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Key details about the latest developments around the Horn of Africa, along with related documents, comments and analyses, are made available in the Ecoterra Press Release Issue No. 181 that I herewith republish.

Ecoterra Intl. – SMCM (Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor) – 2009-05-25 / 23h57:28 UTC

Issue No. 181

Ecoterra International – Updates & Statements, Review & Clearing-house

A Voice from the Truth- & Justice-Seekers, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or overseas, and who neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities nor the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate attention, care and funding.

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act”. George Orwell

EA Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hotline: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) – email: somalia@ecoterra.net

EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: SMS to +254-738-497979 or call +254-733-633-733

“The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream!”

Capt. Florent Lemaçon – F/Y TANIT – killed by attack of French commandos – 10. April 2009

Non A La Guerre – Yes To Peace

(Inscription on the sail of F/Y TANIT shot down on day one of the French assault)

Clearing-house

Breaking:

A Canadian reporter and an Australian photographer held hostage in Somalia for nine months said they are in poor health and want more help from their governments to secure their release.

Freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout and photographer Nigel Brennan spoke to an AFP correspondent in Mogadishu by phone for five minutes on Sunday from an undisclosed location.

The call was obtained after weeks of efforts to establish contact with the hostages, who appeared to be reading or reciting a statement, possibly under duress. There was no independent confirmation of their identities.

“I have been sick for months. Unless my government, the people of Canada, all my family and friends can get one million dollars, I will die here, OK that is certain”, Lindhout said, sounding very distressed.

She urged the Canadian government to give more help to her family’s attempts to secure her release after 274 days in detention with Brennan. The pair were abducted while on a freelance assignment.

The call was made through an intermediary, who claimed to be speaking on behalf of the kidnappers.

A Somali journalist and two drivers who were captured with Lindhout and Brennan were released on January 16.

“The situation here is very dire and very serious. I’ve been a hostage for nine months, the conditions are very bad, I don’t drink clean water, I am fed at most once a day”, Lindhout said.

“I’m being kept… in a dark windowless room, completely alone”, she added. “I love my country and I want to return so I beg my government to come to my aid. Likewise, I ask all my fellow Canadian citizens and my family to contribute in any way possible in order to help me finally be released from Somalia and be able to return home”, said Lindhout.

No official comment from the authorities of Canada and Australia were immediately available.

The pair’s kidnapping has been one of the longest in recent cases of abductions in Somalia, which is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists and aid workers.

All previous kidnappings of journalists have ended with the release of the hostages amid claims that ransoms were paid.

The kidnappers have made no political claims since the kidnapping but negotiations for their release have reportedly collapsed several times.
Australian photographer Nigel Brennan also said that the nine months of detention had taken a heavy toll.

“I’ve been shackled for the last four months… My health is extremely poor and deteriorating rapidly due to extreme fever”, he said.

“I implore that my government help me as a citizen of Australia (inaudible)… I ask for the help of my family in every way possible so that the ransom can be paid for my release”, Brennan said.

“I love my country very much, I love my family, my girlfriend”, he added. When the AFP reporter asked Lindhout further details on her health situation, she said she was not able to take further questions.

“I cannot answer any question that you have. What I just said, that’s all I can say”, she said.

News from sea-jackings, abductions or newly attacked ships

Humanitarian interventions and local efforts achieved that all crew members are back again on board of MV HANSA STAVANGER. The abducted vessel is still held near Harardheere, an area at the central coast of Somalia, where in the moment the majority of hostage-ships are moored.

Malaysian motor-tug MASINDRA 7 with attached Indonesian barge ADM1 was transferred again to Bandar-Bayla after a forth promised attempt by the Malaysian owner to solve the case – this time from Yemen – obviously had failed. The vessel and barge was now held around 8nm off Bandar-Bayla. While the captain reported via satellite phone during the last days that the crew was all right, given the circumstances and though they have very little food forcing them to eat only ever other day, the communication with the ship was not possible today after local monitors reported an attack on the vessel. Allegedly one of the pirate-leaders was seriously injured by an attack from a hired vessel, which operates sometimes as coastguard. It has not yet independently confirmed if the crew and the tug have been freed.

Also today a Tuna fishing vessel was attacked on the North-East coast. The vessel operated by a Somali businessman from the United Arab Emirates is in the moment under attack. The businessman of the Ali Salban clan had equipped the vessel with Somali armed guards and a serious crossfire ensued. The vessel then switched off all lights and tried to escape in the night, but is still pursued. The vessel is allegedly a Korean vessel but Somali sources often speak also of “Korean vessels” when the crew are Korean, like it first was the case with the recently arrested two Greek fishing vessels GRECO 1 and GRECO 2.

The two warships from the Netherlands and Spain covering MV MARATHON had driven the vessel further away from the Gulf of Aden shore and it was over the weekend reported to float around 80nm from the Somali coast. Today the vessel reportedly came again closer and is said to be now around 34nm from land. While the Dutch warship is around 40 miles away from the vessel, the second warship is still very close, marine observers reported. The situation on board is apparently extremely tense. A locally reported incident allegedly causing the death of the 2nd engineer of the vessel at the hands of the pirates several days ago was also reported now by other local sources, but is still not yet independently confirmed.

We’re not pirates says group holding the Egyptian fishing vessels MFV MOMTAZ 1 and MFV SAMARA AHMED and insist that the 34 crew shall be prosecuted for illegal fishing. see: http://en.rian.ru/video/20090416/121154924.html The owners of the rusty ships with little value meanwhile had to face the brunt and even public demonstrations by the families of the seafarers in Cairo. The Egyptian Government actually had instructed all vessel owners to stay out of Somali waters and warned especially fishing companies not to fish around Somalia. But the multi-million dollar industry of illegal fishing around the Horn of Africa attracts fish-poachers not only from nations like Egypt, France, Greece and Spain but specifically from rogue states like Korea, Taiwan which obviously even support IUU fishing.

Reference to the ownership of infamous Greek owned small tanker MT AGIA BARABARA whose 6 Indian and 6 Syrian crew is still wanted for murder in Mogadishu has been deleted from major shipping lists. The vessel was renamed AGIA BARBARA in February 2008 when it was sold by Delta International to Meadowlark Shipping & Trading Co., Piraeus and re-flagged from Greece to Panama.

No hint, however, is found in the ship registers for an alleged sale in September 2008 to so far unknown WORLD CHAMPION MARINE. Reference is now made only to the Hellenic Register of Shipping, but there neither AGIA BARBARA nor the company Meadowlark nor the company World Champion Marine appear – neither in the main register nor the declassified nor the newly classified list.

And even the future of the Hellenic Register of Shipping itself appears grim, after the EU’s official decision to implement a 17-month ban of the classification society. Under this decision, the Register won’t be able to class new ships, at least until it successfully remedies serious quality issues.

According to the EU’s decision, “Given its extreme complexity and the high number of ships potentially concerned, this process could only be completed over a significant length of time, spanning several months, during which the ships concerned might remain uninspected and eventually be forced to suspend their trade. This situation would entail the risk of a collapse of a vital public service and constitute an immediate and serious threat to both the safety and the economic viability of the fleet concerned”. The Hellenic Register is the leading class certificate provided towards the public domestic passenger transport industry, therefore raising serious problems of security standards applied.

Until those security holes are addressed, the EU will retain limited recognition of the Hellenic Register. It’s clear that the management of the Register must swiftly take action and conduct serious improvements on the training and monitoring of its surveyors and employment of non-exclusive surveyors, its adherence to requirements and the quality of the certificates it awards. HRS-classed ships under the Hellenic flag will face three-month snap inspections during the company’s probation period, and all HRS surveys will have to be conducted either by local surveyors, or jointly with local surveyors or surveyors from another recognized class society.

It has emerged that HRS managing director Costas Chiou has resigned, in a move believed to have stemmed from the society’s suspension. Dimitrios Gousis, who retired earlier this year as Chief of the Hellenic Navy, has been appointed to head the troubled society. It is understood that an appeal has been launched by HRS.

One point must be very well taken from all this: As long as there is such a mess in the shipping industry, as long there are so many possibilities to fly also unregistered aircraft and drive clandestine lorries across often unguarded and even disputed borders in African, any kind of boycott to stop the flow of illegal weapons, to hinder insurgents to reach hot-spots and hide-outs or to curb piracy related activities will be not only futile but to the opposite it will only strengthen the boycott-breaking criminal networks and corrupt government officials in the region. A land-, sea- and air-boycott of Somalia therefore will actually achieve the opposite to what it officially shall achieve. It will support the crooks and will hinder humanitarian access and thereby radicalize the situation even more.

A NATO warship in the Gulf of Aden has intercepted two boats carrying suspected pirates and has disarmed them, AP news agency reports. A Canadian frigate chased the two boats and eventually boarded them. NATO says it found a large amount of firearms and rocket-propelled grenades, as well as equipment such as hook ladders. The suspected pirates were released after the equipment was confiscated.

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 15 foreign vessels (16 with an unnamed sole Barge which drifted ashore) with a total of not less than 210 crew members accounted for (of which 44 are confirmed to be Filipinos) are held in Somali waters and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. presently held ones) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 116 attacks (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 36 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as at least two wrongful attacks (incl. friendly fire) on the side of the naval forces.

Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures. Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season in winter and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon season starting from mid February and early April every year. Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: Yellow (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely). Allegedly four groups from Puntland alone are still out hunting on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Directly piracy related reports

What many monitors and groups in Puntland and Mudug call a hoax, the BBC reported as: Somali gunmen ‘renounce piracy’

Around 200 Somali pirates are reported to have renounced piracy at a meeting in northern Somalia. Members of the group met local leaders and Somali expatriates in Eyl, in the autonomous region of Puntland, and promised to halt their activities. Pirate representative Abshir Abdullah told the BBC he urged other groups to free ships in return for amnesty. Pirates have been coming under pressure from local leaders, who have accused them of corrupting their communities. Somalia has been without a stable government since 1991, allowing piracy to flourish. The problem worsened in the first months of 2009 despite patrols by foreign navies.

Last week, Somalia’s interim government asked for international help to set up a national coastguard to help tackle piracy, and protect fishermen from illegal foreign fishing boats and to prevent dumping of toxic materials.

Mr. Abshir Abdullah, a well-known pirate chief in Puntland, says his group is not holding any ships at present and the authorities have agreed to give them amnesty for previous hijackings. “I see myself as someone who has been saved from bad deeds”, he told the BBC’s Somali Service. “I understand the wrong things that I was involved in and I’m aware now these acts are wrong in Islamic teachings. Mr. Abdullah says he has agreed to work with local leaders to get other pirates to give up what can be a lucrative life on the high seas. I will advice those who want to go to sea, they must not do it and I hope they will stop it as we have agreed. The ones who are holding ships now, I would call them to release them and they ought not to do it again”.

Correct is that many local people who suffer at the hands of pirates, because e.g. their boats are stolen, or because certain governmental quarters from the administration of Puntland indiscriminately harass the population for their alleged support to those pirate gangs, who do not pay a share to the authorities, are fed up

Marine ecosystem and IUU fishing

Stop illegal fishing In Somaliland by Amiin Dahir

The primarily detrimental issue in the failing development of the sea fisheries sector in Somaliland is the irresponsible fishing practices known internationally as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. These have become a direct threat to the efforts to responsibly manage Somaliland’s fish resources and are an impediment to achieve sustainable fishing.

Illegal fishing in Somaliland is generally done by fishing boats that operate without a fishing operations permit (SFP) or fishing permit document. These boats are surely not going to report their catch, nor pay the taxes they owe to the government. There are also boats that hold the right permits but do not abide by the stated regulations, which include provisions for using permitted fishing equipment, for designated fishing trails and areas and for approved gross tonnage measurements and boats, while the use of illegal equipment and even dangerous substances is common.

Then there is unreported fishing, that is when fishermen do not report their catch or production appropriately, or not at all. The unreported selling of fish in mid-sea falls under this category too. In Somaliland the term unregulated fishing still does not have a legal definition. There should be a set of references and supporting tools that can quickly and properly help to determine whether there is any violation in certain suspicious fishing activities. Practitioners need references that can be understood in the same way the law enforcement units understand them.

A lot of fishing areas in Somaliland are considered “open access”, which means anybody can freely and easily exploit the resources without an obligation to follow or comply with certain regulations. The open exploitation of fish gives a chance to local and foreign fishermen to exploit resources without having to consider sustainability. Managing the utilization of fish resources at the international and national level, including provincial and district regulations, have not been elaborated by law makers and therefore are not appropriately implemented by law enforcement or business practitioners.

For this reason, a fish resource management policy that is appropriate for Somaliland needs to be established urgently and then enforced by the relevant institutions. Moreover, greater effort is needed to overcome irresponsible fishing. Any one who checks our sea activity can find several weaknesses in the handling of SFP fishing activities, including the following:

A very limited amount of government employees are investigating the fishing industry. The Berbera sea area, for example, has not even one fisheries investigators with the regional sea office. Given the size of the surrounding Somaliland Sea such allows for many problems and this is especially true in several Somaliland regions where there are no fisheries officers at all.

Larger boats for the officials are largely unavailable. There is a serious lack of larger boats for monitoring and they are urgently needed to support and improve the monitoring activities of fish resources. This is urgent because of the frequency of fishing related crimes that take place at our seas. Most fisheries and regional sea offices only have small skiffs to monitor the surrounding coastal waters and thus are unable to go to the high seas and control the EEZ.

Coordination systems are weak. Institutions that coordinate with one another include the fishery and sea regional offices, the Somaliland Navy, the immigration officials, customs and the Sea Police. Unfortunately joint meetings are not routinely held and only happen incidentally when problems arise, meaning a lot of crimes at sea go unnoticed.

Anti-piracy measures

Germany Doubtful of French Plan to Train Somali Troops, reports Der Spiegel
As pirates off Somalia continue to hijack ships, take hostages and collect massive ransoms, governments are scrambling to find a way to fight back. France has proposed training Somali troops, but Germany doubts that the soldiers’ loyalty can be guaranteed.

As Somali pirates continue to hamper seaborne trade off the Horn of Africa, France is calling on its EU partners to provide the funding, expertise and logistical assistance needed to train Somali forces to fight pirates based along the country’s coastline. But Germany has its doubts as to whether such soldiers can be kept from joining the pirates or the numerous warlords ruling over the fractured country.

France broached the idea at a meeting of EU foreign and defense ministers in Brussels last week. According to the French plan, French soldiers would train around 500 Somali security forces in Djibouti, where France has its largest foreign military base. These soldiers would then go on to train 5,500 of their compatriots.

The call comes not long after a donors’ conference organized by the European Union and UN in late April in Brussels, where international donors pledged more than $250 million (€178 million) to help strengthen Somali security forces in their fight against both pirates and militant Islamic forces.

Although German representatives backed the French plan in theory, they first want the EU to check on the plan’s feasibility. Somalia has had no stable government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the country’s long-time dictatorship, and the current government is threatened by Islamic militants and only has a firm grip over certain parts of Mogadishu, the capital city.

In particular, the German government is worried that the Somali government would be unable to pay its own security forces — or even keep them under control. Likewise, German military forces worry that Somali forces trained and armed with EU-supplied weapons might cross over and join the pirates — and further complicate the fight. They point to instances in Afghanistan where police officers trained by German forces have crossed over to enemy lines and to the fact that Somali soldiers already trained by EU forces have been accused of major crimes and human rights offenses.

Increasing Worries

As of Friday, pirates had attacked more than 80 ships in the Gulf of Aden in 2009 alone and hijacked 29 of them. In 2008, the International Maritime Bureau recorded 111 pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa, a dramatic increase over the previous year.

Pirates based mainly in the Puntland region of Somalia continue to hold more than a dozen vessels and several hundred crew members. Such hijackings are, as a rule, leveraged into sizable ransoms with pirates bringing in an estimated $30 million in 2008 alone.

Over a dozen countries have dispatched ships to the waters off the Horn of Africa to help combat the pirates. The EU mission is also considering whether it should expand its naval anti-piracy operations to cover the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean, where pirate activities have increased recently.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been particularly vocal about fighting piracy. On Tuesday, he will be in United Arab Emirates to inaugurate a new French naval base in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to help international efforts to combat piracy and safeguard key shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf.

Is A Coast Guard Enough?

What is being done with the ransom money the pirates collect is also of much concern to foreign governments. At an international piracy conference held last week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Abdul Wahid Mohamad, the director of Puntland’s fisheries ministry, warned that the number of Somali pirates — which he put at more than 1,000 — was increasing in size and power. “There are growing indications that wealthier pirates … may become new warlords and create extremist organizations”, Mohamad said, according to the AP. He went on to urge the creation of a Somali coast guard “to prevent pirate boats before they go into deep sea”.

Others have suggested that another way to combat piracy is to revive the country’s fishing industry, which has been decimated by civil war and foreign trawlers illegally fishing Somali waters. “The answer is neither at sea or military but on land”, Capt. Christophe Pipolo, a security adviser for France’s Foreign Ministry, told conference attendees.

Yet another suggestion involves the ships targeted by the pirates themselves. Last Thursday, the head of Liberty Maritime Corp., a New York-based company whose ship was recently attacked by pirates while transporting humanitarian aid to Africa, urged the US Congress to either place armed personnel on US ships or loosen restrictions that prevent them from arming themselves. “In our view, small embarked security teams are a more effective deterrent than patrolling the entire million square miles of ocean that are affected”, Philip Shapiro told the House of Representative’s Transportation subcommittee, the AP reported.

Iran has dispatched six warships to the Gulf of Aden. The news was released by the Iranian press agency ISNA, reporting a declaration by Admiral Habibollah Sayyari. The ships’ presence, the Admiral said, is a signal to anyone who would want to militarily face the Ayatollah regime. On May 14, the Admiral had announced the dispatch of two further warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian oil tankers from pirate attacks.

Somali pirates hone their tactics reports Christopher Torchia for AP

The Somali pirates who hijacked the Danish tug Svitzer Korsakov telephoned Yemen, Djibouti and Dubai in a futile search for someone to collect a ransom and forward it to them for a fee. To the captive captain, they seemed like amateurs with no backup on shore.

That was in early 2008, before the explosive growth in piracy around the Horn of Africa. Late that year, the gang that seized the Karagol, a Turkish tanker, was more polished, used a negotiator who spoke good English and brought in other pirates to relieve them while awaiting the payoff.

The contrast between the two incidents seems to point to an increasing level of organization and more involvement of shadowy contacts in Europe and the Middle East.

The gang that seized the Karagol was run by a former Somali army general and the pirates were in constant contact with suspected accomplices in London, Dubai and Yemen, said Haldun Dincel, general manager of Ayder Tankers, which manages the Karagol.

“They were taking orders or receiving advice”, said Dincel, who was involved in ransom negotiations and spoke to crew members after they were released in January.

Since last year, a rash of ship seizures and ransom payments in the crowded waters of the Gulf of Aden has coincided with reports that well-funded syndicates, rather than small-time operators, control piracy from Somalia, a failed state with virtually no law enforcement.

A shipping expert who has negotiated ransom payments describes “a corporate-style” system in which the loot is split 50-50 between the pirates and the organizers on shore.

The negotiator, citing the sensitivity of his work and concerns about his security, spoke on condition neither he nor the country he works from be identified.

An Associated Press reporter listened to recordings of talks in which the negotiator and a pirates’ representative haggle over the ransom.

“Yesterday, I told you very clearly that you have to tell me a reasonable price. Now, $4 million is not a reasonable price”, says the negotiator, who initially offers $200,000. He says it’s difficult to raise money because of the global economic meltdown.
The discussions are halting, repetitive and mostly cordial, although in one conversation, the pirates’ negotiator indicates he is under pressure from the gang he represents and warns that a ransom must be agreed upon and delivered. Otherwise “It will be a problem, my friend”.

The AP was allowed to view cell phone photographs and video surreptitiously taken by captive crew members, on condition no identifying details of the ship be revealed. The images show a close-up of a sleeping pirate, an armed man guarding the crew in the ship’s control room, and a pirate in a sarong slicing meat in the galley.

Photographs taken from an airplane that delivered the ransom show the crew standing on deck with arms raised, indicating they are all present and unharmed, and a cash-packed tube, attached to a parachute, that floats toward a waiting pirate skiff.

The negotiator would not say how long the ship was held and how much ransom was paid, but the case he handled seems to have been markedly different from the experience of the Svitzer Korsakov’s British captain, Irish engineer and four Russian crew, who spent 47 days in captivity.

“The incompetent pirates just didn’t have a system”, Colin Darch, the captain, said in an e-mail to the AP. “When the younger elements suggested running the ship ashore, shooting the Russians and taking me and Fred (the engineer) into the desert, I took a more active role, and suggested the cash be delivered by sea, and thus it was eventually done”.

The ransom negotiator said money delivered by sea or air to Eyl, a Somali coastal town and pirate haven, used to move through the Kenyan port city of Mombassa. After Kenya curbed the deliveries late last year, Dubai became a major collection point for air drops, he said. Some air drops are also made from Congo.

Four main pirate groups operate in Somalia, one of which includes former Somali navy sailors who have used an old patrol boat as their mother ship, said the negotiator, whose sources include a counterpart who negotiated ransoms on behalf of pirates.

This month, the European Union’s naval task force said mother ships, which re-supply pirate speedboats in the Indian Ocean, were sharing information about potential targets.

The identity of pirate contacts in Europe and the Middle East is a mystery, but some suspect Somali émigrés play a role.

Also unclear is how the pirates pinpoint their targets. Some maritime authorities advise ships to turn off their Automatic Identification System while off the east coast of Somalia, but keep it activated in the more heavily policed Gulf of Aden. The system can transmit ship details, including speed and location, and pirates with the same technology, possibly aboard a seized vessel, could theoretically use it to their advantage.

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said pirate tactics have clearly evolved, but they still remain basic, with pirates scouting slow-moving, vulnerable targets.

“They operate from small skiffs and mother ships, use cell phones, grappling hooks and a variety of small arms”, Campbell said.

“Most negotiations take place ashore, but the way the ransoms are paid is rudimentary. They don’t work with offshore banks or sophisticated wiring systems. What we see are aircraft being used to drop cash into the water or on the deck of the ships”.

Russia’s foreign minister has met with his Somali counterpart to discuss international efforts to protect shipping routes in the Gulf of Aden from Somali pirate attacks, the Russian ministry said. Lavrov met with Muhammad Abdullahi Omar on Saturday on the sidelines of the Organization of the Islamic Conference foreign ministers’ meeting in the Syrian capital, Damascus. “The sides agreed on the need to achieve a strong national reconciliation in this country, in the interests of strengthening security and stability in the region. Problems of tackling piracy off the Horn of Africa coastline were discussed in detail”, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Somalia has been without an effective government since the Revolutionary Socialist Party was overthrown in 1991. The internationally recognized federal government controls only the capital city of Mogadishu and part of central Somalia. Around 20 warships from the navies of at least a dozen countries, including Russia, are involved in anti-piracy operations off Somalia. According to the United Nations, Somali pirates carried out at least 120 attacks on ships in 2008, resulting in combined ransom payouts of around $150 million.

No real peace in sight yet

Aid work in Mogadishu grinding to a halt

Local NGOs in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, have set up a task force in a bid to mobilise urgent help for thousands of displaced civilians.

“The situation is so bad that if nothing is done many will die”, Asha Sha’ur, a civil society activist, told IRIN on 25 May. “We are appealing to the international aid agencies to help these desperate people before it is too late”.

Aid work in Mogadishu has virtually ground to a halt because of increasing violence. An estimated 57,000-60,000 people have fled their homes since the latest fighting flared on 8 May, according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

According to Ali Sheikh Yassin, deputy chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organisation (EHRO), 207 people have been killed since the latest clashes began on 8 May. He said that on 22 May alone some 59 people were killed in the city but the figure reflected only the deaths the group could verify.

“Many people have been buried where they died”.

Yassin said the death toll included seven policemen killed by a suicide bomber on 24 May.

The violence has forced Médecins Sans Frontières to close its outpatient clinic in Yaaqshid district. The health facility would re-open once there was minimum security, it said.

“Even local NGOs are afraid to respond because of the uncertain security situation”, a local humanitarian worker said.

Last week, the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) reported the looting of its compound in Jowhar, 90km south of Mogadishu, when Al-Shabab militia captured the town.

More than 50,000 severely malnourished children and at least 85,000 moderately malnourished children in south-central Somalia have been affected by the interruption in nutritional and medical supplies.

The 17 May looting resulted in the destruction of humanitarian supplies, assets and equipment. “The cold chain [vaccine storage] equipment was affected, destroying thousands of doses of measles, polio and other vaccines meant for Somali children”, UNICEF said.

Sha’ur and other civil society leaders urged the international community and Somalis in the diaspora to help the thousands of desperate people displaced by the violence that has pitted government forces against insurgents.

“The reason we set up this task force is to make sure that we accompany [aid agencies] wherever they want to go”, Sha’ur said. “We were at some of these camps [on the outskirts of the city] and found the conditions heart-wrenching”.

The newly displaced were living in dire conditions. “Many of them have no shelter and so are sharing small spaces with others and have very little food, if any”, Sha’ur said. “They need help in all areas but shelter is most urgent”.

Nasteho Osman, a 29-year-old single mother of four, returned last week to the camps for the displaced which she left only a month ago.

“I was in Bakara market when the fighting began [on 8 May]; I had to rush back to my house to make sure my children were safe”, Osman said. “I got out six days ago with only what we could carry”.

The situation deteriorates whenever it rains. “We only have one small shack that we use for shelter and when it rains, no one can sleep”, Osman added.

Ogaden liberation front rebels (ONLF) accused Monday Ethiopia of being killing more than 50 Somali civilians in eastern Ethiopia. Hussein Nur, the information secretary of ONLF denounced the Ethiopian troops of killing more than 50 Somali people in Somali administration in the eastern Ethiopia in over the past days. The information secretary of ONLF who is Doha city said that the Ethiopian troops killed more people in the region and arrested many others adding that the troops had also raped at least 5 girls in the Somali region in Ethiopia. He said it was too complicated to get information from the region quickly due to lack of telecommunication. The Ethiopian troops are often accused of committing brutal actions against the Somali people who live in eastern regions in Ethiopian. ONLF rebels are fighting for the independence of the Somali inhabited regions in eastern Ethiopia.

Ethiopia never left Somalia – It was a deceptive charade
by Sophia Tesfamariam

The BBC and other media are reporting the “return of Ethiopian troops to Somalia”. How can they “return” when they never left? My sources, who served as advisors to Abdulahi Yusuf, leader of the Eldoret formed Transitional National Government of Somalia (TNG), tell me that Meles Zenawi’s forces never left Somalia. They may have left Mogadishu but they certainly did not leave Somalia. The Ethiopian regime has lied abut its presence in Somalia from day one. After denying its presence in Somalia in 2006, it was forced to admit that it had forces all over Somalia. Then it came up with a convenient lie and claimed that it was there at the invitation of Abdulahi Yusuf’s TNG. The media reported about the presence of 8000 Ethiopian troops. That too was a lie. There were over 25,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia.

It was on Christmas Eve 24 December 2006 that the US-backed minority regime in Ethiopia invaded Somalia to oust the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) which was expanding its influence throughout Somalia. Sheikh Sharif, who now heads the TNG, was “hunted down” by Meles Zenawi’s forces. Vicki Huddleston and Jendayi E. Frazier called the UIC a threat to Ethiopia’s security and accused them of harboring Al Qaeda operatives, including those who bombed the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and for “introducing strict Islamic laws” and “banning khat”. The invasion brought chaos and destruction to Somalia. Over a million people were displaced, tens of thousands massacred in cold blood and Somali’s infrastructures destroyed. The UN led international community created another TNG in Djibouti, forced the resignation of Abdulahi Yusuf, and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was chosen as the new President of Somalia.

Just as the Bush Administration was leaving Washington, in January 2009, after two years of pillage and destruction, Meles Zenawi claiming “victory”, announced that his marauding forces would leave Somalia. Only the gullible believed that unlikely story. If the Ethiopian troops were to leave Somalia, who then was going to “prop up” the new TNG formed in Djibouti? After all, it was not chosen by the people of Somalia. The west may have labeled the new TNG “moderate”, but that is not going to bring it legitimacy in the eyes of the Somali people. The people of Somalia must be given the chance to choose their own leaders and set the criteria for themselves.

The people of Somalia had accepted Sheikh Sharif and the UIC in 2006 in spite of the labels placed on them by Jendayi Frazier and Meles Zenawi. They had accepted Sheikh Sharif Ahmed then because he was borne out of their struggle against the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Anti Terrorism-CIA sponsored warlords who had prevented the Eldoret formed TNG from establishing itself in Somalia, forcing it to remain in Kenya for over two years. Jendayi Frazer and Meles Zenawi planned and carried out the ouster of the UIC and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed from Somalia in order to establish the puppet regime of Abdulahi Yusuf and Ali Mohammed Ghedi, a regime that would be amenable to Meles Zenawi and the West.

Sheikh Sharif was forced into exile and so were his comrades. He took refuge in Eritrea where the Alliance for the Re-liberation and Reconstitution of Somalia (ARS) was formed by about 450 Somalis representing a cross section of the Somali people. They called for the unconditional removal of Ethiopian and other foreign forces from Somalia. Jendayi Frazer and Meles Zenawi blacklisted Eritrea for not supporting the puppet TNG led by Abdulahi Yusuf and Ali Mohammed Ghedi. The UN Security Council decided that the TNG led by Abdulahi Yusuf was the only legitimate government of Somalia.

Today, the UN is once again telling us that the only legitimate government of Somalia is the one led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the same person that was “hunted down” by Meles Zenawi’s forces in 2006 and 2007. The US led international community is once again insisting that all nations accept the newly formed TNG. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was brought to Mogadishu, but the violence and destructions continue. Today, we hear that Ethiopia is once again in Somalia. I contend that they never left. How many forces did the Djibouti TNG have when it came to Mogadishu? Who took over when the Ethiopians supposedly left in January? Did the African Union forces have the capacity to take over?

How many troops were trained by Ethiopia and UNDP? Did they remain to support the new TNG or did they leave with Abdulahi Yusuf?

I doubt that even the UN has answers to these questions. With all the lies being reported and repeated, it can be very hard to discern the facts about Somalia, but you do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out this hoax.

Let us take a look at the UN Monitoring Group’s Report of December 2008 to get a better understanding of the forces in Somalia. This is what the Report says about the TNG forces trained by Ethiopia:

- “…The Transitional Federal Government possesses a security establishment of fewer than 20,000 personnel, including military, police and intelligence services. Many of these, however, are believed to be “phantoms”, whose pay — when disbursed — is diverted by senior commanders. Payment is irregular. Over the course of the past six months, effective force levels have been further depleted by attrition and defection…”

- “…The Government of Ethiopia informed the Monitoring Group in October 2008 that it had trained 17,000 Somali security personnel, but did not specify how many were police and how many military. Of that total, Ethiopia believes less than 3,000 may still be effective, suggesting an attrition rate of over 80 per cent. Since most soldiers who desert or defect take their weapons and uniforms with them, this represents some 14,000 new weapons entering Somali territory…”

- “…In 2008, Ethiopia began to withdraw its forces from Somalia and gradually transfer authority to the Transitional Federal Government. During the course of this process, as many as 14,000 Ethiopian-trained troops are believed to have deserted or defected, usually with their uniforms and weapons…”

- “…On a smaller scale, UNDP reported in January 2008 that 225 police officers whom it had trained could not be traced, and estimated that 40 per cent of trainees had deserted by November 2008. According to media reports and a senior Transitional Federal Government source, at least several hundred such trainees have joined armed opposition groups, often taking their arms, uniforms and vehicles with them…”

Here are some news reports about the defection of TNG forces:

- “…A group of soldiers formerly loyal to the allied governments of Somalia and Ethiopia have reportedly switched sides and “surrendered” over to militants leading the insurgency…Abdirahim Isse Addow, a spokesman for the Islamic Courts movement, said seven Somali soldiers and one Ethiopian military officer said the Islamists would welcome the defecting soldiers…A soldier who spoke for the defecting Somali troops said they were all trained in Ethiopia and deployed at the ex-pasta factory, in north Mogadishu…” (Garowe online 7 September 2008)

- “…During this week’s fighting, some government troops have defected to the insurgents, although the government denies it. The local television station HornAfrik has run video of Islamist fighters displaying 17 military vehicles with government plates they said were brought over by defecting soldiers…” (Associated Press 15 May 2009)

According to my sources, the minority regime in Ethiopia, master of gimmicks and deceptions, is at it again. In an elaborate scheme designed to hoodwink the international community and fleece donors of more funds, it seems the shameless regime in Ethiopia is passing off “Ethiopian Somalis” as Somalis. It is the same gimmick it has used to present Tigrayans as Eritreans. Farfetched you say? Well, considering the deceptive nature of the regime and its past activities…

In December 2008, the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia reported the following:

“…At the end of February 2008, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a project document and funding request to the British Government. The project envisaged a six-month training course for 10,000 Somali police, but did not address their subsequent integration into the Somali police force. The description of the training curriculum is vague…Subsequent requests by donors and UNDP to inspect the training course on location were rejected by the Ethiopian Government. They were, however, invited to attend the graduation ceremony that took place on 5 July 2008…The Ethiopian Government provided all trainees with uniforms and individual weapons in preparation for their deployment to Somalia. The military and police contingents traveled in joint convoys from the Ethiopian border to Baidoa. The Ethiopian-trained military contingent remained under Ethiopian Command…”

Why was the TPLF regime being so secretive about its training program if it was on the up and up? According to my sources, all the remaining TNG forces and the “Somali Ethiopians” are under the command of a certain Ethiopia General “Gere”. If they are Somalis, why are they not under TNG control? If that is not bad enough, turns out, the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) is also under Ethiopian command. It should be recalled that Meles Zenawi heads the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC) which created AMISOM in 2007. Leave it to the bigoted regime to come up with such a deceptive charade.

There is also news about the Sheikh Sharif TNG “downplaying” Ethiopia’s presence in Somalia. That comes as no surprise. When the minority regime’s forces were hunting him down in 2006 and when he took refuge in Eritrea, he was singing a different tune. The UIC was calling for the unconditional removal of Ethiopian forces. Today, he imagines that with the blessing of the UN and AU, he is now part of the “bloc”. In a shameful and reckless display of political immaturity, pandering to Meles Zenawi, he has also taken to denouncing Ginbot 7 (Ethiopian opposition), he knows nothing about. He ought to worry about the people of Somalia’s opposition to his illegitimate TNG, then worry about Ginbot 7.

Instead of engaging in senseless propaganda on behalf of Meles Zenawi and the “bloc”, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed ought to be calling for the unconditional removal of all Ethiopia, Burundi and Ugandan troops from Somalia, for that is what the Somali people want. He should also be calling on the international community to stop exploiting the instability in Somalia and stop the illegal fishing off the coast of Somalia; stop the dumping of nuclear and other waste etc. The UN special envoy to Somalia ought to be defending the rights of the Somali people. Johann Hari in an Independent article posted on the 5 January 2009 wrote:

“…Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it”. Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to “dispose” of cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: “Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention”. …At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia’s seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving…”

The sad thing about this whole sordid criminal, almost mafia-like state of affairs in Somalia is the silence and the acquiescence of the US led international community and the duplicity of the UN Envoy as Somalia disintegrates further. Instead of pointing their blood soaked fingers at Eritrea, they ought to take a good look at the destruction and mayhem they have caused in Somalia as they advance their own interests at the expense (lives) of the Somali people.

It was on 24 May 2007 that I saw Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and his delegation at the Asmara stadium, sitting in a place reserved for guests who come to participate in the Independence Day celebrations. The Government and people of Eritrea treated him with dignity and respect and as one of Eritrea’s friends. Today, as Eritrea celebrates the 18th Independence Anniversary, he finds himself neither a friend of Eritrea, nor wanted or accepted by the Somali people he purports to lead. Forgetting the magnanimity of the Government and people of Eritrea, and has joined in the anti-Eritrea chorus led by the very regimes that hunted him down in 2006. Today, while other invited guests and dignitaries experience the hospitality and friendship of the Eritrean people, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and the “bloc” led by Meles Zenawi will watch from a distance as Eritrea and her people celebrate their hard earned independence.

Somalia
Question Asked By Lord Avebury

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the political and humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Somalia.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): My Lords, the Djibouti process led to the expansion of the Somali Parliament and its selection of a new President. The formation of a more broadly based Government provides the best opportunity to create a lasting peace and reconciliation necessary for tackling the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Although that Government are battling an assault by the armed insurgency, they must continue to strive for further reconciliation with those outside the political process.

Lord Avebury: My Lords, if we are really determined to prevent the terrorists affiliated to Al-Shabaab taking over the whole country, is it not necessary to provide greater support in terms of logistics and training, both for the Government’s armed forces and for the AMISOM troops? With regard to the humanitarian crisis, is the noble Lord aware of any steps being taken through the Security Council or otherwise to meet the gap of two-thirds in the funding to meet the needs of the 400,000 people displaced internally, and a similar number in refugee camps in neighbouring countries, particularly Kenya?

Lord Malloch-Brown: My Lords, the noble Lord has repeatedly brought the question of Somalia to this House’s attention, and correctly so, because it is often one of those forgotten crises.

About 40 per cent of the country’s population are displaced, completely dependent on international aid, and it has been very difficult to get it there. Despite the current upsurge of fighting, the distribution continues in key places such as Mogadishu, and the World Food Programme delivered something like 35,000 metric tonnes of food last month. On the noble Lord’s other point, we are also seeking to make sure that AMISOM, to which we have contributed generously, is properly supported during this crisis; and there was a move in the Security Council last week to make sure that the transitional Government’s armed forces be supported with the resources they need and to deal with this critical issue of salaries to solders and police.

Lord Howell of Guildford: My Lords, is it true that the Eritrean army is yet again invading Somalia and helping the Al-Shabaab rebels? I do not know whether the Minister has any news on that. One area where we in this country have a direct interest is the offshore piracy. Is it correct that the Iranians now want to contribute through their naval resources to the anti-piracy movement? Might this not be at least one area where, despite all our disagreements with Iran on everything else, we could co-operate with it?

Lord Malloch-Brown: My Lords, on the noble Lord’s first point, there is pretty strong evidence of Eritrean collusion in the upsurge of violence against the Government and of possible arms re-supply to the rebels by the Eritreans. They were condemned in a Security Council presidential statement at the end of last week and have furiously denied the charges, but frankly that does not give me much confidence—it does not mean that the charges are not true. There is also a real risk of this situation escalating; there have been reports, again denied, of Ethiopian troops returning into Somalia. This is an enormously serious challenge to the Government and we all have reason to be very concerned to support and reinforce them over the coming weeks. I will have to get back to the noble Lord on his second point about Iran and piracy.

Lord Steel of Aikwood: My Lords, given the mayhem that has characterized Somalia for so long, is there not a case for reconsidering the whole question of recognizing the Government in Somaliland, the former British protectorate, which at least is stable and orderly?

Lord Malloch-Brown: My Lords, this is one of those perennial issues which, quite rightly, come up every time that Somalia lurches back into crisis. The noble Lord knows our position, which is that we try to give Somaliland support but we think that its status and potential independence must be dealt with through African forums: first, through talks between the two sides in Somalia and, subsequently, through the AU. We do not think that British recognition of Somaliland would help its goal of independence.
The Lord Bishop of Liverpool: My Lords, we have a large Somali community in Liverpool. Has there been any contact between the Government and local authorities where there are large Somali communities, to address possible tensions that might arise within those communities?

Lord Malloch-Brown: My Lords, the right reverend Prelate raises an important point. I will look into it and ensure that information is being shared. Broadly, I do not think—although he knows better than I do—that this is a situation where our Somali British community is divided, as is the case with some other conflicts with which we have been dealing. I think that among Somalis resident here there is quite broad support for the transitional Government; indeed, one very distinguished British citizen is now the Foreign Minister.

Lord Judd: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, in the immensely difficult situation as he described it, a priority is to regain access for the free-standing non-governmental humanitarian agencies, which are perceived to have no political agenda of their own and are therefore in a particularly strong position to make a contribution in a fraught situation? Does he also accept that humanitarian assistance and the political dimensions are seldom in watertight compartments and that, in approaching lasting solutions, it is terribly important to listen very carefully to non-governmental organizations about what they are learning in the context of their work?

Lord Malloch-Brown: My Lords, my noble friend is absolutely correct about the critical role of humanitarian non-governmental organizations. DfID is in daily contact not just with the UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross but also with the NGOs involved, to try to work out how we can programme an additional £3.5 million of support. The NGOs are obviously suffering from the same difficulties as the UN agencies, including the huge difficulty of deploying staff there due to the dramatic security situation.

Impacting reports from the global village

Fifteen Russian sailors arrested last year in Spain on drug trafficking charges pleaded guilty on Monday in exchange for a reduced three-year prison term, a defense lawyer said. The lawyer said the sailors will have to pay a fine, and that if they fail to do so their terms will be increased by 30 days. The court’s final verdict is expected in a month’s time, and lawyers intend to push for the sailors’ extradition to Russia. The sailors were detained on May 14, 2008 near the city of Huelva on southwest Spain’s Atlantic coast in a large-scale police operation, after around four metric tons of marijuana was seized from their two vessels, both of which belonged to a Russian company. A total of 34 people are implicated in the case, including Ukrainians, Romanians, Moroccans, Spaniards and Poles.

How MI5 blackmails British Muslims

‘Work for us or we will say you are a terrorist’

By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor – exclusive for The Independent

Five Muslim community workers have accused MI5 of waging a campaign of blackmail and harassment in an attempt to recruit them as informants.

The men claim they were given a choice of working for the Security Service or face detention and harassment in the UK and overseas.

They have made official complaints to the police, to the body which oversees the work of the Security Service and to their local MP Frank Dobson. Now they have decided to speak publicly about their experiences in the hope that publicity will stop similar tactics being used in the future.

Related articles

Home Secretary was warned of MI5′s ‘blackmailing of Muslims’

Pauline Neville-Jones: MI5 must use persuasion – not coercion

Intelligence gathered by informers is crucial to stopping further terror outrages, but the men’s allegations raise concerns about the coercion of young Muslim men by the Security Service and the damage this does to the gathering of information in the future.

Three of the men say they were detained at foreign airports on the orders of MI5 after leaving Britain on family holidays last year.

After they were sent back to the UK, they were interviewed by MI5 officers who, they say, falsely accused them of links to Islamic extremism. On each occasion the agents said they would lift the travel restrictions and threat of detention in return for their co-operation. When the men refused some of them received what they say were intimidating phone calls and threats.

Two other Muslim men say they were approached by MI5 at their homes after police officers posed as postmen. Each of the five men, aged between 19 and 25, was warned that if he did not help the security services he would be considered a terror suspect. A sixth man was held by MI5 for three hours after returning from his honeymoon in Saudi Arabia. He too claims he was threatened with travel restrictions if he tried to leave the UK.

An agent who gave her name as Katherine is alleged to have made direct threats to Adydarus Elmi, a 25-year-old cinema worker from north London. In one telephone call she rang him at 7am to congratulate him on the birth of his baby girl. His wife was still seven months’ pregnant and the couple had expressly told the hospital that they did not want to know the sex of their child.

Mr. Elmi further alleges: “Katherine tried to threaten me by saying, and it still runs through my mind now: ‘Remember, this won’t be the last time we ever meet.’ And then during our last conversation she explained: ‘If you do not want anything to happen to your family you will co-operate’”.

Madhi Hashi, a 19-year-old care worker from Camden, claims he was held for 16 hours in a cell in Djibouti airport on the orders of MI5. He alleges that when he was returned to the UK on 9 April this year he was met by an MI5 agent who told him his terror suspect status would remain until he agreed to work for the Security Service. He alleges that he was to be given the job of informing on his friends by encouraging them to talk about jihad.

Mohamed Nur, 25, a community youth worker from north London, claims he was threatened by the Security Service after an agent gained access to his home accompanied by a police officer posing as a postman.

“The MI5 agent said, ‘Mohamed if you do not work for us we will tell any foreign country you try to travel to that you are a suspected terrorist’”.

Mohamed Aden, 25, a community youth worker from Camden, was also approached by someone disguised as a postman in August last year. He alleges an agent told him: “We’re going to make your traveling harder for you if you don’t co-operate”.

None of the six men, who work with disadvantaged youths at the Kentish Town Community Organisation (KTCO), has ever been arrested for terrorism or a terrorism-related offence.

They have repeatedly complained about their treatment to the police and to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which oversees the work of the Security Services.

In a letter to Lord Justice Mummery, who heads the tribunal, Sharhabeel Lone, the chairman of the KTCO, said: “The only thing these young people have in common is that they studied Arabic abroad and are of Somali origin. They are not involved in any terrorist activity whatsoever, nor have they ever been, and the security services are well aware of this”.

Mr Sharhabeel added: “These incidents smack of racism, Islamophobia and all that undermines social cohesion. Threatening British citizens, harassing them in their own country, alienating young people who have committed no crime other than practicing a particular faith and being a different colour is a recipe for disaster.

These disgraceful incidents have undermined 10 years of hard work and severely impacted social cohesion in Camden. Targeting young people that are role models for all young people in our country in such a disparaging way demonstrates a total lack of understanding of on-the-ground reality and can only be counter-productive.

When people are terrorized by the very same body that is meant to protect them, sowing fear, suspicion and division, we are on a slippery slope to an Orwellian society”.

Frank Dobson said: “To identify real suspects from the Muslim communities MI5 must use informers. But it seems that from what I have seen some of their methods may be counter-productive”.

Last night MI5 and the police refused to discuss the men’s complaints with The Independent. But on its website, MI5 says it is untrue that the Security Service harasses Muslims.

The organisation says: “We do not investigate any individuals on the grounds of ethnicity or religious beliefs. Countering the threat from international terrorists, including those who claim to be acting for Islam, is the Security Service’s highest priority.

We know that attacks are being considered and planned for the UK by al-Qai’da and associated networks. International terrorists in this country threaten us directly through violence and indirectly through supporting violence overseas”.

It adds: “Muslims are often themselves the victims of this violence – the series of terrorist attacks in Casablanca in May 2003 and Riyadh in May and November 2003 illustrate this.

The service also employs staff of all religions, including Muslims. We are committed to recruiting a diverse range of staff from all backgrounds so that we can benefit from their different perspectives and experience”.

MI5 and me: Three statements

Mahdi Hashi: ‘I told him: this is blackmail’

Last month, 19-year-old Mahdi Hashi arrived at Gatwick airport to take a plane to visit his sick grandmother in Djibouti, but as he was checking in he was stopped by two plainclothes officers. One of the officers identified himself as Richard and said he was working for MI5.

Mr. Hashi said: “He warned me not to get on the flight. He said ‘Whatever happens to you outside the UK is not our responsibility’. I was absolutely shocked.” The agent handed Mr. Hashi a piece of paper with his name and telephone contact details and asked him to call him.

“The whole time he tried to make it seem like he was looking after me. And just before I left them at my boarding gate I remember ‘Richard’ telling me ‘It’s your choice, mate, to get on that flight but I advise you not to,’ and then he winked at me”.

When Mr. Hashi arrived at Djibouti airport he was stopped at passport control. He was then held in a room for 16 hours before being deported back to the UK. He claims the Somali security officers told him that their orders came from London. More than 24 hours after he first left the UK he arrived back at Heathrow and was detained again.

“I was taken to pick up my luggage and then into a very discreet room. ‘Richard’ walked in with a Costa bag with food which he said was for me, my breakfast. He said it was them who sent me back because I was a terror suspect”. Mr. Hashi, a volunteer youth leader at Kentish Town Community Organisation in north London, alleges that the officer made it clear that his “suspect” status and travel restrictions would only be lifted if he agreed to co-operate with MI5. “I told him ‘This is blatant blackmail’; he said ‘No, it’s just proving your innocence. By co-operating with us we know you’re not guilty.’

“He said I could go and that he’d like to meet me another time, preferably after [May] Monday Bank Holiday. I looked at him and said ‘I don’t ever want to see you or hear from you again. You’ve ruined my holiday, upset my family, and you nearly gave my sick grandmother in Somalia a heart attack’”.

Adydarus Elmi: ‘MI5 agent threatened my family’

When the 23-year-old cinema worker from north London arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare airport with his pregnant wife, they were separated, questioned and deported back to Britain.

Three days later Mr. Elmi was contacted on his mobile phone and asked to attend Charing Cross police station to discuss problems he was having with his travel documents. “I met a man and a woman”, he said. “She said her name was Katherine and that she worked for MI5. I didn’t know what MI5 was”.

For two-and-a-half hours Mr. Elmi faced questions. “I felt I was being lured into working for MI5″. The contact did not stop there. Over the following weeks he claims “Katherine” harassed him with dozens of phone calls.

“She would regularly call my mother’s home asking to speak to me”, he said. “And she would constantly call my mobile”.

In one disturbing call the agent telephoned his home at 7am to congratulate him on the birth of his baby girl. His wife was still seven months pregnant and the couple had expressly told the hospital that they did not want to know the sex of their child.

“Katherine tried to threaten me by saying – and it still runs through my mind now – “Remember, this won’t be the last time we ever meet”, and then during our last conversation explained: ‘If you do not want anything to happen to your family you will co-operate’”.

Mohamed Nur

Mohamed Nur, 25, first came into contact with MI5 early one morning in August 2008 when his doorbell rang. Looking through his spyhole in Camden, north London, he saw a man with a red bag who said he was a postman.

When Mr. Nur opened the door the man told him that he was in fact a policeman and that he and his colleague wanted to talk to him. When they sat down the second man produced ID and said that he worked for MI5.

The agent told Mr. Nur that they suspected him of being an Islamic extremist.

“I immediately said ‘And where did you get such an idea?’ He replied, ‘I am not permitted to discuss our sources’. I said that I have never done anything extreme”.

Mr. Nur claims he was then threatened by the officer. “The MI5 agent said, ‘Mohamed, if you do not work for us we will tell any foreign country you try to travel to that you are a suspected terrorist’”.

They asked him what travel plans he had. Mr. Nur said he might visit Sweden next year for a football tournament. The agent told him he would contact him within the next three days.

“I am not interested in meeting you ever”. Mr. Nur replied. As they left, the agent said to at least consider the approach, as it was in his best interests.

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Note
Picture: Indicative map of the Horn of Africa piracy
From: http://lanasays.blogspot.com/

Tags: Civil, Coastal, Ecoterra, Int'l, Marine, Monitor, Piracy, Somali, Somalia