Somalia Has a Prime Minister!

UN Calls for Major Escalation in Somalia
Faced with the ever-growing prospect that the self-proclaimed Somali government and 8,000 African Union Troops won’t be able to hold the handful of city blocks along the coast in Mogadishu which has, for the past couple of years, amounted to their entire domain, the United Nations is seeking a major escalation. Insisting that the humanitarian situation is worsening, the UN Security Council urged the African Union to add another 4,000 troops, a 50% increase, to their occupation force. Of ...

Somali militants announce merger, threaten attacks
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's top two insurgent groups say they are merging, a development that could see the country's Insurgency gain strength. Militants from al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam held a joint news conference at a Mosque in Mogadishu on Thursday where they threatened attacks against the African Union Peacekeeping force in Somalia's capital and the countries of Uganda and Burundi. Those countries contribute Troops to the AU force. The Merger will help the group increase their attac...

Somalia's al Shabaab say to attack Uganda, Burundi
By Abdi Sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed Mogadishu | Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:39am EST Mogadishu (Reuters) - Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels said on Thursday they would increase their attacks against Uganda and Burundi after the Islamist rebels joined forces with rival Extremists Hizbul Islam. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for twin Suicide bombings in the Ugandan capital Kampala on July 11, which killed 79 people watching the World Cup final on television. It was Shabaab's first attack o...

Somali militants announce merger, threaten attacks
Somalia's top two insurgent groups say they are merging, a development that could see the country's Insurgency gain strength. Militants from al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam held a joint news conference at a Mosque in Mogadishu on Thursday where they threatened attacks against the African Union Peacekeeping force in Somalia's capital and the countries of Uganda and Burundi. Those countries contribute Troops to the AU force. The Merger will help the group increase their attacks against what he Hizbul I...

Somalia's Shabaab threatens Uganda, Burundi attacks
By Abdi Sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed Mogadishu | Thu Dec 23, 2010 12:56pm EST Mogadishu (Reuters) - Somalia's al Qaeda-linked Islamist al Shabaab rebels said on Thursday they would increase attacks on Uganda and Burundi after tightening their grip on much of Somalia by joining forces with a rival Militant group. The rebels, who have waged a three-year Insurgency aiming to impose a strict form of Islamic law, merged this week with Hizbul Islam, a smaller group which had battled them for control ...

U.N. calls for more security in Somalia
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council agreed to increase the Peacekeeping force in Somalia to protect civilians from attacks from Militant groups, officials said. The council also asked the African Union to extend its Deployment to 12,000 Troops, up from 8,000, the BBC reported. The effort would support Somalia's U.N.-backed government and protect civilians from attacks by the Islamist Al-Shabaab and other Militant groups. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for two bomb blast...

Somalia's Islamists rival join forces
MOGADISHU, Somalia, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- The reported Merger of Somalia's main Islamist faction, the al Qaida-inspired Al-Shabaab, with its main rival, Hizbul-e Islam, spells trouble for the beleaguered, Western-backed Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu. Meantime, a bus bombing Monday in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, which supports the TFG, indicates the emboldened al-Shabaab is spreading its tentacles into East Africa. Three people died in the Explosion in central Nairobi and 30 were wounded...

Obama Heads for Hawaii, U.S. Warns of Terror Threat
The more things change....President Obama left for Hawaii today on his Christmas Vacation. The U.S. warns Americans to be cautious of terror attacks over the Christmas holiday. The attack in Rome was the work of Anarchists, not al Qaeda. Over in Somalia, the two largest Militant groups, al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, announced they are merging and "threatened attacks against the African Union Peacekeeping force in Mogadishu as well as attacks in Uganda and Burundi." And the CIA forms a task for...

Somalia peace force to be boosted
The UN Security Council has agreed unanimously to increase the Peacekeeping force in Somalia. Council Members asked the African Union to extend its Deployment from 8,000 to 12,000 Troops. Uganda said it would contribute with an additional 4,000 Troops. The UN said the measure aimed to support Somalia's UN-backed government and to protect the civilian population from attacks by the Islamist al-Shabab and other Militant groups. The groups together control much of south and central Somalia - ...

U.N. council OKs big boost in AU Somalia force (Reuters)
United Nations (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday authorized a boost in the African Union's Peacekeeping force in Somalia from 8,000 to 12,000 Troops to shore up the country's government against Islamist Insurgents. The force, known as AMISOM, currently consists of Soldiers from Uganda and Burundi. Uganda is expected to provide the extra 4,000 troops. African nations had been calling for an increase to 20,000 Troops to rout Militants from the capital Mogadishu, bu...

Is Al Shabab gaining or losing ground in Somalia?
Some say that African Union Troops are succeeding at pushing back Somalia's rebel movement, Al Shabab, but news reports make it unclear whether that's really the case....

Kenya, Uganda see terrorist link to Nairobi blast
Nairobi/KAMPALA (Reuters) - Kenyan and Ugandan police said Tuesday an Explosion in Nairobi a day earlier may have been linked to threats of attacks by al Qaeda-linked groups. Ugandan security agencies had already said they were on high alert for strikes by Insurgents after twin Suicide bombings in Kampala on July 11, which killed 79 people watching the World Cup final on television. "We believe there's a connection between the threats we're getting from Al-Shabaab and other al Qaeda affiliated ...

Kenya, Uganda see terrorist link to Nairobi blast
By Humphrey Malalo and Elias Biryabarema Nairobi/KAMPALA | Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:00pm EST Nairobi/KAMPALA (Reuters) - Kenyan and Ugandan police said Tuesday an Explosion in Nairobi a day earlier may have been linked to threats of attacks by al Qaeda-linked groups. Ugandan security agencies had already said they were on high alert for strikes by Insurgents after twin Suicide bombings in Kampala on July 11, which killed 79 people watching the World Cup final on television. "We believe there's a co...

Confirming Merger, Top Somali Insurgents Threaten More Attacks
Confirming reports that had emerged earlier in the week, Al-Shabaab and Hizbul-e Islam held a joint news conference in the city of Mogadishu today, announcing formally that the two largest insurgent factions in Somalia had indeed merged. Hizbul-e Islam leaders said the Merger was about fighting the 8,000 African Union Troops attempting to prop up the self-proclaimed government along the coast in the city, and neither appears to make serious mention of their recent attacks on one another, which...

Staten Island jihadist indicted on terror charges
He wanted to join The Army so that he could turn and kill American Soldiers. "SI man indicted on terror charges," by Mitchel Maddux in the New York Post, December 23: The Staten Island man who hoped to become a Jihadi, operating Web sites calling for a holy war against the West, was indicted today on three counts of lying to FBI agents. The charges against Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, 21, stem from false statements he allegedly provided to investigators in an effort to hide his interest in joining ...

Somalia: Islamic supremacists pray noon prayer, then destroy underground Christian library
An act of Islamic piety: destroying the Christians' "misguided" books. After all, as the caliph Umar is supposed to have said when ordering the library of Alexandria to be burned: "If the books agree with the Qur'an, they are superfluous. If they disagree with it, they are heretical." "Islamic Militants Destroy Underground Christian Library in Somalia," from International Christian Concern, December 20 (thanks to AINA): Washington, D.C. (December 20, 2010)-International Christian Concern (ICC)...

Our Time Is Now - By Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed
Things are changing in Somalia. If we seize it, this moment could be a turning point in our country's conflict. New leadership in Mogadishu and a sharper focus from the international community is re-energizing the effort to bring peace and stability to Somalia. I took office in October at the request of Somali President Sheik Sharif Ahmed, and the Somali parliament recently endorsed my plan to install a lean new cabinet of 18 ministers. Former President of Ghana Jerry Rawlings now serves as t...

Somali Militants Suspected in Kenya Blast
A grenade Explosion at a bus depot in downtown Nairobi that killed three people is the work of Somali Militants making good on their threat to ruin Christmas for countries backing the Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu — at least, that's the assessment of Kenyan and Ugandan security officials, who are bracing for further attacks. See photographs of the World Cup bombing in Uganda The Monday night blast came just hours after officials in neighboring Uganda had warned that Somalia...

Africa: A continent in constant conflict
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Ivory Coast, the West African state that is the world's top cocoa producer, is on the brink of Civil War -- its second in a decade -- amid mounting violence triggered by a disputed Presidential Election. But the political and tribal turbulence in the former French colony, once a model of stability which was torn by north-south Civil War in 2002-03, is only a small part of the tempest of turmoil that is sweeping Africa these days. What follows is only a samp...

Kenya blast 'caused by grenade'
Q&A: Who are Somalia's al-Shabab? A bomb Explosion at a bus station in Nairobi was caused by a grenade carried by a man believed to be Tanzanian, Kenya's Police Commissioner has said. Mathew Iteere said the suspect had been boarding a bus to Uganda but became nervous due to security checks, causing him to drop the grenade. The man is believed to have been one of the three people killed in Monday's blast, which wounded 39 others. Ugandan police have said al-Shabab Militants may...

The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister For All Seasons
I confess to be an enthusiastic fan of John O’Sullivan and his book, The President, The Pope, and the Prime Minister. So I was thrilled to learn that it has been published in Italian. He was just in Rome for its launch there. So I took the opportunity to let him paint the scene there, talk about what he’s learned since writing the book, and … well any conversation with John is a good one. We talk a little about Sarah Palin and New START, too. I hope you enjoy it — maybe ...

Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli media
This is pretty funny. Let's go to the videotape. Heh. Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu ...

Laos announces new prime minister
Laos has announced it has a new Prime Minister after the surprise Resignation of Bouasone Bouphavanh. Mr Bouasone, 56, who had spent more than four years in office, is replaced by Thongsing Thammavong, of the Communist-dominated National Assembly. Mr Bouasone cited "family issues" but analysts say the reason for his Resignation was more likely the product of internal factional re-alignments. Laos is due to hold a General Election early in the new year. A government spokesman said Mr Bo...

General Says Muslim 'moderates' Plot Undoing of America
General:Muslim 'moderates' plot undoing of America wnd Praises daring investigation exposing 'Terrorists with neckties' in D.C. It's one of the most Controversial and electrifying books of our time - recently praised publicly by a top U.S. general as the book to read on the radical Islamic threat within America - and today only, WND readers can get "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America" for only $4.95 - a $21 discount off the regular price! Ba

The rebirth of Albanian Jewry
Here’s a heartening sequel to yesterday’s post about the Bravery of Albanian Muslims who defended Jewish Refugees against the Nazis. After decades of war, Genocide, and Communist repression, the Jewish community in Albania was this month finally officially reborn : The first chief rabbi of Albania was inaugurated in Tirana last week in the presence of a representative of Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Chief Rabbi of Israel Shlomo Amar. Prime Minister Berisha had expected to...