l-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri says that Somali group has joined forces with his organisation in video posted online. Last Modified: 10 Feb 2012 19:18 inShare15 Email Print Share Feedback

Al-Shabab controls much of southern and central Somalia but neighbouring armies are converging its bases [EPA] Somalia’s armed Islamist movement al-Shabab has joined ranks with al-Qaeda, the latter’s chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has announced in a video message posted on online forums. “I will break the good news to our Islamic nation, which will… annoy the crusaders, and it is that the Shabab movement in Somalia has joined al-Qaeda,” Zawahiri said in the video published on Thursday. In-depth coverage of the regional political crisis “The jihadist movement is with the grace of Allah, growing and spreading within its Muslim nation despite facing the fiercest crusade campaign in history by the West.” In the first part of the video, al-Shabab’s leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubair, addressed Zawahiri, saying: “We will move along with you as faithful soldiers.” Al-Shabab controls much of southern and central Somalia and has claimed responsibility for numerous kidnappings and bombings in the country. The group said it was behind an attack on Wednesday that killed at least 11 people and wounded 34 others in the Somali capital. Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya, said that Mogadishu was “trying to rebuild itself after the al-Shabab withdrawal … but the attack shows al-Shabab is able to get into the city and carry out attacks of this kind”. Al-Shabab, who are fighting to overthrow a fragile Western-backed transitional government in the war-torn Horn of Africa country, first proclaimed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden in a video distributed in 2009. While counter-terrorism experts say al-Shabab has received advice and training from some members of al Qaeda, it has tended to see itself more as an ally or affiliate than a direct outpost of the core organisation. Al-Shabab are facing increasing pressure from government forces and regional armies. Armies from neighbouring countries are converging on them – Kenyan forces in the south, Ethiopian soldiers in the west, and an African Union force in Mogadishu made up of 10,000 troops from Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti. A one-day conference in London to tackle the instability in Somalia and piracy off its shores is due to be held in two weeks time.

U.S. special forces rescue Somalia aid workers

Aid workers rescued in Somalia

Washington (CNN) — U.S. special forces swooped into Somalia in a pair of helicopters in a daring overnight raid to rescue two kidnapped aid workers — an American and a Dane — and killed the nine gunmen holding them, American officials said Wednesday.

The hostages, Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted, were seized in October after they visited humanitarian projects in northern Somalia, said the Danish Refugee Council, the agency for which they worked.

Both are unharmed, the aid group said.

They were taken to a regional medical facility and received care from U.S. military doctors and nurses, Pentagon spokesman George Little said Wednesday.

Andreas Kamm, secretary-general of the Danish Refugee Council, told CNN the agency was “very relieved” that both hostages had been safely rescued.

Obama to Panetta: ‘Good job’ on rescue

Navy SEALs strike again

“They are not hospitalized,” Kamm said, so “we take it as a sign that they’re OK.”

The pair phoned their families from the African nation of Djibouti after the rescue, said Ann Mary Olsen of the Danish Refugee Council, according to Danish TV2 reporter Thorkild Dahl.

Navy SEALs from the unit that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year in Pakistan were part of the mission, a U.S. official said, without specifying whether any of the same individuals were on both assaults.

More details of the operation

SEALs were only part of the special forces team, the official said. Pentagon spokesman Little said the rescue team included special operations troops from different branches of the military but would not specify which branches.

The SEALs are part of a unit officially called the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, formerly known as SEAL Team Six.

The special forces troops took fire as they fought their way into a compound where the hostages were held, the official said, adding the troops believed that the kidnappers were shooting. The official is not authorized to speak to the media and asked not to be named.

Nine heavily armed gunmen were killed in the strike, Little said, adding that they had explosives nearby. There were no known survivors among the kidnappers, he added.

The American assault team did not suffer any injuries, the Pentagon said.

The special forces rushed the hostages out of the compound and onto the helicopters, the U.S. official said. The raid was undertaken on what CNN meteorologists say was a dark night, with little moonlight but generally clear skies.

The U.S. was in close contact with Denmark before, during and after the raid, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed.

White House spokesman Jay Carney, traveling with President Barack Obama to Iowa Wednesday, gave more details of how the mission had unfolded.

Obama learned of the success of the mission at 6:43 p.m. Tuesday, a little more than two hours before he gave the State of the Union address, Carney said.

“The decision to go ahead with this rescue mission was made because there was information concerning the deteriorating health of Ms. Buchanan, as well as a window of opportunity to execute this mission,” Carney said.

Obama, who had given the go-ahead at 9 p.m. Monday, was kept regularly updated on its progress throughout Tuesday, Carney said.

Only minutes after concluding his high-profile speech, the president telephoned Buchanan’s father at 10:32 p.m. to inform him of the mission’s success, Carney said.

John Buchanan told CNN he was “flabbergasted” when Obama called up out of the blue.

“It was pretty overwhelming. He said, ‘John, this is Barack Obama. I’m calling because I have great news for you. Your daughter has been rescued by our military.’

“Then he referred to his daughters, obviously had a human element there. Then he said something to the effect of, ‘People just can’t do this to our citizens, especially young people who are trying to help others.’ “

Buchanan said the family was “happy it had a good ending.”

“I’m extremely proud and glad to be an American,” he said. “Our government and FBI and military are just fantastic people. They were in touch with me since (the abduction on) October 25. I didn’t know this was going to transpire. I’m glad it did.”

Earlier, he said Jessica was “doing well, under the circumstances.”

Buchanan said he planned to catch a flight Thursday to try to meet his daughter, but could not say where that would be.

Before news broke of the rescue, Obama told Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, “Leon, good job tonight. Good job tonight,” at the State of the Union address.

The hostages were safe at that point, but the mission was not yet complete as the American assault team was not out of Somalia, Little said.

Obama thanked the special operations forces for their “extraordinary courage and capabilities” in a statement.

“The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice,” Obama said. “This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people.”

Panetta monitored the rescue from the White House, Little said.

In a statement, Panetta later said the raid “is a testament to the superb skills of courageous service members who risked their lives to save others.”

Speaking on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Vice President Joe Biden said of the special forces: “It just takes your breath away, their capacity and their bravery and their incredible timing.”

Capt. John Kirby, another Pentagon spokesman, said the abductors were ordinary criminals.

“They were kidnappers. We don’t have any indication that they were connected to any terrorist group or ideological group at that point,” he said.

“They were not Al-Shabaab,” Little said, referring to the al Qaeda-linked Islamist militia that holds sway over parts of Somalia.

He said the sense of urgency with regard to the hostage situation had increased from mid-January.

“It’s safe to say that within the last week or so, we were able to connect enough dots that we could make the decisions that were made,” Kirby said, referring to the intelligence U.S. officials had to go on.

The area where the hostages were seized is known as a hub for pirates, rather than an area of Islamic militant activity.

A number of high-profile abductions of foreigners have occurred in Somalia and in Kenya, close to the largely lawless Somali border.

Some of the kidnappings have been blamed on Al-Shabaab, while criminals seeking ransoms seem to have carried out others.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga congratulated the United States on the rescue and said he supported further U.S. and NATO action on the ground in Somalia.

“We would really like to see more concerted international effort in dealing with issues of international terrorism,” he said.

“This action will send a very clearly signal to the Al-Shabaab that it doesn’t matter how long they hold (their) hostages, the international community will continue to keep them on the radar.”

Kenya sent troops over the border into Somalia in October to take on Al-Shabaab in response to the abductions of aid workers and tourists.

The U.S. raid comes nearly three years after Navy snipers killed three pirates who had taken hostage the captain of the Maersk Alabama off Somalia.

U.S. forces did not coordinate the raid with local officials, but residents welcomed the outcome as a warning to other groups to cease the kidnapping of foreigners, said Abdirahman Mohamud Farole, president of Puntland, a semiautonomous region of Somalia.

Thisted, the rescued Dane, is a senior aid worker who had been in Somalia for some time, said Olsen of the Danish Refugee Council.

Dahl said Olsen told reporters she had tried to work with local people to get the hostages released but had not succeeded.

Local authorities gave conflicting casualty figures after the raid. Some officials said seven gunmen were killed, but Mohamed Ahmed Aalin, president of Galmudug state, said nine were killed and five others detained by U.S. forces.

The aid workers were part of the Danish Refugee Council’s de-mining unit, which aims to make civilians safe from landmines and unexploded ordnance.

CNN’s Richard Allen Greene, Elizabeth Mayo, Brian Walker, Mariano Castillo, Brian Todd, Larry Shaughnessy, Becky Anderson and Tim Lister, and journalist Mohamed Amiin Adow contributed to this report.

RUNTA/RUNTANEWS.COM—SEATTLE,

Somali Students Association of Washington State in collaboration with Worldwide Somali Students Professionals held on January 7 an event called “Operation Restore Home” at ECC of the University of Washington in Seattle. The program which is the first of its kind attracted so many Somalis in the city, most of whom are young students and professionals. There were acts, speeches, poetry, videos, and songs based on the situation in back home, Somalia. The main participants who came from all over the world were Dr. Abdigani Diriye, Fadumo Ali, Dr. Sandra Chait, Ayan Mussa, Hersi, Abdiweli Abdullahi, and some Alumni Panel who were amazing.

Worldwide Somali Students and Professionals is a global movement which was started in the UK by ambitious students and graduates; the movement has inspired young Somalis to unify across the globe to start their own small chapters; all the way from Bangladesh, Germany, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Australia, Egypt, Kuwait, Sweden, Malaysia, to right here at home, USA. Their members include engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, Earth Scientists, students, and future leaders of Somalia. They are all from the corners of Somalia and are scattered across all the major continents of the world. What is the non-profit organization aims for is to unify the hearts and minds of all Somali Students and Professionals round the world, to get young Somalis get involved in not only their communities but to eventually contribute positively to Somalia’s future. This is the first global effort by an organized Somali youth movement that aims to meet some of the challenges facing Somalia.

Operation Restore Home 2012 aims to mobilize up to a 1000 talents and committed Somali youth to go back to our country in the Summer of 2012. WSSP is not naïve to presume that this initiative will solve all the problems that exist on the ground in our country, instead, what it will do is to create the conditions for more incremental changes in the future. The purpose of this program is to pass on knowledge in three core areas and to make the local people more self-sufficient. The three areas that will be the focus of the program are: Agriculture, Medicine, and Education Conducting.

Photo by: Mohamud Yussuf Makis, Chief Editor of Runta News Magazine.

Mona Lee at the center, her husband Dick Burkhart, and their fiend Enid Munn had a wonderful get together at the Thanks Giving Party in Whistle Stop.

Runta/RuntaNews.Com—Seattle, WA— Whistle Stop Co-op invited members, friends, and family to a festive Thanksgiving potluck dinner Thursday afternoon. Baristas served coffee and other beverages to people who came, but the traditional fare of turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, yams, corn, rolls, salads, pies and other treats were provided potluck-style by all the guests. Besides giving thanks to the members of Whistle Stop, the purpose of the party was to build community.

Whistle Stop Co-op is a cooperative which started up in September at the corner of Martin Luther King and Othello Street beside Othello light rail station. The founders, Dick Burkhart and Mona Lee, want to help build community by providing services that are friendly to people, public transit, and bicycles. Dick and Mona believe that too many automobiles aggravate problems of society because they isolate people from one another and pollute the environment. They want to encourage people to get out of their cars and meet one another face to face.

The founders used their own retirement savings to establish Whistle Stop. Even so, after their loan to the Co-op is paid, all profits will go to Whistle Stop employees according to how much they work and customers according to how much they spend. These rules are written into their by-laws and articles of incorporation. Community groups and other friends are invited to hold meetings at Whistle Stop or just stop in for delicious espresso coffee, sandwiches and other foods. Customers are also invited to spend time there reading, studying, or using the free Wi-Fi connections.

Seattle iyo gobolkeeda Washington waxa ay ka caansan yihiin Minneapolis iyo gobolkeeda Minnesota. Seattle waxa ku yaal labada shirkadood ee dunida ugu caansan ee Microsoft iyo Boeing. Sidaa darteed dadka ku kala nool labada gobol waxa la qaatay Seattle oo Mareykanka ku nool lagu timmaamo kuwa ugu ilbaxsan uguna qunyar socodsan. Laakinse marka dhinaca kale laga eego,  Minnesota waxa ay hoy u tahay dadka Soomaalida kuwooda ugu kartida iyo aqoonta badan. Waa yaabee maxaa magaalo ilbaxsan ku soo ururiyey Soomaalida kuwooda ugu indhaha la’, uguna aqoonta daran, isuguna neceb Soomaali ahaan? Tii waraha badneydna (Minnesota) oo beerashada iyo daaqa oo kaliya ku fiicneyd isugu geeyey dadka Soomaalida kuwooda ugu dunta fiican? Sawirradan aad aragtaan waxa ay ka jiraan Minnesota, Seattle-na lagama arko hal meel oo dareen Soomaalinimo ah uu ka jiro oo aan ka aheyn Runta, oo iyada lafteeda cadaawad joogto lagu hayo, oo weliba dadka qaar ay kaga xun yihiin dareenkaa Soomaalinimada ah oo ay buun buuniso.

Wiilkan macawista iyo shaallka ku labissan bal arag sida qoortiisa u taagan tahay oo uu isula qab wayn yahay. Waxa uu leeyahay waxan ahay  XIDDIG. Malaha Soomaalidii hore ayuu ka haray ama dad ka haray ayaa soo ababiyey. Soomaalinimadu waa qaali, balse waxa garan kara qofkii magacaasi macnaha uu ku fadhiyo yaqaan. Qofkii intaa wax ka yar doonaya, yuusan marna ku dhihin dadka Mareykanka Soomaali baan ahay, balse ha iska caddeysto oo ha yiraahdo “Habar Heblaayo ayan ahay”. Maxaa yeelay macno ma sameyneyso inaad Soomaalinimo u sheegato ajnabiga, qofka walaalkaa ahna aad ku xumeyso reerka uu Soomaali ka yahay.

Tifaftiraha: Mohamud Yussuf  Makis

Runta/New America Media, Profile, Mohamud Yussuf ,

Photo: Omar Abatiyow Mohamed, 84.

SEATTLE, Wash.– Before the civil war, everything was normal in Somalia and people there lived peacefully. Few thought that some day many Somalis would be neighbors in some of the larger American cities, including Seattle, where about to 30,000 of them currently live. Most of them came to the United States as refugees, thanks to generous U.S. policies.

One of those who ended up here was Omar Abatiyow Mohamed, now 84, known throughout the Somali community here as Abatiyow.

New Responsibility at 66

Abatiyow, who came to the United States in 1993, was age 66 when he began his focus on serving his community 10 years later—by helping his fellow Somalis to die with dignity.

Previously, Abatiyow had worked at a local J.C. Penney store. Prior to that, he had a job at a packaging company. It was a time when not many Somali refugees his age would venture into the job market.

When Abatiyow noticed that people from his homeland were struggling to give their loved ones a decent funeral with all the traditional Somali rites, Abatiyow swung into action.

First, he got funeral homes in Seattle to designate areas where Somalian Americans could be buried. Then he helped his community members prepare for their death near buying gravesites.

Concerned that even low-income refugees could get the honors and burial rites he believed everyone deserves, Abatiyow worked to ensure they could purchase affordable gravesites. He used his business skills, accrued in Somalia, where he had owned a thriving department store, to help people buy gravesites at the wholesale price of $400.

Abatiyow, who recently retired as treasurer of a funeral fundraising committee, said it is challenging to get his community to set money aside for their funerals. The majority of them, he said, are young and don’t feel it is important to think about their end.

“It takes an extra effort to do the task of fundraising,” he said. Abatiyow noted, “You have to speak with highly emotional appeal and bring some examples of some younger people who have died recently.”

Thanks to Abatiyow’s tireless efforts, funeral home such as Day Spring and Fitch have become culturally sensitive to the Somali community’s needs. “We remove our shoes” before entering the viewing room, noted Winston Fitch, whose father owns the Fitch Funeral Home.

I can attest to this new sensitivity from my own experience, having lost my son, Ahmed, when he was just 18 in 2008. Day Spring accommodated all our special needs, including allowing the body to be taken to the mosque so everyone could say their prayers over it.

Because Muslims don’t keep the bodies of their kin very long after their passing, Fitch said his funeral home completes all the paperwork of their Somali Muslim clients within a couple of hours, as opposed to a couple of days for people of other faiths.

Icons of Somali Culture

Elders are icons in Somali culture. They give advice and hold families together. Abatiyow never hesitates to give advice to those he feels needs it.

Now an octogenarian and living with heart problems, Abatiyow lives near his children and grandchildren. He is superstitious and won’t say how many grandchildren he has.

Abatiyow has also heeded his family’s advice and cut back on his extremely busy schedule. He spends a good deal of his time socializing with his peers at a local community center, or sitting in a chair and praying at the local mosque.

Not one to sit idle for too long, though, Abatiyow actively attends to his health. He has enrolled in a fitness program and is careful about what he eats. Rich meals of goat meat and rice are no longer part of his daily fare.

Like many of his compatriots, home is now the United States, and like them, this is where he wants to be laid to rest.

Mohamud Yussuf wrote this article as part of a MetLife Foundation Journalists on Aging Fellowship in partnership with New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America.

Henry Mukasa

1 November 2011

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MAKERERE University has successfully tested the first electric car to be made in Uganda. The two seated car is a project by the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Prof. Tickodri -Togboa who heads the project said the University was now targeting a 36 seater which is a bus.

“We wanted to demonstrate we are capable. After, we shall scale up and produce a seven-seater. It is this version that will become commercial,” Togboa explained.

The Kiira EV does not use fuel. The front-wheel drive has 18 horse-power and can reach top speeds of 60km per hour.

He said the electric car will use a lithium iron specialised battery like the one used in hybrid cars like Toyota Prius. The battery can take the car for a distance of 80km. However, the planned 7-seater vehicle will use electric and solar power that is capable of travelling 200km before recharging.

Togboa declined to give the cost of the car saying most of the funds went to procurement of inputs and allowances for human resource. He said the design started in 2009 while the assembling commenced in April this year.

The car’s body was fabricated out of fiberglass which is said to be durable. The university procured most of the steel materials from the Uganda and used the standard wheel system.

The Vehicle Design Project is among the over 20 innovation projects funded under the Presidential Initiative at the university. Under the initiative, the Government earmarked sh25b to the college of engineering to fund technological research over five years.

This is the second time Makerere students and lecturers participate in building affordable cars. The first case was in 2008 when a group of students partly designed an energy-efficient prototype vehicle, Vision 200. The car was exhibited at the World Design Capital in Torino, Italy in 2009. From Italy it was taken to Belgium and its now at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US because Makerere could not repatriate i

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