Doha Communiqué A tripartite conference under the title: Foreign Interventions and the future of the Horn of Africa was held in Doha, 6-8 June 2007 participated by Union of Islamic courts (UIC) led by the Chairman, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, The Somali Parliamentarians led by the Speaker Hon. Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and representatives of Somali Diaspora, under the auspices of the Global Anti Aggression Campaign. After frank extensive discussions and full review of all the circumstances surrounding the Somali people and the tragedies they have been suffering as a result of the barbaric Ethiopian occupation which committed atrocities, looting, mass displacement and rape. After long deliberation on these issues the participants have agreed on the following points: 1. Deploring that Somalia has fallen under Ethiopian occupation 2. Condemnation of the Ethiopian naked aggression on the Somali people and its barbaric and brutal behaviour and she bears responsibility for the destruction and spread of violence and instability in the Horn of Africa. 3. The indiscriminate and systematic killing, collective punishment and other acts of atrocities are obviously war crimes and genocide according to the International Law. The conference urges and calls on the international community to establish a specific international tribunal for war crimes for Somalia. 4. Demand immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somalia. 5. Ethiopian government, its collaborators such as the so-called Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and other powers that give support will be equally responsible for all atrocities that take place in Somalia. 6. Appeal to the international community and all non- governmental relief agencies and philanthropists to extend urgent and necessary relief to the Somali people who are suffering from that brutal occupation. 7. Demand the United Nations and the UN Security Council to take its responsibilities towards the affected and displaced persons and to punish those who obstruct relief to reach the needy people. 8. Condemn the so-called Transitional Federal Government (TFG) for its disgraceful role in the invasion and occupation of the country. 9. Consider the reconciliation conference in Somalia called by the TFG as a new chapter of fragmenting the Somali society with the hands of its arch enemy and cement the occupation. Such actions are devoid of any credibility and legitimacy. Under no circumstances can any legitimate meeting be held under Ethiopian occupation. 10. Somali national reconciliation is a national demand. However, it must be based on national agenda and should be held in neutral venue in which all concerned parties can participate with sense of security. Such conference should deal with the political differences among Somali stakeholders to decide the future of the country and the destiny of the nation. 11. Denounce the indiscriminate and repeated bombardments of Somali territories in which innocent civilians have been killed and wounded in various regions under the pretext of curbing alleged terrorism without any evidence. 12. We call upon all Arab and Islamic countries to play their leading positive role in the ongoing Somali crises 13. Recognise the legitimacy of the resistance as a national duty and of necessity a religious obligation of honour that all citizens should contribute. 14. To establish a Somali national movement for the liberation of the country from the foreign oppressive occupation by all legitimate means available to the Somali people, through the following steps inter alia: A. Appointment of a preparatory committee composed of 15 members representing the Islamic courts, members of the Somali Parliament, Somali Diaspora and various segments of Somali society. B. The conference is being organised to be held within the next 45 days. Finally, we offer our sincere thanks and appreciation to the State of the Qatar and its Amir for the generosity and standing beside the Somali people in their hour of need. We also extend our sincere thanks to the global anti aggression campaign for its role in the success of the conference.

Here's the full front-page NYT story by Jeffrey Gettleman, "In Ethiopian Desert, Fear and Cries of Army Brutality". IN THE ****** DESERT, Ethiopia — The rebels march 300 strong across the crunchy earth, young men with dreadlocks and AK-47s slung over their shoulders. Often when they pass through a village, the entire village lines up, one sunken cheekbone to the next, to squint at them. “May God bring you victory,” one woman whispered. This is the ******, a spindle-legged corner of Ethiopia that the urbane officials in Addis Ababa, the capital, would rather outsiders never see. It is the epicenter of a separatist war pitting impoverished nomads against one of the biggest armies in Africa. What goes on here seems to be starkly different from the carefully constructed up-and-coming image that Ethiopia — a country that the United States increasingly relies on to fight militant Islam in the Horn of Africa — tries to project. In village after village, people said they had been brutalized by government troops. They described a widespread and longstanding reign of terror, with Ethiopian soldiers gang-raping women, burning down huts and killing civilians at will. It is the same military that the American government helps train and equip — and provides with prized intelligence. The two nations have been allies for years, but recently they have grown especially close, teaming up last winter to oust an Islamic movement that controlled much of Somalia and rid the region of a potential terrorist threat. The Bush administration, particularly the military, considers Ethiopia its best bet in the volatile Horn — which, with Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea, is fast becoming intensely violent, virulently anti-American and an incubator for terrorism. But an emerging concern for American officials is the way that the Ethiopian military operates inside its own borders, especially in war zones like the ******. Anab, a 40-year-old camel herder who was too frightened, like many others, to give her last name, said soldiers took her to a police station, put her in a cell and twisted her nipples with pliers. She said government security forces routinely rounded up young women under the pretext that they were rebel supporters so they could bring them to jail and rape them. “Me, I am old,” she said, “but they raped me, too.” Moualin, a rheumy-eyed elder, said Ethiopian troops stormed his village, Sasabene, in January looking for rebels and burned much of it down. “They hit us in the face with the hardest part of their guns,” he said. The villagers said the abuses had intensified since April, when the rebels attacked a Chinese-run oil field, killing nine Chinese workers and more than 60 Ethiopian soldiers and employees. The Ethiopian government has vowed to crush the rebels but rejects all claims that it abuses civilians. “Our soldiers are not allowed to do these kinds of things,” said Nur Abdi Mohammed, a government spokesman. “This is only propaganda and cannot be justified. If a government soldier did this type of thing they would be brought before the courts.” Even so, the State Department, the European Parliament and many human rights groups, mostly outside Ethiopia, have cited thousands of cases of torture, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killings — enough to raise questions in Congress about American support of the Ethiopian government. “This is a country that is abusing its own people and has no respect for democracy,” said Representative Donald M. Payne, Democrat of New Jersey and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa and global health. “We’ve not only looked the other way but we’ve pushed them to intrude in other sovereign nations,” he added, referring to the satellite images and other strategic help the American military gave Ethiopia in December, when thousands of Ethiopian troops poured into Somalia and overthrew the Islamist leadership. According to Georgette Gagnon, deputy director for the Africa division of Human Rights Watch, Ethiopia is one of the most repressive countries in Africa. “What the Ethiopian security forces are doing,” she said, “may amount to crimes against humanity.” Human Rights Watch issued a report in 2005 that documented a rampage by government troops against members of the Anuak, a minority tribe in western Ethiopia, in which soldiers ransacked homes, beat villagers to death with iron bars and in one case, according to a witness, tied up a prisoner and ran over him with a military truck. After the report came out, the researcher who wrote it was banned by the Ethiopian government from returning to the country. Similarly, three New York Times journalists who visited the ****** to cover this story were imprisoned for five days and had all their equipment confiscated before being released without charges. Ethiopia’s Tiananmen Square In many ways, Ethiopia has a lot going for it these days: new buildings, new roads, low crime and a booming trade in cut flowers and coffee. It is the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa, behind Nigeria, with 77 million people. Its leaders, many whom were once rebels themselves, from a neglected patch of northern Ethiopia, are widely known as some of the savviest officials on the continent. They had promised to let some air into a very stultified political system during the national elections of 2005, which were billed as a milestone on the road to democracy. Instead, they turned into Ethiopia’s version of Tiananmen Square. With the opposition poised to win a record number of seats in Parliament, the government cracked down brutally, opening fire on demonstrators, rounding up tens of thousands of opposition supporters and students and leveling charges of treason and even attempted to kill top opposition leaders, including the man elected mayor of Addis Ababa. Many opposition members are now in jail or in exile. The rest seem demoralized. “There are no real steps toward democracy,” said Merera Gudina, vice president of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, a leading opposition party. “No real steps toward opening up space, no real steps toward ending repression.” Ethiopian officials have routinely dismissed such complaints, accusing political protesters of stoking civil unrest and poking their finger into a well-known sore spot. Ethiopia has always had an authoritarian streak. This is a country, after all, where until the 1970s rulers claimed to be direct descendants of King Solomon. It is big, poor, famine-stricken, about half-Christian and half-Muslim, surrounded by hostile enemies and full of heavily armed separatist factions. As one high-ranking Ethiopian official put it, “This country has never been easy to rule.” That has certainly been true for the ****** desert, a huge, dagger-shaped chunk of territory between the highlands of Ethiopia and the border of Somalia. The people here are mostly ethnic Somalis, and they have been chafing against Ethiopian rule since 1897, when the British ceded their claims to the area. The colonial officials did not think the ****** was worth much. They saw thorny hills and thirsty people. Even today, it is still like that. What passes for a town is a huddle of bubble-shaped huts, the movable homes of camel-thwacking nomads who somehow survive out here. For roads, picture Tonka truck tracks running through a sandbox. The primary elements in this world are skin and bone and sun and rock. And guns. Loads of them. Camel herders carry rifles to protect their animals. Young women carry pistols to protect their bodies. And then there is the ****** National Liberation Front, the machine-gun-toting rebels fighting for control of this desiccated wasteland. Rebels Live Off the Land Lion. Radio. Fearless. Peacock. Most of the men have nicknames that conceal their real identities. Peacock, who spoke some English, served as a guide. He shared the bitter little plums the soldiers pick from thorn bushes — “****** chocolate,” he called them. He showed the way to gently skim water from the top of a mud puddle to minimize the amount of dirt that ends up in your stomach — even in the rainy season this is all there is to drink. He pointed out the anthills, the coming storm clouds, the especially ruthless thorn trees and even a graveyard that stood incongruously in the middle of the desert. The graves — crude pyramids of stones — were from the war in 1977-78, when Somalia tried, disastrously, to pry the ****** out of Ethiopia’s hands and lost thousands of men. “It’s up to us now,” Peacock said. Peacock was typical of the rebels. He was driven by anger. He said Ethiopian soldiers hanged his mother, raped his sister and beat his father. “I know, it’s hard to believe,” he said. “But it’s true.” He had the hunch of a broken man and a voice that seemed far too tired for his 28 years. “It’s not that I like living in the bush,” he said. “But I have nowhere else to go.” The armed resistance began in 1994, after the ****** National Liberation Front, then a political organization, broached the idea of splitting off from Ethiopia. The central government responded by imprisoning ******i leaders, and according to academics and human rights groups, assassinating others. The ****** is part of the Somali National Regional State, one of nine ethnic-based states within Ethiopia’s unusual ethnic-based federal system. On paper, all states have the right to secede, if they follow the proper procedures. But it seemed that the government feared that if the Somalis broke away, so too would the Oromos, the Afar and many other ethnic groups pining for a country of their own. The Ethiopian government calls the ****** rebels terrorists and says they are armed and trained by Eritrea, Ethiopia’s neighbor and bitter enemy. One of the reasons Ethiopia decided to invade Somalia was to prevent the rebels from using it as a base. The government blames them for a string of recent bombings and assassinations and says they often single out rival clan members. Ethiopian officials have been pressuring the State Department to add the ****** National Liberation Front to its list of designated foreign terrorist organizations. Until recently, American officials refused, saying the rebels had not threatened civilians or American interests. American policy toward Ethiopia seems to be in flux. Administration officials are trying to increase the amount of nonhumanitarian aid to Ethiopia to $481 million next year, from $284 million this year. But key Democrats in Congress, including Mr. Payne, are questioning this, saying that because of Ethiopia’s human rights record, it is time to stop writing the country a blank check. In April, European Commission officials began investigating Ethiopia for war crimes in connection to hundreds of Somali civilians killed by Ethiopian troops during heavy fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital. Women Are Suffering the Most In the ******, it is not clear how many people are dying. The vast area is essentially a no-go zone for most human rights workers and journalists and where the Ethiopian military, by its own admission, is waging an intense counterinsurgency campaign. The violence has been particularly acute against women, villagers said, and many have recently fled. Asma, 19, who now lives in neighboring Somaliland, said she was stuck in an underground cell for more than six months last year, raped and tortured. “They beat me on the feet and breasts,” she said. She was freed only after her father paid the soldiers ransom, she said, though she did not know how much. Ambaro, 25, now living in Addis Ababa, said she was gang-raped by five Ethiopian soldiers in January near the town of Fik. She said troops came to her village every night to pluck another young woman. “I’m in pain now, all over my body,” she said. “ I’m worried that I’ll become crazy because of what happened.” Many ****** villagers said that when they tried to bring up abuses with clan chiefs or local authorities, they were told it was better to keep quiet. The rebels said thats was precisely why they attacked the Chinese oil field: to get publicity for their cause and the plight of their region (and to discourage foreign companies from exploiting local resources). According to them, they strike freely in the ****** all the time, ambushing military convoys and raiding police stations. Mr. Mohammed, the government spokesman, denied that, saying the rebels “will not confront Ethiopian military forces because they are not well trained.” Expert or not, they are determined. They march for hours powered by a few handfuls of rice. They travel extremely light, carrying only their guns, two clips of bullets, a grenade and a tarp. They brag about how many Ethiopians they have killed, and every piece of their camouflage, they say, is pulled off dead soldiers. They joke about slaughtering Ethiopian troops the same way they slaughter goats. Their morale seems high, especially for men who sleep in the dirt every night. Their throats are constantly dry, but they like to sing. “A camel is delivering a baby today and the milk of the camel is coming,” goes one campfire song. “Who is the owner of this land?”

^It's sweet to mine too bro.

It seems the whole world, apart from the rotting TFG and its misinformed supporters, is starting to recognize the increasing strength of the resistance as well as its strong resolve in driving out the occupiers. By Stephanie McCrummen Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, June 20, 2007; Page A15 NAIROBI, June 19 -- Far from being defeated, Somalia's opposition groups are politically uniting, strengthening and planning a conference next month to hone their strategy for ousting the Somali government and the Ethiopian troops backing it, according to a recent statement issued by the groups and to a foreign diplomat in the Somali capital. The official, who is closely involved in the country's faltering reconciliation process and spoke on condition of anonymity because of his position, said that Somali insurgents "are reaching out to different clans and to the general public without any conditions" and that " it is becoming a war between Somalia and Ethiopia ." "Things are getting worse instead of better," the official said, stating what is perhaps obvious to families who have lost relatives to the insurgents' bombs and Ethiopian attacks. The U.S. government supported Ethiopia's military intervention in Somalia, which ousted the Islamic Courts movement, which was popular for the security it brought to parts of the country but which included leaders the United States accused of having ties to al-Qaeda, a charge the leaders denied. In a pattern that analysts have compared to Iraq on a small scale, Ethiopia's incursion was followed by an insurgency, composed of Islamic Courts fighters and militias drawn mainly from Mogadishu's powerful ****** clan, who accuse Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf of excluding them. In late March and April, Ethiopian and Somali government troops launched a major offensive with tanks and attack helicopters against insurgents hiding in Mogadishu's civilian neighborhoods, and afterward, they declared victory. But after a brief calm, insurgent attacks have again flared. A roadside bomb exploded Monday in the capital, killing two civilians, and an assassination attempt was made Tuesday on a high-ranking official. In a move to assuage the opposition, a spokesman for Yusuf said later Tuesday that the government would offer amnesty to former Islamic movement fighters and release others from jail. But the opposition appears only to be growing. Groups that once were quarrelsome and fragmented are unifying against their common enemies, including the United States, which has launched two airstrikes and one naval strike against insurgents since January. Earlier this month, a group calling itself the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign met in Doha, Qatar, and issued a statement condemning "Ethiopian naked aggression" and Ethiopia's "collaborators." Attendees included former Islamic Courts leader Sharif Ahmed, the former speaker of the Somali parliament and members of the Somali diaspora. According to the statement, the group will hold a conference next month to establish a "Somali national movement for the liberation of the country from the foreign oppressive occupation by all legitimate means available ." A national reconciliation conference aimed at bringing political stability to the troubled nation in the Horn of Africa is also scheduled for next month, having been postponed last week for a fourth time. Somali officials said various groups needed more time to choose their delegates, but opposition leaders called the conference a sham, saying it is merely an attempt by Yusuf to consolidate his power. The complaint is hardly confined to Yusuf's opponents. The diplomat in Mogadishu said on Monday that the United Nations, the United States and other nations are "sleepwalking to failure" in Somalia by continuing to back a government that refuses to acknowledge the opposition except by fighting it. "The Somali government is in a state of denial," the official said. "They can't accept that there is an opposition, and that's very foolish . There are daily roadside bombs in Mogadishu. Today for example. And it's almost every day."

^Haven't come across one yet. I'll post it if i do.

The tireless campaigner speaks again. Whether you agree with this man or not; he's words are as potent as ever. His words are reminiscent of those uttered by Somali anti-occupation campaigners of the past. People like the late Aadan Cabdulle Cusmaan, may Allah bless his soul. Kismaayonews

Confirmed all too quickly and expectedly. "The National Reconciliation Committee has decided to postpone the conference due to unforeseen circumstances," committee chairman Ali Mahdi Mohamed told reporters. Rueters

^Prepare for yet another disappointment. Diplomats tracking Somalia said on Tuesday they saw no chance of the government being able to stage a national reconciliation conference slated to start in Mogadishu on Thursday, because of insecurity and lack of preparation. "There is no chance," one Nairobi-based Western diplomat said, predicting a formal announcement on Wednesday that the conference was being postponed for a second time. " I have spoken to some of them (in the government) and they all say it won't happen. They have not even set an agenda or picked the delegates. They will announce a delay tomorrow and blame lack of donor funding ." Reuters

Sh Shariif oo Tacsi tiraanyo leh u diraaya eheladii iyo qarabaadii oo ka geeriyooday Aadan Cabdulle Cusmaan. (09-06-07) Doha - Qatar Tacsi Tiiraanyo leh Waxaan anigoo ku hadlaya magaceyga, kan Golaha Maxkamadaha Islaamka Soomaaliyeed iyo kan shacabkaba hawada u marsiinayaa dhambaal tacsi ehaladii ,qaraabadii , qoyskii iyo guud ahaan shacabweynaha Soomaaliyeed , anigoo uga tacsiyeynaya geeridii naxdinta laheyd ee ku timid Allaha u naxariistee madaxweynihii koowaad ee Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya, mudane/ Marxuum : Aadam C/lle Cismaan, oo shacabka Soomaaliyeed ay ku xasuusanayaan inuu ahaa maaxweynihii ay indhaha ku kala fureen madaxbanaanidii ka dib , kuna caan baxey gumeysi naceyb iyo inuu isla markii ay labada gobol ee koofurta iyo waqooyi xoroobeen uu u istaagey dib u xoreynta umadda Soomaaliyeed ee gumeysiga gacantiisa ku hartey . Geerida Marxuumku waxey ku soo aadey xilli uu dalka Soomaaliyeed goboladiisii xorta ahaa ay gacanta u galeen gumeystaha madow ee Itoobiya, taasoo waajib ka dhigeysa in la qaado tallaabooyinkii ku dayasha mudnaa ee ay qaadeen hogaamiyaashii wadaniyiinta ahaa ee uu ka mid ahaa marxuum Aadam C/lle . Waxaan Allaah uga baryayaa inuu marxuumka ka waraabiyo jannooyinkiisa , uuna ku galladeysto naxariistiisa ballaaran, eheladii , qaraabadii , qoyskii iyo shacabweynaha Soomaaliyeedna uu sabir iyo iimaan ka siiyo. Innaa Lillaahi wa inaa ilayhi raajicuun Sh.Shariif Sh.Axmed Guddoomiyaha GMIS

^Saxib, this is not 1945. The UN and its false ideals are no longer acknowledged nor respected. Modern day occupations only end by damaging you're enemy either militarily or economically. Empty proclamations won't convince Ethiopia to withdraw its troops. As for airing ones views on an 'international platform'; don't forget that this very platform failed the Somali people prior to the invasion. Declarations may attract the brief attention of the international community but this will not bother the occupiers. The occupiers are in the country at the pleasure of those that matter in the international community. Your assertion that we risk placing ourselves in the same category as the ONLF or OLF by aligning ourselves with them does not stick. Alliances of this nature are nothing new. The hasty assumptions you've drawn about this alliance is totally unfounded. Each group has the goal of defending itself against Ethiopian aggression. Besides, there are clear distinctions between the different wings and their fields of operation. My contention is that we will waste our time if we restrict our fight to the political field alone. If this path is followed, you may attract audiences from the pretentious left but you'll never make in roads to the real decision makers.

Ethiopia has been bold in its naked-ambition to illegally invade and occupy Somalia. Equally confronting and bold action should be used to drive it out. Mere opposition politically won't convince it to withdraw. Although the full details have not been released as yet, alliances of the type thus far announced are well overdue. Ethiopia has been fearing an alliance of this type for decades. Its ironic that the actions it hoped would deter such alliances are the same ones which have precipitated its formation. The only way to end the occupation is to hurt Ethiopia militarily. At this stage, the Ethiopians cannot be challenged militarily on Somali soil. It can, however, be hurt militarily inside Ethiopia. This was demonstrated by the ONLF's highly successfull attack against a Chinese oil installation. Creating alliances with the ONLF and OLF is strategically sound for that reason. What better way to put pressure on Ethiopia than to threaten it with attacks inside in its own territory while at the same time maintaining pressure politically. This alliance will not damage the status of men such as Sheikh Sharif and former parliamentarians or their ability to function as a political opposition to the TFG. There are two battles to be fought. The harder one is against the Ethiopian occupation. This group have realised this. They've demonstrated their political astuteness by announcing this alliance at this critical stage.

Here's Geedi barking at this imminent threat to his puppet regime. Somalia's Government Confirms Opposition Coalition Being Formed in Eritrea By Alisha Ryu Mogadishu 09 June 2007 Somalia's interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has confirmed a story reported by VOA on Friday about a coalition being established in Eritrea, composed of groups opposed to the Somali government and its main backer, Ethiopia. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has the details from the Somali capital, Mogadishu. In an interview with VOA, Prime Minister Gedi said his government is closely monitoring the activities of the newly-formed anti-government, anti-Ethiopian coalition, sponsored by Ethiopia's chief rival in the Horn, Eritrea. On Friday, VOA reported that the coalition, established in late May, is believed made up of at least four major groups: Somalia's defeated Islamic Courts Union, Ethiopia's ****** National Liberation Front and the Oromo Liberation Front rebels, and anti-Ethiopian former parliament members of the Somali transitional government. Prime Minister Gedi says an immediate goal of the Eritrean-based coalition is to derail a government-hosted Somali national reconciliation conference, scheduled to begin next Saturday in Mogadishu. "They are pursuing activities that are aimed at spoiling the reconciliation process," he said. "Who is sitting in Asmara with the Eritrean government? They are not taking care of the interests of the Somali people. Those are enemies of the Somali people, and that is why they are forming this coalition. An alliance of Islamic courts and terrorists will never come in this country." Somalia's interim government took power in Mogadishu in late December, after an Ethiopia-led offensive ended the Islamists' six-month rule. At the time, the leadership of the Islamic Courts Union was thought to be divided between hardliners, who had formed links with extremist groups like the al-Qaida terror organization, and moderates, who largely did not support radical activities. For months, western countries, led by the United States, urged Somalia's secular interim government to open a dialogue with Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the leader of the court's moderate Executive Council and to include moderate Islamists in the national reconciliation talks, aimed at bringing peace to Somalia after 16 years of civil war. But Prime Minister Gedi and other government officials have firmly opposed inviting any representatives of the Islamic Courts Union to the talks. On Saturday, the Somali leader noted that Sheik Ahmed has been named political leader of the new coalition in Eritrea, slamming the door for good on western hopes that the interim government could reconcile with moderates in the courts. "I do not know if you believe that there are moderates and they can join the reconciliation. If you believe it, it is not true," he added. Many Somalis in war-torn Mogadishu doubt that a reconciliation conference can succeed without including the government's chief opponents. Hundreds of Islamist supporters and nationalists angry over the presence of Ethiopian troops in the country are said to be active in the violent insurgency in the capital. Somalia's Government Confirms Opposition Coalition Being Formed in Eritrea

Originally posted by Castro: I support anyone who rejects this puppet regime and resists the occupation . I second that.

^I've paid my respects to this unique man and i'm not trying to politicize the issue. Its the TFG which appears to be doing just that. This announcement could have been made at any other time. Why today? In anycase, lets leave it at that.

Inaa lilaahi wa inaa Ilayhi raajicuun.

Aadan Cade ilaahay ha u naxariisto. I only hope that the TFG is not trying to use the legacy of this unique man, a man adored by all Somalis, to gain some legitimacy.

Ex-Somali leader being held at Gitmo By PAULINE JELINEK The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- A man suspected of being an al Qaeda terrorist and leader of the Islamic group that ruled part of Somalia last year was captured and taken to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said Wednesday. He was identified as Abdullahi Sudi Arale. "We believe him to be an extremely dangerous member of the al Qaeda network," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Whitman said Arale was suspected of acting as a courier between al Qaeda in East Africa and al Qaeda in Pakistan and helping the Africans get weapons and explosives. A department statement also said that since his return from Pakistan to Somalia last September, Arale had a leadership role in the Council of Islamic Courts, which ruled part of Somalia for six months before being driven from power in January by Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies with the help of U.S. military airpower. The Bush administration has repeatedly accused Somalia's Council of Islamic Courts of harboring international terrorists linked to al Qaeda and alleged to be responsible for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies.

Scott Shane, New York Times Thursday, June 7, 2007 Six human rights groups released a list Wednesday of 39 people they believe have been secretly imprisoned by the United States and whose whereabouts are unknown, calling on the Bush administration to abandon such detentions. The list, compiled from news media reports, interviews and government documents, includes terrorism suspects and those thought to have ties to militant groups. In some suspects' cases, officials acknowledge that they were at one time in U.S. custody. In others, the rights groups say, there is other evidence, sometimes sketchy, that they had at least once been in American hands. The list includes, for instance, Hassan Ghul, a Pakistani who is accused of being a member of al Qaeda and whose capture in northern Iraq in January 2004 was announced by President Bush. At the other extreme, two unnamed Somali nationals are on the list because they were overheard in 2005 by another prisoner who was later released, Marwan Jabour, in the cell next to his at a secret American detention center, possibly in Afghanistan. Meg Satterthwaite of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University, one of the six groups, said the recent American practice mimics "disappearances" of political opponents under Latin American dictators. "Enforced disappearances are illegal, regardless of who carries them out," she said. The other groups that compiled the list were Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch and two British groups, Reprieve and Cageprisoners. Three of the groups are suing under the Freedom of Information Act to learn what became of the prisoners. The Bush administration has defended secretly detaining some suspects as a necessity in the fight against terrorism because officials do not want to tip off terrorist groups that their operatives are in custody. They say the comparison with past Latin American governments is unfair, because those seized by the Americans are not killed and their whereabouts will eventually be revealed. CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano would not comment on the names on the list. But he said "there is no shortage of myth about what the CIA has done to fight terror." "The plain truth is that we act in strict accord with American law," he said, adding that the agency's actions "have been very effective in disrupting plots and saving lives." In a reminder that the handling of captured terrorism suspects remains a pressing issue, Pentagon officials said Wednesday that a courier linking terrorist cells in the Horn of Africa and al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan was captured recently in East Africa and transported this week to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Abdullahi Sudi Arale was suspected of providing terrorist cells in East Africa with explosives and weapons. He traveled from Pakistan to Somalia in September 2006 and held a leadership role in the Islamic Courts Council, which held power in part of Somalia until earlier this year, according to a Pentagon statement. "We believe him to be an extremely dangerous member of the al Qaeda network," Whitman said. But he said Arale, whose age and nationality were not released, would not be part of the "high value" group in the Guantanamo prisoner population of about 385. Even before the secret detentions were officially confirmed, the practice drew widespread objections, including from within the Bush administration. William H. Taft IV, legal adviser at the State Department from 2001 to 2005, opposed it while in office, and on Wednesday he said he had not changed his view. "I believe the United States should always account for people in its custody," said Taft, who had not reviewed the human rights groups' report. "When our own people are missing, we want to be able to insist on an accounting from their captors," Taft said. He added that keeping prisoners secret can tempt their jailers to abuse them and to cover up their deaths in custody.

The fifth attempt will arrive soon enough. These attempts on Geedi's life are a marked indication that the resistance is still alive and determined to inflict pain on the occupation. Geedi has become the big henchman not only for Ethiopia but the U.S. as well. To the U.S. Geedi is Karzai incarnate. He has said and done more than enough to appease the most hawkish of the hawks in Washgington. The best way to frustrate the plans of the U.S. is to get rid of Geedi. Sure, another traitor will take over but i doubt that he'll be as forceful with his daily utterances as Geedi is. For the hawks in Washington, losing Geedi would be tantamount to losing Karzai in Afhanistan. Whether he continues to survive or not is not all that important. For the moment, the resistance has already achieved a measure of success. If the last three attempts have not penetrated his dead brain cells, the fourth and latest attempt seems to have. Geedi is said to be in hiding. He'll obviously be assigned a security team full of foreigners. This security team will be fully equipped with the latest technology by the Americans. I wouldn't be suprised if one or two American intelligence officials come for the ride. The Americans have already indicated that they'll send a security team to aid in investigating Sunday's bombing. This flurry of movement is all aimed at ensuring that the most priced asset of the occupation is not lost. This may make it harder for the resistance to target Geedi but it also reduces his ability to keep intouch with the population and with the daily requirements of his post. Less time in front of the cameras with his oft-repeated words means a quite victory for the resistance.

Originally posted by Castro: Unlike Yey and his thugs, it seems these men being killed are easily accessible and therefore are being used as warning signs to others not to join the TFG. Too many of these killings though and the population may turn on the resistance . I take your point saxib. Let us remember though; that these so-called 'cheap' targets could have been committed by groups with different motives. Sure, sites identified with the resistance may report such killings and link them to the resistance but that doesn't prove anything. The only bombings and attempted assassinations that the resistance have taken responsbility for have all been of high value targets. No doubt, there are grey areas. However, I for one, give the benefit of the doubt to the resistance until such time as undisputable evidence arises. Nonetheless, your point about the case of Palestinian collaborators down the years is a potent one.

Originally posted by Castro: The line has to be drawn somewhere saaxib. It defeats the purpose if you indiscriminately kill unarmed individuals when they're at the bottom of the food chain. Moreover, it's nearly impossible to confirm ties to the enemy beyond reasonable doubt. And when Muqdisho is such a target rich city with Ethiopians and real collaborators on every street corner, why turn around and kill someone who is harmless and effectively a nobody? [/QB] The people being targeted, at least by the resistance, are hardly at the 'bottom of the food chain'. Confirmed attacks by the resistance have been against former warlords and the PM. Beyond that, those who seek positions within the TFG are hardly people starving to death, as the earlier poster attempts to portray them as. They are relatively well off folks who seek more wealth even if it means selling out their homeland. AY and his thugs wouldn't have brought the occupiers by themselves without an army of collaborators to sustain it. The resistance have been discreet in their approach to the collaborators. They've all been warned that their actions will not be tolerated. N.B. The resistance is wise enough and will not seek cheap targets for the sake of it. Their morality does not allow it.

The resistance faces a delicate balance between ensuring collaborators don't strenghten the enemy too much, while on the other hand, restraining their actions in line with the expectations of the people they seek to liberate. While i don't support the killing of the innocent; i do think that once a collaborator is identified and his links with the enemy confirmed beyond reasonable doubt, that action should be taken against such individuals. Seeking a livelihood is not an adequate excuse. This attitude stinks of individualism. Individualism has no place in either Islam or in the admirable traits of the true Somali. Every collaborator, no matter how minor his role, has the effect of strenghtening the enemy and therefore prolonging the occupation.

Sovereignty in peril! Interesting to see what Cadde Muuse will have to say about this breach of the territory he 'controls'. He was barking like a dog at the so-called 'terrorists' that landed on the shores of Puntland and was promising to expel them. I imagine he won't barking as loud at this grave breach of Puntland airspace by the U.S. military.

Sovereignty in peril! Interesting to see what Cadde Muuse will have to say about this breach of the territory he 'controls'. He was barking like a dog at the so-called 'terrorists' that landed on the shores of Puntland and was promising to expel them. I imagine he won't barking as loud at this grave breach of Puntland airspace by the U.S. military.

Patriotic Songs Resonate Across Somalia IOL, Thursday , 31 May 2007 MOGADISHU — Singing from little Mogadishu in neighboring Kenya, the patriotic and pro-resistance songs of a maverick band of Somali refugees are resonating across war-ravaged Somalia. "Our patriotic songs are the most popular in Somalia today and are topping the charts," Shino Abdullahi Ali, the manager of the 20-member Waayaha Cubus, which means "New Dawn" in the Somali language, told IslamOnline.net over the phone. The band groups twenty Somalis in their early twenties who have been living as refugees in Kenya for the better part of their teenage life. Singing from the Nairobi suburb known as "little Mogadishu," their hit songs are dominating the airwaves in their homeland. Their "Fight Somalis", "Warlords", and "Ethiopian Colonizers" are being played over and over again. Despite attempts by the powerless Ethiopian-backed interim government to block them, the band's cassettes and CDs are best sellers in Somalia. Formed in 2004, the group mixes the newest tunes of the Western hip hop music with a Somali flavor. It uses melodies to preach peace and fight killer diseases like AIDS, which is taking a severe toll on Somalis. The band performed in the Somali movie Ali and Awrala about the caste system of marriage within Somalia communities. "New Dawn is a phenomenon that revived the Somali art after being buried for nearly 16 years," Amin al-Shikh, a music critic, told IOL. He said the band has stepped out of the old poetic tradition and introduced more creative and modern lyrics to the long-forgotten music industry. Singing the Pain Ali, the group's manager, says their lyrics speak for all Somalis. "We seek to unite the Somali society and all Somalis across the Horn of Africa through ours music," he added. Frustrated with the worsening situations in their impoverished homeland, which has not had a functional ruling since 1991, the band spares no player from the blame. One of their nationalistic songs rebukes warlords for causing too much pain and destruction as they fought for power. "Girls are raped. Warlords are to blame," sings the band. "All the people have been killed… There is no school, there is no peace." Another one lashes out at the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia. "The Ethiopians are forming indirect colony with the world watching…," says the song. "May Allah lead them to the grave." But their most famous hit is "Collaborators", which was released right after the Ethiopian invasion and berates the interim government. "Don't be a collaborator ... Don't sell your country… Don't help the colonizers… Don't betray your conscience." Their video clips feature militias, civilian massacres and burning buildings. But Ali insists that the are not necessarily with the ousted Supreme Islamic Courts of Somalia (SICS). "We support any Somali who resists the Ethiopian invasion and colonization." In December, Ethiopian troops and interim government forces routed the SICS in a two-week war. Since then, Mogadishu has plunged into chaos and insecurity after enjoying relative peace for six months under the SICS. Since the beginning of the fighting, more than 2,000 people have been killed and 400,000 have fled Mogadishu. "Our songs give voice to the plight of the Somali people," Ali said.