Kenya - Somali Joint Anti-Pirate Patrols to Begin

October 9, 2008: Kenya on Wednesday woke up to the piracy shock in its economy with an announcement that it is teaming up with Somalia to ensure the safety of ships around the Gulf of Aden.

Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula and his Somalia counterpart Ali Jamma said though naval security patrols was the immediate preferred solution, it would only be temporary and urged the international community to help resolve the governance crisis in the Horn of Africa. “

The piracy is just a symptom of an internal problem that should be best tackled by securing lasting peace in Somalia,” Mr Wetangula told journalists in Nairobi .

• In less than two years, more that 50 vessels have been seized off the Somalia coast and cargo owners forced to part with huge amounts of money in ransoms for the release of their wares.
  
• In a latest high profile incident, pirates captured a Ukrainian registered ship MV Faina with some 33 T-72 tanks and other artillery aboard and destined for the Port of Mombasa.
  Its captors are demanding $20 million in ransom even as controversy rages over the ownership of the cargo. There have been claims that the consignment was destined for Southern Sudan contrary to Kenya’s stand that the arsenal belonged to its army.
• East African households and businesses continued to feel the piracy heat as some merchant ship owners threatened to pull out from the troubled water way unless urgent steps were taken to guarantee the safety of their crew and cargo.
• “The piracy is indeed posing a major threat to the region and is undermining trade routes in Europe, the Middle East as well as the far East,” Mr Wetangula said, noting that Kenya and Somalia were negotiating with naval super powers such as the UK, the US , Russia and France for a remedial strategy.

Besides working for a stable government in Somalia, he said, the two Eastern Africa nations will conduct joint permanent naval patrols along their coastlines to deal with the pirates. “

• We want to engage our international partners in permanent patrols along the major trade routes because we face a real risk of merchant ships avoiding the region,” he said.
• “We want to take advantage of the new UN Security Council, resolution to push for this joint patrols.”
• The UN Council on Tuesday issued a repeat call urging countries with naval vessels deployed around the Horn of Africa to do whatever is needed to stamp out piracy off the coast of Somalia.

The 15-member council passed a similar resolution in June that gave countries the right to actively combat a surge in ship hijackings around Somalia for ransom. Mr Wetangula said the resolution accorded Kenya and other naval units powers to pursue pirate groups operating on the Somalia coastal water.

“We can now use extraterritorial force to get the pirates. "

"We are now free to fight them everywhere and anywhere off the coast of Somalia,” he said.

Somalia’s Foreign Affairs minister Ali Jamma said stabilisation of the governance system in the Horn Of Africa was the ultimate solution and needed to be supported by the international community.

“Piracy is just but one of the elements of the Somalia governance problem. We need an international stabilisation force to come and address the wider causative factor,” he told the press briefing.

He claimed lawlessness had seen illegal groups make huge investments in arms and equipment that were used in obscure ventures such as piracy. Kenya has insisted that the consignment of cargo aboard the MV Faina belonged to its military establishment contrary to claims by the London based news outfit BBC.

On Tuesday, the BBC claimed that it had obtained a copy of the cargo manifest that indicated that the contract for the artillery had been issued on behalf of the Southern Sudan with the Kenya Defence ministry listed as the consignee.

According to the BBC report, contract numbers for the military ware including 33 tanks, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns contained the initials GOSS which ostensibly referred to the Government of Southern Sudan.

Mr Wetangula, however, termed the claims as erroneous saying the initials GOSS referred to General Ordinance Supplies and Security.

while another set of initials MSOD carried on the cargo manifest translated to the Kenyan ministry of State for Defence.

“Such speculation is not healthy and will not in any way help in tackling the matter at hand. The cargo is Kenya’s as we have said several times,” he said.

The minister said Kenya was keen on reclaiming its held cargo but stated they would not part with any ransom payout despite reports that there was a near deal between the MV Faina owners and the pirates that could see the vessel released in the next few days.

“We are not going to pay any ransom because it only served to abate piracy. We dont want to propogate a crime by according the criminals an enticement,” said Mr Wetangula.

The Rest @ Raxanreeb

Viktor Bout and Beltech Export Connection

This is the entire snippit from Aairplanebuysale. The Videos no longer exisit

July 2006

Is Russia using Belarus as a proxy agent to sell weapons to regimes like Iran or North Korea? Reports are emerging which paint a disturbing picture.

For more than a decade, President Lukashenko has maintained his grip on power using proceeds from the global arms trade.

Victor Bout, one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers, is believed to be behind Belarus’ highest profile arms company, Beltechexport.

“He’s the man who helped Beltechexport become a major player in the arms market,” states journalist Svetlana Klink. But as former KGB agent Sergio Anisko points out: “Bout has deep connections with the Russian military.”

Anisko claims Lukashenko is little more that the Krelim’s puppet. “The FSB doesn’t just have complete control of the Belarusian military, it dictates Belarusian policy.”

He also believes the most controversial arms sales are made on behalf of Moscow. But since Russia manufactured the only anti-aircraft missile capable of fending off an American attack, Washington is paying close attention to Belarus. It fears this weapon could end up in the hands of countries like Iran.

As David Kramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State declares: “The US is not going to sit ideally by while Lukashenko engages in reckless and dangerous arms sales.”

Duration : 0:22:53

This is the entire snippit from Aairplanebuysale. The Videos no longer exisit that I can find.

-Shimron

Al Shabaab has Influence in the Somali Goverment?

Garow Reports stataements by Mohamed "Dheere" Omar, which imply that the Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan is connected to the Shabaab.

This should not be of any surprise to anyone. Shabaab is trying to establish their own autonomy, since the have declared the " Islamic Emirate of Somalia ". They own the southern Third of Somalia right now, with two squeamish partners who are terrified of al Shabaab's unpredictability and viciousness.

This uneasy bickering will continue until the next phase of the war. All sides appear to be rearming, reequipping, and al Shabaab is training new International Islamist recruits for incursions into Ethiopia and possibly Kenya.

There will be no peace as long as al Shabaab exists, has arms and Eastern Ethiopia and Kenya are not Islamic states.

-Shimron

AQIM Takin Leadership Away from al Qaeda Core Leaders

Algeria/Terrorism: AQIM senior official urges followers to target Algeria
Abou Oubaïda Youssef Al-Annabi, chairman of AQIM’s senior officials council urged all “Muslims” from North Africa to join the terrorist organization and to target “Jewsih and Christian interests in Algeria.”

Those threats were made public Monday in a 30-minute audio statement released on Islamic Internet forums.

In a message that comes a few days after the end of the month of Ramadan, AQIM leader called jihadist groups to unite in order to defeat the enemy and to provoke “more blood and destruction.”

Lastly, Abou Oubaïda Youssef Al-Annabi, who greeted fellow militants in Palestine, Caucasus, Iraq and Afghanistan for Eid, urged all Muslims to fight to free the cities of Ceuta and Melilla as well as Andalusia.

European Strategic Intelligence Center

Richard Chichakli Still Denying that he is Viktor Bout's Accountant

Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Litigation against OFAC, Connection to Viktor Bout had been Alleged

Editor's Note: Mr. Chichakli maintains a http://www.chichakli.com information about his case.


On September 26 the Fifth Circuit vacated in part an Order freezing the assets of Richard A Chichakli by the Office of Foreign Asset Control.

[ Keep in Mind that the original source for the following Information is Richard A Chichakli's personal website. It is his habit to deny the truth, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. An Italian Journalist, published in a local paper reported that Richard A Chichakli set up his interview with Viktor Bout, and told him that he handled his finances. While this is hearsay evidence, it is true that the Italian author actually did interview Viktor Bout at a time when he was living underground.

-Shimron]



"Richard Chichakli had challenged a “Blocking Notice” issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). He asserts the Blocking Notice was unconstitutional and the evidence was insufficient to support entry of the Notice against him. The district court granted summary judgment on all claims in favor of Defendants. We affirm the district court except for the ruling regarding a taking. We vacate that part of the judgment, as explained below."

In July 2004, President Bush issued an Executive Order, which declared a national emergency with respect to Liberia. The Order authorized the freezing of the assets of 28 individuals, including Viktor Bout, who were deemed to be contributing to the unstable situation in Liberia as well as anyone found “acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.”

OFAC later claimed that Chichakli was acting on behalf of Bout. A Blocking Notice was issued, subjecting Chichakli to the sanctions set out in the Executive Order. After OFAC denied reconsideration of the denial, Chichakli filed this suit, asserting violations of his due process rights, of the Takings Clause, and of the Administrative Procedures Act.

The Fifth Circuit did not find any violation of due process for having been denied an opportunity to challenge the freeze prior to its having gone into effect.


The district court had held (1) that the pre-notice deprivation was necessary to secure an important government interest as demonstrated by the Executive Order that declared conditions in Liberia to be a serious threat to the foreign policy of the United States, (2) that there was a special need for prompt action to protect against the transfer of the assets that were subject to the Executive Order, and (3) that the Executive Order narrowly set out the criteria that the Treasury Department could use to identify affected individuals to ensure that the deprivation was not baseless.

Chichakli's also claimed that the Government's actions in freezing his assets constituted an unconstitutional taking without compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment. The district court held that OFAC's blocking action was not a taking within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment because title to the property never vested in the government.

The Court also ruled that Chichakli's claims were in excess of $10,000 and therefore falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims. Because the district court did not have jurisdiction to decide this issue, we vacate the district court's judgment as it relates to Chichakli's takings claim under the Fifth Amendment.

Chichakli's also challenged the sufficiency of the evidence that he was purporting to act on behalf of Viktor Bout. We review OFAC's designation of him as someone who was assisting Bout for whether the determination was “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.”

Chichakli's specific challenge is to the relevance and reliability of certain information utilized by OFAC to justify the blocking order. The district court pointed out that the evidence supports the conclusions that Chichakli held senior level positions in several businesses connected with Bout, that Chichakli had a close relationship with Bout, and that he had intimate knowledge of Bout's businesses. Therefore, the district court correctly held that OFAC did not act in an arbitrary and capricious manner in determining that Chichakli acted for or on behalf of Viktor Bout.

Posted by Linda Friedman Ramirez at 5:31 AM

The Rest @ The Extradition and Foreign Evidance Web site

You can read more about him here at the center for public integrity and the Dallas Morning News

Garowe Reports destruction of Church In Kismayo

Garowe Online is a Somalia based mouthpiece for various anti governemnt groups, including Shabaab, Islamic Courts Union, etc.

I find their reorting of events generally reliable, with some apparently deliberate ommissions which put Islamists activity in a poor light, and with distorted casualty counts.

They Appear to have significant acccess to any Muslim "resistance" leader.
In addition at times they havd a transparent world view and agenda, much like MSNB, CNN and Fox news.

Keep this in mind when you read their account of events

-Shimron Issachar

30 Sep 30, 2008 - 1:44:08 PM

KISMAYO, Somalia Sep 30 (Garowe Online) - Islamist rulers in Somalia’s southern port of Kismayo issue an order Tuesday morning to destroy a historic church and build a mosque at the site, confidential sources tell Garowe Online.

Sheikh Abubakr Sayli’i, the al Shabaab-appointed mayor of Kismayo, delivered an Islamic lecture during Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the Muslim holy month Ramadan.

A local elder who did not want to be named told Garowe Online that Sheikh Sayli’i ordered supporters to break down the walls of the old church site in “response to Ethiopia’s destruction of an old mosque in Harar.”

Kismayo’s mayor said a new mosque will be built at the church site, which will be named Harar Mosque.

Harar is a city in eastern Ethiopia with a rich Islamic history.
Islamist fighters who seized Kismayo last month have helped dramatically improve the security situation there after years of warlord chaos.

Note -Source: Abeedah (The wordpress hosted English Version of Shabbab's web site), which is quoting Garowe Online, who they see as the Somali authority.

- Shimron

Pirates who took the Faina Are offloading Weapons

This is an exerpt from Doug Farah's Blog.

Note that the Pirates are trying now to offload what every they can from the Faina

-Shimron

“The Islamists have sent pick-ups from Mogadishu to go and collect the gear,” said an analyst with a network of Somali informers. “There’s not much they can do with the tanks — they can’t get them off — but the rest of the weapons they are trying to move ashore.”

Somalia’s insurgents have made a series of impressive gains in recent weeks. They now control the port city of Kismayo and have armed and equipped pirate gangs as part of a campaign to control the seas.

So, radical Islamists supporting piracy that yields not only large amounts of wealth, but obstructs a major world sea lane, while at the same time effectively starving much of their own population by making it virtually impossible to deliver humanitarian aid to the region.

And, while the government of Kenya claims the shipment, including the tanks and other sophisticated weaponry, were for its army, it seems at least a good chunk were actually destined for southern Sudan.

I would like to see the end-user certificate for the transaction. Using a flag of convenience ship to send weapons to one of the world’s most volatile regions, and making no efforts to insure the safe passage, despite a record number of hijacking in the very same waters, seems just a bit reckless.

The Islamists, of course, are looking for weapons. The Russians, as we have increasingly seen, are not overly concerned about where their weapons end up, be it Iran, Lebanon, Venezuela or, in the recent past, Mogadishu.

Pirates, of course, look to acquire merchandise of value and resell it. They are part of the facilitating network. If we were willing to pay $20 million, they would likely give the weapons to the U.S. navy. It really doesn’t matter to them, as long as their profits hold up.



This from the Washington Times

-Shimron

Andrew Mwangura, a director of the Kenya-based Seafarers Assistance Program, said shipping documents and other sources indicate that in the past two years, Ukrainian arms dealers have made four shipments of tanks and heavy weapons to southern Sudan via Kenya. Mwangura's organization has contacts among shippers and Somali clans, and has provided accurate information in the course of the hijacking.

Radio France Internationale said it had reached the Somali pirates aboard the Faina by satellite telephone Monday, and aired a recording of a man pledging to fight back if the Americans or anyone else attacked.

"Ships and troops have surrounded us," said a man identified by RFI as pirate Sugule Ali. He spoke in Somali.


"There's a lot of unusual movement surrounding us, and planes are flying overhead," the man said. "I warn anyone who might be tempted by any military operation or use of force, if we're attacked, we'll defend ourselves, until the last one of us dies."


The man repeated a demand for $20 million in ransom for the release of the ship and the crew. He did not say whether the pirates intended to keep the arms, apparently discovered by the hijackers only after they took control of the vessel.

The crew members number 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and one person described as either Latvian or Lithuanian.


One crew member, Viktor Nikolsky, spoke to Kenyan officials over the weekend and told them the Faina's captain had died of "hypertension," the independent Russian news Web site Gazeta.ru reported.