US brand of inspirational speakers takes its ‘ideas worth spreading’ to the final frontier: Somalia
“I love Mogadishu, I love Mogadishu, I love Mogadishu!” chanted Amir Issa, a Somali businessman and camel farmer. “Please stand up, say that: I love Mogadishu!”
A video camera panned around the room, showing the audience rising to its feet and joining in the chorus. The scene was streamed live to internet users around the world. TED, the California-cool brand of inspirational speakers with “ideas worth spreading”, had reached its final frontier: war-torn Somalia.
“The story of the Somalis is they are survivors,” continued Issa, microphone in hand, standing on a simple stage against a white wall that bore the TEDxMogadishu logo. “They will survive in any climate … Mogadishu is ready to receive anybody … Mogadishu is ready for you.”
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) was born in the US in 1984 and stages an annual conference once described as “three and a half days of intellectual soul searching” that attracts “some of the smartest, richest and most talented people on Earth”.
Speakers have included Bill Clinton, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, Jane Goodall and Al Gore. Tickets can cost thousands of dollars.
The main conference allows one-off gatherings elsewhere under the TEDx label, with examples in Africa including TEDxSoweto in South Africa’s biggest township.
On Thursday came its most intrepid offshoot yet, a hastily organised meeting in a city that has become a byword for war and nihilism – a place where pontificating might appear a western indulgence.
The intention of TEDxMogadishu was to show that daily life is changing eight months after African Union troops pushed al-Qaida-linked militants out of the city.
“There is hope in Somalia,” its manifesto declared. “With sustained peace on the horizon, the Somali diaspora is returning home and starting businesses. International investors are exploring opportunities and the first Somali bank has now opened. While the stability remains fragile, Somalis are optimistic that a turning point has been reached after 21 years of conflict, and we are witnessing the rebirth of Mogadishu.”
But al-Shabaab militants retain the ability to hit the capital, as shown last month when eight people were killed in a bomb attack at the newly reopened national theatre. Security was tight for Thursday’s invitation-only gathering of 110 people, who were searched more than once on their way into the conference room on the third floor of the First Somali Bank, which itself opened last week‚ “the first commercial bank in the country’s history”.
Liban Egal, the founder of the bank and a co-organiser of TEDxMogadishu, said the idea came about after he met Nate Mook, who helped organise TEDx events in Baghdad, Doha and Tripoli. “I was trying to tell him about the rebuilding of Mogadishu,” Egal explained via Skype. “He said: this is a good story, why don’t we do one? I was hesitant at first but after talking more I decided yes. It happened very fast, in four days; it wasn’t planned.”
Broadcast live on the web, with updates on Facebook [http://www.facebook.com/TEDxMogadishu] and Twitter, the low-budget event aimed to change negative perceptions of Mogadishu around the world, particularly among Somalis driven into exile. Egal, who spent 24 years in the US, added: “We just want to show there’s a side of Mogadishu other than war. People are opening businesses and building their lives. People in the diaspora are coming back to invest. This city is making great strides and there is a lot of goodwill.”
After some technical hitches and a late start, TEDxMogadishu took less than three hours to feature comedy, music, short films and, most importantly, talks from Somalis including a property developer, the founder of a university, a healthcare specialist, a peace activist who works with rape victims and former child soldiers and a chef who returned home in 2008 after establishing some of Britain’s best Somali restaurants.
Another speaker, Amina Hagi Elmi, founder of Save Somali Women and Children, said she had never heard of the TED franchise before receiving the invitation.
“TED is new to me, that’s why I’m interested to take part,” she said. “I want to share my history with the people who are watching this event. It will change people’s minds about Somalia. The situation for women and girls in Mogadishu is 80% better since security improved.”
There was an enthusiastic response on Twitter, with many users praising the initiative as a positive step for the beleaguered country.
But others expressed scepticism about western “do-gooders” interfering in Somalia and Africa. A Twitter user named Amal (@amal_leila) posted: “TEDx Mogadishu is about to happen soon, live stream and the theme is “Rebirth”. Mainly the rebirth of £Mogadishu. The West must be so happy.”
She also tweeted: “Any conference regarding #Somalia should be on repairing the country, not #Mogadishu. Every city, town, village should have an equal voice.”
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
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US brand of inspirational speakers takes its ‘ideas worth spreading’ to the final frontier: Somalia
“I love Mogadishu, I love Mogadishu, I love Mogadishu!” chanted Amir Issa, a Somali businessman and camel farmer. “Please stand up, say that: I love Mogadishu!”
A video camera panned around the room, showing the audience rising to its feet and joining in the chorus. The scene was streamed live to internet users around the world. TED, the California-cool brand of inspirational speakers with “ideas worth spreading”, had reached its final frontier: war-torn Somalia.
“The story of the Somalis is they are survivors,” continued Issa, microphone in hand, standing on a simple stage against a white wall that bore the TEDxMogadishu logo. “They will survive in any climate … Mogadishu is ready to receive anybody … Mogadishu is ready for you.”
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) was born in the US in 1984 and stages an annual conference once described as “three and a half days of intellectual soul searching” that attracts “some of the smartest, richest and most talented people on Earth”.
Speakers have included Bill Clinton, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, Jane Goodall and Al Gore. Tickets can cost thousands of dollars.
The main conference allows one-off gatherings elsewhere under the TEDx label, with examples in Africa including TEDxSoweto in South Africa’s biggest township.
On Thursday came its most intrepid offshoot yet, a hastily organised meeting in a city that has become a byword for war and nihilism – a place where pontificating might appear a western indulgence.
The intention of TEDxMogadishu was to show that daily life is changing eight months after African Union troops pushed al-Qaida-linked militants out of the city.
“There is hope in Somalia,” its manifesto declared. “With sustained peace on the horizon, the Somali diaspora is returning home and starting businesses. International investors are exploring opportunities and the first Somali bank has now opened. While the stability remains fragile, Somalis are optimistic that a turning point has been reached after 21 years of conflict, and we are witnessing the rebirth of Mogadishu.”
But al-Shabaab militants retain the ability to hit the capital, as shown last month when eight people were killed in a bomb attack at the newly reopened national theatre. Security was tight for Thursday’s invitation-only gathering of 110 people, who were searched more than once on their way into the conference room on the third floor of the First Somali Bank, which itself opened last week‚ “the first commercial bank in the country’s history”.
Liban Egal, the founder of the bank and a co-organiser of TEDxMogadishu, said the idea came about after he met Nate Mook, who helped organise TEDx events in Baghdad, Doha and Tripoli. “I was trying to tell him about the rebuilding of Mogadishu,” Egal explained via Skype. “He said: this is a good story, why don’t we do one? I was hesitant at first but after talking more I decided yes. It happened very fast, in four days; it wasn’t planned.”
Broadcast live on the web, with updates on Facebook [http://www.facebook.com/TEDxMogadishu] and Twitter, the low-budget event aimed to change negative perceptions of Mogadishu around the world, particularly among Somalis driven into exile. Egal, who spent 24 years in the US, added: “We just want to show there’s a side of Mogadishu other than war. People are opening businesses and building their lives. People in the diaspora are coming back to invest. This city is making great strides and there is a lot of goodwill.”
After some technical hitches and a late start, TEDxMogadishu took less than three hours to feature comedy, music, short films and, most importantly, talks from Somalis including a property developer, the founder of a university, a healthcare specialist, a peace activist who works with rape victims and former child soldiers and a chef who returned home in 2008 after establishing some of Britain’s best Somali restaurants.
Another speaker, Amina Hagi Elmi, founder of Save Somali Women and Children, said she had never heard of the TED franchise before receiving the invitation.
“TED is new to me, that’s why I’m interested to take part,” she said. “I want to share my history with the people who are watching this event. It will change people’s minds about Somalia. The situation for women and girls in Mogadishu is 80% better since security improved.”
There was an enthusiastic response on Twitter, with many users praising the initiative as a positive step for the beleaguered country.
But others expressed scepticism about western “do-gooders” interfering in Somalia and Africa. A Twitter user named Amal (@amal_leila) posted: “TEDx Mogadishu is about to happen soon, live stream and the theme is “Rebirth”. Mainly the rebirth of £Mogadishu. The West must be so happy.”
She also tweeted: “Any conference regarding #Somalia should be on repairing the country, not #Mogadishu. Every city, town, village should have an equal voice.”
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
No casualties were reported in air strikes by naval forces against pirate targets on shore in the Galmudug region
The European Union says its naval force off the Somali coastline has carried out its first air strikes against pirate targets on shore.
A spokesman said maritime aircraft and attack helicopters took part in the attacks early on Tuesday. No casualties were reported in the raid, which occurred along Somalia’s central coastline in the region of Galmudug.
Michael Mann, spokesman for the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said the action was part of a comprehensive approach to combating piracy.
British forces were not involved in the operation, according the Ministry of Defence.
The EU is the main donor to the Somali transitional government. It also trains the Somali army, and is reinforcing the navies of five neighbouring countries to enable them to counter piracy themselves.
Last month, the EU allowed its ships to attack pirate targets on the shore.
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
As the union representing 23,000 maritime professionals, we read your report (Cuts force navy to drop Somalia pirate patrols, 9 May) with utter dismay. The UK’s failure to honour its commitment to protect merchant ships and seafarers from the very real risk of pirate attack is appalling. It is unbelievable that an island nation that remains so dependent on the sea for more than 90% of its international trade can so dismally fail to provide essential support against a proven danger.
We warned the European parliament last year that we need more warships, not less, in this area as the pirates are extending their range and becoming increasingly sophisticated in the way they attack merchant shipping. The UK must urgently reconsider its commitment to defending commercial ships and it is simply not good enough to rely on other countries’ navies or to privatise protection by the deployment of armed guards.
Mark Dickinson
General secretary, Nautilus International
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
Four frigates scrapped in defence review leave navy unable to commit full-time to David Cameron’s foreign policy priority
The UK has had to scale back its commitment to counter-piracy because the Royal Navy no longer has enough warships to dedicate one to Somalia all year round.
While the US, France, Italy, Denmark and other nations still send frigates to thwart criminals who cause havoc with international trade, the Guardian has learned that Britain has quietly withdrawn its ships from these patrols, even though David Cameron has made Somalia’s piracy problem a foreign policy priority.
Piracy cost the world economy $ 7bn (£4.3bn) last year. Figures show the pirates raised almost $ 160m from hostage ransoms, but 24 of their captives died.
British businessman David Tebbutt was one of their victims, and his wife, Judith, was held for six months before being released in March.
Because of defence cuts, the UK can deploy only two frigates for contingency operations east of the Suez canal. They have to cover a massive area of ocean stretching from the Gulf to the Falklands. Neither can be committed to piracy full-time, though HMS Westminster “dips in” when it can, sources say.
The navy’s fuel and supply ship, the Fort Victoria, has been supporting the 16-strong counter-piracy fleet since last year, though it is unclear whether the vessel will continue to do so beyond the summer.
In the past, the UK has always managed to dedicate up to four frigates to Somalia, deployed on rotation to provide year-round support.
The squeeze was forced on the Ministry of Defence by cuts set out in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, which scrapped four frigates – regarded as the workhorses of the navy.
Committing ships and personnel to the Olympic security effort this summer has compounded the MoD’s difficulties.
“Counter-piracy is getting very difficult for the UK,” said one senior Whitehall source. “We have two frigates that are supposed to look after contingencies in Falklands, the Gulf and piracy. Fort Victoria is a good platform but we cannot commit frigates to Somalia. They go in and out when they can, but reassurance work in the Gulf is more of a priority now.
“Many of the people who are good at counter-piracy are now involved in the Olympics, so they are not available either, and won’t be until the autumn at the earliest.”
The scaling back comes at an awkward time for the military mission off the Somali coast. Though the number of successful pirate attacks fell last year, the number of pirates facing prosecution remains extremely low.
In the past four months, dozens of suspected pirates have been set free because arresting countries, including the UK, are reluctant to host prosecutions against them.
The UN has estimated nine out of 10 suspects are being released. One Nato commander told the Guardian he had kept 17 suspected pirates on board his ship for 38 days before being told to let them go in April.
“When I have told them [the pirates] that we are putting them back to shore they are more or less celebrating,” said Commander Anders Friis, captain of the Danish ship Absalon. “They are very, very happy.”
Friis suggested other nations needed to take more responsibility for the problem. “What is needed from my perspective, but it is at the edge of politics … we have to involve other countries in the region,” he said.
Another British naval source added: “For every pirate that goes to legal finish there are three or four that end up being put back ashore.”
A legal adviser on board the Absalon said even if he judged a case strong enough to go to court, his recommendations were often turned down.
“This is not because of the evidence package,” said Mathais Buck. “But because the national authorities could not find anyone to prosecute them. As soon as the lawyers get involved, the problems start.”
The captain of the USS Taylor, an American frigate that is part of Nato’s current naval mission, told the Guardian the military could only do so much.
“We are dealing with the symptoms, but if you don’t treat the symptoms, they get worse,” said Captain Jeremy Hill.
But he admitted that piracy would ultimately only end when the problems were tackled at source. “The significant part of the solution is on land,” he said.
The MoD confirmed that none of its frigates were now solely deployed on piracy duties, though it said one could be used for “focused surges”.
“The number of successful hijacks and hostages being held is at a three-year low, which is the result of real successes at sea such as the capture and detention of 14 pirates by RFA Fort Victoria in January.
“A Royal Navy frigate supports Nato counter-piracy operations with focused surges of units and it commands the European Union counter-piracy mission.
“The government remains fully committed to helping restore stability in Somalia, and the Royal Navy’s activity to deter and disrupt pirates is only a part of the UK’s comprehensive approach.”
The Foreign Office acknowledged that finding countries in which to prosecute pirates remained a real problem. It said officials were working to “set up a network of regional centres in Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tanzania to prosecute suspected Somali pirates who, if convicted, are returned to Somalia to serve their sentences in secure and humane prisons”.
A spokesman added: “However, prison capacity remains a key problem in the region. In 2011 the government provided roughly £9m to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to build regional prison and judicial capacity. The regional transfer agreements coupled with UK support to the UNODC means that we are in a much stronger position to bring Somali pirates to justice.”
Piracy in 2011
Number of ‘successful’ hijacks 24
Number of hostages held 1,118
Number of hostages who died 24
Number of ransoms paid 31
Total amount of ransom paid $ 159m
Speed ships need to avoid pirates 18 knots
Size of ocean being patrolled by navies 4m sq km
Loss in tourist revenue in Kenya caused by piracy Up to $ 759m
Figures: Nato; One Earth Future
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
Few countries are willing to prosecute and most captives suspected of sea piracy are eventually released
The Absalon is a modern and well-equipped Danish warship, one of a new generation. It has stealth technology to avoid enemy radar, ballistic missiles that could sink an aircraft carrier, and on this Nato-led trip off the coast of Somalia, a small company of heavily armed special forces divers, with their own speedboat.
So it is hardly surprising the Somali pirates are feeling a little outgunned at the moment.
The pirates take to the seas off the Horn of Africa in small dhows, and even smaller skiffs, armed with old machine guns and pistols, wearing flip-flops, and gambling that they will be able to hijack a vessel before they run out of food or water, or drown.
Over the past year, the number of successful pirate attacks fell from 45 to 24, and more than 120 others were foiled. But nobody involved in the military mission off the coast of east Africa believes the battle has been won. In fact, many senior officers believe the counter-piracy operation has reached a critical point.
Commanders estimate that for every pirate captured and sent for trial, another three or four are released. This year dozens of pirates have been put quietly back to shore, despite good evidence to support prosecution.
None of the countries in the region want to take a lead in piracy cases, and those that have been persuaded to take suspects – notably the Seychelles and Kenya – are essentially full up, and showing reluctance to take any more.
None of the governments sending warships to the area, including the UK, wants them either, even though the pirates cost the world economy an estimated $ 6.9bn (£4.3bn) last year.
So, without fanfare, more and more of the suspected pirates are being freed, the incentive to hunt them is slightly diminished, and the Somali criminals can hardly believe their luck. “When I have told them [the pirates] that we are putting them back to shore they are more or less celebrating,” said Commander Anders Friis, captain of the Absalon. “They are very, very happy.”
The Absalon has captured 58 suspected pirates during six months patrolling the Somali coast. Only eight are facing trial.
In February, it seized a crew of 17 suspected pirates and waited to hear which nation would volunteer to take them for prosecution. Thirty-eight days later, they got the answer: not one.
All of the suspects were taken back to shore close to where they had been caught, so they would not be set upon by rival tribes or gangs.
The Absalon’s medics noted the men were, on average, 2kg heavier and far healthier than when they were captured. A further 16 suspected pirates captured in April spent three weeks in the makeshift cells of the ship’s cargo area. Lawyers working on Absalon thought the case against them was strong, but they can only recommend prosecution. Someone has to be willing to “host” a trial, and there aren’t many takers. Last week 12 of the pirates were released.
The ship’s commander, Anders Friis, is stoical and says he is not frustrated. But he adds: “We are professional. We are doing our job. Obviously it is best to get them prosecuted.
“My problem is this … every time we are putting people to shore [the pirates] have been informed about how these things work, what our tactics are. It makes it more difficult to solve the problem because they are developing their own tactics.”
A senior member of his crew was less diplomatic. “It is a ridiculous situation. We are doing what we were asked to do, but we end up going round and round in circles. We have become a prison ship, not a warship.”
The problems of piracy from Somalia have been growing since 2005. Although it is an international problem, it was deemed serious enough by David Cameron to make it a UK foreign policy priority, which is why London hosted a conference on Somalia in February.
Beset by civil war, poverty and famine, and unable to compete with modern international fishing vessels from other countries, some Somalis, backed by criminal gangs, turned to piracy to make money – and judged by this criterion alone, they have been extremely successful.
Even though hijackings were down last year, the pirates raised $ 159.6m from 31 paid ransoms, including $ 13.5m for the release of the Greek-owned tanker Irene SL, which was carrying 2m barrels of oil. That was the highest sum ever paid.
On average, hostages are held 178 days, but some are kept much longer. Some do not come back at all: 24 died last year.
In Somalia, the economic model for piracy is working well. In 2010, the US, EU and the UK gave the country a combined $ 298m in aid – less than half the sum pocketed by the pirates when light aircraft dropped waterproof containers full of cash into the waters near their beach settlements.
This activity has changed the economic model for the whole shipping industry, which spent $ 5.5bn last year on combating the problem, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy study by the One Earth Future foundation (OEF).
Ships are having to reroute and take on armed guards, and the companies that own them are paying hefty insurance premiums, as well as the ransoms. With more than 42,000 commercial ships travelling through the waters around Somalia every year, and no end to the supply of pirates, the incentives are weighted in favour of the criminals rather than business.
This has provoked governments to set up three military missions – run by Nato, the EU, and a multinational “combined task force”– which patrol the expanses of sea in which the pirates mostly operate.
In terms of disrupting attacks, the naval missions, which have 16 warships, have just had their most successful year, but warning lights are already flashing for the future.
Though 1,089 piracy suspects have been seized in the past five years, there are signs legal systems are gumming up with new cases, and that the courts have already reached saturation point in the Seychelles and Kenya.
There is also concern about the pirates developing new tactics, and changing the rules of the game. “In 2011, we witnessed a worrying development,” says the OEF study.
“In some instances, after receiving a ransom, pirates have released the vessel but not all of the crew. In other cases the vessel has been abandoned and hostages have been taken ashore in Somalia, where pirates have demanded a ransom for their release.”
Attacks on tourist resorts in Kenya, such as the one that led to the death of the Briton David Tebbutt last September, is another concern. His wife, Judith, was released in March after a ransom was paid.
Because the warships cannot operate inside the territorial waters of Oman and Yemen, that is where the pirates are heading – another sign the criminals are trying to adapt to new circumstances, rather than give up the trade.
Aboard the warships in the current taskforce off Somalia, the captains and crews feel they have a good understanding about the pirates, how they operate, and how to capture them.
As well as the frigates and destroyers, the French have an Awacs surveillance plane in the area. Although no Nato official will admit it, the assumption is the US is supplying intelligence from unmanned drones operating from a base to the north in Djibouti.
The Guardian was shown a series of classified surveillance photographs used by Nato commanders. They reveal the position of the pirate camps and how they are set up. In some cases the pictures are so clear it is possible to make out faces.
The sites are home to up to 45 men, and are incredibly basic. They are often square, with upturned boats providing cover for sleeping and the most rudimentary workshops for repairing outboard engines.
The coastal towns of Eyl and Garacad in the north, and of Hobyo, further south, have been the focus of Nato’s attention, and by carefully mapping which dhows are moored where, the warships can tag the ones they want to track.
The pirates on the beach are only the foot soldiers, but it is not difficult to identify the “Mr Bigs”. They are the ones who have built modern houses with stone walls close to fishing villages that haven’t changed in decades.
“The pirates are very much aware of what is going on,” says Friis. “They have an extended network and they adapt. They are sharing information and developing new tactics … and they are getting much tougher.”
The proof, he says, is in the way suspected pirates behave when the Absalon approaches.
“They are more or less ignoring us,” he says. “They know we will act in self-defence and they know that it is not a very good idea to point their guns at us. They also know we have strict guidelines about not hurting anyone.”
Trying to unravel the pirates’ machismo is also a challenge. When the Absalon seized 16 suspected pirates on 11 April, Friis gave them a chance to go free.
“They had taken some Iranian and Pakistani hostages so we had to separate them from the pirate suspects,” said Lieutenant Commander Claus Krum, a veteran of five piracy missions.
“Once we’d done that we told the suspected pirates they could stay with us or get into a skiff and return to Somalia, and we would not shoot them. They chose to stay.” He adds: “They have a totally different mindset, and a code. They don’t want to lose face.
“Some of them may already be in debt and will fear they will get beaten up if they go straight back to Somalia. They don’t show any anger or remorse or guilt.”
Better, then, for the pirates to take their chances on the Absalon, in the hope that they will probably be released in a few weeks, credibility intact.
Krum is not the only officer on board the Absalon who has concluded that the counter-piracy operation is a sticking plaster, and that the only way to stop piracy is to tackle the poverty at its source. “Somalia needs more subsidy, and probably peacekeeping forces on the ground too. Until then, we have to try to deter and avoid piracy.”
Mathais Buck, the Absalon’s chief legal officer, ensures the captured men are looked after in the caged cells in which they are kept most of the day and night.
The suspects are given carpets to pray on, magazines, regular health checks and the same food as the ship’s crew. “This isn’t like two conventional armies in conflict.
“We are not at war. It is the pirates against countries that are used to having laws governing what they do.”
That means that the Danes will not want to keep them on board for too long without getting them legal representation, and since so few countries are prepared to mount prosecutions, the pressure to let them go increases with every passing day.
Captain Jeremy Hill, commander of the American frigate USS Taylor, admits it is getting harder to distinguish between legitimate fishermen and the pirates.
Both go to sea in the same places, in same sort of dhows and armed with the same type of guns.
“If there is a grey area, we err on the side of caution without a doubt.” Hill says that Nato “doesn’t want us to let up at all”, but everyone involved in the military mission is aware of the negative publicity that comes with setting suspects free. Hill admits he would now notify the overall commander of the Nato mission before detaining anyone.
“The significant part of the solution is on land,” he says. “It is not just up to Nato to find a legal solution.”
In fact, it is not up to Nato at all. Once a Royal Navy warship has detained suspects, it is up to the UK to assess the strength of the case, and then cast around for a country to take on the prosecution – if it is not prepared to take it on itself.
The prospect of Somali pirates being brought to trial here, where they would undoubtedly apply for asylum, is one of the reasons ministers have vehemently refused to accept any cases.
“The legal finish is a problem, but it is one that is completely out of military control,” said one senior naval officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“For every pirate that goes to legal finish there are three or four that end up being put back ashore. “I still think there is huge value in disrupting activity … but people do hold a lot of store by getting the pirates to court, and the legal success rate is very low.”
Jack Lang, the UN secretary general’s special adviser on Somali piracy, believes the ratios are even worse than that, claiming last year that “90% of pirates captured by states patrolling the seas will be released without being prosecuted”.
The Foreign Office recognises the problem. The UK has given money to the Seychelles to support its legal system; two members of the Crown Prosecution Service have been on the islands to speed up trials, and three prison officers from the Isle of Wight have also been seconded to the Montagne Posse prison.
But the Seychelles can hold only a maximum of 70 pirates at a time, and has little prison capacity.
The hope is that new jails in the more stable areas of Somaliland and Puntland in the north of Somalia will house convicted pirates serving their prison terms, but this idea is still evolving.
Last year the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime started work on the construction of two prisons at Garowe and Hargeisa.
It has also contributed to the opening of a counter-piracy courtroom in Mombasa.
“Our aim is to help set up a network of regional centres in Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania to prosecute suspected Somali pirates who, if convicted, are returned to Somalia to serve their sentences in secure and humane prisons,” said a Foreign Office spokesman.
“The first transfer of convicted pirates from the Seychelles back to Somalia took place at the end of March, signalling a step-change in the way we combat Somali piracy in the Indian Ocean region.”
But though the steps are important, they are still small, and the regional legal systems are struggling to cope with the suspects already in custody, let alone ones in the future.
Which leaves some in the military mission asking if it is time for a rethink.
“There is an argument over whether the military should be doing any more than it already is,” said one commander. “Somali piracy cannot be solved by us. It is primarily a civil problem, which needs to be solved on land, not at sea.”
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
Radio reporter Farhan Jeemis Abdulle became the sixth Somali journalist to be killed in the last sixth months and the fifth in 2012. He was shot dead on Wednesday – the eve of world press freedom day – in Galkayo, Puntland.
Local journalists said Abdulle, a producer and host at the private Radio Daljir, would often sleep at the station as a safety precaution.
But he finished work early and decided to walk home. His two assailants were waiting in ambush and shot him four times in the back.
Colleagues said he had received threats from an anonymous caller a few days before the attack. They suspect Al-Shabaab insurgents killed Abdulle because of his coverage of a programme that encouraged young people to lay down their arms.
According to IPI’s Death Watch, Somalia is the second-most dangerous country for the media in 2012, trailing war-torn Syria.
Sources: CPJ/IPI
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
Games consoles are all the rage in Mogadishu, keeping boys away from school but also away from the militants
Inside a hot, cramped room in the Somali capital, 10 sweating children sat on wooden desks, not unlike those found in schools. These boys, though, were not in class. They were staring at a small TV and tightly gripping video game controllers.
A year after al-Shabaab lost control of Mogadishu, video games are now all the rage. Under the militant group recreational pleasures such as films and Nintendo were banned.
Today, Somali boys are bingeing on PlayStation and other games consoles, a development seen has having both positive and negative aspects.
Some parents say the games are helping to keep the young off the street, which in turn lowers the chances they might be recruited by al-Shabaab. But many teenage boys admit to skipping school to practice their gaming skills.
“I spend half of my day here. The video games are fascinating,” said Abdirizak Muse, a 16-year-old who dropped out of his Mogadishu school in early 2011 after al-Shabaab militants dug trenches around it.
Among the positive changes since African Union (AU) and Somali troops drove the militants out of Mogadishu are new restaurants, a vibrant beach front, the reopening of the national theatre and a video game shop.
Mohamed Deq Abdullahi, a father of two teenage boys, watched his sons play a football video game in a sweltering shop on a recent sunny day. He sees their new hobby as a beneficial development.
“This is his day-long activity because I don’t want him get bored and go to war,” Abdullahi said. “The busier they stay the more tired they get and the more they ignore violence.”
During the Islamist uprising in 2006 that gave way to the al-Shabaab militia, schools were a prime source of recruitment for militants seeking to bolster their ranks. Hundreds, if not thousands, of children were lured into combat.
While video game shops where teenage boys can pay a fee to play by the hour are popular, the minority of more affluent Somalis are buying game systems for home. Muse Haji, a father of six, bought a system for his children.
“For us it’s a choice between the lesser evil and the bigger evil,” he said. “Instead of my children going out and being radicalised and used as human bombs, it’s better for me that they stay at homes and play games.
“We focus on non-violent games such as car racing, soccer and some educational games.”
Haji said that like all children of this generation, his are fanatics about technology, a positive change from previous generations past when the young seemed more interested in firing weapons and joining war.
At a video game shop in the Wardhigley district of the capital, dozens of young people waited in line earlier this week to get a chance to play. The shop charges the equivalent of 10 cents (6p) for 15 minutes of play. The atmosphere is eerily quiet except for the beeping, whooshing and cheering emanating from the games.
“I have been here almost an hour to wait for my turn. I will play a game of soccer with my friend again,” Shafici Osman, 14, said with an air of desperation as he watched his friends play. “I like coming here every day. I am either playing or watching others play. I am happy because my parents approve, and they give me money to play.”
The sudden popularity of video games has created business opportunities. Arcade owner Ahmed Aden said he had seen his business grow quickly since opening seven months ago.
“We started with two screens and now we have eight. Our business is booming,” he said.
A 2011 UN report said militants were systematically recruiting children across central and southern Somalia. Schools – both teachers and students – were consistently targeted by al-Shabaab recruiters, it said.
The report said some 50 schools closed in south-central Somalia because of growing demands from militia groups. Schools were destroyed and damaged during clashes between insurgents and government and AU troops.
Ali Abdi, a 15-year-old, said he was trained to fight with al-Shabaab, but after returning home for a visit his mother would not let him return to the militants. His brother opened an arcade, where Ali now happily spends his time. He plans to return to school when militants no longer recruit from classrooms.
“Many of my friends are unlucky and have taken part in the violence in the country. Some of them have died. Others are carrying guns around. In some ways, video games have saved my life,” he said.
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
Osama bin Laden group no longer unifying force it once was as jihadist movement fragments and ambitions become localised
For those in the counter-terrorist community with long memories, the tape was an unwelcome dose of nostalgia.
From the north African group calling itself al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and uploaded to militant websites last week, it called on Algerians to revolt against the ruling elite and boycott next month’s parliamentary election, describing the vote as “plastic surgery”.
“O Muslims, your duty today is not to participate in this disgraceful, fake election; your duty is to reject those oppressors in disguise and wage jihad and rise up against them,” it said.
Long before Osama bin Laden burst on to the international scene with attacks on US embassies in 1998, it was Algerian militants waging a bloody war against the corrupt, inefficient and broadly secular government who had the fiercest reputation among the many extreme Islamist groups engaged in violent activity at the time. Brewing for years, the conflict in the north African state flared after the Algerian military cancelled an election Islamists were poised to win in 1992.
As analysts try to make sense of the fragmented and chaotic world of militancy following the death of Bin Laden, some are remembering the 1990s. The logic is simple: he and al-Qaida exerted a unifying influence on an otherwise diverse and varied movement. With the core of al-Qaida weaker than it has been for many years, its centralising effect has now gone.
The result, despite an overlay of global rhetoric, is a return to the free-for-all of the pre-Bin Laden era.
Violent extremists, and their sympathisers, are present in almost every country from Morocco to Indonesia, from Uzbekistan to Tanzania. But only in a few are there even semi-organised groups and these rarely have more than a few hundred members.
The exception are four major al-Qaida “affiliates” – al-Qaida in Iraq (AQAI), al-Shabaab in Somalia, the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and AQIM. There are also concerns about Boko Haram in Nigeria and several Pakistani groups, though whether any of these have either genuine links to al-Qaida or serious international ambitions is unclear.
AQAI is seen as having a largely sectarian agenda, representing disgruntled Sunni Muslim communities against Iraq’s majority Shia population, with a strong criminal element. AQAI is seen as a potential threat to Iraqi stability but not to that of neighbouring countries. It is also believed to have almost no contact with the remains of the al-Qaida senior leadership in Pakistan.
The danger posed by al-Shabaab depends on an internal struggle between militant leaders who see the battle for control of Somalia as part of an international struggle and those who cleave to a purely local agenda. The threat to the west comes from young volunteers making their way to the battle zone in east Africa and coming back to the UK. This is happening but numbers are tiny.
Probably the most powerful affiliate is in Yemen, though where al-Qaida activity stops and tribal or ethnic activity starts is difficult to say. Here the threat to the west is evident: AQAP has launched a series of bomb plots or other conspiracies against the west and a highly skilled bombmaker is still active, according to western security officials.
That is a logic behind Washington’s decision to increase drone attacks.
The wild card is AQIM. Political upheavals in Libya, Algeria and states such as Mali have offered new opportunities for what was a ramshackle network of fragmented groups who used Islamist ideology as a cover for banditry. But whether the threat will become more concrete is less clear. The group remains opportunist, finding space around the edges of Arab uprisings but not more.
There are two major differences with the 1990s. The first is the spread of the ideology and narrative of global jihad over recent decades. The second is the lack of popular support for the groups.
In Algeria, they remain confined to the remotest areas of the country with almost no broad popular support, says Camille Tawil, a London-based journalist and expert on the group. The same is true in varying degrees elsewhere.
Indeed, a glance at the map reveals that the various affiliates are still broadly restricted to the periphery of the Islamic world in geographical terms – a useful visual manifestation of their overall social, ideological, cultural and political marginalisation too.
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
Claims by two Muslims accused of role in bomb attack during 2010 World Cup date from after coalition came to power
Two men facing terrorism charges in east Africa are accusing the British government and its intelligence agencies of being involved in their abduction, unlawful rendition and torture.
The allegations by Habib Suleiman Njoroge and his brother Yahya Suleiman Mbuthia closely echo those reported in the Guardian last year by a third terrorism suspect, Omar Awadh Omar.
The high court in London has given all three men permission to seek disclosure of British government documents that would support their claim that the UK was involved in their alleged mistreatment. Njoroge and Omar have also been given permission to seek documents relating to their rendition at a hearing at the high court in London this week.
During proceedings in the Ugandan courts, the men alleged British and American intelligence officers beat and punched them, hooded them, threatened them with firearms and told them they were to be flown to Guantánamo Bay. In response, the Ugandan government denied the men were mistreated, but said “the nature of the terrorist attacks necessitated joint investigations, by Ugandan police with foreign security officers, which included joint interrogations”.
The trio’s allegations date from August and September 2010, several months after the coalition government was formed. They come despite attempts by ministers to distance themselves from the torture and rendition scandals that dogged the previous Labour government, while also expressing clear support for the country’s intelligence agencies.
Njoroge and Mbuthia were among a number of Kenyan Muslims detained in 2010 and taken to Uganda for questioning about two suicide bomb attacks on crowds of people watching World Cup football matches in July of that year. The Somali militant group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed 79 people and injured 70.
According to a report submitted to the United Nations security council last year, Omar, Njoroge and Mbuthia were linked by telephone records to a mobile phone that was attached to a third suicide bomb vest, which failed to explode. Kenyan media reports have claimed Omar was a leading figure in the bomb plot. All three men deny any involvement.
Omar was kidnapped in broad daylight in a Nairobi shopping centre and driven across the border to Uganda, where he says British and American interrogators were waiting for him. Omar says one of his interrogators, an Englishman who called himself Frank, became particularly angry and began stamping on his bare feet while asking him about two British Muslims who had been arrested in Nairobi.
Njoroge, a radio presenter from Mombasa, was arrested in September 2010, interrogated by Kenyan police and then allegedly driven while hooded and shackled to the Ugandan border to be handed over to that country’s Rapid Response Unit (RRU), a police body whose use of torture has been documented by human rights groups.
While in RRU custody, Njoroge says he was kept naked, beaten, sexually assaulted and forced to sign a statement in which he confessed to being involved in the bombings. Among the officials interrogating him, he says, were men with American and British accents.
Mbuthia’s complaint that he had been rendered from Kenya to Uganda a few days before his brother is not contested by the Ugandan authorities. He was dragged from a bus in Nairobi, hooded and handcuffed and driven to the border, where he says he was beaten and threatened with execution by RRU officers.
He says that, after being deprived of food and liquid for three days, he was interrogated by FBI officers who beat him, pointed firearms at him and threatened to shoot him if he refused to testify against Omar. During subsequent interrogation sessions, he says, the Americans were joined by a man with a Scottish accent.
The high court has concluded that there is a case to be made that the British government “would have been aware that there was evidence over many years that the RRU used illegal methods and severely mistreated those in its custody” during interrogation.
Asked about the claims, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “The UK government’s policy is clear: we do not participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment for any purpose. We have consistently made clear our absolute opposition to such behaviour and our determination to combat it wherever and whenever it occurs. We cannot comment on ongoing legal cases.”
Omar, Njoroge and Mbuthia’s UK lawyers are pursuing similar arguments to those deployed on behalf of Binyam Mohamed three years ago, during litigation that exposed MI5′s complicity in his torture in Pakistan and Morocco, and which resulted in one of the country’s most senior judges condemning the agency’s officials for their “dubious record” over those abuses.
The allegations are resulting in the sort of court cases that would be heard behind closed doors under controversial new secrecy proposals drawn up by Ken Clarke’s Ministry of Justice, in consultation with MI5 and MI6.
Under those plans, ministers would be able to decide that evidence they considered too sensitive to be aired in public during civil trials – including trials in which they themselves are defendants – could be concealed from the public, the media and even the claimants.
The same green paper contains proposals to prevent claimants from making use of the legal doctrine that has been employed by lawyers representing the three men during efforts to force the government to disclose any documentary evidence that shows it was involved in their rendition and mistreatment.
After parliament’s human rights committee published a damning report about the proposals, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg warned cabinet colleagues that they were unacceptable in their current form.
In a major speech last November on the work of the agencies, William Hague, the foreign secretary, said the coalition was “drawing a line under the past”. Hague stressed, however, that he was obliged to grapple with “the most difficult ethical and legal questions”.
East Africa has been of growing concern to US and UK intelligence agencies, who say that about 200 foreigners have travelled to Somalia to train and fight with al-Shabaab. Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, describes the US military base at Camp Lemonnier in neighbouring Djibouti as “the central location for continuing the effort against terrorism”. Despite an increase in military aid to neighbouring countries, Jonathan Evans, the director general of MI5, has said he is “concerned that it is only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside al-Shabaab”.
British concerns were heightened by initial reports that a young British Muslim from London had a hand in the suicide bomb attacks, although it is thought that MI5 and MI6 no longer believe this to be the case. This individual has since been reported to have been killed in Somalia. A significant number of other British Muslims are reported to have travelled to the region to join up with al-Shabaab, and many are thought to have travelled through Kenya.
World news: Somalia | guardian.co.uk
