Libya buying influence in Uganda and all over Africa

Recently free of years of UN sanctions, Qaddafi has been quietly buying influence . Using the 1.6 Billion barrels of oil Libya pumps per day.

The latest purchase of 51% by Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL) with 49 percent ownership retained by the Uganda government, gives them access into the inner workings of government and even policy, since the government now has a vested interest in making sure UTL dominates the local market.

The company also recently bought Tri Star Garments,

Libya's highest profile state owned oil company Tamoil won the 90 Million $ (US) oil pipeline between Uganda and Kenya(US) apparently without due diligence.

This is very interesting since in 2005 Tamoil was cash starved, and put a 60% ownership up for bid. It is not clear who bought them out, but they now seem to have lots of cash.


Libya has recently built a 5 star hotel on the banks of the Nile in Sudan. Locals call it "Qaddafi's Egg".

In July, 2004 Tamoil said it had agreed to buy Exxon Mobil's products and storage facilities in Niger, giving the Libyans control of jet fuel supplies to their
neighbor's two main airports.

This controls jet fuel to all the airports in Niger

It bought Royal Dutch/Shell's distribution assets in Eritrea, in northeast Africa,
It Controls more than 50% of the country's gasoline market

Expanding Libya's portfolio in Africa has been a primary focus for Tamoil, a 100%-owned subsidiary of Oilinvest, the Netherlands Antilles-based group established in 1988 as the oil investment arm of the Libyan government.

In a 2004 visit to Nigeria, an Oilinvest team expressed interest in buying either the Port Harcourt or Warri refineries, and setting up its own distribution network.

The group is also a majority shareholder in Odex Exploration, a joint venture with UK independent Soco and Russia's Gazprom eyeing upstream ventures in North Africa, including Libya.

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan arrested in Kenya

NAIROBI: The Kenyan police have arrested a man they believe to be a key Al Qaeda suspect who tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner and helped plan the simultaneous bombing of a hotel in 2002 that killed 15 people, officials said.

The man's identity was not immediately confirmed, but investigators said they believe he is Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior official in Kenya's security services told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the matter was classified.

read more from International Herald Tribune

Congo sells Uranium - to Iran?

The head of Congo’s atomic energy commission, Fortunat Lumu, and an aide were arrested, “accused of having illicitly sold a quantity of uranium,” Attorney General Tshimanga Mukendi said.

He refused to give the amount of uranium or the reported buyer. In August the government denied a report in The Sunday Times of London that a uranium shipment left its territory in 2005 for Iran. Officials declined to say if the arrests and the report in The Times were related

The two arrested were trying to create fictitious companies to sell uranium, Bonane said, adding they were in the process of selling off the radioactive materials when they were detained.
Bonane declined to give further details, saying investigations were continuing.

read more from the Houston Chronicle

80% of Al Qaida Web Masters killed in 4 years

I have been frustrated, at times, being unableto find these famous al Qaida web sites that are doing so much damage( if you read the press). Now I know. The Internet Haganah points out that most have been killed. They also demonstrate in an interesting new post that the effectiveness of al Quida online is mostly myth.

So the next question is, how will we do with the new wave of technology, blogs, utube, and public and social sites....

-Shimron

Ahmadinejad of Iran & Saudi King Abdullah meet in Riyadh

Saudi funds Sunnis and Iran funds Shias. The two who are fudning the Iraq insurrgency met Saturday....I would have loved to be fly on the wall there....I wonder if they discussed Lebanon and Africa....

-Shimron

TEHRAN, IRAN - The leaders of rival regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia are vowing to curb the sectarian strife that is increasingly defining conflict across the Middle East.

The pledge to calm tensions, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his first official visit to meet Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh on Saturday, illustrates the growing regional alarm over Shiite-Sunni violence. Sectarian bloodshed has soared in Iraq – often at the hands of allies and coreligionists of these rival nations – and is threatening stability in Lebanon.

Yet while both leaders prefer to blame outside actors for the increase in sectarian tension – their promises to support peace notwithstanding – elements in Iran and Saudi Arabia have helped to finance sectarian militias in Iraq and, in the case of the Saudis, engaged in heated sectarian rhetoric. Still the leaders stated that the "greatest danger" to Islam is the "attempt to fuel the fire of strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims" and called for unity, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

read more by Scott Peterson of the

Sunnis killed by Sunnis for talking to Shias

BAGHDAD (AP) — Six Sunni men who had received death threats for meeting with local Shiites were killed Saturday in execution-style slayings, Iraqi police and military officials said.

The attack near Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of the Iraqi capital, was apparently connected to rising sectarian violence that has included the claimed abduction and execution Friday of at least 14 members of the Shiite-led security forces. But in this case, Iraqi authorities said they believed Sunni gunmen had killed fellow Sunnis — revealing a rift between those who support reconciliation with Shiites and those who will kill to stop it.

read more from USAToday

Alms (Zakat) Pay for Jihad-by Islamic Law & Tradition

In the West, We about Islamic Alms giving. Christians or Jews may assume it is like the "Tithe" .

They would be wrong.

Though Zakat is to provide for the poor and other worthy causes like disaster relief, It is also used to Defend the Umma (Islamic Lands) and to expand them.

uses for Zakat are as follows: (from Wikipedia)

Faqir - One who has neither material possessions nor means of livelihood.
Miskin - One with insufficient means of livelihood to meet basic needs.
Amil - Workers associated with the collection and distribution of Zakat.
Muallafathul Quloob - One who converts to Islam. Literally those whose hearts are softened.
Riqab - One who wants to free himself from bondage or the shackles of slavery.
Gharmin - One who is in debt (money borrowed to meet basic, halal expenditure).
Fisabilillah - Literal meaning 'In the way of God', but it is used for Jihad.
Ibnus Sabil - One who is stranded in journey.

The Zakat is collected, and Islamic banks have accounts set up for the collectors of Zakat. Some accounts are co-mingled, or dedicated to Jihad, like Account 98

Therefore, if an Islamic Student group in the US collects donations to support Tsunami Victims in Indonesia, when the funds arrive in country it is perfectly ethical under Islamic Law and tradition to use the funds to equip and Pay Jihadists.

This is convenient. This means the student collectors in the US can plausibly deny knowledge of how the funds were spent and claim ignorance, calling the US government "liars" when investigators trace the funds back to them.

Question to ask your local Western Islamic Charity: If you collect for the poor, how will I know it will not be used to support Jihad?
....so look up carefully any islamic Charity that is operating in a Jihad region. There are a number of databases that various governments have created to identify Islamic Charities who have been used to fund Jihad. Many are listed in the collumn at the right.

-Shimron Issachar