Wednesday, August 26, 2009

One of two abducted French agents is free


AFP - One of two French intelligence agents kidnapped by hardline Islamist rebels in Mogadishu last month is free, Somali and French authorities said Wednesday. Officials from a hardline group involved in the kidnapping said the hostage had been released in exchange for a ransom, but France said the agent had escaped and that no ransom had been paid. Somalia's Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gele initially announced in a press conference in Mogadishu that both agents had been freed, but within minutes told AFP that only one was free. "My words are that one of two hostages kidnapped in Mogadishu last month is now in the hands of the government. He is safe and in good health," he said. The government was continuing its "efforts to release the second hostage." He refused to elaborate on the circumstances, saying more details would be made available later. The French agents were snatched by gunmen from their hotel in the war-riven Somali capital on July 14. They were quickly separated, held by two hardline groups involved in a military offensive against the government. The French defence ministry maintained they were on an advisory mission to the Somali transitional government. One was believed to be held by the Shebab, an Al Qaeda-inspired group, the other by Hezb al-Islam, a more political movement led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a former ally of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. "The hostage held by Hezb al-Islam was able to escape his kidnappers. Despite certain allegations and rumours this happened without violence and France did not pay a ransom," foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier told reporters in Paris. Chevallier, who did not say whether another party might have paid a ransom, also said that the second hostage was "still being held". The freed hostage told officers from the African Union peacekeeping force (AMISOM) stationed inside the presidential compound that he managed to escape from his eight captors while they were sleeping. But officials from Hezb al-Islam and the transitional federal government speaking on condition of anonymity said the hostage had been released in exchange for a ransom. "Some government forces had been waiting for the release in the Gubta neighbourhood (in southern Mogadishu). He was handed over at around 4:00 am (0100 GMT) this morning," a senior Hezb al-Islam official told AFP. "The French agent did not escape by himself. Some negotiations had been going on for a while between the government and Hezb al-Islam officials," a government official also said. "The initial ransom demanded was five million dollars but the amount has decreased," the official explained. He said that when talks stumbled, some Hezb al-Islam militants struck their own deal and organised the release without their leadership's authority. Sources in the presidential palace told AFP that a second European-looking individual had been seen Wednesday on the compound but no more information on the fate of the second hostage was immediately available. The Shebab had said after the kidnapping -- one of the most high-profile abductions to have taken place in Somalia in recent years -- that the pair would face a Sharia court for "spying and entering Somalia to assist the enemy of Allah." Mogadishu is one of the world's most dangerous places, devastated by fighting between rival factions. Westerners have been systematically targeted in recent months. If a deal was indeed struck, neither side was likely to advertise it. Paying a ransom to extremist Islamic organisations with suspected links to Al Qaeda would be against French policy while the kidnappers themselves might not want to be seen as putting enrichment before jihad. Armed Somali gangs have carried out scores of kidnappings in recent months, often targeting foreigners or Somalis working with international organisations to demand ransoms. Three aid workers were kidnapped in northern Kenya in late July, while two journalists -- a Canadian woman and an Australian man -- have been held hostage for a year.

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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