Tuesday 16 October 2012

Somalia’s New Government: Is it a Case of Islamist Coming through a Backdoor Channel?



Oct 15, (WDN) The current Indian Ocean Newsletter (October 6, 2012) carries poignant news analysis on the power architecture of the new leadership of Somalia. Under the title of “Somalia: President’s Inner Circle,” the Indian Ocean asserts that the top echelon of Hassan Mohamud’s Villa Somalia is dominated by “members of several Islamic groups close to Muslim Brotherhood, particularly the strain that took power in Egypt after last year’s “Arab Spring.”

At the top of echelon, there are about five Islamists who are part and parcel of the inner circle of President Hassan.

Farah Sheikh Abdiqadir Mohamed.  According to the Indian Ocean Newsletter, Farah, a member of the Hawiye/Shiikhaal (actually, Farah is neither Shikhaal nor Hawiye but a member of the Reer-Aw-Hassan clan) was responsible for managing and designing the victorious election of Hassan Mohamoud by the newly-seated Somali Parliament.  Farah is a hard-core Al-Islah and is singly responsible for handling the international linkage of Al-Islah to the world-wide movement of Muslim Brotherhood.  “Farah was responsible to channel sizable funds, reportedly from Kuwait, which helped to finance Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s campaign,” the article contends.

Four more members of the president’s circle include: Abdikarim Hussein Guled, Omar Sheikh Ali Idris, Mohamed Nuur Ga’al and Mohamed Ahmed Abtidoon.  These four individuals are members of Damul Jadid (New Blood).  New blood is a faction that deserted Al-Islah and joined the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in 2006.  Abdi Karim Hussein Guled (Hawiye/Habar Gidir/Sacad) was until recently an advisor to the former President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.  Omar Sheikh Ali Idris (ARS), a former official of the Union of Islamic Courts, was until recently an ambassador to Doha.  He had in the past joined ARS of Somalia, a group based in Asmara (Eretria) which advocated an armed opposition to the former Somali Transitional Federal Government led by the late Abdullahi Yusuf.  He is responsible for Damul Jadid’s group for its Qatari -based Islamic groups. 
 
 

Last but not least is Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Abtidoon, who was also a former UIC official who recently joined President Hassan’s Damul Jadid group. 

The fourth player in the inner circle of Hassan’s power architecture is Mohamed Nuur Ga’al (Hawiye/Murursade) and he is an active member of civil societies in Mogadishu and a hard liner Islamist.

Finally, the article concludes to say: “The men all have a common ideological base that is not far removed from the al Shabaab radical Islamists, but consider themselves moderates as they refuse armed action.”  If the Indian Ocean’s timely analysis holds water, then Somalia is in the deep throats of radical Islamic coup.  What is not clear is how the Western powers that had initially welcomed the Hassan administration with open arms would swallow this newly discovered bitter pill.
WardheerNews

Copyright © 2012 WardheerNews.com

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