped thousands of people and hundreds of marine vessels from as far away from Somalia as the Seychelles islands and even in Kenya. This was a compilation of the Mercury articleand other news sources.

The Rest @ The Long Walk Since Freedom