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 IGAD
Breaking News (HAN) December 22, 2005.
 Somaliland
Ethiopia
Eritrea
Djibouti
Kenya
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HAN Editors:
The Geeska Afrika Editorial Board and HAN Regional
Reporters would like to appeal to our readers and observers to Facilitate
regional commentary amicably to act as an independent, objective and impartial body so
the remaining days can bear the long awaited fruits. This is a self syndicated column. If you wish to publish this
column in your newspaper, magazine, journal or on your websites please
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US National
Security Concerns Cited Somali immigrants
Djibouti (HAN)
December 22, 2005 - Djibouti (HAN)-- US authorities have charged a Somali immigrant with conspiring to help Al-Qaeda blow up a shopping center in the Midwestern United States, US Attorney General John Ashcroft said
last year.
"The American heartland was targeted for death and destruction by an al-Qaeda cell, which allegedly included a Somali immigrant, who will now face justice," Ashcroft said last year (Jun. 15, 2004).
Nuradin Abdi, 32, allegedly plotted to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio, with a convicted Al-Qaeda operative, but was arrested before he could finalize a plan or select a specific target.
"This plot was foiled while it was still in the planning (stages)," said Bill Hunt, first assistant US attorney for the southern district of Ohio. The sources said Abdi traveled to a Al-itihad/ONLF militia camps in the Ogaden region of Somali National Regional State in Ethiopia, where he was trained in firearms use, guerrilla warfare and bomb making.
"Abdi's training was to ready himself to participate in violent jihad," Ashcroft said.
Another Somali Immigrants news: Today A federal judge took the unusual step yesterday of tripling the suggested sentence for a Somali community leader convicted of immigration crimes, saying the harsher sentence was justified because of national security concerns.
After Omar Abdi Mohamed declined to make a statement to the court, U.S. District Judge John Houston sentenced the self-described Muslim missionary to 18 months in prison. Mohamed has already served two years while awaiting the outcome of his case.
Houston said he was departing from the sentencing guidelines because he was troubled by a combination of facts – in particular that a charity founded by Mohamed in San Diego received more than $300,000 from "specially designated global terrorist organizations." Houston noted that the money was then channeled by Mohamed to an unknown overseas location.
Houston also said he was concerned about Mohamed's conduct – from his work for the Saudi government to his extensive travel on just a $20,000 annual salary.
"The court cannot turn a blind eye to those factors," the judge said. "Certainly this is an immigration case, but when you look at those factors this is an extraordinary case that would support an upward enhancement."
Mohamed, a Somali war refugee and father of eight who moved to the United States in 1995 from Canada, will be transferred from the federal jail downtown to the custody of immigration officials in Otay Mesa. His lawyer, Mahir Sherif, said he planned to appeal the convictions and sentence and would fight deportation.
"I think (the judge) is legally wrong to enhance (the sentence) on the basis that he did," Sherif said.
Mohamed, 45, was never charged with terrorism. He was convicted in two trials of six felony charges that he lied on visa and naturalization applications. He was acquitted of more serious charges, particularly that he lied during a citizenship interview about his association with the two charities in question, Global Relief Foundation and the Al-Haramain, which the U.S. government has linked to terrorist fundraising.
In explaining his departure from the sentencing guidelines, which suggest a six-month sentence, Houston said he was not focusing on whether Mohamed lied, but on the undisputed facts of the case. He said he found sufficient evidence that Mohamed received $300,000 from those terror-linked charities, regardless of whether he lied about it.
"He was acquitted of lying about the receipt of money, but the evidence was clear that he received the money," Houston said. "In my mind, I can consider the receipt of money as affecting national security."
Mohamed's immigration case was unusual because of the terrorism and national security overtones. In pretrial motions, prosecutors and the defense clashed on the disclosure of classified information and whether the word "terrorism" could be mentioned in front of a jury. Ultimately, the judge ruled that the classified information would remain secret and prosecutors could say "terrorism." Foremen from both juries later said they were not prejudiced by the terrorism aspect of the case.
Mohamed was investigated by members of the region's Joint Terrorism Task Force and prosecuted by members of the U.S. attorney's counterterrorism unit as part of the Bush administration's practice of using immigration laws to "neutralize" and deport people who are considered potential threats to national security.
Jurors found that Mohamed lied to immigration officials about the number of children he has; that he failed to disclose that the Saudi government was one of his employers; and that he never worked for the mosque that sponsored his religious-worker visa.
At yesterday's hearing, Houston dismissed Mohamed's claim that the Saudi government was merely paying him a stipend as a Muslim missionary. The judge noted that the Saudi government gave Mohamed other tasks, such as reporting about demographics and cultural matters in the community, which went "beyond pure propagation."
Houston seemed suspicious of Mohamed's actions, saying it is a "mystery" that Mohamed, a Somali national living in Canada, was recruited "out of the blue" to come and teach Islam in San Diego. And he questioned Mohamed's ability to travel to Australia and elsewhere.
"The court notes that you are quite an international traveler for someone who made about $20,000 a year," Houston said. He later added: "That you were able to travel back and forth (to Australia) at will, staying as long as you wanted to stay on your level of income is incredible."
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley mentioned terrorism multiple times yesterday and argued that although sentencing guidelines suggest a six-month sentence, the judge should impose a five-year sentence because "the defendant posed a risk to national security."
In rebuttal, Sherif mocked the government's assessment, arguing that national security concerns are unrelated to the charges for which Mohamed was convicted.
"What's the national security concern for lying about your child?" Sherif said.
He noted that Mohamed received the money from the charities before they were designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. Treasury Department.
"When it suits them, they say this is not a terrorism case, this is an immigration case," Sherif said. "When it doesn't suit them, they say it's a terrorism case. We're confused."
Sources: HAN staff & Kelly Thornton
The 4 count indictment accuses Somali
Immigrants in Ohio
Djibouti (HAN)
December 21 - Djibouti (HAN)-- According to US authorities, Abdi was admitted to the United States in January 1999, although the information he provided in support of his asylum claim was later found to be false.
Later that year or the following year, he applied to leave the country -- ostensibly to visit relatives in Germany and Saudi Arabia and the Islamic holy city of Mecca.
On returning to the United States from the Somali zone in Ethiopia, Iyman Faris, a convicted Al-Qaeda operative, met Abdi at the airport and the two began planning to detonate a bomb at an unidentified Columbus-area shopping mall, authorities said.
Immigration authorities finally detained Abdi November 28 on immigrations violations. In January, an immigration judge revoked his asylum status, but ordered him held on national security grounds.
The four-count indictment accuses Abdi of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support to Al-Qaeda, and two counts of fraud and misuse of documents.
The charges carry a maximum of 80 years in jail. Abdi's wife, due to have their third child this month, maintains that her husband is innocent and is being targeted because he's Muslim.
Faris, a Pakistani native, is serving a 20-year jail term for plotting to derail passenger trains in New York and Washington, and cut the cables on New York's Brooklyn Bridge.
Prosecutors claim he traveled to his native Pakistan and to Afghanistan in 2000, where he is believed to have met with Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a key planner of the September 11 attacks now in US custody at an undisclosed location overseas.
Abdi's indictment comes on the heels of repeated warnings of possible Al-Qaeda strikes on mainland US targets this summer.
"Current credible intelligence indicates that Al-Qaeda wants to hit the United States, to hit the United States hard," Ashcroft said.
National Police Academy opens in Somalia
Puntland (HAN)
December 21, 2005 - The first police academy to be built in Somalia for several years officially opened today, Somali Police Day, at Armo, 100 kilometres south of Bossaso in the northeast of Somalia.
In its first operational phase, the initial intake of 130 male and 20 female cadets from different regions joined the Armo Police Academy on 10 December 2005.
“This is a momentous occasion for us,” Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said. “The young women and men who will come out of this training will form part of the new Somalia, where the rights of every Somali are protected and the rule of law will prevail. We cannot waiver in our quest to change the way things have been for the last decade and a half and more.”
To ensure quality and uniformity across the police force, the challenging three-month training course will be a continuation of the one developed by the UNDP Programme on Rule of Law and Security (ROLS) at the Mandera Police Academy in Somaliland which was first rehabilitated in 1999. This covers community policing, basic police training, non-violent disarmament, physical fitness, self-defense, marching and theory. Computer lessons will also be provided. Upon graduation, the cadets will then be able to take up posts in different law enforcement sections such as the traffic police, the mobile unit, criminal investigation department, manning complaints desk at the police stations, internal affairs, etc.
UNDP Somalia Resident Representative Maxwell Gaylard said: “This is without a doubt, one of the highlights of this year. We are privileged to have been involved in the establishment of this Academy and recognise that it will enhance the peacemaking efforts of ordinary Somalis, the authorities and the civil society.”
The ultimate aim of the Law Enforcement component of the ROLS Programme is to establish a professional civilian police force able to effectively contribute to the restoration of peace while gaining the trust of the community, and the development and provision of high calibre training. Part of ensuring the longevity of the Academy is the engagement of former police officers to conduct the training.
Particular recognition must be conferred to the people of the Armo community who provided the land at no cost, constructed the trainers’ accommodation and the water pipe system from the town to the Academy.
The Rule of Law and Security Programme Law Enforcement component is supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), Denmark, European Commission, Norway, Sweden, UNDP, the UNDP Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) and the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS).
For more information, please contact:
Sandra Macharia, Information Officer, UNDP Somalia www.so.undp.org
HAN
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