Somalia: No Quick Or Easy Solutions

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June 13, 2015: The government believes that al Shabaab will be eliminated as a major security threat by the end of 2015. That may be too optimistic but is not impossible. Currently al Shabaab is operating in about 20 percent of the country and no longer control any towns or cities. The Islamic terrorists now hide in remote villages or thinly populated rural areas. Some al Shabaab have set up camps across the northern border in Puntland, but these are regularly being attacked by local forces. The government admits that there are underlying problems (unemployment, poverty and corruption) that entice young men to join Islamic terror groups or bandit gangs and that until those issues are dealt with there is always the threat of something like al Shabaab returning. The government is also aware of the fact that the foreign donors won’t pay for a peacekeeper force forever and already there is pressure to shift that peacekeeping effort to other parts of Africa. While the Somali economy is improving the country is still crippled by corruption and divided by tribal (clan) loyalties.

In Kenya the government is asking Somali refugees to voluntarily return home and is offering inducements it hopes will persuade at least 100,000 to go back by the end of 2015. This is a big step back from the original plan to expel all (over 600,000) legal and illegal Somali refugees in the country. The expulsion threat came in response to ever more horrendous al Shabaab attacks, including an April 2nd massacre of 148 Christian students at a university campus. The UN promised to help with refugee camp security and moving more of the refugees back to Somalia but strongly opposed expulsion. In Somalia politicians and al Shabaab agree that Kenya must stop mistreating Somalis in Kenya and this attitude is used by al Shabaab for recruiting. The Kenyan government recognizes this problem and talks about curbing violence against Somalis in Kenya but controlling popular hatred of and hostility towards Somalis is difficult. This is particularly true because of the recent al Shabaab terror attacks in Kenya and the centuries of Somalis raiding into Kenya. It’s an old problem that does not lend itself to quick or easy solutions.

Meanwhile the UN has to cut food supplies (30 percent to 1,520 calories a day) to all the refugees in Kenya (mostly Somali but some from Sudan) because not enough donors could be found. There is only so much donor money out there and many donors seek areas where they believe their money will do the most good. Long term refugees (as with the Somalis in Kenya) are not seen as the best use of donor funds. Currently the UN spends about $115 million a year to feed the refugees in northern Kenya. Nearly half that money comes from the United States. Refugee officials continue having problems maintaining security in the Somali refugee camps and a growing number of foreign aid organizations are withdrawing from some camps because of the chronic violence.

Meanwhile there is another refugee situation developing in the north (Somaliland and Djibouti) as Somalis who fled to Yemen are now fleeing Yemen because of a civil war there. While most foreigners have already fled Yemen the Somali refugees in Yemen are trying, without much success, to flee back to Somalia. There are over 300,000 Somalis just across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen, most of them there illegally. Foreigners, particularly illegal migrants, have become a target in Yemen. The most hospitable and accessible refuge for Somalis in Yemen is Somalia. So far about 30,000 have made it back to Somalia (usually Somaliland up north or neighboring Djibouti) so far. The UN is planning to help mover over 100,000 more back to Somalia and Djibouti. The rest try to remain in Yemen, stay out of the way and survive.

June 11, 2015: West of Mogadishu, near the Ethiopian border al Shabaab ambushed a peacekeeper convoy and killed at least a dozen soldiers. Reinforcements soon arrived and drive off the Islamic terrorists.

June 6, 2015: In northwestern Kenya a group of al Shabaab gunmen seeking to attack a tribal leader who frequently criticized Islamic terrorists got lost and shot up the wrong house. Two men and a woman died and the killers fled. A subsequent police investigation concluded that the attackers were al Shabaab because that group had said it was going to “punish” the outspoken tribal leader. Elsewhere in the area rival Turkana and Samburu tribesmen fought over grazing rights and cattle stealing, leaving eleven dead.

June 2, 2015: In northwest Kenya a group of al Shabaab occupied a village and urged the locals to accept their extreme form of Islam. Outside the village the Islamic terrorists set up roadblocks and demanded payment of “taxes” for those who wanted to pass. All this happened 15 kilometers from a military base and soon soldiers showed up and the al Shabaab men slipped away.

June 1, 2015: In central Somalia (Galgadud) a week of violence on the Ethiopian border has left about fifty nomads dead because of attacks by a local militia that serves as an Ethiopian government-approved border guard. The militia has long had problems with the Somali nomads crossing the border at will and this led to a series of attacks to drive the nomads away. Officials from Somalia and Ethiopia are meeting to work out a peace deal.  

May 28, 2015: In the south (Lower Juba) a senior al Shabaab leaders (73 year old Sheikh Hassan Turki) died after an illness. Turki was the chief of finance and had a $3 million price on his head. He will be hard to replace and thus al Shabaab becomes even less capable.

May 26, 2015: In central Somalia (Hiran) peacekeepers and soldiers drove al Shabaab out of several more villages, killing eleven of the Islamic terrorists in the process. Many weapons and some bomb making materials were captured.

May 25, 2015: In the south (Dobley) peacekeepers killed seven al Shabaab men near the Kenyan border.

In northeast Kenya (Garissa) al Shabaab ambushed a police convoy and killed more than a dozen policemen. 

May 23, 2015: In Mogadishu al Shabaab gunmen attacked a car carrying two members of parliament and killed one of them. In the south (Awdhegle and Mubarak) al Shabaab gunmen attacked two villages. Soldiers soon showed up and chased the Islamic terrorists out. All this fighting caused over fifty casualties, mostly among the al Shabaab men.  

May 21, 2015: In northeast Kenya (near Garissa) al Shabaab raided a village. Soldiers soon arrived and the Islamic terrorists fled. There were no casualties.

Death toll rises as fighting continues near Somalia-Ethiopia border

Despite calls for ceasefire, fighting has continued for a second week in villages close to the border that separates Somalia and Ethiopia, residents have said.

According to local sources, there were two clashes in three villages from Wednesday to Thursday morning, killing at least 19 people and unknown numbers injured.

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A journalist in Galgadud region has told Horseed Media that the conflict has forced many families to flee from their homes and seek for refuge in remote areas.

Regional Somali government officers have described the death toll of the conflict since it started last week more than 70.

The reasons that led to the conflict it’s yet unclear, but multiple sources have told Horseed Media it’s linked totribal disputes and pasture. Others have said the conflict erupted last week after forces from the Somali region state of Ethiopia invaded two villages close to the border.

Somalia and Ethiopian government have not officially spoken of this conflict.

In recent years, several conflicts have occurred in the Somalia-Ethiopia border mostly related to tribal and pasture dispu

Somali Shebab kill at least fifteen in education ministry attack

Somali-American on FBI watch list detained in Somalia: source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former Washington-area taxi driver who was on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list has been detained and is in the custody of the Somali government, a U.S. government source said on Monday.

The FBI in said in January it added Somali-born U.S. citizen Liban Haji Mohamed, 29, to its watch list because he allegedly provided support to the Somalia-based Islamist militant group al Shabaab.

The U.S. source said Mohamed was arrested several days ago by Somali authorities and was now in Somali custody, but it was not clear if or when he would be sent back to the United States. The Washington Post first reported on Monday that Mohamed had been detained in Somalia.

Mohamed lived in the northern Virginia suburbs near Washington and drove a taxi. He left the United States in 2012.

He was said at the time to be an associate of Zachary Chesser, an American who pleaded guilty in 2010 to threatening the writers of the television show “South Park.”

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball and Emily Stephenson. Editing by Andre Grenon)

US bank shuts down informal remittances to Somalia - WBOC-TV -

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By ABDI GULED

Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - A man raises his cane in anger outside Somalia's largest money transfer company. He is furious that the Merchants Bank of California has announced it will shut down accounts for informal money-remittance services in Somalia that have been a lifeline to many Somalis who receive money from families abroad.

"If they close the hawala (Somali for money transfer agency), will they pay our bills? I'm totally hopeless." said Zahra Hussein, a mother of nine in Mogadishu, outside an agency where she received the news.

Money transfer services have operated for years, but they are now under intense scrutiny as many countries, especially the U.S. and U.K., have accused the agencies of helping fund Islamic extremist terrorist groups. That concern has forced some international banks to terminate business with them - anti-terror laws hold banks responsible if they transfer money to criminal or terror elements.

In 2013, Barclays, one of Britain's largest banks, cut ties with Dahabshiil, a Somali company that brings in the majority of the country's $1.2 billion in yearly remittances, according to the U.N.

Merchants Bank of California informed Somali-American money transfer operators that it would discontinue their relationship in late January. The decision will likely affect more companies that allow transfers of money from the U.S.

No formal banking system exists in Somalia, and making such transfers is the only realistic way many Somalis can receive cash.

Somalia's prime minister, along with aid workers and experts, have asked banks to back down on these decisions.

"We need to find a permanent solution to keep open this vital humanitarian lifeline," said Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke. He said the money transfer would help bring peace to the Horn of Africa nation, which is recovering from decades of war and sees almost daily violence by militant group al-Shabab.

"Remittances form the backbone of Somalia's economy," said Degan Ali, the executive director of aid group Adeso. Nearly three-quarters of a million Somalis are facing acute food shortages, she said, "and we are likely to see that number rise if money transfer companies cannot remit funds from the United States."

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Somalia: Who Destroyed Somali Hopes And Dreams? Part V | RBC Radio

Abdulkadir Aden Mohamud “Jangeli”

The literature you are about to read is divided into several parts. Its contents are based on facts and fictions. The players are the stakeholders of Somali politics and plights: Ethiopia, Kenya, Al-shabaab, “fadhikudirir,” so called parliament and the rest of the world.

President Hassan has appointed Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke as the third Prime Minister within the two years that he has been in the office. Alas, that tells how astute President Hassan is! Yet, the parliament gave vote of confidence to Sharmarke before he was given the list of his cabinet members, which exceeds 60 names. Like the Gang of Four of China in 1970’s during the cultural revolution, Somalia is hostage for the manipulation of

four men who control President Hassan’s decisions and activities.

Meanwhile, Ethiopians were very happy and satisfied the 60 members of the cabinet , especially the Four Gang were placed in the offices they wanted. But, a group of parliament members rejected Sharmarke’s cabinet members and warned that they will not give a vote of confidence.

Mr. Mariumu called his advisors as soon as he heard the bad news from Somali parliament’s rejection of the Ethiopian preferred Four Gang to be part of the new administration.

Mariumu: The news coming from Mogadishu is very bad for our goals and I am not pleased with Mr. Girgis. He assured me that Mr. Hassan and his advisors are masters of manipulation and experts of corruption and they will adequately deal with every obstacle of our plan. A group of boneheads from the parliament have spoiled our strategy and they are rejecting our men.

Alamanie: Who is this group? And how come they have the guts to reject what we want?

Girgis: They are the worst spoilers in the parliament and they are self-nominated as “National Salvation Group”

Alamanie: Where were Hassan and Farah when this spurious group was forming such a fake Somali “Salvation”.

Girgis: There is also another group called “National Correction Group” This group is about 70 members of parliament.

Alamanie: And how many members are the National Salvation group?

Girgis: They are between 80 and 100 members of the parliament. In total they can be 170 members of the parliament.

Mariumu: NO no no … this will change the whole landscape that we designed for Somalia. It is very dangerous for the plan of fishing Indian Ocean and Golf of Aden. We have to send delegations to Mogadishu, Galmudug, Puntland and Cabduwaq.

Alamnie: Please explain in layman’s term the main tasks of these delegations?

Mariumu: Before I explain the tasks, let me tell you about the main delegation which I intend to go into Mogadishu.This delegation must be led by top officials. We can’t go into Mogadishu without a reason, so we make a call for IGAD to meet in Mogadishu before the parliament reject the cabinets. This will give us an opportunity to talk with all the parties, including spoilers.

Meanwhile, we send delegation to Abudwaq to wake up Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jama and arm them to make some military activities in central regions. Thanks to Al-Shabab they are always doing their military actives in Southern Regions and Mogadishu, so they don’t need an emissary. Regarding Galmug, Abdi Qeybdid must stick to his positions about the division of Mudug region and must show that he is ready to fight as long as he has a drop of a blood in his veins. And we have to make him understand our position if he needs our support. Meanwhile, Abduweli Gas must reject the division of Mudug or even discuss this issue to any individual. He must show his muscle to anybody who tries to be part of Central Regional government and we will support him in that regard. These are the tasks of our delegation into different parts of ex-Somalia.

Girgis: It is a wonderful plan and I knew that you are a valuable student of our beloved late leader Mr. Zinawi; moreover, you are following his footsteps and blueprint for Somalia….KKKKKKK

Mariumu: Zinawi was a visionary leader and as you remember his last words were not to confront Somalis with military. They can easily defeat us regardless of our military superiority. Never forget how they were fighting in Mogadishu in 2007. Britain called them nomads without fear. So the best strategy is to divide and rule. It easy to set them clan based enclaves and give a false titles to the most power hunger person in the clan. They love titles like president, Prime Minister, Clan Chief or King. And they don’t care whether it is based on a clan affiliation or national. Look at the prominent Professors from USA Universities Mr. Galeydh and Gas who became Prime Ministers of Somalia and now they are running their small clan enclaves. Therefore, it is enough to give them a title and give them the tools to fight each other.

Girgis: I like that ……. Khatumo against Somaliland, Puntland against Khatumo, Somaliland against Puntland, and now Awdal…. It is amazing how good they are implementing our plan.

Alamanie: Mr. Girgis don’t forget Southwest Regions of Madobe Nuunow against Southwest Regions of sharif Hassan, Jubbaland against Southwest Regions and Galmug against Puntland.

Girgis: The irony is we support all of them and they know it, but never question our intention of supporting their enemies.

Mariumu: That is what our late leader figured out best to disintegrate Somali nationhood and possess the Shores of the Indian Ocean.

Alamanie: Why did we once believe that Somalis are intelligent people? It seems that they are not if they have not yet figured out our games.

Marium: Because they are all political animals and they love the power which blinds them. As long as you give them tools to grab any kind of power they forget what is good for their nation or clan.

Girgis: Mr. Prime Minister when are you dispatching the delegations?

Mariumu: As soon as possible.

Dr. Tedros led a delegation from Ethiopia to participate the Meetings of IGAD in Mogadishu. This meeting is about Somalia’s future and political stability. IGAD contributes to the majority of AMISOM’s military wing, even though it has been founded as a development organization. It stands for “Intergovernmental Authority for Development,” but Ethiopia changed it into a tool to manipulate Somali political affairs.

Now Ethiopians have seen that they can’t change much about the parliament positions, so they advised Hassan and Sharmarke to change the tactics and withdraw the names of ministers they nominated for re-organization.

FADHIKUDIRIR GROUP:

Ifteen: Is this true or am I dreaming? Did our parliament reject the Four Gangs and the puppets of Hassan Sheikh?

Taagane: Your enthusiasm will not last more than a few days. I know these guys, at the end of the day Hassan will buy them off, plus Ethiopia’s interference can change the whole dynamics.

Ifteen: Nonsense! 157 members of the parliament are moving towards the right direction and even NATO can’t stop them. They feel the heat of the people and that is their fuel of no return. Today it is like the day we founded SYL so be optimistic brother!

Taagane: I love to be optimistic, but do you believe Godax Barre and his group are sincere?

Ifteen: Yes, until they show differently. We have to believe them and verify what they are claiming is true.

Mubarak: Abduweli was my classmate, and I talked to him during the campaign of no vote of confidence… and he told me that this will be good whether he stays or not. The parliament is changing their attitude by not acting on just the behalf of their clans. Sometimes what we may believe to be a bad action, may bring a brighter outcome for Somalia a whole.

Taagane: These parliamentarians are rebels, and rebels don’t last long.

Ifteen: Let me tell you a quote from Frederick Douglas “The thing worse than a rebellion, is the thing that causes the rebellion.”

………………………………….. To be continue VI

Abdulkadir Aden Mohamud “jangeli”

jangelione@yahoo.com

Somalia's Shebab plays down surrender of wanted official | Daily Mail Online

Somalia's Shebab militia on Monday played down the surrender and arrest of a senior militant figure, saying the official had left the movement more than a year ago.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels said Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi, identified as a top Shebab intelligence official and the subject of a $3 million bounty as part of the US State Department "Rewards for Justice" programme, would be of little intelligence value.

"He abandoned the organisation more than a year ago," a senior militant official told AFP, insisting that the "news of the defection was only released in order to shift attention" away from last week's Shebab attack against the headquarters of the African Union force in the capital Mogadishu.

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Four suspected Shebab fighters are detained by Somalian national soldiers following a gun battle in Mogadishu that left four other suspects dead on December 26, 2014 ©Mohamed Abdiwahab (AFP)

"All the information on military set up or plans he knew has been changed since he left, and therefore the so-called defector has no intelligence value to offer to our enemies," the Shebab official said.

He also said the surrender should not be seen as a weakening of the movement, which is fighting to topple Somalia's internationally-backed government.

According to Somali officials, Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi gave himself up to government and AU troops on Saturday. He had been hiding out in the Gedo region, where Somalia borders Kenya and Ethiopia.

Officials said he had once been close to former Shebab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was killed by a US air strike in September, but that he may have been sidelined during a series of recent bloody splits and purges within the group carried out by Godane and his successor, Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah.

The Shebab emerged from the Islamic Courts Union that controlled Mogadishu in 2006 before being pushed out by Ethiopian forces.

The militants were finally driven from their fixed positions in Mogadishu in 2011, and have lost several strongholds in the south and centre of the country in a recent offensive by the AU's AMISOM force. The group, however, still control vast rural areas.