Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, alleged al-Qaeda operative, was not killed by US bombers in Somalia. The Americans had championed his death as a victory in the fake "war on terrorism."
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos.
NAIROBI, Kenya - Ethiopian and U.S. forces were in pursuit of three top al-Qaida suspects Thursday, with a senior U.S. official confirming that none of them were killed in a U.S. airstrike and were believed to still be in Somalia.
The official in Kenya, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to address the media, said U.S. special operations forces were focused solely on tracking down the suspected terrorists and not members of the Somali Islamic movement that had challenged the country's government for power.
A day earlier, Abdirizak Hassan, the Somali president's chief of staff, said a U.S. intelligence report had referred to the death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of the three senior al-Qaida members blamed for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
But the U.S. official said he was confident none of the three top al-Qaida suspects believed to be in Somalia was killed in the airstrike Monday.
"The three high-value targets are still of intense interest to us," the official said. "What we're doing is still ongoing, we're still in pursuit, us and the Ethiopians."
The official also contradicted numerous statements by Somali government officials in recent days, saying the U.S. had carried out just one airstrike and only eight to 10 militants with ties to al-Qaida were killed. He said subsequent reports of more airstrikes and civilian casualties were rumors and disinformation spread by the Islamic extremists.
Michael E. Ranneberger, the U.S. ambassador to Kenya, also told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday that Fazul had not been killed.
U.S. and Somali officials said Wednesday that U.S. special forces were in Somalia hunting al-Qaida fighters and providing military advice to Ethiopian and Somali forces. The U.S. forces entered the country last month when Ethiopia launched its attack against the Islamic movement, one of the officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Most of the Islamic militiamen have since dispersed, but a few hardcore members have fled to Somalia's southernmost point between the Kenyan border and the Indian Ocean.
The U.S. has repeatedly accused the group of harboring three top terror suspects wanted in connection with the 1998 embassy bombings: Fazul, Abu Talha al-Sudani and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.
The U.S. Navy has moved additional forces into waters off the Somali coast, where they have monitored maritime traffic and interrogated crews on suspicious ships in international waters.
The U.S. official in Kenya said Kenyan naval forces had set up a blockade along the sea border to make sure no suspected terrorists could infiltrate the country. The Kenyan army is also intercepting suspects trying to sneak across the land border, which is closed, he added.
Earlier this week, police at the Kenyan coastal border town of Kiunga arrested the wives and children of two of the embassy bombing suspects after they managed to slip across the frontier, according to an internal police report seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Somali and Ethiopian forces skirmished with Islamic militiamen in the far south of Somalia on Thursday as part of mop-up operations against the fighters.
One resident in the area, Mosa Aden Hersi, said there were numerous militant and civilian casualties in the fighting. "We saw the dead bodies of 17 men in military uniform under a small hill, but we do not know their identity," he said by two-way radio.
The remote, forested area has few residents and high-frequency radio is the only reliable form of communications.
The Ethiopian Information Ministry said its military had also launched helicopter and troop attacks around the town of Dhobley, about four miles from the Kenyan border.
A Somali human rights group said Thursday that thousands of Somalis fleeing the fighting were now stranded on the Kenyan border, which has been closed.
"Thousands are in a bad condition and they do not have food and water. They are stranded at the border after Kenya closed it and they cannot go back to their houses for two reasons: the ongoing airstrikes and lack of transportation," said Ali Bashi, chairman of the Fanole group.
The Red Cross said more than 850 wounded people, both civilians and soldiers, have been treated at medical facilities since fighting began last month.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since clan-based warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other. The interim government was established with the help of the United Nations in 2004.
Press anger at US strikes in Somalia
Newspapers in East Africa and the Middle East strongly condemn US air strikes on Somalia targeting al-Qaeda suspects in the south of the country.
Papers in Kenya fear the US intervention could derail efforts by the transitional government to extend its control over Somalia, while a South African daily warns that the solution must come from within Somalia.
A UK-based Arabic daily sees the strikes as part of a US strategy to keep the Islamists out of power and end the stability which, it says, they brought to the country.
KENYA'S STANDARD
US officials said they expect more military strikes this week to "wipe out" the terrorist cell in Somalia. This in itself is good news from a Kenyan standpoint, bearing in mind that Nairobi bore the brunt of an unprovoked terror attack in 1998. However, the hurried response to send the deadly, fire-spitting C-130s into Somalia so soon after a collective sigh of relief for the chance of a formal government structure evokes fury at the unilateral action of the global policeman.
UNATTRIBUTED COMMENTARY IN KENYA'S STANDARD
America will never learn and its excuses border on the ridiculous. Uncle Tom had to wait 10 years to go for Osama Bin Laden's disciples? Have the terrorists been waiting for the Yankees? President Abdullahi Yusuf never ceases to amaze. He cheers the Americans on as they terrorise his people and raze his country just as he turned to the Ethiopians to fight the Islamists. Looking for a lame-duck leader? Look no further.
SOUTH AFRICA'S BUSINESS DAY
It is difficult to think of an up side to America's military intervention in Somalia... The Ethiopian-led and US-backed overthrow of the Union of Islamic Courts and its replacement by the transitional government is no guarantee of stability. And the US attacks on sites where fleeing Somali Islamists and al-Qaeda operatives gathered could inflame the situation. Ultimately, the solution to Somalia's problems will have to come from within the country itself.
NDUNGU WAINAINA IN KENYA'S TIMES
The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia on its part should not presume that the current support from the international community will remain forever. [It] should set in motion bold steps to promote political dialogue and reconciliation that would culminate in establishment of a government that enjoys the full support of the Somali people.
PAN-ARAB AL-ARAB AL-ALAMIYAH
Since the Union of Islamic Courts succeeded in removing warlords, bringing about peace and stability and taking control of most part of Somalia, the US found a way to eliminate this youthful force and bring Somalia back to violence.
EGYPT'S AL-AKHBAR
The air strike gives rise to astonishment, mixed with anger and disgust. It also raises many questions. The killing of scores of people under the pretext of hunting down an individual or two cannot be justified irrespective of their position in the al-Qaeda organization. The time has come for the United States to learn its lesson and realise that its real battle is represented in winning hearts and minds.
EGYPT'S AL-JUMHURIYAH
The United States gave itself the right to bombard Somali villages and kill their innocent people. Does it really want any friends?!
SYRIA'S TISHRIN
Ethiopia carried out the mission, "crushed the terrorists" and handed Somalia over to the Americans, the original architects of wars and sponsors of collapsed countries.
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6251605.stm
Published: 2007/01/11 15:12:22 GMT
Thursday Jan 11
Al-Qaida Suspects Still Alive in Somalia
By SALAD DUHUL
The Associated Press
A top U.S. official in the region said Thursday that none of the al-Qaida suspects believed to be hiding in Somalia died in a U.S. airstrike this week, but Somalis with close ties to the terrorist group were killed.
A day earlier, a Somali official said a U.S. intelligence report had referred to the death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of the three senior al-Qaida members blamed for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
But the U.S. official in Kenya, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that Ethiopian troops and U.S. special forces were still pursuing the three suspects in southern Somalia.
U.S. and Somali officials said Wednesday that a small team of U.S. special operations forces are in Somalia hunting suspected al-Qaida fighters and providing military advice to Ethiopian and Somali forces on the ground.
The U.S. forces entered Somalia with Ethiopian forces late last month when Ethiopians launched their attack against a Somali Islamic movement said to be sheltering al-Qaida figures, one of the officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
U.S. officials have also acknowledged launching one airstrike aimed at killing suspected al-Qaida terrorists. Somali officials say the U.S. has carried out additional strikes, but there is no way to independently verify whether those were launched by U.S. or Ethiopian forces.
Fazul, one of the FBI's most-wanted terror suspects, has evaded capture for eight years. The Somali president's chief of staff told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he had been killed in a U.S. airstrike early Monday in southern Somalia.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Wednesday that eight suspected terrorists were killed in the attack, but their identities would not be confirmed until DNA testing is completed.
The U.S. official in the region said eight to 10 individuals were killed in the attack, most of whom were Somalis and had close ties to al-Qaida.
Meanwhile, Somali and Ethiopian forces skirmished with Islamic militiamen around the area of Ras Kamboni in Somalia's southernmost tip early Thursday, part of mop-up operations Meles said his troops were carrying out against the fighters that were driven from Somalia's capital weeks ago.
One resident in the area, Mosa Aden Hersi, said there were numerous militant and civilian casualties in the fighting. 'We saw the dead bodies of 17 men in military uniform under a small hill, but we do not know their identity,' he said by two-way radio.
The remote, forested area has few residents and high-frequency radio is the only reliable form of communications.
The Ethiopian Information Ministry said Thursday its military was also launching helicopter and troop attacks around the town of Dobley, about four miles from the Kenyan border.
Ethiopia intervened to protect Somalia's internationally backed government on Dec. 24 after Islamic forces advanced on the only town the government controlled. Within 10 days, Ethiopian and Somali troops had pushed the Islamic fighters into a corner between the Kenyan border and the Indian Ocean.
A Somali human rights group said Thursday that thousands of Somalis fleeing the fighting were now stranded on the Kenyan border, which has been closed.
'Thousands are in a bad condition and they do not have food and water. They are stranded at the border after Kenya closed it and they cannot go back to their houses for two reasons: the ongoing airstrikes and lack of transportation,' said Ali Bashi, chairman of the Fanole human rights group.
The Red Cross said more than 850 wounded people, both civilians and soldiers, have been treated at medical facilities since fighting started just over two weeks ago. The group said in a statement it was deeply concerned about the plight of civilians and those captured by Ethiopian and government forces.
In addition to the special forces on the ground, the U.S. has moved additional forces into waters off the Somali coast, where they have conducted security missions, monitoring maritime traffic and intercepting and interrogating crew on suspicious ships.
With the arrival of the USS Ramage guided missile destroyer, there were five ships Wednesday: the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, the USS Bunker Hill and USS Anzio guided missile cruisers, and the USS Ashland amphibious landing ship, which officials said they could use as a brig for any captured suspects.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday backed the speedy deployment of an African peacekeeping force to Somalia and called for a dialogue among all political players and humanitarian aid for the country.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since clan-based warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other. The interim government was established in 2004.
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Pauline Jelinek in Washington, Chris Tomlinson in Nairobi, Kenya, and Mohamed Olad Hassan and Mohamed Sheik Nor in Mogadishu contributed to this report.
Ethiopia, Somalia forces clashes with resistance fighters
Thu. January 11, 2007 08:19 am.
Bonny Apunyu
(SomaliNet) A brush fire broke out when Somali and Ethiopian forces clashed with Islamic militiamen in southern Somalia early Thursday, witnesses said by two-way radio.
This incident comes after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his forces were carrying out mop-up operations against Islamic militants in the extreme southern corner of Somalia and that he expected to withdraw his troops within a few weeks.
"We are hearing bombardment in Ras Kamboni. It started around 6 a.m. and the strike is now continuing," one resident said, asking not to be named for fear of retribution. "We can't see planes, but we can hear heavy explosions."
According to Mosa Aden Hersi, who lives 15 miles from Ras Kamboni, said earlier fighting in the area had triggered a brush fire. At least 35 civilians were killed along with fighters during the battle.
"We saw the dead bodies of 17 men in military uniform under a small hill, but we do not know their identity," he said.
On Dec. 24 2006, Ethiopia intervened to protect Somalia's internationally backed government after forces loyal the Council of Islamic Courts advanced on the only town the government controlled.
Within 10 days, the Ethiopians, joined by Somali troops, had pushed the Islamic fighters into a corner between the Kenyan border and the Indian Ocean.
"The fighting is near and around Ras Kamboni. This is the last hideout of the terrorists. It is a small unit, mopping up operations that have not yet been completed," Meles told reporters in Ethiopia on Wednesday.-AP.
Somalia: Kenya to expel dozens Somali lawmakers
Thu. January 11, 2007 08:22 am.
Mohamed Abdi Farah
(SomaliNet) At least 21 Somali lawmakers in the Kenyan capital Nairobi are due to be deported to Somalia tomorrow.
The MPs were arrested briefly last week after they held a news conference in a hotel in Eastleigh, an impoverished neighborhood within Nairobi where thousands of Somali immigrants reside, opposing the presence of Ethiopian troops and the US air strikes in their country.
Sharif Saleh Mohammed, a Somali MP, has told reporters in Nairobi, that the Kenyan police had presented them the expulsion order to depart from Kenya by Friday.
A large number of lawmakers and speaker Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden are believed to linger in Kenya.
“The Kenyan government has shown us that we are not welcome in its country, given to our opposition to the occupation of our country by Ethiopian troops”, Salah said.
Last week, the Kenyan foreign minister Raphael Tuju has revealed that his government would not stand anyone who tries to destabilize the Somali transitional government that was formed in Kenya in 2004 after protracted negotiations between warlords and other society leaders.
“We cannot put up with people who call themselves leaders and oppose their government because of their personal self-centeredness and interest to stay in Kenya where they intend to destroy their government”, Tuju said.
Sharif Saleh has also accused the Kenyan government of being involved in the Ethiopian and American military operations in Somalia. “We are being expelled for speaking out against the military campaign conducted by foreign troops in our country”, he added.
The interim parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, who is also known to be a sympathizer to the defeated Islamic Courts Union, did not include the 21 MPs.
The twenty-one Somali officials said their temporary destination would be Djibouti for the moment.
The Somali parliament currently based the Baidoa city, 240 km south of the capital Mogadishu has been discussing a motion that would impose three months of martial law on the country.
The government said it intends to restore peace and security in 90 days.
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