MOGADISHU 15 December 2009 (Somalilandpress)-The former Somali police chief, Abdi
Hassan Awale ‘’Qeybdid’’ has been appointed a minister in the cabinet.
In this mini reshuffle, Mr Muhammad Abdullahi Omaar (former mineral
resources minister) has been named as the new higher education
minister.
Following a crucial meeting at the prudential palace of Villa Somalia
(in Mogadishu), Somalilandpress has been able to obtain the news that
the former police commander has been appointed as the minister for
mineral resources, a position previously held by Muhammad Abdullahi
Omaar.
The former mineral resources minister Mr. Omaar is taking over the
higher education ministry left by Prof Ibrahim Hasan Adow, who was
killed on 3 December this year (in a suicide attack at Shaamow Hotel
in Mogadishu).
On 6th December, Somalia’s government fired the police force commander
and its military chief on Sunday two days after a suicide bomber
killed three ministers and several others in the capital of the
lawless Horn of Africa nation.
Somalia’s fragile government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is
battling an insurgency by two rebel groups seeking to introduce their
own strict version of Islamic law.
Fighting in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of
2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes.
By Abdinasir Mohamed
Email: abdinasir4@gmail.com
Mogadishu-Somalia
HARGEISA, 15 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t expecting to meet with K’naan, the shining Somali star and well-known rapper. Several days ago, I heard the rumour from a guy in my work place. But I considered that as mere gossip.
May be it was a divinely pre-determined moment, but right after when I arrived at my workplace, I experienced these inner thoughts: why don’t you go and find out if the news of K’naan coming to Hargeisa was a fact.
I immediately went to the office next to mine to identify my colleague who was sitting on his armchair as though he was waiting my question. After greeting him, I just asked him the question ‘Is it true that K’naan is coming to Hargeisa’ ‘Yusuf Shaacir told me that there is a Somali-Canadian singer by the name of K’naan is coming to Hargeisa’. He said. He is making a documentary film about the Somali culture and literature and he will be meeting with Hadraawi and Yusuf himself, he added.
That can be true once the primary source (Yusuf Shaacir) is very reliable but, however, I still couldn’t believe. The reasons are the definition of the artist is still unclear. I was hungry. Usually, I eat breakfast at a nearby café. So I proceeded to get my meal. While I was in the middle of eating, I said to my self why don’t you call Yusuf by your self and check the fact. After I finished my dish, I called Mohamed and asked the phone number of Yusuf Shaacir. Unluckily he didn’t have his phone number But he told me to ask a guy called Ali who is co-worker of mine. I called Ali gave me the number. I dialled Yusuf’s number. Upon ringing twice, Yusuf’s voice answered. It was my first time to ever talk to Yusuf on the phone and I was afraid that he may not respond because of the unknown number calling him. ‘Yusuf this is Adnan, a guy who works for the Academy for Peace Development’ I started my little talk ‘Yeah! Adnan, I know you. How are you doing’ he replied in a warm and welcoming voice. I politely explained the reason of my call. He confirmed the gossip. Right from that moment my subconscious mind registered the info as a truthful data to act on.
A month ago, when i hear the news that a Somali guy was selected to be the artist who is opening at the 2010 world cup in South Africa, I became pretty much interested to find out the artist’s personality and background. Before, I was among the Somalis who didn’t know anything about him.
Most of the local Somalis know little about the artist’s personality and his work. K’naan sings in English and due to the decoding problem of the language, his albums didn’t gain popularity in Somaliland.
In general, I personally believe that a rapper’s hip-hip song doesn’t carry much meaning. I considered their work as written verses expressed aggressively and un comfortable to ears of people like me.
After days of in-depth research on the artist’s work and personality, my perception changed dramatically. Watching the rapper’s videos with lyrics on Youtube, I was stunned by the wisdom his songs were carrying. I was particularly attracted to the artists’ two albums: Dusty foot philosopher and Troubadour.
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Having confirmed that he was coming to Hargeisa, I called a friend of mine and a bigger fan of K’naan. Informed her about the news. I could hear her wild screaming at the end of the line. She couldn’t believe it. It took me a while to convince her. She hangs up the phone and within 10 minutes later, a car was waiting me on the front gate of office compound, wanting me to take me to the airport.
We arrived at the airport before K’naan got it out and went to his hotel. We were lucky enough to met with him on the exit gateway of Igal international airport. Before we approached him face-to-face, we thought we couldn’t able to meet him because we were afraid that there were a hug crowd waiting him outside.
But the scene was different, as I came to know later; he came to Hargeisa in low-key profile. His arrival wasn’t public info as he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to accomplish his film project mission.
I can’t express in words the amazing personality of the Somali-born rapper. He approached us in a warm and well-coming manner. He completely lacked the typical celebrity arrogant nature. After a discussion on the purpose of his arrival at Hargeisa, he asked us to give our phone numbers and he invited us a to join a dinner whom he had with Mohamed I. Warsame Hadraawi, The greatest living Somali poet; Y. Shaacir, a poet and a walking encyclopaedia of the Somali literature and Boobe Yusuf Du’ale, a Somali writer
At night, we arrived came at Ambassador Hotel. In the dining hall, K’naan and Hadraawi were sitting next to each other. The other members of the artist’s team were also sitting in circle around the dining table. In that session, I have observed some of the amazing personality traits of the artist. He was very respectable to everybody. To Hadraawi, especially, he showed more respect. Whenever Hadraawi tells a funny joke or Somali wit, he will grab his hand and sincerely laugh at his joke, showing respect and interest.
His dressing manners were simple, humble and modest. His eating manners were very Somali. We were eating with forks and knives while he washed his hands and eat with them. He was too research oriented in the Somali cultural and literature. Despite the fact that he wasn’t very fluent in the Somali language, he exerted much effort in the understanding what ever his guests were saying specially on the rich Somali poetry and proverbs. He enjoyed the anecdotes told by his guests on the different aspects of life of the Somali people. He was Somali minded and seemed very irritated on any clan divisions and identity. He saw things on Somali spectrum. He was creative in both music and songs writing. He has a promising career and will enrich the world heritage of music and songs.
K’naan with Hadraawi, Yusuf Shair, Adnan and Boobe Yusuf.
Written by:
Adnan Abdi
Hargeisa, Somaliland
adnan.abdi.hassan@gmail.com
HARGEISA, 15 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The famous Somali singer and rapper, K’naan arrived Hargeisa yesterday. Sources told Somalilandpress that the singer is coming to Somaliland as part of his documentary about Somali culture and literature.
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K’naan is born in Mogadishu then migrated to Canada after the civil war broke out in Somalia where he still lives there. His songs and style attracted the world lately and his song was selected for the FIFA football world cup in 2010.
This is the first time K’naan visits Somaliland where he is expected to stay for few weeks before he goes back to Canada. During his stay, the singer will meet the famous Somali literature folks who are living in Hargeisa. He said he will meet the Hadraawi, Gaariye and others who are considered leaders in terms of Somali literature.
Mogadishu, 15 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has said the government of Mali is considering sending military experts to the headquarters of AMISOM in Mogadishu.
They say the experts will operate in the AMISOM military bases in Mogadishu.
The deputy AU special envoy to Somalia Hon. Wafula Wamunyinyi has said the AMISOM operation needed technical and military support.
The government of Mali has said that it will consider the move of sending experts to Somalia. Burundi and Uganda, who have their troops in Somalia, have said that they will look for funds for their soldiers from the donors.
Several African countries have earlier pledged to deploy troops to Somalia to strengthen the presence of Burundian and Ugandan forces. Among these countries are Nigeria, Ghana, Djibouti and Sierra Leone.
Elsewhere, a behind-the-scenes battle for control of money for peacekeeping activities in Somalia is brewing between Mali and Nigeria, on the one hand, and Uganda and Burundi on the other, as it emerges that donors will soon be releasing an enhanced financial package to support AU troops in the war-torn country.
Although donors to AMISOM – the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia – had initially refused to disburse funds meant for the peacekeepers’ allowances for lack of accountability, this is likely to change in the near future as new commitments for support come on board.
The EastAfrican has learnt that the European Union and the United Nations Security Council have signed packages that will see increased financing and logistics flowing to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
The EU is tight-lipped about the level of its support – “I don’t want to make any declarations about that,” said EU ambassador to Uganda Vincent de Visscher.
To the annoyance of countries such as Uganda and Burundi, which were the first to put troops on the ground in Mogadishu, the promise of money has now caught the attention of countries that failed to deliver on their promises for troops. Now they want to deploy small teams to manage the mission’s logistics.
“Since the UN has taken over the logistical support of the mission, other countries are saying they want to participate in administering the logistics but without being on the ground,” Uganda army spokesman Lt-Col Felix Kulaigye said.
The African Union’s deputy special representative for Somalia, Wafula Wamunyinyi, confirmed that AMISOM’s Strategic Planning and Management Unit had recommended that the mission needed support to the force headquarters in Mogadishu and had zeroed in on Mali for the task.
“I know Mali is considering sending in technical military officers to the force headquarters, about 15 of them. The officers will be responsible for logistics, human resource, personnel and general operations within the mission. Officers with experience in the running of a mission and providing support to the force commander,” Mr. Wamunyinyi said.
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But the force commander does not share this view.
“If they are technical, why don’t they bring their expertise on the ground? That is what we want. Not at the headquarters. It is more practical to deliver that service on the ground,” AMISOM commander Maj-Gen Nathan Mugisha said.
He added: “That is the problem, and that is why we are telling them to bring in their servicemen before they can think of deployment at the force headquarters – because at the headquarters, you are providing service to the men. So where are the men to be served? You need to first of all have the men.”
In 2006, when the United Nation Security Council approved a resolution authorising an African peacekeeping force in Somalia, only Uganda and Burundi responded. At the time, it was estimated that 8,000 troops would suffice. The two countries have raised just over 5,000, leaving a deficit of 3,000 troops.
Today, according to peacekeepers on the ground, Somalia needs 10,000 to 15,000 troops. But AU countries are still reluctant to send in their fighters, given the risky situation prevailing in Somalia.
While some diplomatic sources within the EU zone feigned ignorance about the support, other sources said the support coming from the EU’s security department is a sensitive security matter about which publicity could make EU citizens targets for terror attacks.
It is understood that the EU has committed itself to providing funds for the training of Somalia’s security forces and extension of humanitarian assistance to civilians.
Some 2,000 recruits to the Somali national army will be trained in Uganda. This will be part of efforts to build the capacity of the federal government to counter Al-Shabab insurgents that have exploited the administrative vacuum to established training bases in the desert and in parts under their control.
The EU money will be channelled through AMISOM’s logistical base in Nairobi. The UN is expected to provide logistical support, such as fuel, vehicle maintenance, food and drugs to the peacekeeping force.
By: Abdinasir Mohamed of Somalilandpress and Halima Abdallah of
Eastafrican standard
Email: abdinasir4@gmail.com
Somalilandpress
Mogadishu-Somalia
I wanted to share this film with our readers. This is one film that honestly made me cry and also makes me want to do something about it. Will you help these desperate orphans in Somaliland? Let us sponsor a kid for $25-30 a month, that is enough to feed one kid a month. Please feel free to contact SomalilandPress@gmail.com if you are interested in doing something about this.
This is Hargeisa Orphanage Centre, which is the first centre for these kids to be set up in the country.
To help you can contact them on 2522 – 570257 (this includes country code for international callers) or if you in the USA/Canada 617-869-3132..
Thank you,
Mohamed Ibrahim Haji Abdi
SomalilandPress
Managment.
The football loving world – players, trainers, and fans alike – are following closely with interest the opening ceremony on June 11, next year and the Official FIFA 2010 World Cup song performance by a 31 year old dark, slim artist from a country notorious for violence and suicide bombers. That country is Somalia, and K’naan is the artist whose song “waving flag” was chosen to be the FIFA World Cup song.
What a world of contrast between 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 9th Olympiad in 1936 Berlin, Germany. The Nazis used that event to promote the myth of “Aryan Superiority.” “Non-Aryans” – Jewish and Gypsy athletes and performers were systematically excluded from the opening ceremony. Different also than the South Africa of John Vorster who in his opinion even “the words of a black man are black”. What color is K’naan’s song: “When I get older, I will be stronger. They call me freedom, just like a waving Flag.” It is a world awakened!
In recent months K’naan has come in for frequent mention in the press and at least one reporter in Johannesburg indeed hastened to label him as a “Muslim Rapper who supports Pirates”. David Smith of the Guardian ignored K’naan’s mastery performance and his campaign against poverty and Aid for Africa. In a recent article he accused K’naan of being honesty and thoughtful artist who feels he has no right to stand aloof from the urgent problems of dumping Toxic Waste and looting of fish in the ocean of his ancestral land. Perhaps it is this that imparts to his analysis of present-day western reality an insight and accuracy many a white journalist based in South Africa might envy. It is world awakened!
Highly symptomatic was the statement K’naan made to a CBC reporter about the blight of the East African fisherman. “The western powerful nations watched as all countries great and small swarmed in the Somali waters to loot fish and dump dangerous chemical waste.”
K’naan (in Somali means: one who is always on the move) was born in Mogadishu, Somalia; a metropolitan city by the Indian Ocean. There was nothing remarkable about his childhood. A relatively well-to-do but not too prosperous family of poets and singers; and from age seven a lover of American rap music.
Unremarkable too perhaps was his romantic dream culled from books of famous and great men from Genghis Khan to Michael Jackson. What a teenage with a fondness for great men has not cherished similar dreams? An avid reader to this day he keeps a private library of these great men and empire builders.
K’naan did not finish high school. His education was interrupted by civil war in his country. He immigrated to Canada with his mother and siblings in the early 1990’s. A new country, a new culture and a new language it became very hard for the teenaged boy to finish his schooling – he dropped it. But when peers in his neighbourhood were falling victims to dope, crime and violence he looked straight to his dreams. He found it ultimately in the street corners of Toronto’s west-end. His inherent will to succeed proved no less durable than his talent. The rest is history!
K’naan is concerned with the problems of hunger and the environment. He does what he can to help the practical solution of these problems. He is angered by the looting of fish and dumping of toxic waste in his lovely Indian Ocean, and so he regularly speaks out against it. He sharply criticizes powerful nations of their indifference to those problems. K’naan is a great artist and no true artist can live without his opinion. He doesn’t defend piracy, neither did he support it. He understands the cause of piracy in East Africa and the effect of polluting the oceans.
K’naan today is an artist at the peak of professional mastery and a man deeply concerned with the most burning issue of his country, of his people. It is this that gives such power to his art. He is a man always on the move.
HARGEISA, 14 December 2009 (SomalilandPress) – When a young HIV-positive woman recently passed away in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, none of the women in her family volunteered to carry out the traditional Islamic rite of washing the body before burial.
“Her clothes are still hanging where she died because people think they can be affected if they touch them,” said Abdillahi Omar*, a man in his 40s. Eventually, a group of HIV-positive women volunteered to wash the woman’s body.
Most people in Somalia still avoid touching or associating with people living with the virus. “Each one of us who has announced that he or she has HIV/AIDS was thrown out of his or her family. I was a soldier … as soon as they got the information [about my HIV status], I was told not to enter the camp – they considered me as being the epidemic itself,” Omar said.
“Our children are sent back home by the school administrators for no reason other than the fact that their parents have HIV … we experience it daily,” said Amina Ali*, a mother of four.
Need for education
Experts attribute the intense stigmatisation of people living with the virus to ignorance and the strong association of HIV with immorality and ‘non-Muslim’ behaviour; United Nations estimates say less than 10 percent of the population have accurate knowledge about HIV transmission.
“I know that HIV can be transmitted by using the same toothbrush as someone who is infected, or if the same [injection] needle used on an HIV-positive person is used on you,” said Sa’id Ahmed, a student at the University of Hargeisa. “If someone in my family had AIDS … of course I would feel the fear of the disease.”
Sexual intercourse is the main method of transmission in Somalia, but Ahmed did not mention sex as a way of transmitting HIV and there is no HIV education in schools.
“We have carried out a lot of awareness to reduce the stigma, as well as giving people information about how the disease transmitted,” said Hassan Omar Hagga, director of training at the Somaliland AIDS Commission (SOLNAC) secretariat.
Somalia’s most recent progress report to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS noted that widespread stigma and discrimination were among the factors raising HIV vulnerability.
High stigma and low risk perception mean few people are tested for HIV, and the country’s antiretroviral (ARV) programme is still in its infancy. “Of an estimated 13,000 people living with HIV in Somaliland, only 800 have access to ARVs,” said Mohamed Hussein Osman, executive director of SOLNAC.
New law
SOLNAC has also been trying to push through parliament proposed legislation giving rights to people living with HIV, and making it illegal for doctors to reveal a patient’s HIV status without their permission.
“[The draft] law criminalises discrimination against the people who live with the disease, specifies their requirements for care, and stipulates punishments for those who try to deliberately transmit the virus,” said Hassan Omar Hagga.
Somaliland has an HIV prevalence of 1.4 percent, but recent data suggest that the Horn of Africa could be moving from a concentrated epidemic to a generalised one.
Mogadishu, 14 December 2009-(Somalilandpress)-The African Union Peacekeeping Mission in
Somalia (AMISOM) has said the government of Mali is considering
sending military experts to the headquarters of AMISOM in Mogadishu.
They say the experts will operate in the AMISOM military bases in Mogadishu.
The deputy AU special envoy to Somalia Hon. Wafula Wamunyinyi has said
the AMISOM operation needed technical and military support.
The government of Mali has said that it will consider the move of
sending experts to Somalia. Burundi and Uganda, who have their troops
in Somalia, have said that they will look for funds for their soldiers
from the donors.
Several African countries have earlier pledged to deploy troops to
Somalia to strengthen the presence of Burundian and Ugandan forces.
Among these countries are Nigeria, Ghana, Djibouti and Sierra Leone.
Elsewhere, a behind-the-scenes battle for control of money for
peacekeeping activities in Somalia is brewing between Mali and
Nigeria, on the one hand, and Uganda and Burundi on the other, as it
emerges that donors will soon be releasing an enhanced financial
package to support AU troops in the war-torn country.
Although donors to AMISOM – the African Union peacekeeping mission in
Somalia – had initially refused to disburse funds meant for the
peacekeepers’ allowances for lack of accountability, this is likely to
change in the near future as new commitments for support come on
board.
The EastAfrican has learnt that the European Union and the United
Nations Security Council have signed packages that will see increased
financing and logistics flowing to the peacekeeping mission in
Somalia.
The EU is tight-lipped about the level of its support – “I don’t want
to make any declarations about that,” said EU ambassador to Uganda
Vincent de Visscher.
To the annoyance of countries such as Uganda and Burundi, which were
the first to put troops on the ground in Mogadishu, the promise of
money has now caught the attention of countries that failed to deliver
on their promises for troops. Now they want to deploy small teams to
manage the mission’s logistics.
“Since the UN has taken over the logistical support of the mission,
other countries are saying they want to participate in administering
the logistics but without being on the ground,” Uganda army spokesman
Lt-Col Felix Kulaigye said.
The African Union’s deputy special representative for Somalia, Wafula
Wamunyinyi, confirmed that AMISOM’s Strategic Planning and Management
Unit had recommended that the mission needed support to the force
headquarters in Mogadishu and had zeroed in on Mali for the task.
[ad#Google Adsense (300×250)]
“I know Mali is considering sending in technical military officers to
the force headquarters, about 15 of them. The officers will be
responsible for logistics, human resource, personnel and general
operations within the mission. Officers with experience in the running
of a mission and providing support to the force commander,” Mr
Wamunyinyi said.
But the force commander does not share this view.
“If they are technical, why don’t they bring their expertise on the
ground? That is what we want. Not at the headquarters. It is more
practical to deliver that service on the ground,” AMISOM commander
Maj-Gen Nathan Mugisha said.
He added: “That is the problem, and that is why we are telling them to
bring in their servicemen before they can think of deployment at the
force headquarters – because at the headquarters, you are providing
service to the men. So where are the men to be served? You need to
first of all have the men.”
In 2006, when the United Nation Security Council approved a resolution
authorising an African peacekeeping force in Somalia, only Uganda and
Burundi responded. At the time, it was estimated that 8,000 troops
would suffice. The two countries have raised just over 5,000, leaving
a deficit of 3,000 troops.
Today, according to peacekeepers on the ground, Somalia needs 10,000
to 15,000 troops. But AU countries are still reluctant to send in
their fighters, given the risky situation prevailing in Somalia.
While some diplomatic sources within the EU zone feigned ignorance
about the support, other sources said the support coming from the EU’s
security department is a sensitive security matter about which
publicity could make EU citizens targets for terror attacks.
It is understood that the EU has committed itself to providing funds
for the training of Somalia’s security forces and extension of
humanitarian assistance to civilians.
Some 2,000 recruits to the Somali national army will be trained in
Uganda. This will be part of efforts to build the capacity of the
federal government to counter Al-Shabab insurgents that have exploited
the administrative vacuum to established training bases in the desert
and in parts under their control.
The EU money will be channelled through AMISOM’s logistical base in
Nairobi. The UN is expected to provide logistical support, such as
fuel, vehicle maintenance, food and drugs to the peacekeeping force.
By Abdinasir Mohamed with Somalilandpress and Halima Abdallah with
Eastafrican standard.
Email: abdinasir4@gmail.com
Somalilandpress
Mogadishu-Somalia
Nairobi, 14 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – United Nations experts investigating whether Somali businessmen are funneling aid money to terrorist groups have recently received death threats warning them to stop their work, according to United Nations officials.
A United Nations Security Council committee issued a statement on Friday in response to the threats, saying that it “deplores such acts of intimidation and interference.”
Millions of dollars are at stake, and many analysts say they believe that the Somali businessmen are desperate to derail the United Nations investigation because they fear they could lose lucrative contracts to transport food in Somalia, a war-ravaged country where foreign aid is one of the biggest businesses, along with piracy.
According to officials close to the investigation, several Somali businessmen, who have been working for years with the United Nations World Food Program to deliver emergency rations, may be diverting money to terrorist groups that are trying to bring down Somalia’s weak transitional government and possibly wage attacks on Western targets in Kenya. Concerns about these same Somali businessmen recently led the American government to delay food shipments to Somalia at a time when millions of Somalis are a few meals away from starvation.
A team of five experts hired by the United Nations Security Council has been intensely scrutinizing the businessmen over the past several months as part of a process to monitor the arms embargo against Somalia, in place since 1992, and issues connected to Somalia’s security and the delivery of aid. Preliminary results from the investigations, provided to The New York Times, indicate that several of the Somali contractors working for the World Food Program could face economic sanctions, including asset freezes, travel bans and the cancellation of multimillion-dollar contracts.
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A week ago, one of the experts who lives in Nairobi received a strange text message on his cellphone, written in broken English, that said: “Pliz friend of me come jacaranda hotel 9 oclok. nice imformationz of Somalia. good rafiki.”
(Rafiki is a Kiswahili word, commonly used in Kenya, that means friend.)
Twenty-six minutes later, the expert, who said he could not be identified because of the death threats, got a second text message, written in similarly bad English, saying: “Me i am nice friend to you. pliz do not go there to jacaranda hotel at 7 oclok. My friends to shoot you.”
The message identifies the expert’s car and where he lives. It ends: “kenya robber was give $3000 for shoots. look for corola white car.”
The two messages were sent from different phone numbers but the expert believes they were sent by the same person because of similarities like the spelling of “pliz” to mean please. The expert called them “quite a creative way to deliver a death threat.”
On Saturday, Matt Bryden, the coordinator of the five-member monitoring group, said, “We have received a variety of threats and pressures to influence our investigation, some of which have been very detailed and specific.”
Several members of the group are now protected around the clock and drive to work with Kenyan police officers.
Somali businessmen have been operating in a lawless, chaotic, anything-goes environment for the past 18 years, since Somalia’s central government collapsed. It is all too common for business feuds to turn into gun battles and for extortion and the mysterious, sudden death of business rivals to go unpunished.
But many analysts were surprised by the possibility that Somali businessmen would be bold enough to explicitly threaten a United Nations team in neighboring Kenya.
HARGEISA, 14 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – It hasn’t been long since Major Nidal Malik Hasan became the most recent jihadist to launch a terror attack on US soil. The unique thing about Major Hasan’s attack, in which he murdered 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas was that he was not only a US army officer, he was a US citizen who was born and raised in the United States. Prior to Major Hasan’s attack, terrorist attacks in the US were primarily carried out by foreign terrorists.
The weeks since the Fort Hood attack have brought the discovery of more American jihadists within the United States. A developing story involves the Somali-American communities in Seattle and Minneapolis. Over the past few years, numerous Somali-American men have disappeared from their homes without a trace. At least three of these men have been turned up dead in Somalia. One of these men, Shirwa Ahmed of Minneapolis, gained the dubious distinction of becoming the first American suicide bomber when he detonated a car packed with explosives in front of the Ethiopian embassy in Somaliland on October 29, 2008, killing 20 people.
The FBI believes that the Somali men are leaving the US to train as terrorists and wage jihad. Some, like Ahmed, ended up in Somalia with al-Shabaab (“the youth”), an al Qaeda affiliated group fighting the Ethiopian presence in Somalia. A second Somali-American is believed to have carried out a suicide bombing against African Union peacekeepers in Somalia on September 15, 200, killing twenty-one.
Another American, David Coleman Headley of Chicago, was recently arrested on charges that he was a spy for the Lashkar, a Pakistani terror group. Headley, whose original name is Daood Gilani, is of Pakistani descent and spent his early childhood in Pakistan. Along with Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani businessman, Headley is accused of helping to plan an attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons about Mohammed and helping to coordinate the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India that killed more than 160 people.
Finally a group of five American college students from Washington were arrested in Pakistan in early December 2009 as they tried to make contact with Pakistani terrorist groups. The families of the men became concerned after discovering a farewell video in which they stated the need to defend Muslims. A Pakistani report states they “were of the opinion that a jihad must be waged against the infidels for the atrocities committed by them against Muslims around the world” [cnn]. The men had previously tried to contact terror groups through internet sites such as Facebook and Youtube.
Together with Major Hasan, these discoveries show a disturbing trend. They show that American Muslims are increasingly vulnerable to radicalization. In the past, this sort of radicalization has been seen in the Muslim communities of Europe, but has been rare in the US.
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The cases have several factors in common. First, the terrorists in all cases come from a Muslim background. All were American citizens. Some were native born, while others immigrated and became citizens later in life. Additionally, a common theme among many of the jihadists is that their friends viewed them as normal Americans and could not believe their association with terror groups.
It appears that the radicalization can be traced to local mosques and religious awakenings. It has been revealed that Major Hasan attended the same Virginia mosque as two of the 9/11 terrorists. Shirwa Ahmed and the other Somalis typically disappear after becoming involved in local mosques. David Headley became heavily involved in Islam after a series of drug arrests in the 1990s and moved to an area of Chicago known for Muslim immigrants. He attended a local mosque with Rana there. Finally, the Washington Five were all members of a youth program at a mosque in Alexandria, Virginia.
While not nearly all Muslim-Americans are at risk for radicalization, we do have to realize that out of the 1-2 million Muslims in America, there could well be thousands who are quietly becoming radicalized via radical internet websites or local mosques. In 2007, Pew Research polled Muslim Americans and found that five percent of American Muslims had a favorable view of al Qaeda. A further 27 percent responded that they did not know or refused to answer the question (Inside the Revolution, p. 144). Further, when asked if suicide bombings against civilian targets were ever justified, thirteen percent indicated that suicide bombings were justified “sometimes (7 percent), often (1 percent), or rarely but not never (5 percent).” An additional nine percent refused to answer the question. The numbers increase for Muslims between 18 and 29 years old. These younger Muslims also tend to be more radical and more religiously observant.
Estimates of the total Muslim population of the United States vary widely, but approximately 1.5 million seems to be an accepted figure [adherents.com]. This means that as many as 75,000 Muslim Americans have a favorable view of al Qaeda and a further 405,000 are unsure or refuse to answer. Additionally, some 195,000 Muslim Americans believe that suicide bombings against civilian targets are justifiable with an additional 135,000 refusing to answer. Other polls show that these percentages are even higher in other countries.
It would be very easy for homegrown terror cells to form and train via the internet and launch terror attacks on their fellow Americans. Timothy McVeigh, the original World Trade Center bombers, and the DC Sniper illustrate how easy it is to use common items for terrorist attacks. Stolen or legally purchased firearms or bombs created from common items with an internet instruction manual could wreak havoc in numerous cities and small towns around the country. Dozens of small-scale attacks scattered around the country would maximize terror.
The good news is that the silent majority of Americans of Muslim faith is beginning to show more support for the US government. In the case of the Washington Five, their families alerted the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization that has often been believed to be an apologist for terrorist groups. In this case, CAIR referred the families to the FBI.
Many, probably most, American Muslims do not share the radical desire for a worldwide Islamic caliphate. They have no desire to live under Sharia Law. They do not want to see suicide bombings and terror attacks become commonplace in the United States.
These arrests underscore the importance of establishing and maintaining close ties between the law enforcement community and the Muslim communities. Counter-terror and law enforcement must become aware of what is happening within the walls of mosques around the country. Likewise, steps should be taken to monitor or shut down websites that recruit and indoctrinate young Muslims into terror groups. The threat is real and cannot be ignored. Neither can the threat be countered without the help of loyal American Muslims.
