Djibouti, Eritrea and Counter-Terrorism | Raddington Report

One of the only things the small East African nations of Eritrea and Djibouti agree on is Qatar’s destabilizing role in the region. When Djibouti downgraded its diplomatic relationship with Doha on June 5th, the government knew there would be consequences. But it was unaware they would fall so close to home.

In a surprise move, Qatar announced the withdrawal of its troops from the Eritrea-Djibouti border on June 14. Qatar’s forces had been keeping the peace between Eritrea and Djibouti since 2010, as part of a Doha-led mediation process. The two African nations had a brief border conflict in 2008 – a dispute which dates back to a 1900 colonial agreement between Italy and France which left the precise location of the border ill-defined.

Following Qatar’s withdrawal Eritrean forces quickly took full control of Dumeira Mountain and Dumeira Island. “Djibouti will have to react to this seizure in some way though in what manner Djibouti will respond to this is unclear,” said Joseph Siegle, Director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in a June interview.

As painful as the loss of that territory is, Djibouti may still think its decision was worth it. The country’s stance against Qatar is part of a tougher fight against terrorism both within its region and beyond. Djibouti was a founding member of the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism and also participated in the Arab Islamic US Summit held in Riyadh in May. This has continued despite the potential loss of Djiboutian territory caused by Qatar – this summer Djibouti also formally joined the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

Djibouti believes that its struggle against Eritrea is tied to terrorism concerns. It asked the UN’s Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group to investigate alleged Eritrean funding for the Somali terrorist group group Al-Shabaab last year. Djibouti has also accused Asmara of funding a group of 200 Djiboutian rebels. “I personally doubt that Qatar is directly funding Al-Shabab in Somalia. There is more evidence to suggest the possibility of Eritrean support for Al-Shabab but, of course, Qatar could be using Eritrea as a proxy,” said a senior Somali intelligence official who agreed to speak off the record during the recent intelligence conference in Khartoum.

Despite the crisis along the border with Eritrea, Djibouti has maintained a force of roughly a thousand soldiers in Somalia as part of the African Union force fighting Al-Shabaab. But Qatar’s sudden withdrawal may have cost Djibouti more than a strip of its territory. Djibouti also worries about the fate of its prisoners of war held by Eritrea – an issue that Qatar had attempted to negotiate.

At the end of the 2008 conflict, Eritrea held nineteen Djiboutian prisoners of war – though some escaped and four were later were released. “[Eritrea] continues to spread blatant lies about the prisoner’s condition and has refused to account for them despite repeated calls by the UN Security Council,” Ambassador Dualeh said.

While Djibouti would be outgunned in any renewed fighting, the country’s changing economic fortunes might strengthen its military and negotiating position in the future. “The tiny new nation has no army, less than one square mile of arable land and no resources except sand, salt and 20,000 camels,” the New York Times wrote in 1977. In the intervening decades Djibouti has become an economic success story – its GDP of Djibouti increased by 6.5% in 2016, in part thanks to the development of its port and transport services.

Djibouti aims to become the “Dubai of Africa” and serve as a regional trading hub. Ethiopia – with a population of one hundred million – is the world’s most populous landlocked country. It depends on Djibouti’s port to reach the sea, and as a result the tiny country handles ninety percent of Ethiopia’s maritime trade. To better meet those needs, Djibouti opened two new harbors this year – and another port is nearing completion.

Djibouti also maintains its diplomatic clout by hosting several foreign military bases. Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion outpost, has been America’s only permanent military base in Africa since 2001. Sitting next to Djibouti’s international airport, the US joint-operating base has been an important part of America’s ongoing wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Djibouti has also welcomed military bases from China and Japan in recent years – and Saudi Arabia is also considering a base. Partly in response, Eritrea is host to a base from the home of the real Dubai: the United Arab Emirates.

War is bad for business, and ultimately Djibouti hopes its dispute with Eritrea will be ameliorated through negotiation. Ambassador Dualeh told Raddington Report that, contrary to media reports, China has not offered to act as a mediator of the dispute now that Qatar has gone.

“We would like to see the UN Security Council urge Eritrea to resolve the border issue peacefully,” Dualeh said, “and to accept to submit the boundary dispute to the International Court of Justice, for a final and binding determination of the boundary based on international law”. No one expects that to happen soon.

Swiss charge Ethiopian imam with inciting violence| Malaysia General Business Sports and Lifestyle News

ZURICH: Swiss prosecutors have charged an Ethiopian imam with inciting violence and other offences, they said on Friday, alleging he called in a mosque sermon for followers to kill Muslims who did not pray in the community.

The step by prosecutors in the northern town of Winterthur comes amid heightened sensitivity to the risk of Islamist violence in Switzerland, whose spy agency warned about the threat in May.

Prosecutors did not name the imam, one of four people they said were linked to the local An’Nur mosque and who have been under investigation since November on suspicion of inciting criminal or violent acts.

“In his homily of Oct. 21, 2016, in the An’Nur Mosque, he is accused among other things of calling for expelling Muslims who do not pray in the community, and even burning them and killing them in their homes if they still refuse,” the prosecutors said in a statement.

He was also accused of sharing brutal depictions of killings via Facebook and of working as an imam without authorisation.

Prosecutors are seeking an 18-month suspended sentence and expulsion from Switzerland for 15 years for the cleric, who has been held in investigative custody since November.

Efforts to reach the mosque were not immediately successful. A number listed for the An’Nur cultural association that runs the mosque was no longer in service.

Swiss federal authorities say they have identified more than 500 internet users with Swiss connections who were using social media to spread jihadist ideas.

Concerns about militancy and potential attacks led Swiss voters to back a law last year extending the national spy service’s authority to monitor internet traffic, deploy drones and hack foreign computer systems.

Switzerland has so far not been targeted directly in an Islamist attack, but it has had several links to attacks elsewhere in Europe last year. - Reuters

(1087) Are The Saudi's Funding Islamic Extremism in the UK? - Al Jazeera Investigates - YouTube

(1087) Are The Saudi's Funding Islamic Extremism in the UK? - Al Jazeera Investigates - YouTube: ""



'via Blog this'

Third London Bridge Attacker Identified!

ISIS Claims Responsibility For Multiple Terrorist Attacks In Tehran!

Trump, Israel Back Saudi Power Play Against Qatar

Qatar Funding Terrorist not respecting 10,000 U.S. Troops Stationed

Manchester, Terror Attack Ariana Granda Concert! 19 Dead - (Compilation)

Parliament Terrorist Attack Westminster Bridge London - Knife - Vehicle

1 Dead, 11 Injured After Hand Grenade is Thrown Into Hotel IN Gondar Ethiopia

One person died, and 11 others sustained injuries after a hand grenade was thrown into a hotel located in Gondar, a city in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.

The grenade was thrown into a hotel named Entasol, Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported. The injured have since been transported to the Gondar Referral Hospital where they are receiving treatment.

Authorities have not commented on why the hotel was targeted and the possible motivation for the crime. Police are currently looking for the suspects.

Ethiopia’s is currently under a six-month long state of emergency, which was imposed in October in response to widespread anti-government protests.

The Amhara region, home to Ethiopia’s second largest ethnic group, was one of the hot spots in the violent anti-government protests that rocked the East African country last year.

The protests began in the Oromia region, home to Ethiopia largest ethnic group, in 2015 over a now cancelled government land expansion policy.

In August, thousands took to the streets of Gondar to protest against a government decision to place an Amhara district under the administrative jurisdiction of Tigray, a neighbouring region.

The protests over the Welkait community being placed under the Tigray region turned violent and led the U.S. government to issue a temporary travel ban on Gondar.

Human Right Watch has reported that over 500 people were killed in the demonstrations that engulfed Ethiopia. Thousands have been imprisoned in the government’s attempt to quell the unrest.

In December, over 9,000 suspects arrested under the state of emergency were released after receiving rehabilitation. However, more than 2,000 suspects will reportedly face charges.

On Tuesday, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the government would only lift the state of emergency after “consolidating gains” it has made following the deadly unrest.

“As far as the date of lifting the state of emergency is concerned, it should be seen in the perspectives that we have to consolidate the gains that we have made so far,” Prime Minister Desalegn said.

A Deadly Day: Russian Ambassador Assassinated; 12 Dead in Berlin Truck C...

Swiss police raid mosque, detain 8, after Ethiopian imam allegedly ordered killing of Muslims | Toronto Star

In a public sermon on Oct. 21, the Ethiopian imam allegedly called for the killing and denunciation of Muslims who refused to participate in prayers at the mosque.

Due to recent extremist attacks in Europe, Swiss authorities have been stepping up controls and surveillance.  (WALTER BIERI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)  

By JAMEY KEATENThe Associated Press

Wed., Nov. 2, 2016

GENEVA—Swiss police raided a mosque in a northern city on Wednesday, detaining eight people including an Ethiopian imam who allegedly called for the killing of Muslims who refused to participate in prayers, the state prosecutor’s office said.

Police searched the An Nur mosque in Winterthur and the apartments of three people as part of the morning operation, according to a statement from the regional prosecutor’s office in nearby Zurich.

In a public sermon on Oct. 21, the Ethiopian imam allegedly called for the killing and denunciation of Muslims who refuse to participate in common prayers at the mosque, the statement said. Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation centring on the imam and three others.

In a separate statement, Zurich police said another four men aged 23 to 35 from countries including Algeria and Tunisia were also detained. They were inside the mosque at the time of the raid, and were believed to be illegally in Switzerland, said Corinne Bouvard, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office. They weren’t believed to be connected to the imam and three others, whose nationalities weren’t identified, she said.

Bouvard also said prosecutors so far have turned up “no connection” to any possible international extremist groups. Earlier Wednesday, Swiss daily Tages Anzeiger reported that investigators were focusing on the mosque’s new preacher, who it said was from Somalia — not Ethiopia. The report also said some young men who were once regulars at the mosque had later left to join the Daesh group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

In the wake of extremist attacks in Europe in recent years, Swiss authorities have been stepping up controls and surveillance of suspected militants who could cause violence.

The Swiss intelligence service estimates that 77 people “motivated by jihad” have left Switzerland to travel to conflict zones since 2001, more than four in five of them to Iraq and Syria. The service says 21 of them are believed to be dead, while others are still active in the conflict regions or have returned to Switzerland.

France hit by another deadly bus terrorist attack Nice

Four Dallas Police Officers Killed

VIDEO - Black Man Shot & Killed by Minnesota Cop at Traffic Stop - Phila...

ISIS kills Christians from Ethiopia for refusing to convert to Islam sad !

Islamic State (ISIS) released a horrifying clip of the mass execution as they continue to wage war on those who do not follow their sick ideals. 

Ethiopian Christians can be seen dressed in orange jumpsuits with dozens of masked terrorists standing behind them.

The 29-minute video shows the jihadis separate the Christians into two groups on a beach in Libya.

In distressing scenes one group is then shot and the other beheaded.

The terrorists describe the men as “followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church”.

ISIS claim the men did not pay a compulsory religious tax and were left with one option – to convert.

The slickly-edited video then shows scenes of cities under the control of ISIS including Ninevah and Mosul in Iraq

The footage shows churches in both cities being blown up as ISIS continues to destroy scores of religious buildings.

A group of Coptic Christians were also murdered on a beach in Libya in February.

ISIS has forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to flee from their homes in Iraq, Libya and Syria.

Those who remain are face abduction, torture and execution if they refuse to convert.

Concerns have been raised Christianity could be wiped out in the Middle East as Islamic extremism continues its rampage.

Explosions hit Brussels Zatenvem airport

Explosion creates hole in Somali plane mid-air

Cell Phone Video Captures Terrifying Flight After Blast Rips Hole In Plane

Authorities have not been able to confirm the cause of the explosion.

 02/03/2016 04:10 pm ET

• Alexandra MaEditorial Fellow, The Huffington Post

X

Cell phone footage taken inside a passenger plane over Somalia on Tuesday shows a large hole that a mid-flight explosion left on the side of the jet. 

The explosion took place shortly after the plane, operated by Somali-owned Daallo Airlines, took off from the capital city of Mogadishu. It was flying at around 11,000 feet and headed to neighboring Djibouti, The Associated Press reported. 

Awale Kullane, Somalia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, was on the plane and used his cell phone to capture the aftermath of the blast. "I heard a big bang, so, and the smoke erupted so we couldn't see anything for a few seconds, so it was a bit scary," Kullane told the AP.

Somali authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of the explosion, and noted that there has been a lot of "conflicting information" about what happened. 

A Daallo Airlines spokesperson said there had been a fire on the flight. The plane's Serbian pilot, Vlatko Vodopivec, said he believed there had been a bomb on board. Anonymous U.S. government sources told Reuters they also thought the blast was the result of a bomb, but noted they had no firm forensic evidence. No group has claimed responsibility for placing a bomb on the jet.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

An explosion on a plane heading from Somalia to Djibouti on Tuesday punctured a hole on the plane's side, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

Daallo Airlines said after the incident that the plane was carrying 74 passengers and crew members. In a press release on Wednesday, the airline said one passenger was missing, and that two people had been taken to the hospital for minor injuries. 

An officer at Mogadishu International Airport told Reuters that a man apparently had fallen out of the plane following the blast. Residents of the nearby town of Balad discovered a body of a man on Tuesday, but officials cautioned they had not linked the body to the missing passenger. 

ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

Authorities have not been able to confirm the cause of the blast.

Kullane said he started filming after things had "settled down" on the plane. His footage shows some passengers moving toward the back of the plane as emergency oxygen masks dangle from the ceiling.

The ambassador told the AP he saw a "chunk of small area of the plane missing, and that air was floating in and out."

Photos of the airplane's exterior taken after its emergency landing in Mogadishu show the hole on the right side of the plane, near the wing.

MORE:

 Somalia, Airplane, Worldpost Africa, Somalia Plane Blast, Al Shabaab, Somalia Terrorism

kenya:Behind al-Shabaab’s attack on Kenyan base: American warnings, Saudi shisha – World News | Somalia news|Mareeg

BY WARKA · JANUARY 16, 2016

Bodies of dead Kenyan soldiers displayed by alshabab in El ade or ceel cade

martinplaut—It began with a suicide blast at the gates of the African Union’s AMISOM base outside the southern Somali town of el-Ade.

A fierce battle ensued, at the end of which some 60 Kenyan troops were dead; some of their bodies had been reportedly dragged through the town and al-Shabaab left with stockpiles of captured weapons, ammunition and some 28 vehicles.

That much is widely reported.

Explaining the attack journalists have pointed to:

the recent setbacks al-Shabaab have suffered and their loss of the port of Kismayo,a meeting of Somali politicians to discuss elections scheduled for later this year,the recent splits inside and defections from al-Shabaab over whether to remain affiliated to al-Qaeda or to shit allegiance to ISIS or ‘Islamic State’.

These factors led to the raid by an estimated 200 militants belonging to Saleh Nabhany Brigade, named after a Kenyan Al Qaeda field operative killed in 2009 by the US drone.

Looking a little deeper…the establishmen of Jubaland

The Kenyan base lies in Jubaland – a buffer state created by the Kenyans along their northern border to protect the country from the ravages of Somalia’s civil war and Islamic movements.

Somalia was forced to recognise Jubaland in September 2013 after nine days of arm-twisting.

The entire sorry saga was witnessed by Nicholas Kay, the UN’s Special Representative in Somalia; welcomed by Catherine Ashton for the European Union and supported by the African Union. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the South African chair of African Union described the agreement as “historic”, declaring that it was “a further illustration of the capacity of the Somalis to triumph over their differences.”

Kenyan ambitions – US warnings

The Kenyan foreign ministry has long seen the establishment of a buffer state along its northern border as vital to its security interests.

Thanks to Wikileaks, we know that Kenya’s Foreign Minister, Moses Wetangula, practically begged the United States for its support when he saw Johnnie Carsons, President Obama’s most senior US Africa official, in January 2010.

The Kenyans were requesting backing for an invasion of Somalia to create Jubaland, but the Americans were far from keen.

As the confidential embassy telex puts it: “Carson tactfully, but categorically refused the Kenyan delegation’s attempts to enlist US Government support for their effort.” It was, said the telex, the third time Wetangula had made the appeal, but Carsons resisted, pointing out – rightly – that “the initiative could backfire.”

Critically, Carsons warned that: “if successful, a Lower Juba entity could emerge as a rival to the TFG” (Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government).

This is exactly what came about.

Enter Sheikh Madobe

The deal officially recognises Ahmed Mohamed Islam (known, like all Somalis by a nickname – ‘Madobe’) as the ‘leader’ of Jubaland. Yet only a month earlier Sheikh Madobe was described in a major UN report as a “spoiler” and one of the chief threats to Somali stability.

The Sheikh was said to be “subverting the efforts of the Federal Government leadership and its partners to extend the reach of Government authority and stabilise the country, particularly in Kismaayo.”

What the Baroness Ashton and her colleagues have done is anoint a man who has been roundly denounced by the Monitoring Group, established by the UN Security Council. Its July report pointed out that the Sheikh had been a member of the short-lived Union of Islamic Courts, which was ousted by Ethiopia during its 2006 invasion of Somalia.

What happened next is interesting.

As the report puts it: “Madobe’s forces returned to Kismayo in August 2008, when Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam recaptured the city following the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia.” At this time the Sheikh Madobe was a key player in the al-Qaeda linked network.

But, as is ever the case in Somalia, clan and inter-clan rivalry came into play and the Sheikh fell out with his former allies. He threw in his lot with the African peacekeepers and the Federal Government.

Sheikh Madobe did not cut his ties with al-Sabaab altogether and the UN report accuses him of continuing the export of charcoal from territory controlled by the Islamists – a trade long since outlawed by the UN because of its catastrophic impact on the Somali environment.

The roles of Kenya and Ethiopia

The outcome has been a triumph for Somalia’s neighbours, even though Kenya and Ethiopia will continue to vie for influence in this critical part of the country.

Brushing aside American concerns aside, Kenya sent its troops into Somalia in October 2011. As predicted, they found it very heavy going and it was to take almost a year before al-Shabaab were driven from Kismaayo.

For the Ethiopians, the establishment of Jubaland is a further fragmentation of Somalia, its sworn enemy since the Somalis invaded their country in 1977. It was an attack that is imprinted on Ethiopian memories, fuelling a determination to see the end of a powerful, centralised Somali state.

Sheikh Madobe continues to be Ethiopia’s man in the region, and was warmly welcomed during a visit in December 2015.

Charcoal, shisha pipes, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Behind this tale of international intrigue and terrorism lies a story of ecological devastation.

For decades this area of southern Somalia has provided the Saudis and other Arabs of the Arabian peninsula with charcoal for their shisha pipes. Vast quantities are shipped out annually – devastating the forests of the region, which are now seriously depleted.

According to one official study over 4.3 million trees were cut down in one year.

Al-Shabaab used to make serious sums of money from these exports, and for a while Sheikh Madobe is accused of sharing these revenues with them. But –according to the UN – in 2015 he ended this arrangement.

This is what the report says:

“Evidence collected by the Monitoring Group, however, suggests that the ties between those controlling the trade in Kismayo and elements of Al-Shabaab in Lower and Middle Jubba have been strained over the past year. In January 2015, senior Al-Shabaab officials are reported to have called for the closure of charcoal production sites in Lower and Middle Jubba. In the following months, charcoal producers were arrested by the group, and many of those found carrying charcoal along the major supply routes were executed and their vehicles burned along with their cargo. During that period, suppliers were forced to use smaller minibus-type vehicles and back roads to avoid detection by Al-Shabaab on the major supply routes. Unconfirmed reports indicate that an agreement on the distribution of taxation collected from charcoal at the export sites fell apart when Ahmed “Madobe” withheld Al-Shabaab’s shares of export proceeds early in 2015 in preparation for the formation of the Jubba Regional Assembly in April and May 2015. The withholding of funds due to Al-Shabaab prompted the blockade on charcoal to the city, which may also partly explain the significant expansion of operations in Buur Gaabo.”

And the UN goes on to accuse Jubaland and the African Union force of profiteering from the charcoal trade.

“While the Monitoring Group has received some support from the Federal Government of Somalia in its investigations into the charcoal trade in southern Somalia, no apparent efforts have been made by either the Interim Jubba Administration or local contingents of AMISOM to implement or report on the ban, supporting the Group’s assertion that both continue to be actively engaged in and profiting from the trade….”

When I drew attention to this last night, it was confirmed by a Somali who tweeted this:

Conclusion

The Kenyan troops who are caught up in this complex web of greed, international politics and regional rivalries have paid with their lives. More than sixty of them are now dead and al-Shabaab is once more well armed and dangerous.