UN suspends food aid to southern Somalia

Somalia’s hardline Islamist militia, Al Shabab, has forced a halt to United Nations food relief, putting at least one million Somalis at risk of hunger.

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) suspended its food relief operations today, citing repeated threats by Al Shabab commanders, raids on its offices, and detention of its staff. Al Shabab commanders in the southern portion of Somalia had gone as far as demanding monetary payments to ensure the security of WFP staff, and also placed demands that WFP found untenable, such as firing of Somali women staffers and coordinators of food-relief programs.

“Ninety-five percent of the territory where WFP operates is controlled by Al Shabab, and in November, Shabab gave us a list of 11 conditions for aid agencies to meet, including removing women from jobs in aid work,” says Peter Smerdon, spokesman for WFP in Nairobi, where most of the agency’s Somali operations are coordinated. “They also made a demand for payment of $20,000 over six months for security. We can’t agree to the conditions and to that payment, so feel that it is time to pull out for the moment.”

Humanitarian crisis brewing?

While WFP will continue to deliver aid in parts of Somalia that are not under the control of Al Shabab, reaching up to 1.8 million people, the pull out of food relief is almost certain to have profound effects on the Somali population.

Nearly 2.2 million Somalis receive food aid every month, and nearly 71 percent of the Somali population suffer from under-nourishment, according to UN reports.

After years of drought and war, local farmers are simply unable to meet the need without outside assistance. Fighting for control of the country has already displaced 1.55 million Somalis from their homes but within Somalia, and hunger is likely to send Somalis on the move again, perhaps joining the millions of others have been forced from their country altogether, into Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, and beyond.

What is Al Shabab?
Al Shabab is an offshoot of Islamists who ruled Somalia for six months, from July to Dec. 2006, before being ousted by US-backed Ethiopian troops. Radicals from the Islamic Courts Union government reformed their forces and began a war of attrition with Ethiopia. By the time the Ethiopians retreated, with the formation of a broadly based transitional Somali government, Al Shabab had taken over vast swaths of the south, and much of the nation’s capital, Mogadishu remains under Shabab control.

The pullout of food aid reflects the hard line of Al Shabab, which increasingly appears to be led by foreign jihadists, who are replacing the local Islamists agenda of mere governmental takeover with a much broader objective of taking on the West in a permanent jihad. Shabab’s top leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, appears to have been sidelined after he disavowed the suicide bomb blast in a Mogadishu market that killed some 23 people. Security experts say that Mr. Godane has been replaced by foreign Islamists, who have no ties with the community, and no qualms about the effects of bomb blasts or cutoffs on the local population.

“The movement has been captured by foreign jihadists,” says one Somali expert who refused to be named for fear of retribution. “They are moving away from the local agenda for political control to a global jihad agenda.”

Source:csmonitor.com/

AP Interview: Interpol hunting pirate money

Interpol has seen no proof so far that terror groups like al-Qaida are profiting from big-money ransoms paid out to pirates operating off eastern Africa, the international police group's No. 2 said Tuesday.

Jean-Michel Louboutin spoke to The Associated Press as Interpol opened a closed-door, two-day conference at its Lyon headquarters on tackling the money trail in piracy.

Interpol will create a task force to crack down on maritime piracy "in all its facets," said Interpol Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble in a statement Tuesday. It did not elaborate.

The conference, the first of its kind, has brought together over 100 experts, investigators and policy makers from 42 countries and international organizations, Interpol said.

The International Maritime Bureau reported Thursday that sea attacks worldwide surged 39 percent to 406 cases last year. Somali pirates' raids on vessels accounted for more than half.

Owners of merchant marine ships often feel compelled to pay ransoms to save crews and cargo. Ransom demands linked to piracy off the Horn of Africa now average US$2.2 million, Interpol said.

"If we compare the ransoms sought today compared to those of a few years ago, the increase has been incredible," Louboutin said.

He said he had "no certainty" that al-Qaida or an affiliate insurgent group in Somalia, al-Shabab, receive cash from piracy.

"But nothing indicates that it won't get there," he said.

The players behind the piracy -- the "investors," raiders and corrupt officials -- don't use banks, so tracking the money flows is tricky, Louboutin said.

"All that is cash transferred from hand to hand. That's why it's difficult to trace," he said. Somali warlords often gain their clout by spreading money within their networks, he said.

Analysts say Somalia's two decades of lawlessness have fueled the increase. The attackers often speed out to sea in small skiffs armed with grappling hooks and automatic rifles.

International maritime patrols including U.S. and European warships that chaperone vessels through narrow sea lanes between Somalia and Yemen have helped stem piracy in recent months, French officials have said.

Shipping companies have been arming themselves. Guards on the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama used guns and a sound blaster to repel a pirate attack in November -- the second one on the merchant marine ship in seven months.

Louboutin said Africa generally is increasingly becoming a focus for Interpol, noting that he and Noble have traveled there in recent months.

Over the last year, Interpol has taken part in efforts to combat child slavery, illegal trafficking of ivory and distribution of counterfeit drugs in Africa, Louboutin said.

Interpol has a counter-narcotics operation dubbed Project "White Flow" to stem the flow of cocaine from South America through Africa to Europe; it has also fostered airport security in Africa.

"There are a lot of irons on the fire," Louboutin said. "We have a focus on Africa to help the continent respond better to the challenges of organized crime today."

Louboutin also decried the excessive reliance on military action -- whether on piracy in Africa, or in the fight against terrorism in places like Afghanistan -- instead of training police in research, investigation and evidence-gathering as part of the judicial process.

"These are the answers, instead of putting machine guns at a road intersection and saying 'my zone is secure'," he said. "Many countries in the world don't have judicial police or FBIs."

With its massive computer database, Interpol acts mainly as support service or go-between among national police forces in its 188 member states. But many police forces, which retain sovereignty of action at home, don't share information enough, Louboutin said.

A Nigerian man's attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day, which was not defused by police or counterterrorism agents, was case in point, he said.

"We saw a recent example of that: If information had been shared, and recorded in the database -- if you saw what happened on Dec. 25..." Louboutin said. "That should serve as a lesson."

"The culture of secrecy: It kills," Louboutin said.

Source:businessweek.com/

Somalia: Top UN delegation lands in Puntland state in Somalia

A high delegation from Human Rights Watch spearheaded by Dr. Shamsul Bari has reached in the semiautonomous state of Puntland in eastern Somalia in a mission to asses the fact on the ground after there has been instability in the region in the past couple of months.

“During my days in Puntland I will have meet some officials in the administration of Puntland and as well have deep discussions with the different sectors of the community including, the civil society and the humanitarian organizations, and we shall be mainly focusing on the humanitarian situation in the region as whole” said Shamsul Bari speaking to Somaliweyn Website on Friday.

On the other hand Dr. Abdi Hassan Jimale the constitution Minister of Puntland speaking to one of the local radio stations in Mogadishu has confirmed the presence of the UN delegation.

“In fact the arrival of the UN delegation in Puntland was very significant, and I hope all what we have discussed upon will be fruitful” said the Minister.

Puntland state has been lately experiencing instability in the region and some two nights ago a Member of Parliament of Puntland was gunned down in Bossaso town. Somaliweyn English News Desk.

Mohammed Omar Hussein+2521-5519235 shiinetown@hotail.com

Source:somaliweyn.org/

Somalia Press Day celebrated in Puntland State

The annual 21st January Somali Press Day was on today Wednesday celebrated in Somalia's autonomous state of Puntand with the ceremony held at the office of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in the administrative capital Garowe.

The ceremony was attended by Puntland government officials including Vice President Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire, Ministers, MPs, poetries and journalists from different parts of Puntland.

Vice President Shire who was addressing the guests said the media is important for the community, society welfare, specifically expressing his gratitude to journalist operating from the region for their role in covering political change when the new president was elected 8th of January, 2009.

He however appealed to the journalists the strengthen and uphold the good relation between Puntland media and the government agencies.

"I am requesting from Puntland journalists not to broadcast everything against the stability and development, Puntland respects the rights of the journalists, and we are waiting from the journalists to work on how they can help in Puntland growth," said the Vice President.

Media Association of Puntland (MAP) deputy chairman and the director of Radio Garowe Mohamed Dahir Yusuf (Salim) who addressed the participants, condemned the last year's violence against Puntland journalists.

Mr. Salim pointed that the region are better if compared to what their colleagues in southern Somalia are going through

Puntland Information Minister Abdihakin Ahmed Guled said: "I am sure that Puntland journalists are intelligent and know their work, but they need to upgrade their education and to point the right way they can go forward, we wish to make new college of journalism in Puntland."

He added: "We want to make Television, Radio and Newspaper which talks the voice of the government."

The ceremony, which was attended by 7 different radios and two newspapers, was concluded with common stand and pledge for better working conditions for media.

Source:garoweonline.com/

Al-Shabaab Threatens to Attack Kenya

Theories have emerged that Jamaican cleric Abdullah Al-Faisal is still in Kenya hidden in un-known place, sources told Newstime Africa. On Thursday, a court in Kenya heard that the controversial cleric had been flown to his native country in a chartered Gulfstream jet. The preacher was due to be produced before court on Thursday morning but the judge in the case pushed the matter to 2.30pm. When the matter came up, the office of the Attorney General asked for about 20 minutes to verify his whereabouts and later informed the court that the cleric was outside Kenya borders. His lawyers have since demanded a detailed information and documentation on his deportation and the officials who accompanied him.


Al-Shabaab - Threatens to attack Kenya
Faisal was due to appear in the High Court on Thursday following a suit filed by a Kenyan Muslim rights group against both his detention and planned deportation. This was the third attempt to deport him in a one month. Tanzania authorities refused to have him in their country and later Nigerian refused to have him en-route Banjul, Gambia. Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang Wednesday admitted that the government had been frustrated in its bid to deport him after the US threatened to ban any air line that attempts to fly him.

Senior government officials made contradicting remarks on his whereabouts and deportation. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua told reporters that Al-Faisal had left the country on Thursday morning. Muslim rights group officials insist Al-Faisal is still in the country. Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula had said earlier this week that the cleric would be out of the country by Thursday by any mean possible. Immigration Minister latter said the cleric was still in the country hours after a senior official had indicated that Al-Faisal was in a plane planned to re-fuel in Moscow headed to Jamaica.

The cleric was arrested in Mombasa, the heart of Muslim in Kenya on New Year eve at a local mosque. His passports indicate that he footed Kenya on December 9 through a Kenya-Tanzania border. A planned demo in Mombasa was on Thursday called off but a section of Muslim youths strongly hold that the protest will go on today after Friday prayers. Similar protests in Nairobi left at least 7 people dead and several injured as protestors clashed with police. Protester waved an Al-Shabaab associated flag.Over 1,000 hundred people including 16 legislatures, mainly of Somalia origin, have been arrested in the swoops across the country.

The Kenyan police crackdown followed a violent protest in Nairobi against the detention of Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal. Most lacks United Nations High Commission for Refugees vetting documents. Immigration ministry told legislatures to registers as refugees if they want to enjoy peace in Kenya.Islamist official in Somalia have accused the Kenya troops of planning an invasion of territories under the group’s control, vowing to defend their “country” to the last drop of blood. “God willing we will arrive in Nairobi, we will enter Nairobi, God willing we will enter … will hit, hit until we kill, weapons we have, praise be to God, they are enough,” goes a recorded song posted on Al-Shabaab website.

Al-Shabaab militants recently captured the Lower Jubba region in southern Somalia from Hizbul Islam, their former allies. Witnesses say Kenya has deployed more troops near a Kenya-Somalia border town, Dhobley where militants have taken control. An administrator at the region told reporters that Kenya has provoked the militants by sending troops there. Confrontation is feared between the two groups. Al-Faisal was deported from Britain in 2007 for preaching hatred and urging his followers to kill Jews, Hindus and Westerners.

Source:newstimeafrica.com/

Yemen To Inaugurate Anti-piracy Centre In This Quarter

SANA'A, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- Yemen's Maritime Authority has said that a regional centre to fight surging piracy off Somalia would be opened in the first quarter of this year here, Yemen's Saba news agency reported.

The centre that would work to coordinate and share information about the fight on piracy and burglary against ships off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden is now being equipped with support from the International Maritime Organisation and a number of countries affected by the phenomena, said deputy director of the authority Muhammad al-Bawani.

With the implementation of the centre, Yemen has already achieved one of its pledges under the Djibouti Anti-Piracy Code of Conduct, he said.

In a paper on Yemen's role in combating piracy delivered at a symposium on piracy off Somalia and its impacts on national security in Yemen, al-Bawani urged other regional countries to join the code that was signed by nine countries including Yemen early last year.

In recent years, Somali pirates have stepped up their attacks against merchant vessels off Somalia, threatening one of the world's busiest waterways in the region.

The year 2008 witnessed the large number of recorded attacks that reached more than 140 incidents, out of which 42 hijackings.

In 2009, about 46 hijackings were registered along with 210 attempted pirate attacks, while 2007 was the year of less pirate attacks and attempted hijackings, with only 20 incidents registered.

The surge drew the world's attention with countries topped by the United States, the European Union, Russia, China, Japan and others whose ships pass in the region dispatching anti-pirate missions into the region.

Many pirates were arrested and handed to Yemen. Some of those handed went on trial in Yemen, getting sentences after confessing to hijacking and attempted pirate attacks.

Source:bernama.com/

U.S. Extends Reevaluation of Security Threats to Yemen and Somalia

Somali-born geography professor Abdi Samatar of the University of Minnesota says that the intensification of fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Christmas Day airline bombing attempt by Nigerian-born Umar Abdulmutallab have helped shift the focus of conflict to al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula, particularly to Yemen. But he notes that reports of recent arms shipments from Yemeni rebels to Somalia’s Islamist al-Shabab fighters have so far had little impact on the rebel insurgency against Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG).



CIA

“I don’t think that the amount of weapons that are going from Yemen through al-Qaida to al-Shabab is significant. Shabab has many other sources of weapons, both in the domestic market, and, remember, Somalia has one of the largest small weapons markets in Mogadishu itself,” he said.

Despite al-Shabab claims of sending fighters to help al-Qaida resist Yemeni and foreign-assisted efforts to quash its insurgency, Professor Samatar says a Somali presence in Yemen is limited to longtime refugees who have lived in northern Yemen for decades, but not a significant infusion of terrorists or resistance fighters.

“Containing refugees and others in particular localities I don’t think is going to be a significant element in tackling the terror matter,” he noted.

As for Yemenis operating in Somalia, Samatar says the security threat is also low. But he does acknowledge that the stepped up fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan have expanded the arena of doing battle with al-Qaida back to the Gulf region, where it was extremely active ten years ago.

“The military pressures in Pakistan and Afghanistan are having a significant effect on al-Qaida’s ability to further decentralize itself so that they cannot be holed in one particular locality. And this is a fact that should be taken into account in both Somalia and in Yemen,” he observed.

Does this mean a more intensified struggle in Somalia at this point? Samatar says not as far as expecting an infusion of fighters from Yemen to add to Somalia’s woes. He says al-Shabab continues to lead insurgents’ attempts to bring down the internationally endorsed TFG.



AP
Islamist al-Shabab fighters conduct military exercise in northern Mogadishu's Suqaholaha neighborhood, 01 Jan 2010

“I think Shabab controls much of southern Somalia at the present, and in the last week or so, they have had military celebrations in Mogadishu itself, to show the caliber of their troops and the size of their troops. So they are already what they are, and they control what’s left of Somalia….small strips in south Mogadishu and a few other pockets. And I just don’t think further pressures are going to make any difference in those spots because those are where the African Union forces are, and I don’t think al-Shabab will have the wherewithal to confront them head-on,” he said.


Al-Shabab insurgents control much of southern Somalia, including the city of Kismayo.

The answer to U.S. and British efforts to bring greater stability to both Somalia and Yemen can be found in new initiatives to democratize both countries rather than focusing on the anti-terror threat, according to Professor Samatar. He warns that stepped up foreign military involvement can foment resentment among local populations in both countries, which have long been discontent with the authoritarian qualities of their own failed states’ leaderships.

“I think the Somali people would welcome a very genuine support from the United (States) government to help themselves rebuild their country. I think the project that the United States helped take part in in Djibouti, which ultimately produced the Transitional Federal Government was both illegitimate and incompetent. And so what the Somali people are looking for is support from Britain and the United States people and governments that are genuinely democratic, that will support civil society, and Islamic movement that is also democratic,” he maintains.

Samatar asserts that Yemeni and Somali resentment are stirred up against western interference when it is being engineered to serve outside interests.

“Genuine democratization of the political process in Somalia, pushing the Transitional Federal Government into becoming more inclusive, more accountable, more effective, and bringing on board people with capacity who are Somalis who can deliver for the local population, if the U.S. and Britain push things in that direction, the Somali people will genuinely welcome that, in my opinion,” he noted.

Source:voanews.com/