Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Museveni, Obama split on Al-Shabaab

An insider account of Monday’s closed meeting of the regional grouping; the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa, IGAD, reveals that though President Museveni and US President Barack Obama’s administration are hugely aware of the threat the al Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab poses to the Horn of Africa region, they are fiercely split on how to handle the terrorist group. The IGAD meeting attended exclusively by the presidents of Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, US Assistant Secretary for Africa Johnnie Carson, South African Foreign Affairs minister and a British Government official was held on the sidelines of the African Union Summit to discuss the volatile Somalia and the Al-Shabaab threat.Uganda’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs James Mugume told The Observer yesterday that the IGAD meeting was meant to lobby the P3 countries; US, Britain, France to agree to finance the Somalia Mission and support a change of mandate from peace keeping to enforcement.
Angered by the bomb attacks in Kampala, President Yoweri Museveni wanted the green light for an all-out offensive.Museveni at the opening of the AU summit on Sunday told delegates that “The AU needed to deal decisively with the terrorists who dare attack the AU flag.However, the US representative reportedly refused to support the position of Museveni, which was however strongly supported by Djibouti president, Ismail Omar Guelleh.The two African presidents were reportedly unhappy with the US’ support for the re-enforcement of the AMISOM mission in Somalia yet opposing the suggestion to broaden the mandate of the troops.
Our sources have told us that during the IGAD meeting, Museveni and Guelleh put Johnnie Carson to task to explain why the US position was unclear.“These people have brought terrorism to our doors. We need to flush them out,” Museveni reportedly told Carson, who chaired the six-hour meeting. Guelleh told Carson that the influx of Somali refugees into his country had put enormous economic strain on Djibouti. “We need to deal with these people decisively,” Guelleh reportedly told the meeting. Djibouti is one of the countries that have pledged to send more troops to Somalia.Museveni this week told the BBC that the rules of engagement in Somalia needed to be changed because Uganda and neighbouring countries faced imminent attacks from terrorist groups there. He said the AU peacekeepers were confused by the current mandate.“They don’t understand what they are doing. So they need a robust answer, a robust incisive answer,” he said.Under the current mandate, peace keepers can only go after insurgents if they are attacked first. Virtually all African leaders agreed with Museveni and Guelleh’s arguments, and clapped thunderously to show their support.The AU heads of state however chose the somewhat safer middle ground, whereby the peacekeepers can carry out pre-emptive attacks, but there will be no change of mandate. This decision is unlikely to make a significant difference on the ground but should help shore up the transitional government, especially if more equipment and troops arrive soon, the BBC says. Carson, according to sources, said the Somalia situation needed to be handled cautiously lest it explodes.
He reportedly told them that a change in mandate might not instantly bring positive results, pointing out the situation in Afghanistan which still remains volatile despite the deployment of an additional 20,000 US troops early this year. We have also been told that the US might not be in favour of a broader mandate because it calls for more financial and material support. On Tuesday, Carson told journalists that the international community needs to help Somalia because restoring peace in the county “was not a US project.”However, Carson re-affirmed that the US will continue to provide technical and financial assistance to AMISOM.The summit, which opened Sunday and ended Tuesday, was originally meant to discuss health issues. However, security issues took centre stage, especially in the wake of the July 11 bomb attacks in Kampala that killed 76 people and injured more than 80. The Al Shabaab militia, which is currently battling the weak Transitional Federal Government in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying they were in retaliation for Uganda’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia. About 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops are stationed in the Horn of Africa country nation to mainly protect the transitional government.
Just like Carson, the AU is reluctant to change the AMISOM mandate from peacekeeping to peace enforcement. In his address to the media at the end of the 15th AU summit, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, the Malawian president who also doubles as chairman of the AU, said that although terrorism is a global threat, “let us find other ways other than going and bombing innocent people.”
He added that African forces are taking action to ensure that the Al Shabaab don’t reign in Somalia and that the UN security council will review the situation before deciding whether to change the mandate from defensive to offensive. He however agreed that there is need to change the existing framework.
“We need a new framework with the rest of the world. We need the UN and European countries to come together on the framework. I think the existing framework is not adequate,” he said.
Jean Ping, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, said that although the change of mandate is under consideration, it has a lot of implications.
“We need equipment, we need to increase the payment of the soldiers from the current $750 per month to $1,800 like the UN,” Ping said.
In the meantime however, the AU has made a commitment to increase its troops over and above the 8,000 ceiling with additional troops from Guinea and Djibouti.
“There are many other countries ready to send troops. There is a request to move the ceiling up,” Ping said.
So far IGAD members have made it clear that about 20,000 troops are needed to stabilise Somalia. We understand that the US has urged Nigeria and South Africa to join the mission, but the two African giants are yet to commit themselves. The Observer.
African Union is of Great Importance to The U.S

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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