African Union Summit says world is ignoring Somalia crisis

[CougarKing]

For those who haven't read certain posts at the Somalia pirates thread and this other thread, Somalia does have a Western and UN-backed Transitional Federal government (TFG) in Mogadishu, which is supported by a 5,000 strong African Union Peacekeeping force.

The TFG came to power a few years ago after Ethiopian forces occupied the country, but the Ethiopians have since withdrawn and an Al-Qaeda affiliate named Al-Shabab continues to wage an insurgency against pro-government forces and AU peacekeepers, IIRC.

Complicating this is the fact that one province named Somaliland has tried to secede; another one named Puntland has de-facto autonomy although its does not seek independence. Both are supposedly more stable than the rest of Somalia.

In the meantime, pirates on the coast continue to take advantage of the relative lawlessness in the countryside/coastal areas to continue their attacks:

Reuters link

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The worsening crisis in Somalia is as big a threat to global security as Afghanistan but is being ignored by the world, delegates told an African Union summit on Sunday.


Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government is fighting an Islamist insurgency and has been hemmed into a few streets of the capital Mogadishu.


An African Union (AU) peacekeeping force of 5,000, provided by Burundi and Uganda, is struggling to hold back the rebels. The AU has repeatedly asked for U.N. peacekeepers to bolster its efforts but has only been given funding.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the AU's annual summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Sunday and again failed to pledge peacekeepers.


"In Somalia, recent events have tragically shown that the conflict has a direct bearing on global security," Ban told about 30 African leaders.


Later at a news briefing, Ban said the United Nations was still considering "whether conditions are right for a peacekeeping operation."


Violence in Somalia has killed 21,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and uprooted 1.5 million people, a contributing cause of one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.


PIRACY


Heavily armed pirates from the lawless Horn of Africa nation are terrorizing shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean and strategic Gulf of Aden, which links Europe to Asia.

Ramtane Lamamra, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security said Somalia was now as big a threat to global security as Afghanistan and should not be ignored.


"The international terrorism is the same and there is the link to the same mother organization, al Qaeda," Lamamra said. "And there is also piracy."
(...)

 

[57Chevy]

In Somalia, Islamic rebel militias are more attractive than school:

Al Shabaab uses money to woo child fighters
By SAHRA ABDI, Reuters July 4, 2010
 
About half of school-age children in the southern Somali port town of Kismayu are ditching classes to join rebels fighting to topple a fragile government, teachers said.

They are lured by money and the mystique of militia fighting in a chaotic country that has little to offer in terms of jobs or opportunity.

The Horn of Africa nation has had no central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, and an interim government is battling al Shabaab rebels who make money through taxing port users in Kismayu.

"They proudly carry their guns around while the classrooms are empty. ... Islamist commanders woo the children, whether in public gatherings or in the mosques," said one Kismayu elementary school teacher said.

Al Shabaab, which professes loyalty to Al-Qa'ida, is feared by many Somalis for its application of a strict form of Islamic law, including executing people for blasphemy and robbery. In the past, the group has organized Koran-reciting competitions among youths with prizes like anti-tank mines, computers and AK-47 guns for the winners.

Mohamed Kadhar, 17, is one of the many children who have left school to join the militant group.

He is content as a young soldier and has no regrets because he could never earn as much money elsewhere, even if he had gone to university, because of the country's conflict. "I left school because I couldn't get hundreds of dollars in school. I am now an al Shabaab militia. My dream is to become a mujahedeen commander of the troops who will take over Somalia in the coming year," Kadhar said in Mogadishu after returning from a street battle with government forces.

Somalia analysts warn of dire consequences should the young people be left at the mercy of groups like al Shabaab, which take advantage of widespread poverty as a recruitment tool.

"The concerns over many youngsters joining violent religious and tribal fighters are real," Afyare Elmi, a political history professor told Reuters by phone from Doha, Qatar.

"We need to understand that most of these are doing it because of lack of employment and educational opportunities."
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Somalia+Islamic+rebel+militias+more+attractive+than+school/3234005/story.html#ixzz0sjX90AJQ

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