Bin Laden raid files reportedly purged from Pentagon computers, sent to CIA

Shown here is a view of Usama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 3, 2011. (AP)

Associated Press

The nation's top special operations commander ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Usama bin Laden's hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public.

The secret move, described briefly in a draft report by the Pentagon's inspector general, set off no alarms within the Obama administration even though it appears to have sidestepped federal rules and perhaps also the Freedom of Information Act.

An acknowledgement by Adm. William McRaven of his actions was quietly removed from the final version of an inspector general's report published weeks ago. A spokesman for the admiral declined to comment. The CIA, noting that the bin Laden mission was overseen by then-CIA Director Leon Panetta before he became defense secretary, said that the SEALs were effectively assigned to work temporarily for the CIA, which has presidential authority to conduct covert operations.

"Documents related to the raid were handled in a manner consistent with the fact that the operation was conducted under the direction of the CIA director," agency spokesman Preston Golson said in an emailed statement. "Records of a CIA operation such as the (bin Laden) raid, which were created during the conduct of the operation by persons acting under the authority of the CIA Director, are CIA records."

Golson said it is "absolutely false" that records were moved to the CIA to avoid the legal requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.

The records transfer was part of an effort by McRaven to protect the names of the personnel involved in the raid, according to the inspector general's draft report.

But secretly moving the records allowed the Pentagon to tell The Associated Press that it couldn't find any documents inside the Defense Department that AP had requested more than two years ago, and could represent a new strategy for the U.S. government to shield even its most sensitive activities from public scrutiny.

"Welcome to the shell game in place of open government," said Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, a private research institute at George Washington University. "Guess which shell the records are under. If you guess the right shell, we might show them to you. It's ridiculous."

McRaven's directive sent the only copies of the military's records about its daring raid to the CIA, which has special authority to prevent the release of "operational files" in ways that can't effectively be challenged in federal court. The Defense Department can prevent the release of its own military files, too, citing risks to national security. But that can be contested in court, and a judge can compel the Pentagon to turn over non-sensitive portions of records.

Under federal rules, transferring government records from one executive agency to another must be approved in writing by the National Archives and Records Administration. There are limited circumstances when prior approval is not required, such as when the records are moved between two components of the same executive department. The CIA and Special Operations Command are not part of the same department.

The Archives was not aware of any request from the U.S. Special Operations Command to transfer its records to the CIA, spokeswoman Miriam Kleiman said. She said it was the Archives' understanding that the military records belonged to the CIA, so transferring them wouldn't have required permission under U.S. rules.

Special Operations Command also is required to comply with rules established by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that dictate how long records must be retained. Its July 2012 manual requires that records about military operations and planning are to be considered permanent and after 25 years, following a declassification review, transferred to the Archives.

Also, the Federal Records Act would not permit agencies "to purge records just on a whim," said Dan Metcalfe, who oversaw the U.S. government's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act as former director of the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy. "I don't think there's an exception allowing an agency to say, `Well, we didn't destroy it. We just deleted it here after transmitting it over there.' High-level officials ought to know better."

It was not immediately clear exactly which Defense Department records were purged and transferred, when it happened or under what authority, if any, they were sent to the CIA. No government agencies the AP contacted would discuss details of the transfer. The timing may be significant: The Freedom of Information Act generally applies to records under an agency's control when a request for them is received. The AP asked for files about the mission in more than 20 separate requests, mostly submitted in May 2011 -- several were sent a day after Obama announced that the world's most wanted terrorist had been killed in a firefight. Obama has pledged to make his administration the most transparent in U.S. history.

The AP asked the Defense Department and CIA separately for files that included copies of the death certificate and autopsy report for bin Laden as well as the results of tests to identify the body. While the Pentagon said it could not locate the files, the CIA, with its special power to prevent the release of records, has never responded. The CIA also has not responded to a separate request for other records, including documents identifying and describing the forces and supplies required to execute the assault on bin Laden's compound.

The CIA did tell the AP it could not locate any emails from or to Panetta and two other top agency officials discussing the bin Laden mission.

McRaven's unusual order would have remained secret had it not been mentioned in a single sentence on the final page in the inspector general's draft report that examined whether the Obama administration gave special access to Hollywood executives planning a film, "Zero Dark Thirty," about the raid. The draft report was obtained and posted online last month by the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group in Washington.

McRaven, who oversaw the bin Laden raid, expressed concerns in the report about possible disclosure of the identities of the SEALs. The Pentagon "provided the operators and their families an inordinate level of security," the report said. McRaven also directed that the names and photographs associated with the raid not be released.

"This effort included purging the combatant command's systems of all records related to the operation and providing these records to another government agency," according to the draft report. The sentence was dropped from the report's final version.

Since the raid, one of the SEALs published a book about the raid under a pseudonym but was subsequently identified by his actual name. And earlier this year the SEAL credited with shooting bin Laden granted a tell-all, anonymous interview with Esquire about the raid and the challenges of his retiring from the military after 16 years without a pension.

Current and former Defense Department officials knowledgeable about McRaven's directive and the inspector general's report told AP the description of the order in the draft report was accurate. The reference to "another government agency" was code for the CIA, they said. These individuals spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter by name.

There is no indication the inspector general's office or anyone else in the U.S. government is investigating the legality of transferring the military records. Bridget Serchak, a spokeswoman for the inspector general, would not explain why the reference was left out of the final report and what, if any, actions the office might be taking.

"Our general statement is that any draft is pre-decisional and that drafts go through many reviews before the final version, including editing or changing language," Serchak wrote in an e-mail.

 The unexplained decision to remove the reference to the purge and transfer of the records "smells of bad faith," said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. "How should one understand that? That adds insult to injury. It essentially covers up the action."

McRaven oversaw the raid while serving as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, the secretive outfit in charge of SEAL Team Six and the military's other specialized counterterrorism units. McRaven was nominated by Obama to lead Special Operations Command, JSOC's parent organization, a month before the raid on bin Laden's compound. He replaced Adm. Eric Olson as the command's top officer in August 2011.

Ken McGraw, a spokesman for Special Operations Command, referred questions to the inspector general's office.

The refusal to make available authoritative or contemporaneous records about the bin Laden mission means that the only official accounts of the mission come from U.S. officials who have described details of the raid in speeches, interviews and television appearances. In the days after bin Laden's death, the White House provided conflicting versions of events, falsely saying bin Laden was armed and even firing at the SEALs, misidentifying which of bin Laden's sons was killed and incorrectly saying bin Laden's wife died in the shootout. Obama's press secretary attributed the errors to the "fog of combat."

A U.S. judge and a federal appeals court previously sided with the CIA in a lawsuit over publishing more than 50 "post-mortem" photos and video recordings of bin Laden's corpse. In the case, brought by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, the CIA did not say the images were operational files to keep them secret. It argued successfully that the photos and videos must be withheld from the public to avoid inciting violence against Americans overseas and compromising secret systems and techniques used by the CIA and the military.

The Defense Department told the AP in March 2012 it could not locate any photographs or video taken during the raid or showing bin Laden's body. It also said it could not find any images of bin Laden's body on the USS Carl Vinson, the aircraft carrier from which he was buried at sea. The Pentagon also said it could not find any death certificate, autopsy report or results of DNA identification tests for bin Laden, or any pre-raid materials discussing how the government planned to dispose of bin Laden's body if he were killed. It said it searched files at the Pentagon, Special Operations Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., and the Navy command in San Diego that controls the Carl Vinson.

The Pentagon also refused to confirm or deny the existence of helicopter maintenance logs and reports about the performance of military gear used in the raid. One of the stealth helicopters that carried the SEALs in Pakistan crashed during the mission and its wreckage was left behind.

The Defense Department also told the AP in February 2012 that it could not find any emails about the bin Laden mission or his "Geronimo" code name that were sent or received in the year before the raid by McRaven. The department did not say they had been moved to the CIA. It also said it could not find any emails from other senior officers who would have been involved in the mission's planning. It found only three such emails written by or sent to then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and these consisted of 12 pages sent to Gates summarizing news reports after the raid.

The Defense Department in November 2012 released copies of 10 emails totaling 31 pages found in the Carl Vinson's computer systems. The messages were heavily censored and described how bin Laden's body was prepared for burial.

These records were not among those purged and then moved to the CIA. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. James Gregory said the messages from the Carl Vinson "were not relating to the mission itself and were the property of the Navy."

Ethiopia & Djibouti Concluded Electric Power Interconnection Agreement

Written by Meraf Leykun   

Ethiopia and Djibouti concluded a two billion dollar electric power interconnection agreement. The agreement was signed on 3 July 2013 at the Addis Ababa Hilton during the 12th Joint Ministerial Meeting. The agreement is the second of its kind signed between the two countries.

Tedrose Adhanom, Ethiopian Foreign Minister and his Djiboutian counter part signed the agreement.

The 230KV transmission line project stretching from Ethiopia's Afar region to Jaba in Djibouti will enable Ethiopia to export up to 75MW of electricity to Djibouti.

The project is expected to be financed jointly by the two countries.

Source: Fortune

Leaked Pakistan report details bin Laden's secret life (Dilkii Usaama Bin Ladin waa fal dambiyeed -Pakistan)

Al Jazeera says the report calls the handling of bin Laden affair a 'national disgrace.'

This undated file photo shows al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.(Photo: AP)

Story Highlights

•     Bin Laden lived undetected in Pakistan for nine years

•     A daughter recalls the night of the U.S. raid

•     The report calls on Pakistani leaders to apologize to the nation

Warbixin ay soo saartay dowladda Pakistan ayaa sheegaysa in dilkii Usaama Bin Ladin uu ahaa fal dambiyeed uu Obama amarkiisa bixiyay.

Guriga uu degganaa Bin Ladin ee Abottabad

Warbixinta ayaa sheegtay in dilkii, Usaama Bin Ladin, oo muddo laba sandood laga joogo uu ahaa fal dambi ah oo uu si cad u amray madaxweyne Barack Obama.

Dawlada Maraykanku waxay sheegtay in haddii uu Bin Ladin is dhiibi lahaa nolol lagu qaban lahaa oo aan la dileen.

Warbixintaas oo si qarsoodi ah hoos looga dhiibay TV-ga Al-Jazeera, waxaa kale oo ay aad u cambaareysay dawlada Pakistan.

Waxay ciidammada dalka ku eedeeysay in ay ka baaqsadeen in ay ogaadaan in Usaama Bin Ladin uu dalka Pakistan joogay.

Warbixintu waxay saraakiisa Pakistan ku eedaysay, "karti darro weyn" markii ay ogaan waayeen in Bin Ladin uu dalkaas degganaa muddo 9 Sanadood ah.

Magaalada Abottabad ee Bin Ladin lagu dilay waxaa deggan ciidammada dalka Pakistan, waxaana ku yaalla kulliyad militery.

Bin Ladin ayaa muddo 6 sanadood ah degganaa magaalada Abottabad.

Leaked Pakistan report details bin Laden's secret life

by Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

Osama bin Laden lived undetected in Pakistan for nine years before he was killed by U.S. forces according to leaked Pakistani government report that blasts the country's civilian and military leadership for "gross incompetence" over the bin Laden affair.

It finds that Pakistan's intelligence establishment had "closed the book" on bin Laden by 2005, and was no longer actively pursuing intelligence that could lead to his capture.

The 336-page Abbottabad Commission report, obtained by Al Jazeera, blasts the government and military for a "national disaster" over its handling of bin Laden and calls on the leadership to apologize to the people of Pakistan for their "dereliction of duty."

The report, never released publicly, was ordered after the May 1, 2011 raid by U.S. special forces on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad. The al-Qaeda leader was killed and his body removed during the raid.

READ: The full report

According to Al Jazeera, the report finds the government's intention in conducting the inquiry was likely aimed at "regime continuance, when the regime is desperate to distance itself from any responsibility for the national disaster that occurred on its watch." It says that the inquiry was likely "a reluctant response to an overwhelming public and parliamentary demand."

The report blames "Government Implosion Syndrome" for lack of intelligence on Bin Laden's nine-year residence in Pakistan and its response to the U.S. raid.

Al Jazeera quotes the report as saying the commissions finds that "culpable negligence and incompetence at almost all levels of government can more or less be conclusively established."

The reports focuses intently on the night of the raid, interviewing bin Laden's family and members of the household extensively.

The report said accounts differ as to whether the al-Qeda leader was killed by the first shot fired at him when he went to the bedroom door as soldiers came up the stairs or later when they stormed the room.

Pakistani police stand guard beside a sealed main gate leading to the hideout house of slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad on May 4, 2011.(Photo: Aamir Qureshi AFP/Getty Images)

"He did not use his wife or daughter as a shield to protect himself," the report says. "He was not armed when he was shot."

One of his daughters, identified as Surnayya, told the commmision that she saw one of the U.S. helicopters land from her window and immediately rushed upstairs to bin Laden's room.

"Although she did not see her father fall, she saw him on the floor," the report says. "He had been hit in the forehead and she knew he was dead. His face was 'clear' and recognizable. According to her, blood flowed 'backwards over his head.' However, because of the dark she could not see very clearly. The American soldiers asked her to identify the body. She said, 'my father.'"

In summing up its assessment of the killing of bin Laden, the commission spares few words:

    The whole episode of the U.S. assassination mission of May 2, 2011 and the Pakistan government's response before, during and after appears in large part to be a story of complacency, ignorance, negligence, incompetence, irresponsibility and possibly worse at various levels inside and outside the government.

Among other findings:

• Bin Laden entered Pakistan in mid-2002 after narrowly escaping capture in the battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan. Over nine years, he moved to various places inside the country, including South Waziristan and northern Swat Valley.

• In Swat, the al-Qaeda leader reportedly met with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, in early 2003. About a month later, KSM was captured in Rawalpindi in a joint U.S.-Pakistani operation, and Bin Laden fled the area.

• Bin Laden, along with two of his wives and several children and grandchildren, moved into the custom-built compound in Abbottabad, a military garrison town, in 2005 and lived there until the U.S. raid.

• The presence of a CIA support network to help track down bin Laden without the Pakistani establishment's knowledge was "a case of nothing less than a collective and sustained dereliction of duty by the political, military and intelligence leadership of the country."

Somali American caught up in a shadowy Pentagon counterpropaganda campaign

Abdiwali Warsame

Two days after he became a U.S. citizen, Abdiwali Warsame embraced the First Amendment by creating a raucous Web site about his native Somalia. Packed with news and controversial opinions, it rapidly became a magnet for Somalis dispersed around the world, including tens of thousands in Minnesota.

The popularity of the site, Somalimidnimo.com, or United Somalia, also attracted the attention of the Defense Department. A military contractor, working for U.S. Special Operations forces to “counter nefarious influences” in Africa, began monitoring the Web site and compiled a confidential research dossier about its founder and its content.

In a May 2012 report, the contractor, the Northern Virginia-based Navanti Group, branded the Web site “extremist” and asserted that its “chief goal is to disseminate propaganda supportive” of al-Shabab, an Islamist militia in Somalia that the U.S. government considers a terrorist group. The contractor then delivered a copy of its dossier — including Warsame’s Minnesota home address and phone number — to the FBI. A few days later, federal agents knocked on the webmaster’s door.

Although he did not know it, Warsame had been caught up in a shadowy Defense Department counterpropaganda operation, according to public records and interviews.

In its written analysis of his Web site, Navanti Group identified “opportunities” to conduct “Military Information Support Operations,” more commonly known as psychological operations, or “psy-ops,” that would target Somali audiences worldwide. The report did not go into details, but it recommended that the U.S. military consider a “messaging campaign” by repeating comments posted on the United Somalia Web site by readers opposed to al-Shabab.

Military propaganda and the spread of disinformation are as old as war itself, but commanders usually confined the tactics to war zones.

With the Iraq war over and U.S. combat operations scheduled to finish in Afghanistan by the end of next year, however, the Pentagon has begun shifting psy-ops missions to other parts of the world to influence popular opinion. Many of the missions are overseen by the Special Operations Command, which plays a leading role in global counterterrorism efforts.

In the past, psychological operations usually meant dropping leaflets or broadcasting propaganda on the battlefield. Today, the military is more focused on manipulating news and commentary on the Internet, especially social media, by posting material and images without necessarily claiming ownership.

Much of the work is carried out by military information support teams that the Special Operations Command has deployed to 22 countries. The command, which is based in Tampa, also operates multilingual news Web sites tailored to specific regions.

The Southeast European Times covers the Balkans with original news dispatches and feature stories written in 10 languages. Magharebia covers North and West Africa in Arabic, French and English. Readers have to scour the Web sites to find an acknowledgment that they are sponsored by the U.S. military.

Given the global nature of online communications, the Pentagon’s information operations are perhaps inevitably becoming entangled on the home front.

At a time of intense focus on the targeting of Americans’ communications by the National Security Agency, Warsame’s case also illustrates how other parts of the U.S. government monitor the material that some Americans post online.

The Pentagon is legally prohibited from conducting psychological operations at home or targeting U.S. audiences with propaganda, except during “domestic emergencies.” Defense Department rules also forbid the military from using psychological operations to “target U.S. citizens at any time, in any location globally, or under any circumstances.”

Last year, however, two USA Today journalists were targeted in an online propaganda campaign after they revealed that the Pentagon’s top propaganda contractor in Afghanistan owed millions of dollars in back taxes. A co-owner of the firm later admitted that he established fake Web sites and used social media to attack the journalists anonymously.

In written responses to questions for this article, Navanti Group said it did nothing improper in regard to United Somalia. The firm, which specializes in “understanding social media and Internet trends” in Africa, said it was just conducting research and did not target Warsame or his Web site as part of a counterpropaganda campaign.

The company said it assumed that the Web site was based overseas. Once Navanti discovered that Warsame lived in Minnesota, “we immediately turned that information over to the U.S. Government and to relevant law enforcement agencies, as both regulations and our own guidelines dictate.” Navanti also said that it did not know that Warsame was a U.S. citizen and that it collected only public information about him.

“We don’t deal with domestic. End of issue,” Andrew Black, Navanti’s chief executive, said in an interview. “We turned it over to the cognizant authorities. That’s where we stopped. That’s really important that that is where we stopped.” The firm “followed the law,” he added.

Navanti’s report, however, indicates that the company knew at an earlier stage that Warsame resided in the United States. It describes him as “a young man who lives in Minnesota, is known for his extremist believes [sic] by Minneapolis Somali residents.”

The two unnamed Navanti employees who wrote the analysis — both native Somalis — also cited secondhand information that their “friends in Minnesota” had provided about Warsame, according to the report.

Black declined to identify the arm of the Defense Department that Navanti was working for or to explain what the military was doing with the information that his company collected and analyzed. It’s unclear whether the military carried out a messaging campaign aimed at Warsame’s site.

“We do work for the government,” Black said. “I’m not going to be able to provide specifics on things. . . . It’s for the client if they choose to share stuff.”

Public records, however, show that Navanti was working as a subcontractor for the Special Operations Command to help conduct “information operations to engage local populations and counter nefarious influences” in Africa and Europe.

Navanti was hired to perform “research and analysis” about al-Qaeda and affiliated groups in Africa, according to contracting documents posted online by the government. The partially redacted documents state that the company’s research methods “fit the unique needs” of military information support operations.

In 2010, the U.S. military stopped using the phrase “psychological operations” because of its negative connotations. Instead, it adopted a blander term, “military information support operations,” or MISO.

Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, a Pentagon spokesman, said Navanti’s research is unclassified. He said in an e-mailed statement it is “designed to address planning gaps” for Special Operations forces in Africa and Europe, “not just specific capabilities like Military Information Support Operations.”

“If a U.S. person was identified as a potential risk or threat as a result of a search — as in the case of the research on Al Shabaab websites like Somalimidnimo.com — they direct the contractor to discontinue that research,” Pickart added.

He said Navanti “is not involved in production and dissemination of MISO products.” But he declined to say how the military might have used the firm’s research.

Warsame has not been charged with a crime, and it is unclear whether he is under formal investigation by the FBI.

Kyle Loven, a spokesman for the bureau in Minneapolis, declined to comment.

‘I don’t support al-Qaeda’

Between shifts as a city bus driver, the 30-year-old Warsame runs his Web site from home — a one-man show.

Most of the news and commentary is in Somali, though several items each day are posted in English, including links to CNN. United Somalia aggregates items from other sites and submissions from readers, but Warsame also posts original articles and interviews under his byline.

It takes only a cursory glance at the Web site to see that Warsame views the world through the lens of a fundamentalist Muslim. He strongly opposes military intervention in Somalia by the United States, Ethiopia, Kenya and other countries. He features material portraying al-Shabab as freedom fighters, not terrorists. He also says that he welcomes dissenting views.

But Warsame said he steers clear of posting anything that could be construed as fundraising or recruiting followers for al-Shabab. Such activities are prohibited by U.S. law and have been under scrutiny by the FBI.

The Justice Department has prosecuted several Somali Americans in Minnesota on charges of providing material support to al-Shabab. Warsame has closely covered their cases on his Web site and advocated for their defense.

“I’m an American citizen,” Warsame said in an interview at a cafe in Minneapolis, home to the largest concentration of Somali refugees in the country. “I don’t support al-Qaeda. I don’t support al-
Shabab. I don’t send them money. I’m not supporting killing anyone.”

“I just want the community to know what’s going on,” he added. “My job is to allow people to express their views. It’s news. It’s public information. People want to know what the professors are saying, students are saying, what the single moms are saying, what al-Shabab are saying.”

In June 2012, Warsame said, a Google Alert notified him that his Web site had been mentioned in a document posted on the Internet. It was Navanti’s research report, posted on opensource.gov, a federal Web site.

The four-page paper described United Somalia as an al-Shabab propaganda arm. It said the Web site “blends extremist religious ideology with nationalist sentiment in an attempt to gain Somali and foreign support” for al-Shabab.

Warsame may have been a relatively new American, but he displayed a firm grasp of his civil rights and a knack for defending himself.

He downloaded the report and re-posted a copy under a bold headline in imperfect English, “Breaking News: The Somalimidnimo’s website, it’s writers and editors were threatened in-order to suppress the free press.”

He also translated the document into Somali. Dozens of other Somali-language news sites around the world quickly re-posted the document.

“Their research was partial, unprofessional and with malicious intent,” he said of Navanti. “I took it as a personal threat and betrayal of freedom of speech.”

Soon after, Warsame received a letter from an attorney for Navanti, accusing him of violating copyright law by re-publishing the company’s research. Warsame responded by publicizing the letter and ignoring a demand to remove Navanti’s report from his Web site.

Around the same time, FBI agents visited Warsame’s apartment and later phoned him, asking to meet. “I said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you without a lawyer,’ ” he recalled saying. He consulted a federal public defender and a private lawyer.

At first, Warsame said, the FBI told him that he was under criminal investigation. But after his attorneys intervened, he said, the bureau stopped calling.

Navanti defends role
In its written response to The Washington Post’s questions, Navanti said it gave its report on United Somalia to the FBI “out of an abundance of caution” because of the law enforcement agency’s role “in investigating people inside the United States with possible ties to an extremist group such as al-Shabaab.”

The defense contractor also accused the Web site and Warsame of aggregating propaganda on behalf of al-Shabab “for the purposes of recruitment and incitement.”

But Navanti’s dossier does not specify any instances in which the Web site may have crossed a line by recruiting al-Shabab followers or inciting violence. Black, the company’s chief executive, likewise could not cite examples.

“We’ve got clear evidence that his Web site is part of the information domain of al-Shabab,” Black said. “This is the United States. We have freedoms and liberties. You’re allowed to defend yourself. And that’s fine. But that’s not between us and him. That’s between him and the FBI.”

Black disputed that Warsame was a legitimate journalist or that his Web site could be considered a news outlet.

“I have a very hard time seeing his work as journalistic. I don’t see Walter Cronkite coming through his words here,” Black said. “He’s got comments on his front page that Osama bin Laden blew himself up to avoid being captured. I’m not sure this guy is going for a Pulitzer.”

Warsame said he began reporting about a decade ago, when he lived as a refugee in Kenya, by submitting pieces to a Web site called Somali Talk.

He wrote more frequently after he and his family moved to Minnesota in 2005. Five years later, he started United Somalia. He is a dues-paying member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, an association of professional journalists, and estimated that he has conducted hundreds of interviews.

Warsame said his site attracts more than 100,000 readers a month, with a dedicated following from North America to Europe to Australia.

Asked for an outside perspective, Matt Bryden, a former senior U.N. official in Somalia, said the Web site appeals to “a range of readers” who dislike the weak national government in Mogadishu. He said the site “publishes a combination of news and commentary, some of which is pro-Shabab.”

“It is certainly more widely read and more popular than most other pro-Shabab Web pages,” added Bryden, who works as director of Sahan Research, a think tank in Nairobi. “Other Shabab- affiliated Web sites tend to be more exclusively jihadist in content, which makes them appeal to a narrower audience.”

As an American, Warsame said, he treasures his free-speech rights and doesn’t hesitate to take unpopular stands, such as the time he ripped Muslim clerics for participating in an interfaith prayer service at a church. The largest mosque in Minnesota banned him from its premises because of his writings.

“Sometimes he has controversial things, which I may not agree with, but his Web site is definitely well read,” said Abdinasir Abdi, a friend, law student and Somali community activist in Minneapolis. “The irony is that if he was in any country other than the U.S. right now, I don’t think he’d survive.

Source: Washpost

At Least 40 Die as Soldiers Said to Open Fire on Morsi Backers

Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and KAREEM FAHIM

CAIRO — Egyptian security officials and members of the Muslim Brotherhood said that more than 40 supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi were killed as violence erupted outside a military officers’ club early Monday where the supporters had been holding a sit-in for days demanding his release from detention.

A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said the supporters were killed by soldiers and police officers during an “unprovoked” attack during dawn prayers using tear gas and live ammunition.

Security officials said the death toll stood at 43 civilians and one security officer. They added that more than 300 people had been wounded.

Al Jazeera broadcast footage of a field hospital run by Mr. Morsi’s supporters, showing what appeared to be several bodies lying on the ground and doctors treating bloodied patients. Army tanks blocked approaches to the officers’ club, as well as another square nearby where the field hospital was located.

Witnesses in the area where the shooting took place said they saw Mr. Morsi’s supporters performing the dawn prayers. Shortly afterward, the witnesses said, they heard the sound of heavy automatic weapons and pro-Morsi supporters were seen fleeing frantically, seeking to take cover behind debris on the streets and billboards.

It was the second explosion of deadly violence outside the Republican Guard officers’ club since the military intervened on Wednesday to depose Mr. Morsi, following mass protests against his rule. Mr. Morsi’s supporters believe the former president is being held inside the club, and have held rallies at its gates, demanding his release.

The killings came a day after the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies vowed to broaden their protests against the president’s ouster and American diplomats sought to persuade the Islamist group to accept his overthrow, its officials said. But the killings on Monday seemed certain to inject perilous new factors into the country’s fragile political calculus.

Continuing a push for accommodation that began before the removal of Mr. Morsi last week, the American diplomats contacted Brotherhood leaders to try to persuade them to re-enter the political process, an Islamist briefed on one of the conversations said on Sunday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Mahmoud Khaled/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“They are asking us to legitimize the coup,” the Islamist said, arguing that accepting the removal of an elected president would be the death of Egyptian democracy. The United States Embassy in Cairo declined to comment.

Even as both sides continued their street demonstrations on Sunday, Egypt’s new leaders continued their effort to form an interim government. Squabbles about a choice for prime minister spilled out into the open on Saturday, exposing splits among the country’s newly ascendant political forces.

State news media quoted a spokesman for Adli Mansour, the interim president, on Sunday as saying there was a “tendency” to name Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Prize-winning diplomat, as vice president, and a former chair of Egypt’s investment authority, Ziad Bahaa el-Din, as interim prime minister.

On Saturday, state news media said Mr. ElBaradei had been chosen as prime minister, but the presidency later backed away from the report after ultraconservatives known as Salafis, who fault Mr. ElBaradei for being too secular, apparently rejected the appointment. It was not clear on Sunday that the Salafi party, Al Nour, was any more inclined to accept Mr. ElBaradei as vice president.

Mr. Bahaa el-Din, a lawyer who served in the investment authority and on the board of the Central Bank under former President Hosni Mubarak, was abroad and was considering the request, according to a spokesman for his political party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party.

The lack of agreement means that Egypt has been without a fully functioning government since Wednesday, when the defense minister, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, announced that Mr. Morsi had been deposed.

The power vacuum has left confusion about who is responsible for making decisions in the interim, and in particular for law enforcement. Over the past few days, the authorities have arrested Muslim Brotherhood officials and shut down television stations, including Islamist channels, though it is not clear on whose orders the security services were acting.

On Sunday, Al Jazeera reported that prosecutors had interrogated its Cairo bureau chief, Abdel Fattah Fayed, for hours before releasing him on bail.

Al Jazeera’s Web site said Mr. Fayed, who had turned himself in, was charged with running an unlicensed satellite channel and “transmitting news that could compromise Egypt’s national security.” On Wednesday, as part of what appeared to be a coordinated sweep against news media outlets seen as sympathetic to Mr. Morsi, security officials raided the offices of Al Jazeera’s local Cairo station and several other channels.

Since then, thousands of Islamists have held a vigil for Mr. Morsi at their new base in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square, and in recent days outside the officers’ club of the Republican Guard, where some believed Mr. Morsi was being held.

Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that nominated Mr. Morsi for president, have sought to convince the world that his removal was both illegal and untenable. They now say they intend to escalate their demonstrations across Egypt.

In the square, Brotherhood officials pledged that their growing protests would force the military to release Mr. Morsi, insisting that no one else would negotiate on their behalf. “I think the military has to yield; they won’t have any choice,” said Gehad el-Haddad, a Brotherhood spokesman.

“We are stepping it up every few days, with protests around the country,” Mr. Haddad said. “We are logistically capable of carrying this on for months.”

He said the protests themselves would turn into gathering places for the observation of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when it begins this week.

To bolster its claims to legitimacy, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party, the Freedom and Justice Party, sent out an e-mail to reporters with mathematical calculations that it said indicated about five million supporters had gathered in the area.

At the same time, supporters of the military takeover redoubled their efforts to gain international support for Mr. Morsi’s ouster. Several current and former Egyptian officials appeared on American talk shows on Sunday to argue that the military seizure of power did not constitute a military coup d'état, which under United States law would require an automatic cutoff of $1.5 billion in annual aid.

“The military had the choice between intervention and chaos, and they had to respond to that,” Nabil Fahmy, a former Egyptian ambassador to the United States, said on the NBC News program “Meet the Press.”

In Cairo, hundreds of thousands of Mr. Morsi’s opponents gathered in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace, in what protesters said was an effort to counter claims to legitimacy made by the deposed president’s supporters.

In a mirror image of the pro-Morsi protests, many at the gathering seemed far less interested in swaying the Islamists than proving, to both Egyptians and the world, that their numbers were greater.

And several protesters said they were there to thank the army for its role in removing Mr. Morsi. Many in the crowd held portraits of General Sisi or banners praising the military. Jets and helicopters that flew overhead gave the demonstration the feel of a ticker-tape, postwar rally.

But in an alley near the square, a group of young protesters talked about the toll of Egypt’s conflict, still far from over. They were longtime activists, and all had friends who had died in protests during Egypt’s transition. Now, their conversations with friends in the Muslim Brotherhood had become arguments.

Mai Mandour, a 23-year-old law student, said her brother had told her that Islamist neighbors had started shaving their beards. “Everyone’s worried about a civil war,” she said.

Mayy El Sheikh and Asmaa Al Zohairy contributed reporting.

When the khat is away, the mice will play

The government still hasn’t got the message. On Wednesday I saw that Theresa May has  has decided to ban khat, a herbal stimulant popular among Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities. This goes against advice from the government’s own Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), which claimed there was “insufficient evidence” that khat caused health problems.

I agree with the ACMD that khat should remain legal, but for different reasons. The legal status of recreational drugs should not be decided by their healthiness. They should all be legal. Individuals should be free to harm their own bodies if they wish to do so. The government should be limited to providing information about the risks, providing customer protection through licensing and quality control, and helping those who struggle with addiction.

With this new ban, khat will go the way of other recreational drugs. Where there is demand, there will be a supply, regardless of the government’s ban. People who want to buy khat will now have to go through the black market. They will become involved with drug dealers who they would otherwise have no business with. These dealers will be unregulated, of course, so there will be none of the customer protection found in a legal market.

The BBC report says: “Somali groups in the UK had told the ACMD that use of khat was a ‘significant social problem’ and said it caused medical issues and family breakdowns.”

Banning khat will likely exacerbate this problem. People whose khat habit is causing a problem will be less likely to seek help, for fear of being branded a criminal and punished by the state. The real problem is pushing the drug business underground. Dealers are risking years in jail for responding to a legitimate demand, so the incentive to obey other aspects of the law is limited and some have no qualms about cutting the drugs with more harmful substances, or assaulting their customers to keep them obedient.

These dealers would not exist if drugs were legal. I realise that while cigarettes are still legal, there is a significant black market in them. This is mostly due to the huge taxes the government hits them with: 82% of the price of a packet of fags is tax. But when recreational drug users can only get their highs illegally, the black market is much bigger. As ever, the example of alcohol prohibition 1920s USA is illustrative.

Finally, legalising recreational drugs would help the government’s finances as well: the tax revenues would be huge. In 2011/12, the government received £2.8m through taxing khat. That was £13.8m worth of khat – the overall drugs market is estimated at between £2.15bn and £6.54bn. But instead, the government ignores advice it has requested,  as it did in the case of ACMD chairman David Nutt in 2009. Nutt himself uses a clever analogy to refute the khat ban.


But it seems that the state’s illogical control freak attitude will stubbornly persist.

The government should legalise not only khat, but all other recreational drugs. This would correct the current infringement on liberty, make it easier for addicts to get help, bring in tax revenue, and destroy the black market and related crime.

Israel ranks 2nd in 'world's most educated countries'

Study: 46% OF Israeli residents had a tertiary education versus 31% for the OECD 
By Viva Sarah Press
Israel ranked second in an international survey looking at the world’s Top 10 countries with the highest proportion of college-educated adult residents. Israel recorded 46 percent of its population completing a tertiary education, just five percent behind top-rated Canada.

Based on research conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 24/7 Wall St — a Delaware corporation set up to run a financial news and opinion operation with content delivered over the Internet – compiled a list of the 10 most educated countries in the world.

Canada was the only nation where more than half its residents – 51% — completed college degrees.

Israel slotted into an impressive second place on the list followed by Japan, United States, New Zealand, South Korea, United Kingdom, Finland, Australia and Ireland.

The list was based on the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2012 report which calculated the proportion of residents with a college or college equivalent degree in the group’s 34 member nations and other major economies.

The study showed that the best educated countries tended to spend the most on tertiary education as a percentage of gross domestic product.

The OECD revealed that in 2010 (the year Israel joined the organization) its GDP per capita was more than $7,000 below the group’s average. Yet, the country’s high school graduation rate was 92% in 2010 – far above the OECD’s 84% average.

Moreover, some 46% of Israeli residents had a tertiary education as opposed to 31% for the OECD average.

The report also showed that Israel spent 7.2% of GDP on educational institutions in 2009, the sixth most among all nations.
 
With spiking tuition costs, insurmountable loan balances, and the unemployment rate for recent college graduates hovering around 53%, it’s clear that a college education hasn’t gotten the best rap lately. Despite the ongoing financial woes across the globe, though, many think that college is still worth the investment. 

Snagging the number two most-educated spot was Israel, which trailed Canada by 5%. Japan, the U.S., 

New Zealand and South Korea all ranked with more than 40% of citizens having a higher-education degree. 

The top 10 most-educated countries are:

1. Canada
2. Israel
3. Japan
4. United States
5. New Zealand
6. South Korea
7. United Kingdom
8. Finland
9. Australia
10. Ireland

Djibouti Eyes Replicating Kenya's Geothermal Model

To enable Djiboutian population’s access to a reliable, renewable and affordable source of energy, the government of Djibouti eyes a new project supported by the African Development Group (AfDB) and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).

The AfDB  alone has mobilized 5.31 million US dollars grant from the African Development Fund (ADF), 400,000 US dollars loan from the African Development Fund (ADF), and USD 1.8 million US dollars from SEFA. The government of Djibouti will also make a contribution.

Currently Djibouti relies mostly on fossil fuels and some hydropower imports from Ethiopia. The majority of the country’s current generation capacity is situated in Djibouti City. The existing power stations are old, polluting and expensive to operate. In addition, fuel imports are expensive and require important foreign-currency expenditure.

As a consequence, only half the population of the country has access to electricity due to high tariffs. Djibouti is however blessed with substantial geothermal potential, capable of meeting the country’s energy needs and possibly exports to neighboring countries, while reduce CO2 emissions from thermal electricity generation.

The geothermal exploration project in the Lake Assal region is structured as Public Private Partnership, where the government of Djibouti is taking the lead on the first exploration and appraisal drilling phase. The private sector will be responsible for the production drilling, steam gathering system and electricity production and evacuation to the national grid.

In collaboration with the World Bank, the African Development Bank Group has structured the financing of this project.  The first phase will cost approximately 32 million US dollars. The AfDB Board approved 7.5 million US dollars financing from the African Development Fund and SEFA, a Danish funded initiative implemented by the AfDB.

The AfDB and the World Bank have jointly mobilized different donors to co-finance the project: the Global Environment Facility (GEF), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Global Geothermal Development Plan (GGDP) through Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

The current project seeks to replicate the innovative model adopted in Kenya where the AfDB approved in 2011, the Menengai Geothermal Development Project.   For this project concessional funds were provided by development financing institutions, such as the AfDB and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) hosted by the AfDB, to finance the drilling exploratory phase of the project.

Drawing from the Menengai experience and tapping into the East African Rift valley geothermal potential, the AfDB has also been working on a series of small-scale geothermal units, adapted to the specific context of each country.

In Ethiopia, the AfDB is playing a leading role in defining a geothermal roadmap. In Tanzania, it is leading the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program which includes the financing of a geothermal development project.  In the Comoros, the AfDB is also working to develop a 20 MW geothermal plant matching the needs of the archipelago.

Dozens reported killed in Egypt

Egyptian army soldiers take their positions near armored vehicles to guard the entrances of Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt, on July 8, 2013.(Photo: Hassan Ammar, AP)

Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY

CAIRO — Deadly violence erupted before the sun rose over Cairo on Monday morning at a sit-in by supporters of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, leaving many dead.

Egypt's health ministry said at least 42 people were killed. A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman said that the death toll included five children.

Egyptian military officials said only five supporters of the now-deposed president were killed, the Associated Press reported, but hundreds — Egypt's health ministry said 322 — are believed to be injured.

The exact course of events Monday morning remains unclear.

The military said people tried to storm a Republican Guard facility in Cairo's Nasr City, according to the Associated Press. But Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad, who was at a sit-in with his family near the violence, said security forces fired on peaceful demonstrators.

Police and military attacked people outside the Republic Guard facility as people were praying, firing rounds of live ammunition and shotgun pellets, El-Haddad said on his Twitter account. Many shots were aimed at the feet, resulting in a lot of leg wounds, he said, and security forces fired tear gas into the crowd in an attempt to disperse protesters.

The wounded were taken to a field hospital set up in the area.

"This is a crime against humanity," said Hesham Al Ashry, an ultraconservative Islamist who was protesting but left the area before violence broke out.

Last week, military officers killed four Brotherhood demonstrators, who were unarmed, in the same location as Monday's violence.

The military has a history of using excessive force to quell demonstrations. One of the most brutal cases took place in October 2011 in an area of Cairo called Maspero. The military ran over some demonstrators with massive military vehicles at a mainly Coptic Christian rally. Twenty-seven people were killed, including a military officer.

Monday's violence heightens the conflict between military and Morsi supporters, who call the military's move to oust Morsi a "military coup." They have refused to stop protesting until Morsi is released from detention and reinstated as president.

Egypt's opposition believes the army's move to set the nation on a new transitional path — suspending the constitution, dissolving the legislature and appointing a new interim president and government —were justified and backed by popular support.

But many in the pro-Morsi political camp believe all the votes they cast over the past two-and-a-half years have been stolen. They have been staging a sit-in since last week.

"We only came here to defend our vote," said Nassser Ibrahim, a teacher, at a pro-Morsi rally Sunday afternoon not far from where Monday's violence later erupted.

The shootings come at a fragile time in Egypt's transition after Morsi was ousted from power last Wednesday and threaten to unhinge a delicate political system.

Egypt's Nour Party — a hardline Islamist group — said Monday that it was withdrawing from negotiations over who will be named to the new government in response to the "massacre."

Prior to Monday's violence, the party recently rejected the appointment of liberal figure Mohamed ElBaradei as prime minister. The group's recent withdrawal from talks threatens to further stall, or even paralyze, the new transition.

As tension between opposing political camps rose over the last week, dozens have been killed in clashes. One of the highest death tolls came after clashes broke out last Friday nationwide without much interference from security forces.

"Neither the police nor the military effectively intervened in deadly clashes between pro- and anti-Muslim Brotherhood supporters that left 36 people dead on July 5, 2013," Human Rights Watch said.

Djibouti: Construction At Nagad Railway Station in Djibouti Officially Launched

In a groundbreaking ceremony held Sunday (July 7) in Djibouti, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and President Ismail Omar Guelleh launched construction of the new Nagad Railway Station. Construction of the station, which will form part of the 800km Addis Ababa - Dewele - Djibouti route, was also inaugurated in the presence of Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Tedros Adhanom.

Following the groundbreaking, Prime Minister Hailemariam stated that the railway will have a significant impact on the region, namely in bolstering regional economic integration. Similarly, President Guelleh said "the infrastructure will advance economic cooperation and social connections between the two sisterly countries". Both leaders described the occasion as a historic day for the region.

On his part, Dr. Tedros explained that the $4.5 billion USD railway project exemplifies Ethiopia's foreign policy which aims to fight poverty and build a prosperous nation and region. He went on to explain via his twitter account that the costs of the massive rail project would be shared by both governments and that, on the Ethiopian side, 20% of the construction had already been completed. He expressed his happiness that everything was ready on the Djiboutian side, including all necessary equipment, in order to begin construction of the Nagad Station. He concluded by emphasizing that July 7 was a great and historic day for both countries.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s plane ‘catches fire’

A plane carrying the Somali president has been forced to make an emergency landing in Mogadishu after one of its engines reportedly caught fire.

A spokesman for President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said it was not clear why the engine stopped working.

The president was not hurt but firefighters scrambled to put out the flames, local reports say.

Mr Mohamud was chosen as president last year in a UN-backed move to end decades of conflict.

The BBC’s Mohamed Mwalimu says the plane’s tyres were damaged in the incident.

The president was flying to the South Sudan capital, Juba, when it was forced to turn round.

One of the first reports of the incident came from a Twitter feed run by the al-Shabab militant group but it did not say it had attacked the plane.

African Union and Somali forces backing Mr Mohamud have driven al-Shabab from the country’s main cities in the past year but the al-Qaeda-linked group still stages occasional attacks.

The new government is the first one in more than two decades to be recognised by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source: BBC News

Secretary of State's wife hospitalized in Mass.

BOSTON (AP) — Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, is in critical but stable condition in a hospital in Nantucket, Mass.

Heinz Kerry, 74, was admitted into the emergency room at Nantucket Cottage Hospital after 3:30 p.m. Sunday, hospital spokesman Noah Brown said

Heinz Kerry arrived at the facility in critical condition, and remained that way early Sunday evening, although doctors had stabilized her, Brown said.

Brown said he could not immediately release any more details about the patient's condition or her illness.

Nantucket Police Lt. Jerry Adams said a call requesting medical aid was received just after 3:30 p.m. for a home on Hulbert Avenue, and an ambulance was dispatched. Online records show the property is connected to Heinz Kerry's family.

Heinz Kerry is the widow of former U.S. Senator John Heinz, heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune. She married John Kerry in 1995.

Doctors treated her for breast cancer in December 2009.

She previously has said she found in late September that year that she had cancer in her left breast after having her annual mammogram.

A month later, she underwent lumpectomies on both breasts at a Washington hospital after doctors also discovered what they thought was a benign growth on her right breast.

That diagnosis was initially confirmed in postoperative pathology, but two other doctors later found it to be malignant.

In November 2009, Heinz Kerry had another pair of lumpectomies performed at Massachusetts General Hospital.

John Kerry has been at the Nantucket home since returning from a nearly two-week around-the-world diplomatic trip to the Mideast and Southeast Asia in the pre-dawn hours of July 3.

Before his wife's medical problem, he had planned to return to Washington on Monday and then co-host with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew high-level strategic and economic talks with senior Chinese officials on Wednesday and Thursday.

Kerry had also spoken of his desire to make his sixth trip to Israel as secretary starting at the end of the week. State Department officials said Kerry's schedule may now change pending developments with his wife's health.
___

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Prof. Samatar Oo Shaaciyay Inuu Go’aansaday Inuu La Shaqeeyo Dalkiisa Somaliland

Prof. Ahmed Ismail Samatar

Prof . Axmed Ismaaciil Samter, ayaa sheegay inuu garwaaqsaday go’aanka shacbiga Somaliland iyo iraadadooda oo uu wax badan ka fahmay isla markaana doonayo inuu dhinac ka raaco oo uu la shaqeeyo waxna la qabto.

Prof. Samatar oo ku sugan Magaalada London ee dalka Ingiriiska waxa tafaasiil ka bixiyay arrimihii farxad geliyay ee uu Somaliland ku soo arkay dhawaan markii uu socdaal ku yimid. Waxa uu ku dooday in xukuumadda Somaliland dedaal badan muujinayso inkasta oo tamarteeda dhaqaale aad u hooseyso.

Axmed Ismaaciil oo waxa uu ugu horayn ka hadlay waxyaabihii uu kala kulmay Somaliland, waxaanu yidhi “waxaan kala kulmay wax yaalo badan oo ku farxad galinaya oo mooralkaaga kor u soo qaadaya haddii aad tahay qof u dhashay oo rajo ka qaba inay wanaagsanaato, Somaliland waxa ka muuqda waa wax lagu farxi karo oo rajo weyn kugalin kara . Waxa ka mida raad dawladeed anigu waxaan soo marey Saylac ilaa Ceerigabo inta ka dhaxeysa meel kasta waa nalagu soo dhaweeyay, waan joogsanay waaxan arkey maagalo yar oo kasta dawlada raadkeedii iyo xafiisyadeedii oo ka jira oo ay shaqeynayaan, burburkii ka dib waa meesha qudha ee kartidaas la timid markaa waa wax lagu faano oo mudan in adduunyadana loo sheego.”

Prof. Axmed Ismaaciil Samatar waxa uu sheegay inuu la amakaagay jawigii loogu soo dhaweeyay Saylac illaa Ceerigaabo, isagoo arrintaas ka hadlayayna waxa uu yidhi “Waxaan soo arkey dad deeeqsinamadooda aan la qiyaasi karin, raxmad iyo jaceyl aan la qiyaasi karin leh oo aniga la i tusay, meel kasta oo aan tagnay. Boorame oo kale boqol kun oo qof ayaa meel ku soo ururey, Gabiley meel aan ka joogsado dadkii ayaan weynay 2ml meel u jirta ayaan magaalada ka soo baxay magaalada Berbera, Hargeysa, Burco, Ceerigaabo Ceel-Afweyn, Saylac iyo Lughaya iyagana sidaasi si le’eg. Meel aanan marin Somaliland oo si aad kuu taabnaynin majirto markaas taasna waan kala kulmay waxay ku galinaysaa kalsooni dheeraad ah inaad dadkaagii ku qabto.”

“Waxaa soo arkay dawlada Somaliland oo Hargeysa fadhida oo dedaal samaynaysa, wakhtigu wuu adag yahay laakiin doonaysa inuu wadanku dhismo oo aad ku arkeyso calaamadaheedii meelo badan, dhanka kale marka aad ka eegtana waxaa soo arkay Hargeysa way weynaatay , Gabiley iyana la mid, Boorame hadalkeeda daa, Burco oo warshado ku yaalaan. markaa wadan koraya ayaad arkeysaa,’ayuu yidhi Axmed Ismaaciil Samatar oo HCTV ugu waramayay caawa Magaaladda London.

Prof. Samatar waxa uu sheegay inuu Somaliland ku soo arkay in qiyaastii 72 ay dhalinyaradu shaqo la’aani haysato, waxaanu ku baaqay in wax laga qabto, waxaanu yidhi “Waxaan soo arkey dhalinyaro shaqo la’aani hayso oo 72% ayaan shaqayn, oo ay tahay in wax laga qabto, waxaa soo arkay oo kale biyo la’aan dad badan haysata, waxaan soo arkey wadooyin laga cawdu-bilaysto oo maridoodu tahay khatar weyn wakhti badanna kaa cunaya, wado xumidu waxay shakaal u noqonaysaa inuu kor u koco dhaqaalihii wadanka ta ugu dambeysa waxay tahay aan soo arkey xaga dhibtaada a in tamartu (Energy) wadanka ku yar tahay oo korontadu qaali ay tahay dadka intiisa badana aaney korontaba haysan arrintaasi hawl weyn ayay u baahan tahay in laga qabto.”

“Somaliland waxay ila tahay inay u baahan tahay cadaalad iyo wada jir, cadaaladdu waxay keentaa wada jirka, wada jirka dhawac ayaa ku dhici haddii aanay cadaaladi jirin,’ayuu yidhi Prof. Axmed Ismaaciil,”ayuu yidhi Profesarku.

Prof . Samater, oo la weydiiyay maqifkiisa siyaasadeed, waxa uu ku jawaabay, “Hadii aanan Somaliland iyo taariikhdayda halka ay taagan tahay qalbiga aanan ku haynin maan imaadeen. laakiin waxa weeye kalgacal inaan dadkaygii isa soo ursano, is warsano wada doodno ayaan u imid, ummadda aan ka dhashay go’aanka ay goosatey intii karaankayga ah inaan fahmo ayaan u imid, waanan fahmay markaa inaan dhinaca ka raaco oo waxaan la qab karo aan la qabto oo aan la shaqeeyo waa waajib, taasina waxay ku xidhan tahay waxa miiska yaala ee laguula yimaado ayay xidhan tahay.”

Mar uu ka jawaabayay su’aal ahayd inuu tilmaan ka bixiyo sida ay Somaliland u heli karto aqoonsi dublamaasiyadeed, waxa uu yidhi “Siyaasada dibadda iyo qufulkaa culus sida loo furayo inteeda badan innaga (Somaliland) ayay innagu xidhan tahay, su’ aashu waa inay noqotaa sidee nalagu aqoonsan karaa? Markaa waxay u baahan tahay farsamo, cilmi iyo farsamo. Adduunyadu waxay leedahay mafaatiix waaweyn, kuwo yar yar iyo kuwo dhexe. Markaa haddii aad ku mashquusho kuwa yar yar 100 sano cidi ku soo eegi mayso.”

Bank’s move could strangle Somalia’s economy, force ‘hawala’ underground

In Summary

• Last month, a group of researchers and aid workers sent a letter to Mark Simmonds, the UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa, urging him to persuade Barclays not to withdraw its services to the money transfer companies

• Shutting down money transfer services in the UK will, in effect, strangle a significant player in Somalia’s economy

• As the UK-based Somali Money Services Association pointed out, the decision by Barclays could have the unintended consequence of pushing the money transfer service underground into the hands of unlicensed, unregulated and illegal providers, thereby exacerbating money laundering and other vices, the very vices that led to the Barclays directive in the first place.

By RASNA WARAH

The announcement by Barclays Bank Plc of the UK that it will from this week withdraw banking services from some 250 money transfer companies has caused panic among Somalis in the diaspora who use these companies to send money to family members back home.

Explaining the move, Barclays stated: “It is recognised that some money service businesses don’t have the proper checks in place to spot criminal activity and could, therefore, unwittingly be facilitating money laundering and terrorist financing.”

Critics of the decision say that remittances are a “lifeline” for the millions of Somalis who are not served by formal banking institutions and that thousands will not be able to pay for food, education and medical expenses. Some researchers have suggested that Somalis operate and even thrive in a largely unregulated and informal economy because of remittances.

Last month, a group of researchers and aid workers sent a letter to Mark Simmonds, the UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa, urging him to persuade Barclays not to withdraw its services to the money transfer companies (also known as hawala), adding that these companies not only provide essential services to the global Somali community, they also make it possible for aid agencies, such as UNDP and Oxfam, to pay their staff and procure services in Somalia.

It seems remittances have proved to be a much more effective coping mechanism than aid in Somalia.

It is estimated that hawalas remit between $1 to $3 billion to Somalia every year – more than the total amount of international aid the country receives.

The hawala system is the backbone of the Somali economy, and has played a critical role in ensuring that the war-ravaged country’s unbanked population gains access to funds.

These remittances not only allow families to survive, they are also used to conduct business. Shutting down money transfer services in the UK will, in effect, strangle a significant player in Somalia’s economy. Forcing money transfer companies to shut down is the equivalent of closing down M-Pesa in Kenya, which transacted a staggering Sh129 billion last year.

Dahabshiil, the largest and most successful of these money transfer companies, has more than 300 branches across the length and breadth of Somalia and has agents in over 150 countries.

More than a quarter of Dahabshiil and other money transfer companies’ business comes from their customer base in the UK. Money transfer companies based in the country adhere to regulations set by the UK’s banking sector.

The decision by Barclays could be a strategy by Britain to force Somalia to adopt a more regulated banking system that adheres to international standards, and which can serve the aid agencies that will soon set up base in Mogadishu.

Nations eager to exploit Somalia’s untapped natural resources, such as oil, will also need banking services in Somalia that they can rely on. That is perhaps why the European Union is holding talks with the Somali Government on introducing “a new financial architecture based on mutual accountability and partnership”.

There is clearly an urgent need for a regulated banking sector and sound monetary policies in Somalia. Without them, the government cannot conduct its operations efficiently. The government still uses cash to pay salaries, a practice that is subject to abuse.

A Reuters report last week stated that Somalia’s Central Bank is being used as a “slush fund” by politicians and that cash withdrawals amounting to millions of dollars are largely unaccounted for.

However, replacing hawala with a regulated banking system is not feasible at the moment, as there is no regulatory framework guiding the banking sector. Slowing down money transfer services, which have proved to be more reliable and efficient than banks, could lead to the proliferation of unregulated banks in Somalia and harm the economy.

As the UK-based Somali Money Services Association pointed out, the decision by Barclays could have the unintended consequence of pushing the money transfer service underground into the hands of unlicensed, unregulated and illegal providers, thereby exacerbating money laundering and other vices, the very vices that led to the Barclays directive in the first place.

rasna.warah@gmail.com

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