Kooxda Qaramada Midoobay ee Kormeerka Hubka Somalia oo Eedaysay General Jama Mohamed Ghalib - UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Alleged General Jama Mohamed Ghalib as Spoiler

Annex 3.3: Spoiler networks in southern Somalia

 Co-option efforts by the Federal Government of Somalia

General Jama Mohamed Ghalib aka 'Jama Yare

1. In order to extend its limited authority the FGS has engaged in co-opting a number of Al-Shabaab leaders, clan warlords and political agents once allied with Hassan Dahir Aweys (Hawiye / Habar Gedir / Ayr), the former leader of the now defunct Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia-Eritrea (ARS-Asmara). Aweys became chairman of Hizbul Islam, of which ARS-Asmara was a constituent part, and which was eventually absorbed by Al-Shabaab in December 2010. At present, he is still part of Al-Shabaab’s military infrastructure and has already been sanctioned by the UN Security Council.1

2. The Government of Qatar has facilitated FGS co-option efforts. Qatar played an important role in funding the election campaign of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (see annex 5.1) and continues to be a key financial and political partner of the FGS. In particular, Qatar has facilitated negotiations between the FGS and Aweys. Doha also hosted President Hassan Sheikh on 3 and 5 March 2013, when FGS representatives met Al-Shabaab delegates for talks brokered by Sheikh Omar Iman Abubakar, the first chairman of Hizbul Islam. The attendees included representatives of Al-Shabaab commander Mukhtar Robow.2

3. These negotiations have broadly coincided with the return to Mogadishu of a number of high profile former ARS-Asmara officials, including Zakaria Mohamed Haji Abdi (former deputy chairman of  ARS-Asmara) and General Jama Mohamed Ghalib (formerly Hizbul Islam liaison officer in Eritrea and from the Isaaq clan). The Monitoring Group has also observed a strengthening of links between the FGS and a number of disaffected Hawiye / Habar Gedir / Ayr warlords and political figures involved in acts that constitute a threat to peace and security. The Ayr sub-clan was at one point the backbone of the Islamic Courts Union that governed much of southern Somalia until it was routed by Ethiopian forces in December 2006.

4. In addition, the FGS has begun a process of co-opting former clan warlords who have demonstrated growing hostility to the formation of a regional government in Jubaland and who were part of the former Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) that controlled Kismayo between 1999 and 2006. The core leadership of the JVA had been drawn from the Darod / Marehan and Hawiye / Habar Gedir / Ayr clans.
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1 Several sources close to Hassan Dahir Aweys confirm his willingness to negotiate with the
Government, that he is a spent force as a political and military leader, but that he continues to be integrated into Al-Shabaab’s military infrastructure. However the same sources also describe Aweys as a de-facto “hostage” of Al-Shabaab. See http://www.un.org/sc/committees/751/index.shtml for details on UN sanctions measures against Aweys.

2 Information on negotiations with Hassan Dahir Aweys provided by Somali Foreign Ministry
source, 27 February 2013. Information on negotiations with Al-Shabaab provided by former member of Hizbul Islam, 1 April 2013, Somali intelligence source, 26 March 2013, and former Somali warlord, 4 April 2013. Diplomatic sources have also corroborated these meetings took place.

Support from Eritrea

28. The Monitoring Group has received numerous reports about the warming of relations between Asmara and Mogadishu, and has obtained evidence of Asmara’s control of political agents close to the Somali Presidency and some of the individual spoilers referred to above.

29. A key foreign policy advisor to President Hassan Sheikh is Ahmed Abdi Hashi ‘Hashara’, a
former leader within ARS-Asmara who is known to have received financial support from Asmara at least as late as 2012.38 In 2012, Hashara described General Jama Mohamed Ghalib, referred to above, as his political ally and announced his intent to create a new accord between the FGS and former members of ARS-Asmara.39

30. The Monitoring Group has obtained direct testimonies and concrete evidence of Eritrean
support to Abdi Wal and Mohamed Wali Sheikh Ahmed Nuur. A source on the Eritrean payroll in
direct contact with Abdi Wal has confirmed that Abdi Wal has admitted in closed-door meetings and that he is acting as an agent for the Eritrean government.40 General Ghalib has referred to Ahmed Nuur as a key ally of his.41

31. In addition to these testimonies, the Monitoring Group has confirmed meetings in Khartoum in late December 2012 between Ahmed Nuur and Mohamed Mantai, the Eritrean Ambassador to Sudan. During these meetings, options for Eritrean financial support to Ahmed Nuur were discussed.42 Telephone records of Ahmed Nuur’s Somali telephone number also show direct contact with a landline in Eritrea.

32. Mantai, a former military intelligence officer, has a history of operating in Somalia and was expelled from Kenya in 2009 after he returned from Somalia following meetings with Al-Shabaab agents (see S/2011/433, annex 8.5). Additional information about Mantai, and Eritrean support to Somali spoiler networks appears in the separate Eritrea report of the Monitoring Group report on Somalia and Eritrea.
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38 A source on the payroll of the Eritrean Government informed the Monitoring Group on
11 September 2012 that Hashara had travelled to Asmara before deploying to Mogadishu in August 2012, and received financial support from the Government of Eritrea in 2012. A former Somali Minister with access to the Somali Presidency informed the Monitoring Group on 4 April 2013 that Hashara also acts as an advisor to President Issayas Afwerki of Eritrea.

39 Interview with diplomatic source, 17 September 2012.

40 The Monitoring Group has obtained separate evidence of payments made by Eritrea to the source, and therefore is able to corroborate his credibility as an agent of Eritrea. The source’s phone records show direct communications between himself and Abdi Wal.

41 The Monitoring Group has obtained separate corroborating evidence that the source in question has met Ghalib in Mogadishu during the course of 2013.

42 The Monitoring Group was invited to witness a telephone call between a confidential source and Ahmed Nuur in late December 2013, when Ahmed Nuur explained he had met Mantai and had requested financial support from him.

Annex 3.3. A Spoiler Network in Southern Somalia