from an ap article, Companies hire “shipriders” against Somali pirates

U.S. private security company Templar Titan is providing shipriders and has been doing around 15 escorts per month through the Gulf of Aden a month since it began the service four months ago; the teams are armed on between half and three-quarters of the passages.
Lew Knopp, who heads the company, said the maritime division of his firm has increased from 3 people to 30 within the last year.
“We are directly consulting with the U.S. government on issues of piracy, especially in the Gulf of Aden and we have attorneys reviewing and co-ordinating efforts so they fall within international rules and regulations,” Knopp said. He declined to give further details, citing operational security.
Despite the challenges, interest in arming ships has shot up following the Maersk Alabama hijacking, said Hugh Martin, Hart Security UK’s general manager.
“We’ve had a substantial increase in inquiries,” he said. “There is a lot of interest from companies that are American-owned.”
…
He says Hart uses Yemeni guards and makes sure the weapons are legally imported and exported at both ends of the ship’s journey.
…
Britain’s Maritime Asset Security and Training (MAST) is also offering armed guards, either ex-British naval or special forces personnel. MAST has established a subsidiary in Djibouti to provide a security transit service at the western end of the Gulf of Aden, which also allowed it to license the use of firearms under government approval. Phillip Cable, the director of MAST, says the company is providing the service between 30-35 times a month but only between 10-15 percent involved armed protection.
Other companies like Olive, which guards Shell in Iraq, or maritime security firm Drum Cussac say the legal implications of having armed men onboard commercial shipping are still too unclear.
…
But many companies are keen to diversify from Iraq and Afghanistan and are interested in the possibility of training a Somali coastguard. Recent donor conferences focused on the need to build up Somalia’s ragged security services, both to combat piracy and the influx of hundreds of foreign jihadi fighters dedicated to the overthrow of the U.N.-backed government.
The millions pledged to Somalia represent a potential goldmine.

Posted by: b real | Jun 5 2009 15:04 utc | 3

forthcoming book that sounds most interesting – The Dark Sahara: America’s War on Terror in Africa by jeremy keenan

The U.S. is keen to build a substantial military presence in Africa, citing the need to combat the growth of Al-Qaeda in Somalia, Algeria and other countries on the continent. This book reveals the secret U.S. agenda behind the ‘war on terror’ in Africa and the shocking methods used to perpetuate the myth that the region is a hot-bed of Islamic terrorism. Africa expert Jeremy Keenan points to overwhelming evidence suggesting that, from 2003, the Bush administration and Algerian government were responsible for hostage takings blamed on Islamic militants. This created a permissive public attitude, allowing the U.S. to establish military bases in the region and pursue multiple imperial objectives in the name of security. The shocking revelations in this book, seriously undermine the mainstream view of Africa as a legitimate ‘second front’ in the ‘war on terror.’

table of contents is listed as

Introduction The Dossier Missing
1 The Sahara’s Bermuda Triangle
2 Reconstructing Tora Bora
3 ‘Whodunit’
4 Grounds for suspicion in the Algerian Sahara
5 Grounds for suspicion in the Sahel
6 Who was El Para?
7 Oil and Empire
8 Algeria’s black decade
9 Islamists and Eradicators: Algeria’s ‘Dirty War’
10 The Banana theory of terrorism
11 Preparing the disinformation
12 The nature of US intelligence
13 ‘Blowback’ and resistance
Notes
Bibliography
Index

u.s. release date is given as 07 july. looks like it has been pushed back from previous scheduled releases dating back to 2007, as indicated in the bio of this 2006 fpif article keenan penned, which seems to outline the txt in a nutshell
The Collapse of the Second Front

…
How and why did such a deception take place? The “how” is simple. First, the Algerian and U.S. military intelligence services channeled a stream of disinformation to an industry of terrorism “experts,” conservative ideologues, and compliant journalists who produced a barrage of articles. Second, if a story is to be fabricated, it helps if the location is far away and remote. The Sahara is the perfect place: larger than the United States and effectively closed to public access.
The “why” has much to do with Washington’s “banana theory” of terrorism, so named because of the banana-shaped route Washington believed the dislodged terrorists from Afghanistan were taking into Africa and across the Sahelian countries of Chad, Niger, Mali, and Mauritania to link up with Islamist militants in the Maghreb. Hard evidence for this theory was lacking. There was little or no Islamic extremism in the Sahel, no indigenous cases of terrorism, and no firm evidence that “terrorists” from Afghanistan, Pakistan, or the Middle East were taking this route.
Washington appears to have based its notion on some unpublished sources and Algerian press reports on the banditry and smuggling activities of the outlaw Mokhtar ben Mokhtar. It also misconstrued the Tablighi Jama`at movement, whose 200 or so members in Mali are nicknamed “the Pakistanis” because the sect’s headquarters are in Pakistan. Finally, local government agents told U.S. officials what they wanted to hear.
Notwithstanding the lack of evidence, Washington saw a Saharan Front as the linchpin for the militarization of Africa, greater access to its oil resources (Africa will supply 25% of U.S. hydrocarbons by 2015), and the sustained involvement of Europe in America’s counterterrorism program. More significantly, a Saharan front reinforced the intelligence cherry-picked by top Pentagon brass to justify the invasion of Iraq by demonstrating that al-Qaida’s influence had spread to North Africa.

Posted by: b real | Jun 6 2009 4:44 utc | 5

An example for propaganda ressults as 5 and 6 allege:
Demand for elite forces growing fast

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. and its allies pressure insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan, there will be a greater need for intelligence in North Africa where extremists seek sanctuary, the military’s top special operations commander told Congress on Thursday.
Adm. Eric T. Olson, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, told the House Armed Services terrorism subcommittee Thursday that increased military pressure “will not necessarily end the (insurgent) activity, it will shift some of the sanctuaries to other places.”
Counterterrorism officials have warned that battle-hardened extremists have been moving from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to safe havens in north and east Africa, bringing sophisticated terrorist tactics with them.
Olson also said that it will take a long, patient effort to defeat insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan and win the hearts and minds of civilians.
Olson also told the subcommittee that his elite special operations forces can’t grow fast enough to meet increasing global demands, so the Pentagon is depending more heavily on support that is not always available from regular forces.
He turned to intelligence concerns in North Africa in response to a question from Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the subcommittee.
Smith asked Olson if the special operations forces could use more intelligence and surveillance coverage in North Africa, where al-Qaida has set up a franchise in the vast ungoverned areas.
“We’ve got to find ways of having a better understanding of what is happening there,” Olson said, adding that increased surveillance would be one answer.
…

Posted by: b | Jun 6 2009 8:05 utc | 7

There have been a number of accusations about leaders in the JTF making money off of illegal bunkering and other crimes in N’Delta. MEND particularly mentions the leader of Operation Restore Hope in Delta State, Major General Sarkin Bello. One story pointed out the JTF in N’Delta is considered a desirable posting because of lots of opportunities to make money. The JTF spokesperson issued a denial of illegal activities and stolen wealth earlier this week.
A long article in This Day that covered quite a bit of ground included the following:

Two new training camps operated by the wanted Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo were yesterday discovered in Delta State and swiftly destroyed by the security Joint Task Force (JTF) in the region.
The camps Bulobala and Iroko Camp Annex, allegedly being used to train new recruits and senior fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), fell to the superior power of the JTF early at about mid-day.
…
On the same day, Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba and Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance, Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange want President Umaru Yar’Adua to swiftly release the names of prominent Nigerians allegedly sponsoring or benefiting financially from militant groups in the Niger Delta.
…
Yar’Adua has scheduled a meeting with the National Assembly leaders and governors from the Niger Delta states for Monday, after receiving a security report on the sponsors of the militants on Thursday. He’s expected to brief them on his next line of action.
“The federal government must name those behind the criminality in the region and prosecute them. If indeed people were behind the criminality in the Niger Delta and government has facts to substantiate this, they should be named and prosecuted,” Ndoma-Egba said.
Senator Barigha-Amange (Bayelsa East) urged the federal government to spread its dragnets wide to apprehend all those who are confirmed to be sponsors of militant activities and groups in the troubled region. He stated: “I have said it several times that these militants are not alone on their own. The drummers are somewhere. It is like the drug barons and the couriers. Can these boys make necessary contacts for ships to come into Nigeria and lift crude?
“The Federal Government should spread its net. Many more big fishes, military officers, politicians, businessmen, etc., may be involved.”
He added: “Accounts, both home and abroad, should be scrutinised. Crude oil is not sold in a bottle but ship. Is it possible for a ship to come into Nigeria, load crude and depart without the knowledge of the security agents? It means any nation can overrun us one day.”
…
[The] Northern Union yesterday called on the federal government to suspend further military action against the militants in the Niger Delta Region.
The group in a statement signed by the Chairman of Management Committee, Chief Patrick Adaba said government should “cause a cessation to the current bombardment of the area, to allow for genuine dialogue, which will bring about the much-desired peace and security in the area.”
The statement continued: “The Northern Union (NU) has observed the on-going military action in the Niger Delta with great concern. We appreciate the fact that the Nigerian state has the responsibility to maintain peace, law and order in the country. Our position has always been that peace and security have a dual character, that of development and social security, as well as law and order.”
The Union urged all parties concerned to give peace a chance in order to accelerate the pace of development in the region.
“We will like to urge our aggrieved compatriots in the Niger Delta to lay down their arms and particularly advise the militants to embrace the amnesty granted by the federal government,” the statement said. The statement further said that the Northern Union believes that the importance of the Niger Delta and the South-South Zone to Nigeria goes beyond just the economy but “has been historically more significant in socio-political terms.”
“In the first place, the Niger Delta typifies the diversity and plurality that gives Nigeria its socio-political strength. Secondly, through historical alliances of the Niger Delta Congress and the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers Movement, with other geo-political zones, the region has contributed immensely to national unity and development,” it said. While commending the efforts of the federal government in promoting development in the Niger Delta through the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta and the granting of amnesty to repentant militants, NU advised the militants to accept the peace offer and work for the genuine progress of the region.

And Next quoted a letter MEND sent to Yar’Adua:

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has written an open letter to the Presidency demanding an apology to the hundreds of displaced people and relatives of dead civilians in the last military action in the region.
The group said that the military’s uncivil act was caused by the indiscriminate aerial bombings targeted at innocent impoverished communities from what it called a cowardly armed forces action that was meant to instil fear.
The letter, which was made available to the press through the movement’s spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, also criticised the President’s position to unveil an amnesty plan for the Niger Delta militants. The letter reads: “Your recent call to lay down arms as you received a report from the Godwin Abbe panel set up to work out the details of your amnesty offer is the reason I write you on behalf of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
The whole ceremony was like a deja vu. It is no different from the show you put up when you received the report of the Niger Delta Technical Committee, which was never implemented. The civilized world expected your apology to the hundreds of displaced and relatives of dead civilians caused by the indiscriminate aerial bombing targeted at innocent impoverished communities from a cowardly armed forces meant to instil fear.”
The movement, however, said that the efforts of the panel will be another waste of time.
“The very reason for militancy is because of injustice. Fiscal federalism is among the things that will silence our guns.” It says. Despite the loss of the region to the military action and the proposed federal government amnesty to bring the whole problem to rest, the group said that the people of the region are neither intimidated by the size of the country’s armed forces nor impressed by its latest acquisitions of arms. The movement also said that several youth leaders are being arrested by the Military Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta.
It confirmed the arrest of some leaders of the Ijaw Youth Council, such as Dr. Felix Tuodolor, Jonjon Oyiefie, and Famous Daunemiegha in Bayelsa State on trumped-up charges of attempted murder. “The men are currently being detained in Yenagoa and have been kept incommunicado without access to their lawyers,” Gbomo said.
President Umaru Yar’Adua had on Thursday said that he would unveil an amnesty programme for gunmen in the Niger Delta within two weeks. According to the president, the laying down of arms would go a long way to bring Niger Delta crisis to an end.
“I urge all militants in the region to take advantage of this offer, and lay down their arms and cease all acts of disobedience to law and order,” Mr. Yar’Adua said after receiving a report on the amnesty from Interior Minister, Godwin Abbe.

Right next door to Nigeria AFRICOM is engaging in Operation Shared Accord with Benin this week, with the usual “humanitarian” window dressing.

June 05, 2009 Marine Corps News
COTONOU, Benin – Approximately 400 U.S. military personnel have begun arriving in Bembereke, Benin to take part in Exercise SHARED ACCORD 09.
Exercise SHARED ACCORD is a scheduled, combined U.S.-Benin exercise focusing on the conduct of small unit infantry and staff training with the Beninese military and is designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation’s tactics, techniques and procedures.
Infantry Marines from New Orleans-based 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division will work with their Beninese counterparts to focus on individual and crew-served weapons proficiency and small unit training tactics, techniques and procedures, as well as company- and battalion- level staff training in order to build our partner nation’s capacity to conduct peacekeeping operations.
Medical and dental personnel from 4th Marine Logistics Group and U.S. Air Force Reserve Command’s 459th Aerospace Medical Squadron will provide various medical related humanitarian assistance efforts for the local population in the towns of Sinende, Guessou-Sud and Gamia.

Posted by: xcroc | Jun 6 2009 20:20 utc | 9

here’s another one
al arabyia: Qaeda activities in Iraq down: top US army chief

Al Qaeda’s activities in Iraq have declined and the organization’s leadership may shift from Iraq to Somalia, United States chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest position in U.S. military told the pan-Arab station Al Arabiya TV in the first exclusive interview with an Arab satellite station.
Despite the evident increase in violence in some parts of Iraq, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff assured Al Arabiya that al-Qaeda’s presence has decreased in the country and insisted that the pullout of American forces from Iraq is on track.
“The U.S. military is committed to withdrawing from Iraqi cities at the end of this month according to the agreement reached with the Iraqi government,” Mullen said in the interview that will be aired on Saturday at 16:00 GMT.
…
Mullen also expressed concern that Somalia has become a hotbed for al-Qaeda due to the weakness of the state after years of civil war and ongoing piracy.
“I think the problem lies in the situation that Somalia as a nation, as many believe, is a loose State in terms of security and thus allows the pirates to continue their piracy as strategy for power and profit,” Mullen explained.
“I am concerned that Somalia will be turned into a haven for al-Qaeda leaders and there are many indications of that development.”

lest we forget that the entire rationale behind the CJTF-HOA that landed ashore in djibouti was to catch fighters fleeing to east africa from the u.s. invasion & occupation of iraq in 2003. the fact that the USG even admits that such a scenario never panned out didn’t stop them from moving forward & expanding their garrison amidst rampant scope creep to the point where they are now an autonomous component of AFRICOM & reportedly basing an elite special forces unit that does the kind of covert stuff seymour hersh has often alluded to, shoring up allies, creating chaos, chasing phantoms & so on. at the end of the day, it comes down to elite u.s. interests trumping all. tales of AQ in somalia is the pretext – it’s worked before & they’re making it work again now.
meanwhile
Somalia-Ethiopia troops ‘move’ towards Bakool region

HUDDUR, Somalia June 6 (Garowe Online) – Hundreds of Somali and Ethiopian troops have moved towards Bay and Bakool regions in southwestern Somalia, Radio Garowe reports Saturday.
The troops were spotted driving southward from Fer Fer, an army base in Ethiopia near the border of Hiran region, in central Somalia.
Military sources said the Somali-Ethiopian force is expected to establish base at El Barde district in Bakool region, adjacent to the Ethiopian border.
Mr. Abdifatah Mohamed “Gesey,” former governor of Bay region, told reporters on Thursday that the people of Bay and Bakool regions have suffered under Al Shabaab control.
“This is the reason we have prepared soldiers to remove the black flag, the black knife and the black head,” said Gesey, who is reported to be in Bakool region.
Somali government officials in Baidoa fled for safety last January after Al Shabaab guerrillas took control of the town following the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops after a two-year military intervention.
…
The Ethiopian government has admitted to sending “reconnaissance missions” into Somalia, but independent sources have confirmed the presence of Ethiopian troops and armory in Hiran region.

and the big battle in central somalia friday for control of wabho town is reported to have claimed the lives of anywhere from 50-ish to 123 fighters from all sides. still no clear indication of whether the foreign-backed ahlu sunna waljama’a militia was able to retake control after being defeated by hizbul islam & al shabaab mujahideen mvmt forces. currently they are trying to claim that they wounded sheikh aweys in battle (w/ some members then saying he died of those wounds) and killed hassan turki. this is probably propaganda, as the hizbul islam spokesperson also insists. still no word from aweys himself.

Posted by: b real | Jun 7 2009 6:31 utc | 11

that personal visit from ould-abdallah sure did change sheikh sharif’s tune. whereas up to just a month ago he was telling the press that, no, the charges that al-qai’dah is operating in somalia are wrong, now he’s using every opportunity to shout AQ! AQ! they’re here! send in the marines! we need arms & money… lots of it! keep it coming! and, somalis – whatever our differences, we must unite to eradicate this menacing threat to our great nation!
afp: Somali president warns of Al-Qaeda setting up base

ROME: Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, warned on Sunday that there was a ‘real risk’ of Al-Qaeda setting up a ‘strategic zone’ for its network in Somalia, as it did in Afghanistan.
In an interview published in the Italian economic daily Il Sole 24 Ore, Sharif said Al-Qaeda has been eyeing the Horn of Africa nation with its long coastline and cells of extremist group already established there.
‘Al-Qaeda sees Somalia as a strategic zone like Afghanistan to establish its network. We have become a priority, It is a real risk,’ said Sharif, who will travel to Italy Tuesday for an international conference on his country, a former Italian colony.
‘We’re not talking about the Somalia of the 1990s. Today, there are Al-Qaeda cells in the country. It is no longer just Somalia’s problem, it’s the world’s problem,’ he told the newspaper.
‘The international community has a duty to protect Somalis and the government from Al-Qaeda. It must do it for the good of everyone.’ Stressing the ‘long and good relations’ between Somalia and Italy, he urged Rome to take the lead in getting the rest of the European Union to support his fledgling government under siege from a hardline extremist insurgency.

re what ould-abdallah had in his pouch for his recent drive fly-by, as well as other matters, some excerpts from abdikarim h. abdi buh’s latest dispatch – Another Gaza in the making in southern Somalia: – Ethiopia is back in Mogadishu with vengeance:

The call from Addis for total blockade of Somalia shows how insensitive the Ethiopian government, the sole proprietor of IGAD, is towards the plight of the starving people of Somalia who are in excess of 5 million according to the most recent UNHCR estimates or me I say, how eager and sincere Ethiopia is to end the cycle of Somalis killing each other senselessly.
…
The TFG minister for Marine Transport Mr. Haabsade (Mr. snatch all) spoke to Reuter’s reporter from the back of his AMISOM tank and brazenly uttered this statement

” We are warning Somali traders against chartering ships to the opposition groups’ strongholds, because they have sanctions imposed on them.”

The Reporter asked him if Mogadishu is included as it is considered as the major stronghold of the opposition. The Minister immediately switched on, his two way secure AMISOM radio link, to the prime minister’s office for consultation and only then said

“the prime minister is not sure at all and so are the parliamentarians whether Mogadishu is included because H.E. Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, turned up unexpectedly last Monday with two KG of paper work and asked the sharif to sign along a dotted line”.

The colonial Minister Mr. Ahmedou was in hurry and left within 40 minutes but by the look of the size of the document a week seems too small to finish had he chosen the government and the parliament to deliberate about the issue. Details often bother not our Shar (devil) – Sharif so he promptly deciphered, digested and signed with pride in two minutes.

on foreign-backed fighters

Ethiopian intervention was and is the only apparent active hand that is consistently stirring up Somalia’s political setting time and again. It is the major supplier of arms to the clan militias in the south and runs an established military training schools – Godey and Dollow to name but a few – in the Somali regional state in Ethiopian. The direct reoccupation of Kalabydh – Hiiraan’s most strategic point – by the Ethiopian army is to cut the central regions off from the rest of the South to give their warlords, Ahlu – Sunna wal Jamaca, a competitive advantage in their fight against the opposition Islamists in the central regions by disrupting the logistics lines of the opposition.
The security Minister of the TFG Mr. Omer Hashi crossed recently the border from Ethiopia leading a militia of 1,700 men armed, APC and tanks, by Ethiopia to start a war of re taking first in and around Hiiraan region and latter to march towards the middle Shabeele region. The minister and some Ethiopian intelligence officers are holding round the clock meeting with clan elders at Hotel Madina in Baladweyne. Another group of 400 clan militia men are said to have completed a two month crash military training in the central regions under the supervision of Col. Hassan Mohamed. The latter group are assigned by their Ethiopian handlers to wage devastating war in the central regions in the name of flushing out the opposition Islamists.
The third Militia of around 900 well armed men under the leadership of warlord Col. Bare Hiiraale are expected to enter Somalia in the coming days from Dollow to destabilize the southern regions to tactically lure Islamists forces away from the ever burning Mogadishu. The notorious warlord Sh. Yusuf Indhacade is preparing to retake the Lower Shabeele region as soon as the Ethiopian arms shipment is distributed to his militia – he confiscated the local farms from the local peasants and converted their farms into drug plantations during his previous reign and God knows what his intention is this time.

on tales of AQ in somalia

Surprisingly the AU and UN media is focused on 200 Muslim expatriates armed with no more than an AK47 and Eritrea which even the above mentioned security minister reiterated time and again that they refused to supply them weapons when they were fighting against the Ethiopian occupation. Eritrea never had any link with neither Al-Shaba nor Husbi Islam and this Al-Qaida thing is just an invention of the CIA . Its geographic location and economy rules out that it could militarily turn the tide in favour of the opposition – the opposition is home grown so whether the international community loves or loathes the opposition are is here to stay and will ultimately enjoy the last laugh. It is an open secret that Ethiopia is given the green light to mould Somalia in to a desirable candidate for the planned near future confederation with Ethiopia which is deemed by the US as the most viable alternative to tame Somalia once and for all. Ethiopia’s craving for swallowing Somalia is affirmed by the international community as the paramount goal and hence supersedes all other stake holders’ needs and wants.

Posted by: b real | Jun 8 2009 4:41 utc | 13

johnnie “no change” carson utilizes reuters for ‘public diplomacy’ broadcasting
U.S. says Eritrea must stop Somalia meddling

Eritrea is playing an unhelpful role in nearby Somalia and must cease its actions there if it wants better relations with Washington, the Obama administration’s top diplomat for Africa said on Monday.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson pointed a finger at Eritrea for stoking hostilities in Somalia, whose government is battling militants.
“The role that Eritrea has played most recently has not been particularly helpful in helping to bring about a return to political stability and normalcy there (Somalia),” Carson said in an interview with Reuters.
He accused Eritrea of “aiding and abetting” the movement of arms into Somalia and of supporting the militant Islamist group al Shabaab and its leaders.
…
“We would like very much to have good, normal relations with the government or Eritrea but that is predicated upon Eritrea acting as a responsible citizen in the neighborhood,” Carson said.
“If Eritrea is prepared to be a responsible player in the region and to act responsibly in its governance, then the prospects are good for a better relationship,” he said.
…
Carson said he had no indication the Ethiopians had returned with any “large combat elements.”

heh
wrt kenya,

“We are concerned about the slow pace of implementation of the Kofi Annan accords which brought an end to the violence which occurred after the very flawed December 2007 process in Kenya,” Carson said, referring to an agreement brokered by former U.N. chief Annan.
…
“If Kenya is to make both political and economic success and gains, it has to move swiftly to resolve these political issues,” Carson said.

U.S. has no plans to shift policy on Zimbabwe

Washington is troubled by the absence of reform in Zimbabwe and has no plans for now to offer major aid or lift sanctions against President Robert Mugabe, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa said on Monday.
Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is set to have his first meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Friday, part of a bid to woo financial support for the unity government he shares uneasily with rival Mugabe.
But Johnnie Carson, assistant secretary of State for African Affairs, said more political, social and economic reforms were needed either before substantial U.S. aid could kick in or targeted sanctions against Mugabe were lifted.
“There is no indication that the U.S. government is prepared to lift economic sanctions against those in Zimbabwe who have been most responsible for undermining the country’s democracy and destroying its economy,” Carson said in an interview with Reuters.
“Increasingly substantial aid is dependent upon them making political concessions and fulfilling the agreements that they have already made and in returning the country back towards more democratic rule,” he said.
The White House said Obama was looking forward to meeting Tsvangirai, who formed a unity government with Mugabe after a bitterly disputed election last year and a brutal crackdown on the opposition.
“The two leaders will discuss the difficult road ahead in Zimbabwe, including how the United States can support the forces of reform as they work to bring the rule of law, respect for human rights, and free and fair elections back to Zimbabwe,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
…
Carson said Mugabe and his supporters must recognize that for any major aid to kick in there had to be an end to the harassment of officials from Tsvangirai’s party, civil society groups as well as opposition politicians “of all stripes.”
In addition, media censorship must end and restrictions removed on foreign journalists coming into the country as well as a commitment to free and fair elections.
Tsvangirai is set to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday as part of his visit to Washington, which follows on from a trip to Europe this week.
In an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation last month, Clinton said it was in the “best interests of everyone” if Mugabe stepped down.
Carson echoed her comments by saying: “Zimbabwe would probably benefit at this period from new leadership but democratically elected leadership, leadership that is a result of a free and fair election process in which people are allowed to vote without fear of harassment and intimidation prior to or at the polls.”

Posted by: b real | Jun 9 2009 13:52 utc | 15

irin rpts No one left to tell the story

NAIROBI, 10 June 2009 (IRIN) – At least five Somali journalists have been killed and dozens more have left the capital, Mogadishu, this year, after receiving death threats – creating the spectre that some, if not all, independent media may close down due to lack of staff. There are 11 independent radio stations and two TV stations in the city.
“We are in a very difficult and dangerous situation. We are being forced to choose between reporting on what is happening and our lives,” Hamdi Kadiye, an executive member of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUJOS), told IRIN.
The killing on 7 June of the Radio Shabelle director Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe has added to pressure on journalists in the capital.
…
She said many journalists had left because “they no longer felt they could carry out their duties”.
She admitted that Somalia’s story may be lost in the process, but said: “You cannot ask someone to continue when you know their life is in serious danger.”
Since late 2006, when Ethiopian troops backing the Transitional Federal Government ousted the Union of Islamic Courts, dozens of Somali journalists have been killed, five of them this year alone, or forced into exile due to the ongoing fighting in the capital.
Ali Sheikh Yassin, deputy chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organisation (EHRO), told IRIN that journalists were in even “more danger now than at any time in the past”.
He said harassment and intimidation of journalists had increased this year. “We get reports of journalists getting anonymous calls and SMSs [text messages] threatening them.”
If this trend of journalists being killed or forced to flee continued, many independent media would be shut down, he added.
“Unfortunately, many of the radio stations and even the TV stations will close for lack of staff. There is a real danger that the independent media will be no more,” said Yassin.
That would be a catastrophe for the Somali people and particularly for the people of Mogadishu, he said, adding that the fighting groups could achieve their aim. “They are keen to keep the world from knowing the crimes being committed and the humanitarian disaster their actions and activities are creating.”

mareeg reports that Shabelle radio and TV administration says they will not suspend work

Shabelle and TV has said on Wednesday that they will not suspend their work as several journalists left the station for the fear of intimidation in the Somalia capital Mogadishu.
The Administration told the Media that it is not the first time journalists leave from the Shabelle Media Network pointing out that the journalists suspended their work due to aimless killing in Mogadishu adding they will continue the work of the station.
“We know that there is a great problem against the journalists. These journalists suspended their work when their colleague deceased Moktar Mohamed Hirabe, the director of Shabelle radio and television was shot and killed on the head in Bakara market while Ahmed Omar Hashi (Tajir), was also injured in Same area by unidentified gunmen, any how, these journalists will be written in the history,” the manager said.
“The journalists were working for the Somali society including the feeble and the displaced ones. It not known why they were killed but there will be a time that the media in Somalia will get their fair and freedom. [sic] we shall continue the work of the station,” he said.

so who’s targeting journalists in mogadishu? as we’ve covered since the TFG moved into the capital following the ethiopian/us invasion at the end of 2006, shabelle media has been under attack from the TFG, being harrassed, raided, shot at, suspended, arrested and so on. the station operates from the bakara market neighborhood and is viewed by the transitional govt as part of its opposition. clan politics also come into play, esp w/ under yusuf’s TFG, which was largely darod, in a hawiye stronghold.
the station has also reportedly been harrassed by members of the various opposition groups, w/ shabelle reporters even being detained in outlying towns for either possible espionage or just reporting what is viewed as reports unfavorable to their cause or events on the ground.
there are multiple rumours going around of what led to station director hiraabe’s assassination. one side claims that opposition islamist forces were upset w/ how shabelle was covering the war, precipitated by an interview w/ the ethopian/TFG-backed ahlu sunna maljamaaca militia that spread a propaganda thread re leaders in the al shabaab mvmt & their families. another side says that the TFG2 was pressuring hiraabe over the station’s perceived support for the al shabaab mvmt & was upset that it had abided by the group’s new spokesman’s decree in a recent press conference that media either refer to the group by their real name, harakat al shabaab mujahidiin movement, or not mention them at all. it was suggested that there has been an ongoing tension b/w govt officials and hiraabe.
the latter account seems more plausible, imo. the facts are that the station has been specifically targeted w/ violent force by the govt for more than two years now. the islamist opposition groups benefit very much from shabelle media and the other genuinely independent media outlets in their territories. the govt does not. in any battle, the main battlefields are not on the streets but in the minds of the public.
recall the u.n. envoy for somalia ould-abdallah’s stmts to VOA wrt somali journalists back in early february of this year, when a window to his soul was temporarily left open…

The highest-ranking U.N. official for Somalia has angrily denounced reports of a civilian massacre by African Union peacekeeping troops in Mogadishu, saying the story is designed to distract attention from positive developments in the country. U.N. Special Representative Ahmedou Ould Abdallh is calling for a moratorium on reports written outside Somalia based on information supplied by local Somali journalists.
…
..in a VOA interview, he suggested the report of a massacre by AU peacekeepers was contrived. He called it part of a media war to discredit peace efforts in Somalia, and compared it to the radio station Mille Collines, which incited the Rwandan genocide a generation ago.
“What happened is to divert attention from what is going on here, and as usual to use the media to repeat Radio Mille Colline, to repeat the genocide in Rwanda,” said Abdallh. “We had a good election. The president had a good welcome. He is trying to work closely with the region.”
…
U.N. envoy Ould Abdallah noted that few international news agencies actually have reporters in Somalia, but base their stories on information supplied by Somali journalists there. He charged most of the journalists have been compromised through threats and intimidation, and called for a moratorium on second-hand reporting about events in Somalia.
“There is a need to have a truce, one month truce in reporting on Somalia,” he said. “There is a need to double check the sources with your correspondent. Because they live under tremendous pressure. I am sure they are professionals. They would like to help their country. But the time has come for one month truce on reporting till there is double, triple checking, because Somalia is exceptional. We have to have exceptional checking of the news.”

the director of hornafrik radio was assassinated in mogadishu the very next day. three days later the director of radio abudwaq was stabbed by unknown assailants.
who benefits most from preventing independent media personnel in mogadishu from covering events as they play out?

Posted by: b real | Jun 10 2009 15:58 utc | 17

Fisheries Minister questions foreign navies’ anti-piracy role

MOGADISHU, Somalia June 10 (Garowe Online) – A Cabinet minister in Somalia’s beleaguered interim government has publicly questioned the anti-piracy role of international warships patrolling the Horn of Africa country’s coastline, Radio Garowe reports Wednesday.
Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Abdirahman Ibbi, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, told a press conference in the capital Mogadishu that foreign warships off the Somali coast are not there to fight pirates.
“The countries in the world that send warships to Somalia are intent on dividing sea resources among each other,” the Fisheries Minister charged.
Separately, Mr. Ibbi said the Somali government has 500 recruits who have begun receiving anti-piracy military training.
“The government has appointed Col. Farah Qare as commander of the marine force and the training will continue for three months,” Minister Ibbi said, while describing Col. Qare as a longtime naval commander in Somalia.
The Fisheries Minister said the Somali government did not divide the new recruits based on the clan-based 4.5 power-sharing formula, but the soldiers were recruited from coastal areas and selected on their knowledge.
“The average age is between 25 and 30 and they will begin to work along the coast with new equipment when the training is complete,” Fisheries Minister Ibbi said.
He said world governments including the U.S., South Africa and Egypt have pledged to provide weapons and equipment for the new marine force.
Minister Ibbi claimed a delegation thatarrived Mogadishu recently “brought speedboats” but he did not specify what country the delegation came from. Further, the Minister did not name where the new recruits are taking military training.

30 soldiers defect from Somalia government

MOGADISHU, Somalia June 10 (Garowe Online) – At least 30 soldiers have defected from Somalia’s interim government and joined the rebel group Hizbul Islam, Radio Garowe reports.
Ahmed “Lashin” Sheikh Muhiyadin, commander of the defecting soldiers, told reporters in the capital Mogadishu Wednesday that the soldiers were part of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) militia who joined the government when Sheikh Sharif Ahmed became Somali President in January.
He showed reporters the soldiers and two armed trucks at the Yaaqshiid police station in northern Mogadishu.
A military source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that they used to be stationed near El Ma’an harbor, where their mission was to “prevent opposition reinforcements” during combat.

Posted by: b real | Jun 11 2009 3:24 utc | 19

more payments must have come through for white-eyed – he’s shilling disinformation to a willing reuters which then passes it on to its readers w/o so much as even a disclaimer about the source

Western security services [read: ‘the CIA’] say al Shabaab is a Somali proxy for Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network. That view was echoed by a former rebel hardliner who defected a few weeks ago and took his fighters over the government side.
“Osama bin Laden wants to make his biggest base in Somalia,” Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, known as “Inda’ade” or “white eyes”, told Reuters recently. “He believes his criminal organisation can sweep African regimes and take over Africa as part of their greater ambition.”
He said al Qaeda’s plan was to dominate the seas.
“Al Qaeda plans to cut off the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden which is a main route connecting all continents together. And if they achieve that, it is big threat to global security … If al Qaeda gets a base here, it will be a disaster.
“This issue needs an international solution, and the world and Somalia must fight on one front.”

Posted by: b real | Jun 12 2009 4:18 utc | 21

reuters: Ethiopian troops cross deeper into Somalia-residents

MOGADISHU, June 12 (Reuters) – Heavily-armed Ethiopian soldiers crossed into central Somalia on Friday and entered a town controlled by a pro-government militia nearly 30 kms (19 miles) from the border, residents said.
“They came with battle wagons and trucks all full of soldiers and guns,” said Hassan Abdi, a resident in the town of Balanbale in Galgadud region. “Everybody is very worried.”
Residents said the Ethiopian troops were setting up positions in the centre of the town. Central Somalia has been the scene of heavy fighting between hardline Islamist insurgents and the moderate Islamist group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca.
“We are ready to fight the Ethiopians if they come close to our forces, we will give them a lesson,” Hassan Maalin Takow, an al Shabaab commander told Reuters.
…
People living in the southwestern Somali region of Bakool, which is controlled by hardline Islamist rebel group al Shabaab, said Ethiopian troops moved into a village called Washaga on Friday and residents were fleeing.
“I’m now packed up to leave the village, al Shabaab and the Ethiopians are close to each other and on the verge of fighting,” said resident Fatima Isaq Madey.

global post: Interview with a pirate

[Farah Ismail] Eid and his crew of four were the first to be caught back in September by the Somaliland Coast Guard. They are serving 15-year terms at Mandheera prison, a British-built colonial-era jail set among Berbera’s rocky hills and hot wind swept scrub.
…
Speaking from the jail, Eid said he only turned to piracy because of the problems caused by illegal fishing by big international operations and the dumping of toxic waste by foreign ships. He said those abuses drove him from fishing to piracy, prompting him to load his boat with guns.
“We did not bring this problem; this problem was brought to us,” said Eid, 38, who comes from Eyl, a coastal Somali town that has become known as a pirate lair.
“I believe the title of pirates should be given to those who come to our waters illegally,” he said.
…
“The fish we caught used to be enough for the local people and enough to sell but now there is not even enough to eat,” he complained. “Illegal trawlers took all the resources which we relied on; they broke our boats and destroyed the coral.”
Then, he said, foreign ships started dumping toxic waste in Somali waters. Eid recalled going out fishing one day to find shoals of fish floating on the surface. “We thought we were lucky! We collected the fish and stored them in refrigerators, then later we discovered they were like plastic.”
In the absence of any functioning government in his country, Somalia, Eid said fishermen in Eyl first hijacked trawlers to levy an informal tax and to punish them for stealing their fish. Later they targeted cargo ships.

mareeg online: Somali MP accuses Spain and South Korea of leading the illegal fishing in Somali Waters

A member of the transitional parliament of Somalia has accused the foreign vessels in the Somali of engulfing the Somali coast and he particularly singled out large fishing vessels from Spain and South Korea as the main and leading ones. The Somali MP, Ahmed Awad Ashara who spoke to the media in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, said that companies from Spain and South Korea, which obtained illegal and fake permit papers from irrelevant Somali persons, are largely overfishing in the Somali waters.
Mr. Awad told the journalists erosion of Somali marine resources by foreign nations is now underway in the Somali water. “Big nations like Spain and South Korea ,which have no legality, are fishing in our sea they excuse that they have permit papers to do so but those fake permits are illegally obtained from irrelevant Somali persons living in London or inside Somalia” said the MP. The MP has accused these foreign fishing vessels of destroying Somalia’s marine natural resources.

Posted by: b real | Jun 13 2009 3:55 utc | 23

something haven’t had time to do for many months – peeping in on botswana’s slide to military dictatorship
opinion piece in mmegi online (means “reporter”) from the chair of the law society of botswana
Our democracy is under threat

The recent incidences of state motivated extra-judicial execution of suspects undermine and erode the rule of law in our country. According to some sources, there have been 12 individuals shot, with 8 fatalities carried out by members of the government’s security forces. Gone are the days of arrests and subjection to due process of the law as provided by the constitution of this Republic. These killings are a clear historic threat to good governance and care for human life.
Most of these extra judicial executions are carried out by state agents who have little appreciation and understanding of our criminal justice system and have no training in principles of criminal investigation and arrest procedure. What business does the Directorate of Intelligence and Security and worse still, the Military Intelligence have in investigating common theft, burglary or robbery? Are these state agents equipped with the necessary skill, beyond the obvious skill in the use of deadly firearms, to effect a proper arrest and gather evidence against a suspect with a view to presenting the same in a court of law? What happened to the Botswana Police? Where is justice?
…
‘States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions’ so opined US academic and human rights activist Noam Chomsky.
The government needs to explain these recent killings in a satisfactory manner. The public deserve answers. Good answers. Why was there no Inquest Proceeding in respect of any of these killings. Who is the government protecting? The executioners or their Principals? Our failure to assert the rights of suspects and ensure that there are no human rights abuses can lead to only one result- WE ARE NEXT!
The culture of fear and whispering in corridors will not take us anywhere. These are not signs of a healthy democracy or a developing nation. Too much power corrupts and if we are to allow the armed forces to do as they please – disregard human life, the rule of law and the justice system, then we are failures and history shall judge us harshly as such.
I couldn’t agree more with Aung San Suu Kyi when she said; ‘Fear is not the natural state of civilised people’
I have drafted my Will just in case the ink doesn’t dry before my demise.

among the controversial & undemocratic practices that khama has been instituting, or at least attempting to, is an effort to install stricter media laws in order to quell any opposition to his mostly unpopular policies & govt.
botswana media still tends to take real journalism seriously, both as a watchdog & as a voice for those who have been shut out of power in this nation of where the same party/tribe has basically ruled since independence.
and they do fight back, as is the case of the sunday standard after khama went the paper following several unfavourable stories
Sunday Standard counter-sues Khama

The Sunday Standard has instructed its attorneys, Bayford and Associates, to raise a counterclaim for defamation against President Lt Gen Ian Khama and to challenge the legitimacy of his presidency.
Bayford and Associates of Friday informed Khama’s lawyers, Collins and Newman that, “in our view, in the event your client institutes the threatened action, he would have tacitly waived the immunity conferred on the President of Botswana by Section 41 of the Constitution”.
They further informed them that in the event President Khama “holds a different view, as an alternative argument, we hold instructions to challenge the legitimacy of his presidency. His ascendancy to power, it will be contended, was not in conformity with Section 35 (4) of the Constitution, which requires that where the office of Presidency is vacant, the National Assembly shall meet to appoint the presidency within 7 days. To the extent that no such meeting took place it is questionable whether your client is entitled to the rights and privileges attaching to the presidency”.
…
“It is our client’s view that even if Kalafatis article bore the meaning contended for by yours, it did not in anyway alter public perceptions which have already been shaped by past publications and which the president has done little to erode. These perceptions are that:
“He is nepotistic, corrupt and misuses government resources for personal or family gain. Specifically, that various transactions entered into by the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) and certain third parties, at the time he was commander, were marred by conflict of interest concerning him.
“As Vice President, he was contemptuous of Parliament, the institution to which he was accountable, by failing to regularly attend its sittings without justifiable cause.
“As Vice President he abused Government property by flying BDF helicopters and other aircraft despite repeated calls from the public and the Ombudsman not to do so.
“Under his presidency, security agents have become emboldened to kill unarmed citizens which incidents have not been subjected to judicial scrutiny of any form;
“He uses the Directorate of Intelligence and Security to spy on citizens because he is paranoid about being displaced as leader of the ruling party.
“He surrounds himself with friends, relatives and sycophants as advisors.

wrt to another paper, the guardian,
Of Khama, opposition and The Guardian

Khama said that he has no apologies in using directives to rule the country because this is his leadership style. “If people don’t work, I will make directives ordering officers to go and help people. You have given us the mandate to help Batswana. Botswana is not for the president but Batswana. As a parent, you give orders to your child, asking her ‘wake up and go to school, bath, robala go bosigo and all that’. Even if you are a coach, you give orders, you can’t say ‘ga o bata go raga, raga hela’. You need to control them,” he said.
Khama launched an attack on a source claiming to be a legal expert and a BDP operative quoted in the Guardian newspaper, who alleged that the president is so paranoid that he has resorted to using the Directorate of Intelligence and Security to spy on party members and the nation. The president said that the source was lying. “That is why he is not revealing his name. But I know the person. If I look at you I see we are together.
You are not fearful of me and I also am not afraid of you,” he said.

Khama beefs up his security?

President Ian Khama is reported to have beefed up his security following growing concern that the president “is no longer safe. ”Sources at the government enclave told The Gazette that the Office of the President (OP) has roped in some private security companies to be part of the President’s security against the public’s concern over the recent “extra judicial killing by security state agents” and “the security is tight” around the President.“There is a growing fear among some members of the public and this has spilled over to the president. He does not feel safe anymore. The OP has also beefed up security around its building,” said the source. According to the sources some senior members of the security agents held a meeting at the OP on Friday. “Reports that there is spying on some members of the public are not baseless. The President wants to gauge the people’s feeling and what the mood in the country is at the moment. It is reported that there is a section of the society that is not happy and this has necessitated the beefing up of the President’s security,” said the source.
Contacted for comment, OP spokesperson Mr. Sipho Madisa downplayed the allegations saying, “These are just rumours doing the rounds. At the OP we are not aware of that.”Efforts to get a comment from the Minister of Defence, Security and Justice, Lt Gen Dikgakgamatso Seretse were unsuccessful as he is said to be out of the country.

Posted by: b real | Jun 13 2009 5:43 utc | 25

Somalia begins training 1st naval force in years

Somalia started training 500 recruits Wednesday to serve as the country’s first naval force in two decades to fight rampant piracy off the country’s coast.
Wearing simple uniforms of shorts and white T-shirts, the young men gathered on the shores of Mogadishu, Somalia’s seaside capital, to practice swimming, diving and shooting. But their effects on piracy will likely be small _ piracy has exploded in recent years around the Gulf of Aden and Somalia’s 1,900-mile coastline, the longest in Africa.
The new force, which Somali officials hope to have operating in two months, will face a sophisticated network of bandits who bring in millions in ransom every year despite international patrols.
“Once we complete the training, the forces will begin both search operations and routine scrutiny on the Somali waters,” said Adm. Farah Omar Ahmed, who is heading the new force.

No word on who trains them or pays for this.

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2009 10:28 utc | 27

(pressed wrong button before finishing my thoughts in that last comment)
the TFG2 has always been a weak actor in the mix. as i’ve elaborated on in multiple threads, there is more evidence that, rather than create a strong federal govt, the int’l community’s overriding objective has been to pit islamist factions against each other in order to engage them into battle amongst themselves rather than be united and [1] establish an independent govt and [2], so goes the reasoning of the unrestrained paranoid fantasies of the int’l actors, threaten & carry out ‘terrorist’ activities beyond the borders of somalia. letting them wage a war of attrition between themselves requires a minimal amount of overhead & a modicum of commitment.
their lip service to sh. sharif’s govt can be seen as an inside joke, directing, instead, the bulk of support to AMISOM and putting pressure on the UN to get more countries paying for the militarization of east africa. meanwhile, the main beneficiaries are int’l arms dealers, int’l NGOs, and, eventually, the wildcatters up through the big oil companies still comfortably playing the force majeure card.

Posted by: b real | Jun 15 2009 5:40 utc | 29

it’s hard to tell if the whole somali navy story isn’t really a joke
bbc: Somali navy chief: World’s worst job?

If you think you face an uphill challenge at work today, spare a thought for Farah Ahmed Omar, the man in charge of Somalia’s navy.
He has neither boats nor equipment and admits he has not been to sea for 23 years.
The interim government does not control much of the 3,000-km (1,860-mile) Somali coastline and then there is the headache of plentiful pirates.
Mr Omar said he was first put in charge of the navy in 1982, but speaking to the BBC by phone from the capital, Mogadishu, he did not sound too daunted by the task ahead.
“Today there is a big piracy problem and we are ashamed. But we think they [the pirates] don’t have sophisticated equipment as they just have fishing boats and small arms which are easy to get in Somalia,” he said.
Somalia’s navy chief said 500 new recruits had recently joined after adverts were aired through radio stations and the men would be paid $60 (£36) per month.
Presumably the training will be classroom-based, given the situation at sea.
…
Once upon a time Somalia had a proud navy which the Soviet Union had helped establish in the 1960s, with bases at Mogadishu and Kismayo.
During the Cold War the Soviets turned the port of Berbera into an important base that included a missile storage facility for the Soviet navy to counter United States military activities in the region.
But it was not just Russian assistance that helped build the Somali navy back then.
When Somalia cut ties with the Soviet Union in 1977 (because of Russian support for Somalia’s arch rival Ethiopia), Mogadishu signed a deal with Washington three years later.
It gave the US access to Somali ports and airfields in exchange for tens of millions of dollars in military equipment and aid in subsequent years.
“We used to be among the top navies in Africa. We had ships that carried deadly missiles and we had 10 battalions covering the whole coast,” said Mr Omar.
The navy has not been operational since the country descended into violence in 1991, but its commander predicts a Somali naval renaissance.
“The international community should give us one year and let them see what we are going to do,” he said.
“I can promise on behalf of the government that I will eradicate piracy within that period if only they give us the resources and support in terms equipment.
“That way the international community could be relieved of the burden.”
Mr Omar has certainly had time on his hands whilst the navy has been boat-less and sailor-less.
He set up his own university and has also been a professor of economics.
Perhaps a lecture on the economic cost of choosing to be a sailor on $60 a month, rather than a potentially rich pirate will be part of the training.

pic of 19 of the trainees in this story. they all look to be kids.

Posted by: b real | Jun 17 2009 4:22 utc | 31

from a 15 june press release from africa oil corp
Africa Oil Collects New Block for East African Oil Exploration Portfolio

Africa Oil has signed an agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Turkana Energy Inc. (“Turkana”), a privately held oil and gas exploration company based in Vancouver, Canada. Turkana’s principal asset is Block 10BB, a highly prospective oil exploration block in northwestern Kenya.
…
A meeting of the Turkana shareholders to approve the transaction will be held in mid July 2009 and the transaction is expected to close before the end of July 2009. The transaction is also subject to TSX Venture Exchange, Kenyan Government and court approvals and to the approval by the Company’s shareholders of a resolution to increase the Company’s authorized share capital.
…
Turkana has an undivided 100% interest in Block 10BB pursuant to a Production Sharing Contract with the Government of the Republic of Kenya made October 25, 2007, and subject only to a 20% back-in right in favor of the Kenyan government. Block 10BB is a large block encompassing approximately 13,000 square kilometers located in the Rift Valley of northwestern Kenya. The block is within the Tertiary rift trend of East Africa which has recently yielded major oil discoveries by operators such as Heritage and Tullow which are active in the Lake Albert region of Uganda. Block 10BB is located immediately west of Africa Oil’s Kenyan Block 10A and Block 9 and further consolidates the Company’s holdings in the rich East African rift basin petroleum system. … Block 10BB totals greater than 1.7 billion barrels of oil from 17 leads, 5 prospects and 1 existing discovery.
The rift basins of East Africa are highly under-explored despite being surrounded by billion barrel accumulations on all sides. There are four distinct independent petroleum systems which are proven to exist within the Company’s existing acreage. Block 10BB is within the same system as the Lake Albert play. It has similar rifted structures and reservoirs as found in Lake Albert which have proven the existence of the Tertiary source rock that generated the light oil recoveries from the Loperot #1 well drilled by Shell in 1992.
The other three systems within Africa Oil’s portfolio, include the Jurassic rift basins of Puntland/Somalia which is on trend and once connected with the highly productive Yemen basins (6 billion barrels discovered), the Lower Cretaceous rifts of the Anza Basin in Kenya, which is directly on trend with the Sudanese Muglad Basin (6 billion barrels of oil discovered) and the Permo-Triassic rift basins of Ethiopia, which was once contiguous with the super giant accumulations of Madagascar (24 billion barrels in place).
An aggressive 2009-10 work program is planned for the Company’s East African assets, including the Company’s new block in Kenya, which will include both seismic and exploratory drilling.

on the opposite coast,
from a 10 june press release from gold star resources corp
Gold Star Resources Says West African ‘Oil Rush’ Is On

West Africa now offers “unparalleled opportunities” for major and independent oil and gas companies, writes Patrick Morris, CEO of Vancouver-based Gold Star Resources Corp. in the June 10th issue of AFROIL, Africa Oil & Gas Monitor.
Morris, author of a news column published in AFROIL entitled “West African Oil Rush, Challenges,” reported that changing geopolitics, reduced security and political risks, the recent 1.8 billion barrel discovery in West Africa’s largest oilfield, the Jubilee in Ghana, and a new African foreign policy by recently elected U.S. President Barack Obama have all helped in making West Africa a “desirable destination for oil and gas exploration and production.”
According to Morris, “For a long time West Africa has been off the radar of the international community because of messy politics and brutal civil wars. Also, apart from Nigeria and Gabon, there had been the disappointing size of oil discoveries made at times of low oil prices. All this is now changing. Expectations by countries and oil & gas companies to discover new reserves in the region are high.
“Exploration and seismic research activities are under way in all countries of West Africa bar Burkina Faso and Cape Verde. Governments are also actively involved. For example, in Liberia, the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) is promoting oil and gas exploration and development of its hydrocarbon resources along its continental shelf and slope. The sub-region is also gaining global attention as calm has been restored to countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’ Ivoire, reducing security risks.”
“The role of junior exploration companies is to set the trend,” Morris writes in his news column. ” For example, Gold Star Resources is the first and only junior company to go after onshore oil and gas opportunities in Cote d’ Ivoire and Liberia since the 1970s. Larger players are competing for offshore blocks all along the coast — but with no plans for any onshore exploration.”

one resource for reporting on oil exploration in ghana – reporting oil & gas
june 4: Reporting Oil and Gas Project launched

In August 2007, Ghana through a consortium of oil exploration companies announced the discovery of oil in commercial quantities off the Western shores in Ghana’s Western region. The initial estimate by Tullow Oil PLC and its partners of 800 million barrels of oil in the deep water Tano block has now been revised upwards to a potential reserve between 2 to 4 billion barrels.
With the expected flow of commercial quantities oil and gas beyond 2010, there is an urgent need for journalists especially those specializing in coverage of oil and gas issues to stay on top of key issues in the industry in order for them to play the important role of informing and educating the general public of the impact, challenges and benefits of the huge oil and gas find thereby deepening public education and discourse.
In order to help journalist minismise misreporting in this highly technical area, an industry knowledge base, facilitating networking with industry experts and monitoring, the International Institute for ICT Journalism (www.penplusbytes.org) has launched “ Reporting oil and Gas” project at the ongoing WABA Ghana Oil and Gas Business Conference and Exhibition, in Takoradi, Western Region. The key building blocks of the project are online portal, mailing lists, face to face and online training. According to Eric Osiakwan, Director at PenPlusBytes, “we are pleased to launch this project because it will go a long way to provide journalists with information and knowledge they need to cover oil and gas issues effectively at a central online point”

Posted by: b real | Jun 17 2009 4:56 utc | 33

haven’t come across any confirmation on this garowe online story yet
Aweys ‘accepts’ peace talks, say elders

MOGADISHU, Somalia June 16 (Garowe Online) – A leading opposition figure in Somalia has accepted to join peace talks after speaking with a group of traditional elders in the capital Mogadishu, Radio Garowe reports Tuesday.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, chairman of Hizbul Islam rebel group, met privately with a group of elders and reportedly accepted to join a peace process involving the U.N.-backed interim government, led by his Islamist rival, President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
“No one has told us to do this but we have initiated this process and we want to end the wars in Mogadishu through dialogue, ” said Malaaq Ali Malaaq Showri.
Further, the Malaaq said the traditional elders will speak with President Sheikh Sharif regarding a new round of peace talks aimed at ending the bloody insurgency in Mogadishu and other parts of south-central Somalia.
“We tell the world that Sheikh Aweys is not a man of war and he loves to participate in the peace process and help Somalia become a stable country, ” Malaaq Showri said, adding that the elders with also speak with the African Union peacekeeping mission and Al Shabaab hardliners to promote peace.
Separately, Sheikh Aweys confirmed to reporters in Mogadishu that the elders proposed a new peace initiative, adding: “We took the correct step which is to accept and to participate in the peace process. ”
It is the first time that Sheikh Aweys has accepted joining the peace process in Somalia.

Posted by: b real | Jun 17 2009 15:24 utc | 35

in a DoS webchat titled Is there hope for Somalia? the “media and outreach coordinator for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs” sidestepped a very blunt question early in the session

Q [jigoli]: Do u think imposing shariff to the presidency will solve the Somalian problem?
A [Gregory L. Garland]: No one person can solve the country’s problems. What is needed is effective and inclusive governance that extends nation-wide.

on the somali navy/coast guard

The U.S. believes that the TFG is the best path for establishing effective governance in Somalia. Our support has and is taking many forms, including humanitarian assistance and starting work on building a coast guard.

further on, garland reiterates & clarifies

As I have said, the U.S. believes that the TFG is best vehicle for rebuilding Somalia, and the international community is proceeding to support it.

but follows u.s. policy of trying to put a somali face on it

The core U.S. objective has been to encourage dialogue among Somali stakeholders with the goal of resuming the transitional process outlined by the Transitional Federal Charter. This means bringing in parts of society who can agree to the shared goal of effective governance, rule of law, and revival of the economy. Much of the world is willing to support that process, but the leadership and implementation must be Somali.

Posted by: b real | Jun 18 2009 5:17 utc | 37

20 killed in central Somalia suicide bombing, incl. Security Minister

The explosion occurred midday in Beletwein, the capital of Hiran region in central Somalia, witnesses said.
Col. Omar Hashi, the Security Minister, and former Somali Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union, Mr. Abdikarim Lakanyo, were both killed in the explosion at Hotel Medina, independent sources confirmed.
…
he spokesman for Al Shabaab guerrillas, Sheikh Ali “Dheere” Mohamud, said the group is responsible for killing the Security Minister and “Ethiopian military officers.”
” We are responsible for the explosion that killed Omar Hashi, Abdikarim Lakanyo and Ethiopian military officers whom they were meeting…it [explosion] was a response to the suffering of Somali Muslims,” said the Al Shabaab spokesman.
He vowed that “more attacks” would target government officials in Beletwein.
Yusuf Daboged, the former warlord of Hiran region, confirmed the deaths and told reporters that the dead officials were leaving the hotel to attend the wedding of the late Hashi’s son.
“The explosion took place moments after I parted ways with him [Omar Hashi],” said Daboged, who survived the blast.
…
Recently, the late Hashi returned from Ethiopia leading an armed convoy to Beletwein, where he was reportedly organizing a new government offensive against Al Shabaab insurgents in the central regions.

hashi was formerly a commander in the ICU before taking on the ministry position in the TFG2 & actively collaborating w/ the ethiopian govt/military. as the article states & previous links here covered, he had only recently moved into the region leading ethiopian-trained forces in an effort to check the opposition’s successes.
in addition to the quotes attributed in the l.a. times article in the previous comment, shabelle media quotes sh. sharif at his press conference saying, ““There are foreign people who are pouring in the country day after day. They are Al-Qaeda and they invaded in Somalia and see that Somalia is base for them””
this is nonsense. in the past weeks there have been many reports on the incursion of ethiopian forces back into somali territory in that region and col. hashi was directly involved, as evidenced by his companions also killed in the attack on the hotel where they were staying.

Posted by: b real | Jun 18 2009 15:29 utc | 39

I’m back from grubbing about with chicken eggs. We ordered a variety of hatching eggs, heavy breeds, layers and broilers. I got them mostly on ebay, because we wanted to order from small farms who are caring and careful about their flocks. Now, if the eggs have survived the trip, the TSA, and incubate properly, we may have some interesting new chickens. Only one egg actually broke in transit.
b real, particular thanks for the Reporting Oil & Gas and thanks also for correcting the link on chidi opara reports
jony_b_cool, thanks for you informative remarks @14 and elsewhere. Right now chidi opara reports is discussing the junket the governors are planning, to take a course at Harvard on how to govern, at the public expense of course. There is some feeling they are not likely to learn or bring back much that is positive, given their history.
And for a laugh watch this short video, less than 3 minutes, posted on Max Siollun’s website.

*Must Watch Video* – U.S. Experts Discuss Nigeria’s Complexities
Posted by maxsiollun on June 18, 2009
I thought I would inject some light hearted humour into this website. I think visitors will be glad to see this discussion on Nigeria by a group of seasoned “experts” on Nigeria with encyclopedic knowledge of the country. Enjoy! 🙂

It is hard to pick the best quote, maybe the silences, but one I liked: the reason that the situation is so volatile is because of the factors involved or the right choice is to support the right answer. I’ll have to save that last one. It will be useful in any discussion.

Posted by: xcroc | Jun 19 2009 3:12 utc | 41

yep, that’s a classic – the occasion came up to use it here last year
no experience in the area, but losing only one egg to breakage sounds pretty good if shipping to ghana is anything like my luck shipping things to africa

Posted by: b real | Jun 19 2009 3:51 utc | 43

b real, do you think the 60 AMISOM deaths @ the 40 link were in retaliation to Hashi’s death?

Posted by: annie | Jun 19 2009 6:31 utc | 45

the Ukrainian chapter of AQ no doubt.

Posted by: annie | Jun 19 2009 7:49 utc | 47

another day, another curveball
Aweys condemns security minister’s assassination

MOGADISHU, Somalia June 19 (Garowe Online) – A senior opposition figure in Somalia has condemned the assassination of Security Minister Omar Hashi, who was killed by a suicide bomber yesterday, Radio Garowe reports Friday.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, chairman of Hizbul Islam rebel faction, said the way the Security Minister was killed is a “new tactic” in Somalia.
“I am saddened by the loss of so many lives…the enemy is behind this [attack],” Sheikh Aweys said, but he did not elaborate who the enemy is.
…
Asked if his comments could trigger a conflict with Al Shabaab, Sheikh Aweys dismissed the possibility but stated that “anything is possible” if the various armed factions fighting the Somali government do not have a “unified ideology.”
Earlier this year, Sheikh Aweys condemned the attempted assassination of Interior Minister Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar, a former ally and senior member of the Islamic Courts movement.
…
Separately, Sheikh Aweys accused President Sheikh Sharif’s government of attempting to “destroy” Bakara Market, a notorious marketplace where Islamist insurgents wield power.
He praised ex-Prime Minister Nur “Adde” Hassan Hussein for “saving Bakara” during his term in 2008.

Posted by: b real | Jun 19 2009 16:35 utc | 49

so we have the western media omitting a major context to understanding col hashi & his assassination
and then we have the narrative that blames AQ
i already linked to the press release from amb. ranneberger’s office in nairobi which, in part, stated

This deplorable attack is another example of the cowardly acts undertaken by those who oppose the efforts to achieve peace in Somalia.

from an AFP article yesterday, titled Somali security minister killed in suicide bombing

The hardline Islamic Shebab said one of its “holy warriors” had carried out the suicide attack.
“One of our Mujahedeens went with his car laden with explosives to a building where the apostate and other members from his group had been meeting,” Shebab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage told reporters in Mogadishu.
“The apostates have been eliminated, they all died in the suicide attack,” he added.
…
The country’s embattled President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed blamed the attack on foreign “terrorists who do not want the Somali flag to fly over this nation.”
…
In neighbouring Kenya, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke condemned “a cowardly act carried out by terrorists affiliated to Al-Qaeda.”
“Somalis have no expertise to carry out this attack, this was the work of foreigners,” he said, calling for international aid to shore up government forces.

you can call a suicide bomber many things, from committed to maybe coerced, desperate to destined for martyrdom , and perhaps even ‘precision-guided’ or a ‘smart bomb’, but a ‘coward’?
is it only coincidence that the u.s. embassy & the up-to-recently u.s.-based (virginia) PM sharmarke (when’s the last time you saw an obese somali?) both used the same description?
and is anyone stupid enough to fall for the PM’s claim that “Somalis have no expertise to carry out this attack”? really? driving an explosive-laden vehicle up to a hotel & detonating it? it’s that difficult?

Posted by: b real | Jun 19 2009 20:25 utc | 51

thanks b real

Posted by: annie | Jun 20 2009 0:11 utc | 53

june 17: Sudan’s ‘Coordinated’ Genocide in Darfur Is Over, U.S. Envoy Says

UNITED NATIONS, June 17 — President Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, said Wednesday that the Sudanese government is no longer engaging in a “coordinated” campaign of mass murder in Darfur, marking a shift in the U.S. characterization of the violence there as an “ongoing genocide.”
“What we see is the remnants of genocide,” Gration told reporters at a briefing in Washington. “The level of violence that we’re seeing right now is primarily between rebel groups, the Sudanese government and . . . some violence between Chad and Sudan.”
Gration’s remarks come as the Obama administration is finishing a review of its Sudan policy. The comments appeared to expose an emerging rift between Gration and Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who accused the Sudanese leadership of genocide as recently as two days ago.

not just susan rice. for one, co-founders of the save darfur mvmt, the american jewish world service (we aren’t expected to attend, are we?), express concern that “it is dangerous to disagree in public about whether the genocide continues”
thursday: US backtracks on Obama envoy’s comments on Darfur, says region still facing genocide

The United States said Thursday that it is still calling the bloodshed in Darfur a genocide, a day after President Barack Obama’s special envoy on Sudan said there are only “the remnants of genocide” in the Sudan region.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was backtracking from comments by special envoy Scott Gration, who said Wednesday that the violence in Darfur was no longer the “co-ordinated effort” that characterized the first three years of the conflict.
Gration’s comments drew praise from Sudan, where Ali Youssef, a senior Sudanese Foreign Ministry official, said, “There was no genocide at all. It is very good that this has been stated clearly.”
Crowley, however, sought to clarify the U.S. position Thursday, telling reporters that the United States believes “there is no question that genocide has taken place in Darfur. We continue to classify the circumstances in Darfur as genocide.”

excerpt from that press briefing

QUESTION: So he misspoke yesterday when – because you were saying that you believe that the conditions on the ground are – you said circumstances described as genocide, but yesterday, he did not say that. He said it was in the past.
MR. CROWLEY: I would say that clearly, going back to first, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and up to the present day involving the President, the Secretary, others, we have made clear – clearly, a genocide happened in Darfur. …
…
There’s room in the Administration for a debate about the interpretation of the facts that go into that judgment, but it doesn’t change our policy now…
…
QUESTION: So taking that altogether, could you just say definitively, yes or no, whether there is —
QUESTION: Is it still taking place?
QUESTION: Is there a genocide right now?
QUESTION: Is it still taking place right now, or not?
MR. CROWLEY: I can repeat what I just said. We continue to characterize the circumstances in Darfur as genocide.
QUESTION: The Sudanese Government has been pretty ecstatic about the comments that General Gration made yesterday. You’ve got a foreign – the foreign ministry saying there was no genocide at all from the beginning, there was no genocide at all, it was very good that this has been stated clearly, referring to what General Gration said. They are —
MR. CROWLEY: I don’t find that response to be particularly credible.

Posted by: b real | Jun 20 2009 5:47 utc | 55

here’s a resource for following the story the ukranian plane reportedly transporting weapons – the forum @ africa aviation / afrika lugvaart
and there’s a similar forum, but not specific to africa, here – professional pilots rumour network – though i didn’t find any thread on the story yet in a quick search

Posted by: b real | Jun 20 2009 6:16 utc | 57

@41,
that was funny. The only thing missing was the experts credentials. Its easy when experts disagree, whomever has the stronger credentials wins.

Posted by: jony_b_cool | Jun 20 2009 14:05 utc | 59

It looks like Uganda is in for a bunch more partnering with AFRICOM. Obama just appointed/nominated the ambassador to Uganda, from the White House:

Jerry P. Lanier, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Uganda
Jerry P. Lanier is a career diplomat with 26 years of service in the Department of State. He is currently the Foreign Policy Advisor for U.S. Africa Command headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
Prior to that, he was the Director of the Office of Regional and Security Affairs in the Africa Bureau at the State Department. Mr. Lanier has also served in the Philippines, Kenya, Thailand, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Ghana. At State he has served as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, country officer for the Republic of Korea, Legislative Management Officer for Africa, Deputy Director for the Office of West African Affairs, and Deputy Director for the Office Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Affairs. He received his B.A. at Pembroke State University, his M.A. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served three years as lecturer in the history department of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Mr. Lanier appears to have all the right credentials for messing with the internal affairs of other nations.

Posted by: xcroc | Jun 20 2009 19:33 utc | 61

Sheik Aweys says ‘they will fight with any foreign troops’

MOGADISHU (Sh. M. Network) – Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of the Islamist organization of Hisbul Islam has said on Sunday that they will fight with any foreign troops that the TFG demanded on Saturday.
…
and also those who are currently in the country.

Somalia Islamists warn against foreign intervention

MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somalia’s Islamist armed group Shebab warned Sunday against any foreign military intervention after the embattled government pleaded for help from its African neighbours.
“We are sending our clear warning to the neighboring countries…. Send your troops to our holy soil if you need to take them back inside coffins,” Shebab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamed Rage told a press conference in Mogadishu.
“We tell you that our dogs and cats will enjoy eating the dead bodies of your boys if you try to respond to the calls of these stooges, because we wish to die in the way of Allah more than you wish to live,” he added.

Ethiopian troops start movement in the border between Somalia and Ethiopia

JAWIL (Sh. M. Network) – the Ethiopian troops have started movement in the border between Ethiopia and Somalia especially in central Somalia on Sunday as there is tense between government soldiers and Islamist forces in Mogadishu.
Residents said that Ethiopian troops reached parts of Hiran region in particular Kalabeyr-ka intersection in Jawil village in central Somalia adding that they had made military bases in several areas of the region.
…
Reports from the Beledweyn town say that more units of Ethiopian troops with armed vehicles poured in Feer-feer and Mustahil districts in Ethiopia while more other Ethiopian soldiers joined their colleagues who were in the region earlier.
It is unclear whether the Ethiopian troops crossed from Kala-beyrka intersection in Jawil village in Hiran region or not.
Abdulahi Abdinur Arig, a chief of Jawil village told Shabelle radio that many Ethiopian troops reached there joining the other Ethiopian soldiers who were in the village earlier disproving reports that some of the Ethiopian troops entered in Beledweyn town. (sic)

Posted by: b real | Jun 21 2009 20:43 utc | 63

Somalia:President calls state of emergency

MOGADISHU (Mareeg)—Somalia’s president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed has called a state of emergency on Monday in the country after a press conference he held in the presidential palace in Mogadishu.
He told a news conference in Mogadishu it was because of “intensifying violence across the country by extremists”.
…
“As of today, the country is under a state of emergency,” President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed told reporters in the capital.
He demanded from the parliament to endorse the state of emergency immediately and added that the coming troops will not harm the Somali people.
“The troops we are demanding are not coming to harm the people but they are coming to save the people and work the order of the government,” said president.
The government controls few blocks of Mogadishu but the Islamist rebels control large areas of south and central Somalia.

hmmm. sounds pretty confident that the calvary is on the way. would be worth watching military mvmts in the surrounding nations & at sea. i’m figuring ethiopia is ready to wipe out some towns as payback for the hotel bombing – they do have an air force they haven’t used in somalia yet. kenya may be bluffing, however a little war does wonders to heal, or at least paper over, the sharp divides created by the presidential coup & resultant unity govt. besides, they’re so intertwined w/ the u.s. military now as an anchor state in the GWOT lens, that they may have no choice but to advance from the standby forces to actually getting the call to step up to, or rather across, the border. or there’s that controversial agreement, written by the u.s., that is claimed to permit taking the fight against pirates ashore onto somali sand.
and sh. sharif is really playing up the role now, pretending to declare a state of emergency for the entire country when, as a recent garowe online editorial pointed out, the only factual thing about the TFG is the “transitional” part of its name – it is neither “federal” nor a “government.”

Posted by: b real | Jun 23 2009 4:54 utc | 65

yep b real – the U.S. has decided to again wage an intense war on Somalia – watch the U.S. fleet – it may be more decisive than a few companies of Ethiopian origin.

Posted by: b | Jun 23 2009 19:47 utc | 67

this didn’t just happen — many were flown out to kenya months ago under the pretext that they were going there to rcv training — but it’s the first numbers i’ve seen reported.
Somali legislators flee abroad, parliament paralysed

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Scores of Somali legislators have fled violence at home to the safety of other countries in Africa, Europe and the United States, leaving the nation’s parliament without a quorum to meet.
…
Needing two-thirds of legislators present to meet, Somalia’s 550-seat parliament has not convened since April 25.
Officials said on Wednesday that 288 members of parliament (MPs) were abroad, with only about 50 on official visits.
The rest were in neighbours Kenya and Djibouti, European nations such as Sweden, Britain, the Netherlands and Norway, and the United States, the officials said.
“I cannot be a member of a government that cannot protect me,” Abdalla Haji Ali, an MP who left for Kenya last week, told Reuters. “In Somalia, nobody is safe.”
Parliament speaker Sheikh Aden Mohamed Madobe has urged the MPs to return, and Somalia’s Finance Ministry has blocked the salaries of 144 legislators abroad, officials said.
…
Islamist rebel leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys held a news conference in Mogadishu to denounce the government’s call at the weekend for foreign forces to come to its aid.
…
“The fighting will stop when the foreign enemy forces leave the country and Somalis come together for talks,” Aweys added.
“Nothing remains of the puppet Somali government.”

Sheik Aways calls for AMISOM troops to leave Somali country

MOGADISHU ( Sh. M. Network ) – Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, the chairman of the Islamist organization of Hisbul Islam has held a press conference in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday and called for the AU forces AMISOM to leave the country.
…
“The AMISOM troops did not come legally here, in the Somali country. They did not come the acceptance of the Somalia people so that is why we are fighting against them. We are saying to AMISOM; go out, go out and leave from our country,”Sheik Hassan added.
“We have rights and we shall defend it. We shall defend who ever tries to bather our rights. Allah is with us and we shall win,” Sheik Hassan said.

AU peacekeepers to launch Somalia ‘peace radio’

The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will launch a radio station aimed at promoting peace in the conflict-torn Horn of Africa nation, a spokesman told AFP Wednesday.
“The planning for this project began last year. AMISOM, the United Nations and the Somali government are all be involved,” Ugandan army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye.
…
Kulayigye, who did not provide an exact date for the launch, said that while all decisions on programming had not yet been finalised, all broadcasts will be “educational, and will be catered to enhancing peace.”
He said the station would in broadcast English, Somali and Kiswahili.

Somalia and the Potential for a New Round of Foreign Military Intervention

On this day, I learned that the Organisation of the Islamic Conference—in conjunction with Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah of the United Nations—has formally called for a further military intervention, inside the Somali national territory, in order to save the monstrous and traitorous TFG of Somalia. It seems to me that a grand conspiracy has been hatched, by the so-called international community, to re-colonize the Somali national territory.
It can come as no surprise that the faithless senior membership of the hated, and illegitimate, TFG of Somalia have requested the urgent assistance of more foreign soldiers inside the Somali national territory. The so-called TFG of Somalia is an agent of foreign powers, and it exists specifically to facilitate the re-conquest of the Somali national territory by the brutal and corrupt membership of the so-called international community.
This disgraceful scheme, and the self-indulgent actions—on the part of the assorted band of Somali traitors who currently masquerade as the government of the Somali Republic—have occurred just days after the death of the so-called Security Minister of the TFG, the late Col. Cumar Xaashi Aden, in the Somali town of Beletweyn. As deplorable as the circumstances surrounding his death were, one cannot dispute the fact that a senior member of the so-called TFG of Somalia had died in the company of several senior Ethiopian military men.
This single event is symbolic of the problems facing us at this particularly painful time in our national history. How can any person in their right mind believe that the salvation of the Somali nation rests in the hands of the brutal and repressive Ethiopian military machine? Evidently, the late Cumar Xaashi had believed that his Ethiopian military escort would carry him to glory inside Mogadishu itself; little did he realise that he would die, alongside his Ethiopian associates, in the land of his forebears.
Now, there is much evidence to suggest that the complete demise of the monstrous TFG of Somalia is close at hand. With faith, and the will of the Almighty, we shall overcome the shameful antics of the so-called President Shariif Axmed and his cronies inside Villa Somalia. Sooner or later, this ignorant little man shall realise that he has lost the battle that he has been fighting on behalf of his foreign masters: The members of the so-called international community. It is pretty clear that the barbaric soldiers of so-called TFG of Somalia have, in most cases, completely lost the will to fight already. Hence the urgent request, made recently, for more foreign military intervention by the ridiculous Speaker of the so-called Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia.
Currently, inside Somalia, the particularly blood thirsty soldiers of the so-called TFG entity of Somalia are engaged in acts of looting and the shameless extortion of funds from the helpless, and much brutalised, civilians of Southern Somalia. All of these acts of TFG facilitated criminality occur whilst the so-called President, Shariif Axmed, claims to be defending the interests of the Somali people. The time has surely come for all of this madness to end. I call upon all members of the shameful and dishonourable TFG entity to resign their worthless positions, and to leave the Somali national territory for good.
The assorted bandits, currently calling themselves the political elite of the Somali nation, have caused enough suffering as a result of their folly. These ignorant people must call upon their misguided and destructive so-called TFG soldiers to lay down their arms and to join the majority of the Somali nation on the path of the righteous.

Posted by: b real | Jun 24 2009 15:38 utc | 69

tuesday: Government nominates new commander in Gedo region

MOGADISHU (Mareeg)—Somalia’s government has nominated Tuesday new commander to the government troops in Gedo region in south western Somalia, where Islamist rebels control much of the region.
Colonel Ahmed Hassan Farey who is in Dolow town, has been appointed to be the new commander of the government soldiers in Gedo region where they have been mobilizing in recent months.
The new commander is expected to lead operations against the Islamist rebels in some districts of Gedo region.
Farey said he was glad to be nominated the new commander of the government soldiers in Gedo region and will perform his duties.

wednesday: Government soldiers to attack south western towns

DOLOW (Mareeg)—Somali government officials in Dolow town in Gedo region near the border between Ethiopia and Somalia said Wednesday they were planning to launch heavy attack on the rebels’ held south western regions of Bay, Bakol, and Gedo regions.
Adan Elmi Mire, one of the government soldiers in Dolow town said the government soldiers in Dolow were heading to Bay, Bakol, and Gedo regions in south western Somalia where al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam rebels control.
He said that would take control of those regions by force from the Islamist rebels. The Islamists captured the regions from pro government soldiers early this year.
Mr. Adan declined that Ethiopian troops were taking part in the operations against the Islamists but he said Ethiopia and the Somali government had one enemy which he described as “terrorists” that the world should eradicate.

Ethiopian troops allowed in by Somali government – Official

[Presenter] Officials from the Balambal District Administration have said the Ethiopian troops who are present at their district were allowed by the Transitional Somali Government to enter Somalia. Muhammad Bashir Hashi has the details.
[Reporter] Speaking to Radio Shabeelle last night, the chairman of the Balambal District Administration, Hareri Hasan Bare, has said the Ethiopian troops who are present in the district were permitted by the TFG to enter the country. He said the Somali government was aware of their presence in the district.
He said their were signs that the Ethiopian troops were headed deep into Somalia.
The chairman said that the commanders of the Ethiopian forces told them that they were allowed in by the Somali government and were awaiting orders from above.
[Hareri] There is nothing new brother, there are some Ethiopian troops who were there for a while. There are no new troops that arrived. I think they are answering to government’s appeal for assistance and support from the neighbouring countries. Now we have some Ethiopian troops in town and they did not cause any problem to any one. They told us they came here to restore peace and that is all. The government appealed for assistance and hence there are signs that these forces will go deep into Somalia. However, commanders say they have orders to remain there up to the time when they will receive orders from above. And since this is a security issue I cannot give out more details.
There are no changes, these forces are confident that they will enter deep into Somalia since their government and the Somali government agreed on this issues.
[Reporter] Though the chairman said there are signs that the troops were going deep inside Somalia, some Ethiopian officials said they have sent troops to Somalia who are awaiting the international community’s response to the Somali government’s appeal for foreign intervention.

Posted by: b real | Jun 24 2009 18:31 utc | 71

Kibaki meets top security organ over Somalia anarchy

The National Defence and Security Council met under President Kibaki to assess the situation in war-torn Somalia and possible danger it may portend for the country.
Later yesterday, Internal Security Minister George Saitoti repeated the Government’s official position it would neither attack Somalia nor deploy troops across the common border.
But senior field security officers were separately instructed to strengthen vigilance along national boundaries and at border-points. Instructions also trickled to police outposts vetting at border points must be more rigorous.
“We are very vigilant as neighbours and all measures are in place to avoid an overflow of their insecurity into ours,” Prof Saitoti said.
“We have a policy of non-interference and we always hope other countries can reciprocate. This is the same policy we will uphold on Somalia as we do not want Kenyans to go fighting with people in those countries,” he said.
…
The rag-tag militia in Somalia does not pose a threat to Kenya and yesterday’s meeting was seen as crucial in putting in place measures to minimise the knock-on effects of the fighting in the country …

Somali government won’t be toppled: Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Wednesday played down the threat posed by insurgents to Somalia’s government and said he believed President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed would not be toppled.
“Our reading of the situation in Somalia and in Mogadishu, is slightly different from the one of the speaker of the parliament that if there is no foreign military intervention within 24 hours, the TFG (transitional federal government) will collapse,” Meles told reporters.
“Our reading is that the TFG is facing a very difficult situation with Shebab and Hezb al-Islam militias supported by hundreds of jihadists that pose difficult challenges. But we don’t believe they risk to be toppled,” he added.
…
..Meles insisted Sharif’s administration could be saved if the African Union’s peacekeeping mission AMISOM “could be beefed up in terms of troops and mandate and TFG troops reinforced.”
“We support the TFG… but we have no plan to deploy our troops in Somalia for a number of reasons…. We believe the situation could be stabilised without a deployment of Ethiopian troops,” he said.

no mention in the afp rpt of the many accounts of ethiopian troops already being inside somalia.
and still no mention in the msm of ethiopian military officials having been killed in the hotel blast.
following somalia over the past years has been a great way to examine just how poor the msm is. i can only imagine the amt of misinfo, disinfo, lies of omission, and propaganda that goes out every day in coverage of events in other parts of the world. (aside from that pointed out in other moa threads, of course.) it’s bad, ya know.

Posted by: b real | Jun 25 2009 4:40 utc | 73

on the u.n. arms embargo, a reuters article states

“It’s confirmed. They received approval from the U.N. Security Council,” an international security source said.
While the United Nations has had a long-standing arms embargo on Somalia, a May Security Council resolution urged member states to train and equip government security forces — as long as a U.N. embargo monitoring committee had no objections.
Another foreign security source said weapons had come into Somalia for the government via Uganda, which provides half the 4,300 African Union troops protecting key sites in Mogadishu.

another version of that rpt has a slightly different middle paragraph there

“It’s confirmed. They received approval from the U.N. Security Council,” an international security source said.
While there is a U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, the source said the Security Council had agreed to a waiver procedure for the new weapons and ammunition.
Another foreign security source said arms had come into Somalia for the government via Uganda, which provides half the 4,300 African Union troops protecting key sites in Mogadishu.

Posted by: b real | Jun 25 2009 15:34 utc | 75

i’ve already speculated that the ultimate goal of the int’l actors is to entirely eliminate the threat of islamist mvmts in the HOA by pitting them against each other & thus wiping out all factions.
Only a lunatic could come up with that idea, but well, yes, the U.S. government could …
Still – it is so unrealistic to happen that I doubt it.
putting more weapons into everyone’s hands translates into more dead bodies, right?
Not necessarily – usually the smarter folks who can gain population support win.
In general: The numbers of weapons provide only the means, not the capability to win (something the U.S. seems never to learn).

Posted by: b | Jun 25 2009 17:45 utc | 77

I’d been wondering if Gazprom would do something about the flaring. Of course saying don’t make it so. Nigeria has been regulating and promising flaring would stop for the last several years, but nothing has changed. I’m terrified of nuclear power in Nigeria because of the corruption. Regulation of nuclear plants in the US state where I live is less than I would like. And the people who run them are arrogant and overly confident. Their attitude is just trust us, we don’t need regulation. If you add much more eratic regulation and Nigeria’s level of corruption to that, it seems a certain recipe for disaster. I hadn’t thought much about nuclear weapons. But I’ve heard a lot of people remark that the way to keep the big guys from stepping on your toes is to have nuclear weapons. That was one of the lessons a lot of people took away from the Bush years.

Posted by: xcroc | Jun 25 2009 19:41 utc | 79

volman: AFRICOM to continue under Obama

At the beginning of May 2009, President Obama submitted his first budget request to Congress. The Obama administration’s budget for the 2010 financial year proposes significant increases in US security assistance programmes for African countries and for the operations of the new US Africa Command (AFRICOM). This shows that – at least initially – the administration is following the course laid down for AFRICOM by the Bush administration, rather than putting these programmes on hold until it can conduct a serious review of US security policy towards Africa. This article outlines the administration’s plans for Africa in the coming year and the money it intends to spend on military operations on the continent.
FOREIGN MILITARY FINANCING
The Obama administration proposes maintaining or significantly increasing funding for the Foreign Military Financing programme, which provides loans for the sale of weaponry and other military equipment to a number of African countries. The administration’s request raises the total funding for arms sales to Africa from $8.3 million in financial year (FY) 2009 to $25.6 million in FY 2010. The new funding includes funding for arms sales to Chad ($500,000), the Democratic Republic of Congo ($2.5 million), Djibouti ($2.5 million), Ethiopia ($3 million), Kenya ($1 million), Liberia ($9 million), Nigeria ($1.4 million), South Africa ($800,000) and African regional programmes ($2.8 million).
…
NON-PROLIFERATION, ANTI-TERRORISM, DE-MINING AND RELATED PROGRAMMES
The Obama administration proposes to almost double funding for counter-terrorism programmes. These include the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, which provides training to countries throughout the world; the Terrorist Interdiction Program/Personal Identification, Secure Comparison, and Evaluation System Program, which supports identification and watch listing systems to 18 countries (including Kenya); the Counterterrorism Financing Program, which helps partner countries throughout the world stop the flow of money to terrorists; and the Counterterrorism Engagement Program, which is intended to strengthen ties with key political leaders throughout the world and ‘build political will at senior levels in partner nations for shared counterterrorism challenges’.
AFRICOM
The Obama administration’s proposed FY 2010 budget for the Department of Defense requests some $300 million in operation and maintenance funds to cover the cost of AFRICOM operations and Operation Enduring Freedom-Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership operations at the AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. The administration is also requesting $263 million to provide additional personnel, airlift and communications support to AFRICOM. And the budget includes a request for a total of $451 million to replace or upgrade facilities at enduring CENTCOM and AFRICOM locations, but does not provide a separate figure for AFRICOM. According to the budget, the administration intends to carry out significant investment at Camp Lemonier in FY 2010. In addition, the administration is requesting $30 million to pay the annual lease for the 500-acre base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti and $170 million to cover the annual operational budget of the base.
The administration is requesting some $400 million for Global Train and Equip (Section 1206) programmes, some $200 million for Security and Stabilization Assistance (Section 1207) programmes, and some $1 million for the Combatant Commander’s Initiative Fund. This money will be used primarily to pay for emergency training and equipment, the services of personnel from the State Department, and humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi and Afghani armed forces, but it will be available for the use of AFRICOM as well. The administration’s budget request also contains $1.9 billion to buy three Littoral Combat Ships and another $373 million to buy two Joint High Speed Vessels, ships that will play a crucial role in US Navy operations off the coast of Africa. It also includes $44 billion to fund US Navy operations throughout the world – of which a significant proportion will be needed to cover the costs of US Navy operations in African waters – but the budget does not provide enough information to estimate these costs.

and in a section on security policy in somalia

The only other indication we have about the president’s true intentions is provided by his decision to authorise the use of force to rescue the kidnapped captain of the Maersk Alabama in May 2009. When he was a candidate, President Obama declared that he believed that ‘there will be situations that require the United States to work with its partners in Africa to fight terrorism with lethal force.’ But his action during the kidnapping episode show that he is also willing to use military force in situations that have nothing to do with terrorism. According to recent news articles, a debate is currently underway within the administration about the wisdom of direct US military intervention against Somali pirates or against the al-Shabaab insurgents. Top administration officials and military officers are convinced that, in the words of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, ‘there is no purely military solution’ to piracy and political conflict in Somalia. And Johnnie Carson, the president’s new assistant secretary of state for Africa, told the BBC that ‘there would be no case of the US re-engaging on the ground with troops’ in Somalia. But some in the military and a number of prominent neo-conservative leaders contend that the United States must strike back at the pirates and the insurgents to prevent future acts of piracy and terrorism against Americans. It would be a mistake to assume that Obama will not take further military action if the situation in Somalia escalates.

still hard to imagine the u.s. trying to put their own boots on the ground in somalia. for one, it’d be the best recruiting tool for the insurgency one could imagine.
– – –
maxcrat – you were asking about obama’s agenda in africa next month. here’s one take on ghana
What the US wants from Ghana

…
So what can Americans hope to gain from President Obama’s trip to Ghana?
First, this trip offers a very compelling platform for America to reaffirm to a significant mass of the world the triumph of its values of liberal democracy, rule of law and freedom. With the US’s failure to impose these in the Middle East, and China’s irksome demonstration that economic progress can be achieved without them, Ghana helps bolster the US’s argument about the centrality of these values to the development process.
But the decision to embark on this trip was also made on the basis of some tangible and concrete opportunities for America in the region.
Top on the list is the United States’ military and energy security agenda. Before the 9/11 bombing in 2001, conventional thinking in Washington perceived no vital strategic interests for the US in sub-Saharan Africa. But this has changed. Today we can see a significant shift away from America’s traditional geopolitical calculations regarding oil production and supply. The US’s National Intelligence Council (NIC) estimates that by 2015, 25 per cent of American oil imports will come from West Africa, compared to 16 per cent today – an estimate even considered as too conservative in some quarters. Already West Africa supplies as much oil to the US as Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, our oil is light and sweet, making it easier and cheaper to refine than Persian oil. Plus its offshore location reduces transportation costs and minimises risk of political violence and terrorist attacks.
This shift in global energy patterns to the Gulf of Guinea has led to a significant re-evaluation of foreign policy focus and global alliances, resulting in a multi-layered engagement with countries such as Ghana, that encompasses military and energy security, and development aid. This trip is thus at the heart of Washington’s strategy of working with its regional allies in West Africa to develop relationships that will secure its energy security in the long term.
…
But the US is not alone in seeing Africa as a better bet to provide a secure source of energy. There is a new scramble for Africa’s raw materials, especially energy resources, brought on by China’s astonishing industrial growth and its deepening influence in the global economy. It is the second largest consumer of oil in the world behind the United States.

Posted by: b real | Jun 26 2009 4:32 utc | 81

as always, b real thanks – friday night is my africa comments moment

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Jun 26 2009 19:56 utc | 83

commentary @ wardheer news: The Metamorphosis of Sheikh Sharif…….!

Having benefited from the experience and the successful strategy of ‘buy-the-leaders’, and then divide and conquer that they used against the Sunni Resistance in Iraq, the US decided to employ the same strategy against the Somali Islamists. The favorite target of the divide strategy had been Sheikh Sharif, the hero of the Mogadishu Revolution!
Amin Amir, the renowned Somali cartoonist, and one of the most perceptive observers of Somali politics, understood how Sheikh Sharif was being courted, and he underlined that in a famous cartoon that he published right after Mogadishu fell to the invading Tigreans. The said cartoon showed the fighters of the Islamic Courts all drowning, and each and everyone of them hopelessly fighting for survival, except one man, Sheikh Sharif, who was leaving behind the drowning Islamists, and was treading on fine thread, cautiously heading to the safety and to the side of the Americans! The thinness of the thread that Sheikh Sharif was walking on, and the fact that the Americans were holding the thread with one finger suggested the precarious nature of Sheikh Sharif’s position. This was of course a cartoon, but cartoons reflect reality. Whether or not the Sheikh ever paused for a moment, and thought about how he was being courted, targeted, and won over is an open question.
Though he crossed to the safety, Sheikh Sharif continued the struggle, not in the battle field, but in the jungle of politics. Even though the way he became president was somewhat questionable, and the role he played divided the Resistance into two camps, Asmara camp and the Djibouti camp, still Sheikh Sharif’s stature and integrity were largely intact until he became president in Feb. 2009.
…
Unfortunately for Sheikh Sharif, and unfortunately for the Somali people, the hero who had everything going his way squandered everything in just short six months! When Sheikh Sharif started relying for his safety and security on the African Mercenaries in Mogadishu just like Abdullahi Yusuf, and denounced Somali Resistance fighters as Al-Qaida and foreign terrorists just like Abdullahi Yusuf, and allied himself with the notorious Mogadishu warlords just like Abdullahi Yusuf, and threw his lot and loyalty with Ethiopia just like Abdullahi Yusuf, and went one step ahead and gave Somalia’s territorial waters to Kenya UNLIKE Abdullahi Yusuf, and called upon Ethiopia to invade and occupy Somalia just like Abdullahi Yusuf, Somalis were simply shocked and dumbfounded! Are we dealing with Sheikh Sharif, or an imposter operating in his name?
…
..true reconciliation between warring parties is a must! But for the reconciliation to work, foreign interference and influence must be put at bay. We Somalis have shown that we are at our best when we are free of foreign interference, and foreign meddling. The Mogadishu Revolution, one of the most uplifting events in Somali history, in which Somalis, and Somalis alone, have accomplished, in just six months, what we could not achieve in 16 years of foreign help, foreign interference, and foreign conferences is a good example of this. Therefore for the reconciliation to start on the right foot, foreign forces must be sent home.
The biggest obstacle to peace and reconciliation between warring factions is Sheikh Sharif’s strange attachment to the African Mercenaries in Mogadishu, and, by extension, to the masters who sent the mercenaries to Somalia in the first place. For Sheikh Sharif, this is a red-line that he is not willing to cross!
So the nagging question becomes, why on earth is Sheikh Sharif insisting on the presence of African Mercenaries in Mogadishu? This is a critical question, and its answer will shed some light on Sheikh Sharif’s ever shifting priorities. The answer to that important question is this: Sheikh Sharif’s attachment to the African Mercenaries is NOT a matter of necessity, but a matter of loyalty. That is, Sheikh Sharif isn’t worried about that if he sent the mercenaries out, he and his cabinet members, and parliamentarian colleagues will be slaughtered by the Resistance. NO. He is not worried about that, because he knows if he makes a pledge to send the mercenaries out within, say, one month, Mogadishu will be peaceful again, just as it was during the Revolution.
Therefore the subsequent question becomes, if the Sheikh isn’t worried for his safety and for the safety of his colleagues after the mercenaries depart from Mogadishu, what compels him to insist on their presence and makes him so beholden and attached to the African mercenaries?
The answer is that Sheikh Sharif knows if he kicks the African Mercenaries out, he will anger Addis Ababa and Washington! And therefore he doesn’t want to offend the sensibilities of those who put him in the office that he is holding today. In other words, for the Sheikh, the issue is a matter of loyalty. That is, a loyalty to Addis Ababa and Washington!
Differently put, Sheikh Sharif’s priorities have shifted so drastically and so dramatically that, to him, whatever will please Addis Ababa and Washington is a top priority! And anything that may anger them is a red-line that he is not willing to cross!
…
For all the divisions he created, and the many blunders he made in just few months, Sheikh Sharif, once a hero, is now a damaged goods! His stature shrunk so low. And he has very little credibility left. The best option for the Sheikh and for the country would be for him to resign and leave office. But unless he starts listening to sincere counsel from anyone willing to offer, all the indications are the Sheikh will continue treading on the path of self-and-national destruction!

Posted by: b real | Jun 27 2009 5:09 utc | 85

from friday’s state dept daily press briefing

MR. CROWLEY: Good afternoon. I’m sorry for the delay, but we thought it was useful not to step on the President of the United States. To begin, a couple of announcements. …
Yesterday, a number of you had interest in the situation in Somalia, so we thought we would bring a senior State Department official down at 4:15 to give you a background briefing on the current situation there.
QUESTION: Why can’t you do it on the record?
MR. CROWLEY: We’re going to do a background briefing. You have your choice: You can choose to attend or not.
QUESTION: I’m just asking why – why —
MR. CROWLEY: We’re going to give you a background briefing. That’s what we’re offering you.

Background Briefing on U.S. Assistance to the Somalia Transitional Federal Government by an anonymous senior dept official

QUESTION: How recent was this decision, and how recently have they been supplied arms, ammunition, and has the training already started?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Well, we have been supporting the efforts of the Ugandan and Burundian forces since they went into Somalia nearly two years ago. And we have been providing support to the TFG more recently as their situation has become more —
QUESTION: How recently?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: — become much more —
QUESTION: How recently?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Within the last year.
QUESTION: But it’s the last couple months, the arms, right? The arms —
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes. Yes, the arms are —
QUESTION: — for the last couple of weeks?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The arms are very new, but we’ve been providing support for some time.
QUESTION: Is this —
QUESTION: What kind of weapons are they, just to be simple? What kind of weaponry is it? What kind of ammunitions?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We’re talking about – we’re talking about small arms. And we’re —
QUESTION: And are these —
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: — small arms and limited munitions. This is not artillery pieces or armored vehicles or tanks. These are small arms.
QUESTION: And these are —
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: These are weapons that would be used in an urban environment, fighting a counter-guerilla insurgency.
QUESTION: Is this —
QUESTION: I’m sorry; can I just finish up with this? Are they American weapons, or are you essentially providing the funds and then they’re purchased elsewhere?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We’re essentially doing two things: We have provided funds for the purchase of weapons; and we have also asked the two units that are there, particularly the Ugandans, to provide weapons to the TFG, and we have backfilled the Ugandans for what they have provided to the TFG government.
…
QUESTION: Can I clarify something about the arms? You said you’re providing the funds for purchase of weapons. That’s going directly to the TFG? Is that what you’re saying when you say you’re backfilling the Ugandans?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: That’s right.
QUESTION: Is that with money or is that with American arms?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: What we have sought to do is to do – as I said, to provide the TFG with resources to buy munitions and arms. And we have – and to pay for some of their training needs. And we have gone to the Ugandans when the TFG has run short of weapons and ammunition and have told the Ugandans to provide what the TFG needs. When the Ugandans provide those weapons, they give us a bill and an accounting for what they have turned over, and we then give them the money to replace the stores and the arms that they have –that they’ve (inaudible).
QUESTION: Can you quantify that at all?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No, I do not want to quantify at this point.
QUESTION: Can you give us a sense of the magnitude of it, the scope of this?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We’ve shipped probably in the neighborhood of 40 tons worth of arms and munitions into Somalia in support of the TFG.
QUESTION: And is it ongoing? I mean, is this – this is going to continue, I mean, right? But so far —
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes. Yes.
QUESTION: And that’s since when?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: This has been within the last two months.
…
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: And let me just say, I will say within the last six weeks – certainly within – to be more precise, because the al-Shabaab started a major assault on the TFG around the 7th of May, and our assistance has substantially increased as a result of the (inaudible.)
QUESTION: And it was a direct result of that that prompted your decision to —
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We felt that it was important to respond to the TFG request and the calls for support that were coming from the region and the concerns that the region had.
QUESTION: Can I just – on the arms, just as a ballpark figure, are we talking about a couple of million dollars or are we talking about under a million dollars? Are we talking about upwards of –
QUESTION: Are we talking about tens of millions of dollars?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No, we’re talking in the terms of the low millions. We’re not talking –
QUESTION: Single digits?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We’re going to get – start parsing this. We’re not talking about $100 million, we’re not talking about $75 million, we’re not talking about $50 million, and we’re not talking about $25 million. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: No, I just don’t understand what the reluctance is if you’re talking about – you know, if you’re acknowledging sending in arms, you know, whether it’s –
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I mean, at this point, it’s certainly under $10 million.
…
QUESTION: Training.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Training. We have set aside money to help train the TFG. The Ugandans have done some training. The Burundians have done some training of TFG elements. And the Kenyans are also prepared to provide training. And we have and will assist in the payment for that training when it can be done in places that are close by or when they can be done inside of the country.
QUESTION: Are you providing logistical support?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We are not providing any logistical support to the TFG, but we have, in fact, provided logistical support to move the Burundians and the Ugandans in and outside of Mogadishu. And we have assisted them from the very beginning in their efforts to provide support to the TFG.
…
QUESTION: The first is who decided to provide the arms and training? Was that Secretary Clinton or the President?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: It was a national decision.
QUESTION: We had in our story it was made at the highest level, so I would assume that means the President.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah, the – it was a national decision.
QUESTION: Why can’t you say —
QUESTION: It was not the President?
QUESTION: Why can’t you say who that is, it’s expenditure of American taxpayer funds? It’s not a covert act.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah, no, the – no, no, it’s not. And it’s – and the Secretary and the NSC agreed to this, yes.
QUESTION: And she has the authority; it doesn’t have to be presidential authority; the authority has been delegated to her to —
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes, and we have been – as I said, we have been supporting the Djibouti process. We have supported for the last nearly two years the Ugandans and the Burundians as they have been on the ground defending the TFG leadership, defending the parliament, defending the presidential palace, defending the main port, and defending of the main airport. And the extension of funding directly to the TFG is consistent with our efforts and support to help the TFG as much as possible to gain stability in the region.
QUESTION: And if I could just clarify – it’s a simple question. The training is not being done by U.S. —
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No, there’s – let me just —
QUESTION: — police or contractors or military or anything?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Let me be clear. There are no U.S. active duty or reserve military forces in Somalia, operating in Somalia, or acting on behalf of this.
QUESTION: Are they doing it in neighboring – are they doing it in neighboring countries?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No, no.
QUESTION: And does Djibouti have a role in training?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes, they have assisted from time to time, but we —
QUESTION: In what respect?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: But I can’t – I don’t know the details, precisely what they’ve been doing, but no – this is not been regular U.S. military forces engaged and involved in this.

shame nobody had the foresight to raise the question of the munitions onboard the doomed russian transport that sank to the bottom of lake victoria in early march.
the briefer didn’t want to give up too much information, but there were some things to take away from the answers
anyway, sure sounds to me like the arms embargo was being violated
on the tales of al qai’dah, the anon official confirms that it’s really only the same two suspects they’ve been supposedly searching for for years now

QUESTION: .. how concerned were you – are you or were you that al-Shabaab was on the verge of completely taking over Mogadishu and about fears that – I mean, I think Panetta made some comments this week that about fears that al-Qaida could be the next safe haven, that it could be the next safe haven for al-Qaida.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I haven’t seen Director Panetta’s statement, but let me say that we remain concerned about the prospects of an al-Shabaab victory, and we want to do as much as we can to help the TFG, the AMISOM forces, and the countries in the region to deal with a threat that impacts Somalia, the region, and the international community. We think that it’s important that the TFG be given an opportunity to establish stability and peace in the south and be able to deliver services to the people there.
A government run by al-Shabaab would be a government that would likely generate greater instability in the country, carrying out more of the atrocities and human rights violations, and would probably contribute to the continued instability and concerns that we have about providing a safe haven for global terrorists like Fazul Harun and Ali Nabhan, who were responsible for the 2002 bombings.
…
MR. KELLY: Libby, you have the last question.
QUESTION: Yeah, just to follow up on Elise’s question about al-Qaida, what can you tell us about – you mentioned there’s a, you know, a small number of individuals that have safe haven in Somalia. But how concerned are you about al-Qaida having a footprint there and their setting their sights on Somalia, especially if the U.S. forces in Afghanistan do have more success driving them out?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah, don’t question it. It remains an important concern of the U.S. Government. The most important concern, however, is to be able to capture the individuals who were involved in terrorist acts in 2002 and in 1998. We do not want to see Somalia become a safe haven for foreign terrorists, and we believe that one of the best ways to prevent that is to help the TFG establish itself as a strong, legitimate government capable of enforcing its laws, protecting its borders, and arresting individuals who are working against them as well as against us and others in the international community.
The best way to do that is to help create a more viable Somali state which is not a threat to its people and not a threat to its neighbors, not a threat to international shipping, and not a threat to us in terms of harboring terrorists.
QUESTION: Would you say that —
QUESTION: Are they really moving over from Afghanistan and Pakistan?
MR. KELLY: I think that Mr. Senior Administration Official is just about —
QUESTION: But are they already (inaudible) over?
QUESTION: Well, this actually – I mean, this is an important point. I mean, do you – there was some – during the Bush Administration, there was talk about –an effort to kind of engage the Islamicists. I mean, is that over? Have you completely given up on talking to al-Shabaab and trying to form some kind of accommodation? I mean, even though you’re giving these guys ammo and you’ve been doing – you’ve been supporting them for two years, they don’t seem to be able to kind of consolidate their power. So I mean, is there any kind of accommodation to be made?
QUESTION: Is there any hope for a reconciliation there?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Well, we continue to encourage the government of Sheikh Sharif to reach out to all moderate Islamic and Muslim forces in the area to establish an inclusive government that involves the clans and various regional leaders; all of those who are not intent upon carrying out extremist acts or terrorist attacks —
QUESTION: But not al-Shabaab?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We have – if there are individuals in Shabaab who are not committed to extremism and are prepared to accept an inclusive and moderate government, then we would say – speak to them. But to those Shabaab elements who are extremists, the answer would be no.
MR. KELLY: Okay. Thank you.
QUESTION: It sounds a plan to talk to Hamas.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No, no, no.

Posted by: b real | Jun 27 2009 6:24 utc | 87

xcroc – thanks for the context. and i’m embarrassed to say that i failed to put two & two together – i remember now your post but didn’t associated it w/ the pambazuka version.
i guess we’ll have a better idea how mills stands wrt AFRICOM very soon, but if backroom deals were already made b/w kufuor & the u.s. & ‘the process has already started’, i’d imagine that the prospects for the new ruling party of being able to back out of the core agreements, if that is even what mills would desire, are not in their favor, so long as these things are kept hidden from the public. will be interesting to watch how these events proceed during obama’s visit.

Posted by: b real | Jun 28 2009 5:10 utc | 89

Ethiopian troops reach in southern region

NAIROBI (Mareeg)—More Ethiopian troops with armored vehicles and Somali militias have reportedly reached in Bakol region in south western Somalia, witnesses said on Saturday.
Residents said the Ethiopian troops started operations and troop movement in Yeed village in Bakol region where they reached on Saturday.
The people in Bakol region have expressed concern about the Ethiopian troops who reached in the region.
…
The Ethiopian troops are now in Kalaber junction in Hiraan region in central Somalia and they have also made operations in Elberde town in Bakol region days ago.

Posted by: b real | Jun 28 2009 6:42 utc | 91

the USA govt is being played by the Ghanaian govt. There’s very little support amongst Ghanaian’s for an American base.
this is a major disservice to the American peeps. How many more African countries are going to say no before the USA govt gets it.
and what does Obama want ? If he pushes Africom on Africa, he loses all cred in Africa. He would lose all cred in Africa faster than any Western leader in history, including Maggie Thatcher.

Posted by: jony_b_cool | Jun 28 2009 22:20 utc | 93

@ 93
Too right!
As Nana Akyea Mensah put it:

We had an interesting discussion on Ghanaweb yesterday, and as usual an overwhelming consensus was a clear and mighty “NO TO AFRICOM!”
Obama cannot change that because we are used to black faces and 419 scams. Trust is good but control is necessary!
We do not even want Obama to say that it is up to us to decide whether we like AFRICOM or not! It is an automatic NO! And if that is what he wants from us, I want to make it very clear that he can go to any hell of his own choice!

Posted by: xcroc | Jul 2 2009 14:40 utc | 95