FIVE Somali Members of Parliament were yesterday arrested in Nairobi over allegations that they were linked to the fallen Islamist movement.
The five were arrested by a combined team of Immigration officials, National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) officers and Administration Policemen from a hotel in Eastleigh where they had been hiding.
According to sources, the five were arrested on suspicion that they have close links with the vanquished Islamic Courts Union which has been fighting the Transitional Federal Government of President Abdullahi Yusuf over the control of Somalia.
The legislators were arrested following their call on Thursday that the Ethiopian troops pull out of their country immediately.
“We want to know if they are here lawfully and if not so, they can be deported any time. Kenya cannot be used as a ground for waging war,” said a senior official.
It was not clear where the five were taken to after the arrest although an officer who participated in the arrest told the Kenya Times that the five have been linked to recent threats calling for withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia.
Sources further disclosed that the five are part of the 26 legislators from Somalia who are targeted for investigations over their immigration status and alleged involvement with the routed Islamic movement.
The arrest in Nairobi yesterday came as Internal Security Minister John Michuki said the government would not tolerate refugees who are linked to terrorism.
Speaking in Malindi where he visited flood hit areas with an Assistant Minister Lucas Maitha, Michuki said the government had beefed up security at the Kenya-Somalia border to block terrorist elements from gaining entry into the country.
He said intelligence reports had indicated that one of the refugees arrested at the border a few days ago had links with Al-Qaeda terrorism network and refuted claims that Kenyan authorities were unfairly turning away refugees.
But as Michuki spoke, Western and African diplomats meeting under the banner of International Contact Group on Somalia met in Nairobi yesterday and endorsed a decision to deploy regional peacekeepers in the war ravaged Somalia.
However, Foreign Affairs Minister Raphael Tuju said Kenya would not contribute troops to the war-torn Somalia where Ethiopian-backed government forces have routed a rival Islamist movement in a two-week war. The international contact group endorsed a decision to send more than 8,000 peacekeepers to Somalia.
But back in Nairobi, opposition leaders condemned the government decision to close the border to refugees saying the action had “contravened international agreements and conventions on human rights.
”
Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-K) leaders led by Secretary-General Professor Anyang’ Nyong’o accused Tuju of failing to respect UN laws and the Geneva Convention on Human Rights of asylum seekers and refugees.
Prof. Nyong’o who was flanked by MPs Otieno Kajwang’, Erick Nyamunga, Adhu Awiti and Odhiambo said the government must immediately reverse its stand on the closure of the border and allow genuine refugees particularly women and children to gain entrance into the country.
At Windsor Hotel, the International Contact Group which comprises of the United States and European nations held a six-hour closed-door talks where they reaffirmed their support for President Yusuf and his determination to kick out the resurgence of ICU and warlodism.
President Yusuf, whose government has called for immediate military help, attended the meeting alongside United Nations Security Council officials, African Union officials and Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) representatives led by Kenyan officials.
A communique read by Tuju after the meeting said the contact group was ready to provide immediate support for the stabilisation process in Somalia under the guidelines of United Nations Security Council Resolutions contained in chapter 1725.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer who attended the talks said the international community was willing to support and promote reconciliation in the Horn of Africa nation, but called on President Yusuf’s government to reach out to other groups by embracing dialogue.
“The Contact Group believes that if international support is to be effective, it is essential that an inclusive process of political dialogue and reconciliation embracing representatives from clan, religious, business, civil society, women’s and other political groups who reject violence and extremism, be launched without delay,” said Tuju
The Contact Group welcomed Uganda’s offer to deploy forces to Somalia as part of the stabilisation process with Tuju who responded to questions indicating that it would be difficult to mobilise other African nations to make similar contributions.
Although yesterday talks did not give a definite date when the peacekeepers could be deployed, Uganda had on Thursday indicated that it was ready to send several hundred troops to Somalia once parliament approved the move.
The Contact Group resolved that President Yusuf’s government develops security structures within Somalia including the establishment of a civilian police force to maintain law and order as a long-term priority of the stabilisation process.
Yesterday talks centred on continued provision of humanitarian assistance to affected Somalis and officials present urged the international community to provide immediate and concrete assistance for transitional federal institutions as a way of strengthening institutions of governance as well as security.
Dr. Frazer supported the role played by the Ethiopian-backed government forces in protecting President Yusuf’s government against the Islamist movement and said the immediate deployment of more regional peacekeepers would assist in restoring peace and security.
We can not allow a vacuum of security in Somalia now, but immediate deployment of peacekeepers would play a significant role in stabilisation process,” said Dr. Frazer.
Al-Qaeda No.
2 urges Somalia's Islamists to fight 'crusaders'
The recording came as Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops prepared to launch a major assault on the last stronghold of Somalia's Islamic militias, while the U.S. Navy deployed off the coast to keep al-Qaeda and allied militants from escaping the war-wrecked country.
The militia, which has been driven from the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the south, have vowed to launch a guerrilla war as part of a bloody reprisal.
"I call upon the Muslim nation in Somalia to remain in the new battlefield that is one of the crusader battlefields that are being launched by America and its allies and the United Nations against Islam and Muslims," Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahri said in the audiotape.
"Launch ambushes, land mines, raids and suicidal combats until you consume them as the lions and eat their prey," the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri said.
He also urged Muslims in other Mideast and African countries to support the Islamists battling the troops from Ethiopia, a country with a large Christian population.
The recording, which was more than five minutes long, could not immediately be verified but was aired on a website frequently used by militants. It carried the logo of al-Qaeda's media production wing, as-Sahab.
It was the first recording by al-Zawahri this year and his third in less than a month.
In an audiotape released last week, al-Qaeda's No. 2 encouraged Islamic militants in Somalia to "be firm in defense of the honor of Islam.
" Last year, bin Laden also identified Somalia as a battleground in his war with the West.
al-Qaeda has increasingly discussed Africa in messages released over the past year. In an April videotape, Osama bin Laden called on Islamic militants to battle any Western troops deploying in the war-torn Darfur region of Western Sudan.
Bin Laden was based in Sudan during the 1990s until the government ousted him briefly before a U.S. airstrike on a Sudanese factory in retaliation for the 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of the U.
S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Ben Venzke, head of the U.
S.-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications, said these recordings indicate an increased al-Qaeda emphasis on Muslim Africa.
"This is a clear indication of their priorities and focus," Venzke said.
"They are preparing way in advance. ..
. And it just shows that their sense of timing and planning is very different than American sensibilities," he said. "They are not going to tell you date and time of an attack, but they do consistently tell you what their focus is on.
"
The United States and others have expressed concern about al-Qaeda's growing influence in Somalia. Three al-Qaeda suspects wanted in the East African U.S.
embassies bombings are believed to be leaders of the Islamic movement in Somalia. The Islamists deny having any links to terror networks.
A senior U.
S. State Department official has said that al-Qaeda militants were operating with "great comfort" in Somalia. Jendayi Frazer, who heads the department's Africa bureau, said a top U.
S. goal is to capture the three militants wanted for the 1998 embassy bombings and a 2002 attack against a hotel in Kenya.
Ismael Mohamoud Hurreh, a member of Somalia's transitional government, also warned that many senior al-Qaeda figures who spent time in Sudan or Somalia in the 1980s and 1990s aimed to return and establish Somalia as a base.
In Friday's recording, al-Zawahri told the Somali militias not to be intimidated by the United States, saying America's struggle with insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq have paved the way for the militants' victory. He also reminded the guerrillas that the U.S.
and United Nations previously were defeated in Somalia.
A U.N.
peacekeeping force, including U.S. troops, deployed in Somalia in 1992 but the experiment in nation-building ended the next year when fighters loyal to a Somalian clan leader shot down two U.
S. Army Black Hawk helicopters and battled American troops, killing 18 servicemen.
"My brother Muslims in Somalia, don't be traumatized by America's force because you have defeated it previously with the support of Allah, and it is weaker today than before," al-Zawahri said in the audiotape.
Rita Katz, director and co-founder of the SITE Institute, an independent group that provides counterterrorism information to the U.S. government, said the recording showed that the battle in Somalia and situation in other African countries increasingly mattered to the mostly Arab terror group.
"All these places mean a lot to al-Qaeda," she said. "It's very important for them to rise up and revive al-Qaeda's footsteps in these countries."
Somalia President, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed , and President Mwai Kibaki in Mombasa on Tuesday.
File picture
It took only 10 days to expel the feared Islamic Courts Union fighters from most of Somalia.
Backed by the Ethiopian army, Somalia's interim Government attacked the Islamists who had declared a jihad (holy war) against Ethiopia three weeks ago. The Islamists abandoned their base in Mogadishu.
The easy defeat raises questions as to whether the militia are on a tactical retreat or a run for their dear life. The Islamists, whose ultimate weapon is faith, have no organised army. They depend on inexperienced young recruits thus they were no match for the highly trained and well-equipped Ethiopians.
The US, which has a naval base in neighbouring Djibouti, is thought to support the Ethiopian attack but the Councillor for Political Affairs in Nairobi, Mr Larry E. Andre Jr, said the embassy would not comment on the issue for now.
It is unlikely that the fleeing forces will be able to regroup, for several reasons.
First, they have been unable to get refuge in neighbouring countries, including Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and the Gulf of Aden. There is no escape route for the Islamists.
Within the country's borders Somalis are divided along clan lines.
The clans have, since 1991, been fighting for self-preservation more than to protect religious, social or political ideals. The conflict is not sectarian in nature. A majority of Somalis are Sunnis.
Few Somalis embrace Shiaism. This rules out a repeat of the situation in Iraq or Afghanistan where the extremist Taliban are fighting the government.
Most Somalis are moderate Muslims.
The worst-case scenario would be the re-grouping of the warlords who are currently fighting amongst themselves for the control of various enclaves and for survival and political power.
The so-called terrorist training camps came into being in Somalia after the fall of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. With no government the warlords created fiefdoms.
Interestingly, such a situation is conducive to the growth of terrorism.
Whether or not the chaos in Somalia will end depends on how strong the interim Somali Government will be and how it will incorporate the various clans and Islamists into the administration. The support that the Government will get from the African Union, Igad and donor countries in rebuilding the country's economy and infrastructure is also key.
The citizens of Somalia must also back the interim Government.
What will happen in the next few weeks may determine the future of Somalia, which has not known peace for more than 15 years.
Danger lies in the fact that Ethiopia, a traditional enemy of Somalia, has been the main supporter of the unpopular Transitional Government of President Abdullahi Yusuf.
Immediately after taking office in 2004, Yusuf visited Addis Ababa seeking military support from Ethiopia which has a 20,000-strong armed force.
Critics say Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's perceived anti-Islamic stance and his close ties with the US could jeopardise peace-seeking efforts in Somalia.
Zenawi is determined to see that no Islamic state borders Ethiopia.
The Islamists within Somalia could rise against the Ethiopian-backed Somali Government with the help of Islamic sympathisers from neighbouring and Middle Eastern countries. This would make Ethiopia a target of terrorism attacks.
The Islamic Courts Union allegedly receives financial support from rich individuals in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.
It has also been claimed that Islamist radicals globally are holed up in the country. It is important to note that some of the youthful Islamic militias and supporters of the Islamic Courts have been integrated into the general populace of Somalia.
There are reports that Ethiopia's rival, Eritrea, has been supplying arms to the Islamists.
Both the Islamists and Eritrea have denied these claims.
Since the bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam in August 7, 1998 the US has been working to prevent the spread of the so-called fundamentalist Islam in Africa. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the explosions.
Convinced that the Islamists were linked to Al-Qaeda, US supported the warlords who were fighting against the Islamists. But they failed in their bid when the Islamists captured Mogadishu in June 2006.
For Somalis, this invasion is nothing short of a humiliating catastrophe.
Last year, the Somali people allowed the Union of Islamic Courts to take power to help end the anarchy that resulted from a 15-year civil war in the battered country. Before then, brutal warlords, backed by the U.
S. government and the Ethiopian government, had raped, plundered and occupied a terrified citizenry. The United States asserted, without evidence, that the Islamists were providing a safe haven for al-Qaida terrorists.
The Islamic government denied this.
But Ethiopian soldiers, supported by Somalia's transitional government, recently routed the Islamists.
Ethiopia is a historical enemy of Somalia.
Now, U.S. support of the Ethiopian invasion will only fan more hatred toward the United States.
The reason the Islamists rose to power in the Somali capital of Mogadishu in the first place was because the CIA covertly financed Somali warlords, channeling hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past year to them, according to news reports.
Many Somalis, who are not religious, saw their own safety and security improved under the rule of the Islamists. They were willing to give them sufficient time to clean the streets of guns and violence.
After restoring law and order on the streets, the Islamists could have chosen to modernize, albeit slowly, some of their interpretations and the applications of Islamic Shariah law, which are already part of the Somali cultural value system.
A large number of Somalis living overseas were willing to return to Somalia and rebuild the country once peace and security were ensured.
But now, we are back to the old, ugly days where teenage boys toting AK-47s in the back of pickup trucks terrorize the local population.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who has faced fierce opposition inside Ethiopia for allegedly rigging elections and arresting his critics, is using the invasion of Somalia to buttress his legitimacy as a leader who can defend Ethiopia against Islamic terrorism.
Internationally, he is positioning himself and his nation as a friend of the United States. As a result, that Bush administration was able to quickly push through the U.
N. Security Council the dubious resolution giving Zenawi the green light to invade Somalia.
The U.
N. resolution -- resolution 1725, adopted Dec. 6 -- authorizes a regional force from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the African Union to protect the weak transitional national government in Baidoa, Somalia, and provide training for its forces.
Since Zenawi now oversees Somalia, any peacekeeping force entering the country would have to have his seal of approval.
The Somali population is armed to the teeth, humiliated and angry. It will vent its anger not only against the occupying forces but also against those who brought the occupying forces into the country -- the United States.
Unless quickly defused, the situation in Somalia could turn into a killing field.
After more than a decade of civil war and amid a subcontinent torn by genocide in Rwanda and Sudan, the future of Somalia again looks grim -- thanks, in part, to U.S.
policy.
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