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Africa Horn

More troops in Somalia not a solution, experts say

2010-08-05

[Arab News] It's been almost two decades since U.S troops were forced out of Somalia after the "Black Hawk Down" battle. Troops from neighboring Ethiopia spent more than two years trying to restore order before withdrawing last year. Now, the US is backing a push by African states to add troops to combat Somali militants. But Somalia experts who have watched violence spin in circles for nearly 20 years are warning that more troops will not bring peace, and will encounter fierce resistance from the dangerous militant group that claimed deadly twin bombings in Uganda last month. Boy howdy, what would we do without experts ... Last week African heads of state who met in the Ugandan capital -- the site of the July 11 blasts that killed 76 people watching the World Cup final on TV -- pledged to add 4,000 new troops in Mogadishu. Those troops will add to the 6,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi now stationed in Somalia's capital to protect the transitional government there. Somalia has been mired in chaos since warlords overthrew the country's autocratic president in 1991. While few good answers have been found to end near-continuous violence, analysts say the solution does not lie in sending foreign troops to battle the country's most dangerous militant group, Al-Shabab. "African leaders are daydreaming. You can't solve Somalia's problems by sending in more troops," said Zakaria Mohamud Haji Abdi of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, a group established to oppose Ethiopia's recent foray into Somalia. "With its devastating effects, the culture of using military might has been tried but failed. Now it is the time to nurture the culture of dialogue." Zakaria is the very model of an unbiased expert. Ask him ... Violence in Somalia has raged for so long that the conflict rarely grabs the world's attention. Somalia's UN-backed transitional government has made little progress expanding its power or winning over the Somali people. But the July bombings focused renewed attention on the Horn of Africa nation. The US pledged to financially support any newly deployed African Union troops. Uganda, angered by the attacks, sought an increased mandate for troops to hunt down terrorists. "A guerrilla war is rarely won militarily. A political solution should be envisioned," said Roland Marchal, a Somalia expert at the Center for International Studies and Research in Paris. "This does not mean by itself a cease-fire or the wish to get a power-sharing agreement with Al-Shabab. But one should move from the current context where progresses are measured by an increased number of trained soldiers and militants killed," he said. Somalis, even those from different clans and ideological affiliations, are known to unite when foreign troops arrive. Al-Shabab recently vowed that new AU troops will be "annihilated." The militant group also urged Somalis to fight the peacekeepers. The US sent troops to Somalia in the early 1990s but withdrew shortly after the military battle chronicled in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down." Ethiopia sent forces over the border in late 2006, but withdrew them in early 2009 claiming they had defeated Al-Shabab, a growing militant force that now counts militants from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts among its ranks. Today the Somali government is confined to a small slice of Mogadishu, and Al-Shabab attacks are encroaching in on the government's foothold. But Al-Shabab is unlikely to topple the thousands of well-armed AU troops there. Analysts say the stalemate should be used to kick-start a locally driven reconciliation that allows Somalis to find peace, like administrations in two northern regions -- Somaliland and Puntland -- did in the 1990s. Marchal recommends establishing a panel of senior Muslim politicians and Westerners who can try to coax the militants into a reconciliation conference. He says the current transitional government is not the right channel for reconciliation. Kisiangani Emmanuel, a researcher at the South Africa-based Institute for Global Dialogue, said the international community needs to signal a willingness to accept any government that is acceptable to Somalis -- including insurgents -- regardless of the affiliations of its leaders. "Military approaches have only helped to radicalize more youths and exacerbate fundamentalism in Somalia," he said. "The international community needs to realize that its current and previous policies on Somalia have largely strengthened religious extremism and Somalis' distrust of the West."

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Africa North

Sheik Aweys takes over chairmanship of Hisbul Islam

2009-05-28

The leader of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia>Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys has taken over the leadership of Hisbul Islam insurgent group on Tuesday. Dr. Omar Iman said he handed over the chairmanship of the group to Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys and added the group agreed the issue. 'Nuther nice pic of Aweys' beard in all its hennaed glory at the link. Sheik Aweys, who spoke to the reporters, said he accepted the leadership of Hisbul Islam and welcomed it. "You may call me...Your Excellency." It is not known the reason behind the decision of why Dr. Omar Iman handed over the power of the Insurgent group. Object lessons can be so very messy. It's for the best if they remain rumours. Hisbul Islam comprises four insurgent groups and it was formed after the Somali parliament elected Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed as the president of Somalia. Hisbul Islam is allied with al-Shabaab and they are jointly fighting against the Somali fragile government.

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Africa Horn

Sheikh Sharif elected as Somalia's president

2009-02-01

Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed on Saturday was elected Somalia's president, leaving him in charge of a fragile peace process aimed at ending 18 years of civil conflict. The young Imam promptly vowed to form a broad government and invited all armed groups in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation to join the U.N.-sponsored reconciliation effort. "Extending a hand" Sheikh Sharif, who chairs the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), comfortably won the vote held in neighboring Djibouti, only days after the Ethiopian troops who sent him into exile two years ago completed their pullout from Somalia. He defeated Maslah Mohamed Siad Barre, a general and the son of a former president, in the second round of voting, according to an official tally of some 430 lawmakers' votes. "We have 293 votes for Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and 126 for Siad," said Hussein Mohamed Jama, head of the presidential electoral commission. "I declare Sharif Sheikh Ahmed the president of Somalia after winning this election," Parliament Speaker Aden Mohamed Nur said. In a brief acceptance speech following a vote that ended after 4:00 a.m. (0100 GMT), Sheikh Sharif vowed to reach out to the former transitional government as well as to the Shebab, a hardline offshoot of the ICU which rejects talks. "Very soon, I will form a government which represents the people of Somalia. We will live peacefully with East African countries and we want to cooperate with them," he said. "I am extending a hand to all Somali armed groups who are still opposed to this process and inviting them to join us," he added. Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, long seen as the young cleric's main rival to take the helm of the war-ravaged country, pulled out of the contest after trailing Sheikh Sharif by a massive 160 votes in the first round. "I am ready to cooperate with whoever is elected to make Somalia a peaceful country," he then said. The vote by a parliament enlarged earlier this week to include Sheikh Sharif's moderate wing of the Islamist-led opposition started late Friday, after hours of intense discussions between MPs. Sheikh Sharif, a former geography teacher educated in Sudan and Libya, ran in the election as the head of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), an Islamist-dominated opposition umbrella formed in 2007.

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Africa Horn

Somali MPs absent parliament

2008-12-20

Nearly half of Somali lawmakers reportedly refused to turn up in the parliament after alleged death threats targeting the president's allies. The no-show was triggered by a Thursday break-in into the parliament's building by unidentified soldiers and gunmen, Aljazeera TV reported on its website. The forced entry had been made to gag opposition to the parliament spokesman Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur (Modobe)'s verdict on divisive issues, the source added. The country's President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed sparked considerable opposition after he 'unconstitutionally' replaced Premier Nur Hassan Hussein with his own appointee Mohamud Mohamed Guled. There is currently a gaping gulf between the parliamentarians who have rallied around the president's choice and those advocating the reinstatement of Nur Hassan Hussain; the most outstanding among them being the spokesman and a former leader of armed opposition Mohamed Nur. On Thursday night the house of Hussein-allied MP Khadija Mohammed Diriye, who was recently appointed as a cabinet minister was raided by gunmen reported to be government soldiers, the Press TV correspondent in Somalia reported. The recent developments have turned the southern town of Baidoa the seat of the parliament into a flashpoint. The dismissed premier has staunchly called for the ouster of President Yusuf. 140 lawmakers joined his camp leaving out only 40 others to bring the decision into effect. Hassan Hussein is currently in Djibouti on reconciliation efforts to meet with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed the leader of the more cociliatory faction of the Somali opposition the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS). The political standoff has been exacerbated by steadfast resistance on the part of opposition camps including the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and its militiamen Al-Shabaab.

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Africa Horn

Somalia: New fatwa riles Islamist factions

2008-10-31

Islamist groups waging war in Somalia against the country's feeble, foreign-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) have been riled by a new fatwa issued earlier this month by self-appointed Somali clerics. A spokesman for the clerics, Sheikh Nur Barud Gurhan, told an October 27 telephone press conference that the clerics issued a six-point fatwa regarding the internal dispute among Islamic Courts Union (ICU) leaders, who are divided over the Djibouti Agreement. The group of clerics, including well-known religious authorities of Somali and Oromo ethnicity, decided to hold the meeting and issue the fatwa due to "the colonization of Somalia, the massacre of our people and destruction of our religion and country," Sheikh Gurhan said. Point one of the issued fatwa declares that "it is a duty for the jihad to continue until all enemy soldiers leave the country." A key clause calls for an emergency gathering of ICU executive and legislative officials, inside and outside the country, to be held within one month. "The signing of agreements must be stopped until after the dispute is resolved," said Sheikh Gurhan, while reading the document. The clerics' fatwa prohibited the exchange of conflicting statements over the media that "divide up the fighters and the public," while warning fighters against acts that cause more harm than good. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the ICU's executive head, signed the peace agreement with the TFG on October 26, which calls for a ceasefire effective November 5 and the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops within 120 days. But Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, chairman of the Shura (legislative) council, rejected the peace pact and urged guerrillas to continue the anti-Ethiopia insurgency. The two men helped form the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) in Eritrea in 2007, which included exiled Islamist leaders, ex-lawmakers and Diaspora activists. However, after the signing of the Djibouti Agreement, the ARS split into two rival wings, with a Djibouti-based faction led by Sheikh Sharif and an Eritrea-based faction led by the hardliner, Sheikh Aweys. A spokesman for the ARS-Djibouti faction, Dahir Gelle, dismissed the clerics' fatwa in early comments to the media as "servicing the interests of Hassan Dahir [Aweys]." However, unconfirmed reports told Garowe Online that Sheikh Sharif might be reconsidering the clerics' call for an ICU general conference. Key Islamist figures associated with the ARS-Eritrea faction have publicly denounced the clerics' fatwa. Sheikh Omar Iman, who was recently crowned ARS chairman by the Eritrea-based faction, said he welcomes the new title while condemning the Djibouti-based peace process as "being organized by Ethiopia and the U.S." "The jihad will continue and no one can stop it as long as the enemy is in the country," Sheikh Omar said from Eritrea, where he lives in exile with Sheikh Aweys. On the clerics' fatwa, Sheikh Omar Iman rejected calls for an ICU emergency gathering while dismissing notions that the Islamic clerics take control of the war until the dispute is resolved. Another figure, ex-warlord Yusuf Indha Ade, rejected the fatwa and accused the clerics of supporting the Djibouti-based ARS faction. Indha Ade, who was a notorious warlord in the early 2000s before joining the ICU as defense chief, is closely associated with the Eritrea-based faction. Sheikh Dahir Addow, the ICU chief in Middle Shabelle region, returned to the provincial capital Jowhar on Thursday after attending the peace talks in Djibouti. Local reports said Sheikh Addow traveled by land through Hiran region, where he held meetings with ICU officials. Also Thursday, the ICU administrator in Hiran region, Sheikh Abdirahman Ibrahim Ma'ow, told a press conference in the regional capital Beletwein that all groups should support the clerics' decision. He held the press conference to respond to Abukar Mohamed, a top ICU military commander based in Hiran, who rejected the Djibouti Agreement and dismissed the ceasefire. "His [Abukar Mohamed] comments do not speak for the ICU administration in Hiran region," Sheikh Ma'ow said. More divisions became evident when one of ex-warlord Indha Ade's top lieutenants, Nuriye Ali Farah, was assassinated in Lower Shabelle region. Indha Ade's supporters immediately blamed al Shabaab, with unconfirmed reports saying three al Shabaab members were killed in retaliation.

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Africa Horn

ICU denies ceasefire with Ethiopians

2008-10-07

There is no ceasefire between the forces of the Islamic Courts Union and Ethiopians, says chairman of the Somali opposition groups. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told a group of reporters while safely ensconced in Saudi Arabia on Monday that opposition groups would not stop attacking Ethiopian soldiers. We will not give in to the Ethiopians...We are still attacking them and no ceasefire deal has been signed between the ICU and the Ethiopians," he noted. I guess the Aethiops will just have to kill you ... The head of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia reiterated that the alliance would continue its fight against Ethiopian forces until they are kicked out of Somalia. Sheikh Ahmed said the opposition groups in Djibouti are ready to enter peace talks with the Somali government after a government is established in the country, Press TV correspondent said. Meanwhile, the ICU leader called on the Islamic world to extend its support for the displaced and starving Somali people. The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) comprised of seven countries in East Africa, has invited the entire Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to the Kenyan capital Nairobi for an extraordinary summit. It also sponsored the 2002-2004 peace talks that resulted in the establishment of the TFG.

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Africa Horn

Yahya Al-Libi: No Peace in Somalia without Islamic State

2008-07-10

On June 22, 2008, Islamist websites posted a video message by Al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan Abu Yahya Al-Libi, titled "Somalia - No Peace without Islam." In the message, Al-Libi denounced the agreement signed earlier this month by the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) and the Somali government, and urges the Somali mujahideen to continue their jihad until an Islamic state is established in the country. He also calls on the mujahideen to oppose the deployment of international peacekeeping forces in Somalia, and exhorts them to fight "the collaborating apostate government in Mogadishu" even if some of its members are their own relatives.

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Africa Horn

Somalia PM accuses insurgents of trying to wreck peace pact

2008-07-08

Somalia's Prime Minister on Monday accused insurgents of trying to 'spoil' a truce deal signed last month between Mogadishu and its political foes as he condemned the killing of a top UN official in the capital on Sunday. The head of the UN Development Programme, Osman Ali Ahmed, was shot at close-range as he left a mosque in the south of the city and later died while undergoing treatment at an African Union military hospital. 'Even though we have the transitional government, (AU) and Ethiopian forces in Somalia, people are still being killed selectively. Insurgents are trying to spoil the agreement signed in Djibouti,' Nur Hassan Hussein told a press conference in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. 'I'm very sorry that innocent people are being killed without any reason,' added Hussein, who was in Ethiopia for a three-day trip to discuss bilateral issues with the Horn of Africa giant. The government and the opposition umbrella group the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) reached a series of agreements at UN-sponsored talks in Djibouti in June, including a three-month truce which was to come into force within a month. But Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an influential radical cleric whom Washington accuses of links to Al-Qaeda, has rejected the deal signed by ARS chief Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, saying it fails to set a clear deadline for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops. 'The agreement includes the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops after a sufficient number of UN peacekeepers are deployed. What we are seeing now is that people are starting to hope that peace will come, they can have an influence on the insurgents,' Hussein said. Since their overthrow early last year by the joint Somali-Ethiopian force, the Islamists have waged a guerrilla war, which according to international rights groups and aid agencies, has left at least 6,000 civilians dead and displaced hundreds of thousands. The 1991 ouster of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre paved the way for a breakdown of the state and a rise in factional warfare that has seen most of Somalia descend into chaos without any recognised central government in place ever since.

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Africa Horn

Hardline Somlai Islamist cautions Saudis over UN backed truce

2008-06-27

(SomaliNet) A hardline Somali Islamist leader accused of ties with Al-Qaeda on Monday chided Saudi Arabia for backing a UN-sponsored Somali truce he charged was a plot to attract the oil-rich kingdom's cash. "We love the Saudis and especially their money, but we want them to be wary of some tricky issues that are not realistic at all," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an influential cleric designated as a terrorist by Washington, told AFP in a phone interview. Last week, Saudi King Abdullah described as a "breakthrough" an agreement signed at UN-sponsored talks in Djibouti on June 9 by the transitional federal government and the main opposition alliance. The deal provides for a cessation of hostilities to come into force within a month but Aweys promptly rejected the document signed by his own movement's leaders, arguing that it failed to impose an immediate Ethiopian withdrawal. "The Saudis should only involve themselves in a genuine reconciliation process that will bring lasting peace and end the occupation of Muslim Somalia," he said. "The so-called agreement in Djibouti only legitimised Ethiopian occupation of Somalia and the continued destruction of lives and property," he added. Only a deal that makes the Sheikh an Emir is good enough ... Ethiopian troops came to the rescue of the embattled interim government in Somalia in late 2006 and ousted the Islamic Courts Union, which was headed by Aweys and briefly controlled large parts of the country. And he's nursed that grudge ever since ... "The Saudis have no ill-intention against Somalia, but are being misinformed on the flawed process initiated in Djibouti. The whole idea is to extort money from the coffers of unsuspecting Saudi leaders," Aweys argued. "The Saudis are honest people who are being approached by dubious Somali characters," he added, speaking from Asmara, where his Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) has been based since its inception in September 2007. Hiding out with his pals the Eritreans instead of leading from the front ... Aweys, who is not a member of the ARS top leadership, remains in Eritrea with other hardliners but the movement's top executives and signatories of the June 9 deal are now in Djibouti and Somalia. "The whole purpose was to divide the ARS and strengthen the enemy of our nation, unfortunately some of our members were trapped by those who wanted to deepen the division," Aweys railed.

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Africa Horn

Peace Accord Brings More Violence to Somalia

2008-06-14

Violence in the Somali capital Mogadishu and elsewhere has increased dramatically since a U.N.-backed peace agreement was signed Monday in Djibouti between Somalia's transitional federal government and a moderate faction of the Islamist-led opposition group in Eritrea. That's why they try to avoid serious negotiations. A comprehensive peace accord would kill everybody in the country, by definition. Somalia's militant Islamic Shabab group has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks and as VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, the group is vowing more bloodshed to show its opposition to the deal. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 30 civilians were killed and nearly 100 wounded in Mogadishu alone this week. Witnesses say Shabab fighters, armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, have ambushed government and Ethiopian troops in various parts of the capital, including a deadly attack on Thursday on forces patrolling a road near the presidential palace. On the same day and for the second time this month, the Shabab launched mortars at Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf at Mogadishu's airport as he tried to board a flight to Ethiopia. Late Wednesday, residents in the border town of Ferfer in the ethnically Somali Ogaden region of Ethiopia say Shabab fighters attacked two Ethiopian military bases there and sparked heavy fighting that lasted nearly two hours. The militants briefly seized the town before withdrawing. The spokesman for the Shabab group, Sheik Muktar Robow, says the attacks this week underscore the group's determination to defy what he called a false cease-fire agreement signed by men who do not represent his group. Robow says Shabab fighters attacked the town of Ferfer and will continue to attack Ethiopians wherever they are until they are defeated. He went on to say, "We will see if those who signed the agreement can bring about a real cease-fire." The Shabab, along with hardliners in an Eritrea-based opposition group called the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, boycotted the U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Djibouti. Those talks produced an agreement on Monday that calls for a three-month truce and the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops after the deployment of a sizeable force of U.N. peacekeepers in Somalia.

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Africa Horn

Somalia: Cautious Welcome for UN-Brokered Peace Deal

2008-06-12

A 10-day peace process, engendered under the auspices of the United Nations, has resulted with Monday's announcement that the Somali government and its opposition have inked a peace agreement paving the way for "the cessation of all armed confrontation" across Somalia. But already, a key rebel leader and a well-known outfit of Islamist guerrillas have rejected the agreement. Ink didn't even dry ... Representatives from Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its opposition - the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) - met in neighboring Djibouti between 31 May and 9 June. The talks, mediated by UN Special Envoy to Somalia Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, were aimed primarily at finding a lasting resolution to the Horn of Africa country's 18-year-old armed conflict.

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Africa Horn

Somalia peace talks in Djibouti resume after brief halt

2008-06-07

(SomaliNet) After a brief halt that no one really noticed the day earlier, peace talks aimed at ending Somalia's 18-year war broke out resumed again on Thursday. A seminar on justice, reconciliation and peace in Somalia continued in Djibouti City after opposition delegates from the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) withdrew briefly yesterday. Reports indicate that the presence of Ethiopia's ambassador to Djibouti at the seminar on Wednesday angered the ARS delegates, who abruptly left the seminar in protest. Clearly they understand the fine art of seething ... The Secretary-General's Somalia envoy, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, resolved the brief dispute by withdrawing invitations to foreign embassies. However, official representatives from international organizations, including the African Union, the Arab League and the European Union were allowed to attend the talks as observers. Makes it completely different ... Meanwhile, peace talks between Somalia's Ethiopian-backed interim government and the Islamist-dominated ARS will take a break on Friday and resume over the weekend, according to organizers. Inside sources said the ARS delegates have demanded an exact withdrawal date for Ethiopian troops currently deployed in Somalia before meeting face-to-face with the Somali government, a key sticking point in the talks. The Dhimmicrats can't get an exact withdrawal date, why should you ... Both Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf have ruled out any quick withdrawal of Ethiopian forces and have repeatedly called for UN peacekeepers to replace the Ethiopian army.

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