A French secret agent held hostage in Somalia urged President Francois Hollande to negotiate his release in a video shot by his Islamist militia captors, a US monitoring group said on Thursday.
“Mr President, I am still alive, but for how long?” Denis Allex says in the footage, which was apparently released by the Shebab, the Somali guerrilla group that has held him for more than three years.
“That depends upon you,” he continues. “For if you do not reach an agreement for my release, then I am afraid that this will be the last message you receive from me. My life depends on you.”
The four-minute film, which shows a pale but healthy-looking Allex reading a statement in French in front of a plain maroon curtain, was released by SITE, a US-based private service that monitors extremist websites.
In the video, Allex says he is speaking in July, three years after gunmen stormed his hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu and seized him, along with a fellow French officer who has since escaped.
It is not clear why the tape took so long to surface as it appears to have been shot to mark Hollande’s assumption of the French presidency following his May election victory over then-president Nicolas Sarkozy.
“Mr President, I would like to seize the opportunity of the general political changes and in particular the changes at the head of state level to renew my appeal for help,” Allex says in the tape.
“This time I address it to you, hoping that your handling of my case will be different from that of President Sarkozy and his government,” he says, blaming his continued detention on France’s stance toward Islam.
French officials have said Allex and his colleague were in Mogadishu to give advice and training to Somali government forces, locked in a fierce fight with the Shebab and other rebel militias.
MOGADISHU — Renewed clan warfare threatens the future of Kismayo, where African Union and Somali troops earlier this week pushed out Islamic extremists.
Kismayo was the last bastion controlled by al-Shabab, the radical Islamists allied to al-Qaida who taxed goods coming into the port to fund their activities. Al-Shabab announced their withdrawal from Kismayo, via Twitter, shortly after the Kenyan assault late last week.
But bitter clan rivalry is expected to hamper the creation of a new administration needed to run the city and port, say residents.
“We want peace, not clan feuds and a cause for al-Shabab’s return,” said Muhummed Abdi, an elder in Kismayo who spoke to The Associated Press by phone.
“We can share our resources and divvy it out peacefully without fighting,” he said. “We should overcome disputes.”
The clan rivalry centers on control of revenues from the port, which is one of Somalia’s most lucrative business hubs.
Recognizing the threat of renewed clan fighting in Kismayo, the top U.S. official on Africa, Johnnie Carson, this week urged the Mogadishu government and the African Union forces to “go in very quickly and establish political stability and a political system that takes into account the various clan and sub-clan interests.”
Kenya, the main military power that captured Kismayo, has invited the rival clans for a conference in Nairobi to establish an administration for the town. A major power player in the region is Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, the commander of the government-allied Ras Kamboni Brigade militia.
“Life after Al-Shabab is really good and good, we don’t see any more restrictions now,” Sacdiya Hussein, a Kismayo resident said, referring to the strict Shariah law enforced by the rebels. “But during al-Shabab’s reign there were not any clan rivalries, we hope it will remain so.”
Kismayo’s 2,070-foot-long (630 meter) four-berth port has long been the focus for bloody fighting, predominantly between the Marehan, Majerten and Ogaden clans.
However, Ahmed Aadi Aden, a Somali parliamentarian, warned that any clan rivalry for the control of the town would benefit al-Shabab and may provoke a resumption of clan wars from the years before al-Shabab, in which more than 700 militiamen were killed and hundreds more wounded.
“All forces in the town have participated in the town’s liberation. They must be united for that cause,” Aden said. “Their division will benefit al-Shabab.”
The top U.N. representative to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, said Thursday that Kismayo has one of the most complex clan mixes in Somalia and that the Somali people must work to achieve a sustained peace there.
“There are many clan dynamics that need to be understood, and I think this is high on the agenda of the new president and his incoming government,” Mahiga said. “It may certainly be a very challenging exercise, but we have seen it happen in other recovery areas like Baidoa,” he said, referring to another town al-Shabab once controlled.
Al-Shabab has been steadily marginalized in Somalia since it was forced out of Mogadishu in August 2011. Since then its taxes on goods coming into Kismayo port were al-Shabab’s last major funding source.
As it no longer holds any major cities in Somalia, the extremists are expected to operate more as an insurgent force that carries out suicide and roadside bomb attacks.
The challenge is now on the weak Mogadishu government, and the allied African Union forces, to establish stable control over Kismayo.
“The situation of Kismayo has always been a difficult one and the clan rivalry will be further exacerbated by alleged siding by foreign troops with one of the clans in the city,” Mohamed Sheikh Abdi, a Somali political analyst says. “Only an inclusive administration will dictate the future of Kismayo. Also if Kenya, with its history with Somalis, does not leave, I think they will just add more fuel to the fire already raging Kismayo” he said.
Al-Shabab found little popular support in Kismayo, say residents, because of the conservative brand of Islam it imposed on residents. Al-Shabab carried out public executions, whippings and amputations as punishments. The militants also enforced a conservative dress code and social rules.
“Somali forces are now patrolling the city streets. It’s a big day and the end of the fear for us,” resident Muse Ali said. “We hope the change will lead us into peace and clan agreements.”
Aircraft target airport in southern city of Kismayo, where Kenya says al-Shabab is operating its last major base.
Kenyan fighter jets have bombarded an airport in southern Somalia, where they are fighting al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab fighters, officials have said.
The strikes took place in the port city of Kismayo on Tuesday.
“Our forces have reached Kismayo with jets and they have destroyed the armoury and a warehouse used by al-Shabab at the airport,” Cyrus Oguna, a Kenyan army spokesperson, said.
He could not provide figures on the number of casualties incurred.
Ali Mohamud Rage, an al-Shabab spokesperson, played down the impact of the bombing raid and said that it had not resulted in any deaths.
“No one was killed and there was no property damage,” he told the AFP news agency. “The Kenyan airforce was maybe trying to boost the morale of its demoralised soldiers.”
‘Heavy explosions’
Residents reported at least three heavy blasts near the airport, where the fighters are based.
“The explosions were very heavy and they rocked the airport,” said Abdi Ugas, a witness.
“They targeted the airport… one of them was very heavy,” said Osman Ali, another Kismayo resident.
The city is the last major bastion of al-Shabab, who have lost most of their other strongholds to the 17,000-strong African Union force – of which Kenya is a part – as well as allied Ethiopian forces.
Kenyan troops have been aiming to defeat al-Shabab in Kismayo ever since they were deployed across the Kenya-Somalia border almost a year ago.
Kenyan soldiers are still about 40km from Kismayo.
Six civilians have been shot dead by a Kenyan soldier advancing towards the al-Shabab stronghold of Kismayo, the Kenyan army has confirmed.
The soldier has been detained pending an investigation, it said, noting the incident followed a militant attack.
Somali army spokesman Adan Mohamed Hirsi earlier told the BBC it had been “a deliberate killing”.
Meanwhile, the Hizbul Islam group has announced that it is leaving the al-Shabab militant organisation.
BBC Somalia analyst Mohamed Mohamed says it is a significant setback for al-Shabab, following recent military defeats.
Kenyan troops intervened in Somalia a year ago after a spate of cross-border attacks blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab.
It was the first time Kenyan troops had been sent abroad, except as peacekeepers.
‘Hurtful’
Sunday’s shooting happened about 50km (30 miles) from Kismayo, the largest city still in militant hands.
Mr Hirsi condemned the killings and asked the Somali government to take action.
“This incident is very hurtful,” he told the BBC’s Somali service, saying a group of young men were shot outside a shop in the village of Janay Abdalla.
They were reportedly queuing to buy sugar.
In addition to those killed, two civilians were seriously wounded, Mr Hirsi said.
Kenyan military spokesman Col Cyrus Oguna said the incident happened shortly after al-Shabab militants attacked Kenyan soldiers who were escorting people to collect water from a well in the village, killing five civilians and one soldier.
“Later on in the day, several people approached KDF [Kenya Defence Forces] defensive positions, where a KDF soldier allegedly opened fire killing six people,” he said in a statement.
“The soldier was disarmed and has since been put on guarded seclusion,” he said, adding that appropriate action would be taken after the investigation.
Col Oguna said the Kenyan operations in Somalia should not be judged by this “unfortunate incident” and that the “utmost care and concern for civilian safety” were taken.
BBC East Africa correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse says Kenyan forces have in the past been accused of causing civilian deaths in Kismayo by shelling al-Shabab targets from ships operating off the coast.
Some 10,000 people have fled Kismayo in the past week, the United Nations refugee agency estimates.
‘Positive development’
Al-Shabab has been forced out of the capital, Mogadishu, and several other towns over the past year but still controls much of the countryside in south and central Somalia.
However, it still stages frequent attacks.
On Saturday, gunmen shot dead a member of Somalia’s new parliament in Mogadishu.
Mustafa Haji Maalim was gunned down after leaving a mosque in the southern Waberi district following evening prayers, witnesses said.
The dead lawmaker was the father-in-law of former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and is the first parliamentarian to be targeted since a new 275-member assembly was selected in August.
No-one has so far claimed the attack, though al-Shabab has previously vowed to kill government officials.
On Thursday, a double suicide attack in Mogadishu targeting a restaurant recently opened by Somalis from the diaspora killed 18 people.
Hizbul Islam spokesman Mohamed Moalim told the BBC that his group still wanted the African Union mission to leave Somalia but welcomed the new president and parliament as a “positive development”.
He said the split was due to long-standing ideological differences, such as his group’s opposition to the use of foreign jihadis.
The two forces merged in 2010, following bitter clashes.
Since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has seen clan-based warlords, Islamist militants and its neighbours all battling for control.
I would like to inform our President his Excellency Hasssan Sheikh Mohamud that all the African Governments, Kingdoms and many other nations have already received my message as Somalia’s most educated Prime Minister and they encouraged me with complimentary Congratulations.
I can ascertain you that I will be your next most educated Somali Prime Minister so, welcome to Ambassador Dr. Badal Kariye who’s the renowned author of 6 Novels & 4 Academic Books, a Noble Prize Candidate in Contributory Knowledge in Literature, The Founder of the Office of Somali Governmental Information Technology in Multilingual E-Governance, the Chief of the NSS/Diplomatic Branch, the Current Spokesperson of the Republic of Somalia and you can read and review my official biography in these following websites
As Somali Power-Sharing is based on clan formula system 4.5 then the Future Somali Prime Minister Ambassador Dr. Badal W. Kariye “Dr. Humble” is Somali American from Darod Tribe specially Tanade Darod/Leelkase Clan.
The Future Somali Prime Minister Ambassador Dr. Badal W. Kariye “Dr. Humble” has PhD in Political Sociology and is a career public diplomat since on September 15, 2000 until now working and providing the State of the Art Information Technology in Multilingual E-Governance to the People and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Somalia voluntarily and philanthropically. http://www.opm.somaligov.net/ http://www.primeminister.somaligov.so/
On August 8, 2012 the Future Somali Prime Minister Ambassador Dr. Badal W. Kariye “Dr. Humble” took up the post of the Spokesperson of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Somalia http://www.spokesperson.somaligov.so/ when Eng. Abdirahman Omar Yarisow left it voluntarily in order to take up a post of a director at the Bar-kulan Radio in Nairobi Kenya.
The Future Somali Prime Minister Ambassador Dr. Badal W. Kariye “Dr. Humble” is Somali American, a Noble Prize Candidate in a Contributory Literature and he has been working and living in Minneapolis, MN USA since September 2006 where he used to help the Government of the Republic of Somalia virtually by providing the State of the Art Information Technology in Multilingual E-Governance to the People and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Somalia.
The Future Somali Prime Minister Ambassador Dr. Badal W. Kariye “Dr. Humble” worked and collaborated with the United Nations Political Office for Somalia Ambassador Winston A. Tubman, IGAD Front-Line States, African Union, AMISOM, n Union etc.
Future Somali Prime Minister Ambassador Dr. Badal W. Kariye “Dr. Humble” has also served as the Head of the Somali Diplomatic Branch within the Somali National Security Service http://www.nss.somaligov.so/
He’s been writing to the United Nations Security Council to help Somalia and stop any corrupted cases in Somalia and around the world at large.
The Future Somali Prime Minister Ambassador Dr. Badal W. Kariye “Dr. Humble” speaks English, French, Swahili, Arabic, Italian, German, Spanish, some Afrikaans, Some Russian and Good Chinese.
Best Wishes,
Ambassador Dr. Badal W. Kariye
The Forthcoming Prime Minister of the Republic of Somalia in 2012
512 Cedar Ave SO #
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Cell: 6129865395
Nairobi, September 21, 2012–Unidentified gunmen killed veteran Somali journalist Hassan Yusuf Absuge in Mogadishu this morning, just hours after he had reported on an explosion that killed 14 people including three of his colleagues.
The assailants shotHassan three times in the head near a high school in Yaqshid district, but fled the scene before police arrived, according to local journalists and news reports. Hassan, a reporter and producer for the private Radio Maanta, had covered Thursday’s suicide bomb attack at a popular café frequented by journalists and civil servants, news reports said.
Local journalists told CPJ that the identities of the gunmen were not clear, but news accounts citing local journalists reportedthat the attacks were happening in government-controlled areas. “So it could be Al-Shabaab or another militia, or even former government officials,” said one journalist who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. It is not clear why Hassan would have been targeted.
“CPJ mourns the death of Hassan Yusuf Absuge and extends its deep condolences to his family and colleagues,” said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. “Mogadishu has lost yet another good journalist who persisted with his work in the face of enormous risk. The new government must do its utmost to ensure security for the press.”
Hassan had worked as a journalist since 1989 and contributed to Radio Mogadishu and GBC broadcasters, according to local news reports.
The three journalists killed in Thursday’s attack were buried in different cemeteries in the city today due to security concerns, according to local reports. Somalia is the most dangerous country in Africa to practice journalism, according to CPJ research. The threat of violence has driven more journalists into exilefrom Somalia than from any other country in the past year, CPJ research shows.
· For more data and analysis on Somalia, visit CPJ’s Somalia page here.
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CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
Nairobi, September 20, 2012-Three Somali journalists were killed and at least four were injured in a suicide bomb attack in a Mogadishu café today, according to news reports and local journalists. The attack took place across the street from the National Theater, where a bomb blast in April wounded at least 10 journalists, news reports said.
Two unidentified men entered “The Village” café at around 5:30 p.m. and detonated bombs, killing a total of 14 people and injuring 20, according to news reports and local journalists. Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for the militant insurgent group Al-Shabaab, said the bombing was carried out by supporters of the group, according to Agence France-Presse. “We did not directly order the attacks, but there are lots of angry people in Somalia who support our fight,” AFP reported Rage as saying.
The café was frequented by the press and civil servants, leading local journalists to speculate they were the targets of the attack. “If anyone wanted to kill journalists en masse, that was the place and the time,” said one journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The blasts killed Abdirahman Yasin Ali, director of Radio Hamar (“Voice of Democracy”); Abdisatar Daher Sabriye, head of news for Radio Mogadishu; and Liban Ali Nur, head of news for Somali National TV, according to news reports and local journalists.
Somalia National TV reporter Mohamed Hussein, along with three reporters for Radio Kulmiye-Abdullahi Suldan, Abdirisaq Mohamed, and Nour Mohamed Ali-were wounded. The injured journalists have sought treatment at local hospitals. CPJ is monitoring their conditions.
“We offer our deep condolences to the families and colleagues of Abdirahman Yasin Ali, Abdisatar Daher Sabriye, and Liban Ali Nur at this terrible time,” said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. “The senseless slaughter of journalists is continuing in
Mogadishu, one of the world’s most dangerous places for the press. We call on the new Somali government to do its utmost to stop these attacks.”
Several people were killed in the attack on the National Theater in April, including two of the nation’s top sports officials, news reports said. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, the reports said.
Somalia is the most dangerous country in Africa to practice journalism, according to CPJ research. The threat of violence has driven more journalists into exile from Somalia than from any other country in the past year, CPJ research shows.
• For more data and analysis on Somalia, visit CPJ’s Somalia page here
###
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
Contact:
Mohamed Keita
AfricNairobi, September 20, 2012-Three Somali journalists were killed and at least four were injured in a suicide bomb attack in a Mogadishu café today, according to news reports and local journalists. The attack took place across the street from the National Theater, where a bomb blast in April wounded at least 10 journalists, news reports said.
Two unidentified men entered “The Village” café at around 5:30 p.m. and detonated bombs, killing a total of 14 people and injuring 20, according to news reports and local journalists. Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for the militant insurgent group Al-Shabaab, said the bombing was carried out by supporters of the group, according to Agence France-Presse. “We did not directly order the attacks, but there are lots of angry people in Somalia who support our fight,” AFP reported Rage as saying.
The café was frequented by the press and civil servants, leading local journalists to speculate they were the targets of the attack. “If anyone wanted to kill journalists en masse, that was the place and the time,” said one journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The blasts killed Abdirahman Yasin Ali, director of Radio Hamar (“Voice of Democracy”); Abdisatar Daher Sabriye, head of news for Radio Mogadishu; and Liban Ali Nur, head of news for Somali National TV, according to news reports and local journalists.
Somalia National TV reporter Mohamed Hussein, along with three reporters for Radio Kulmiye-Abdullahi Suldan, Abdirisaq Mohamed, and Nour Mohamed Ali-were wounded. The injured journalists have sought treatment at local hospitals. CPJ is monitoring their conditions.
“We offer our deep condolences to the families and colleagues of Abdirahman Yasin Ali, Abdisatar Daher Sabriye, and Liban Ali Nur at this terrible time,” said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. “The senseless slaughter of journalists is continuing in
Mogadishu, one of the world’s most dangerous places for the press. We call on the new Somali government to do its utmost to stop these attacks.”
Several people were killed in the attack on the National Theater in April, including two of the nation’s top sports officials, news reports said. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, the reports said.
Somalia is the most dangerous country in Africa to practice journalism, according to CPJ research. The threat of violence has driven more journalists into exile from Somalia than from any other country in the past year, CPJ research shows.
• For more data and analysis on Somalia, visit CPJ’s Somalia page here
###
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamist rebels fell back on their last bastion on Wednesday, pouring hundreds of fighters into the port city of Kismayu and raising fears of a bloody showdown with advancing African Union soldiers, residents said.
Locals said the al Qaeda-linked insurgents drafted in militants from several outlying regions in southern Somalia. The reinforcements arrived in convoys of machinegun-mounted pickup trucks and set about building defenses, witnesses said.
Somalia is a hotspot in U.S.-led efforts to combat Islamist militancy and al Shabaab is the most powerful of Somali militias spawned by two decades of conflict in an unstable region.
The Al Shabaab reinforcements arrived in Kismayu a day after locals said the militia’s commanders had pulled out, leaving only a small number of fighters to defend the stronghold.
“Al Shabaab fighters have filled the bases and camps they abandoned in the past few days,” said butcher Farah Roble.
“We’re terrified. Al Shabaab looks determined to fight for Kismayu,” he said.
Rumors swirled though Kismayu’s winding alleyways that one of the militants’ top three commanders was now in the city.
Resident Ismail Sugow said al Shabaab had drafted in fighters from nearby Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions. A second resident said the reinforcements came from “other parts of the country”.
Earlier this week, Kenyan forces overran several militant outposts to the north and southwest of Kismayu, pushing to within 50 km (30 miles) of Somalia’s second biggest city.
Kenyan military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna said the final assault on Kismayu was inevitable.
“We have to be cautious, the way is littered with explosives. Nevertheless, it will happen. Kismayu will fall,” he told Reuters by phone.
Defeat in Kismayu, a hub of al Shabaab operations throughout the group’s five-year insurgency, would badly hurt the rebels’ morale and weaken their capacity as a fighting force.
However, it might not deliver the knockout blow sought by Mogadishu and its regional allies. Western diplomats expect the insurgents to turn increasingly to guerrilla-style hit-and-run raids and urban bombings.
“JOIN THE JIHAD”
The AU force urged the militants to lay down their arms.
“Already a number of them have contacted us indicating their wish to cease fighting and we have assured them of their safety if they give themselves up to our forces,” AMISOM Deputy Force Commander General Simon Karanja said in a statement.
Al Shabaab said Kismayu, about 500 km (311 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, was calm. Its radio station, Radio Andalus, was back on air after broadcasts stopped on Tuesday.
“All offices and businesses are open. We do not fear our enemies. They cannot just dash into Kismayu because we have strong defenses,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for al Shabaab’s military operations, told Reuters.
The U.N. refugee agency said about 4,000 civilians had fled Kismayu since Monday. Residents reported on Wednesday that al Shabaab were trying to stop locals from fleeing.
“Al Shabaab is taking to the mosques and ordering people to fight. They said Muslims have a duty to fight,” said resident Sugow.
Al Shabaab could be heard test-firing their artillery on the city’s outskirts, Sugow said.
Another resident, Hussein Nur, said the militants, who accuse the government of serving only Western interests and want to install a strict interpretation of sharia, Islamic law, were whipping up fear among the local population.
“Al Shabaab said in the mosques: ‘All Muslims should join the jihad as Kenyan troops will rape your wives and sisters and loot your property’,” Nur said.
Kenya sent troops into Somalia, on its eastern border, in October to help crush the militants. Kenyans are expected to lead AMISOM forces in an eventual assault on the port city.
Mary Harper will begin her book tour in the USA on Tuesday, September 25th at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Boston, MA. Mary will be speaking about Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State at the following venues. Please come if you can.
Tuesday, September 25 from 5-7pm
The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Boston, MA
Wednesday, 26 September at 4pm
Yale University, New Haven, CA
Monday, October 1 at 2pm
United States Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037
More details available via this link: Book event at USIP: Whither Somalia?
Tuesday, October 2
Private event hosted by the Centre on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, New York, NY
Wednesday, October 3
Private event hosted by the Social Science Research Council, New York, NY
Wednesday, October 3 in the afternoon/ early evening
New York University, New York, NY
The book will be available at the events. You can also buy it from Amazon and other outlets, and as an e-book. For more details click this link: Where to buy Getting Somalia Wrong?
GENEVA (Reuters) – Hawa Aden Mohamed won the United Nations refugee agency’s Nansen Refugee Award on Tuesday for her work in helping thousands of Somali women and girls, many of them rape victims, start new lives in their battered homeland.
Mohamed, 63, is a former Somali refugee who returned from safety in Canada to her war-torn country in 1995, launching an education programme in Puntland to shelter and train Somalis who have fled war, famine and violence, it said.
“When Hawa Aden Mohamed rescues a displaced girl, a life is turned around,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
Known as “Mama Hawa”, she founded the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development which has assisted more than 215,000 displaced and victims of violence since 1999, it said.
“In a society like Somalia, it’s very often that a woman or a girl is raped and they are severely marginalised thereafter. So what she has done is given them is a home, a new start, hope for a new life and their dignity back,” UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a news briefing.
Young Somali boys also receive vocational training in carpentry and welding to keep them off the streets and avoid them falling prey to criminal or armed groups, the agency said.
Somalia’s new president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office on Sunday, calling for an end to terrorism and piracy in a nation mired in conflict for more than two decades. More than two million people have been displaced.
Recent laureates include the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy for sponsoring asylum legislation and former British soldier Chris Clark for removing mines in Lebanon, allowing displaced people to return home after Israel’s 2006 invasion.
Mohamed, currently in hospital in Kenya recovering from surgery, is expected to attend the awards ceremony in Geneva on October 1, Fleming said.
