Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Africa Horn

How Turkey is responsible for Somalia's instability

2021-06-21

[Garowe] The republic of ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
has been dragged into Somalia's internal politics, with opposition leader Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame now claiming Ankara is directly responsible for problems bedeviling the Horn of Africa nation.

If Turkey were not there, it could not have been their fault. They are there, therefore it must be their fault — the same logic the Saudis use about foreigners in car accidents.

Turkey is a major development, financial, and security partner of Somalia, a relationship that has lasted for almost a decade, even as the country struggles to fight ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful extremism among other challenges. Some of the projects Turkey is taking part in include the improvement of roads and hospitals in Somalia.

But it's the training of Haramcad police and the GorGor troops that has often caused rifts in the country, with the opposition accusing President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo of "misusing" the soldiers for political expediency. They are accused of targeting opposition leaders in the crackdown.

In Mogadishu, Turkey has one of the largest overseas military training schools, which targets recruitment and training of Gor Gor special forces. But Abdishakur believes Turkey uses the opportunity to train and provide weapons that are wrongly used.

Turkey must help Somalia responsibly. It is not acceptable to train and provide weapons to soldiers who contribute to the insecurity and repression of the opposition," he told Garowe Online during Twitter Space conversation, Saturday dubbed "Democratization and state-building".

Ankara has massively invested in Somalia in a move that has seen equal competition from Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
and United Arab Emirates [UAE]. Even in recent weeks, the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish convoys have often been targeted by al-Shabaab
...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
, which seeks to overthrow the fragile UN-backed Somalia administration.

While acknowledging Somalia's problems are enormous, Abdirahman Abdishakur however, blamed outgoing President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo for focusing on "non-issues" with an aim of protecting his stay in power albeit in short term.

"In any case, no president can solve Somalia's problems in four years, but he can work to make it better," he said, adding that: "Farmaajo wasted time in crushing his critics and the Federal States in Somalia, and that's is what kept him busy from the war on al-Shabaab."

For a long time, Farmajo has been accused of using security forces for his personal benefits. Ironically, in most of his speeches, the president has often asked security forces to adhere to their constitutional obligations in protecting the nation and its interests.

~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-trained Gor Gor commandos and Haramcad police are often dragged to the country's internal politics like the operation in Gedo and raiding of opposition leaders' residences in Mogadishu. Recently, a fallout in the army almost plunged the country into civil war after Farmajo's attempts to extend his term.

But Abdishakur suggests that "The power to appoint and replace heads of the security agencies in Somalia should not reside with the president." Across the world, security is a national government function.

"The goodness and strangeness of the army forces are not measured by the weapons and uniforms they carry, but by their independence from politics. The outgoing leaders used the SNA - Somali National Army for political purposes in Somalia," he added.

Link

Africa Horn

Fighting breaks out in Somalia's capital after president’s term extended

2021-04-26

It’s not enough that they have jihadis to fight, but they have to fight among themselves over who gets to loot the place while they do so.

[Garowe] Heavy festivities erupted in Mogadishu between government forces and mutinous soldiers opposed to the illegal term extension of outgoing president Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo.

The battle began after the mutineers who deserted their bases in the Middle Shabelle region have poured into the seaside capital last night and took control of key villages in the north, including Fagah and Sana.

The skirmish spread into most parts of the capital on Sunday evening with opposition candidates reported their residences came under attack from pro-government forces, mainly ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish-trained units.

The renewed festivities in Mogadishu have erupted after the Lower House chamber of the Somali parliament has unilaterally extended the mandate of Farmajo by two more years on April 12 without Senate approval.

Farmajo’s predecessor Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who now leads an opposition alliance termed a "very unfortunate" that SNA forces under the command of the ex-president attacked his residence in the Marino area.

"I have already warned and reiterated the dangers of politicizing the security sector. Farmajo is responsible for the consequences of this attack," said Mohamud in a Twitter post.

Another leading opposition candidate Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame said his house came under attack, accusing Farmajo of being behind the assault and will shoulder the consequences of this action.

In a statement, the council of the presidential candidates has strongly condemned attacks on the residences of former president and Wadajir party leader Warsame in Mogadishu by Farmajo’s army.

The opposition alliance said Gorgor forces who are trained and funded by ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
were actively involved in the attack, accusing spy chief Fahan Yasin of transporting ammunition from AMISOM to use the raid.

Turkey has trained and equipped fifteen battalions of the red-bereted Somali GorGor forces, ostensibly to fight Al Shabaab, and an unknown number of the Haram'ad special police.

The Somali government has denied the accusations. Outgoing Security Minister Hassan Hundubey said the troops have been providing protection to the former presidents in Mogadishu and not attacking them.

The minister said the government is deeply concerned about the grave allegations from Hassan Sheikh and added: "All our heads of state are highly protected by the national guard and any threat to them remains a matter of huge concern to the FGS."

Details of the casualties remained sketchy.

The UK’s embassy in Somalia has voiced alarm over the violence in Mogadishu, calling for calm and restraint while highlighting the importance of peaceful dialogue which served the country’s interests.

Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase...
the EU mission in the country highly concerned about the ongoing events in Mogadishu, says violence is unacceptable and those responsible will be held accountable.

The renewed festivities in Mogadishu have erupted after the Lower House chamber of the Somali parliament has unilaterally extended the mandate of Farmajo by two more years on April 12 without Senate approval.

Link

Africa Horn

Somali election: Hassan Sheikh elected as president

2012-09-11

[BBC] Somali MPs meeting in the Mogadishu have elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country's new president, in the latest step to end decades of war.

The academic beat President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in a run-off poll by 190 to 79 votes, officials said.

No candidate secured the required two-thirds majority in the first round of voting, conducted by secret ballot.

It is the first time for years that a president has been chosen on Somali soil, a sign of improving security.

However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
the al-Qaeda linked group al-Shabaab

... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
still controls many southern and central parts of the country, and has staged frequent suicide kabooms in the capital since it was driven out of Mogadishu last year by African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
troops and pro-government forces.

Despite qualifying for the second round, outgoing Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and moderate Islamist Abdulkadir Osoble then pulled out after coming third and fourth respectively. Eighteen candidates were eliminated at the first hurdle.

Outgoing Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed conceded defeat during a live broadcast on national TV, saying he was "satisfied" with the results of the "just elections".

Link

Africa Horn

Somalia Sets Presidential Election for September 10

2012-09-01

[An Nahar] Somalia's parliament will hold a presidential election on September 10, the final stage of a U.N.-backed process to set up a new administration for the war-torn country, an election official said Friday.

"September 10, 2012, is the day that the presidential elections of the Somali Federal Republic will take place," Osman Libah Ibrahim, front man for the presidential elections committee, told news hounds.

The new parliament, whose members were selected this month by a group of traditional elders, will vote in a secret ballot.

The election has already been delayed several times -- having already missed an August 20 deadline -- but international pressure has increased on politicians to hold the vote swiftly.

At least a dozen candidates are expected to run for the top job, although officials will only begin accepting applications from September 3.

However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
bitter arguments have begun between rival challengers, divided along Somalia's notoriously fractious clan lines, and the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
Security Council repeated warnings this week of "intimidation and corruption".

The council warned of its "willingness to take action against individuals whose acts threaten the peace, stability or security of Somalia."

Outgoing president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, in power since 2009, is one of the favorites, though he cuts a controversial figure with Western observers.

A U.N. report in July said that under his presidency, "systematic embezzlement, pure and simple misappropriation of funds and theft of public money have become government systems" -- claims Sharif has rejected.

Veteran politician and former minister Mohamed Osman Jawari, a legal expert who helped draft a new constitution for Somalia, was elected speaker on Tuesday by fellow politicians.

Candidates will give their campaign speeches to parliament from September 7.

Somalia is trying to set up its first stable central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, which sparked rounds of bloody civil war.

The political developments come as African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
and Somali troops make significant gains against the al-Qaeda-linked Shebab, although the Islamists remain a major security threat. Æthiopian troops are also battling the Islamic fascisti from the south and west.

The myrmidon Islamic fascisti this week abandoned the port of Marka, leaving the Shebab with two major ports in southern Somalia -- Barawe and the key rebel bastion of Kismayo -- although an international naval blockade has already greatly squeezed maritime access there.

The Shebab abandoned their last fixed bases in Mogadishu a year ago, where they have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, claiming a series of suicide kabooms and roadside kabooms.

Link

Africa Horn

Somali PM Plans to Focus on Economy to Rebuild Nation

2012-08-23

(Sh.M.Network)- Somalia's new government will focus on the economy as it seeks to rebuild a nation shattered by two decades of war, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said.

The country is in the final stages of selecting a two-tier parliament, Ali, who is a candidate to become president, said in an interview in Mogadishu, the capital, on Aug. 16. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote in a new president today, though the process may be delayed because the vetting of parliamentarians has taken longer than expected, he said.

The elections are Somalia's latest attempt to establish a functional central administration that collapsed when the former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. The country has been mired in clan-based conflict and an insurgency led by al- Qaeda-linked faceless myrmidons ever since.

The lack of security has allowed piracy and hostage-taking to flourish, fueled by criminals seeking ransoms. Attacks by pirates in 2011 cost the shipping industry and governments $6.9 billion, according to the Colorado-based One Earth Future Foundation.

"There's a great deal of unemployment here, that's why the youth are taking their luck to the high seas," Ali said. "We need a paradigm shift, a new way of thinking, and a sound, tangible plan for competing in the global market place in the near future."

Foreign Investors

Somalia has a $5.9 billion economy, according to the U.S. State Department. That compares with neighboring Kenya's $32 billion economy, the region's largest. Investors in Somalia include Africa Oil Corp.

(AOI), based in Vancouver, and partners Red Emperor Resources NL (RMP) and Range Resources Ltd. (RRS) of Australia, which said in March they will invest $50 million drilling two wells in Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
, a semi-autonomous northern region of the country.

Others vying for the presidency include the incumbent, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. The winner faces challenges including tackling corruption, restoring security and reviving a moribund economy.

Link

Africa Horn

Somalia mulls pirate amnesty

2012-08-04

LONDON - Somalias pirates could be granted an amnesty if they release hostages and return captured vessels to their owners, transitional president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told the London Times.

The head of Somalias corruption-riddled government, whose current mandate expires next month, said he was prepared to let off the 2,000 pirates thought to be operating off the troubled nations coast in comments published in Fridays Times.

Those who leave behind what they have done will be forgiven, he said, after campaigning in Balad, 40 kilometres north of Mogadishu. The government will make clear that the doors are open, if they want to come in."

Sharif, who faces competition for the presidency from parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, was linked to alleged graft in a UN report leaked earlier this month that called for corrupt leaders to face Security Council sanctions. The report contained claims that Sharif had given a diplomatic passport to pirate ringleader Mohamed Abide Hassan as an inducement to wind down his network.

Link

Africa Horn

Somali Assembly Convenes to Form Government

2012-07-26

A nine-day conference is under way in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, where an 825-member assembly is expected to ratify a new constitution.

The Constituent Assembly began meeting on Wednesday, after the gathering was postponed three times this month. The assembly includes a broad range of regional delegates who will discuss and possibly amend a draft measure. They will likely provisionally adopt the constitution.

President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed says the gathering marks a historic moment for the country.

"I would like to congratulate all Somalis on this success at this crucial time," he said. "We are here today to approve the constitution, which means the foundation of our countrys governance is being laid down."

The United Nations-backed "roadmap" for Somalia calls for ushering in a more permanent government.

Link

Africa Horn

Somali President: UN Monitoring Group is the enemy of Somalia

2012-07-20

Bet you didn't see this coming...

MOGADISHU-The president of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has accused the UN monitoring group of being the enemy of the people of Somalia, and describing its contents as "unsubstantiated allegations."

While reacting to Monitoring Group charges of fraud, President Sharif said: " I asked why the UN monitoring group hasn't released such report against Somali leaders accused of corruption and misuse in the last twenty-years of conflict and civil war in the country?".. Many innocent have been killed and their properties looted and uncountable women were raped. Obviously, the group has failed its report on somalia.

"The current Transitional Federal government was established through a difficult time in neighboring Djibouti and at that moment nothing was provided to us by the international community, but the local Somali business community was the people who helped and stood with the government shoulder to shoulder to perform the national task," Somali president added.

Mr. Ahmed stressed that Every TFG official is in personal money owing, because they have a loan of funds to keep the government functioning. Even the soldiers, sometimes the salary is late or the salary does not come, and the soldiers continue to work because they are defending their country and their dignity.

Lastly, the president expressed his dissatisfaction that the recent Monitoring Group report was leaked at such a time whenSomaliais ending the transitional period for the first time.

The statement came after U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea suggested rampant theft of public funds is behind efforts by some political leaders to "hijack or derail" the ongoing transition process. The report said 70 percent of money donated never made it into public coffers in 2009 and 2010.

Link

Africa Horn

'Give Somalia the funds and we'll end piracy in a year'

2012-06-28

(Sh.M.Network)- Give Somalia the funds and they will eliminate piracy within a year, their interim president has claimed.

Speaking today at the second UAE Counter-Piracy Conference inDubai, the president of Somalia's transitional federal government Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed called on the international community to spend money arming and organizing their naval forces.

"These pirates do not live at sea, they live in Somalia. Who better to battle them than the people of the land," he told delegates.

"We are completely ready to combat this problem. Despite our limited funds we are ready to train and set up a marine force that would attack and dispel all pirate activities."

Piracy off the coast ofSomaliais affecting an area of 2.5 million sq km, he said.

"We have between 5,000 and 6,000 men ready, and we want the international community to provide them with arms, materials and equipment," he said.

The request, Mr Sharif said, would cost a third of what has been paid in ransom by shipping companies. Between 2008 and 2012, he said, profits worth US$700 million were made from piracy.

The international community should also help to protect Somalia's maritime rights, he said. "Ships fishing in our water and companies dumping chemical waste on our shores have to be stopped.

They have been taking advantage of our situation and the international community should help us stop them."

To achieve that goal, he said the police force inSomalianeeded upgrading, the judicial system need reform and infrastructure for jails needed to be developed.

Link

Africa Horn

Fistfight erupts in Somalia parliament

2011-12-16

[Iran Press TV] A heated debate on the appointment of the new speaker for Somalia's parliament has turned physical when a fistfight broke out and rival politicians punched each other, Press TV reports.

Chaos erupted in the parliament on Wednesday when politicians loyal to ousted Sheikh Sharif Hassan Adan and opponents got into a bitter argument as they were attending a session. Dozens of politicians then exchanged punches and threw chairs at each other.

The fistfight comes a day after more than 280 politicians decided to remove Sheikh Aden, who is currently on a visit to Italia, and nominate Madobe Nunow as the new speaker of Somalia's transitional parliament.

The politicians accused the ousted parliament speaker of making unilateral decisions, disregarding authority granted to all branches of the government, failing to develop a plan for implantation of parliament's bills, and lack of accountability.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Abdiweli Sheikh Ibrahim Mudey refused to chair the parliamentary session on Tuesday, and called on Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to deal with the crisis.

President Sheikh Ahmed, in a presidential decree on Wednesday, called on the Somali politicians to put aside political discords and assist the transitional federal government in its fight against nationwide militancy.

Boilerplate follows...
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world.

Link

Africa Horn

Al-Shabaab ban on aid outfits leaves 1.4m Somalis starving

2011-11-30

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Over 1.4 million Somalis face starvation after the Al-Shabaab

... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
banished 16 humanitarian organizations from Southern Somalia.

The United Nations
...an organization whose definition of human rights is interesting, to say the least...
and its refugee agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that millions of displaced Somalis faced a humanitarian crisis after the Death Eaters expelled the aid agencies.

The agencies were accused of collaborating with the Kenyan military and the Transitional Federal Government troops in running Al-Shabaab out of their bases in southern Somalia.

UN Secretary-General

the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
described as brazen the seizure of property and equipment of the aid agencies.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos also warned that famine could return to some drought-hit areas.

Separately, the refugees agency warned that the ban had placed the lives of millions of Somalia people in danger.

"More than two thirds of Somalia's estimated 1.46 million internally displaced people in the south and central parts need immense humanitarian aid," the agency said in a statement.

The Death Eaters accused the aid agencies of conducting activities that did not subscribe to Islamic practices.

Among the organizations expelled are the World Health Organisation, the UN Population Fund, the UN Office for Project Services and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit.

The refugees commissioner reported that over 500 people, including children were walking from the towns of Beles Qooqaani, Tabta and Afmadow towards Dobley without food.

Federal president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed termed the terrorist group "an enemy" of the Somali people.

The president also urged the United Nations to lift an arms embargo imposed on the war-torn country in 1992 so his government can set up military bases in areas captured by Kenyan troops and their allies.

Meanwhile,
...back at the sea battle, the Terror of the Baltic's career had come to an abrupt and watery end...
Kenya on Tuesday received a top Al-Shabaab commander who defected from the terrorist outfit in Busar, one of the liberated towns.

Kenya military front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the middle level commander was assisting them with "valuable information regarding the enemy. He has told us that there are many of his colleagues who want to surrender but fear that they may be victimized by the federal government. We are encouraging them to surrender," said Major Chirchir.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control...
a senior Al-Shabaab official said on Tuesday that the International Committee of the Red Thingy, medical aid charity MSF and Italia's Copi were not banned.

Link

Africa Horn

Kenya and Amisom plan joint onslaught

2011-11-23

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Kenyan military commanders and African Union peacekeepers in Somalia on Tuesday met to discuss new strategies in the fight against Al-Shabaab

.
... successor to the Islamic Courts...
African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) front man Lt Col Paddy Ankunda told Daily Monitor that the meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia discussed the modalities of a joint operation between the Kenya Defence Forces and Amisom to rout the myrmidons.

The meeting, Lt Col Ankunda said, was a follow-up on last week's agreement by the leaders of Kenya, Uganda and Somalia to launch a joint onslaught against the myrmidons.

Presidents Kibaki, Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (Somalia) met in Nairobi last week and agreed to join forces in the war against the myrmidons. (READ: Joint Africa force to hunt myrmidons)

It was not clear whether Amisom troops would team up with the Kenyan forces and Transitional Federal Government fighters to uproot Al-Shabaab from their bases in Southern Somalia.

Currently, Amisom troops are fighting Al-Shabaab in Mogadishu while Kenyan troops and Somali federal government fighters are concentrating on Southern Somalia.

Lt Col Ankunda said an offer by Kenya to send soldiers to Amisom would be considered. He warned that the faceless myrmidons had intensified attacks on Amisom positions in Mogadishu but said they would be defeated.

This comes is after Ugandan and Burundian Amisom troops killed 25 Al-Shabaab faceless myrmidons in fresh battles in Mogadishu on Sunday.

Link

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