Somalis For Jesus

Somalia Militants Flogging Woman Over Christian Conversion

2012-01-30T03:03:00.000+03:00

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (Worthy News)– A Somali woman, who converted from Islam to Christianity, was nursing her injuries Wednesday, January 11, after she was reportedly paraded before a cheering crowd and publicly flogged as a punishment for embracing a "foreign religion."

Christians said 28-year-old Sofia Osman from Janale city in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, had been taken into custody by fighters of the Islamic militant group al-Shabab militants in November and that the public mistreatment was meant to mark her release.

Compass Direct News, a Christian news agency investigating cases of persecution, cited witnesses as saying that the young woman received 40 lashes on December 22 "while jeered by spectators".

“I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away,” an identified witness was quoted as saying.

The whipping was administered in front of "hundreds of spectators" after Osman was released from her month-long custody in an al-Shabab camps, Christians said.

At her family’s home she was seen looking dazed and did not talk to anyone. There was no immediate known comment from al-Shabab, which is known for enforcing a strict brand of Islam in areas under its rule and is believed to have links to the al-Qaida terror group.

MORE CHRISTIANS ATTACKED
Al-Shabab has been linked to the mistreatment and killings of several Christians in recent years. It also blocked most international aid workers from accessing parts of Somalia suffering from drought and famine.

The reported attack against Osman came shortly after Ibrahim, a 23-year-old Somali Christian, was beaten while on his way back home in an undisclosed town in neighboring Kenya on December 5, Christians said.

Locals claimed that he was beaten by "a gang of young Muslim men" because he was an alleged "apostate", the word used for abandoning Islam. His family said in published remarks that Ibrahim had been raised as a Christian his entire life.

They only used his first name amid security concerns.

Many Somali Christians are known to seek refuge in neighboring Kenya, amid growing tensions at home.

EXTREMISM SEEN SPREADING
While it was unclear whether the men attacking Ibrahim were al-Shabab members, Kenyan authorities said they were aware of the threat posed to Christians and others by the group's sympathizers within Kenya itself.

In October, a non-Somali Kenyan man was sentenced to life in prison after confessing to carrying out two grenade attacks in Nairobi that killed one person and injured 20 people.

And, a new video message posted to a jihadist website calls on Muslim youths in Kenya to join the Somali militant group in its fight against Kenyan forces in Somalia.

The Kenyan military launched a major operation in Somalia targeting al-Shabab, which Kenya blames for a series of cross-border attacks and kidnappings.

Additionally, Al-Shabab is recruiting Western fighters, including British and American citizens, U.S. and other officials say.

AMERICAN DETAINED
This week, the United States charged a former U.S. Army major for trying to join the militant group. He was detained by Kenyan police last month on his way to the border with Somalia.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 as international peacekeepers have been unable to secure most of the nation.

Two-decades of fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and disease have led to the deaths of up to one million people, according to Western observers and aid groups.

Related News Stories:

MARYAM

2012-01-28T17:35:00.000+03:00

Isamists Arrest A Muslim Father After His Sons Convert To Christianity

2012-01-26T13:59:00.000+03:00

Washington, D.C. (January 25, 2012) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on January 14 Somali Islamists arrested a Muslim father after two of his teenage children converted to Christianity in Kismayo, Somalia. The two sons of Mo’alim Mohamud Aw-Omar converted to Christianity late last year. They fled their homes following their conversion.

Members of the radical Islamic group, al-Shabaab, accused Aw-Omar of “failing to raise his sons as good Muslims” because “good Muslims cannot convert to Christianity.” Aw-Omar, who is still a Muslim, insisted that his sons have memorized the Qur’an, fasted and prayed regularly and therefore he should not be accused of failing his duties.

According to sources on the ground, the Islamists have refused to release Aw-Omar until his two sons return to Kismayo. This is unlikely to happen because the teenagers will be killed if they return. According to the strict interpretation of the Islamic sharia law that Al-Shabaab follows, leaving Islam is a crime punishable by death. The law is based on the Hadith “…The Prophet of Allah said, ‘If somebody [a Muslim] discards his religion, kill him” Bukhari (52:260).

Radical Islamists have killed a number of Christian converts in Somalia. This is the first confirmed case of a parent being arrested for the conversion of children.

In a statement to ICC, a Somali Christian leader said, “This tactic (of arresting parents for conversion of children) is apparently intended to discourage Muslims from converting to Christianity since their Muslim parents could be held accountable for their conversion. The Somali Islamists have previously tried other failed harsh tactics such as summary executions of converts to minimize the number of Muslims converting to Christianity. Please pray for the Somali Christians, especially those living in Islamist controlled areas in southern Somalia.”

ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho, said, “The Somali people have suffered enough. Al-Shabaab shouldn’t be allowed to continue terrorizing Somalis. We urge Al-Shabaab to respect the religious freedom of all Somalis. We also urge Christians around the world to pray for their brothers and sisters in Somalia.”

Tags: Al-Shabaab

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Africa, Countries, ICC News, Islam, News, Press Releases,Somalia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Buchanan Sold Her Belongings to Become Missionary

2012-01-26T13:44:00.000+03:00

By ALYSSA NEWCOMB and DANA HUGHES (@dana_hughes)

Jan. 25, 2012

Jessica Buchanan, the woman rescued from Somalia bandits by U.S. special forces, is so dedicated to helping others that she sold all of her belongings to become a missionary in Somalia.

Buchanan, 32, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated from Valley Forge University, a Christian college in Phoenixville, Pa., in 2007. She was a student teacher in Africa before graduating and her romance with the continent began.

"She fell in love with Africa," Rev. Don Meyer, dean of Valley Forge University told the Associated Press. "She could hardly talk about Africa without tears in her eyes."

Her home church, the York Cavalry Temple Assembly of God, put out a message during her captivity that combined her devotion and determination.

"Please pray for Jessica and her family. She is a former student at Valley Forge Christian college and she sold all she owned to become a missionary in Somalia. Pray for her safe keeping and safe return," the church said.

Buchanan's family also appears to be deeply devoted to their religion. In a statement of gratitude today to the SEALs, the State Department and President Obama, they said, "We knew that God would set our sister free."

Madeline Mathe, Buchanan's sister's mother-in-law, told ABC affiliateWSYR Buchanan is "a wonderful Christian girl."

Others attested to Buchanan's grit.

"She's up for a challenge, and it didn't surprise me that she would do something like this," John Hravatic, who worked as a teacher with Buchanan at the Rosslyn Academy in Nairobi, Kenya, told ABC News. He called Buchanan "adventurous" and vivacious."

Jessica Buchanan Is a Missionary Who Loves Africa

Buchanan started as a student teacher at Nairobi's Rosslyn Academy in 2007 because of "God's call on her life to teach overseas," according to her biography on the school's web site. She student taught first and sixth graders before being hired as a fourth grade teacher in 2008.

"She was an awesome teacher. Kids loved her," Hravatic said. "[The] kids are excited she is free."

Buchanan left the school in 2009. She moved to Hargeisa, Somalia with her Swedish husband, Erik Landemalm, who she met in Africa.

Landemalm did aid work for the Association of European Parliamentarians With Africa and served as a Project Officer in the group's Somalia office, according to its annual report.

Buchanan, 32, was kidnapped on Oct. 25, 2011, along with her Danish co-worker Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, in Galkayo, Somalia. The two worked together for the Danish Demining Group, a division of the Danish Regugee Council, Buchanan served as a regional education adviser, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Over the three months of her captivity, concern grew about Buchanan's deteriorating health, which was described as possibly "life-threatening" and a "window of opportunity for mission success" presented itself, according to Pentagon spokesperson George Little.

Meyer told ABC News he heard something was wrong with Buchanan's liver, but that she seems to be in good health now.

The two were rescued today by the Navy's elite SEAL Team 6, the same covert group that successfully carried out the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

Buchanan is doing "as well as you would expect given what she has gone through," a military official told ABC News.

Buchanan is currently at U.S. Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.

According to her family, she will be reunited with her father in Italy.

ABC News' Martha Raddatz, Luis Martinez, and Erin McLaughlin contributed to this report

XOG WARRAN

2012-01-26T04:28:00.000+03:00

TEATIME IN MOGADISHU

2012-01-26T04:20:00.000+03:00

GUULLOW ILAAHOW

2012-01-26T04:14:00.000+03:00

XALAY BAAN MASIIXI ARKOO

2012-01-26T04:12:00.000+03:00

QALBIGAYGAA KU DOORTAY

2012-01-26T04:09:00.000+03:00

ILAAHA AAN BAAHAN

2012-01-26T04:06:00.000+03:00

ILAAHEEY WAA RAXIIM

2012-01-26T04:05:00.001+03:00

DAD ALLOW BARAARUGA

2012-01-26T04:05:00.000+03:00

KAALAYA AAN AMMAANNEE

2012-01-26T04:00:00.000+03:00

Islamic Extremists in Somalia Behead 17-year-old Christian

2011-10-20T01:27:00.000+03:00

Al Shabaab militants monitored home Bible studies of boy’s family.

NAIROBI, Kenya, October 19 (CDN) — Militants from the Islamic extremist al Shabaab beheaded a 17-year-old Somali Christian near Mogadishu last month, a journalist in the Somali capital told Compass.

The militants, who have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, killed Guled Jama Muktar on Sept. 25 in his home near Deynile, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mogadishu.

The Islamic extremist group had been monitoring his family since the Christians arrived in Somalia from Kenya in 2008, said the source in Mogadishu, who requested anonymity. The Islamic militants, who are fighting the transitional government for control of the country, knew from their observations of the family that they were Christians, the source said.

“I personally know this family as Christians who used to have secret Bible meetings in their house,” he said.

Based on talks with the boy’s parents and their neighbors, the source said al Shabaab members arrived at Muktar’s home at 6 a.m., when his parents, whose names are withheld for security reasons, were already at work at their retail space at the Hamarweyne market on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

The extremists found Muktar as he was preparing to go to school, he said.

“The neighbors heard screaming coming from the house, and then it immediately stopped,” the source said. “After awhile, they saw a white car leaving the homestead.”

The neighbors informed the parents, who hurriedly returned home from their market stall. They buried their son’s body quickly, fearing the militants would kill them as well, returned to their market space and then fled to an unknown destination, the source said.

“When the incident happened, the parents called to tell me that their son had been killed and that they feared for their lives,” the source said. “Since then, I have not heard from them.”

On the outskirts of Hudur City in Bakool region in southwestern Somalia, a kidnapped Christian convert from Islam was found decapitated on Sept. 2. Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on Aug. 21, area sources said. After members of his community thoroughly combed the area looking for him, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 2 one of them found Kamil’s body dumped on a street.

Muslim extremists from al Shabaab, which has ties to al Qaeda, control the area some 400 kilometers (249 miles) from Mogadishu.

A Christian who saw Kamil’s body said it bore the marks of an al Shabaab killing, according to a leader in Somalia’s underground church who lives in another city.

“It is usual for the al Shabaab to decapitate those they suspect to have embraced the Christian faith, or sympathizers of western ideals,” the leader said.

With estimates of al Shabaab’s size ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, the insurgents seek to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law), but the government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.

Al Shabaab was among several splinter groups that emerged after Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts Union, a group of sharia courts, from power in Somalia in 2006. Al Shabaab has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments.

In the Lower Shabele region of Somalia earlier this year, two Muslim extremists murdered a member of a secret Christian community, sources said. An area source told Compass two al Shabaab militants shot 21-year-old Hassan Adawe Adan in Shalambod town after entering his house on April 18.

In Warbhigly village on the outskirts of Mogadishu, a mother of four was killed for her Christian faith on Jan. 7 by Islamic extremists from al Shabaab, a relative said. The relative, who requested anonymity, said Asha Mberwa, 36, was killed when the Islamic extremists cut her throat in front of villagers who came out of their homes as witnesses.

Following the Oct. 13 kidnapping of two Spanish aid workers from a refugee camp in Dadaab, on the Kenyan border with Somalia, and the kidnapping and murder of foreigners at tourist sites, Kenya on Sunday (Oct. 16) began air strikes on al Shabaab territory in southern Somalia. Kenya Television reported yesterday that Kenyan armed forces had killed more than 100 al Shabaab militants in Kismayo in southern Somalia

Christians in Somalia Bear the Brunt of al-Qaeda-Linked Terror Group

2011-09-27T03:50:00.000+03:00

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

SOMALIA (ANS) -- The decapitated body of a Christian man, Juma Nuradin Kamil, was found in Bakool region of Southwestern Somalia on Sept. 2.

According to a report by Fernando Perez for the World Evangelical Alliance’s Religious Liberty Commission (WEA-RLC), the killing, one of the numerous such incidents in recent years, comes at a time when tens of thousands of Somalis have died.

In addition, about 750,000 more are at risk of death, some of them Christians who are being denied aid, in the wake of the 21st century's worst drought in the Horn of Africa.

WEA said the Christian, whose head was severed and put on his chest, was killed by the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (Mujahideen Youth Movement), commonly known as al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked terror group that controls and runs a de facto “government” in most of southern Somalia.

The group is also restricting international aid from reaching the starving population in territories under their control, especially to the Christians, WEA-RLC has learned.

WEA-RLC said the al-Shabaab splintered from a now defunct group of Sharia courts, the Islamic Courts Union. It is fighting to overthrow the Transitional Federal Government, created in 2004 backed by the African Union, the United Nations and the United States.

Since the outbreak of the 1991 civil war which overthrew President Siad Barre's regime, most parts of Somalia have had no formal government. The transitional government controls only a small part of the country.

WEA said the al-Shabaab, which generally wages war against “enemies of Islam,” was created after the Islamic Courts Union was ousted by forces from neighboring Ethiopia in 2006. It had the backing of Iran, Libya, Egypt and others in the Persian Gulf region, according to a UN report. And after Ethiopia withdrew from Somalia in 2009, the al-Shabaab grew stronger and turned even more extremist.

Somalia tops the Failed States Index 2011 by Foreign Policy magazine.

WEA-RLC said, the al-Shabaab imposes an extremely strict version of Sharia, or Islamic law, in southern parts under its control. In 2008, a 13-year-old girl accused of adultery, but actually gang-raped, was buried up to her neck in the field of a soccer stadium packed with spectators, and then stoned to death, according to an article in The New Yorker.

Recently, WEA-RLC said, African Union forces were able to drive out al-Shabaab from the capital city of Mogadishu, but reports suggest that the militants' moving out was a tactical decision to bring about a greater destruction.

There are roughly 10 million people in Somalia, mostly Sunni Muslim. It is estimated that the country has little more than 1,000 Christians, most of them from the Bantu ethnic group. The country has no church building; Christians meet for worship underground, especially in southern parts.

WEA-RLC said the al-Shabaab particularly hates the minority followers of Sufism, which it dubs “heretic,” and the very few number of Christians, who it labels as “agents of Ethiopian intelligence agencies.” The Christian-majority Ethiopia supports the interim government, although it had troubled relations with Somalia.

WEA-RLC said Agence France-Presse recently quoted an al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, as saying that providing aid during calamities was a “strategy” of the United Nations to “transport them (Somalis) abroad, especially in Christian countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, so that their faith can be destroyed and that they could be staff and soldiers for the Christians.”

WEA-RLC said al-Shabaab's hatred for Christians surpasses its concern for the lives of over four million people, the majority of them Muslim, who are affected with the drought. The group is distributing aid as it is able with its limited capacity, but no one who is a Christian, or suspected to be one, is receiving any aid, some Christian groups have reported.

The famine has also hit the al-Shabaab, as hundreds of thousands of people who pay protection taxes to the outfit have fled its territories to Kenya and Ethiopia. And many, WEA-RLC said, even within the terror group's leadership and powerful local clan leaders, are holding the al-Shabaab responsible for the crisis, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

However, WEA-RLC said, the crisis may not lead to a temporary ceasefire or lifting of the ban on international aid agencies, which could also eventually help human rights groups to discuss protection of minorities. Since the al-Shabaab is no longer a group with a centralized power and there are many factions, intervention by an outside force is extremely difficult in the absence of a true representative of the group.

While the style of functioning of one faction in one territory may be different from that of another faction in another territory, each faction is known to be equally brutal in implementing Sharia and enforcing compliance from the residents.

WEA-RLC said while there are some Sufi armed groups under the banner of Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a to fight al-Shabaab militants, Christians in Somalia have no voice or protection at all. Christians complain that even the Transitional Federal Government does not treat them well. President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed, who heads the internationally recognized government, has also adopted Sharia law with death for apostasy.

WEA-RLC said the international community is rightly being blamed for the current crisis, at least partially, in terms of the response to the unprecedented drought. The same is true in case of the rising Christian persecution in Somalia.

Like there were early signs of the drought worsening in the region that once used to be the bread basket of the country, international Christian groups had been reporting on killings, rape and torture of members of the country's most vulnerable minority. But little was done to avert either of the crises.

WEA-RLC said despite sanctions imposed on Eritrea by the UN Security Council, it reportedly continues to supply arms to the al-Shabaab, according to a 2010 report by the UN International Monitoring Group. If the sanctions have not proven to be effective, an alternative must be formulated.

In addition, WEA-RLC said, it is widely believed that the military and police of the transitional government - though trained by the European Union, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya - are weak and inefficient, and the administration corrupt. The government relies heavily on the roughly 8,000 troops of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

Moreover, the Transitional Federal Government occupies Somalia's seat in the United Nations, maintains embassies in 19 countries, and has fairly good relations with the West, and yet it could not be prevented from enacting laws that violate international law or encouraged to show respect for religious freedom.

Concerning the al-Shabaab, WEA-RLC said, is extremely difficult to deal with the group. But inaction is definitely not the correct response it requires. Perhaps, efforts should be made to reach out to the militants, or their various factions, for the sake of the innocent people living in the territories under its control, even if that involves making some concessions initially.

If that doesn’t work, WEA-RLC said, a strategy should be made to gain control over al-Shabaab territories.

Christians in Somalia Bear the Brunt of al-Qaeda-Linked Terror Group

The decapitated body of a Christian man, Juma Nuradin Kamil, was found in Bakool region of Southwestern Somalia on Sept. 2.

In addition, about 750,000 more are at risk of death, some of them Christians who are being denied aid, in the wake of the 21st century's worst drought in the Horn of Africa.

The group is also restricting international aid from reaching the starving population in territories under their control, especially to the Christians, WEA-RLC has learned.

Somalia tops the Failed States Index 2011 by Foreign Policy magazine.

If that doesn’t work, WEA-RLC said, a strategy should be made to gain control over al-Shabaab territories.

Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City."

Additional details on "Homeless in the City" are available athttp://www.homelessinthecity.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.

Somali Christian confirmed dead, decapitated

2011-09-22T02:25:00.000+03:00

POSTED: 20 SEPTEMBER, 2011

Somalia (MNN) ― Juma Nuradin Kamil, a Christian convert from Islam, was kidnapped and found in early September decapitated on the outskirts of Hudur City in southwestern Somalia. A contact of Compass Direct News was recently able to confirm the murder.

On August 21, Kamil was forced into a car by three men who, according to Open Doors, USA, many suspect to have been Islamic extremists from terrorist group al Shabaab. Members of Kamil's community looked for him until they finally found his body in the middle of a street.

The kidnapping and subsequent murder appear to be the work of al Shabaab militants, based on how it was carried out. Al Shabaab, a militant group with ties to al Qaeda, has an estimated membership ranging from 3,000 to 7,000. Muslim extremists from al Shabaab have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity and seek to impose a strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.

Church leaders confirm that al Shabaab often decapitates Muslims they suspect to have embraced the Christian faith, or those who appear to sympathize with Western ideals.

Kamil had been a believer for three years. Many believe al Shabaab had been monitoring him for some time.

Based on the terror-linked nature of the attack, area Christians were initially afraid to bury Kamil's body. They did not want al Shabaab extremists seeing them associated with a newly-discovered convert to Christianity. The body thus lay in the open for two days, until an unknown group reportedly buried him in secret.

It's a dangerous time for Christians in Somalia who not only face ongoing threats from al Shabaab, but whose own government is against them. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.

Somalia ranks number 5 on the 2011 Open Doors World Watch List of countries where the persecution of Christians is most severe.

Pray for believers on the underground to continue to stand up boldly for their faith and to continue to proclaim the Truth of Christ, whatever the consequences. Pray for those who mourn the loss of Kamil, that his family and fellow believers might have peace and remain safe.

Sweden: Imam calls to kill converts on Radio Sweden

2011-09-19T01:19:00.000+03:00

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Via Dagen (Swedish):

"It is the duty of every Muslim to kill those who leave Islam." This statement was made on Radio Sweden recently when an Imam from Rinkeby (Stockholm) was allowed to speak about how people should act against Somalis who convert to Christianity.

The program with the death threats against converts was broadcast by the Somali department of Radio Sweden and was a follow-up on a previous segment about a group of Christian Somalis who came to Rinkeby Square to evangelize. They also got to talk about it in the radio report.

"I was there when they preached about Christianity. I also spoke with the guys who converted," said Kenadid Mohamed, the reporter who did the segment.

Rinkeby is a suburb of Stockholm where many Somalis live, and the evangelizing Somalis got a crowd who understood the language.

"Some saw it as a provocation that they came and preached about Christianity outside the msoque during Ramadan," says Kenadid Mohamed.

He says that there were various feelings among the Somalis who were there. Many were surprised since it's unusual that Somalis are Christians. The reactions among the Somali audience were mixed. Some thought it was OK to hear a sermon and prayer in Somali and referred to Swedish freedom of religion.

Others were more provoked, which was reflected in the follow-up program when Radio Sweden's Somali department started a debate on the issue. Among the speakers was a Somali imam who said that it was the duty of every Muslim to kill those who left Islam. When the reporter questioned his statement, given that they're in Sweden, he was told that those who need more details could come to the imam's mosque in Rinkeby.

"You didn't think you were listening to Radio Sweden in the beginning," says a Somali who heard the program. He says the reporter should have stooped the statements. He also says that the imam referred to Christian Somalis as infidels.

Kenadid Mohamed, who did the first report on the Christian Somalis, says he understands that the imam interprets the Koran literally, which means it's not possible to convert from Islam.

"It is an approach that many believe in," says Kenadid Mohamed.

But he also says that there are major differences in opiinon among Somalis and that those who live in Sweden for a long time tend to think a little differently.

Markus Sand, a pastor in the Rinkeby International Community, was in the square when the Christian Somalis were evangelizing.

"None of them live in Rinkeby, and I think it would be quite dangerous for them," he says.

He says that one of the Somalis preached for 15 minutes, and that another offered prayer. After that several from the audience started an intensive discussion, before they left the square.

Q: Did they preach outside the mosque, as the reporter states?

A: No, we stood on the other side of the square. At the place where we usually stand with our book stall. So we weren't outside the mosque, but the square is quite small.

Converts must die: imam to Swedish radio

2011-09-19T01:12:00.003+03:00

Published: 15 Sep 11 16:28 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation

Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) has been reported for hate speech after featuring a programme in which a Somali imam called for all converts from Islam to be killed.

The programme in question was a panel discussion and was broadcast live by SR International's Somali service.

The police report was filed by Erik Johansson, at the Swedish Evangelical Mission (Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen - EFS), after friends told him of the imam's words underlining every Muslim's responsibility to kill anyone who leaves Islam.

"I received a call from my Somali friends who had heard the programme. I don't speak the language myself and when they explained to me, I concluded that this wasn't a message which should be on an SR channel," Erik Johansson told The Local on Thursday.

Johansson also contacted Sveriges Radio in order to register his dismay that the item was left available on their website for more than two weeks. Soon after his telephone call the programme was removed from the website.

In a comment to the Christian website Dagen on Tuesday, SR International head Ingemar Löfgren said that he decided to pull the transcript from SR's website pending receipt of an official translation, pointing out that he is responsible for several channels broadcast in languages which he does not speak.

"If an imam calls for other Muslims to kill converts, then we have a journalistic responsibility... If he didn't get any follow up questions then we have failed in our journalistic responsibility," he said.

According to Erik Johansson, the journalist reminded the imam that they were in Sweden, to which he replied that the same rules apply there.

"It is my hope my police report will encourage them (SR) to change their routines," Erik Johansson told The Local.

The Local's attempts to reach Sveriges Radio International for comment on Thursday have so far been unsuccessful.

Peter Vinthagen Simpson
news@thelocal.se
+46 8 656 6518

NUSOJ Condemns Journalists' Labeling by Al-Shabaab

2011-09-13T13:10:00.000+03:00

Sheikh Abdulqadir Muumin, al Shabab senior cleric

StarAfrica

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The National Union of Somali journalists (NUSOJ) has today condemned statement from a prominent cleric linked to the leadership of Somali extremist group Al Shabaab, Sheikh Abdulqadir Muumin, for labeling Somali journalists as “unbelievers” who had been “sentenced to death”.

Sheik Abdulqadir, while addressing Al Shabaab followers on Saturday 10 September 2011, in Lower Shabelle region of Southern Somalia, referred to local journalists as “unbelievers” and discouraged the group's followers not to listen to their radio broadcasts.

"You listen to the radio stations but they tell you lies,” he said. “The journalists of BBC, VOA, Radio Mogadishu and other radio stations are apostates and you are not allowed to listen to someone who is sentenced to death,” Sheikh Abdulqadir added. He ardently and repeatedly told the militia's followers not to listen to all radio stations in Mogadishu including BBC Somali Service, VOA Somali section and Radio Mogadishu.

NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman said the statement constituted “a deadly threat to the journalists in Somalia and part of the attempts by the militia to cow the media into silence”.

”Journalists in Somalia will not be cowed by such deadly threats and intimidation and we urge them to continue doing their work of informing the world about the atrocities being perpetrated by the militia and other such terror groups in Somalia,” said Osman.

Al Shabaab militants often label anyone they want to kill as “apostate”. Many journalists in Somalia have been murdered by members of the militia, especially in Mogadishu in the past.

Swedish terror suspects are Somali and Iraqi, authorities say

2011-09-13T01:46:00.000+03:00

September 12, 2011 -- Updated 1520 GMT (2320 HKT)

(CNN) -- Three of the four men who were arrested this weekend on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack in Sweden are of Somali origin, and the fourth is Iraqi, Swedish authorities told CNN on Monday.

A court named them as Kulan Mohamud Abel, Mahamud Abdi Aziz, Mahmood Salar Sami and Mohamud Abdi Weli, and tax authorities confirmed their nationalities.

All are between the ages of 23 and 26.

In a raid led by a SWAT team late Saturday night, they were arrested on suspicion of plotting an act of terror, the Swedish Security Service said.

Prosecutors have until Tuesday to decide whether to ask a judge to extend their detention or release them.

The four were held in the city of Gothenburg for "probable cause" of preparing the attacks, the highest level of suspicion in Sweden, Sara Kvarnstrom, a spokeswoman for the security force, said Sunday.

She refused to say whether the suspects had been under surveillance or if the arrests resulted from a tip-off, saying she could not discuss details of an ongoing investigation.

"Through these arrests, we have been able to prevent a situation from occurring," Malena Rembe, head analyst at the Swedish Security Service, told CNN affiliate TV4 on Sunday.

Abel and Weli were born in Somalia, and both became Swedish citizens in 2000, tax authorities told CNN. Sami was born in Iraq and became a Swedish citizen in 2003. Aziz was born in Somalia and has lived in Sweden since 1999 but is not a citizen.

Sweden is not raising its terror threat level, which is currently at 3, with 5 as the highest.

There is "no reason for the public to be alarmed. ... These arrests have not changed this threat level," Kvarnstrom said.

An art gallery in central Gothenburg was evacuated shortly before midnight local time, police said, but they declined to say whether it was connected to the arrests.

A party was going on at the Roda Sten gallery at the time, with about 500 people attending the inauguration of an arts festival, according an interview with a witness in Goteborgs Posten, a local newspaper.

Stockholm was hit by a suicide bombing in December. The attack on the capital, Sweden's first suicide bombing, wounded two people in a district full of Christmas shoppers.

Police arrested two people in Gothenburg, the country's second-largest city, on suspicion of plotting a bombing in October. They were later released without charge, police said.

Soomaali diinta kiristaanka qaadatay oo lagu soo bandhigay Rinkeby (SWEDEN)

2011-08-29T01:32:00.000+03:00

Xaafada Rinkeby ayaa shalay waxaa ka dhacday arin mucjiso ah ka dib markii Soomaali isku

sheegeysa in ay yihiin masiixiyiin ay yimaadeen halkaa oo ay ka bilaabeen in ay dacwo u jeediyaan Soomaalida kale ee Muslimiinta ah.

Ragaan oo qaarkood ay idaacada Sverige la yeelatay wareysi ayaa sheegay in uu soo adeegsaday ilaahooda ay ku sheegeen in uu yahay Ciise Masiixi oo ay doonayaan in ay hordhigaan diinta ay qaateen walaalahooda Soomaaliyeed ee Muslimiinta ah.

Ragaan ayaa meesha waxaa ku soo bandhigay kaniisada Rinkebykyrkan iyadoo la sheegay in goobta uu buuq badan ka dhacay oo Soomaalidu ay rumeysan waayeen waxa meesha ka dhacaya.

Mid ka mid ah dadka halkaa yimid oo magaciisa ku sheegay Cabdi Masiixi ayaa sheegay in ay ku socdeen “qorshe uu rabigooda ugu talagalay in ay Soomaalida hordhigaan diinta ay qaateen.”

Waa markii ugu horeysay ee Soomaali diinta ka baxday ay si bareer ah u horyimaadaan Soomaalida kale isla markaana ay is cadeeyaan. Arintaan ayaa xiisad abuurtay maadaama ay ragaan diinta ka bexeen isla markaana ay tahay bil Ramadaan oo barakeysan. Sababta arintaan loogu soo aadiyay bisha ramadaan ayaa la dhihi karaa mid daandaansi ah oo la doonayo in lagu kiciyo shucuurta Muslimiinta.

Christian Genocide in Somalia

2011-08-27T02:45:00.000+03:00

Posted by Frank Crimi Bio ↓ on Aug 19th, 2011

(FrongPageMag.com) The Islamist terrorist group al Shabab is intentionally starving Somali Christians in territory it controls. It’s just the latest incident in the terror group’s systematic efforts to eradicate all of Somalia’s Christians.

According to the International Christian Concern (ICC), al Shabab’s intentional denial of humanitarian aid has resulted in the deliberate starvation of 18 Christians in the Somali cities of Afgoye, Baidawa, and Kismayo. As ICC spokesman Jonathan Racho said, “Any Somali that is suspected of being a Christian, or a friend of a Christian, does not receive any food aid.”

Unfortunately, the ongoing and purposeful elimination of the small Somali Christian community at the hands of al Shabab has gone largely unrecognized and unreported, eclipsed by the other horrors of rape, torture and murder perpetrated upon most of Somalia’s Muslim population by the Islamist terrorist group.

It goes without saying that al Shabab’s brutality has been well documented, most recently in a report issued by Human Rights Watch, which found the terror group continuing to carry out public beheadings and floggings; forced recruitment of children into its forces; and the denial of humanitarian assistance to the 2.2 million starving Somalis in al Shabab-controlled territory.

So, it shouldn’t surprise that al Shabab, which has openly professed its intention to rid Somalia of a Christian presence, is focusing its particular brand of barbarity on Somali Christians. After all, this is the same group that in August 2010 banned three Christian Aid Groups that it stated were “acting as missionaries under the guise of humanitarian work” while at the same time spreading what they termed as “corrupted ideologies in order to taint the pure creed of the Muslims in Somalia.”

Of course, it should be noted that the persecution of Christian Somalis pre-dates the rise of al Shabab. That assault arose from the outset of Somalia’s 1991 civil war and has gone unabated ever since. During that time it is estimated that over a thousand Somali Christian adults have been killed in this overwhelmingly Muslim country, with thousands of others forced to either flee Somalia or deny their faith to save their lives.

While Somalia’s Transnational Federal Government ostensibly grants religious freedom, it is either unable or unwilling to enforce those rights. As such, the enforcement of Islamic law is carried out from area to area and clan to clan, often with brutal consequences. The result has been to reduce the Christian population down to an estimated 1,000 and drive the remaining worshipers underground.

In a disturbing report gathered from Open Doors, a British-based Christian aid organization, Somali Christians gather secretly at pre-arranged meeting places to worship. According to the report, “These believers dare not meet for longer than three hours. Careful not to leave any tracks, they abandon the meeting place separately at intervals…When caught with a Bible, Christians face certain death.”

One of these underground believers said, “We know that anyone suspected of being a Christian will be tortured or even killed. So we pray secretly. We have prayed in mosque prayer rooms but despite our precautions many of our friends have been killed. We now live in fear.” Another Christian said he converted from Islam and told his family who then kept him in a dark room for 13 days without food until his mother begged the father to let him go.

One truly horrifying incident occurred in December 2010, when a 17-year-old girl who converted to Christianity was shot to death by relatives. The young girl had escaped her village after her parents had shackled her to a tree and tortured her for leaving Islam

Yet, while persecution has been the norm for Somali Christians, al Shabab has taken it to a whole new and brutally disturbing level.

In 2008, al Shabab members sliced the head off of Mansuur Mohammed, a 25 year-old convert to Christianity. According to witnesses, the insurgents took a video of the slaughter and circulated it in Somalia purportedly to instill fear among those contemplating conversion from Islam to Christianity.

In July 2009, al Shabab beheaded seven prisoners it accused of abandoning the Muslim faith; in August 2009 four Somali Christian women working for an NGO orphanage were beheaded after refusing to renounce their faith; and in July 2009 a 40-year-old Christian mother of 10 and her 23-year-old daughter, who was six months pregnant at the time, were both raped and held captive for five days before the terrorists left them for dead.

In July 2010, Muhammad Guul Hashim Idiris, a Christian convert from Islam, was taken by al Shabab members to a makeshift soccer stadium, attended by hundreds, and executed. A statement from Sheik Adan Yare, the al Shabab governor of the Bakol region, read: “Our holy warriors have today…executed in front of angry Muslim witnesses a young man who insulted our beloved prophet.”

In September 2010 al Shabab members broke into the home of Osman Abdullah Fataho, an active participant in the underground Christian community, and shothim dead in front of his wife and four children. The terrorists then took Fataho’s children as recruits to be trained as child soldiers in its organization.

In January 2011 insurgents slit the throat of Asha Mberwa, a recent convert to Christianity and mother of four; in March 2011 al Shabab insurgents shot Madobe Abdi to death. Abdi’s alleged crime was not that he was a convert from Islam but rather was an orphan raised as a Christian.

Finally, in May 2011 militants shot and killed Yusuf Ali Nur on suspicion he was a Christian as well as killing 21-year old Christian convert Hassan Adawe Adan, dragging Adan outside and shooting him several times before shouting Allahu Akbar (“God is great”).

Yet, while al Shabab has worked fervently to kill all of Somalia’s Christians, the terror group has other avenues by which it hopes to wipe all vestiges of Christianity’s presence from Somalia.

For example, in April 2010 al Shabab outlawed school teachers using bells to signal the beginning of class because “Christian churches also sound bells.”According to an al Shabab spokesman, Sheik Farah Kalar, “All schools must stop using the bell to summon students; otherwise they will face punishment.”

Most recently, al Shabab instituted a ban on Samosas, a popular Somali food staple, from its territory because the pastry is fried in a triangular shape that looks suspiciously similar to the Christian Holy Trinity symbol.

So, tragically, the news that al Shabab is now using the current famine in Somalia to deliberately kill Somali Christians isn’t very astonishing. Rather, what truly is amazing is that there are still Christians left alive in that ravaged country in which to be killed.

Somaliland: Israel eyes new alliances in Africa

2011-08-07T18:11:00.005+03:00

Flags: State of Israel and the Republic of Somaliland

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 9 ( The Diaspora Post ) - Israel is struggling to keep its diplomatic friends in Africa as Iran makes a determined effort to expand its influence there, making the continent an emerging theater in the Iran-Israel confrontation

But these days the Jewish state has a new ally, Kenya, which wants Israeli help to fight the growing menace of jihadist terrorism emanating from war-torn Somalia, Kenya's northern neighbor where jihadists linked to al-Qaida are active.

Israel is also seeking a foothold in the turbulent Horn of Africa to guard the approaches of the Red Sea. This is a vital shipping route and the access to the Arabian Sea for missile-armed Israeli submarines to target Iran should hostilities erupt.

It is also used by Iran to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip via Sudan and Egypt.

The Kenyans have suffered three major attacks by al-Qaida in recent years -- the suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi on Aug. 7, 1998, and twin attacks Nov. 28, 2002, in Mombasa, the bombing of a hotel frequented by Israelis and a missile attack on an Israeli airliner.

Kenyan Minister of Internal Security George Saitoti asked for Israeli counter-terrorism assistance when he visited Jerusalem in February.

According to media reports, he told Israeli leaders: "The jihad is taking over Somalia and threatening to take over Kenya and all of Africa. No one is more experienced than you in fighting internal terrorism."

These reports said the Israelis responded by saying they were prepared to consider establishing a joint force with Kenya to guard its northwestern border to prevent terrorist infiltration.
Somalia's al-Shebab Islamist movement, which is fighting a Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu, has repeatedly threatened to attack Kenya for allegedly training Somali troops.

According to the Jamestown Foundation, a U.S. think tank that monitors jihadist militancy, "The talks with Kenya appear to be part of a growing Israeli interest in the Horn of Africa."

In early February, Yigal Palmor, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, reportedly told the Somaliland media that Israel was prepared to recognize the breakaway territory of Somaliland, which split from Somalia in 1991, as an independent nation.

If that happened, Israel would be the first country to recognize Somaliland, which is strategically located on the Gulf of Aden.

There have been reports, all unconfirmed, that Israel has its eye on setting up a naval outpost at the port of Berbera to monitor the approaches to the Red Sea. The Soviet military established a naval port there in 1969 during the Cold War, along with an airfield capable of handling all types of military and cargo aircraft.

Last June, one of the Israeli navy's German-built Dolphin class submarines, reputedly able to carry nuclear-armed missiles, transited the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean into the northern end of the Red Sea for "exercises." That was generally seen as a warning to Iran as Israeli warships usually have to take the long route from the Mediterranean via the Cape of Good Hope to reach the Red Sea.

Two Saar 5-class missile ships followed in July to beef up the Israeli presence in the waterway.
According to several Internet reports, two more Israeli warships passed through the canal in recent weeks into the Red Sea. Israel's Defense Ministry declined comment.

In the 1950s and '60s, Israel cultivated links with many of the post-colonial African states because they provided considerable diplomatic support in the United Nations and other internal forums, usually in exchange for military and agricultural support.

That changed amid a swell in pro-Arab sentiment following the Middle Eastern wars of 1967 and 1973.

More recently, Iran has been buying off some of Israel's erstwhile allies in a systematic effort to spread Tehran's influence in the Third World.

Last year, Mauritania, one of the few Arab League members to have relations with Israel, told it to close its embassy in the capital, Nouakchott, after Iran moved in

Iran's clout in central and west Africa is also heightened by the presence of large and influential communities of Lebanese Shiites who are generally sympathetic to Hezbollah.
They dominate the diamond trade in the region, which provides considerable funds for the Iranian-backed movement.

However, in recent months, Israel has been building military and intelligence links with Ethiopia, Nigeria and other African states.

Source: UPI.com

Photo: The Republic of Somaliland flag and the accompanying flag of the State of Israel were not part of the original article.

WARKHAD FURAN: Madaxweynaha Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland

2011-08-07T15:45:00.001+03:00

The Republic of Somaliland Flag

Taariikh: Agoosto 5, 2011

Tixraac: SLCAC/91/0508/2011

Warkhad Furan

Ku: Mudane Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud (Siilaanyo)

Madaxweynaha Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland

Hargeisa, Somaliland

Ujeeddo: Xaqa Masiixiyiinta Somaliland ee Hoggaaminta Dalka

Mudane madaxweyne waxaan hawada kuu soo marinaynaa salaan waxaanan kuugu hambalyayn maamul wanaaga cusub ee ka muuqda maanta Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland.

Haddii aanu nahay Masiixiyiinta u dhashay Jamhuuriyada Somaliland ee ku nool dalka iyo dibadaba waxaanu taban in Masiixiyiinta reer Somaliland aan laga siin dawlada aad hogaamiso kaalin muuqata haba yaraatee.

Masiixiyiinta Somaliland kaalin muuqata ayay ku lahaayeen dawladihii hore ee soo maray Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland sida tii uu hogaaminayay mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin oo jagooyin wasiir iyo safiirnimo ahba ay ka hayeen Masiixiyiinta reer Somaliland.

Waxaanu kaa codsan in aadan ilaawin kaalinta ay Masiixiyiinta reer Somaliland ku leeyihiin hogaaminta iyo horumarinta dalka.

Mahadsanid

Indhadeeq Mohamed, RN

Xafiiska Warfaafinta

Guddiga Waxqabadka Masiixiyiinta Somaliland

Somaliland Christian Action Committee

Al-Shabaab changes tactics, withdraws from Somali capital

2011-08-07T14:22:00.000+03:00

African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu, where they engaged in heavy fighting with Al-Shabaab militants on July 29.

By the CNN Wire Staff

August 6, 2011 -- Updated 2036 GMT (0436 HKT)

(CNN) -- Al-Shabaab has withdrawn from Somalia's war-ravaged capital in what the Islamist militant group called a "change in tactics."

The Somali president said Al-Shabaab, which controls much of southern Somalia, retreated from Mogadishu after heavy fighting early Saturday with government and African Union forces.

The al Qaeda-linked group has been waging an insurgency against Somalia's transitional government since 2006.

"Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda are a menace to Somalia and it is happy news that we defeated them in Mogadishu," Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told reporters.

But he warned Mogadishu residents not to rush to areas vacated by Al-Shabaab fighters, saying the group may have booby-trapped the area. He also warned of possible suicide bombings.

U.N. special representative Augustine Mahiga lauded the retreat, saying "there is no doubt that the departure of Al-Shabaab would be a positive development and a step in the right direction for a city that has seen so much misery and devastation."

Spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage confirmed Al-Shabaab fighters left the city but said the fighting was hardly over.

"The reasons we withdrew from Mogadishu is we have made changes in our tactics of war," he told the group's radio station, Andalus. "We withdrew because we want to save lives of the poor civilians but we will launch operations against government (and African Union) forces in the coming hours."

Some believe the Islamists withdrew because of funding woes and drought-related issues.

The United Nations has declared famine in five areas of southern Somalia in June, including Mogadishu. In all, about 12 million people in the Horn of Africa region need assistance. Somalia is the worst hit.

"The immediate priority must now be to focus on the humanitarian situation and I call on all parties, from the donor community to all parts of the Transitional Federal Government, to do everything possible to ensure and facilitate the immediate delivery of assistance to those most in need," Mahiga said.

Al-Shabaab has called the famine a "crusader" invention and an excuse for occupation, and issued threats to aid agencies delivering food to afflicted areas.

As crops withered, thousands of people fled and livestock starved. But the militants kept their ban on aid groups operating in their territory in southern and central Somalia, and parts of the capital.

AU forces gain ground against Somali militants

2011-07-30T00:46:00.001+03:00

Friday, July 29, 2011

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP)— A spokesman for African Union forces says they've surrounded most of the largest market in Somalia's capital, where militants have been blocking aid to famine-stricken refugees.

Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said Friday that his forces have successfully moved up the east side of Bakara market and now control three sides of it.

He said forces are also moving up toward Mogadishu's main sports stadium, and hope to capture it in the next several months. It serves as the main base for al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida.

On Thursday, African Union troops fought house-to-house battles with militants to clear space for aid groups bringing in food supplies after intelligence reports showed insurgents reinforcing for a possible attack on squalid camps of famine refugees.

Shabaabka Beledweyne oo inan ka jaray lug iyo gacan

2011-06-29T17:35:00.001+03:00

Maamulka Xarrakada Al-shabaab ee Beledweyne oo lug iyo gacan ka jaray wiil lagu eedeeyay fal burcadnimo

Arbaco, June 29, 2011 (HOL) – Maamulka xarrakada Mujaahidiinta Al-shabaab ee magaalada Beledweyne ayaa maanta meel fagaaro ah magaalada Beledweyne lug iyo gacan is dhaaf ah uga jiray wiil dhalinyarro ah lagu magacaabo C/llaahi Weheliye.

Shiikh C/dulle Shiikh C/raxmaan oo ah mas’uul ka tirsan maamulka maxkamada xarrakada Al-shabaab oo goobta ka hadllay ayaa sheegay in wiilka xukunka lagu fuliyay dhawaan xoogagga xarrkada Mujaahidiinta Al-shabaab ka soo qabteen deegaannka Baardheere ee duleedka Beledweyne xili isaga iyo shaqsi kale oo la socday ay ku guda jireen baarashada mid ka mid ah gadiidka safarka ah ee isticmaala goballka.

Waxaa uu sheegay in ay qaateen lacag dhan 2500 oo kun oo Sh. So. Ah iyo $70 doolar, waxaana goobta ka baxsaday oo aan waqtigaa la qaban qofkii kale ee la socday, isaga oo intaa ku darray in maxkamadu ku jiray xukun lagu fuliyay.

Ma’aha markii ugu horeysay oo uu maamulka xarrakada Mujaahidiinta Al-shabaab ee maamul goballka Hiiraan sidan oo kale xad ku fuliyo dhalinyarro siyaabo kala duwan loogu eedeeyay falal la xiriira xatooyo, hasse ahaatee waa markii ugu horeysay oo meel fagaaro ah maamulka xarrakada Al-shabaab lug iyo gacan kaga jaraan shaqsi lagu eedeeyay in lagu soo qabtay falal burcadnimo.

C/raxmaan Diini, Hiiraan Online
diini@hiiraan.com
Beledweyne, Soomaaliya

Xerow Xusuus Mudan - An Apostle Worthy of Memorial

2011-06-11T02:14:00.001+03:00

Prof Ahmed Ali Haile waxa uu ku geeriyooday Milwaukee, USA, April 26, 2011 isaga oo jira 58 sano.

Xuskiisa inkastoo aan lagu soo koobi karin bogag yar, haddana toddobadan cutub ee jiiftada ah, waxaan xusuus uga dhigayaa walaalkeena naga qarsoomay, Axmed Cali Xayle, oo qiime iyo qaaye aad u wayn ku dhex lahaa guud ahaan dadka Soomaalida, gaar ahaanna kaniisadda Ciise Masiix, oo uu wax badan hormuud ka ahaa.

Although one can’t narrate Ahmed Ali Haile's life and works in several pages of pros or poetry, I composed the following seven chapter Somali poem to remind both his friends and foes the important roles he played, in peace building and preaching the Gospel of Christ, amongst the Somali society and particularly that of the Somali Church of Jesus Christ in which he was one of its leaders for many years.

Xigaalkii nabaddee The cherisher of peace

Xiisaddiisa samihiyo You taught benevolence

Xal u helid masiibada How to solve conflicts

Xarafkeeda dhigayee You taught them all

Xarbigaa colaadaha In times of wars and enmity

Xaladhaleyda raadshee You counseled the fighters

Xumahoo la diidiyo You told them to reject evil

Xurguf ka dhawrsiga To shun clashes altogether

Xaal in loo mastuuriyo To strive towards reconciliation

Xaajogal ahaayoow You were a peacemaker

Xayow Axmed Xayloow Ahmed Ali Haile, eternal life is yours

Xerowgii Eebbihiisee You are a disciple of God

Xulashada walaalaha You witnessed to brothers and sisters

Xilbax loo nisbeeyee You were a true liberator

Xurmo nagu lahaayee You are respected amongst us

Xusuusteenna mudanow We will always remember you

Xulafadiisa Eebbahay You were a patriarch

Xiise kii u badiyee You loved your people

Xajinaayay qirashada You were strong in your faith

Xarafkii Waqiisee And the Word of God

Xubbigiis ahaayeen You loved with all your heart

Xadhiggiisa gooynee You did not abandon any of these.

Xarakada Masiixiyo Among the believers

Xamdigiisa badiyee You praised the Lord

U xadreeyay dhaaxee You praised the Lord with hymns

Xubin wayn ka qaatoow You were the pillar of the community

Xayow Axmed Xayloow Ahmed Haile, eternal life is yours

Xerowgii Eebbihiisee You are a disciple of God

Xulashada walaalaha You witnessed to brothers and sisters

Xilbax loo nisbeeyee You were a true liberator

Xurmo nagu lahaayee You are respected among us

Xusuusteenna mudanow We will always remember you

Xaasaan miskiiniyo Those who are really poor

Xafaare taag daran The weak and the needy

Xanfaf nimuu helay The unfortunate ones

Xantiire qoys galay The poor and the destitute

Isagoon u kala xilan You were impartial

Xurquunkii daruuriga You gave away your daily bread

Xagagab wuxuu helo Even the money you needed

Kii u xaasinaayee You gave freely with love

Xayow Axmed Xayloow Ahmed Haile, eternal life is yours

Xerowgii Eebbihiisee You are a disciple of God

Xulashada walaalaha You witnessed to brothers and sisters

Xilbax loo nisbeeyee You were a true liberator

Xurmo nagu lahaayee You are respected among us

Xusuusteenna mudanow We will always remember you

Xigtada kuwuu baday His own beloved clan

Xalli yidhi amuurtood Whom he wanted to help

Xinif iyaguna qabay They were filled with enmity

Xubintii laxaadkiyo And though your own leg

Kaa xuubshay xooggii You lost by them

Lama aad xintaminee You sought no revenge

Xeerkii Injiilka iyo The guidelines of the gospel

Suu Xaakimkeen qiray The way God taught us

Xabad kii ka saaree You forgave them

Xugmay caafintoodow It was unconditional forgiveness

Xayow Axmed Xayloow Ahmed Haile, eternal life is yours

Xerowgii Eebbihiisee You are a disciple of God

Xulashada walaalaha You witnessed to brothers and sisters

Xilbax loo nisbeeyee You were a true liberator

Xurmo nagu lahaayee You are respected among us

Xusuusteenna mudanow We will always remember you

Xaruntiisa reerkiyo Your own home

Hadba xerada uu dego Or wherever you were

Kii loo xoomi jirayee People flocked to you

Xirgida cuqaashiyo The wise clan elders

Xaajoodka sheekhyada Sheiks brought cases to you

Xigmadoo la qaybsado The sagacity you shared

Xifaalaynta guudiyo The lighthearted discourse

Xogwaranka mooyee Confiding in each other

Iyadoon xanaaq jirin Without frustration

Doodda xaalin jirayow You settled all issues

Xayow Axmed Xayloow Ahmed Haile, eternal life is yours

Xerowgii Eebbihiisee You are a disciple of God

Xulashada walaalaha You witnessed to brothers and sisters

Xilbax loo nisbeeyee You were a true liberator

Xurmo nagu lahaayee You are respected among us

Xusuusteenna mudanow We will always remember you

Xile Maarta Xayliyo Martha Haile, your wife

Xayi Afraxii curad Brilliant Afrah, your first born

Xubbidaa Safiya iyo Your beloved Sophia

Xuur Geeddi yarihii Lad Geeddi, the youngest

Qoyskaad xannaaniyo The family you loved

Xoojinaysay kaalmada You supported for life

Rabbigaa xawilayee The Lord will take care of them

Xuska adiga mooyee They will keep your memory alive

Xagal daaci maayaan Nothing bad will happen to them

Ka xijaaban baalluhu They are protected from evil

Xayow Axmed Xayloow Ahmed Haile, eternal life is yours

Xerowgii Eebbihiisee You are a disciple of God

Xulashada walaalaha You witnessed to brothers and sisters

Xilbax loo nisbeeyee You were a true liberator

Xurmo nagu lahaayee You are respected among us

Xusuusteenna mudanow We will always remember you

Xaggii loo badnaa iyo You departed from us

Xudinteeda aakhiro You went to the hereafter

Xukunkiisa Eebbaha In the Lord’s judgment

Xalaal baad ahaydoo You are found to be a saint

Xisbigii Masiix iyo You belong to the Messiah

Xaqii aad rumaysaa You believed in the Lord

Xisaabtaada qaadayo The Lord is your advocate

Ku xarootay jannadee You are at home in Heaven

Xugmadiisa Rabbigaan And we wait for the Lord

Xallad naawilaynaa In faith and prayerfulness

Xayow Axmed Xayloow Ahmed Haile, eternal life is yours

Xerowgii Eebbihiisee You are a disciple of God

Xulashada walaalaha You witnessed to brothers and sisters

Xilbax loo nisbeeyee You were a true liberator

Xurmo nagu lahaayee You are respected among us

Xusuusteenna mudanow We will always remember you

Composed by:

Mohamed Gurhan, on May 3rd, 2011.

E-mail: mgurhan@live.com

Translated by: Brother Warsameh

FBI investigating reported Somali-American suicide bomber

2011-06-03T00:00:00.000+03:00

Al Shabab Islamist miitants in the Somali capital

Minneapolis (CNN) -- The FBI is investigating reports that a suicide bomber who killed two African Union soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia, this week was an American citizen, an FBI spokesman said Thursday.

"We're aware of the bomb that went off in Somalia and we have folks over there and are working with people over there to try to identify the bomber or bombers," said Steve Warfield, a spokesman for the FBI regional office in Minneapolis. "We don't know if there's any (tie) to Minnesota, and we won't know the answer to that until we have official confirmation of who that bomber is."

According to the African Union, several "extremist insurgents" had disguised themselves as Somali government forces in order to attack an African Union post.

Two AU soldiers were killed when one of the suicide attackers detonated his explosives, the African Union Mission in Somalia said in a written statement.

Days after Monday's suicide bombing, al-Shabaab, a Somali militant group allied with al Qaeda, posted a statement on its website identifying the suicide bomber responsible for Monday's bombing as Abdullahi Ahmed, a Somali-American from Minneapolis.

Al-Shabaab also posted a statement and a 20-minute audio clip from the man it identified as the suicide bomber, who spoke in English during part of the recording.

"I have been a member of al-Shabaab for two years. I am from Minnesota, USA," Abdullahi Ahmed is quoted as saying in the statement. "I am so happy to turn my body into shrapnel for the infidels."

Omar Jamal, the first secretary to the Somali Mission to the United Nations, said the man speaking on the audio recording brought back a "vivid memory" of his former acquaintance, Abdullahi Ahmed.

"This guy was a young guy, he was a taxi driver in Minneapolis ... I met him a couple of times, and we debated about the current Somali situation and Jihadist philosophy," said Jamal, a Minneapolis resident and advocate for the city's Somali community.

"He was really very fundamental, to the point where he believed I was brainwashed by the U.S. government. So he was very clear in what he believed," he said.

In 2008, a sizable group of young Somali-American men left Minneapolis -- home to the nation's largest Somali population -- and were feared recruited by al-Shabaab. Several were reported killed, according to Minneapolis community leaders.

The family of one, Jamal Bana, 20, told CNN in 2009 that they learned of his death via the Internet. Another one, Shirwa Ahmed, 27, blew himself up and killed 29 others in the fall of 2008 in what was believed to be the first suicide bombing carried out by a naturalized U.S. citizen. The incident raised red flags throughout the U.S. intelligence community.

Several of the young men are now facing federal terrorism charges because of their alleged involvement with al-Shabaab. The alleged offenses include providing financial support to those who traveled to Somalia to fight for al-Shabaab, attending terrorist training camps operated by the group and fighting on behalf of it, federal prosecutors said in a release.

The U.S. State Department has said al-Shabaab is believed to have ties to al Qaeda.

Al-Shabaab has been waging a war against Somalia's government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, or sharia law. Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991, and fighting between the rebels and government troops has added to the impoverished East African nation's humanitarian crisis.

Al-Shabaab is one of almost 50 groups that have been designated by the State Department as foreign terrorist organizations.

Journalist Mohamed Amiin Adow contributed to this report

3 Reer Bangaldesh ah oo Lagu Qabtay Xuduuda Somalia iyo Kenya

2011-05-25T02:19:00.000+03:00

Kenya oo sheegtay inay qabatay saddex ajnabi ah oo looga shakiyay inay doonayeen inay ku biiraan Al-shabaab

Talaado, May 24, 2011 (HOL) – Dowladda Kenya ayaa sheegtay inay saddex qof oo looga shakisan yahay inay doonayeen inay ku biiraan Xarrakatul Shabaab lagu qabtay Isniintii toddobaadkan degmada Gaarisa gobolka waqooyi-bari ee dalka Kenya.

Saddexdan qof oo u dhashay dalka Bangaladesh ayaa haysta baasaboorrada Ingiriiska, iyadoo la sheegay in ciidamada booliisku ay ku qabteen iyagoo watay gaari nooca Land Rover-ka oo ku socday waddo dheer oo isku xirta Kenya iyo Soomaaliya.

Taliye ku xigeenka ciidanka Booliiska gobolka waqooyi-bari ee dalka Kenya Philip Ndolo ayaa u sheegay warbaahinta in saddexda ee laga shakisan yahay ay sheegteen inay yihiin dad u dhashay dalka Ingiriiska ayna Kenya kasoo galeen dhinaca Mombassa.

"Booliiska la dagaalanka argagaxisada ee Gaarisa ayaa su'aalo weydiinaya saddexda qof, markaas kaddibna waxaa loo qaadi doonaa magaalada Nairobi si aqoonsiga ay haystaan loo tuso safaaradda Ingiriiska ee Kenya," ayuu yiri Ndolo.

"Waxaan doonaynaa inaan ogaanno in baasaboorrada ay wataan iyo fiisayaashooda ay yihiin kuwo sax ah," ayuu hadalkiisa raaciyay. Isagoo intaas ku daray in shakigu uu yimid markii ay saddexdan ruux warar been ah u sheegeen booliiska.

Mr Ndolo wuxuu sheegay in saddexdan qof ay booliiska u sheegeen magacyo aan ahayn kuwa ugu qoran baasabooradooda, iyagoo sidoo kale sheegay inay ku socdeen deegaanka Laamu oo aad uga fog halka lagu qabtay.

Dhanka kale, booliisku ilaalada soohdimaha ee dalka Kenya waxay sheegeen inay qabteen ruux Soomaali ah oo la doon-doonayay kaasoo ay sheegeen inuu gudaha dalka Kenya uga qori jiray Al-shabaab rag u dagaalama. Taliye xigeenku wuxuu sheegay in qofkan la qabtay ay ciidamada booliisku ku joojiyeen duleedka Manadheera, iyadoo ay booliisku diideen inay sheegaan magaciisa.

Xukuumadda Kenya ayaa ammaanka soohdinta ay la wadaagto Soomaaliya xoojiyay kaddib markii ay Xarrakatul Shabaab ku goodisay inay weerarro la beegsan doonto dalka Kenya, kaddib markii la dilay hoggaamiyihii Al-Qaacid Sheekh Usaama Bin Laaden.

Maxamed Xaaji Xuseen, Hiiraan Online

maxuseen@hiiraan.com
Muqdisho, Soomaaliya

Alarm as Kenyan youths enlisted in al Shabaab killed

2011-05-11T19:08:00.000+03:00

Laban Walloga | Nation Ms Saum Mwachambuni (right), the mother of 27-year-old Suleiman Hassan, is consoled by a relative after she broke down in tears in Mombasa on May 10, 2011. Hassan died in Somalia as an al Shabaab fighter.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

These were his last words: “Everyone was born alone and whenever I die, I should be buried in accordance to Muslim rituals.”

Suleiman Hassan, 27, spoke those words to his mother and then left home to go to Somali where he died fighting for the al Shabaab terrorists.

Hassan, a devout Muslim who spent most of his time in mosques, was said to have left for Zanzibar for special religious teachings, only for his family to learn later that he was among dozens of youths recruited two years ago by the militia in South Coast.

His mother Saum Mwachambuni is yet to come to terms with the death of her only son.
“When I got news of his death, the words he told me the last day I saw him echoed in my mind. But I am not yet convinced that Hassan is dead. I hope one day I will see him coming back home smiling as he used to,” she said.

The distressed mother said the caller from Somalia on April 5, described how his son was buried.
“I was told my son married as soon as he reached there, and when he died he was buried in his house.”

Speaking to the Nation at her home in Diani in South Coast, she said the person who called her knows her family background well since he described every detail about Hassan. This, she added, proved that the agents who recruit youths to Somalia live in the neighborhood.

The mother left no doubt that the agents are in the mosques, since her son is said to have left with some religious leaders.

Accompanied son
“It is a pity that nobody wants to tell me more, even his close friends who accompanied my son. That’s why I still have doubt if really my son has died,” she said.

The mother said the event had affected her daughter, who is now traumatised. Whenever her daughter sees any stranger in the house, she thinks more family members are targeted.

“She was very close to her brother Hassan,” Ms Mwachambuni said.

Her story is not the only one, since several families have confessed that they are mourning relatives, who have died in Somalia after they were secretly sneaked out to help al Shabaab fight the internationally-recognised Transitional Federal Government forces for control of lawless Somalia.

Secret funerals organised by relatives and friends of youth from Kenya have been on the increase in the province, raising concern among religious leaders and government officials.

The number of youth reported to have died in the war have been on the increase, with at least a case reported in different regions in Coast Province every month.

Despite different families undergoing trauma after losing their loved ones in Somalia, they are afraid to reveal any more details as they are worried the government may use the information against them.

The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya national treasurer Sheikh Omar Hassan has confirmed that several youths have died in Somalia, while some are still in the hands of the outlawed group.

While the council in Mombasa has statistics of up to 10 dead youths, Sheikh Omar said the number could be as high as 50, with those returning posing a security threat to the country.

The Imams council in its report said the large number of youths being recruited to join al Shaabab was worrying, adding, this had forced them to find ways of discouraging the recruitment. Apart from South Coast, recruitment has been reported in Lamu.

Two weeks ago, Sheikh Omar accused his colleagues of using mosques to recruit youths to the outlawed militia. He said that at least three mosques within the region had been identified as recruitment centers.

He identified a mosque in Majengo as one of the venues where madrasa (religious classes) are held every Tuesday with the aim of recruiting youths.

According to a source, who did not wish to be named, the sermons convinced the youths to join the militia in Somalia.

“They tell youths that there is a Holy war in Somalia, which is obligatory for all Muslims (Fard’Ain). They say non-Muslims are there and we must go over to fight them until they leave the Islamic country to be governed by Muslims,” said a source, adding that such information was also available on CDs on sale.

According to Sheikh Omar, the government had been briefed.

“It is the government’s duty to protect its citizens, but it is sad that to-date, although we have informed several security officials of the happenings, no action has been taken. The government should save our youths by arresting those responsible for the recruitment,” Sheikh Omar said.

Coast provincial police boss Aggrey Adoli said police have information which will lead to the reduction of the number of youths being recruited.

“We have summoned different people, including Imams, who have given us vital information,” the officer said.

New Christian Convert from Islam Murdered in Somalia

2011-04-29T05:53:00.001+03:00

Muslim militants shoot young man dead after learning he had begun to follow Christ

NAIROBI, Kenya – Two Muslim extremists in Somalia on Monday murdered a member of a secret Christian community in Lower Shabele region as part of a campaign to rid the country of Christianity, sources said.

An area source told Compass two al Shabaab militants shot 21-year-old Hassan Adawe Adan in Shalambod town after entering his house at 7:30 p.m.

“Two al Shabaab members dragged him out of his house, and after 10 minutes they fired several shots on him,” said an area source who requested anonymity. “He then died immediately.”

The militants then shouted “Allahu Akbar [God is greater]” before fleeing, he said.

Adan, single and living with his Muslim family, was said to have converted to Christianity several months ago. Area Christians said they suspected someone had informed the Islamic militants of his conversion. One source said that a relative who belonged to al Shabaab had told Adan’s mother that he suspected her son was a Christian.

“This incident is making other converts live in extreme fear, as the militants always keep an open eye to anyone professing the Christian faith,” the source said.

Two months ago there was heavy fighting between the rebel al Shabaab militants and forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), in which the TFG managed to recover some areas controlled by the rebels. Al Shabaab insurgents control much of southern and central Somalia.

With estimates of al Shabaab’s size ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, the insurgents seek to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law), but the transitional government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.

Al Shabaab was among several splinter groups that emerged after Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts Union, a group of sharia courts, from power in Somalia in 2006. Said to have ties with al Qaeda, al Shabaab has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments.

On Jan. 7, a mother of four was killed for her Christian faith on the outskirts of Mogadishu by al Shabaab militia, according to a relative. The relative, who requested anonymity, said Asha Mberwa, 36, was killed in Warbhigly village when the Islamic extremists cut her throat in front of villagers who came out of their homes as witnesses.

She is survived by her children – ages 12, 8, 6 and 4 – and her husband, who was not home at the time she was apprehended. Her husband and children have fled to an undisclosed location.

Al Shabaab oo Gacan ku Jartay Beled Weyne

2011-04-04T16:55:00.001+03:00


		Maamulka Xarrakatul Shabaab ee degmada Beledweyne oo xukun gacan goyn ah ku fuliyay wiil dhalinayrro Isniin, Abriil 04, 2011 (HOL) – Maamulka Xarrakada Al-shabaab ee degmada Beledweyne ayaa xukun isugu jiray gacan goyn iyo tasiir waxaa ay ku fuliyeen labo wiil oo dhalinayarro ah kuwaasoo lagu soo eedeeyay in ay fal xatooyo ah ka geysteen goob ganacsi oo ku taal deegaannka Moqokori oo ka tirsan gobolka Hiiraan. Maxkamada degmada Beledweyne ee xarrakada Al-shabaab ayaa markii ay dhageysteen dacwada labada dhalinyarrada ah, waxaa ay ugu danbeytii ku riday mid ka mid ah in laga gooyo gacanta Midig, halka kan kalana maxkamadu ku xukuntay in la ''Karbaasho''. Qaar ka mid ah mas'uuliyiinta maxkamada oo ay HOL weydiisay sababta keentay in labada dhalinyarada ah ee xatooyada lagu soo wada eedeeyay mid ka mid ah la tacsiiro, waxaa ay sheegeen in wiilka gacanta lagu gooyay uu qaatay hanti u dhigtay xadka gacanta looga jari karo qofka xatooyada ku dhaqaaqa, halka kan kalana uu qaatay lacag aad u yar taasoo kaantay in lagu fuliyo xukunka tacsiirta ah. Ma'aha markii ugu horeysay oo xukun noocan oo kale ah ay ku fuliso maxkamada degmada Beledweyne dhalinyarro lagu soo eedeeyay in ay gaysteen falal xatooyo ah, waxaana xusid mudan in kol hore maxkamada degmada Beledweyne xukuna noocan oo kale ah ku riday labo wiil oo dhaliyarro ah kuwaasoo lagu eedeeyay in geysteen falal xatooyo. C/raxmaan Diini, Hiiraan Onlinediini@hiiraan.com Beledweyne, Soomaaliya

Soomaali Jihaad Doon ah oo Lagu Xiray Canada

2011-03-31T20:33:00.000+03:00

Booliiska dalka Kanada oo qabtay nin Soomaaliyeed oo ay sheegeen inuu doonayay inuu ku biiro Xarrakatul Al-shabaab

Khamiis, Maarso 31, 2011 (HOL) – Garoonka diyaaradaha magaalada Toronto ee dalka Kanada ayaa lagu qabtay nin Soomaaliyeed oo la sheegay inuu qorsheynayay inuu u duulo Soomaaliya si uu ugu biiro xoogagga Xarrakatul Shabaab, sida ay Khamiistii baahiyeen ciidamada ammaanka dalka Kanada.

Maxamed Xirsi, ayay ciidamadu sheegeen inuu doonayay inay qabteen isagoo sugayay diyaarad u qaadi lahay dalka Masar si uga sii gudbo dalka Soomaaliya, isagoo qorshihiisu ahaa inuu ka mid noqdo dagaalyahannada Al-shabaab ee Soomaaliya, iyadoo la sheegay in muddo dheer lagu daba-jiray.

Ninkan la qabtay ayaa la sheegay inay ahayd markii ugu horreysay oo uu u dhoofo Soomaaliya. Dalka Kanada ayaa horay looga mamnuucay in la taageero Xarrakatul Shabaab ama dhaqaale loo ururiyo, iyadoo ku dartay liiska ururrada ay ugu yeerto argagaxisada caalamka kaddib markii ay soo baxday inay xiriir la leedahay Al-Qaacida.

Mr. Xirsi ayay da’diisu ahayd 25-sano iyadoo lagu in maxkamad lasoo taago maanta oo Khamiis ah, eedaha loo haysatana ay tahay inuu doonayay inuu ku biiro Xarrakatul Shabaab oo ay ku sheegeen urur argagxiso ah, dagaalna kula jirta dowladda Soomaaliya.

Booliiska ayaa sheegay in Maxamed Xirsi ay daba-gal ku hayeen muddo lix bilood ah, iyadoo la billaabay baaritaankiisa isagoo shaqaale ka ah shirkad ammaan, waxaana shakiga sii kordhiyay isagoo inta badan ku jiray khadka internet-ka kuna hadli jiray taleefoonkiisa gacanta.

Dowladda Kanada ayaa sidoo kale sheegtay in dacwooyinka loo haysto ay ka mid yihiin isagoo doonayay inuu fal argagaxiso ah ka geysto dalkooda iyo inuu khatar ku ahaa dalka iyo dadka Kanada ku nool.

Maxamed Xaaji Xuseen, Hiiraan Online
maxuseen@hiiraan.com
Muqdisho, Soomaaliya

Aware of risks of work, missionaries persevere

2011-03-24T03:52:00.000+03:00

Scott and Jean Adam, of Marina del Rey, Calif., were on a mission to distribute Bibles when they were killed by Somali pirates last week. | Del Rey Yacht Club via AP

With eyes wide open. That’s how missionaries face lives where uncertainty and some risk may be unavoidable, said mission leaders reacting to the killing of four people by Somali pirates off East Africa.

Scott and Jean Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., used their yacht to distribute Bibles to remote places across the world.

The Adams were on such a voyage, in an area known for pirate attacks, with another couple, Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle.

The boat was hijacked and all four were taken hostage by the pirates. They were fatally wounded before U.S. naval forces could board the vessel to try to save them.

There have been no reports religion played a role in the attack.

But risks are increasing for missionaries, said Bob Klamser, a retired police lieutenant who leads Crisis Consulting International.

The group trains mission organizations in security concerns and also responds to crises, including negotiating the release of an aid worker and his driver who were kidnapped last year in Afghanistan.

“The real difference we’re seeing is that missionaries are being targeted more often because of who they are and what they’re doing. That is a change,” he said, noting hostility is aimed both at Western culture and Christianity.

Klamser counsels people to take precautions, but he never advises them to stop mission work.

“People have a deep core belief that God calls them to the work,” he said. “You don’t stop because it’s hard or dangerous.”

James Rolfe is a humanitarian, not a missionary. He’s a dentist who operates a clinic and a dental technician-training school in Afghanistan. He doesn’t talk about religion to his patients and has no motive other than helping people.

There have been times when born-again Christians offer to journey to Afghanistan to help with the clinic.

“If they mention anything about religion at all, I say you probably shouldn’t go,” he said, referring to people who want to proselytize. “I think that’s tantamount to committing suicide in Afghanistan.”

By TOM KISKEN

Scripps Howard News Service

Somali official: pro-gov't force takes 2nd town

2011-03-07T16:09:00.001+03:00

Updated 3/7/2011 3:02:31 AM ET

MOGADISHU, Somalia — An official says pro-government forces have taken control of a strategic town in western Somalia after Islamist militants abandoned it.

Sheik Mohamed Isaq, a commander of the militiamen allied with Somalia's weak transitional government, said his forces entered Luuq on Monday morning without a gunbattle.

Luuq is 85 kilometers (55 miles) east of Belet Hawo, a town that pro-government militiamen overran on Saturday. It is a gateway to any push to capture other towns in Gedo region and beyond.

Such battleground successes are considered a morale booster for the troops.

The pro-government offensive is part of a move aimed at ending Islamist militants' grip on large swaths of Somalia's southern and central regions.

Al Shabaab oo Dil Ku Fulisay 2 Dhalin Yaro Ah

2011-03-07T16:03:00.000+03:00

Xarrakatul Shabaab oo xukun dil ah ku fuliyay laba wiil oo midkood lagu eedeeyay inuu Jaajuus u ahaa DKMG ah

Isniin, Maarso 07, 2011 (HOL) – Xarrakada Mujaahidiinta Al-shabaab ayaa shalay dil toogasho ah ku fuliyay laba wiil oo mid ka mid ah lagu eedeeyay inuu ka tirsanaa ciidamada sirdoonka DKMG ah iyo wiil kale oo lagu eedeeyay inuu gacan ka geystay dilka dad badan oo Xarrakada ka tirsan.

Sheekh Cumar oo ah qaaliga maxkamadda xukunka ridday oo saxaafadda la hadlay intii aan labada dhallinyarada ah la dilin ayaa sheegay in C/llaahi Xaaji Maxamed oo ahaa wiilka lagu eedeeyay inuu jaajuuska u ahaa DKMG ah uu qirtay dambiga lagu eedeeyay uuna sheegay in isaga iyo shan qof oo kale ay ka shaqeyn jireen goobaha ay ka taliso Xarrakatul Shabaab, gaar ahaan suuqa Bakaaraha.

"C/llaahi Xaaji oo 38-jir ahaa wuxuu qirtay inuu muddo sannad ah ugu shaqeynayay dowladda hab jaajuusnimo ah uuna kala sooci jiray dadka ay ciidamada dowladdu qabtaan, uuna bil walba mushaar ahaan u qaadan jiray 120 dollarka Mareykanka ah," ayuu yiri Sheekh Cumar oo sheegay in markaas kaddib ay maxkamaddu ku ridday xukun dil ah.

Sidoo kale, C/naasir Cali Xuseen (Jabaan) oo ahaa wiilka labaad oo 26-sano ahaa ayaa lagu eedeeyay inuu gacan ka geystay dilka dad badan oo ka tirsan Xarrakatul Shabaab, iyadoo la xusuusto in ruuxan uu dowladda KMG ah kusoo biiray mar uu kasoo baxay Xarrakatul Shabaab, balse uu mar dambe dib ugu laabtay.

Garsooraha maxkamadda Xarrakatul Shabaab ee xukunka ridday ayaa sheegay in C/naasir Jabaan uu isaguna qirtay inuu galay dambiga lagu eedeeyay, wuxuuna xusay in xukunka labadan dhalinyarada ah loo cuskaday diinta Islaamka.

Xukunka dilka ah ee lagu fuliyay labadan dhallinyarada ah ayaa ka dhacay xerada maslax ee duleedka Muqdisho, iyadoo ay goobta ku sugnaayeen dadweyne badan oo halkaas u tagay sidii dilka u daawan lahaayeen.

Ma ahan markii ugu horreysay oo maamulka Xarrakatul Shabaab ee gobolka Banaadir uu fuliyo dilal noocan oo kale ah, balse dabayaaqadii bishii Jannaayo ee sannadkan ayaa isla xerada Maslax lagu dilay nin lagu eedeeyay inuu ahaa jaajuus la shaqeynayay hay'adda sirdoonka Mareykanka ee CIA-da.

Maxamed Xaaji Xuseen, Hiiraan Onlinemaxuseen@hiiraan.com
Muqdisho, Soomaaliya

AMISOM captures al-Shabaab bases

2011-02-25T12:08:00.000+03:00

Thursday, 24th February, 2011

By Joshua Kato
AMISOM forces supporting Transitional Government Forces (TFG) in Mogadishu have captured a key sector of Mogadishu, which was being used by the al-Shabaab fighters to smuggle weapons and personnel near AMISOM bases.

In the fighting on Wednesday, AMISOM forces are also reported to have captured the prized former Defence Ministry building which al-Shabaab has been using as a major base.

The position was captured at the height renewed fighting in Mogadishu on Wednesday, AMISOM forces are also reported to have captured the prized former defence ministry building, which al-Shabaab has been using as a major base together with a milk factory.

The fighting is centred around the districts of Hodan and Howlwadag areas, a few hundred metres from the notorious Bakara market, one of al-Shabaab’s main strongholds.

Two AMISOM soldiers and 12 rebels died in the fighting, which flared up on February 19.

According to AMISOM spokesman, Maj. Bahoku Barigye, the expertly dug tunnels are over a kilometre long.

Barigye said the capture of this area would help the forces consolidate their gains in Mogadishu.

He told reporters in Mogadishu that after this week’s fighting, AMISOM and TFG forces had moved to within 500 metres of Bakara market.

Yesterday, the Burundian government confirmed that six peacekeepers were killed and 12 others were injured on Wednesday during an offensive against Islamist insurgents.

The peacekeepers were part of the group supporting Somali government troops who seized three militant bases on the city’s industrial road that leads to Bakara market.

Burundi has deployed four battalions to the anarchic Horn of Africa nation. Ugandans make up the majority of the 8,000-strong force.

In previous battles, the militants dug tunnels under buildings and roads in a bid to maneuver over AMISOM and TFG positions.

“Sometimes you only know that they are there when they start firing at our positions,” said one of the AMISOM soldiers.

At the Juba I and II fronts, the militants dug tunnels around the interior ministry building and several other buildings. AMISOM counters this by firing heavily in the tunnels.

“We constantly fire into their positions to stop them from taking aim,” said Lt. Col. Francis Chemonges.

Chemonges was in charge of AMISOM Battle Group Five, which was in charge of the key frontline areas.

AMISOM has snipers strategically placed in tall buildings around the city for this purpose.

Somali Refugees in Libya Need Your Help Now

2011-02-25T02:33:00.001+03:00

Dr. Yusuf Dirir Ali, MD

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011

Hundreds of Somali refugees are stranded in Libya. There are reports coming from Libya stating that at least 4 Somali refugees were killed and many others wounded. The Libyan public is said to be confusing the Somali refugees with the Gadaafi’s mercenaries. Therefore, the Somali refugees are being attacked without rhyme or reason by rightfully fuming Libyan Mobs.

I have written emails to the CNN and both Aljazeera Arabic & English, highlighting the calamitous risks faced by the Somali refugees in Libya. I encourage all Somalis to do the same and to contact their legislators & administrations in EU, USA, Canada, Australia and as many news outlets as possible. Write and call the CNN and Aljazeera and specially Aljazeera Arabic million times. PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO SAFE THE LIVES OF OUR FOLLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS who are stranded helplessly in Libya.

-------

This is an appeal by a Somali scholar.

Hardline Somali militants amputate the hands of 2 accused thieves

2011-02-20T01:39:00.000+03:00

By The Associated Press (CP) – 3 hours ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Hardline Islamists from Somalia's most dangerous militant group amputated the hands of two men on Saturday as punishments for accusations of theft, witnesses and officials said.

Masked men in the town of Walaweyn cut off the hand of Abdirashid Saleban Hamud, a teenager convicted by an Islamic "court" of breaking into a house and stealing currency worth $30, said Abdinur Hussein, a witness. The self-described judge, Sheik Ayub, said the man admitted the charges against him.

On the outskirts of Mogadishu the militants amputated the hand of Ali Hashim, who also was accused of theft. Witness Salman Abdirahman said Hashim screamed and fell unconscious during the punishment.

The amputations carried out by the group al-Shabab are not traditional punishments in Somalia, and they show the influence of hardline foreign fighters from the Middle East who are part of the group's leadership.

Somalia has not had a functioning government in two decades

Somali Islamists Losing Support due to Brutality

2011-02-18T17:32:00.000+03:00

“Al-Shabaab is the most hated group among Somalis.”

Washington D.C. (February 17, 2011)-Al-Shabaab, the Somali radical group in control of most of Somalia, is losing support among Somali Muslims due to its implementation of Sharia laws and banning of aid groups. Al-Shabaab enforces strict interpretation of Sharia law by stoning adulterers to death, cutting off the hands of thieves and murdering Christian converts from Islam.

One victim, Mu’awiye Hilowle Ali, a Somali Christian convert from Islam, was a church leader and father of ten children. Trained in the former Soviet Union, Ali had served his country as a member of the armed forces. But after coming to Christianity in 2006, he became the “enemy.” According to strict interpretation of Islam, leaving Islam (apostasy) is considered treason and punishable by death.

Members of Somalia’s Islamic radical group, al-Shabaab, accused Ali and his family of spreading fitna (an Arabic word for religious discord) due to his Christian beliefs. Ali, however, refused to change his Christian faith. On March 23, 2010, members of Al-Shabaab fatally shot Ali. He was among the 23 Christians to be murdered by Al-Shabaab members since 2009.

Christians are not the only victims of Al-Shabaab. The Al-Qaeda affiliated organization has stoned Muslim adulterers to death, cut off the hands of thieves and taken similar other unpopular measures against Muslims. Al-Shabaab has banned over 20 aid groups from distributing relief to the millions of Somalis suffering from severe drought. Many Somalis have voiced opposition to these unpopular measures.

Because of these continued brutality, Al-Shabaab has suffered a massive loss of support among Somalis. This year alone, two big demonstrations were staged by Somalis denouncing Al-Shabaab’s violence.

Even Al-Shabaab’s leaders admitted that Al-Shabaab is losing support for mistreating Somalis.In a recent statement on a local radio senior al-Shabab Commander Fuad Mohamed Khalaf, said, “The reason the holy warriors have failed to emerge victorious against the infidels is largely due to the bad relationship between the public and al-Shabab. If we are stronger than the public, we should remember that Allah is also stronger than us… We need to fairly treat the people if we are to succeed.”

In a statement to ICC, a Somali church leader said, “Al Shabaab may think that the days of the Somali church are numbered but it is their days that are numbered. Now, Al-Shabaab is the most hated group among Somalis.”

Is Somalia’s al Shabaab popularity going down?

2011-02-15T01:24:00.000+03:00

Alleged spies and Christians have been publicly executed. Thieves have had their legs and hands cut off. And women accused of adultery have been beaten and stoned.

Three years after of taking over more than eight regions in south-central Somalia, Is the popularity of al Qaeda’s associate in Somalia falling?

Al Shabaab, whose name means "the youth" in Arabic, became famous immediately after thousands of Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia in late 2006 and managed to dislodge the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which had controlled much of southern and central Somalia.

No sooner did forces loyal to the transitional federal government’s former leader Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, endorsed by Ethiopian troops, take over control of the capital city and large swaths of southern Somalia than al Shabaab, using the name of the Hawiye clan, started ambush attacks against TFG and Ethiopian troops.

Al Shabaab got great support from Mogadishans when the militants claimed they were dedicating their lives for the liberation of Mogadishu and its people.

Mohyidin Abdullahi, a former strong al Shabaab henchman, argues that the popularity of al Shabaab has declined.

Abdullahi, like many other Somalis, had thought the fighting would end if Ethiopian government withdrew its troops from Somalia. But “al Shabaab is still stoking the fighting” he lamented.

What has made the situation worse for the organization is its ban on more than 20 aid agencies from operating in southern and central Somalia as severe drought hit nationwide. Hundreds of displaced families, with their livestock, are reaching Mogadishu after the trees and grasses and hay dried up because of the drought.

Hasna Bashir, an elderly woman displaced from an al Shabaab controlled district, told All Headline News that the group has no mercy and kindness, saying “I lived in lower Shabelle region, having some cows in my house. Drought struck the region causing many of domestic animals to die of hunger and thirst”

Bashir, 74, at Mogadishu's Dharkenley district which is under the control of the TFG, said she and some of her neighbors decided to come to Mogadishu to buy cheap maize offered by the World Feed Program to spare the lives of their livestock.

“While passing a checkpoint controlled by al Shabaab, our bus stopped and we are ordered to climb down from it. Seven young teenagers holding sticks come to us and asked where we are carrying those bags of WFP’s maize. After response, they have beaten us inhumanely and set afire all our bags,” she said, tears gushing from her eyes.

Alleged spies and Christians have been publicly executed. Thieves have had their legs and hands cut off. And women accused of adultery have been beaten and stoned. Al Shabaab militants have also reportedly forced citizens, including children, to watch the gruesome punishments being meted out.

Last month, al Shabaab imposed strict new orders on refugee women living in the Afgoye corridor. The women were ordered to wear full-length body coverings even when they are in the privacy of their own homes, adding that anyone seen violating the edict would be punished.

Residents in the Afgoye corridor expressed a deep concern about the new rule that also forces women to stay home unless escorted by an adult male.

Al-Shabaab intends to impose a strict version of Sharia Islamic law throughout war-devastated Somalia. The group routinely carries out abductions and violently punishes people for all types of crimes.

As al Shabaab intensifies its fighting and moves to muzzle Somalis displaced by ongoing war, hundreds of Mogadishu residents participated in a large demonstration against the militant group in Mogadishu late last month.

Chanting anti-al Shabaab slogans, raising placards written with “We don’t want the mad and cruel militants” and “Stop harassing and intimidating people and open access for the needy Somalis to get assistance,” demonstrators marched down roads in Mogadishu’s government-controlled districts.

Not only Mogadishu has witnessed anti-al Shabaab protests, but also dozens of local residents in the village of El-arfid in the Middle Shabelle region in southern Somalia demonstrated after fighters loyal to al Shabaab.

Late last month, in response to the rising complaints, Sheikh Mokhtar Abdurrahman Abu Zubeyr, the leader of al Shabaab, called on his fighters not to act in ways that turned Somalis against Islam.
However, the Somali people’s hate of al Shabaab is increasing as the militants continue their cruel behavior.

WikiLeaks cables: British Muslims travelling to Somalia for 'jihadi tourism'

2011-02-04T19:09:00.001+03:00

British Muslims are travelling to Somalia for “jihadi tourism” to train for terrorist attacks in Britain, the secret documents reveal.
By Tim Ross 9:00PM GMT 03 Feb 2011

The United Nations special envoy to Somalia was so worried about rebels linked to al-Qaeda that he urged the United States to launch targeted strikes against extremists in the region.

But to the frustration of the Americans, Britain was slow to grasp the scale of the threat from Somalia, despite warnings that the largely lawless country was an “incubator” for terrorism.

MI5 now believes jihadists from the al-Shabaab movement in Somalia represent a significant threat to Britain. Jonathan Evans, the director-general of MI5, publicly warned of the threat last year.

Al-Shabaab controls large parts of the lawless south and has been linked to al-Qaeda. Pakistan was previously regarded as the training ground of choice for British terrorists.

In January last year, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN Special Representative for Somalia, told US diplomats that the country was becoming “a terrorist incubator”. “We are facing a very serious threat by people with money and organisation,” he said, adding that a “high number” of foreign fighters had joined the armed opposition, including American and British citizens.

Islamic Somali Militants Confiscate Christian Farms

2011-02-03T23:15:00.000+03:00

Washington, D.C. (February 3, 2011)–International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that members of Al-Shabaab, an Islamic Somali extremist group, confiscated farm lands owned by Somali Christians and Muslims who attended Bible studies in the cities of Afgoye and Baidawa.

The Islamists have confiscated eight farms since January 19. A Somali church leader confirmed to ICC that five of the farms were owned by Somali Christian converts from Islam and three were owned by Muslims who attended Bible study groups to learn about Christianity. Most of the landowners fled their homes and remain in hiding.

There are also unconfirmed reports of additional Christian farm seizures in Dinsor and Burhakaba districts.

Al-Shabaab handed over the confiscated lands to businessmen who regularly donate to the group. The Islamic group has vowed to cleanse Somalia of any Christian influence.

Since January 2009, Al-Shabaab has killed 23 Christians, most of whom were church leaders. Al-Shabaab has also desecrated three Christian cemeteries in Mogadishu and destroyed a Christian library in the Luuq district.

The Somali church has demonstrated remarkable growth despite intense persecution from Muslim radicals.

“Christians in Somalia have endured unspeakable persecution for choosing to leave Islam and follow Jesus Christ. Members of Al-Shabaab, like many Islamic radicals, don’t respect religious freedom. We urge Christians around the world to pray for Somali Christians to persevere, and for members of Al-Shabaab to repent of their wicked ways and embrace the love of Jesus Christ,” said ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho.

US warns of Burundi terror threat

2011-02-03T11:13:00.001+03:00

BUJUMBURA — The US embassy in Burundi on Wednesday warned its citizens in the central African country that terror organisations could carry out attacks in February.

A warning posted on the embassy website said regional terror groups, including Somalia's Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab "remain actively interested in attacking US interests in Burundi."

"We are particularly concerned about the month of February," it said, without elaborating.

Burundi contributes almost half of the more than 8,000 African Union troops deployed in Mogadishu to prop up a weak pro-Western transitional federal government which the Shebab have been trying to topple for two years.

The Shebab claimed responsibility for suicide blasts in Kampala in July that left 76 people dead in the worse terror attack to strike the region since the 1998 Al Qaeda bombings against the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

Uganda forms the backbone of the AU force in Somalia and the Shebab have repeatedly warned that Burundi would be the next target.

Egypt pope apologizes over bishop’s Islam remarks

2011-02-02T18:03:00.000+03:00

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Coptic Christian leader Pope Shenouda III apologized in a television interview Sunday to any Muslims who were offended after his top bishop reportedly disputed the authenticity of some verses of the Quran.

The remarks come during a period of heightened tension in Egypt between the majority Muslims and a Christian minority that feels discriminated against.

Shenouda’s apology comes a day after the premier institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world, Al-Azhar, criticized Bishop Bishoy, the Coptic Church’s No. 2, for provoking sectarian tension.

Bishoy was quoted in the Egyptian media for wondering about the time frame for the revelation of the Quranic verses disputing the divine nature of Jesus Christ. The bishop reportedly said these verses were inserted after the Prophet Muhammad’s death by one of his successors.

Muslims believe that the prophet received all verses through the Archangel Gabriel during his lifetime and they are the immutable word of God.

Tensions between Muslims and Copts are on the rise over issues like the construction of new churches and bitter arguments over conversions. The two communities generally live in peace, though clashes and attacks have taken place.

“Debating religious beliefs are a red line, a deep red line,” Shenouda said in an interview aired on state-run TV. “Maybe they (Bishoy’s address) thought this is for priests only and the remarks were not for publication.”

“I am sorry if our Muslim brother’s feelings were hurt,” he added.

Bishoy also sparked outrage last week when he told Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper that “Muslims are only guests” in the country.

For this incident, Shenouda blamed the press for possibly misquoting Bishoy and said that “we are the ones who are guests since Muslims are the majority.” Coptic Christians make up around 6 to 10 percent of the country’s 80 million people. Prior to the 7th Century Arab invasion, Egypt was majority Christian.

Thousands of Muslims demonstrated on Friday against Bishoy’s remarks and Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Center held an emergency meeting to condemn the bishop’s statements.

“Such irresponsible statements threaten … national unity at a time when it is vital to maintain it,” said the statement.

The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood opposition group, Mohammed Badie, urged Muslims to “respond to whomever slanders the book of God or the prophet.”

Shenouda appealed for calm.

“You don’t extinguish fire by adding more fire, you need water,” he said.

Seeking to cool the controversy, political parties and the journalists’ association have urged their members to stay away from the debate.

Muslims complain that the Coptic Church is above state law and enjoys protections and safeguards not extended to society at large. Christians complain of systematic discrimination by the state.

Tensions occasionally spills over into violence. In January, a gunman killed six Copts and a Muslim guard in a drive-by shooting outside a church after a Christmas service in the southern town of Nag Hamadi, sparking days of rioting.

There are also repeated demonstrations over rumors that Copts have converted to Islam or vice versa.

In the most recent case, a priest’s wife, Camellia Zakhir disappeared in July and reportedly converted to divorce her husband — fueling protests from Christians claiming that Muslims kidnapped her and forced her conversion.

After police found Zakhir and returned her home, weekly protests erupted in August, this time by Muslims who claimed Christians were holding her against her will and forced her to renounce Islam.

ICC's Hall of Shame 2011: Somalia is Ranked 6/12

2011-01-30T01:36:00.000+03:00

Somalia

Overview:

The lack of an effective government since 1991 has led Somalia into famine, war and relentless brutality against Christians and others. Al-Shabaab, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization which controls regional domains within Somalia, and the leader of anti-Christian hatred within the country, murdered at least six Christians in 2010.

While the number may seem low, keep in mind that there are few Christians in the country and the fear caused by Al-Shabaab’s brutality has pushed the church almost completely underground to the extent that Christianity would appear nonexistent to most nationals.

Not only does Al- Shabaab kill nearly every Christian they find, they also execute Christians in the most horrific ways, including stoning and beheadings in public squares. Church leader Osman Abdullah Fataho was among those murdered in 2010, executed in front of his wife and children just before they were abducted. Amina Muse Ali, a Christian woman, was also barbarically murdered for refusing to wear a veil in public on October 19.

All Somali Christians are considered apostates – converts from Islam – a grave ‘crime’ which warrants the death penalty under Islamic (Sharia) law. Al-Shabaab is not secretive about their view of Christians, but has publically declared their objective to completely eradicate Christianity from Somalia.

Their stories:

Muhammad Guul Hashim Idiris, a Christian convert from Islam, was traveling by land from Kalafo, an Ethiopian border town, to visit his mother in the Somalia capital of Mogadishu.

A fellow passenger recognized his Christian background and asked him if he thought the prophet Muhammad was a genuine messenger from God. Idiris responded by saying, “If I thought so, I would have believed in him instead of the Messiah.”

Once they reached the Hudur district, a stronghold of the Al-Shabaab terror network, the Muslim man reported Idiris to Al-Shabaab and had him detained. Idiris was accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad. In Islam, it is a serious sin to consider Muhammad not to be a genuine prophet and it warrants the death penalty.

The execution, which took place at a make-shift soccer stadium, was attended by hundreds of people, including school children who were forced to watch.

Sheik Adan Yare, the Al-Shabaab governor of the Bakol region, said to the press, “ Our holy warriors have today, on July 1st at 11: 45 am, executed in front of angry Muslim witnesses, a young man whose name was Muhammad Guul Hashim Idiris who insulted our beloved prophet.”

The martyr is survived by his then pregnant widow.

World Muslim population doubling, report projects

2011-01-27T18:19:00.001+03:00

By Richard Allen Greene, CNN

Twenty years ago, the world had about 1.1 billion Muslims. Twenty years from now, it will have about twice as many - and they'll represent more than a quarter of all people on earth, according to a new study released Thursday.

That's a rise from less than 20 percent in 1990.

Pakistan will overtake Indonesia as home of the largest number of Muslims, as its population pushes over 256 million, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Lifeprojects.

The number of Muslims in the United States will more than double, to 6.2 million, it anticipates.

Afghanistan's population will nearly double, to about 50.5 million, making it home to the ninth largest Muslim population in the world.

Israel will become nearly a quarter Muslim. The Palestinian territories have one of the highest growth rates in the world.

Fractious Nigeria, where Christian-Muslim violence has left thousands dead in the past decade, will become a Muslim-majority country by 2030, the Pew Forum projects.

And two western European countries - France and Belgium - will become more than 10 percent Muslim. Sweden will hover just below that level, at 9.9 percent.

Iran, on the other hand, will see very slow growth. Iranian women have among the fewest children of anyone in the Muslim world. They use birth control at exactly the same rate as American women, 73 percent.

Explore our interactive maps showing the growth of Muslim populations by country

The Muslim share of the global population will rise primarily because of their relatively high birth rate, the large number of Muslims of childbearing age, and an increase in life expectancy in Muslim-majority countries, according to the report, "The Future of the Global Muslim Population."

Conversion will play relatively little part in the increase, the report anticipates. It says little data is available on conversion, but what little there is suggests Islam loses as many adherents via conversion as it gains.

Pakistan's rapid growth - adding an estimated 70 million people in 20 years - could create "a potentially lethal cocktail," said Ghaffar Hussain of the Quilliam Foundation, which calls itself and anti-extremism think tank and does work in Pakistan.

"Pakistan is an unstable country, there are literally hundreds of jihadist groups," he said.

And the government is not doing much to slow population growth, unlike in nearby Bangladesh, he said.

"In Bangladesh they have tax incentives not to have large families. Pakistan doesn't have that strategy - they're not even talking about it," said Hussain.

"More effort should be made to finding some solutions, especially in the border region with Afghanistan," he advised.

Governments in Europe, meanwhile, should do more to explain the value of immigration, he argued.

Muslim growth there "is coming from the first generation having large families" and will slow down, he predicted.

But the large new Muslim populations are not always welcome, he said.

"A lot of European countries don't tell their people we need immigration for (economic reasons)," he said, adding that government also should do more to help new immigrants assimilate.

European government need "some sort of strategy of what to do when people come. Integration has been managed very badly," he said.

The key phrase in the Pew Forum report is "growing but slowing," says Alan Cooperman, associate director of the think tank.

The increase in the last 20 years is greater than what we expect in the next 20 years," he said. Muslim population growth "is a line that's flattening out. They're increasing, but they're getting closer to the norm, the average."

In other words, Muslims are coming into line with global trends toward fewer children per woman and an aging population. But, the report points out, because of the existing Muslim "youth bulge," or unusually high percentage of young people, Muslim population growth has a certain momentum that will take decades to come into line with world averages - if it ever does.

The Pew report, more than a year in the making, is part of an ambitious attempt by the think tank to calculate the number of adherents to each of the world's major religions. The Islam report comes first, and a Christian project is in the works.

They started with Muslims, Cooperman said, because they are "the largest group for which data was lacking, and we saw public interest in knowing more."

Despite the rapid growth of Islam, Christianity seems set to remain the biggest religion in the world for the next 20 years. There are currently more than 2 billion Christians - 30 to 35 percent of the global population - making it very unlikely that there will be fewer than 2.2 billion Christians in 2030.

"There is nothing in these numbers to indicate that in 2030 there would be more Muslims that Christians," Cooperman said.

In fact, both Christianity and Islam could be growing, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the whole, he pointed out.

"We don't want people to jump to the conclusion that if Islam is growing, everyone else is shrinking," he said. "Christianity and Islam could both be growing at the expense of other religions."

Sub-Saharan Africa is a case in point, he said.

"Tremendous numbers are being added in sub-Saharan Africa, but... Christianity and Islam are both growing rapidly. There is not a change in the overall proportions of Muslims to Christians."

He's aware that the report has policy implication, but insists that the purpose of the Pew Forum is simply to provide unbiased data.

"It's not our role to say what should be done," Cooperman said.

What they're aiming to do, one of the project's leader said, is to make sure there's reliable information available.

"There has been a lot of speculation about the growth of the Muslim population around the world, and many of those who speculate don't have good data," said Brian Grim, a senior researcher at the Pew Forum.

For example, the report undermines the notion that Europe is heading toward having any country with a Muslim majority. The continent will be about 8 percent Muslim in 2030, it projects.

"The data that we have isn't pointing in the direction of 'Eurabia' at all," Grim said.

"The Muslim population is growing and slowing. Instead of a runaway train, it's trending with the general global population," he said.

Cooperman hopes that information will help make for more intelligent discussions, he said: "In the midst of heated debate and speculation, we think that solid, reliable, empirical estimates are valuable."

Justice according to Al-Shabaab

2011-01-23T00:27:00.001+03:00

Don’t shake hands with women, no football, no past- ankle-length trousers… prayer beads banned as well

By ABDULKADIR KHALIF in Mogadishu
Thursday, January 20 2011 at 18:01

When the punishment, 100 whip lashes, was postponed because she was pregnant Ms Anab Mussa thought she was the luckiest woman in the world. She had misread the Al-Shabaab-backed court.

The court in Wanlaweyn town, some 100 kilometres west of Mogadishu, had convicted Anab for having sexual relations out of wedlock.

Two weeks ago on January 4, having delivered, she received her public flogging at a gathering overseen by the court’s judge.

Her partner, Omar Mohamed Ahmed, who received the same number of lashes, had earlier been expelled from the town in accordance with Sharia (Islamic law.)

Anab’s punishment was light compared to what happened on the same day to 19-year-old Omar Mohamed Nur in the town of Baidoa, 240 kilometres southwest of the capital Mogadishu.

Nur had an arm and a leg, each from the opposite sides of his body, amputated by Al-Shabaab militants after a district judge convicted him of robbery.

“The sentence and its execution are consistent with Sharia,” intoned the judge, Sheikh Abu Faisal.

Welcome to the world of Al-Shabab, the feared Islamic militia that controls large swathes of central and southern Somalia.

It was perhaps its claim to the July 11 bombings of World Cup fans in Uganda which killed 75 people that shot Al-Shabaab to international infamy, but the group had by then already earned notoriety for its harsh interpretation of Islamic law and sustained siege on the country’s teetering transitional federal government.

Some 500 kilometres south of Mogadishu lies Kismayu, a picturesque port town that is Somalia’s third largest city. Its beauty belies the goings on within. Under full control of Al-Shabaab, here Sharia is applied to its fullest form.

Human rights and civil liberty activists often criticise the Islamic courts for not providing defence lawyers and convicting on insufficient evidence, in addition to speedy execution of harsh sentences.

Even moderate Islamists have their concerns, arguing that such severe punishments should be carried out by an all-agreed Islamic state and not a movement like Al-Shabaab that cannot guarantee the livelihood of amputees and other disability-causing punishments.

On January 14, the militants brought to the public square a man said to have stolen from a shop in the outskirts of Kismayu. He lost his right hand at the wrist after he allegedly confessed to having stolen Somali Shillings 1,900,000 (about $60) and rice worth SSh300,000 ($10).

Four men accused of stealing a gun and money were also presented to the crowd, and sentenced to hand amputations to be carried out in the “near future”. Such amputations are severe enough sentences, but others lose their lives through these controversial sentences.

In October 2008, the relatives of a woman stoned to death by militia members in the town on suspicion of adultery argued that she was only 13 years old. According to her parents, the girl was raped by three men and had been reporting the incident when she was instead arrested and charged.

Last year in October in Beledweyne town, some 335 kilometres north of Mogadishu, residents cried freely when two women were sentenced to death with the punishment being immediately carried out.

The residents disputed the spying charges against the two teenage girls and did little to hide their suspicion of an Al-Shabaab cover-up of, perhaps, rape by the militia’s own men to avoid scandal.

Despite the efforts of civil liberty activists, buzzwords such as individual freedoms and rights do not exist in the militia’s vocabulary in the areas they control. There have been a slew of cases of quite bizarre interpretation of Sharia.

One of the most notorious was in October 2009 when the militants carried out routine checks to ascertain if women wore brassieres.

Their use is considered un-Islamic by the militants. In most cases, young men would ask females to shake their bosoms vigorously. A firm body suggested a woman was wearing a bra.

What would then follow was an automatic order to remove the “offending” bra with humiliated women rushing home to comply.

Somali Mother of Four Slaughtered for her Faith

2011-01-19T19:48:00.000+03:00

Monday, January 17, 2011

Al Shabaab militants carry out ritual slaying of Christian found to be ‘apostate’

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting the shocking news that a mother of four was killed for her Christian faith on Friday, January 7, 2011 on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia by Islamic extremists from al Shabaab militia, a relative said.

Trigger happy members of the al Shabaab militia

“The relative, who requested anonymity, said Asha Mberwa, 36, was killed in Warbhigly village when the Islamic extremists cut her throat in front of villagers who came out of their homes as witnesses,” said the CDN story.

“She is survived by her children – ages 12, 8, 6 and 4 – and her husband, who was not home at the time she was apprehended. Her husband, Abdinazir Mohammed Hassan, has fled to an unknown location.”

The relative who spoke to Compass said he had phoned her on Wednesday, January 5, 2011, to try to make arrangements for moving her family out of the area.

CDN went on to say that Al Shabaab extremists, who control large parts of Mogadishu, were able to monitor the conversation and confirm that she had become a Christian, he said.

“Asha had been receiving threatening messages” after al Shabaab monitored her previous communications with him, he said.

Mberwa’s relative, whose location is also withheld for security reasons, said a “good Samaritan” in Mogadishu was caring for her four children, and that they continue to weep and cry out for their mother.

For more information, please go to: www.compassdirect.org