Kenya seal off border with Somalia

[Somali_Friend]

Kenya seal off border with Somalia

 

By Daniel Lang, BBC Kenya

Fri, Dec 29, 2006

 

Kenya has Friday sealed off its border with Somalia following intensified fighting in that country.

 

Kenyan security agents are on high alert along stretches of the common border to ensure none of the rival armed groups enter the country.

 

Mandera police chief Leonard Omukata however said refugees fleeing fighting in Somalia will still be allowed to enter Kenya, but only at specific border crossing points where they will be screened by security and immigration officials.

 

Omukata said the entry points at Liboi and Mandera townships are still open.

 

Wajir police chief Julius Kitili said the Amuma boarder point in Wajir District was completely sealed off, and security officers are on alert at other entry points in Garissa and Ijara districts.

 

Thursday, pressure mounted on Kenya, currently the IGAD chair to intervene and bring the two warring parties in Somalia to dialogue.

 

Human rights groups in Nairobi want Kenya to intervene to avoid escalation of violence in the war torn country.

 

The move comes after the UN Security Council failed to agree on a call for the withdrawal of foreign forces.

 

Last Thursday, Kenyan legislators who recently toured Somali led by Kabete MP Paul Muite asked the government to initiate dialogue between all stakeholders in the Somalia crisis.

 

Thursday , Mandera Central MP Billow Kerrow and representatives of several lobby groups urged Kenya to demand the withdrawal of foreign troops from Somali.

 

Somali Transitional Federal Government has formally asked Kenya to hand over Islamist leaders who may have arrived in the country and who are on the list of wanted terrorists.

 

The Somali government formally asked Kenya to hand over the men, although no names were given.

 

The Somali government said some of the wanted men included foreigners.

 

A report published by the pro-government website Thursday said the Somali government formally asked Kenya to hand over the men, although no names were given.

[Taliban]

Islamists Lose … For Now

 

A hard-line Muslim government has fallen in Somalia, but the country's troubles show no sign of abating soon.

 

Dec. 29, 2006 - Once again Mogadishu has fallen, and once again Somalia's troubles appear only to be beginning anew. This time Ethiopia is the invader, and the hardliners of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) have fled the capital. But the new government still faces opposition. When Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi visited Mogadishu Friday, thousands of residents burned tires and blocked streets in protest, many apparently angry at the presence of Ethiopian troops. Gedi said Friday that the country will face three months of martial law as the new government attempts to restore security.

 

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the ICU’s pro-al Qaeda spiritual leader, made it clear he planned to carry on a guerrilla war with Ethiopia as other Somalis did with the United States. In remarks to a NEWSWEEK reporter as he prepared to leave the capital on Wednesday, Aweys said, "I am going somewhere else in my country, and we will think of a way to overwhelm the enemy ... We will give them unprecedented lessons, as we did in 1993 [when the United States intervened in Mogadishu]."

 

In remarks to reporters at the Mogadishu airport, the Courts' other main leader, the more moderate Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, vowed to "prolong the fighting and reach other countries and other cities." Sheikh Sharif had just arrived at the airport from a trip abroad, landing shortly after Ethiopian MIG jets bombed it, along with another airport outside the capital city, according to eyewitnesses reached by telephone. "We are quitting the city with our forces to avoid fighting over the people and destroying the city," he said. "Islamic court officials will not surrender, we will defend ourselves and defeat the enemy."

 

Ethiopian troops, after a stunningly fast advance into Somalia only a week old, advanced into Mogadishu Friday with troops of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. The TFG is a confederation of former warlords that until Ethiopia's intervention had controlled only the remote, small city of Baidoa in the west of Somalia. But it had the backing of Western countries and the African Union. Ethiopia's intervention was sparked by an offensive on Baidoa by the ICU, seeking to reduce the last place in southern and central Somalia not under their control. With typical bravado, the Islamists vowed to carry the fight to Ethiopia, which has a large Somali ethnic region, the ******, over which the two countries have twice gone to war. Hard-line Courts members even threatened terrorist strikes against Ethiopian cities. "Ethiopia has a right to bomb the Islamist targets," said Saad Ali Jelle, the TFG's assistant defense minister, "because they want to start fighting in Ethiopia."

 

As they fled, the Islamists turned over weapons to the warlords they had disarmed only six months earlier when they swept to power. The Courts' militiamen were believed to be taking refuge in Kismayo, in the south of the country, where hardline elements were still in control, and most roads had been cut off by recent floods. No sooner had the ICU left Mogadishu than warlords began carving up neighborhoods with roadblocks, and looting and armed robbery broke out throughout the city, with constant but sporadic gunfire.

 

"The Mujahideen will defeat the enemy and Somalia will become an Ethiopian cemetery," said Courts spokesman Sheikh Mohamoud Ibrahim Suley, before fleeing himself. The retreat, he claimed, was a "war trick." But their fallback was clearly a major setback, as ill-trained militiamen, many of them adolescents, were unable to stand up to Ethiopia, which has the region's most formidable military. The ICU was so desperate as allied militia warlords abandoned them, that they canceled school classes so they could enlist hundreds of young boys to send into the fight. After only a few days of fighting, one provincial city after another fell as the TFG and Ethiopian forces advanced. Ethiopia had previously claimed only to have military advisers in Somalia with the TFG, but that pretense was dropped this week. In Addis Ababa, Ethiopian officials said they had no intention of remaining in Somalia.

 

Sheikh Aweys, in his comments to NEWSWEEK, blamed the fighting on behind-the-scenes support by the United States for the Ethiopian offensive. "We believe USA is attacking Somalia—they funded the warlords who we defeated, and now they are pushing and funding Ethiopia,” he said. “I assure them that they will not succeed to occupy Somalia. We will not compromise our ambition to install an Islamic state, and Ethiopia will not remain much longer in Somalia. We will give them unprecedented lessons like we did in 1993."

 

As the Islamists packed up in Mogadishu and other cities, they ran a last-minute recruiting drive and hundreds of young men signed up as jihadis, leaving with them as they fled. But many others were clearly happy to see the end of harsh Islamic rule, which had shut down movie theatres and even soccer matches, and outlawed not only alcohol but also the national pastime of chewing khat, a mild narcotic plant. Within hours of the city's fall, khat was back on sale openly in Mogadishu. In the city of Jawhar, west of the capital, one of the country's most notorious warlords, Mohammed Dhere, was back in charge as the Courts fled. He appeared in public, saying, "We got rid of the terrorists, now the people of Jawhar are free, open your cinemas, open your businesses, you are now under the care of the forces of the Transitional Federal Government."

 

While many residents in Mogadishu welcomed the departure of the Islamists, there was also widespread resentment about the role of Ethiopia in toppling them—which may be why their forces remained outside the capital proper. "I feel like a Palestinian," said Madina Ali, a mother of five. "Even if they give us milk and honey, the Ethiopians are our enemies, we prefer death to becoming an Ethiopian colony."

 

Barre Aden Shire, the TFG's defense minister, boasted that his forces backed by Ethiopia had killed 1,000 Islamists, and said, "We want to massacre the rest." But witnesses in the capital estimated that some 6,000 Courts militiamen had successfully fled to the south. "The fighting will not end as long as one of the terrorists remain in Somalia," Shire told reporters. That may be a very long time indeed.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16397766/site/newsweek/

[Somali_Friend]

Taliban,

 

since you like the name Taliban let me tell you as Taliban and not as Somalian.

 

There is no Pakistan here in our neighborhood.

 

You also need to understand that Kenya has obligation under IGAD to do so. Again if Kenya wants TFG to respect international agreements between Somalia and Kenya, then Kenya has to also do the same.

 

Even Sudan will do the same.

[Taliban]

Originally posted by Somali_Friend:

Taliban,

 

since you like the name Taliban let me tell you as Taliban and not as Somalian.

 

There is no Pakistan here in our neighborhood.

The Taliban are from Afghanistan, not Pakistan. Nevertheless, bear in mind there was no Al-Qaida before the Iraq invasion. Now that Ethiopia has invaded Somalia, there's a real possibility of Pakistan coming to your neighborhood.

[Somali_Friend]

Originally posted by Taliban:

quote:Originally posted by Somali_Friend:

Taliban,

 

since you like the name Taliban let me tell you as Taliban and not as Somalian.

 

There is no Pakistan here in our neighborhood.

The Taliban are from Afghanistan, not Pakistan.

You missed the point. Taliban are supported by Pakistan. They still are either tolerated or Pakistan turns a blind eye. Kenya cannot afford to do so, even if it wanted too.

 

We all live in glass houses

[Taliban]

Originally posted by Somali_Friend:

You missed the point. Taliban are supported by Pakistan. They still are either tolerated or Pakistan turns a blind eye. Kenya cannot afford to do so, even if it wanted too.

OK, I got your point. However, there are a few million Somalis who live in Kenya (especially in NFD); the ICU can count on at least a minimal support from those Somalis. But most important, the ICU will count on the support of many Somalis in Somalia. Guerrilla war or insurgency is very difficult (if not near impossible) to contain. Bear in mind, arms and weapons are plentiful in Somalia. As for financial support, the ICU can count on a number of countries such as Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and others. Financial support doesn't necessarily has to come from the governments of those countries; it could come from wealthy individual Muslims. The bottom line; Ethiopia isn't a rich and powerful country like the US that can wage counter guerrilla or insurgency war. Even the US with all its might and help from NATO is failing in Iraq and Afghanistan. What Ethiopia has set to prevent could as well materialize.

[Somali_Friend]

Originally posted by Taliban:

The bottom line; Ethiopia isn't a rich and powerful country like the US that can wage counter guerrilla or insurgency war. Even the US with all its might and help from NATO is failing in Iraq and Afghanistan. What Ethiopia has set to prevent could as well materialize.

[/b]

Taliban,

Before you go into all that analysis, let me point out to you something very basic and fundamental.

 

If you decide to fight, you will be fighting your own brother not an ethiopian.

 

I have seen ethiopians in 1991 that were saying the same words of yours in Addis Ababa. The Capital Addis Ababa is still against the Government of Meles, but now is almost giving up the fight. The reason is the village boys (most of government in ethiopia)are tough nut to crack.

 

 

Don't plan on fighting ethiopia. all your investment will come to naught. will be waste of money and time, unless as IndaCadde said you want to come to Addis Ababa. The time it takes you to prepare, the ethiopian forces will have retired to their camps in the north or west Ethiopia.

 

If you are planning to fight your own government, thats your business, but from our experience don't forget you will be fighting a few of your states and provinces and you can lose your country all together. From our experience it was close, but was prevented from destruction by Federalism.

 

No Federalism no ethiopia. that was the stark choice.

[Taliban]

Originally posted by Somali_Friend:

If you decide to fight, you will be fighting your own brother not an ethiopian.

You are in error. If we decide to fight, we will be fighting Ethiopian invaders and occupiers. Since Ethiopia crossed Somalia's border, violating Somalia's airspace, bombing and massacring thousands of innocent Somalis, we have no choice but to return the favor. It could take many years, but it will be eventually realized, insha'Allah. And you don't understand Islam and Muslims; to sacrifice your wealth and life for jihad is the noblest cause in Islam.

 

Somali_Friend, most often, you veer from the unity of the topic or discussion. You add to the topic or discussion with things that have no relation. Most often, you argue for the sake of argument. Until I observe from you professionalism in how you argue or discuss, I am forced to stop responding to your comments.