ARTA TERROR CELL
SHASNA MediaWatch
BOSTON, MA
[September 21, 2001]
Week-in-Review
SHASNA MediaWatch department follows news analysis, commentaries, trends, news reports and press releases of the week. We pay special attention to Somali news in general, and to Arab financed and UN supported ‘ARTA TERROR CELL’ in particular. We analyze, digest and separate facts from fiction. With so many news outlets and so many groups, each one vying for your attention, we will try our very best to fairly analyze what you have read or missed reading.
New York, USA
America has been the victim of a well-planned and flawlessly executed terrorist act. This act has been committed on the name of Islam; and not all Muslims are guilty of the crimes of a few. These acts are neither illustrative of the tolerance of Islam at its apogee nor at its present status, and are not the least bit a reflection of the acts, poetry and love of the Islam of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, one of the most widely read poets in the USA, a great spiritual master and a poetical genius. This attack was an attack on all of us; Islam condemns it; and all peace loving people throughout the world condemn it. Somalis who are hostages and daily victims of these terrorist acts condemn it. And let us all remember that terrorism is a political act for the purposes of achieving political ends and objectives.
And being in the initial face of this search and rescue mission, it is worthwhile, as Charles R. Stith, former US ambassador to Tanzania, and currently the Director of the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University, to revisit the initial phases of this terror strategy. On Sept. 16, 2001, Boston Globe, Rev. Stith writes: " What I came to appreciate was that what happened in Nairobi, Dar es Salam, and what was slated to happen in Kampala was not simply an act of terrorism. Those assaults in Africa were not meant simply to ‘get our attention’ in the United States or chip away at our sense of invincibility. It was an act of war on a global scale. While Africa certainly might not be considered the first theater in the persecution of this world war [emphasis added], the Dar-Nairobi offensive signaled that our enemies were prepared to fight us wherever they perceived us to have a presence or an interest."
We beg to differ with the former ambassador. Certainly Africa, and most definitely East Africa, is the first theater in the persecution of this world war. As a matter of fact, Somalia, as far back as 1992, has shown clear signs of the plans and strengths of these terror cells.
In 1992, Col. Abdullahi Yusuf’s SSDF (the current embattled Puntland President) and his regional administration have dismantled the Al-Itihad forces from the Somali Northeast region. In a surprise comeback, these same Al-Itihad forces, together with the U.N. created and supported Arta Faction, in a brilliantly and flawlessly executed strategy, have taken their revenge and dislodged him out of the Puntland cities of Boosaaso and Garoowe. For now, the war games continue and the guns remain silent in Puntland.
In 1993, During Gen. Aideed’s terror reign in Somalia, their terror campaign was a bit clearer to the rest of the world. Following is a text of an interview with Rolland Marshal, researcher at the National Scientific Research Centre, and a Horn of Africa specialist, by Radio France Internationale on September 18, 2001, as monitored by the BBC Monitoring Service:
Ronald Marshal: "On some occasions, foreign Islamic activists took part in activities such as military training. We have at least two strong obvious facts [emphasis added] to prove this. One was during what was called the war against Gen. Aydid in 1993. …There was a small Islamist component, not necessarily Somalis, which provided equipment and training.
Marshal Continues: "The other fact, which is also very true, is that of 1996, when the Ethiopians raided the region of Gedo and dismantled one or maybe two to three training camps. A number of foreigners, essentially Sudanese but also Pakistanis, were arrested in those camps. There have also been a lot of rumors that Usamah Bin-Ladin was in Somalia."
And Mr. Marshall continues that "Given the current situation, one should add that within the government [Mogadishu TNG] born of the (?Arta process), we have a number of people who have been all the way to (?Arta), and who are very close to those tendencies."
As is clear from the above, it is given that a reasonable person should conclude and therefore at the same time ask the following questions: (a) There is quite a presence of these terror cells in Somalia (b) There is a relationship between the Arta born Mogadishu TNG and these cells, and therefore (c) Why does the UN, which is supported and funded by American taxpayers to the tune of over 30% of the UN budget, fund and support sympathizers and members of these terrorist cells?
In Somalia, these associations are not mere accusations but factual realities. As we have, in numerous times, written on these pages, the keen reader should also note that besides the UN, the Arta Faction is supported by none other than such paragons of democracy and virtue as Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan. What a coincidence!
Another fact is the bonding of these cells and the Arta TNG throughout Somalia. Even though most Somalis are divided along clan lines, these terror cells, previously dispersed and dismantled either by Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed or the Ethiopian army, are amazingly all of a sudden well organized and united behind Mr. Abdiqasim Salad Hassan’s new cell, the Somali TNG. Prior to Mr. Hassan’s arrival in Mogadishu as the head of the TNG, these cells were well established. From Mogadishu to Marka to Gedo, they had well trained and well fed army, so-called Islamic courts, and of course an independent leader for each cell. Now, with the help of the UN, and that all seem to be bearing fruit, these cells are all getting united behind Mr. Hassan’s TNG. And of course, the U.N. political officers, IRIN organization and the U.N.’s Somali Aid Coordination Body (SACB) based in Nairobi and headed by Mr. Randolph Kent recognize them as "rehabilitated" government police forces or TNG allied militias. On July 11, 2001, the international medical organization (MFS) recognized this trend and has totally withdrawn from the SACB for its lack of "neutrality and impartiality" in the Somali conflict. With this kind of help and entrenched interests, these terror cells began devising coup d’etats to dismantle the peaceful and developing regional administrations or to at least severely disrupt them. And to some extent, they have succeeded. And yet, there is no word from the U.N. or American intelligence community. Has the U.N. and the world community, again, failed Somalia?
Also, and now unsurprisingly, every time Ethiopia or the regional administrations have tried to weed out these cells, Mr. Hassan’s TNG and the UN political officers accused Ethiopia of invading certain Somali regions and disrupting Somali peace process. Now, we know better! There was never a Somali peace process, but a process to turn Somalia from Somalis and into yet another Afghanistan and into another terror cell!
Now that we have witnessed what may be is the worst of the terror campaigns; when Mr. Bush meets the Head of the UN, H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan, we urge W to ask him the following questions:
(a) What does the U.N. know about these cells in Somalia and to what extent, besides providing advice and militia boots, does the U.N.’s UNDP, U.N.’s SACB and the U.N.’s political officers engage, help and fund these terror cells?
(b) Why does the U.N.’s IRIN information agency discredit the regional authorities, initiate hostilities between Somalia and Ethiopia, and at the same time blindly supports Mr. Hassan’s TNG and their terror cells? To what extent do the U.N.’s political officers get involved the current disruptions in the Northern Recovery Zones?
(c) What do the U.N.’s security agencies know about the Islamic Army of Aden [Yemen], which took credit for the bombing of USS Cole, and which has been reported to have delivered weapons and ammunition to the TNG and the so-called Islamic Courts in Merka and Mogadishu associated with the TNG, and about three weeks ago, two boatloads full of ammunition and weapons to Boosaaso, the newest base of the cell?
We wish Mr. Kofi Annan good luck; and we advise Mr. Kieran Prendergast and his lieutenants to be ready with some serious and credible answers. We hope they will all be under oath.
We also wish, hope and trust that every government that supports these terror cells will be "stopped and defeated." And by gosh, Somalis everywhere will see to it that Mogadishu’s TNG terror cell will belong to "history’s unmarked graveyards of discarded lies."
We, the world watches and waits!
Durban, South Africa
Secretary of State Colin Powell pulled the U.S. of out of the U.N.’s farce in Durban. While we all agree that racism is bad and abhorrent, it is another matter for racist bigots, more interested in advancing their own agenda, to sit in judgment of others.
But more worrisome is the continued incompetence of the U.N., where each member is interested to advance a certain agenda and harm others in the process. One glaring example we often mention is the expulsion of the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission and replacing it with Sudan.
Michael Elliot of Time, Global Agenda, The Disgrace in Durban, September 17, 2001, wrote: " The conference was a disgrace. It was a disgrace in conception - in the very idea that a few days of talk could lead to any useful action directed against a scourge that diminishes the lives of millions - and it was a disgrace in execution. The only good thing that might conceivably come out of the conference is a determination by governments and the Secretariat of the U.N. that something so ill advised, so poorly prepared, so intellectually bankrupt and so easily hijacked by special pleading must never be allowed to happen again."
Dear Mr. Elliott: We hope so, but don’t cross your fingers. The Somali people had it worse. About a little more than a year ago, under the guise of peace process and nation building, the U.N. convened a conference in one of Africa’s tinniest and most corrupted city-state; a conference solely attended by the same officials that got Somalia where it is today, a conference led by Somalia’s most notorious military chiefs and Ministers under the previous Siyad Barre military dictatorship regime. And bingo, we had since been blessed with the first-ever imported Somali government appointed by the U.N. and Djibouti handpicked conference delegates. Since inception, the TNG has been harbored and sustained by donated funds from certain Arab countries. Those funds had been used by the TNG and their terror cells to recruit and expand their bases, disrupt whatever little peace that existed in Somalia, and terrorize innocent Somali civilians. Today, that self-styled and imported government turns out to be yet another cell of the many Middle East dominated terror cells. Go figure!
Asides
New York- Some time soon, members of the Security Council will receive a "comprehensive report of the Secretary-General" on the Somali situation. This report will be prepared by none other than Sir Kieran Prendergast’s political officers in Nairobi, namely " Aid-Lords" Mr. David Stephens and Mr. Randolph Kent. Will the fairy tale continue and Mogadishu’s TNG terror cell be given U.N. recognition or will another Somali Peace conference be convened?
And, will the fairy tale continue and Mr. Kofi Annan accept the recommendations of Mogadishu’s TNG and accept a new TNG permanent representative to the U.N. post, a Mr. Galaydh cousin and crony, and a "mouthpiece" and representative of the new and improved TNG terror cell? Or will Miss Fatun Mohamed Hassan, the predominant choice for all Somalis, the regional authorities and the SRRC, stay on as Somalia’s permanent representative? The world watches and waits!
We hope H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan agrees with Miss Fatun Hassan and as Miss Fatun has pleaded, we trust "The United Nations does not accept the TNG’s nominee to represent Somalia at the United Nations, since the TNG representative will only become a mouthpiece for the TNG [and terror cells all over the world]. In addition, a TNG representative at the United Nations will further complicate an already volatile situation; thereby, making reconciliation and the achievement of peace much more difficult than anytime before."
The Hague - The war criminals who directed Siad Barre’s war against all Somalis, and headed by none other than Mr. AbdiQasim Salad Hassan, related terror cells and certain entourage in Hotel Ramadan, are also today directing other crimes against humanity: the massacres of Baraawe and Kismayo; and the torching of Garasweyne, Hejmacood and Kuunyo-Barrow villages and where most of the resident were either massacred or chased away by the terror cells (Islamic court militias) and sub-clan militias. We hope the UN and their highly regarded political officers pay close attention to these devastating wars and heinous crimes against humanity committed by the Arta sub-clan. These men in Hotel Ramadan and many others, members of the UN pet project, got us where we are today. The UN should not only pay lip service to human rights abuses, but also should lead the way and show some action. Unless of course, as always, crimes against the Blackman and Africans in particular are not considered real crimes! We sincerely hope it ain’t so.
Mogadishu - In this devastated city, competed by clans, sub-clans and religious zealots, you have tabloid journalists and real journalists. One such brilliant and brave journalist is Mohamed M. Ali of Midnimo.com (www.midnimo.com) and Editor of Panorama weekly newsletter in Mogadishu. Mohamed has been chronicling Mogadishu’s TNG since inception and arrival in Mogadishu, and has also extensively reported about their associations with the Middle East terror cells. Unfortunately, because of his writing, reports and exposés, Mr. M.M. Ali’s life has been seriously threatened. We urge all organizations and individuals capable of helping Mr. M.M. Ali to extend a helping hand. We also urge the TNG’s sub-clan and so-called Islamic court militias to refrain from intimidations and take downs of innocent lives.
IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a misnomer, should be appropriately renamed the UN Office for the Coordination of instability in East Africa! We still await their humanitarian reports dealing with the sad humanitarian affairs in Somalia! When was the last IRIN-East Africa report that dealt with the massacres, depredation, looting, uprooting, rape and torture of Baraawe, Marka and Kismayo city residents? Time will tell if the UN’s IRIN organization is witting or unwitting collaborator of Mogadishu’s TNG terror cell!
Of course, kudos to your last report about the despicable economic conditions in Djibouti, but the real threat is in politics and the injustices committed by the ruling Djibouti elite. We eagerly await your reports; we hope that next time you will try a little bit harder!
BBC Somali Section - The sub-clan militia and so called Islamic court radio broadcasters at the BBC Somali Section and their reporters in Mogadishu are in full alert! Warning: don’t believe their news reports, as always, it is an outlet for the sub-clan and other associated militia fantasies. By the way, if and when they do, did anyone ever wonder how IRIN and the BBC Somali Section choose their sources?
We trust that Her Majesty will soon inquire if they BBC Somali Section is a witting or unwitting supporter and collaborator of the Middle East terror cells based in Mogadishu!
TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS AND CONCERNED SOMALIS:
Thank you very much for your support in the ARENA OF IDEAS in these trying times. The true and tested hard working and devoted Somalis need leadership and unbiased information. We will try our very best to provide that. To other Somalis on the fence: the days of one clan forcefully dominating the other are over. If each one of us doesn’t clean his/her own house, nobody will clean it for us! For all the young men and women: don’t waste your time in this clan rubbish. Stay in school; we may need you someday. For the few who disagree, please be specific in where we err, if we do at all!
SHASNA* Editorial Board
cc: SHASNA Members
*SHASNA is an advocacy group based in Boston, Massachusetts. It stands for the unity and peaceful coexistence of Somali people. It supports the creation of a federal system of governance to safeguard the emerging free markets of the Recovery Zones. SHASNA encourages corporate and individual investments in the Recovery Zones. It has presences in both Puntland (Boosaaso, Garoowe, Buurtinle, Bacaadweyn and Galkayo) and Somaliland (Hergeysa, Berbera and Burco).
Copyright © 2001 By Qandala.
Khadar Jacfar2001-09-24