Ecoterra Press Release 210 – The Somalia Chronicle June – December 2009, no 22

Following the Somalia Spring 2009 Chronicles, I herewith republish the Ecoterra press releases issued in the second half of 2009. I reproduce the integral version of all Ecoterra press releases in a recapitulative effort to provide the global readership with the most comprehensive collection of texts published worldwide about the most abominable Western postcolonial involvement in Africa, namely the systematic effort of extermination of the Somali Nation. The vast documentation provided serves as basic point of reference to students, researchers, analysts and intellectuals.

ECOTERRA Intl.

SMCM

Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor

ECOTERRA INTERNATIONAL - UPDATES & STATEMENTS, REVIEW & CLEARING-HOUSE

2009-07-14 TUE 22h39:14 UTC

Issue No. 210

A Voice from the Truth- & Justice-Seekers, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or elsewhere, and who neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities or the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate attention, care and funding.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell

EA ILLEGAL FISHING AND DUMPING HOTLINE: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: somalia[at]ecoterra.net

EA Seafarers Assistance Programme EMERGENCY HELPLINE : SMS to +254-738-497979 or sms/call +254-733-633-733

"The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream !"

Cpt. Florent Lemaçon - F/Y Tanit - killed by French commandos - 10. April 2009 / Ras Hafun

NON A LA GUERRE - YES FOR PEACE

(Inscription on the sail of F/Y TANIT - shot down on day one of the French assault)

"... obligation to fight oppression and cruelty wherever it appears, and that any group of people who are degrading another group of people have to be fought against with whatever tools we have available to us. "

B. H. Obama - US-American President, who said also: The world has changed ! YES, WE CAN !

CLEARING-HOUSE: Cut out the clutter - focus on facts !

FRENCH AGENTS POSING AS JOURNALISTS NABBED IN SOMALIA

Two French security advisors posing as journalists were abducted from their hotel in Mogadishu on Tuesday by Somali gunmen, according to the Foreign Ministry and reports from the Somali capital.

A group of armed Somali men stormed into the Sahafi (Journalists') hotel in Mogadishu and kidnapped two French intelligence service officials working as security advisers for the Somali government. The two Frenchmen had been posing as journalists to disguise their identity, but the French Foreign Ministry admitted later that in reality they were intelligence officers sent on an "official mission" to provide "help in security matters to the transitional federal government of President Sheikh Sharif."

The French Foreign Ministry did not identify the two men or specify which branch of the French government had dispatched them to Somalia. But it said in an announcement that they were in Mogadishu on "an official mission" to assist the Western-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in "security matters."

African Union military officials are aware of the report, a BBC correspondent said.

MILITARY ADVISORS

A senior official in Ahmed's government told Agence France-Presse, the main French news agency, that the two men had arrived in Mogadishu nine days ago, invited by the Somali Defense Ministry to train "their counterparts in Somali intelligence agencies." The former Somali government under Siad Barre had a long history of intelligence trainers mainly from the East-Block, former East Germany and even Vietnam while during times of changing tides they came from the US and Italy. Still today many of the surviving former politicians, who were jailed by the former regime, report horror stories about torture at the hands of such multiple-trained Somali interrogators.

THE ABDUCTION

The men were staying at the Sahafi Hotel International, which over the years has hosted many foreign correspondents. The hotel is situated close to Km4 Junction, a strategic road junction that is guarded by peacekeepers serving African Union Mission in Somalia, Amisom. It is a place mainly frequented by foreign visitors and government officials. In 2005, a female BBC producer was shot dead in front of the hotel. In more recent times, however, it has become the over-night stay for many of Somalia's parliamentarians and therefore is heavily guarded.

The kidnap occurred earlier in the morning at Sahafi International Hotel in South Mogadishu. A couple of vehicles, according to eyewitnesses, were parked opposite the hotel. While one van carried weapons, a pick up truck brought nearly a dozen masked men.

The gunmen apparently stormed the hotel and ordered everybody to put their hands up. In a dramatic action, the men moved into the rooms to re-emerge with two men who appeared as foreigners, according to an eyewitness.

The gunmen then forced the victims into one of the vehicles and moved towards a nearby Taleh community in Hodon district in Mogadishu. But no group has pointed out where the gunmen have taken the kidnapped men, especially after they abandoned the vehicle in a residential area.

The deputy hotel manager, Mohamed Hassan "Gafay", told news agencies that the two French abductees registered at the hotel as journalists on their arrival last week, but wouldn't reveal the names, since the hotel register had been confiscated shortly after the abduction by the Interior Minister. Other sources give their names as Mark and Denis, having the rank of Colonel and Ltd.-Colonel respectively.

The hotel manager confirmed to the Washington Post that a dozen armed men showed up Tuesday morning and, after disarming the hotel guards, searched the hotel door to door until they found their targets and bundled them off. Other observers said that the men, dressed in the uniforms of the TFG had told the guards that they had orders to arrest the two "suspicious" men. Thereby they gained direct access and knew exactly where to find the two.

"The abduction was over in a few minutes" and took place around 8am, said Stephanie Braquegais, a FRANCE 24 correspondent in Mogadishu. She said that armed men arrived in two vehicles and blocked the road leading to the hotel.

"According to the hotel staff, they disarmed the security guards before rushing directly to the two persons´ room," she said.

She added: "The abductors left with only one vehicle, a pickup, leaving a small broken-down Toyota at the scene, which was taken away by the Somali police a few minutes later."

"Two foreigners have been kidnapped this morning by a large group of gunmen," Somali police spokesperson Mohamed Ali, told the AFP news agency.

FRANCE MORE OR LESS MUM

The two foreigners kidnapped on Tuesday in Mogadishu are not journalists but French agents who were invited to train Somali intelligence officers, a government official said.

"They are not journalists, the two work for the French government. They were invited by the defence ministry to do some training for their counterparts in the Somali intelligence services," the official said on condition of anonymity. "They have been in Somalia nine days," the official added, without elaborating on the pair's identity.

France has had no diplomatic representation in Mogadishu since June 1993, when a U.N.-led effort to impose peace on Somalia's warring factions led to disaster. Since then, like many of its Western counterparts, the French government has handled its diplomatic business with Somalia from the French Embassy in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya. Diplomats from the French Embassy in Nairobi didn't want to comment and France's role in providing security assistance to the forces of the Somali TFG was not widely known in Paris. The abduction took place as France celebrated its National Day with a large military parade down the Champs Elysées and a garden party at the Elysée Palace, the official residence of President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In a television interview for the occasion, Sarkozy went out of his way to praise the French military. He reminded viewers that his government has increased spending for modern military equipment, even though the manpower totals are being reduced.

"The French army is professional, competent, devoted," he said. "It does an absolutely remarkable job."

France, which has a military base in neighbouring Djibouti, is engaged in a programme to train security forces in civil war-torn Somalia.

Later the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said in a statement issued by the French MFA: "Two french advisers on official assistance to the Somali government have been kidnapped this morning in Mogadishu by armed men. They were providing assistance with security matters for the Transitional Federal Government of President Sheikh Sharif. Once this information was known, all the state services concerned are mobilized, as well as our embassy in Nairobi, relevant for Somalia."

JOURNALISTS OUTRAGED

The report that the two kidnapped men had posed as journalists was received with alarm and some puzzlement by media advocacy groups.

"This accusation, while unconfirmed, is troubling," said Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "Our position is that intelligence officers posing as journalists jeopardizes the security of all journalists."

In addition, any decision to masquerade as a reporter in Somalia would be perplexing, since Somalia has emerged this year as "the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, outstripping Iraq," according to the committee. Six journalists have been killed in Somalia this year, bringing the toll to 15 since 2007, the committee says.

At least six reporters have been killed in Somalia this year, four of them "apparently victims of targeted assassinations," Navi Pillay, the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, said last week.

The Paris-based media rights group, Reporters Without Borders, said it hoped for the men's quick release but expressed shock that they had been posing as journalists. The group said being a journalist is not a cover, it is a profession. It said their behavior endangers journalists in a region where reporting is already very dangerous.

The risks of being murdered or kidnapped for ransom have made it virtually impossible for Western journalists to operate in Somalia, where two freelancers are still being held captive nearly a year after they were abducted just outside the capital.

Amanda Lindhout, a television and print reporter from Canada, and Nigel Brennan, an Australian photographer, were abducted by Somali gunmen on Aug. 23, 2008, while travelling to a refugee camp south-west of Mogadishu. The team had stayed in the same hotel, had guards from the hotel, were kidnapped by armed men and are still being held hostage in Mogadishu, according to the Web site of Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based organization that promotes press freedom around the world. In an interview first with AFP, Lindhout and Brennen gave a horrible account under duress and pleaded for help to be released. Shortly thereafter and in a phone call last month to Canada's CTV television network, Lindhout pleaded for government assistance, saying she feared for her life and was in "a desperate situation." She and Brennan have been reported to be in poor health. The Canadian and Australian Governments are strict in their policies concerning ransom payments in hostage situations and the families can not meet the required demands. Four employees from a French NGO, abducted in November, are also still being held hostage together with their two Kenyan pilots in Central Somalia as well as a British man in the South of the country.

NEGOTIATIONS

It was not immediately clear who had taken the men, but a pro-government Islamist militia blamed dissident troops.

A militia spokesman, Abdirisak Qeylow, told Reuters "government soldiers who have mutinied" were involved in the kidnapping.

"Negotiation is under way for their release. Maybe they are demanding ransom, I don't know the exact amount. But we are doing our best for them to be released soon," he added.

Other reports from Mogadishu confirmed already started negotiations between the Somali Government and the clan-faction, which holds the to French men. Any involvement of hardline Islamist groups or family members of pirates jailed in France has for been ruled out. Neither the still defence minister of Somalia, Mohamed Abdi Gandi, who holds a French passport, nor the Deputy Defence Minister - Gen. Indha Adde - could be reached for comment.

With Islamist insurgents battling government troops on a daily basis, Mogadishu is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Insurgent fighters control all but a few districts in the capital. At least 18,000 civilians have been killed and 1 million have lost their homes in the last two years of fighting. Since the African Union peacekeeping troops in Somalia decided to defy their mission and fight alongside the transitional government's troops against the anti-government rebels, the entire capital has turned into a bloody battlefield. (Own sources and texts from agencies as other media)

BREAKING:

Wife of German Master on MV HANSA STAVANGER Desperate

"For a long time, I even didn't know if I already would be a widow!" said now the wife of the German master of the vessel. After her husband has been held hostage now for over 100 days, the woman, who lives in Munich, broke her silence. "I am desperate!" she stated and added: "While reading that one after the other vessel is freed - even those hijacked after the Hansa Stavanger - we are always only told to be patient. From the owner of the ship - Leonhardt & Blumberg - we or the other families do not get any information." Since the ill-fated vessel - due to blodged military attacks and failed negotiations - was not realeased after the usual one or two month of capture, the German captain of Polish origin could not even attend the wedding of his daughter three weeks ago.

The German Association of Captains and Marine Officers (VDKS) criticized the shippingcompany of sea-jacked MV HANSA STAVANGER in strongest terms. The family members of the abducted crew had several times requested for detailed infomation, but neither the responsible owner of the vessel Reederei Leonhardt & Blumberg nor the German governmental authorities had responded. "Such is no longer tolerable, neither from a moral nor legal point of view and is violating the duties to care for the crew and their families", stated Kapitän Prof. Dr. Christoph Wand, speking for the VDKS. "The situation on board is serious - there is a shortage of water and several crew members are sick."

Meanwhile it has transpired that the German vessel had been approached already once before in April 2008 in the Gulf of Aden by assumed pirates, but back then the attackers, armed with rocket-propelled granades and Kalashnikov assault rifles had turned back after checking the name of the vessel, a former crew member gave to protocol. A year later - on 03. April 2009 - the Somalis in another attack captured the vessel and crew. Analysts wonder, if the fact that before the German Navy joined the naval armada around the Horn of Africa not a single German vessel had been abducted, is relevant to the present situation where one German vessel after the other is sea-jacked.

News from sea-jackings, abductions, newly attacked ships and vessels in distress

Hijacked Turkish ship captain contacts relative over ransom

One of the captains of a Turkish-flagged ship hijacked by Somali pirates contacted her family via a satellite phone on Tuesday to convey the hijackers' ransom demand, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

The Turkish-flagged "Horizon-1" ship's 4th captain Aysun Akbay called her sister and asked her family to convince the owner of the ship to pay the ransom demanded by the pirates, the hostage's father Ozcan Akbay was quoted as saying.

The report did not say how much the pirates demanded for the release of the ship seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden last week. "My daughter told me that the pirates asked for ransom from the ship's owner company, however representatives of the company told them that the ransom was too high and they could not pay such an amount," Akbay said.

"My daughter also told me that all the crew members on board were concerned about their families and they did not know whether their relatives were informed of the situation," Akbay added.

Akbay asked the relatives of the Turkish hostages to contact him to get further information.

Somali pirates attacked the Turkish-flagged Horizon-1 with 23 Turkish crew members on board on July 8 when the ship was en route to Jordan from Saudi Arabia.

"Pirates take first woman hostage" - Russians state wrongly

A Turkish woman-mariner, Aysun Akbay, seems for the Russians to have made history. "She has become the first female taken hostage by Somali pirates", Sovfracht Maritime Bulletin reported, as Russia Today states. But this is wrong.

Though the 24-year-old fourth officer of the Turkish-flagged Horizon 1 was making her first voyage in distant waters when her ship was seized in the Gulf of Aden waters on July 8, already one other female sailor is in the moment in the hand's of Somali pirates.

The 30 year old Romanian woman Ruxandra serves as naval officer on sea-jacked MV VICTORIA, which is held since 05th May 2009 off Eyl. In addition a Filipina seafarer-lady is held on another vessel.

Already in earlier years once in a while a woman was part of captured crews. Based of the code of conduct of the sea-shifta so far there is been no report of any violence against these women.

German shippers´ pirate problems persist

By The Local

As negotiations continue for the release of the Hansa Stavanger, a German freighter captured by pirates more than three months ago, more German marine shipping companies are feeling the financial strain of the pirate threat in waters off the coast of Africa.

"Every fifth ocean carrier is affected," Claus Brandt of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said on Thursday in Hamburg. Interviews conducted in June with more than 100 shipping companies reflected how the heightened risk of pirate attacks has raised shipping costs.

Many freighters are opting to take longer and more expensive detours or employ security personnel onboard. Ocean carriers are also facing higher insurance premiums, PricewaterhouseCoopers reported.

Meanwhile, the German Foreign Office has been accused of not doing enough to help the five Germans and 19 other crew members onboard the Hansa Stavanger. The father of one captive crew member is bringing a legal action against them, saying more must be done to rescue the crew, according to a report in Monday´s Hamburger Abendblatt.

"We are aware of an urgent motion of complaint from a relative," a spokeswoman for the ministry told the paper, adding that a crisis team was working to free the ship and its crew. A Berlin administrative court ruled Wednesday, however, that the father´s complaint could not legally compel the German government to do more to protect the lives of crewmembers and free the ship.

According to news magazine Der Spiegel, petitions from relatives of those onboard have received little to no response from the German foreign ministry, the BKA intelligence service or the government crisis task force.

German authorities have been working with the ship´s owner, Hamburg company Leonhardt & Blumberg, on a rescue plan for the 24 crew members, who have been held hostage since April 4. A joint German-US effort to liberate the Hansa Stavanger was called off a few weeks ago due to risks associated with the mission.

But the situation on the ship has grown more desperate recently.

"We don´t have any water, food or medicine left," wrote Hansa Stavanger´s captain in a message to his wife on Friday, as reported in Der Spiegel. In an email to Chancellor Merkel, he requested help: "We are asking you politely, but resolutely, to help us and persuade our company to end this insane game."

Meanwhile, negotiations continue. "The chancellor receives regular updates on the current situation," government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told Bild am Sonntag.

EU TRACKS PIRATE MOTHERSHIP

By Maritime Global Net

After the unsuccessful attack on the Liberian flagged VLCC A Elephant yesterday morning the EU naval force off Somalia issued a statement says that its units had tracked down and were shadowing the pirate mothership and skiffs involved. The mothership is the Nafeya, believed to have been hijacked earlier and probably the Indian dhow seized with its 11 strong crew on Friday.

The statement said that a helicopter from the French warship Aconit and EU NAVFOR maritime patrol aircraft monitored the mothership and its skiffs and moved into visual range of the pirates.

The Aconit has also remained in close contact with the V.Ships managed A Elephant "for ongoing investigations". The tanker is continuing on her way into the Red Sea.

The statement said: "There were no casualties and only light damage to the vessel, which was registered with the Maritime Security Centre, Horn of Africa. The advice followed by the crew of the tanker (using evasive tactics) greatly assisted in staving off the attack and all vessels transiting the area are strongly advised to register with MSCHOA and follow the anti piracy advice."

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 16 foreign vessels (15 if M/S IO EXPLORER is truly "gone") with a total of not less than 225 crew members are accounted for (of which 44 are confirmed to be Filipinos) and are held in Somali waters. They are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. MV JAIKUR 1 remains in Mogadishu harbor, but is an insurance and not a piracy case - all foreign crew was evacuated. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. presently held ones) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 146 attacks (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 47 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as at least three wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces. 111 Somalis are held in foreign prisons under charges of piracy. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures. Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season in winter and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon season starting from mid February and early April every year.

Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: GoA: YELLOW IO: YELLOW (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely). Allegedly still/again three groups from Puntland alone are out hunting on the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean, where also groups from Harardheere have set out again, despite the heavy seas and the rough weather.

Directly piracy related reports

Piracy and Washington: The Somalia Crossroads

By William Minter and Daniel Volman (*) for In These Times

Piracy and an insurgency tempt Washington to get it wrong—again.

In October 2008, Human Rights Watch rated Somalia the most ignored tragedy in the world.

Almost 1.5 million Somalis are internally displaced, and an additional half million are refugees. Two decades of instability, including a U.S.-backed intervention by Ethiopian troops in December 2006, have failed to put Somalia on the map.

If the American public has thought about Somalia at all this decade, it was as the setting of the popular 2001 movie Blackhawk Down, based on the October 1993 battle in Mogadishu between U.S. troops and Somali militia, rather than as a real place where Washington´s policies were fueling conflict and prolonging suffering.

It took the drama of high seas piracy to bring Somalia back into the media spotlight. The hijacking of a Saudi supertanker in November was followed by the capture and sensational rescue of U.S. merchant ship Captain Richard Phillips in April.

"Kill the Pirates," screamed a Washington Post op-ed by Reagan-era hawk Fred C. Iklé. On Fox News, George W. Bush´s ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, called for attacking the pirates´ bases on land to "really end this problem once and for all."

After Navy sharpshooters rescued Captain Phillips, killing three pirates in the action, the media clamor abated. Once again, the debate on Somalia retreated to inside-the-beltway obscurity. (You can view the spike in public attention by searching for "Somalia" on Google Trends at www.google.com/trends.)

But for Somalis, the crisis continues. So does the danger that Washington may be tempted into military intervention that would be damaging for Somalis, for U.S. relations with Africa and for U.S. security. That risk exists, despite commendable caution thus far by Obama administration policymakers, who are aware of the potential for military actions to backfire.

The pirate problem

Piracy alone is unlikely to provoke such intervention, even if U.S. citizens are captured again. (Most captives have been from developing countries—especially the Philippines, which supplies about a third of merchant seamen worldwide.) Even after the bloody rescue of Captain Phillips, Somali pirates did not change their policy of holding out for ransom rather than threatening the lives of hostages. For the shipping companies, ransoms are a minor expense compared to the much larger costs associated with worldwide economic downturn.

Top U.S. naval commanders have clearly voiced agreement with the consensus among diplomats that military options are limited. Speaking to a conference in Bahrain on Gulf security in December 2008, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet, was skeptical about attacking pirate bases on land. "I see people looking for an easy military solution to a problem that demands a non-kinetic [non-combat] solution," Gortney said. The high risks of collateral damage, he added, "cannot be overestimated."

In January the Navy set up Combined Task Force 151, a multilateral naval command directed against piracy in the region, headed by the Turkish navy since May. Outlining U.S. counter-piracy policy in April, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed multilateral measures, including collaboration with the United Nation´s Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. And witnesses at congressional hearings on April 30, including Captain Phillips and representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense and Coast Guard, called for incremental measures to improve security.

Some pirates have claimed they act as a de facto coast guard, protecting Somalia from illegal fishing and dumping of toxic wastes. Those problems are real, and some of those initially recruited as pirates were fishermen whose livelihood was damaged. But most pirates declare openly that their primary motives are financial.

What is indisputable is that the lack of a functioning government in Somalia has fostered an environment in which weapons are easily available and piracy is among the few profitable career paths open to youth. On May 5, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Theresa Whelan told Congress, "The root causes of Somali piracy lie in the poverty and instability that continue to plague that troubled country, and addressing these root causes will be a lengthy, complicated and difficult process."

The military option

Yet, Somalia´s chronic instability could provide an opportunity for hawks to prevail. Obama´s new emphasis on diplomacy coexists uneasily with the revival of enthusiasm for counterinsurgency doctrine in the Pentagon that has resulted from the U.S. military´s challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This situation is uncomfortably reminiscent of the 1960s, when "the best and the brightest" of John F. Kennedy´s New Frontier team similarly embraced counterinsurgency as the key to winning Cold War conflicts in developing countries such as Vietnam. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the counterinsurgency mindset holds sway among American military commanders, it is likely that U.S. hopes for military victory will prove just as illusory as in Vietnam in the 1960s.

Compared to Afghanistan, Somalia is a sideshow for U.S. military strategists. But the fact that some anti-government insurgents in Somalia have links with al Qaeda makes it possible to slot the conflict there into the global-war-on-terror framework, even if the Obama administration has renounced that label as misleading.

The new administration, moreover, has inherited a newly formalized military command for Africa, AFRICOM, which has developed its own institutional momentum. Writing in the Boston Globe on April 15, former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania Charles Stith called for the administration to boldly use the new capacity for intervention in Africa. "While AFRICOM has met some resistance," Stith wrote, "this latest hostage-taking involving an American might be just the opportunity to jump-start conversations about how AFRICOM might be more effectively engaged."

However, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson, who took office in May, told the BBC on May 16, "I think there would be no case of the U.S. re-engaging on the ground with troops [in Somalia]." But four days later Carson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United States was committing $10 million on the ground in Somalia. Earlier, on May 3, AFRICOM´s deputy for military operations, Vice Admiral Robert T. Moeller, said that AFRICOM would be able to provide U.S. military trainers for Somalia if Washington decided to provide such training.

The current Somali government was established in January, under moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad, after the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops and the resignation of unpopular President Abdullahi Yusuf. The government enjoys virtually unanimous support from major international bodies, including the African Union, the Arab League and the United Nations. It has also gained the backing of a wide range of Somalis, who were disillusioned with the hard-line Islamist insurgents who had garnered support by opposing Ethiopia.

But after a new insurgent offensive in May, the Somali government again stood on the brink of military defeat. Foreign fighters with links to al Qaeda had reinforced the insurgent ranks, reportedly receiving supplies from Eritrea. Defeat of government forces, or their continued weakness, could strengthen arguments that U.S. military action is needed to counter terrorism.

"There is little the U.S. can do to shape the outcome of the current fighting," says Ken Menkhaus, a U.S. expert on Somalia. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 20, he warned that U.S. military intervention would likely weaken, rather than strengthen, an inclusive Somali government and would thus play into the hands of insurgents.

Many in the U.S. military understand that reality well. "When the United States embraces a government in Somalia, we delegitimize it," a senior U.S. defense official told Reuters in late April.

History matters

To understand why the United States has so few options in Somalia, one only needs to glance at the historical record. Somalis have good reason to distrust the outcome of U.S. intervention, even if it is bundled with pledges of respect for Somali sovereignty and the authority of a multilateral mandate. For decades, Somalis have experienced the bungled interventions—alternating with neglect—of outside powers.

Somalis are historically united by language, culture and religion. But since independence in 1960, struggle for control of the post-colonial state has torn the country apart. When outsiders tried to promote reconciliation, they often wound up deepening political divisions by favoring power-hungry leaders and failing to involve a cross-section of Somali civil society.

Somali-American scholar Abdi Samatar, professor of geography and global studies at the University of Minnesota, notes a parallel between the Cold War and the current "war on terrorism" periods. In both eras, the nationalist thrust for Somali unity has run up against divisions between both Somali elites and outside forces that have backed different internal factions. Outside involvement has thus reinforced divisions and stoked conflict inside the country.

After independence, Somalia was a parliamentary democracy until 1969, when Muhammed Siad Barre seized power in a military coup. Siad Barre initially enjoyed some legitimacy because of widespread disgust with the corruption and factionalism of the parliamentary period. He also won support with popular initiatives, such as the expansion of education in the Somali language.

Internationally, Siad Barre aligned himself with the Soviet Union. But after his forces invaded Ethiopia in 1977, in a bid to absorb the Somali-speaking section of that country, he turned to the United States as his new patron. Somalis have not forgotten that Washington gave military support to the dictator as he stepped up repression and violence to stay in power.

Since Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 by clan warlords, Somalis have at times appealed for international help. But they have also suffered greatly from erratic outside involvement.

For a short period in 1992, Algerian diplomat Mohamed Sahnoun, leading the first U.N. mission to Somalia, skillfully built momentum for reconciliation among Somalis. But he was forced to resign when he ran afoul of the U.N. bureaucracy.

Between May 1992 and March 1995 there were two rounds of U.N. peacekeeping, overlapping and badly coordinated with two U.S. military missions (the first to secure famine relief deliveries from December 1992 to May 1993, and the second to provide support for the United Nations from May 1993 to March 1994). The U.S. forces and the second U.N. mission, which was commanded by U.S. Adm. Jonathan Howe, paid little attention to diplomacy. Howe chose friends and made enemies among Somali´s warlords, actively targeting General Mohamed Farah Aideed.

The result was the Blackhawk Down debacle in 1993, when 18 U.S. soldiers and more than 1,000 Somalis died in Mogadishu. That was followed by the gradual retreat of both the United States and the United Nations from anything more than marginal humanitarian engagement with Somalia—for a time, at least.

On June 8, 2006, the New York Times reported that the CIA had been funding a coalition of Somali warlords in exchange for the warlords´ promise to hunt down suspected terrorists. The CIA saw the emerging Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which aimed to build Somali unity based on Islam, as a dangerous alternative even though it was a broad coalition involving moderate as well as hard-line factions. Then led by current president Sheikh Sharif and by Sheikh Hassan Aweys (now one of the leaders of the anti-government insurgents), the ICU quickly won popular support and defeated the CIA-backed warlord alliance. For the rest of 2006, the Somali capital saw its most prolonged period of relative peace in more than 15 years.

The interlude came to an end when Ethiopian troops, backed by the United States, invaded in December 2006. Hundreds of civilians were killed in the fighting, and more than 300,000 were displaced. The U.S. military provided intelligence to Ethiopia in support of the invasion. It also used military facilities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya to launch air raids and missile strikes against al Qaeda suspects at several sites in Somalia in 2007 and 2008. The air attacks killed several dozen Somali civilians and injured hundreds more, and they made U.S. backing for the invasion highly visible.

Ethiopia withdrew its troops in December 2008. A small African Union military mission currently protects Somalia´s besieged government.

Kenyan journalist and former U.N. official Salim Lone summed up the consensus view among African and international analysts: "Instead of engaging with the Islamists to secure peace, the United States has plunged a poor country into greater misery."

The current crisis

At this writing in early June 2009, the situation in Somalia remains volatile. On May 26, the U.N. Security Council unanimously reconfirmed the mandate of the African Union peacekeepers. The African Union, for its part, called on the Security Council to go even further and impose sanctions against Eritrea.

But insurgents denounce both Sheikh Sharif´s coalition government and the African Union as tools of anti-Islamic Western powers. The military situation on the ground remains highly uncertain. The United Nations reported that more than 67,000 people had been newly displaced by the fighting in Mogadishu in May.

Scenarios projected for the next few months range from complete collapse of the internationally backed government, on the one extreme, to significant weakening of the insurgent forces through defections, on the other. What is certain is that outside forces, including the United States, will need flexibility and patience as well as good intentions to avoid mistakes that could make the situation much worse. Unfortunately, there is no sure formula for getting it right.

The Obama administration currently tilts toward diplomacy and pragmatism. On April 11, the Washington Post reported that some in the U.S. military are "frustrated by what they see as a failure to act" and are advocating air strikes against insurgent training camps.

But on April 13, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking at the Marine Corps War College in the midst of the pirate hostage crisis, stressed that "there is no purely military solution" to Somali piracy.

The appointment of Johnnie Carson as assistant secretary of state for African affairs significantly increases the chances that cooler heads will prevail. A career foreign service officer who served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania in the 1960s, Carson is undoubtedly the person with the widest range of Africa experience ever to hold the assistant secretary post. He is respected in Washington and Africa´s diplomatic community. And he has good contacts with activists as well, dating back to his work as a staff member of the House Africa Subcommittee in 1979-1982, when it was a leading player in the anti-apartheid movement. Under his leadership, the State Department´s Africa Bureau will undoubtedly have a stronger voice in policy.

Yet one cannot rule out the possibility that events could precipitate U.S. military actions that heighten, rather than dampen, conflict in Somalia. The capacity is there. Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), which oversees as many as 2,000 American service members, has operated out of Djibouti since 2002, becoming part of AFRICOM in October 2008. The CJTF-HOA has coordinated U.S. military actions in Somalia and the region, such as the air attacks in 2007 and 2008, and includes special forces with the capacity for commando raids.

The United States has close military ties with Ethiopia and Kenya, both traditional enemies of Somalia. If Somali insurgents were implicated in future terrorist-style attacks on neighboring countries, the pressure for a U.S. military response would grow.

Even if U.S. forces are not involved in combat, multilateral security efforts could go wrong, indirectly implicating the United States. For example, Human Rights Watch has documented abuses by Somali police trained under a U.N.-sponsored program that started in 2007.

Reinforcing government security forces without mechanisms to ensure accountability can easily fuel justified Somali resentment of outsiders. Even if more U.S. engagement were seen as a way to fix such problems, it would be a mistake for U.S. "support" to edge into training or advising either government or multilateral forces on the ground in Somalia.

The crisis in Somalia well illustrates the fundamental alternatives for U.S. security policy toward the continent. Will a focus on anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency fuel conflict or reinforce oppressive regimes? Or will Washington give priority to building multilateral capacity to respond to Africa´s urgent security needs?

Counter-insurgency thinking has little relevance in solving the diverse conflicts that Africa faces in Darfur and Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the Niger Delta. It is even more irrelevant to the structural problems Africa shares with the rest of the world, such as poverty, global warming, pandemic disease and violence against women.

The election of a son of Africa to the U.S. presidency has raised African hopes for a new era in U.S. engagement with Africa. When Barack Obama makes his first visit as president to sub-Saharan Africa in July, he will be greeted with excitement and high expectations.

If his administration is to meet those expectations, both Washington and African states must reject counterproductive military options. Instead, they must take on the far broader goal of ensuring inclusive human security. That requires decisive steps to end openly violent conflicts. But it also demands the will and resources to meet needs in health and education, create jobs and foster accountable governments.

These are formidable challenges, but Africans are eager for change. Americans should insist that our government first do no harm.

(*) William Minter is the editor of AfricaFocus Bulletin, an independent electronic publication on African issues and Daniel Volman is the director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, D.C., and a member of the board of directors of the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars.

Anti-piracy measures

West can help 'eradicate pirates'

By Roger Hearing

The president of the Somali region where most pirate attacks originate from has told the BBC he can "solve the problem" with western help.

The increasing number of attacks over the past year take place far out at sea, but the vast majority of the pirates come from the Puntland coast.

Abdirahman Mohamud Farole, President of Puntland, said his government was not getting much-needed assistance yet.

So far in 2009, there have been 143 attacks in the waters off Somalia.

Thirty-one of these have resulted in successful hijackings.

In the latest attacks, two dhows were taken over the weekend and on Monday there was an unsuccessful attempt to hijack a 250,000 tonne Liberian-registered oil tanker.

Security forces

President Farole, on a visit to London to meet British government officials, told BBC World Service World Business News his officials had already imprisoned 62 pirates, and there were 100 others awaiting trial.

He said Muslim clerics, encouraged by the government, were preaching against piracy - 200 former pirates had sworn to give up. Even in the main pirate port, Eyl, he said, piracy was now "off-shore".

The president, who set up his government in January, said: "We can do something, because we have done, already, many things about it since my government came to power, but that does not mean that we can eradicate it without the assistance of the international community."

He said they were not getting that assistance as yet, but "we have put in place a comprehensive plan including the development of the coastal areas, giving opportunities to the youth in those areas and the communities for their livelihood.

"We have already allocated 600 of our security forces to be trained. We asked for assistance from the international community to train them, equip them with arms and provide some incentive.

"We have to have an additional injection of funds to pay them, and also equip them with speedboats and a mother ship and telecommunications equipment, because our coastal area is very mountainous - it's very difficult to travel from one village to another along the coastline.

He said that unless his government have speedboats to chase the pirates and get them out of their hiding places in small bays, "we will not be able to eradicate the pirates."

But the president believes that, with the necessary support, "we can sort it out."

International co-operation

Two dozen ships from European Union nations, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, are currently patrolling an area of about two million square miles off the Somali coast. The president says he welcomes their presence, but he warned against any suggestion of raids on the pirate bases.

"We do need, for a while, the presence of international forces off the shore, but not onshore, because coming on the shore they cannot solve the problem; they may attack small communities and harm local communities who are not involved in the piracy, and are against the piracy.

"What solves the problem is co-operating with our administration, and if we operate on land and help establish our stations alongside them and co-operate together, we can eliminate the problem," the president said.

"As soon as this operation is taking place, and the task force is trained, actually they will be eliminated, may be within two years or a year or a three years - it depends on the establishment of the requirements that we are asking for."

N.B.: In the typical colonial fashion of DIVIDE ET IMPERA (divide and rule) the UK-mastered EUNAVFOR together with NATO plans to engage with the Somali regions directly - a move that is seen by many as interference in the internal affairs of the Somali state - though the individual governments of the two military conglomerates have neither agreed to such approach nor has it been sanctioned by the Somali Transitional Federal Unity Government.)

Medvedev calls for creating international court for sea pirates

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for creating an international court to try sea pirates and assured that Russia will continue to participate in international efforts to fight piracy.

"This may be an international court or ad hoc court, but this would be a right step," he said meeting with seafarers in Russia´s Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday.

He stressed that over the five months of this year alone pirates seized much more ships than during the whole of 2008.

"This, undoubtedly, seriously harms the shipping and affects the international trade environment," Medvedev said.

The president underlined that Russia´s mission in the Indian Ocean "is the global task, with which only maritime powers that have the glorious history and opportunities can cope."

"This work should be continued for the international law regime to gain the upper hand in the whole world and to ensure security of civil ships. This is simply necessary for Russia´s opinion to be regarded," he said.

"Thus, Russia will further on fulfil its international obligations in compliance with the UN Security Council resolution and with my instructions. The ships of the Northern, Pacific and Baltic Fleets will continue to escort civil ships," Medvedev said.

He stressed that Russia will pool efforts with EU countries, the U.S., China and India in the fight against sea piracy.

The president said the fight against pirates in the Indian Ocean was high on the agenda of the G8 summit in Italy. "We discussed this problem and stressed the importance of ensuring peace in this region and law and order as a minimum," he said.

"I am confident that joint efforts will help to effectively fight the piracy off Somalia and other regions of the world ocean," Medvedev said.

In compliance with the Russian president´s instructions and with the UN Security Council resolution, military ships of the Northern, Pacific and Baltic fleets escort Russian foreign trade vessels off Somalia from October 2008 up to the present day.

Luxury Yacht Owners Outfitting Ships to Fend Off Pirates

By Tim Stevens

We've covered pirates of various types numerous times. Most of them have been the digital sort, particularly those belonging to the so-called Pirate Bay (some of whom are now doing a little time behind bars). However, it's pirates of a very different, rather more traditional type that are threatening wealthy cruisers, and many ship owners are spending millions to outfit their giant yachts with military tech in order to fend off these would-be boarders.

According to CNN, defense and surveillance company ProForm Marines offers many such defenses. Among them are non-lethal acoustic devices that produce piercing sound waves to disorient and deafen attackers, and infra-red cameras for detecting threats from miles away -- even in the pitch dark. Chartering company Fraser Yachts (one of whose yachts is pictured above) offers to equip its "super-yachts" with internal submarines that could double as escape pods (although Fraser's Clive McCartney told CNN that a submarine is merely "a leisure addition"). While there have been rumors in the British press of other, rather more lethal defense systems being used on yachts, no yacht-owners are exactly leaping to admit it.

So, if you want to go sailing the seas outside of Somalia and aren't too fond of ransom demands, you may just want to think about making a few upgrades to your vessel; it's the trendy thing to do.

Two day conference about Somalia opens in Nairobi

A two day conference about Somalia has opened on Tuesday in Nairobi, Kenya and representatives from AU, IGAD, UN, and the Somali government attended in the meeting.

Somali defense minister Mohamed Abdi Gandi, who holds a French passport, was supposed to attend but remained in Mogadishu. Other Somali government officials attended in the meeting which kicked off in Nairobi today.

Somali ambassador to Kenya, Mohamed Ali "Ameriko" opened the meeting.

AU Special Representative to Somalia Nicolas Bwakira called on actors in Somalia to work in close collaboration with other international partners to ensure that there is proper coordination of capacity building assistance to the Somali government.

Nicolas Bwakira said that challenges are quite enormous and that tackling them successfully would require international community's firm commitment and continued partnership with the government and people of Somalia.

The representatives who addressed in the meeting all suggested the need to rebuild and train the Somali security forces.

The meeting is deliberating on the priority capacity building needs of the TFG and participants hope to identify practical and innovative ways of addressing those pressing needs of the government.

The fragile government of Somali is facing major offensive from allied al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam Islamist groups.

The Somali government officials repeated their call to the international community to support the government.

No real peace in sight yet

Somali administration detains two local media workers

By Shafici Mohyaddin Abokar (*)

Reports from Hargeisa, the capital of the break away republic of Somali land in northern Somalia, say that police detained two prominent journalists after raiding Radio Horyaal compound in Hargeisa on late on Monday.

Abdirizak Mohamed Dubad, a radio Horyaal journalist who talked to reporters in Hargeisa on Tuesday said that armed police men broke into the station late on Monday arresting the Station´s director Mohamed Osman Mire and news editor Ahmed Saleban Dhuhul.

"The two colleagues were on duty when police took them and to my knowledge they are being held in the criminal investigation department" Dubad told local reporters on Tuesday.

The police gave no comments about why the journalists have been detained, but this comes as Somaliland administrators recently accused some un-named media outlets of broadcasting what they called un-wanted news stories.

Journalists and freedom of expression watch in Somalia (Jofewsom) a branch of Somali sports press association that lobbies for freedom of speech and better rights of journalists called on the Somali land administrators to unconditionally free the detained media colleagues.

On Monday the New York-based rights group, Human Rights Watch accused the break away administration of being a big threat to the already fragile democracy and freedom of expression in areas it controls.

The break away republic of Somali land which locates in the north of the country announced its independence from the rest of Somalia on May 18 in 1991, but it lacks international recognition as an independent state since then.

(*) Shafici Mohyaddin Abokar, Somali sports press association first vice president and head of international relations

Somalia's president hails victory, rebels retake lost ground

Somalia's interim president has hailed as a 'victory' yesterday's fierce clashes between pro-government forces and insurgents, where three African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) in the capital Mogadishu were among the dead, Radio Garowe reports.

President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told a Monday press conference at the Villa Somalia presidential compound that government forces took control of areas formerly held by insurgents.

"Our troops pushed back the rebels and it was a historic victory," President Sheikh Sharif said, while referring to two days of fighting in Mogadishu where upwards of 70 people were killed and more than 150 others wounded.

He claimed that government forces killed a Somali American man who was fighting alongside insurgents, including Al Shabaab, which is listed as a terrorist group by the U.S. government.

Peacekeeper deaths

AMISOM peacekeepers were directly involved in Sunday's armed clashes with insurgents, officials and residents said.

The Ugandan army's spokesman, Maj. Felix Kulayigye, told Ugandan media that three AMISOM peacekeepers were killed when a mortar slammed into the Villa Somalia presidential palace, where AMISOM troops stand guard.

The AMISOM peacekeeping mission is composed of 4,200 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi, but still far short of the 8,000-strong force the AU authorized.

Local sources reported that AMISOM tanks were involved in the fighting and backed pro-government forces for the first time since the peacekeepers arrived in March 2007.

Insurgents 'return'

Islamist insurgents retreated from key districts in north Mogadishu where yesterday's heavy battles took place, witnesses and government officials said.

But on Monday, the heavily-armed insurgents had returned to the districts of Kaaraan, Shibis and Abdiaziz, with witnesses saying the insurgents and government forces are within striking distance of each other.

There were no reports of fighting on Monday, however.

Sheikh Ali "Dheere" Mohamud, the spokesman for Al Shabaab insurgents, condemned AMISOM peacekeepers for backing government forces.

"We will make them [AMISOM] feel like the Ethiopians," said the Al Shabaab spokesman, who was referring to Ethiopia's two-year military intervention in south-central Somalia that ended in Jan. 2009.

Military tensions remain high in Mogadishu, where pro-government forces and insurgents are gearing up for renewed clashes. Meanwhile, civilians continue to flee violent-ridden districts but many civilians have been caught in the crossfire, according to human rights groups and hospital sources.

Islamist hardliners are attempting to overthrow the Western-backed interim government in Somalia, led by President Sheikh Sharif, himself a former Islamist insurgent leader.

Somali Government Official Says They Will Root Out the Islamist Forces in Mogadishu

The transitional federal government official has said on Tuesday that they will root out the Islamist forces fighting against the government soldiers in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Sheik Abdirisak Mohammed Qeyloy, a spokesman of Darawish troops of the TFG told Shabelle radio that the recent fighting between both warring sides was a one which the government experienced the ability of the Islamist forces in Mogadishu adding that they are planning an offensive to clear away them from the capital and the other regions in the country.

The government official also said that the government wants to restore the peace and stability of the country adding that they will go to whole parts of the country to solve the problems in the Somalia.

The statement of Darawish troops' spokesman of the transitional government Sheik Abdirisak Mohamed Qeyloy comes as there is heavy fighting between Islamist forces and government soldiers in the capital which caused more casualties of deaths and injuries.

Eritrea on Monday denied again media reports that it has been supplying insurgents in Somalia with personnel and weapons, saying that Eritrea is becoming the victim of "all concocted and fabricated acts of lie and defamation."

"Many media outlets too, either intentionally or inadvertently, did not refrain from covering the drama," said a statement on the website of Eritrea's Ministry of Information.

"Who is to believe and be mislead by claims that the Somali people's resistance 'is employing external human resource,' as if it lacked the requisite manpower and resilience?" said the statement.

"By the same token, which many parties are to be misleading by claims that the Somali opposition forces are 'amassing arms from outside,'as if there are no enough arms in Somalia itself?" it asked.

"In a situation where there exists no functioning state and government, law and order, as well as foreign intervention and warlords, it is not surprising to witness Somalia becoming a fertile ground for extremism," said the statement.

"Under the circumstances, it is imperative that the Somali people should be left alone to resolve their own problems themselves without any external interference rather than looking for any excuses to postpone a solution, and thus prolong their suffering," it concluded.

Eritrea has repeatedly denied the allegations that it is supplying militants in Somalia with personnel and arms, and said that the claims are "totally false."

When Islamists Take Power and Beyond!

By Hassan Zaylai

Barring unforeseeable intervention on its behalf, specifically foreign forces to kill and die for its survival, this government by name-only in Mogadishu is on a cliff-edge. The unmerciful hands of religious extremists are firmly on its back to push it over the precipice any hour now.

This time, let us send any more tries at forming a government for Somalia in exile to the ash heaps of history. Let there be no more steady streams of unsavory characters, some of them outright criminals, to hotels outside Somalia to represent falsely the country which they destroyed.

No more parachuting on Mogadishu, from without Somalia, former shoe shiners, butchers, Madrasa teachers, Halwa sellers, and impenitent clan-warlord thugs as political leaders or statesmen who could govern!

And so, a new era of diehard, all Wadad power of the most extreme kind begins. Within days after they firmly take power, Mogadishu will become the most void of social crimes in all Africa, if not the world. On this, I agree with Charles Onyango-Obbo: http://www.hiiraan.com/op2/2009/july/al_shabaab_puts_mogadishu_s_rapists_and_robbers_on_notice.aspx

What pickpocket, rapist or murderer? Add to that list: no more expired food or medicine sold to the public! Yet another one to the list: drowning pirates, as punishment (Al-Shabab style) for the crime, in the very sea in which they pirate! Who will risk certain floggings, amputations, beheading or drowning?

People in Mogadishu will, for the first time in a longtime, feel an eerie and forgotten silence from uncontrolled gunfire. From involuntary hibernation, they will spill into the streets in peace and catch some deserved, long overdue sunlight and wind against their skins. At evenings, they will linger out and about away from their wrecked-by-war homes.

Who would want to rush back into dens of nightmares; the places where their mothers, fathers, sons or daughters caught artillery shrapnel or bullets to their deaths?

As people feel secure, they will do the business of debris removal from homes, front-and-backyards and sidewalks.

For the overwhelming majority of Mogadishu residents, as elsewhere, it would be no concern of theirs who and with what law rules over them. So long as they feel secure and safe, why would they bother? People will go about their daily lives! A welcome and much appreciated change, no doubt, from daily hell of 18 years.

Having secured peace and the public praise for it, the Islamists have to govern the country with more than firm policing or punishment rituals.

Will their agenda confine itself to "Somalia for Somalis?" Will they see their foreign Jihadist friends to ports, thank them and bid them good-bye? What will they do?

A word of advice to would-be Islamist rulers in Somalia: Whatever you do, do not turn the country into a training ground for terrorists. Be Somalis, for once, who would conform to tradition of never being a carry-water or weight mules for someone else. What business of yours to fight the world for Osama?

You must declare publicly and plainly a peaceful coexistence intent with Somali neighbors. Stop giving them nightmares about "holy wars" with the neighbors.

Ethiopia and Kenya have both much to answer for their historical occupation of Somali lands. However, in the long run, the best way Somalia could help subjected Somalis in these countries is for Somalia to be strong again. Be smart! Do not give our enemies, at our weakest hour, the excuse to further damage and see to it the Somali state never reconstitutes.

Rebuilding Somali lives and livelihood in Somalia, which will be a long and daunting task by itself, should leave no room or time for anything else. Be an instrument to bring the shattered Somali family together; be healers of your people!

There will be borders to secure; sovereignty to reclaim; a national police and army to rebuild from scratch. In other words, the State of Somalia, with all involved domestically and internationally, must stand up from self-inflicted madness of 18 years. Call, I say to you Islamists, Somalia´s best and brightest from Diasporas. Install them on key positions, each to his or her ability.

If you heed my advice above, the rest of the world will most likely leave you alone. No threat to the world begets no negative response from the world.

Still, you will have to answer for what you brought anew, of a particular Islam, to your people! Eventually, you will be accountable to the people on the most important issue in their lives: Their Islamic faith. What have you imported to the Somalis?

If you think you discovered for Somalis the correct Islam, for which you have been killing and dying for in imposing it by force on Somalis, you are delusional!

Somalis have been Muslims for ages. No verse in the Qur´an or a saying by the prophet (SAW) has been a mystery to or obscured from successive Somali Ulemas of more than thousand years. What is this nonsense you teaching Islam afresh to Somalis about?

No one single argument you put forth in support of your claims, like assigning shirk (apostasy) to what you mischaracterize as Somali grave-worshipping, which compels you to desecrate graves, can pass the scrutiny of Somali, traditional Ulemas.

On Imam Shafi´ or any one of the other 3 Imams of Islamic jurisprudence works, your claims—Point by point—will suffer irreversible defeats.

Hell will freeze over before Somalis convert in a whole-sell to the refuted and discredited ideology of Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahab, a minor figure in Islam!

Somalis´ standing with God is at issue—nothing less. Not a clan, country, peace, progress or the whole world, you name it, is as important as one´s position with God on the Day of Judgment.

You Wahabbis upend our Somali, true Islamic traditions. Therefore, you put us all on the road to hell. Peace in Somalia now by amputations, beheadings or stoning to death is not worth a nanosecond in God´s hell later. That is if we Somalis, for the peace and order you bring, allow you to infect us with your false doctrines. It will not happen!

With no longer a con-job of a government for Somalis to divide and disunite over, Somalis will come together. They will join and link, like a chain, from the deepest south, central, east, north to west of all Somalia. They will sweep you extremists like a fire on a dry forest. Wait for it, for it will come to reclaim God´s true religion from your lies.

I must express my full gratitude to the Islamists for one thing: that is introducing to Somalia politics and war of conviction. 18 years, the Somalis—however hard they tried—could not untangle clan politics and its wars. The Islamists´ discipline and incorruptibility, on faith however wrong, had now set the par high for Somalis. These Islamists neither rob nor molest anyone under their control. On the contrary, they would punish for such acts severely! This is why they have been successful.

Clan militias cloaked as government forces—what government?—cannot withstand the fury of the Islamists. How could they? They have no motivation to stand their grounds for. Hence, they run within 5 minutes in battle with "soldiers of god." Notice the lowercase with their deity, for their god is not the true God (SWT). But, all that matters for them Islamists is they think they are the true believers! All the same, belief is their source of strength and inspiration.

Unwittingly, however, their examples are the lessons for other Somalis on correct, religious and national grounds to bring them militants down eventually and set Somalia on proper course. It is a lesson about Somalis, of different clans and regions, uniting on ideas or beliefs. That is powerful, thanks to Al-Shabab!

For if you Islamists found an awesome conviction in deceit masqueraded as truth, then the real truth must find a way to show itself in the rest of Somalis to challenge you. This has to be!

You have not cornered the market on conviction, although at the moment you seem the only visible group with it. If Somalis will not come for you, for your reckoning, then their Islamic tradition of centuries would have been for naught. Then that would prove you as the bearers of genuine Islam to Somalis, and for the first time. I don´t think so!

Kill and die for Islam, other Somalis have that in them too in abundance—except for aggression and global upheavals, as the case with you fanatics!

Come for you, they will; and on that day, all the angels of God (SWT) and the spirits of Somali dead saints, whose graves you defiled, should sing the praises of Allah. I promise you, the day will come when you, Bid´a heroes, will find yourselves at the receiving end of unmerciful, and sanctioned-by-God, valid Jihad against you. This will be done by Somalis for Somali faith and tradition preservation—not for Washington or any one else.

On that day, I hope you so brave now will not run or shave your beards and deny you were card-carrying members of Al-Shabab or Hizbul Islam. Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do when they come for ya, as the song goes!

After your absolute defeat, for no less will suffice, Somalis will proceed forming, within Somalia, a lasting government. Ould-Abdalla need not apply for that job that day. No one single foreigner should attend then on that hour with Somali affairs!

May Allah bless and help the Somali people.

SCENARIOS: What would al Shabaab win mean for Somalia?

By William Maclean for Reuters

An al Shabaab victory over Somali government troops in Mogadishu would lift the morale of Islamist militants everywhere and underline al Qaeda's ambition to create a regional safe haven in the Horn of Africa nation.

But the repercussions on the ground might not be uniformly favorable to the group's fighters, who already control much of south and central Somalia and all but a few blocks of the capital.

Here are possible scenarios in the event of a takeover.

AN INITIAL PERIOD OF STABILITY?

Somalia's government has been unable to beat back al Shabaab militants who have made gains this year in guerrilla-style attacks on Somali troops and an African Union force there.

A decisive al Shabaab win could signal the demise of a new government formed this year and supported by most governments in the region and Western powers.

In Mogadishu, a victorious al Shabaab might seek to copy aspects of the behavior of a predecessor Islamist force called the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which in 2006 captured the city and gave it a period of stability.

The UIC won initial support by setting up clan-based sharia courts which provided security, education and basic services to residents who had suffered violence from warlords for years.

Any similarities would probably end there.

While the union sought to calm fears they were harboring al Qaeda, al-Shabaab plays up its link to the transnational network.

It has also drawn parallels between itself and the Taliban in Afghanistan and insurgencies in Algeria and Chechnya.

It has said it will impose its version of strict sharia law, which in areas it controls has entailed beheadings, stonings, chopping off limbs and banning some TV programs.

BRUTALITY: SOWING THE SEEDS OF EVENTUAL DOWNFALL?

In logistical terms, control of the few additional blocks of Mogadishu that it does not already hold, including the main port and airport, may not change very much, since the militia already holds sway in many parts of southern Somalia.

"The reality is that, 'bragging rights' aside, whether or not al Shabaab and other insurgents sweep aside the TFG (government) altogether does not fundamentally alter the strategic landscape," says U.S. analyst J. Peter Pham.

Harakat Al-Shabab Mujideen Forms New Administration Near Wanla-Weyn Town

The Islamic organization of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen has formed an Islamic administration for Lego and Yak Bariweyne villages near Wanla-weyn town 90 kilometers west of the Somali capital Mogadishu, official told Shabelle radio on Tuesday.

More officials of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen were meeting with the residents of Yak Bariweyne and Lego villages near Wanla-weyn town in the border between Lower Shabelle and Bay regions in southern Somalia and lastly concluded their meetings by forming an Islamic administration for the people there.

Sheik Aden Mo'alin Muse known as "Abu Keyda", head of security of Wanlaweyn town told Shabelle radio that members of the residents, traditional elders, scholars and businessmen had attended the gathering with high of officials of Harakat Al-shabab Mujihideen in Lego and Yak Bariweyne villages where the new administrations were appointed adding that it will be under the control of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen management in the region.

Sheik Aden said that they will continue forming administrations for the residences around the town adding that they will also form courts ruling the people with Sharia law, calling for the residents to work towards peace and stability and cling to the holy Kutub (srcripture) and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him).

The people and the traffic drivers who use the street that connects between Mogadishu and Bay region had welcomed the move greatly and it comes as Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen forces were conducting operations there recently and lastly achieved to form an Islamic administration for Lego and Yak Bariweyne in Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia.

Somalia war barons face asset freeze in new Igad plan

By Allan Odhiambo

Kenya and other regional countries, frustrated by violent uprising against the Somalia government, have opted to blacklist suspected financiers as they ponder over possible sanctions including freezing assets of the insurgents.

The seven countries falling under the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) resolved, after an extra ordinary council of ministers meeting at the weekend, to immediately impose sanctions on individuals and entities in and outside Somalia who have become obstacles to peace in the horn of Africa country.

The sanctions will include travel bans, freezing of assets and other measures.

"Igad members will identify, draw up and share a list of individuals and organisations to be sanctioned," a communique said.

Eritrea has particularly been accused of aiding militia fighting the Somali government, with both the AU and Igad calling for targeted sanctions against Asmara.

Several business figures and organisations operating in neighbouring countries including Kenya have also been suspected of having a hand in the Somali chaos.

According to the resolution, each member country shall appoint a liason officer to coordinate the information with the office of the Igad facilitator.

Igad members include Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti — with Kenya´s former Agriculture minister Kipruto Kirwa serving as its facilitator for Somali peace and national reconciliation.

Efforts to restore peace in the country have remained futile in the recent times amid escalating violence that has left thousands of people displaced and hundreds killed.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that more than 65,000 refugees from Somali entered Kenya in 2008 alone and that the number is expected to climb with the renewed hostilities in various parts of the country.

Somali has not had a central government since President Said Barre was ousted 18 years ago.

Criminal gangs have taken advantage of the disarray, spiralling a wave of piracy off the Somali coastline and the Gulf of Aden, leaving regional economies at risk as ocean freight costs rose. Insurers have responded by raising premiums to factor in the ransom demands.

Igad said the patience of its members had been stretched to the limit hence the need for radical action to stem the uprising.

"This military aggression is no longer a fight between and among the Somali people but one instigated by foreign elements that has resulted in many civilian deaths and massive internal displacement," the authority said.

Member states, especially those bordering Somalia would intensify border surveillance and establish a co-ordinating mechanism to identify those behind the aggression.

It further urged the AU and UN security organs to enhance the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) ability to respond in defence of personnel, equipment and key installations in support of the Transition Federal Government (TFG).

Last week, AMISOM forces were forced to operate outside their mandate in repulsing armed attacks who threatened to override key establishments near the Presidential palace in Mogadishu.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has recently called for a comprehensive, inclusive peace process for the country torn by rivalry among clans.

After assessing that the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia by the end of 2008 could easily lead to chaos, Mr Ban recommended the strengthening of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) through financing, logistic support, training, equipment and other reinforcements by the UN and member states.

He said the most appropriate response to the crisis would be a multinational force (MNF), rather than a typical peacekeeping operation, with full military capabilities to disarm the protagonists confrontation but no member state, no offered to lead the operation

Multinational force

Success for an enhanced AMISOM arrangement would then pave the way for deploying UN peace keepers and setting up of a maritime task force or upgrade of the current anti-piracy efforts.

Igad however fears the renewed violence in Somali could get out of hand unless countries that have made pledges like Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Ghana immediately make troops available to the mission.

∗ Donor Alert ∗

UNITED NATIONS * NATIONS UNIES - Office of the United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia

Aid agencies need $11 million for emergency water and sanitation programmes

Despite security risks and lack of funding, more than 30 humanitarian organisations in the water, sanitation and hygiene

(WASH) cluster continue to work to improve the health and wellbeing of Somali families.

Internal Displacement – Fighting in Mogadishu has led to the displacement of more than 600,0001 people in the Afgooye corridor. The WASH cluster is currently only able to supply an average of 8 litres of water per day, although in some areas of the corridor, displaced people have as little as 2 litres of water per day. At such low quantities, hygiene standards, important in preventing the spread of communicable diseases in overcrowded conditions, invariably suffer2. Between 7.5 and 15 litres is considered the minimum needed for survival, which is less than one flush of an average toilet. An estimated $3 million would be required to double the provision of water in the Afgooye corridor bringing it in line with WASH standards enforced in other emergency settings. In addition, while the cost for extending water systems can be as little as $2 per person per year, overall, humanitarian agencies will require at least $600,000 for 2009. Sanitation in the Afgooye corridor, as in other IDP camps within Somalia, is wholly insufficient.

Currently there is 1 latrine for every 212 displaced people in the corridor. Although SPHERE standards prescribe a ration of 1 latrine for 20 persons, the Somalia WASH cluster twice has had to reduce its standard; currently 1:50 to obtain targets within available funding. At a ratio of 1:20, 26,000 latrines would need to be constructed; at 1:30, 15,000 latrines. More than 7,500 latrines are needed to bring sanitation to a level of 1:50, at a cost of $1.5 million.

UNICEF requires $3.3 million before the end of July to maintain life-saving operations for more than 1 million conflict affected people, while current emergency funding allocated for NGOs is likely to be exhausted within the next 2 months.

Drought – Failure of the Gu rains continues to exact a heavy toll on communities in Puntland, Somaliland and areas of South/Central Somalia. More than 80%3 of the population in Puntland and 40% in Somaliland are currently in need of supplementary water assistance. Over 227,0004 people in this area are currently subsisting on 2 litres per day or less. Almost 40% of WASH CAP funding so far has been used to provide safe water through emergency water trucking. More than $2.1 million is required to provide the drought-affected population with an additional 5 litres per person per day until the Deyr rainy season starts in October.

AWD and Cholera – In rural areas of Somalia, 87% of the population do not use or have access to a latrine, and just 11% have access to improved sources of water5. As a result, cholera and Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) are endemic and frequent outbreaks would occur every year. Coordinated efforts between the WASH and Health clusters have contributed to a 60-70% decrease in AWD cases, and a 300% decrease in Case Fatality Rates within the last two years, with no major outbreaks since June 2007. The achievements are substantial but need continued support if they are to be built upon and improved. Operation and maintenance of over 1,700 water systems, which include life-saving chlorination activities for more than 900,000 persons, require an estimated $500,000, particularly in the South/Central regions, and IDP camps where

cholera is most prevalent.

WASH Long-term Needs – With current coverage rates of water and sanitation services, there is an annual need of more than $50 million to sustain operations at acceptable levels including an important element of hygiene education. On the other hand, a minimum of $200 million would be required as a capital investment to boost coverage to 100% in both water and sanitation. More than 1,000 water facilities and 15,000 latrines are still waiting to be funded as part of the CAP for 2009 alone.

Funding – With only $6.7 million (19%) out of requirements of $35.8 million for 2009, members of the WASH cluster have been able to construct 51 shallow wells, 11 high-yield boreholes and 52 piped water networks and urban water supply systems. The cluster has also rehabilitated 18 boreholes, 101 shallow wells, 56 berkhads, 17 sub-surface dams, 7 water pans, and is chlorinating 205 wells in 2009. Compared to the same period last year the cluster has received $8 million less, and yet the needs this year are significantly higher. Under-funding for WASH action ultimately increases the need for increased expenditure in the health, nutrition, and livelihoods sectors, and there is immense concern that improvements over the last two years will unravel in the second half of 2009. For further details on-line see CAP Mid-Year Review published concurrently at http://humanitarianappeal.net

Gene Traders: Biotechnology, World Trade, and the Globalization of Hunger

Until today the US-American created and sponsored as well as UN mastered World Food Prgramme has refused to give a guarantee that it would not ship GMOs into Somalia! With GN-maize scandals even in neighbouring, relatively governed Kenya going through the roof, the food-aid scandals in Somalia rarely are examined.

Genetically engineered agriculture is spreading around the world due to global trade agreements and the aggressive tactics of international financial institutions, governments, and agribusiness corporations. In this broad and comprehensive survey, seven authors show how the interplay of trade policy, "development" politics and biotechnology increases dependency and hunger, while compromising the survival of traditional farmers and their communities.

"Read Gene Traders and see with new eyes! Brian Tokar brings us a gold mine of in-depth investigations showing exactly how corporations and global institutions are systematically manipulating governments, farmers and public opinion to gain control over our food supply. Gene Traders provides the detail and insight we need to take part in the global democracy movement to reverse this catastrophe." - Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet and coauthor of Hope´s Edge

"Most people have a gut unease at the prospect of genetically altered food. This book will make it clear why that queasiness is absolutely justified. Clear, concise, well-reported, and appropriately angry, Gene Traders is an important document in a crucial debate." - Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Enough

Toward Freedom presents a new and comprehensive collection of research and essays on biotechnology. Edited by safe food pioneer Brian Tokar, Gene Traders features analysis of biotechnology and its' effects on food safety, poverty, starvation, and globalization.

About the book and contributors:

Gene Traders opens with a revealing look by editor Brian Tokar at the evolution of the global movement for food sovereignty that has been sparked by genetic engineering.

S´ra DeSantis makes the connections between trade deals like NAFTA and the FTAA, genetically modified corn, and the contamination of Latin American crops.

Aziz Choudry describes how World Trade Organization´s "intellectual property" rules promote monopoly rights and biopiracy.

Brian Tokar examines the World´s Bank promotion of dubious biotech schemes in the name of sustainability and a new "Green Revolution."

Mwananyanda Mbikusita Lewanika and Lawrence Tsimese report from Africa about Zambia´s food aid crisis and the continent´s tough choices on food security.

Shiri Pasternak explains how food aid has become food dumping and displaced agricultural communities.

Devinder Sharma deconstructs world hunger and the myths of biotech agriculture "feeding the world."

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For more information, email Admin(at)towardfreedom.com or call 1-802-862-2024

The World Food Programme, the best weapon of Global Governance, follows these classical lines:

"In the end - they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, MAKE US YOUR SLAVES, BUT FEED US!"

(--The Grand Inquisitor, in The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky)

Impacting reports from the global village

Kenya, Italy spell out intervention measures for Somalia

By KenyaVicePresidentsService

Kenya and Italy have spelt out urgent measures to be taken in the coming weeks and months to stabilize war torn Somalia

They include a meeting of European Union Council of Ministers on July 27 to mobilize resources to help the TFG Government and possibly appoint a European Special envoy on Somalia.

Other measures include the strengthening of African Union force AMISON, facilitation of dialogue, boosting the humanitarian relief efforts and the search for a solution to the plight of hundreds of thousands of refuges.

Meeting in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Mr. Franco Fratini Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka at the Italian capital as Kenya's Special envoy on Somalia, urged Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government to take a leading role in resolving the conflict in Somalia.

" Italy should be more visible at the United Nations level including at the Security Council in pushing for a solution for Somalia" the VP said after the meeting.

Refugees

Musyoka noted that Kenya was already burdened by an influx of refuges, insecurity due to presence of small arms from Somalia and piracy off the coast of Somalia that is driving up the cost of imports.

Musyoka explained Kenya is holding over 115 Piracy suspects, with 15 having been convicted.

Mr. Fratini said his country was deeply concerned at what was happening in Somalia. " We have already committed 7 million euros for Somalia and we intend to find ways of assisting further." He added.

The Italian Foreign Minister, who is the chairman of the Somalia Contact Group, expressed optimism that most of the Somalia refugees will be assisted to settle

He told the VP that the Italian Government is giving Kenya 39 million euros as soft loans for projects.

Among other issues discussed at the meeting, are weiwei water project, Kirandich and Mwingi water projects

Fratini also invited Kenya to make a country presentation of investment opportunities in order to attract more investment from Italy. He suggested that this be done before the end of the year.

Earlier, the Vp met top officials of Italy's leading technology and defense firm, finmeccanica. The multi billion-dollar company is planning to open its regional office in Nairobi in September.

The company manufactures helicopters, fighter jets, passenger planes and satellites and has sold several aircrafts to some east African companies.

Two Somali men indicted in US concerning terror plot partly

By James Walsh, Richard Meryhew and Allie Shah for Star Tribune

The charges against the two Somali-American men living in Minneapolis are part of a massive investigation into the disappearance of up to 20 local men of Somali descent.

The first indictments in a major counterterrorism investigation became public Monday when a Twin Cities' Somali man appeared in federal court on charges of providing support to terrorists and conspiracy to "kill, kidnap, maim or injure" people in foreign countries.

A federal grand jury had indicted Salah Osman Ahmed, 26, of Brooklyn Park, and Abdifatah Yusuf Isse, of Seattle, in February, but the indictments were kept sealed until Ahmed appeared Monday afternoon before Magistrate Judge Susan Richard Nelson.

Special agent E.K. Wilson confirmed Monday that the indictments of Isse and Ahmed are connected to a major federal investigation into the disappearance of up to 20 local men of Somali descent. It is believed that the men may have been recruited by terrorists to return to their families' homeland to fight in the continuing civil war there. Since October, at least four have died there.

"It is related to the ongoing investigation," Wilson said of the charges unsealed Monday.

Officials said Ahmed had been a fugitive but was captured recently and appeared before a federal judge Monday, while Isse was arrested in February and has been held since then, his attorney, Paul Engh of Minneapolis, told the newspaper.

The alleged time frame of Isse and Ahmed's involvement overlaps the period when several of the Twin Cities men disappeared. The first wave of young men to leave Minneapolis for Somalia began in early 2007. A second wave is believed to have left in the late summer and late fall of 2008.

According to the indictment, federal investigators allege the men "provided material support and resources, namely personnel, including themselves, knowing and intending that the material support and resources were to be used in preparation for and to carry out a conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure persons in a foreign country" from September 2007 through December 2008.

The dates of the charges against the two men correspond to a period when about 20 young Somali-American men abruptly disappeared from the Twin Cities. U.S. officials are investigating if they were recruited by radicals of the al-Shabaab movement to take part in the al-Qaida-backed group's efforts to overthrow the interim government in Mogadishu.

Two other Minneapolis men suspected of fighting with al-Shabaab were shot to death this week in battles in the Somali capital, friends and relatives told the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune. They included Zakaria Maruf, 30, and Jamal Sheikh Bana, 20.

U.S. 'Killed Al-Qaeda Man Behind Govt's Back'

By Kevin J Kelly And Fred Mukinda

The US sent its military to Kenya to hunt down and kill suspected terrorists... without the knowledge of the Kenya government, according to a UK newspaper.

The Guardian on Tuesday reported that one of the suspects was assassinated as part of a wider programme against al-Qaeda under the Bush administration.

The assassination turned out to be a "severe embarrassment" and may have contributed to the termination of the programme, the newspaper said. However, security sources in government who spoke to the Nation on Tuesday said they were not aware of such an operation.

Kenya has over the years maintained close ties with the US in the fight against terrorism with the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit being a large beneficiary of US funds.

The cooperation, for instance, saw a man suspected of being a member of al-Qaeda arrested in Mogadishu by the Americans and brought to Nairobi in 2003.

Kenyan police also surrendered to the US a suspect who had been arrested in Kenya in 2007 and was eventually flown to the US-run Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba.

The Guardian did not identify the victim of the US killing in Kenya and based its report on an unmanned former intelligence official who, it said, "did not give details of the operation."

An official close to the government security operations but who requested not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter said a terror suspect was killed in the Ras Kamboni area across the border in Somalia in circumstances that were not clear. The official did not elaborate.

US attempts to kill suspected terrorists in Somalia using missiles fired from drones, warships and submarines, are not secret and have been widely reported.

In January 2003, Mr William Munuhe, believed to be an informer for the Federal Bureau of Investigations, was shot dead in his house in Karen.

He had been involved in the investigation into the whereabouts of Rwandan genocide fugitive Felicien Kabuga and it is not clear whether his is the case in question.

IntelligenceAttorney General Amos Wako said: "We are not aware of the operation. Security intelligence people may know but the AG is not aware."

And police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said: "No such operation could have been planned with the knowledge of the Kenya police because that would be conspiracy to murder."

The assassination programme has been in the news after it was revealed that the spy agency did not brief US legislators as required by law. The programme was recently cancelled and the CIA said it never progressed beyond the planning stage.

However, The Guardian reported that while the CIA did not proceed with the plan, the US military, which does not need to inform Congress every time it goes out to kill enemies, did.

Former US vice-president Dick Cheney ordered the killing project hidden from MPs because it pushed the limits of legality by planning to assassinate suspects in friendly countries without the knowledge of their governments, The Guardian said.

Wetang´ula urges more troops for Somalia

By Mathias Ringa for Daily Nation

African states have been urged to deploy more soldiers to war-torn Somalia in order to restore peace.

Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang´ula said although some states pledged to send peace keeping forces to the Horn of Africa country only Uganda and Burundi had done so.

Mr Wetang´ula said the Africa Union (AU) had recommended that 8,000 soldiers be deployed to Somalia to assist in taming the raging war but currently only 3,500 are on the ground.

He noted that the civil war in Somalia has triggered insecurity in Kenya and other neighbouring states owing to proliferation of small arms.

The minister said lack of rule of law in the neighbouring country has fuelled an upsurge in piracy which has crippled sea transport in the continent.

"The AU must be bold enough by prevailing upon states which pledged to deploy peace keeping forces to Somalia to urgently do so in efforts to restore peace," Mr Wetang´ula said.

He added: "Since the AU made the recommendation only Uganda and Burundi have deployed 3,500 soldiers. More peace keeping forces are needed to bring order in the battered country."

Mr Wetang´ula proposed that the AU peace keeping forces currently in Somalia be given the mandate to enforce security so as to root out threats from warlords.

"Time has come for the peace keeping forces in Somalia to be given the authority to stamp out insecurity in the country.

There is no way the soldiers can maintain peace when fighting, and killings, continue unabated," he said.

At the same time, Mr Wetang´ula called on AU to stop the West from using the continent as an experimental zone.

He argued that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have the tendency of imposing policies which do not favour African countries.

"IMF and World Bank at one time imposed the structural adjustment programmes on African states and in the end the projects failed.

"They have now come up with issues of strategic plans which make the implementation of development projects drag for long whereas they can be completed within a short time," he said.

On electoral processes, the minister called on AU to ensure that general elections held in member states are conducted in a free and fair manner.

He said leaders who acquire power through dubious means should not be given the chance to rule to avert issues of poor governance and impunity.

African Union commissioner for political affairs Mrs Julia Dolly Joiner decried the emergence of violent elections and the return of military power in some African states. Mrs Joiner called member states to adhere to the provisions of African charter by upholding democracy, elections and governance. "The main challenge we face is that member states are not ratifying the charter. Although 29 states have signed the charter only two have ratified it.´´

COMMENT: ... and while the constantly only military-solutions pushing Kenyan foreign minister Wetang'ula, who recently nearly went to war with Uganda over the Migingo Island question, has not even revealed the findings of Kenya's Parliament Select Committee on the questions surrounding the mysterious military tanks on Ukrainian vessel MV FAINA (for the Government of South Sudan -GOSS ?), he must be seen as the top military pusher, despite the fact that his two principals have spoken out e.g. against the engagement of Kenyan troops in Somalia. While Kenya faces a major crisis and ICC investigation warring Wetang'ula seems only to ponder about the question how to profit from the turmoil.

Neighbours may be reaping from Somalia unrest

By George Omondi for Business Weekly

A tepid response by neighbouring states to the spiralling conflict in Somalia has sparked fresh speculations that those fanning the war enjoy secret support from governments in the region.

Both the African Union (AU) and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa (Igad) have rebuffed calls for military intervention in Somalia to save the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) even as militants step up their campaigns to topple it.

Analysts say instability in the horn of Africa nation has created a route for a lucrative illegal trade whose proceeds have then been used to finance the war that has besieged Somalia since its central government collapsed in the early 1990s.

"If you weigh trade statistics against Somalia´s population and the country´s low economic activity, it is highly unlikely that all the goods transported to the country are consumed there.

Profiteers must just be using its lawlessness as a conduit to re-export goods to other destinations in the Middle East," argues Mr David Owiro, a trade economist at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

Kenya, the present chair of IGAD, has seen her exports to the troubled nation blossom over the last five years, making the troubled country a major non-Comesa member export destination for her goods in Africa.

Government statistics indicate that exports to Somalia grew by 54 per cent last year to Sh12.8 billion last year from Sh8.3 billion in 2007.

This volume was much higher than exports to some major regional markets like Rwanda where Kenyan exports amounted to Sh8.9 billion and Egypt which imported Sh10.8 billion worth of Kenyan goods.

The government attributes this phenomenal increase in trade between the two countries to growth in volumes of khat (miraa), listed in the Economic Survey 2009 under ´foliage, branches and other parts of plants suitable for bouquet purposes,´ that together fetched the country Sh3.4 billion. [N.B.: And while humanitarian flights to Somalia are scrutinized and hampered by the flight ban and aid deliveries - like the recent Italian medical supplies - delayed by "local requirements", the miraa-bombers are just waved through.]

Kenya imported from Somalia goods worth Sh30 million last year compared to Sh12 million level of 2007.

No clout

Experts argue that the nature and volume of items traded between the two countries suggests a clandestine cartel-controlled business that may not be able to muster the requisite clout to force the government to intervene in Somalia militarily.

"Money whose circulation is controlled by just a small clique of people has very little impact on the economy and this may be the reason Somalia is not taken seriously as an exports destination," says Mr Owiro.

The region lobbied the African development bank (AfDB) to finance the construction of major infrastructure connecting its markets and succeeded in convincing AfDB to avail Sh25.4 billion for financing the second phase of the Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa road corridor project, but no mention was made of the superhighway connecting the port of Mombasa to Mogadishu.

The 13th summit of the AU held in Libya ended with African leaders expressing ´full support´ for TFG but not authorising its forces stationed in Somalia to intervene militarily.

Recruiting Somalis in Kenya

By Michael Rass

Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in 1991. The long-running instability has created misery for its people. And it´s spilled over into its east African neighbor, Kenya, home to many ethnic Somalis.

Heba Aly has the story of one Kenyan community – hundreds of miles from the border – that´s lost one of its young men to the insurgency.

Heba Aly: In a village in central Kenya, children play soccer in a dusty yard. For a ball, they use plastic bags tied up with rope. Many of the Kenyans living in this poor village are ethnically Somali, though their families have lived here for generations. One young man who grew up here was Tawakal Ahmed.

His friends remember him as someone who played soccer, hung out and chewed khat leaves, a stimulant popular among Somalis. But after high school, Tawakal began to change. He became increasingly religious. At first, his friends – like Frank Metro – weren´t too alarmed.

Frank Metro: It happened gradually and I didn´t anticipate it to go out of hand. I just thought; he´s just infiltrated with that theory of being holy, making it to heaven, but after a while, he will come to terms of the reality and maybe mix the religion and reality on the ground.

Heba Aly: But that didn´t happen. Instead, Tawakal took off for Somalia, where he joined Islamist insurgents fighting a new Western-backed Somali government, installed in early 2007.

Frank Metro: Then after a while, that is when we heard that he has passed. And so it was like, this is sad.

Heba Aly: There´s no official confirmation, but many here believe that Tawakal blew himself up in a suicide attack. His friends can´t understand why, since he never had much of a connection to Somalia. But recent changes in his hometown might provide some clues.

Heba Aly: The sermon playing out of this mosque in Isiolo is in Somali. In recent years, Somali immigrants and refugees have settled and taken control of some of the mosques. Some locals say the new Somali mosque leadership is connected to extremist insurgent groups back home – specifically the feared al-Shabab. Hussein Noor Roble is a village elder.

Hussein Noor Roble: If ever there is a recruitment going on in this area, it´s done by those people – the elders of that mosque, be they the committee, be they the imam or whatever.

Heba Aly: Noor´s wife Kamar also sees extremism taking hold in the village. As she cooks a meal of pancakes, she remembers a day last year when some elderly women were celebrating the birth of the prophet, Muhammed.

Kamar: Boys from the mosque. They come. 20, 25, like that. They were many.

Heba Aly: She said the young men didn´t believe in worshipping anyone other than Allah. So they went on a rampage.

Kamar: That time, they stoned people. They stoned people. They come up to inside. They beat people… We said they were al-Qaeda.

Heba Aly: It´s not clear that those labeled extremists here have any links to Al-Qaeda. Still, some locals say it´s this kind extremism that led Tawakal to his death. They also believe he was lured by money and the prospect of accomplishing something in life.

Village elder Noor invites Tawakal´s cousin over to talk. The cousin is too scared to give his name. He tells me it´s marginalization that leads young men like Tawakal to go to Somalia.

COUSIN: This government is not giving Kenyan Somalis any job, any opportunity. We are just like 2nd class citizens. The boys – and everybody – is annoyed with the government, with the life they are living, so they are ready to do anything.

Heba Aly: That´s why Somali insurgents usually recruit from predominantly Somali areas of Kenya. But Tawakal´s story is among the first known cases of recruits from central Kenya, hundreds of miles from the border.

Heba Aly: And that´s troubling to many here in Isiolo. Milgo Ahmed is another of Tawakal´s cousins. She worries other young men will follow her cousin´s path.

Milgo Ahmed: Tawakal is dead. But many many other Tawkals are going to have the same fate if the international community does not take action. We are not part of al-Shabab, we don´t know their ideology

Heba Aly: She adds we are not interested in their fighting. But we cannot save our children from them. For the World, I´m Heba Aly, Isiolo, central Kenya.

Is Israel guilty of piracy?

By Radhika Sainath

When the Israeli navy seized a small humanitarian boat flying under the Greek flag on Tuesday, 30 June, did the commandos commit acts of piracy when they forced the crew and 21 passengers -- including a former US Congresswoman and Nobel Laureate -- to port in Israel? May Israeli officials be prosecuted, and if so where?

On the morning of 29 June, the Spirit of Humanity set sail from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip carrying approximately three tons of medical aid, olive saplings, children's toys and other humanitarian items for the area's 1.5 million residents. The Spirit travelled through international waters when, at approximately 1:30am, several Israeli gunships surrounded the boat, jammed its GPS, navigation and radar systems and threatened to open fire. Heavily-armed Israeli naval commandos boarded the boat, ordered the Spirit's passengers to lie face down, roughed up several, and ultimately forced the humanitarian volunteers to Israel where they were held for days in hot, crowded, cells before all but two (both Israeli citizens) were ultimately deported.

The Israeli navy routinely harasses Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Gaza, and has on occasion seized boats and detained their crews , just as it did with the Spirit of Humanity.

An act of piracy, as defined by the law of nations, includes illegal acts of violence or detention committed on the high seas or outside the jurisdiction of any state. While today piracy often conjures up ideas of buried treasure, sunken ships and Johnny Depp at his best; olden-day pirates instilled a sense of terror in seafarers traveling in no-man's zones, outside the protection of any state.

Israel's commandeering of the Spirit last week shares a lot in common with these traditional acts of piracy: the Spirit's unarmed passengers traveled on the high seas, vulnerable, uncertain if they would live or die when the Israeli navy surrounded them and took them prisoners. But do Israel's actions constitute piracy?

The answer is: Yes.

Israel committed clear acts of violence and detention against the Spirit's passengers, acts, which, under the UN Convention on the High Seas, are unlawful. A warship may legitimately board a foreign ship on the high seas in only three circumstances: there is reason to believe the boat was engaged in piracy, the slave trade or the boat -- despite its flag -- is really of the same nationality as the warship. None of these circumstances apply here.

According to a 1 July press release from the Free Gaza Movement, the Spirit of Humanity was in international waters when the Israeli navy captured it. However, even if the boat was in Gazan waters, the above acts still constitute piracy because Gazan waters are outside the jurisdiction of any state -- and certainly outside Israel's jurisdiction. Jurisdiction, it should be noted, is different from control. While Israel exercises de facto control over Gaza, it has no legal de jure jurisdiction over Gaza.

Furthermore, while piracy has traditionally been defined as a private act, there is no reason why Israel's seizure of the Spirit, its passengers and its humanitarian cargo should not be considered an act of state or state-sponsored piracy.

Israel committed an act of piracy by hijacking the Spirit, forcing its passengers to Israel, imprisoning them and taking their cargo and personal items. But why is it important that Israel be charged with piracy, especially when it already faces a host of new war crimes accusations?

The law of nations has long upheld the principle that pirates are "hostis humani generis" -- an "enemy of all mankind." In the 18th century, nations reached a consensus that piracy was universally wrong and every nation has a right to prosecute pirates of any nationality. In United States v. Smith 18 U.S. 153 (1820), the US Supreme Court held that the principle of universal jurisdiction applies to punishing all persons, whether "natives or foreigners, who have committed [piracy] against any persons whatsoever ..."

In other words, piracy was one of the first criminal acts recognized by international law. Today, international law confers on piracy, along with slavery and genocide, the status of a jus cogens -- a norm or a right that can never be derogated. This means a state is bound by a jus cogens norm whether or not it consents to its application. As an example, a country may not engage in slavery simply because it has enacted laws making it permissible to do so.

Filing indictments against Israeli government officials and senior army commanders for crimes related to piracy is important not only because the perpetrators of the 30 June hijacking must be brought to justice, but also to reinforce the legitimacy of international law, which is increasingly viewed as being selectively used by rich countries as a tool to oppress poorer ones. The War on Piracy has been highlighted most recently by UN Security Resolution 1851, initiated by the US, which calls on all states to actively take part in the fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia, and even authorizes states to take measures inside Somalia.

The laws of piracy should not be selectively applied to poor Africans who hijack huge tankers belonging to rich corporations.

Just as US prosecutors in the Southern District of New York indicted a Somali national on ten counts including piracy and hijacking, similar charges should be brought against the Israelis who committed, aided and abetted in the 30 June act of piracy and any others against Palestinian vessels. But more importantly, governments and international civil society must do all they can to pull Israel back into the bounds of international law and truly support the self-determination and human rights of all peoples, including Palestinians.

Radhika Sainath is a Los Angeles-based civil rights attorney. She recently returned from a National Lawyers Guild fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip and is an editor and author of Peace Under Fire: Israel/Palestine and the International Solidarity Movement.

Uganda Willing to Arrest al-Bashir

By Nampa for AP

Uganda said yesterday it would arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he enters the country, an unusual stance after a summit of African leaders denounced the international arrest warrant against al-Bashir.

Henry Oryem Okello, Uganda´s minister for international affairs, spoke after meeting with the International Criminal Court´s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, in Kampala.

"It is a legal obligation for Uganda to arrest Bashir if he comes to Uganda," Ocampo said.

Earlier this month at an African Union summit, Africa´s leaders criticized the International Criminal Court and refused to extradite al-Bashir, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Sudan welcomed the move, and other Africans said it was a signal that the West should not impose its ways on Africa. But several African leaders appeared to strongly disagree with the AU statement, and Benin Foreign Minister Jean-Marie Ehouzou said Sudan´s neighbour and antagonist, Chad, objected to the wording.

Heads of state at AU summits reach decisions by consensus behind closed doors, not from a vote, and it was not clear how the measure was approved.

Tanzania using SIM cards to track criminals

By Michael Malakata (Computerworld)

The nation joins other African countries using the technology to trace mobile phones

Tanzania has joined a group of African countries using mobile phone SIM card registrations to both track down criminals using mobile phones to commit crimes and to reduce handset theft.

Like many other Southern African Development Community countries, and east Africa and west Africa communities, Tanzania hopes the process, which will take six months to complete, will give impetus to fighting crimes committed using mobile phones. The theory is that if a call is linked to a crime, the police can find out who bought the SIM card and make an immediate arrest.

The Botswana Telecommunication Authority (BTA) started the registration last year, while the Nigerian Communication Commission and the Communication Commission of Kenya are also introducing regulations that give powers to the police to intercept calls anytime.

The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication Related Information Act (RICA) came into force in South Africa this month, and anyone who buys an SIM card without registering risks being arrested by police.

The African region is experiencing phenomenal growth in the use of mobile phones compared to other regions of the world, so more phones are being stolen every day and criminals are also using phones to commit crimes.

In Nigeria and Somalia, for example, criminals are using mobile phones in ship hijackings, the abductions of foreign oil workers and to demand ransoms.

Many African governments believe that the registration of SIM cards will reduce such criminal activities and handset theft, and make it easy for authorities to crack down on criminals.

Telecom operators are already claiming that the move would work against the universal access principle and add to the cost of SIM cards, as vendors would have to invest in data-capturing machines.

Amos Ferranti, communications manager for the southern African mobile communication agency, said SIM card registration will have a number of challenges as many service providers are not prepared.

"Several operators are definitely not prepared for [this] strenuous exercise, as many subscribers subscribe with two or more different networks," Ferranti said.

Many operators in Africa claim that attempts to register in-bound roamers will have a negative impact on foreign currency inflows, owing to muted use of roaming facilities occasioned by the introduction of SIM card registration regulations, as tourists will be shying away from such registration.

Registration of SIM cards will also make it difficult for pan-Africa mobile service provider Zain to roll out and implement the borderless One Network service, according to Ferranti.

The One Network service, which is already operational in more than 10 countries in Africa and the Middle East, allows subscribers to call any country where the service is available at local rates with no roaming charges. Zain subscribers will not be able to register their SIM cards in all the countries where the service is available in order to roam.

Phone users who fail to register their cards at the end of the exercise will have their phones disconnected and will have to reapply for another line, which will be registered. The regulation also makes it an offense for service providers to sell an SIM card without recording the buyer's name, address, cell-phone number and other personal details.

Uganda Willing to Arrest al-Bashir

Uganda said yesterday it would arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he enters the country, an unusual stance after a summit of African leaders denounced the international arrest warrant against al-Bashir.

Henry Oryem Okello, Uganda´s minister for international affairs, spoke after meeting with the International Criminal Court´s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, in Kampala.

"It is a legal obligation for Uganda to arrest Bashir if he comes to Uganda," Ocampo said.

Earlier this month at an African Union summit, Africa´s leaders criticized the International Criminal Court and refused to extradite al-Bashir, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Sudan welcomed the move, and other Africans said it was a signal that the West should not impose its ways on Africa. But several African leaders appeared to strongly disagree with the AU statement, and Benin Foreign Minister Jean-Marie Ehouzou said Sudan´s neighbour and antagonist, Chad, objected to the wording.

Heads of state at AU summits reach decisions by consensus behind closed doors, not from a vote, and it was not clear how the measure was approved.

Al Capone-style' plan to curb UK's booming £30bn crime industry

By Alan Travis for The Guardian

Britain's organised crime business is estimated to be worth more than £30bn a year [Not including London piracy related "fine" offices]. Home secretary unveils strategy to target 30,000 criminals with more powers to seize assets and close front businesses. Between 25,000 and 30,000 criminals are involved in the "long tail" of a serious organised crime business in Britain that is worth more than £30bn a year, according to a government study.

The home secretary, Alan Johnson, has endorsed a renewed "Al Capone-style" drive to use tax powers to target organised criminals, providing stronger powers to seize assets and shut down front organisations such as saunas and massage parlours.

The study warns of an explosion in new criminal activities as a result of the recession, including sharp increases in "phishing" – taking over bank accounts – the flourishing trade in counterfeit goods and a boom in other types of financial fraud.

The joint report, by the Cabinet Office's strategy unit and the Home Office, does not directly criticise the performance of the beleaguered three-year-old Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) but it says much tighter oversight is needed by ministers to keep a grip on the problem.

The Home Office said a "strategic centre" for organised crime would be created in the department to clearly define roles in tackling drug trafficking, organised immigration crime and organised fraud. Further action will be taken next summer if needed.

At the same time the capacity of the police is to be augmented by a further four regional asset recovery teams to complete the network across England and Wales. Each will have tax inspector attached and the Home Office is to extend the legal power to "reverse the burden of proof" in civil recovery cases to make it easier to seize assets of those in organised crime.

Renewed efforts to break up organised gangs even after conviction will be made through an attempt to ban the use of mobile phones in prisons and curb the "abuse" of legally privileged visits between lawyers and clients.

The strategy was published as Home Office research placed a question mark over the credibility of Britain's controls on people trafficking. A Home Office study, based on interviews with 45 convicted people smugglers, found that Britain was seen as a "relatively easy" market offering healthy profits. Those questioned were, however, surprised at the severity of their sentences.

Home Office polling data published today also shows that the public have little recognition that money generated by sales of pirate and counterfeit goods can flow into the criminal economy. The estimate of 25,000 to 30,000 involved in organised crime in Britain is said to include the "lifetime criminals who form the durable core of organised crime groups and loose criminal networks, through to the clusters of subordinates, specialists and others at the lower end of organised criminality". This covers the "top of the chain" through to the "long tail" of organised crime.

Soca says more than 5,000 of them are already on its radar.

The £30bn a year estimate covers the total cost of economic and social harm caused by organised crime. This figure breaks down into £17.6bn in the costs of drug-related crime, £7.8bn in financial fraud, £4.1bn in smuggling of spirits, tobacco and diesel and £2.4bn a year in organised immigration crime.

The Cabinet Office strategy unit also warns that the recession is creating new opportunities for organised criminals. They cite an increased risk of loan-sharking and trading in counterfeit goods, with a warning of a rise in gang-related violence as they battle for market share.

The banking crisis has also made the public more susceptible to frauds that offer high returns on investments; an increase in "phishing" scams has led to a 75% increase in illegitimate access to victims' bank accounts in the first three months of 2009 alone.

Another threat comes in the form of a rise in cases of cybercrime, with the number of malware – malicious software programme – attacks on IT systems increasing by 250% last year.

Ministers are also concerned about growing links between weak and failing states and organised crime. Gangs are increasingly basing themselves in places such as Somalia, where drug trafficking networks are increasingly located.

The home secretary said the new strategy went further than ever in taking the fight to organised criminals.

But Deputy Chief Constable Jon Murphy, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said political decisions could be behind a gap between the scale of the problem and the ability of law enforcement agencies to tackle it. "I think we all acknowledge that gap does exist. Why does it exist?" said Murphy. "Arguably, it could be because it's a political decision. I think equally it's because of the changing nature of criminality.

"British organised crime gangs are fluid, flexible and opportunistic. There are no set ranks, rules or structures which you can see with international crime gangs."

Police create most detailed picture of criminal gangs so far

By Sandra Laville for The Guardian

The most comprehensive map of organised crime gangs in Britain will help police identify links between more than 30,000 individuals involved in the cartels running multibillion-pound criminal industries.

Created over the last 12 months by Jon Murphy, Britain's national policing head for organised crime, the data shows for the first time how far from their base the tentacles of many gangs extend.

The map provides the most detailed picture possible of the cartels and their links, and reveals that organised crime now reaches the corners of all 43 police force areas in England and Wales.

"What we now have with our crime mapping of these groups is a comprehensive picture of serious and organised crime, of who these people are, where they live and where outside of their own area their reach extends to. Now we can better co-ordinate our efforts and I believe we can do something about all these gangs," said Murphy.

"A force will be able to put in the name of one individual and see clearly who he is linked to, what he is involved in and how far across borders he operates."

Despite the £6.6m announced today, police know significant new money to bring thousands of Mr Bigs and their footsoldiers to justice is unlikely to be forthcoming. Investigators cannot just rely on large, costly surveillance operations – instead, Murphy said the strategy would be to increase the use of the "Al Capone" approach, targeting organised criminals for other crimes in order to get them off the streets. "We have to be more like Eliot Ness," he said.

Homing in on members of criminal cartels for everything from tax evasion to driving while disqualified was now a main part of the strategy to remove individuals from the streets, he said.

Police are using the crime map and working with other agencies, including the UK Border Agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) to prioritise the most serious cases and draw up hit lists of gangs across different regions.

Murphy said the data revealed more than 4,000 cartels in Britain were involved in drug and human trafficking, counterfeiting, smuggling and piracy.

Among the gangs are some that have been around for decades, including the Adams family from north London, whose leader, Terry Adams, is serving seven years for money laundering, and Manchester's Gooch gang, whose leader, Colin Joyce, was jailed for 39 years in April.

The 30,000 individuals involved in organised crime were much more loosely organised than significant criminal gangs abroad, such as the Mafia and the Chinese triads, Murphy said.

He said many were still operating from within the prison system, others had international connections with countries such as Somalia, while some had young teenagers as members, who used guns and knives to protect their drug business.

"Organised crime has been a cinderella for too long between the demands and costs of counter-terrorism and the national focus on neighbourhood policing," he said.

"There's never been the recognition until now on behalf of the government that the harms of organised crime play out in communities in the UK every day. The reality is that a lot of antisocial behaviour, burglary and vehicle crime people suffer in neighbourhoods is probably linked to organised crime."

While the fight against terrorism receives £2.5bn a year, rising to £3.5bn in 2010-11, Soca receives about £400m to deal with organised crime.

Chinese Police Kill 2 more Uighurs in Xinjiang

By VOA News

Chinese officials say police have shot and killed two Muslim Uighurs and injured another in renewed violence in northwestern Xinjiang province. The state-run Xinhua news agency says police opened fire Monday to stop the three from attacking another Uighur with clubs and knives. Xinhua says the police first fired warning shots.

The reports have not been independently confirmed.

The shooting happened in the provincial capital, Urumqi, a little more than a week after bloody clashes broke out there between Uighurs and members of China's ethnic Han majority.

The violence left 184 people dead and 1,680 people wounded.

China's Uighurs complain of religious and cultural persecution, and say an influx of Han in the area is taking away their economic opportunities.

The Uighurs' Muslim religion and Turkic language link them more to their Central Asian neighbors than to China's ethnic Han majority.

NAM countries condemn Honduras coup (Xinhua News Agency)

The countries of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) condemned the coup d'etat in Honduras, saying they support the immediate restoration of the ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, said a statement issued by the NAM summit secretariat on Sunday.

The overthrowing of Zelaya constitutes a flagrant violation of the constitutional and democratic order of that country, affecting democracy, human rights and the rule of law, the statement said.

The heads of state and government of NAM countries supported the demands made by the international community on the immediate and unconditional restoration of the legitimate and constitutional government of Zelaya in Honduras, it added.

They welcomed the call to recognize no government than that of the constitutional President Zelaya, and called on the continuation of all regional and multilateral efforts aimed at the restoration of the democratically elected government of Honduras, in accordance with the UN General Assembly resolution.

Zelaya was ousted late last month, when hundreds of armed and hooded soldiers broke into the presidential palace and seized him from the bed. They forced the president aboard a plane and sent him to Costa Rica.

Hours later, congress speaker Roberto Micheletti was appointed interim president. Micheletti said the presidential elections willgo ahead as scheduled on Nov. 29 and he will hand over power to the new president on Jan. 27, 2010.

The senior officials' meeting of 15th NAM summit continued on Sunday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Delegates to the meeting are discussing a wide range of political, economic and social issues among NAM member states and they are expected to form a final document to submit to the summit on July 15-16 for adoption.

There is no limit to what a person can do or how far one can go to help - if one doesn't mind who gets the credit !

ECOTERRA Intl. maintains a register for persons missing or abducted in the Somali seas (Foreign seafarers as well as Somalis). Inquiries by family member can be sent by e-mail to office[at]ecoterra-international.org

For families of presently captive seafarers - in order to advise and console their worries - ECOTERRA Intl. can establish contacts with professional seafarers, who had been abducted in Somalia, and their wives as well as of a Captain of a sea-jacked and released ship, who agreed to be addressed "with questions, and we will answer truthfully".

ECOTERRA - ALERTS and pending issues:

PIRATE ATTACK GULF OF ADEN: Advice on Who to Contact and What to Do http://www.noonsite.com/Members/sue/R2008-09-08-2

NATURAL RESOURCES & ARMED FISH POACHERS: Foreign navies entering the 200nm EEZ of Somalia and foreign helicopters and troops must respect the fact that especially all wildlife is protected by Somali national as well as by international laws and that the protection of the marine resources of Somalia from illegally fishing foreign vessels should be an integral part of the anti-piracy operations. Likewise the navies must adhere to international standards and not pollute the coastal waters with oil, ballast water or waste from their own ships but help Somalia to fight against any dumping of any waste (incl. diluted, toxic or nuclear waste). So far and though the AU as well as the UN has called since long on other nations to respect the 200 nm EEZ, only now the two countries (Spain and France) to which the most notorious vessels and fleets are linked have come up with a declaration that they will respect the 200 nm EEZ of Somalia but so far not any of the navies operating in the area pledged to stand against illegal fishing. So far not a single illegal fishing vessel has been detained by the naval forces, though they had been even informed about several actual cases, where an intervention would have been possible. Illegally operating Tuna fishing vessels (many from South Korea, some from Greece and China) carry now armed personnel and force their way into the Somali fishing grounds - uncontrolled or even protected by the naval forces mandated to guard the Somali waters against any criminal activity, which included arms carried by foreign fishing vessels in Somali waters.

LLWs / NLWs: According to recently leaked information the anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden are also used as a cover-up for the live testing of recently developed arsenals of so called non-lethal as well as sub-lethal weapons systems. (Pls request details) Neither the Navies nor the UN has come up with any code of conduct in this respect, while the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program (JNLWP) is sponsoring several service-led acquisition programs, including the VLAD, Joint Integration Program, and Improved Flash Bang Grenade. Alredy in use in Somalia are so called Non-lethal optical distractors, which are visible laser devices that have reversible optical effects. These types of non-blinding laser devices use highly directional optical energy. Somalia is also a testing ground for the further developments of the Active Denial System (ADS) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD). If new developments using millimeter wave sources that will help minimize the size, weight, and system cost of an effective Active Denial System which provides "ADS-ACTD-like" repel effects, are used has not yet been revealed. Obviously not only the US is developing and using these kind of weapons as the case of MV MARATHON showed, where a Spanish naval vessel was using optical lasers - the stand-off was then broken by the killing of one of the hostage seafarers. Local observers also claim that HEMI devices, producing Human Electro-Muscular Incapacitation (HEMI) Bioeffects, have been used in the Gulf of Aden against Somalis. Exposure to HEMI devices, which can be understood as a stun-gun shot at an individual over a larger distance, causes muscle contractions that temporarily disable an individual. Research efforts are underway to develop a longer-duration of this effect than is currently available. The live tests are apparently done without that science understands yet the effects of HEMI electrical waveforms on a human body.

ECOTERRA Intl., whose work does focus on nature- and human-rights-protection and - as the last international environmental organization still working in Somalia - had alerted ship-owners since 1992, many of whom were fishing illegally in the 200 nm Exclusive Economic Zone, to stay away from Somali waters. The non-governmental organization had requested the international community many times for help to protect the coastal waters of the war-torn state, but now lawlessness has seriously increased and gone out of hand.

ECOTERRA members with marine and maritime expertise, joined by it's ECOP-marine group, are closely and continuously monitoring and advising on the Somali situation. (for previous information concerning the topics please google keywords ECOTERRA (and) SOMALIA)

The network of the SEAFARERS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME helped significantly in most sea-jack cases. ECOTERRA Intl. is working in Somalia since 1986 on human-rights and nature protection, while ECOP-marine concentrates on illegal fishing and the protection of the marine ecosystems. Your support counts too.

Please consider to contribute to the work of SAP, ECOP-marine and ECOTERRA Intl. Please donate to the defence fund.

Contact us for details concerning project-sponsorship or donations via e-mail: ecotrust[at]ecoterra.net

Kindly note that all the information above is distributed under and is subject to a license under the Creative Commons Attribution.

To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/

Send your genuine articles or networked information please to: mailhub[at]ecoterra.net

Pls cite ECOTERRA Intl. - www.ecoterra-international.org as source for onward publications, where no other source is quoted.

Press Contacts:

ECOP-marine

East-Africa

254-714-747090

marine[at]ecop.info

www.ecop.info

ECOTERRA Intl.

Nairobi Node

africanode[at]ecoterra.net

254-733-633-733

EA Seafarers Assistance Programme

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254-722-613858

254-733-385868

sap[at]ecoterra.net

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