Somalia’s Al-­‐Shabaab: Down But Not Out

HSPI  Issue  Brief

22 August  27,  2013

Navan:  Group

Harakat‐Shabaab al-­‐Mujahedeen,  meaning “Mujahedeen Youth Movement” in Arabic, is an Al‐Qa’ida affiliated terrorist organiza:on that seeksto establish an Islamist state in Somalia. In   its   short   history,  al-­‐Shabaab  has  evolved  from  a  small  militia   group to a formidable insurgent force that once controlled significant amounts of  territory. Extending beyond Somalia, Al-Shabaab has pursued a global jihadist agenda by launching terrorist attacks in countries   such as Uganda and Kenya, and soliciting support from the Somali diaspora and external extremist  groups.

Following the 2006‐09  Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, Al-­‐Shabaab rose to national prominence  as a symbol of  resistance  against  Ethiopian ‘occupiers.’ Filling  the void in the wake of Ethiopia’s withdrawal  and the collapse of the Islamic Courts Union, the group  rapidly expanded becoming Somalia’s  dominant governing entity.1  By August 2010, al-­‐Shabaab controlled the majority of south and central Somalia, and   launched its first interna:onal attack targeting Uganda’s capital Kampala  with  multiple  suicide  bombings.

Read the full report here:  Somalia’s Al Shabaab

Immigration beat: Groups tout value of money exchanges for Somalia

Article by: MARK BRUNSWICK , Star Tribune

More than $215 million a year is sent to Somalia by relatives in the United States, with much of that originating in Minnesota.

The process, which involves sending cash through money-transfer operators, is known as remittance and has become the subject of controversy amid concerns that the money could be used to fund terrorist activities.

On Friday, several nongovernment organizations will be holding a briefing in Minneapolis to talk about a recently released report on the importance of opening up the markets for remittance, including recommending improvements on how the money is monitored.

Source:  startribune.com

Somalia: Fragile Somalia Loses Two Lifelines in Quick Succession - ANALYSIS

Already reeling like a boxer on the ropes, Somalia’s so-called recovery is about to be derailed by a brutal one-two punch as Médecins Sans Frontières withdraws its medical services and Barclays cuts off the main remittance pipeline. It’s a devastating double blow for a country that still needs all the help it can get.

Photo: Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) program manager Will Robertson addresses a news conference on the freed MSF aid workers in Kenya's capital Nairobi, July 19, 2013. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

By Simon Allison,

It’s not all doom and gloom coming out of Somalia. This weekend, the capital Mogadishu hosted its very own TEDx conference, featuring a line-up of inspirational speakers with genuinely incredible stories: Iman Elman, the 21-year-old woman who is a commander in Somalia’s army; Abdifatah Ahmed, the journalist who has defied persecution, and his own blindness, to tell Somalia’s stories; Mohamed Mahamoud Sheik, the young entrepreneur who opened the first dry cleaners in Mogadishu in 20 years, because he noticed the president kept sending his suits to be washed overseas.

For Sebastian Lindstrom, the event’s communications director, TEDx Mogadishu is a symbol that war torn Somalia that has turned a corner.

“2012 was the year that peace returned to Somalia,” he told the Guardian. “It was largely seen as the ‘rebirth’ of the country, with the formation of parliament, election of the president and cabinet of ministers.

For the first time in over two decades, Somalia had an internationally recognised federal government. Although the peace and stability remains fragile, in 2013 more Somalis are returning to their country than ever before, rediscovering the home they hadn’t seen in decades, and for some young diaspora, had never seen. Even Somalis who have never left Mogadishu are rediscovering their city, swimming in Lido beach, enjoying new cafes, and attending international conferences like TEDx.”

Lindstrom paints a pretty picture. Not everyone, however, is convinced. (Not least of all myself. See Somalia: a ‘good news story’ that’s far from over on Daily Maverick, 11 June 2013). Even if we buy into the optimism, however, two recent developments threaten to overshadow the country’s fragile progress.

The first came from an unlikely source. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the medical NGO that has worked in warzones all over the world, and in Somalia for 22 years, announced that it was withdrawing from Somalia with immediate effect. Despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis (which Somalia’s so-called successes have done little to mitigate), MSF said the security situation has become so dangerous and unpredictable that they are no longer able to reasonably guarantee the safety of their staff. In particular, MSF has lost faith in the ability, or willingness, of authorities in various parts of the country (including the government, Al-Shabaab, armed groups and clan structures) to prevent further incidents.

Coming from an organisation with an exceptionally high tolerance for risk, this is a sad indictment of all the various groups in different parts of the country claiming to represent the Somali people. It’s nothing short of a disaster for the country and for the hundreds of thousands of patients who relied on MSF as their only credible healthcare provider. In 2012, MSF saw 624,200 patients in its centres in nine districts across Somalia; 41,100 were admitted to hospitals (which MSF provided), while 30,090 were treated for malnutrition.
 
In an interview with MSF general director Arjan Hehenkamp, who was clearly anguished by what was an extremely difficult decision, Daily Maverick asked whether MSF agreed with the idea that Somalia was making good progress. “MSF is not a political commentator, we are not the Economist and we don’t make a prognosis on the context and so forth,” said Hehenkamp. “That’s not our job, or our competence. But when we look at Somalia and when we look at our experience and our patient numbers in Somalia, it seems there is an ongoing humanitarian crisis and there continues to be violence and strife, which affects the population significantly.

“There continues to be territorial disputes and armed altercations between various groups in Somalia that affect that population. And we see that we have tens of thousands of patients coming into our facilities every single month, without any reasonable alternative being present for most of these patients … And therefore that makes our decision such a heavy and painful one, and one that we wouldn’t have made unless we were forced into making that decision.”

MSF has already begun shutting down its Somali operations, trying to finish treating the patients it had already admitted before closing up shop completely. The withdrawal should be complete within the next week or two, and with it will go Somalia’s only reliable, functioning health system.

The second development that’s clouding Somalia’s horizons is one that the country has little to no control over. In London, thousands of miles away, Barclays bank announced that it will stop offering banking services to Somali remittance agencies – the last British bank to do so. The suspension was due to come into effect at the end of August, but has been delayed by another month as campaigners, including British Olympian Mo Farah, urge the bank to reconsider.

While Barclays is concerned, with some justification, about the remittance services being used to launder money, its decision will cut off the only legal means to transfer money from the UK to Somalia. The importance of remittances to the Somali economy cannot be understated. Many families in Somalia are entirely dependent on funds sent by friends or relatives overseas. Diaspora Somalis send home around $1.3-billion each year, of which $500-million comes from the UK. To put that it perspective, it’s more than the country’s entire GDP.

In a strong editorial, the Financial Times called on Barclays to reconsider their decision. “As things stand, hundreds of thousands of Somalis will lose their only source of income, remittances will be driven underground where benevolent funding will be even harder to distinguish from illicit flows, and Barclays’ reputation will take a hit. The aid agencies and western governments attempting to strengthen Somalia’s fragile recovery after 22 years of civil war will also be deprived of an essential tool for promoting stability. It is hard to imagine a greater victory for those in Somalia attempting to spoil the peace.”

MSF’s withdrawal and the impending remittances crisis is a double blow aimed at two of Somalia’s most important sectors: health and the economy. Even if it has made some progress in the last year, the country still needs all the help it can get, and this loss will only retard its development even further. DM

Source:  dailymaverick.co.za

Somalia: Somali President Unhurt in Bomb Attack

VOA Washington - Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was unharmed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his car.

Somali militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted to an affiliate website.

VOA's Somali Service reports that an improvised explosive device went off as the president's convoy was traveling to the southern Somali town of Merca, about 110 kilometers south of Mogadishu. A journalist traveling with Mohamud says gunshots were fired after the bomb.

One Somali soldier was wounded in the attack. However, the president was not injured and continued on to Merca, where he is conducting political outreach, as part of his government's attempt to stabilize the country.

African Union and Ethiopian forces have driven al-Shabab out of Somalia's major cities but the group continues to control rural areas and carries out periodic attacks.

On Monday, Mohamud opened a conference with political and religious leaders to discuss rebuilding war-torn Somalia and holding national elections by 2016.

The current government, which came to power in a U.N.-backed process last year, has been Somalia's most stable government since the fall of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Ethiopia and Kenya help dismember Somalia

A new deal has recognised Jubaland, a strip of land in southern Somalia and bordering on Kenya and Ethiopia, as yet another quasi-independent entity in the region.

Ahmed Mohamed Islam during a meeting in Kismaayo earlier this year. Photo: Getty

After nine days of late night meetings and plenty of arm-twisting, the fragile government of Somalia was finally forced to accept that a further slice of its territory had slipped beyond its control. The deal, signed in Addis Ababa, recognised Jubaland as yet another quasi-independent entity. This strip of land in southern Somalia and bordering on Kenya and Ethiopia, it is the illegitimate heir of both of these countries.

Jubaland is of critical importance to the whole of southern Somalia. Trade through the port and airport of Kismaayo is a lifeline for the region. In theory Jubaland will be the ‘Interim Juba Administration’ and last for just two years, while Somalia re-forms itself into a Federation. In reality it is now outside Mogadishu’s control – just like those other fragments of Somalia, including Puntland, Galmadug and the self-declared independent state of Somaliland.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was only sworn in as Somali president a year ago, was unable to resist the intense pressure of his neighbours and agreed to the deal. The entire sorry saga was witnessed by Nicholas Kay, the UN’s Special Representative in Somalia; welcomed by Catherine Ashton for the European Union and supported by the African Union. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the South African chair of African Union described the agreement as “historic”, declaring that it was “a further illustration of the capacity of the Somalis to triumph over their differences.” 

It is hard to see what there was to welcome. 

The deal officially recognises Ahmed Mohamed Islam (known, like all Somalis by a nickname - ‘Madobe’) as the ‘leader’ of Jubaland. Yet only a month earlier Sheikh Madobe was described in a major UN report as a “spoiler” and one of the chief threats to Somali stability.

The Sheikh was said to be “subverting the efforts of the Federal Government leadership and its partners to extend the reach of Government authority and stabilise the country, particularly in Kismaayo.”

What the Baroness Ashton and her colleagues have done is anoint a man who has been roundly denounced by the Monitoring Group, established by the UN Security Council. Its July report pointed out that the Sheikh had been a member of the short-lived Union of Islamic Courts, which was ousted by Ethiopia during its 2006 invasion of Somalia. What happened next is interesting. As the report puts it: “Madobe’s forces returned to Kismayo in August 2008, when Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam recaptured the city following the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia.” At this time the Sheikh Madobe was a key player in the al-Qaeda linked network.  But, as is ever the case in Somalia, clan and inter-clan rivalry came into play and the Sheikh fell out with his former allies. He threw in his lot with the African peacekeepers and the Federal Government.  But Sheikh Madobe did not cut his ties with al-Sabaab altogether and the UN report accuses him of continuing the export of charcoal from territory controlled by the Islamists – a trade long since outlawed by the UN because of its catastrophic impact on the Somali environment.

Under the new arrangement the Sheikh retains the port and the airport, although he is required to hand control to the Federal Government within six months. Since this would cut his income and hence his power, there seems little chance of the handover ever taking place.

The outcome has been a triumph for Somalia’s neighbours, even though Kenya and Ethiopia will continue to vie for influence in this critical part of the country.

The Kenyan foreign ministry has long seen the establishment of a buffer state along its northern border as vital to its security interests. Thanks to Wikileaks, we know that Kenya’s Foreign Minister, Moses Wetangula, practically begged the United States for its support when he saw Johnnie Carsons, President Obama’s most senior US Africa official, in January 2010.  The Kenyans were requesting backing for an invasion of Somalia to create Jubaland, but the Americans were far from keen.

As the confidential embassy telex puts it: “Carson tactfully, but categorically refused the Kenyan delegation’s attempts to enlist US Government support for their effort.” It was, said the telex, the third time Wetangula had made the appeal, but Carsons resisted, pointing out – rightly – that “the initiative could backfire.” Critically, Carsons warned that: “if successful, a Lower Juba entity could emerge as a rival to the TFG” (Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government). This is exactly what has now come about.

Brushing these concerns aside, Kenya sent its troops into Somalia in October 2011. As predicted, they found it very heavy going and it was to take almost a year before al-Shabaab were driven from Kismaayo.

For the Ethiopians, the establishment of Jubaland is a further fragmentation of Somalia, its sworn enemy since the Somalis invaded their country in 1977. It was an attack that is imprinted on Ethiopian memories, fuelling a determination to see the end of a powerful, centralised Somali state.

As if the situation was not complicated enough, newly created Jubaland could be sitting on reserves of oil. Several fields have been detected in the waters along the Kenya-Somali border, but, like many African frontiers, the location of the border is a matter of dispute.  The Somali government refuses to recognise oil licenses granted to multinational companies by Kenya, and has persuaded several oil-majors, including Total and the Norwegian state owned Statoil, to withdraw their claims. But, said the UN in July, the Italian firm, ENI, was still pressing ahead with its claims.

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As Jonnie Carsons remarked in 2010, Jubaland “raises more questions than it answers.”

Source: newstatesman.com

Ethiopia: Dr. Tedros Adhanom met with the President of the regional Administration of Puntland

Addis Ababa - Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom met with the President of the regional Administration of Puntland Administration, Abdirahman Mohamud Farole, for a working dinner on Monday (September 2).

President Farole thanked Dr.Tedros for the commitment and dedication he had shown in the negotiation process which led to the breakthrough of the recent signing of the Agreement between the Juba Interim Administration and the Somali Federal Government in Addis Ababa. Dr. Tedros, who detailed the week-long negotiations, underlined the point that the amount of common ground had translated into positive elements that helped to resolve differences and forge an agreement.

The two sides exchanged views on a numerous issues including ways to scale up sub-regional integration through air and road transport links, power supply connections and increased trade. They agreed that higher levels of integration were vital to the peace and security of the sub region and that Ethiopia and Somalia needed to work together on the basis of their comparative and competitive advantages. President Farole, in particular, praised Ethiopia's efforts to bring peace and security to the region. It might be added that President Farole had no difficulty on arrival at Addis Ababa, and the story carried by All Africa.com, quoting Dalsan Radio, claiming that President Farole had been refused entry on August 28, was completely inaccurate.

Source: Government of Ethiopia

Xoghayaha Guud ee Qaramada Midoobay oo ka digay in ay burburto Xukuumada Federalka Somalia: Waxanu Dalbaday in Degdeg Loogu Geeyo Diyaarado La Dagaalama Al Shabaab

Xoghayaha Guud ee Qaramada Midoobay

New-York - Xoghayaha Guud ee Qaramada Midoobay Ban Kin Moon ayaa caalamka ka codsaday in Diyaaradaha Dagaalka loo adeegsado Kooxda Al-Shabaab ee ka dagaalanta Gudaha Soomaaliya, si awooda Kooxdaasi loo wiiqo.

Mr Ban Kin Moon oo la hadlay Wakaalada Wararka ee AP ayaa sheegay in Dowlada Soomaaliya ay fashil wajihi karto hadii aan lasiin taageero Dhinaca Cirka ah oo lagu wiiqayo awooda Kooxda Al-Shabaab oo wali Dagaalo kala horjeeda Dowlada iyo Ciidamada AMISOM.

Xoghayaha Guudd ee Qaramada Midoobay ayaa xusay in AL-Shabaab doonayaan in waxbo kama jiraan kasoo qaadaan Dadaalada lagu doonayo in Soomaaliya lagu bad baadiyo laguna soo celiyo nabadii iyo kala danmbeyntii, waxa uuna Kooxdan Al-Qaacida Xariirka la leh ku eedeeyay Carqaladeynta amaanka Soomaaliya.

Xoghayaha guud ee QM ban Ki Moon aya ugu baaqay xubnaha QM in ay ciidamada midowga afrika kaga sugan Somaaliya ee ku howlgalaya magaca Howlgalka AMISOM in lagu taagero diyaaradaha dagaalka nooca qumaatiga u kaca iyo kuwa ciidamada qaada si ay u xoojiyaan dagaalka lagu doonayo in Somalia looga sifeeyo xarakada Al-shabab.

Hadalka ka soo yeeray Xoghayaha Qaramada Midoobay ayaa ku soo beegmaya xili Al-Shabaab muujisay in ay wali diyaar u yihiin in ay weerar halis ah ku qaadaan Ciidamada itaalka yar ee Dowlada Soomaaliya iyo kuwa Midowga Afrika ee AMISOM.

UN chief: Somalia could still fail; calls for more attack helicopters to fight Al-Shabab

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

UNITED NATIONS –  The U.N. chief is warning that Somalia could slide back into being a failed state and wants countries around the world to provide attack helicopters and armored troop carriers to take the fight to Al-Shabab militants in the field.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon tells the Security Council that the al-Qaida-allied terrorist group Al-Shabab "continues to undermine security throughout the country, including in Mogadishu."

The U.N. chief on Tuesday called on U.N. members to provide the African Union-led peacekeeping force in Somalia with attack helicopters, armored troop carries and other support to root out Al-Shabab.

The United Nations has especially been stung since Al-Shabab attacked the U.N. compound in Mogadishu on June 19, killing a U.N. Development Program staffer, thee U.N. contractors, four Somali guards and at least six Somali bystanders.

Source: un.org

The new cabinet is sworn in at the State House in Juba, August 7. © The Niles | Waakhe Simon Wudu

by Abraham Daljang Maker

KAMPALA - South Sudanese women have cheered President Salva Kiir’s decision to appoint more female ministers during last month’s cabinet reshuffle.

After the South Sudanese president caught citizens by surprise by sacking his cabinet and vice president, speculation was rife on who he would appoint in their place.

His reshuffle tilted the gender balance towards women. Now more than a quarter of the national ministries are headed by women, compared to a previous two out of 21 ministries.

“I can see that our president is doing something good.” Maker Deng Nyag

In an interview published on the online news daily Sudan Tribune, Abuk Ayite, a representative in the legislative assembly congratulated the president for responding to women’s demands, calling his move “a wise decision”.

South Sudan’s female ministers are Rebecca Joshua Okwaci as Minister for Telecommunication and Postal Services; Jemma Nunu Kumba, Minister for Electricity and Dams; Catherine Juan Bennia, Minister for Land, Housing and Physical Planning; Awut Deng Acuil, Minister for Gender and Social Development; and Nadia Arop Dudi as Minster for Youth, Culture and Sports.

South Sudan is still playing catch up with Rwanda which is ranked number one in Africa and worldwide for its number of women in government. According to data from the United Nations in 2013, women make up more than 51 percent of Rwanda’s parliament. South Africa also has a good track record, with women assuming more than 40 percent of the seats in government.

Maker Deng Nyag, who formerly worked as gender and child activist in the minister of social development in Lakes State, expressed his satisfaction with South Sudan’s improved gender balance. “I can see that our president is doing something good, our women have been marginalised in education and governance for a long time but I am happy that he listens to people’s request,” Maker said.

“I can now hope that I will be a minster for defence or interior.” Betty Joan

Women in South Sudan took heart at the news, saying it would inspire more girls to continue education, a measure where South Sudan lags the rest of the world.

Betty Joan, a South Sudanese woman who is completing a Masters in Security and Strategic Studies in Nkumba University, said the new ministers provided role models for young women. “I can now hope that I will be a minster for defence or interior so that I can do something about the security in our country,” said Joan who is the only woman in her course.

But if South Sudan wants to propel women into politics it will need to remove a big hurdle blocking most women’s entrance to politics: A lack of education.

The culture of underage marriage makes it hard for women to attain a basic education. South Sudan has proportionally fewer girls attending school than anywhere else on the planet. UNICEF estimates that just one percent of girls finish primary school, meaning that very few will be educated enough to work in the top echelons of power.

KAMPALA - South Sudanese women have cheered President Salva Kiir’s decision to appoint more female ministers during last month’s cabinet reshuffle. - See more at: http://www.theniles.org/articles/?id=2021#sthash.1Vxok59R.dpuf

by Abraham Daljang Maker | in Politics | 04.09.2013 - See more at: http://www.theniles.org/articles/?id=2021#sthash.1Vxok59R.dpuf

South Sudan puts more women in power

South Sudan puts more women in power

US: Ohio man who held 3 women captive commits suicide

Ariel Castro

ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The man who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade before one escaped and alerted authorities has been found dead and is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said.

Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, located south of Columbus in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, said early Wednesday.

Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 10:50 p.m.

He was in protective custody because of the notoriety of his case, meaning he was checked every 30 minutes, but was not on suicide watch, Smith said. She said suicide watch entails constant observation.
Castro was also watched closely in Cuyahoga County Jail in the several weeks after his arrest and before his case was resolved by a guilty plea, with logs noting his activity every 10 minutes. He was taken off county jail suicide watch in early June after authorities determined he was not a suicide risk.

Castro's attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of Castro done at the Cuyahoga County Jail, where Castro was housed before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction, his attorney, Jaye Schlachet, told The Associated Press early Wednesday. Schlachet said he could not immediately comment further.

In an interview last month after Castro's conviction, Schlachet and attorney Craig Weintraub said their client clearly fit the profile of sociopathic disorder and that they hoped researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop other predators.

The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. They escaped from Castro's Cleveland home May 6, when Amanda Berry, one of the women, broke part of a door and yelled to neighbors for help.

"Help me," she said in a 911 call. "I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now."

The two other women were so scared of Castro that they held back initially even as police officers began to swarm the house. But quickly they realized they were free.

FILE - This combo image made from July 8, 2013, file still frames from video provided by Hennes Payn

 "You saved us! You saved us!" another of the captives, Michelle Knight, told an officer as she leaped into his arms.

Castro was arrested that evening. He had also fathered a child with Berry while she was in captivity; that girl was 6 years old when freed. A judge rejected Castro's request to have visiting rights with his daughter.

Elation over the women's rescue soon turned to shock as details emerged about conditions of their captivity. Investigators say they were bound with chains, repeatedly raped and deprived of food and bathroom facilities. Knight told investigators she was beaten and starved several times to force her to miscarry.

Messages left for the women's lawyers were not immediately returned early Wednesday.

Castro was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape.

In a rambling statement, he told the judge he was not a monster but a man suffering from a pornography addiction.

FILE - This Aug. 1, 2013 file
photo shows Ariel Castro in the
courtroom during the sentencing phase

"I'm not a monster. I'm sick," Castro said at his sentencing.

Knight was the only one of the three who appeared in court at his sentencing.

"You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back," she said in the hushed courtroom. "I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."

This is the second high-profile suicide in an Ohio prison in a month.

On Aug. 4, death row inmate Billy Slagle was found hanged in his cell just days before his scheduled execution. He was condemned to death for fatally stabbing a neighbor.
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Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.