Clearly there are elements within the Somali government that support the jihadis, and that is no surprise, since what the jihadis believe is not a “twisting” and “hijacking” of Islam’s true, peaceful teachings, but an understanding of Islam that is derived from a close reading of the Qur’an and Hadith, and that boasts of its fidelity to those sources. This claim has not been successfully countered by any peaceful Muslim group. Jihadist claims to Islamic authenticity are compelling to many Muslims, and lead to stories like this one.
“Somalia diverting arms to al-Shabab, UN report claims,” from the BBC, February 14:
A UN report has warned that “systematic abuses” by Somalia’s government have allowed weapons to be diverted to warlords and al-Shabab militants.
The report for the UN’s sanctions committee calls for the restoration of an arms embargo on Somalia that was relaxed last year.
It said a key adviser to Somalia’s president has been involved in planning weapons deliveries to militants.
Somalia’s mission to the UN has questioned the report’s validity.
The confidential 14-page report was compiled by the UN’s Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group, a panel of independent experts supervising compliance with the sanctions regime.
It said the group had “identified a number of issues and concerns over current management of weapons and ammunition stockpiles” by Somalia’s government.
These, it said, “point to high-level and systematic abuses in weapons and ammunition management and distribution”.
The Security Council imposed the embargo on Somalia in 1992 as the country descended into two decades of unrest.
Information gapsIt was hoped that last year’s easing of sanctions on light weapons such as assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades would enable an internationally-backed government to better arm its security forces against al-Shabab.
Al-Qaeda-aligned Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on Thursday near the international airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. At least six people were killed.
The new report outlines the difficulties faced by the monitors in gaining access to weapons stockpiles in Somalia and obtaining information about its growing arsenal.
It said shipments of weapons from Uganda and Djibouti could not be accounted for.
Many weapons were being diverted away from security forces and into the hands of militias loyal to powerful clans or for sale in private arms markets in Mogadishu, it added.
Within these clans, one key adviser to the president has been involved in planning weapons deliveries to al-Shabab, the report said.
“Given the gaps in information… it is impossible to quantify what the scale of diversion of weapons stocks has been,” it said.
“However, the Monitoring Group has obtained other pieces of qualitative evidence that point towards systematic abuses by the (Somali army).”
It recommend the restoration of the full arms embargo, or at least stricter rules….
King Dave says
Scary really.
I wonder also if the Somalian Government are clandestinely propping up al Shabab for more international finaicial aid at the expence murdered civilians?
What’s a few lives for billions of dollars?
fair_dinkum says
the place is 85% sunni .. im guessing that the 15% are bearing the brunt but i’m sure that a lot of it boils down to clan warfare. heres hoping..
tpellow says
-And the West is forcing its peoples to donate taxes in bogus ‘foreign aid’ to such Islamic, Sharia and jihad-supporting regimes.
gravenimage says
Somali government diverting arms to Islamic jihad group
……………………..
This should come as no surprise. The Somali “government”—such as it is—is itself the old “Islamic Courts” Jihadist group.
The idea that the Somali government is “fighting Jihad” is absurd. They are in a power struggle with Al-Shebab, but that is a very different thing from actually opposing Jihad.
And as this article shows, even their opposition to Al-Shebab is hardly an absolute with the shifting loyalties of Jihadists.
DEEP says
PLEASE DO NOT KILL THE PEOPLE,
BY THE NAME OF ALLAH,
YOU MEET ALLAH , WHEN YOU LOVE PEOPLE’S.
AS SAID IN QUA-RAN AND ALLAH.
DHAN NIRANKAR JI.
LOVE ALL HATE NONE.