Somali government vows to welcome Al-Shabaab detectors



In an interview with Sunatimes, Somali Federal government’s head of rehabilitation centre for defectors Sheikh Mohamed Farah Ali Al-Azhari has urged young men fighting alongside Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab to come and take advantage of the government’s offer of forgiving defected members from the outlawed group.

Al-Azhari stated that about 1,600 young men who previously defected from Al-Shabaab are now in various rehabilitations centers in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, enjoying a better life and a lot of opportunity.

Somali Federal government’s proposal for the youth fighting alongside Al-Shabaab militant comes at a time when the dispute between the top leadership of the rebel group begins to emerge.

Two co-founders of al-Qaeda-linked group reportedly killed by their own members, while a third commander captured in central Somalia.

Source: Suna Times

Somali central bank governor denies U.N. charges over funds

By Edmund Blair

* U.N. says central bank used as "slush fund" in Somalia

* Governor says not responsible for use of withdrawals

* Somalia's weak institutions struggle after years of war

The governor of the Central Bank of Somalia denied on Tuesday allegations in a U.N. report linking him to irregularities regarding millions of dollars withdrawn from the bank, saying the charges were malicious and baseless.

Somalia, under a Western-backed government that took office last year, is trying to rebuild after 20 years of war in which the nation was carved up into fiefdoms by warlords and then ruled by Islamist militants. Its public institutions remain feeble.

The U.N. Group of Experts to the Security Council's Somalia and Eritrea sanctions committee said that of $16.9 million of international aid transferred by fiduciary agent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to the central bank, about $12 million could not be traced.

The confidential report seen by Reuters said the current bank governor, Abdusalam Omer, was "key to these irregularities". Omer was appointed to the post in January and the allegations include a period before that, when he acted as adviser to the Finance Ministry.

"This is an attempt to discredit me as the governor of the central bank and to discredit the embryonic financial institutions of the country," Omer told Reuters by telephone from Mogadishu. "This is malicious and this is wrong."

The U.N. report blamed a system of patronage, in which a person can ask Somali leaders for a private payment "that cannot be resisted for personal or other reasons", for undermining the establishment of an efficient state.

It said the central bank became a "slush fund" for the patronage system, with 80 percent of withdrawals for private purposes, not running the government.

Omer, a 59-year-old dual Somali-U.S. national, said he had proof that, of the $16.9 million, almost all of it was deposited in an account at the central bank run by the Finance Ministry. The remaining $940,000 went into an account set up by a former prime minister for "regional relations", he said.

"I made sure the money reached the Central Bank of Somalia, with the help of PWC, and the remittance company. Everybody signed for it," he said, referring to a period when he was advising the Finance Ministry from Nairobi after PWC set up an account in the Kenyan capital to send the funds to Somalia.

He said the $16.9 million was aid from a range of countries.

But Omer said he was not responsible for what happened to funds after withdrawal. "I did not sign for the account in any way, and I was never party to how the money is spent," he said.

Those comments were echoed in a letter from Omer to the U.N. experts, dated July 2, and obtained by Reuters.

"It is not in the mandate of the bank nor any of its statutory obligations to determine where expenditure is directed to or which ministry or public office should receive money from the government funds," he wrote.

"This is a budgetary issue of which the prerogative lays with the Ministry of Finance," he said, adding in the letter marked "formal complaint" that the process of investigation behind the report was "deeply flawed".

The report said Omer took all bank decisions as there was no board. Omer said he acted within a law giving the governor responsibility for decisions about mainly administrative matters, but was awaiting the appointment of a board for major decisions, such as printing a currency. 

(Editing by George Obulutsa and Pravin Char)

Exec says Barclays decision will force Somali money transfers underground

By Jason Straziuso

Somalis walk outside of the Dahabshil Bank in Mogadishu, Somalia, Tuesday, June 25. Barclays bank has announced it will no longer allow customers to send money to Somalia via the Dahabshil bank because anti-terror laws hold banks like Barclays responsible if they transfer money to criminal or terror elements. A financial power-house in Somalia, Dahabshil describes itself as "the most trusted money transfer company for many immigrants willing to support their families and friends." (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

The chief executive of Somalia's largest money transfer company warned Tuesday that funds wired into the country could "go underground" if Somalis aren't able to send money to family members through banks.

Abdirashid Duale, the chief executive of Dahabshiil, is asking Barclays bank to reconsider a decision announced last month to stop facilitating money transfers to some companies in Somalia. Banks worried about anti-terror regulations have grown wary of facilitating transfers into Somalia, where the al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab still controls a wide region.

Somalia's diaspora community sends $1.2 billion into Somalia annually, according to a study released this month by the U.N.'s food and agricultural agency. That money is desperately needed in one of the world's poorest countries.

"What's the alternative? The alternative is that people will go underground, and then the regulators won't see who is sending money," Duale said in a telephone interview. "Money will go on flights and be transported in pockets."

Dahabshiil is one of Somalia's rare business successes. Started in 1970 by Duale's father, the company says it employs more than 5,000 people in 150 countries. The company helps transfer money for such humanitarian groups as the U.N., Oxfam and Save the Children.

Duale says Dahabshiil is in compliance with all international banking regulations. He shared a portion of a letter from Barclays that said the decision to sever ties "is not a negative reflection of your Anti-Money Laundering standards, nor a belief that your business has unwittingly been a conduit for financial crime," but rather is because of the risks "of the sector in which you operate."

That risk, Duale argues, is in inherent in all money transfers. He noted that the 9/11 commission that investigated the 2001 attacks in the United States found that the attackers used Western banking institutions to transfer money.

"We have our compliance system to follow. We ask people for ID. There is a database we can check if they are a member of al-Shabab or not," he said. "The risks are always there. The risk is not unique for a specific company."

Barclays said in a statement last week that as a global bank it must comply with rules and regulations in all the jurisdictions in which it operates.

"It is recognized that some money service businesses don't have the proper checks in place to spot criminal activity and could unwittingly be facilitating money laundering and terrorist financing," it said. "Abuse of their services can have significant negative consequences for society and for us as their bank."

Barclays said it is happy to maintain a relationship with businesses that have anti-financial crime controls. Western Union operates in Somalia but does not have a presence in many places, including the capital, Mogadishu.

Aid groups that work in Somalia are worried about the possible impact of Barclays' decision. A coalition of aid groups said that one study of financial transactions in Somalia found that 73 percent of remittance recipients said that they use the money they receive from relatives -- an average of $2,040 per year -- to pay for basic food, education and medical expenses.

Source: The Associated Press

Preparing for Ramadan

BY RENÁTA JANKA TÓTH| 

As the holy months is approaching fast, it is time to start preparing for Ramadan with a short overview of what is actually is and what it means for Muslims.

The holy month of Islam, Ramadan, is approaching fast. It is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar when Muslims all over the world fast from daybreak to sundown. In this light, it is time to start preparing for Ramadan, both mentally and physically.

Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam which are: believing in the one and only God; praying five times a day; fasting during the month of Ramadan; giving alimony to those in need; and visiting the holy city of Mecca once in a lifetime for the hajj.

In the West, we experience that Ramadan is a mobile month, but this impression is only because Islamic months are calculated according to the lunar calendar and not the solar one. This gives a difference of about 15 days a year, which means that for non-Muslims, Ramadan is perceived to come 15 days earlier each year. However, according to the lunar calendar, the month is fixed.

The month of Ramadan is mostly associated with strict fasting and imagined huge feasts after sundown and most people do not understand the underlying ideas behind this obligation. Yet there is more to Ramadan than the restrictions during the day, and more than the delicious diners after the sunset.

During the month of Ramadan, adult Muslims are required to fast from daybreak to sunset. This obligation does not apply for pregnant women and women breastfeeding their child, and those whose health condition does not allow for a day-long fast, such as diabetics or those suffering from other internal diseases. Children are not required to fast, yet their initiation to fasting starts usually at a young age, starting with only a few days at a time. These exceptions show how flexible Ramadan actually is.

The restrictions during this time include not eating, not drinking, refraining from bad deeds and bad thoughts, and not having sexual intercourse. This obviously does not apply for the time when the fast is broken, that is, during the night. This means that these things are not forbidden for a whole month, but restricted for a specified time period during the day. Muslims have their breakfast before the first prayer and break the fast before the last one, which will be followed by a bigger dinner.

But Ramadan is not only about physical restrictions, but also about mental rebirth and religious refilling of ourselves. While Muslims avoid doing the above mentioned things, they read and recite the Quran regularly and attend congregational prayers, called tarawih, during the night. This prayer is however not obligatory, yet many chose to attend. Most Muslims also strive to finish the Quran during this month, reading one part of it per day. Each part is about 30 pages, thus easy to read during the day.

Briefly, Ramadan is about cleaning our body from the worldly pleasures for a while by fasting, and cleaning our soul for whatever dirt there may be inside. It is about cleaning our body from all of the effects of our bad habits and teaching our body how to endure difficulties and support hunger or thirst, as well as to control our instincts and needs. And it is about cleaning our minds and hearts from stress, anger, hatred or impatience, and teaching ourselves the values that are barely respected in our everyday lives, such as understanding, patience, and compassion toward the needy and the ill.

The month of Ramadan is closed by the Eid ul-Fitr, the festivity of breaking the fast, which also marks the beginning of the next month.

Source: The Urban Twist (TUT)

Somali government accuses Kenya troops in Kismayo of backing 1 militia over others in fighting

Somalia’s government called for a neutral force in the disputed port city of Kismayo, accusing Kenyan troops there of backing one militia against others in ongoing fighting for control of the strategic southern city.

Somalia’s information ministry said late Sunday that the country wants a “more neutral force” in the city that is home to a contingent of militiamen and where five clan leaders have all declared themselves president. That statement is the strongest yet from a government whose officials have sometimes accused Kenyan forces of taking sides in the Kismayo conflict, charges that Kenya denied on Monday.

“Kenya is there...to promote security and the rebuilding of Somalia,” said Kenyan army spokesman Col. Cyrus Oguna. “Those allegations are false and do not have any foundation whatsoever.”

For weeks militias have been fighting for control of Kismayo in clashes that have killed an unknown number of people.

Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, said in a statement Monday that the fighting in Kismayo “appears to have caused the loss of innocent civilian lives.” She urged “all parties to immediately refrain from violence, exercise restraint, and let political processes be used to resolve outstanding differences.”

Mohamed Nur, a nurse at Kismayo hospital, said at least eight people had died there following the latest clashes.

Kismayo is important for Kenya, which seeks a friendly buffer zone near its border with Somalia — one of the main reasons it sent troops to Somalia to fight the militants of al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab in late 2011. But the rival militias now at war there appear to be interested in the economic engine of Kismayo. Its port generates large and reliable income, and has been the export point of Somali-made charcoal made illegal by the U.N.

After another round of intense fighting on Sunday it appears that fighters from the Kenya-backed Raskamboni brigade, led by Ahmed Madobe, had taken the upper hand over rival militias led by former warlord Barre Hirale, according to several Kismayo residents. That brigade did so with the help of Kenyan troops operating in Kismayo under the banner of the African Union, according to Abdishakur Ali Mire, Somalia’s deputy information minister.

Madobe, who is supported by Kenya, is the leader of the Raskamboni brigade, which fought alongside Kenyan forces who took Kismayo from al-Shabab. He is a key power broker around Kismayo, although he is not backed by the federal government in the capital, Mogadishu. Madobe formed a local administration without giving much of a role to the central Somali government and was named president of the body. Adding to the chaos, four other clan leaders also have declared themselves the president of the region, though none is supported by Mogadishu.

The statement by Mire, the Somali government minister, accused AMISOM Section Two —a contingent of African Union forces operating in Kismayo— of launching “a targeted offensive against civilians” and of arresting Col. Abbas Ibrahim Gure, a Somali army official sent to Kismayo by the central government.

Troops from the West African nation of Sierra Leone are part of the contingent that includes the Kenyans, but they are not involved in ongoing fighting, according to Somali government officials.

Some analysts say fighting in Kismayo is distracting from the main goal of fighting al-Shabab, who still launch lethal terrorist attacks even in Mogadishu.

“It’s a dangerous distraction for the effort to fight al-Shabab not only for the government but for AMISOM,” said Mohamed Sheikh Abdi, an independent political analyst in Mogadishu.

------

Associated Press writer Tom Odula in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.

Source: The Associated Press

Photos: Somali Independence Day celebration in Twin Cities | Minnesota in Photos | Minnesota Public Radio News

Somalis in Minnesota commemorated Somali Independence Day this weekend as the 52nd anniversary of their country's struggle for independence.

Photos: Somali Independence Day celebration in Twin Cities | Minnesota in Photos | Minnesota Public Radio News

UK: Channel 4 to broadcast daily ‘call to prayer’ during month of Ramadan

By Caroline Westbrook

Channel 4 has revealed that it will broadcast the Muslim call to prayer every morning during the forthcoming month of Ramadan.

It will be the first time in British TV history that the call – known as the adhan – has been shown, with broadcasts kicking off when the festival begins on July 9 at 3am.

The adhan, delivered by muezzin Hassen Razool, will be featured on Channel 4 at the same time as it is played in mosques around London – as well as being shown online.

The channel’s head of factual programming Ralph Lee described the broadcast as a ‘nationwide tannoy system’ for Britain’s 2.8m Muslim population – who mark the festival with a month of fasting between sunrise and sunset.

Lee also defended the decision to feature the adhan, saying it had been almost invisible on mainstream TV in the past.

‘It’s easy for non-Muslims to see Islam through a superficial prism of what is forbidden, and Ramadan through the physical hardship of fasting and control,’ he wrote in the Radio Times.

‘For Muslims, however, Ramadan provides great physical and spiritual gains.

The holy month sees Muslims across the world called to prayer five times a day (Picture: Reuters)

‘It’s a time of reformation and reflection, whether that’s developing a greater awareness of the suffering of others, feeling a stronger affinity with their Muslim brothers and sisters around the world, or resolving to change the way they live their lives for the greater good.’

Lee added that Channel 4 was hopeful the coverage would provide their viewers with a greater awareness of Ramadan.

‘The calls to prayer prompt Muslims to carry out quiet moments of worship,’ he said, ‘but hopefully they’ll also make other viewers sit up and notice that this event is taking place.

‘No doubt Channel 4 will be criticised for focusing attention on a “minority” religion but that’s what we’re here to do – provide space for the alternative and a voice to the under-represented.’

As well as the adhan Channel 4 will screen a series of shows about Ramadan, including a documentary featuring former rugby player Rashid Khan showing how Muslims in Britain prepare for the holy month.

Channel 4