Thursday, August 26, 2010

Could Al-Shabab Topple Somalia's Government?

Just a few months ago, the going story on al-Shabab, an Islamic insurgent group in Somalia, was that it could carry out well-coordinated, very deadly attacks, but posed no existential threat to the country's central government, weak as it may be. Now, after a series of bombings on Tuesday that culminated with the brazen killing of at least 30 people, including six members of parliament, al-Shabab has shown itself to be far more powerful than that, and Somali state officials tell TIME they fear the Western-backed government could fall any time.  (See how al-Shabab emerged from the chaos of Somalia.) Tuesday's attack saw just two al-Shabab fighters storm the Muna Hotel in Mogadishu early in the morning, gunning down bystanders outside and hotel staff, armed guards and parliamentarians inside before blowing themselves up. The fact that they succeeded in killing so many people at a hotel frequented by security forces and politicians, many of them armed themselves, was a striking symbol of the government's impotence. "The government does not have enough power to defeat al-Shabab and to secure the safety of Mogadishu," Ali Osman, a senior official in the Ministry for Industry, tells TIME. "This is shameful for the TFG [Transitional Federal Government] and I cannot really say there is a government — it is just a name." (See a brief history of al-Shabab.) The Transitional Federal Government was formed in 2007 with the backing of the international community. It remains in power thanks mostly to 6,000 African Union peacekeepers who protect Villa Somalia, home to President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, as well as the airport, the docks and a few city streets around them. Last week, the AU announced that the first of 2,000 additional troops had begun to arrive — part of plans to fulfill an earlier AU promise for 8,000 soldiers — but that didn't stop al-Shabab from launching a new offensive on Monday in which 40 people were reportedly killed. After the massacre at Muna Hotel on Tuesday, 10 more people were killed Wednesday in a third day of fighting. Al-Shabab leaders have vowed more attacks soon. "Al-Shabab will attack the enemies of Allah in our country and will continue until they are removed and Somalia comes under Islamic rule," al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohadum Rage told TIME. "There will be many other places that will be attacked both in the country and, if necessary, outside the country. Al-Shabab will not be stopped." Such words might once have been seen as empty threats, but no longer. Al-Shabab has gained strength with surprising speed since it emerged in 2006 from the ruins of a more moderate Islamic government that had brought some stability to Somalia until Ethiopia invaded late that year. The group now controls much of southern Somalia, including the lucrative port of Kismayo, and seeks to impose Taliban-style sharia law across the country. Last December, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a medical-school graduation ceremony in Mogadishu, killing 24 people including three government ministers. Then, in July, bombers staged double attacks in Kampala, Uganda, on the night of the World Cup final that left 74 people dead. Uganda has supplied about half of the AU peacekeepers in Mogadishu. (See more on the attack in Uganda.) Analysts and members of the government attribute some of al-Shabab's bloody success to an influx of money and training from foreign fighters linked to al-Qaeda. On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. now believes a branch of al-Qaeda in Yemen is working closely with al-Shabab. The trouble is figuring out the best way to respond. The U.S. and other allies of the Transitional Federal Government have often said that the TFG represents Somalia's best hope for peace, but are reluctant to send the sort of military or financial support that would allow it to turn the tide against al-Shabab. In July, the former U.N. representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, said the Somali government had only received $3.5 million of $213 million pledged at a donor conference in 2009. But whether there's much foreign governments could do, short of sending huge numbers of troops into Mogadishu, is up for debate. The TFG is riven by internal fighting, defections, corruption and financial bankruptcy. It holds a tiny piece of the Somali capital and, without the thousands of AU troops stationed in Mogadishu, would fall quickly. Somali officials — many of whom also receive their salaries from foreign governments — say that such a state of affairs cannot last, if only because al-Shabab will make good on its threats and oust the government from power. "We aren't getting the international support that we were promised," Mohammed Omar Talha, the deputy speaker of parliament, tells TIME. "If we do not attack them in their places, they will attack us in the presidential palace. So we cannot wait." That sentiment was echoed by another MP, Mohammed Abdi, who predicted the TFG would fall soon without help. "The situation is worse than before, let's not hide the truth," Abdi tells TIME. "If the AU and the international community don't come in the next few weeks to help us I don't think we'll have a government of Somalia.
See pictures of the twin bombings in Uganda's capital.
See pictures in "A Jihadist's Journey." By Nick Wadhams  Time

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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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