Eritrea pays warlord to influence Somalia: UN experts
By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Eritrea is undermining stability in conflict-ravaged Somalia by paying political agents and a warlord linked to Islamist militants to influence the Mogadishu government, U.N. sanctions experts said in a
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Eritrea is undermining stability in conflict-ravaged Somalia by paying political agents and a warlord linked to Islamist militants to influence the Mogadishu government, U.N. sanctions experts said in a confidential report.
The Eritrean government has long denied playing any negative role in Somalia, saying it has no links to Islamist al Shabaab militants fighting to overthrow the Somali government. It says the U.N. sanctions imposed on it in 2009 for supporting al Shabaab were based on lies and has called for the sanctions to be lifted.
The latest annual report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea to the Security Council’s Somalia/Eritrea sanctions committee casts fresh doubt on Asmara’s denials, undermining its case for lifting the sanctions against it.
“The Monitoring Group has received numerous reports about the warming of relations between Asmara and Mogadishu, and has obtained evidence of Asmara’s control of political agents close to the Somali presidency and some of the individual spoilers,” the group said in the report, seen by Reuters.
One such operative, the monitors said, is “Eritrean agent of influence Abdi Nur Siad ‘Abdi Wal,’ … who is reported to have a close relationship with a senior al Shabaab commander.”
The monitors describe Abdi Wal as a “warlord.”
“Abdi Wal is now a close ally of former ARS-Asmara (a Somali Islamist network in Eritrea) leader Zakaria Mohamed Haji Abdi, for whom he provides security in Mogadishu,” the monitors said. “He is known to command the allegiance of about 100 fighters in Mogadishu and is involved in contract killings.”
The monitors said in their report that they have “obtained direct testimonies and concrete evidence of Eritrean support to Abdi Wal and Mohamed Wali Sheikh Ahmed Nuur.” The Monitoring Group has reported on Ahmed Nuur in the past, describing him as a “political coordinator for al Shabaab” and a recipient of funds from Eritrea.
“A source on the Eritrean payroll in direct contact with Abdi Wal has confirmed that Abdi Wal has admitted in closed-door meetings that he is acting as an agent for the Eritrean government,” the group said in its latest report.
Eritrea’s U.N. mission did not respond to a request for comment.
RUSSIAN AND ITALIAN COMPLAINTS
The latest report said that Ahmed Nuur, also known as Ugas Mohamed Wali Sheikh, has repeatedly held meetings in Khartoum with Mohamed Mantai, Eritrea’s ambassador to Sudan and, since December, Iran.
“During these meetings, options for Eritrean financial support to Ahmed Nuur were discussed,” the report said.
“Mantai, a former military intelligence officer, has a history of operating in Somalia and was expelled from Kenya in 2009 after he returned from Somalia following meetings with al Shabaab agents,” the monitors said.
In addition to their nearly 500-page report on Somalia and Eritrea, the Monitoring Group produced a separate report of around 80 pages focusing solely on Eritrea.
Council diplomats said the longer Somalia/Eritrea report will be made public soon, but the shorter Eritrea report will not be published because of Russian objections.
According to a letter the Russian delegation sent to Ambassador Kim Sook, chairman of the Somalia/Eritrea sanctions committee, Russia “objects to the publication of the (Eritrea) report due to the biased and groundless conclusions and recommendations contained in it.”
Italian Ambassador Cesare Maria Ragaglini also wrote to Kim complaining about the report because of “misleading information and undocumented implications of violations of the arms embargo.” Reuters has obtained both letters.
According to diplomats familiar with the U.N. monitors’ shorter Eritrea report, an Italian helicopter exported to Eritrea for mining survey purposes was seen at a military facility there, raising the possibility of a sanctions breach.
The monitors said Italian authorities failed to provide additional information as requested, the diplomats added.
Ragaglini dismissed that allegation, saying “we did provide the information they requested (e.g. on financial flows), but there is no evidence whatsoever of military assistance from Italy to sustain the undocumented claims of the experts.”
China, diplomats say, is annoyed about references in the Eritrea report to Chinese machine tools procured for a large government depot in Eritrea that houses tanks, missiles and dual-use civilian trucks. But the envoys said there was no suggestion the Chinese government was violating U.N. sanctions.
NEW HOPE ERITREA July 19, 2013
¨ሾውዓተ ሙታንታ ተላጊቦም ሓደ ስረ ኣይኣኽሉን¨
ዝኸበርኩም ገነት፣ ማይቲ እምባሶይራ፣
ንምፍራድ ኣይት ትሃወኹ__ን ባዕልኹም እምበር ኣነ ብጫውጫውን ጋንታይ ጋንታኻን ስለ ዝላሕላሕኩ ምንም ቅጭጭ ኣይብለንን።ኣነ ሕጂ ውን ሕርቃነይ ከውርድ እየ።ግን ሕርቃነይ ኣብ መንእሰያት ኣይኮነን ኣብቶም ብሃይማኖቶም ይኹን ቀቢልኦም__ብመንግስቲ ዝወርዶም ከይኣክልሲ___ብኣና በቶም በዝሓ (ማጆሪቲ) እውን ቁሊሕታ ዘይተገብረሎም ጉጅለታት እውን ዘሕርቕ ዘረባ ኣይተምባህኩን።
ብናተይ ዕድመ (ካብ ሓምሳ ንላዕሊዓመቶም)ዝርከቡ ብዘምጽእዎ ናይ ጽልኢ ፖለቲካን፣ መንእሰያት ውግእ ክሰዱ ሚልዮናት ኣዋጺኦም ንሽፍታ ሻዕብያ ህግደፍ__፡ምስ ራሻይዳን በደዊንን ኮይኑ ኮላሊቶም ክቕንጥቦ ከሎ ግን ኣብ ማይ ከም ዝኣተወት ኣንጭዋ ኮይኑ ብሰንኮም ብዘይጸለየሉ ግፍዒ ክቕዘፍ ከሎ ዘይተሰምዓኩምን ጠጠው ዘይበልኩምሉንሲ ነዞም ሸፋቱን ሓገዝቶምን ንህዝበይ ሓልየ ስለ ዝጸረፍኩን፣ ቀጭቀጭ ኣቢሉኩም።
ዳሕራይ ኤርትራዊ ባንዳ ወይ ክኣ ናይ ባርያ ኣታሓሳስባ ዝነበሮ በጥ ኢሉ ተገሪፉ ፣ነቲ ዝተገርፈሉ ከም ኣርማ ናይ ኩርዓት ጌሩ ይፍስሓሉ ከም ዝነበረ ኣይትፈልጡን ፧ ክንደይ እዩ ዕድሜኹም፧ ወጋሕ ትበል ለይቲ ፓርቲ ኣብ ሰሜን ኣሜሪካ ክግበር ከሎ __እምባሕ በል ወዲ ኤረ ካብ ¨ሕቡናት¨ኤርትራውያን ሰሚዕኩም ኣይትፈልጡን።ኣነ ን ኣኻትኩም ክጻረፍ ኢለ ኣይተበገስኩን።ኣየነይቲ ምዓልቲ ነቶም መሳኪን ዋርሳይ ዘዋርድ ወይ ዝወቅስ ጽሒፈ ይፈልጥ፧ ሙዳዳ ሻዕብያ ኣብ ሽፍትነት በረኻ እንከሎ ጀሚሩ ምጭዋይ ምቕታል ምዕማጽ ህዝቢ ከም ዝገበረን ፣እዚ ሽፍትነት ናቱ መቐጸልታ ምዃኑ ኣይትፈልጡን።ስድራኹም ምስ ሓመቕኩም ፣ኣንታ ሰነፍ ከም ወዲ ክስቶ ቀኒእካ ዘይትገብር ኢሎምኹም ኣይፈልጡን፧ ኣነ ብገንዘቦም ንኣሽቱ ልኢኾም ዘጥፍኡን፣ ብወገንነትን ሽፍትነትን ህዝበይ ዘዋረዱ ኤርትራ ወኪሎም ከብቅዑ ብሽምና ቅድሚ ሕጂ መንካዕን እዚ ኣውራጃን ኢሎም ዝቐተልዎ ከይኣኽሎም ኣብ ሲናይ ሰብ ኣይ ተጎምቢሑ ከም ዝግሃስ ዝፈጥሩ ሸፋቱስ ንስኻትኩም ተኻላኺልኩምሎም።
በሉ ንስኹም ነቲ ሓሳውን ወጻዕን ኤርትራውነት ደግፉን ተደጋገፉን፣ኣነ ኽ ኣ ነቲ ኣብ ሬሳ ውላዱ ዝስዕስዕ ህዝቢ ብኽብረት እንተኣበየኒ ብምሕናኽን ረሳሕ ጠባዩ ብምቅላዕን ንራባረብ።እዚ ዝብሎ ዘለኹ ኣነ ትሓታታይ ኢየ።ሓሲኻ እዚ ኣይተገብረን ዘይትብሉ። ዓሻስ ምስ መዓዲኡ ይብኣስ።
ተጋጊኹም።ናይ ካሊገ ምፍርራሕ ክኣ ካብቶም ምስ ታንኪ ተወርዊሮም ብቐርና ዝሕዙ ማይቤት ስለ ዝኾንኩ።ኣብ ሳንድያጎ ይምጻእ ።ምሓሪ ሃብተ ኢሉ ይሕተት።መን ምዃነይ ክፈልጥ።እንተ ንስኻትኩም እሞ ምሕረት የውርደልኩም።
ኣንኳይ ማንም ወዲ ኣርብዓ ___እቶም ከም ኮላ ዝለገቡ ወረዳ እኳ ኣይክኣሉንን።
ዒም ዝበለ ይትሓጎም !!!!!!!!!
ሓውኩምን ኣቦኹምን።
gidewon July 19, 2013
¨ሾውዓተ ሙታንታ ተላጊቦም ሓደ ስረ ኣይኣኽሉን¨…priceless quote!!
Genet July 19, 2013
Mr New…Eritrea
I am sorry you had an happy life as an Eritrean what ever your issues were. You need to get-over your bitterness at one time of your life. As an Eritrean, if you can’t get-over it now then when? “Bitterness is like cancer, it eats upon the host” Maya Angelou.
You are angry by your admission. You are irrational, childish at times. Your response to your critics is unbelievable belligerent statements of “I don’t care, me, me, me; I am going to say what ever I want to say” It is just sad to see a grown man to act a like a cry baby.
You stated that you are not angry at the young generation. But you are. You don’t care about the young Eritrean who are the target of the dictator. They are driven out of their houses and sent to their death. They need every Eritreans’ effort to lift their broken spirit. They don’t need people who are too busy thinking about their pity emotion.
Mr New….Eritrea, What do you think you are doing, when you are spending your time how the Italians colonial treated our grandfather and great-grandfather? When you are describing the the harsh treatment of our people under colonial Italians and implying how our people liked it. You have been repeating your irrational, irresponsible and hurtful statement over and over again. I suggest you put your anger to positive work. If you accept your true Eritrean identity, work to empower young Eritreans, instead of making them feel worthless. Your statement is hurtful, depressing and irresponsible. Like you stated, you are going to do what ever you want to do, no matter what anyone says. I have news for you. There are many smart, brave and articulated Eritreans at this particular post. We will come after you, any time you start to write hurtful and unfounded statement against our people.
I will relentlessly challenge you on the issues. I will call upon you to be respectful of Eritreans. I will challenge your commitment to Eritrean people. If you revel yourself that you are one of those people with half and half background with a crisis, then I will let you know that you are one of the likest people in Eritrea and Ethiopia at this time. So, I say enjoy your life until it last. If you are a bitter Eritrean like many out there, get-over it. Our people can’t afford this kind of slyness at this time. We have to come to term that our peoples’ problem is bigger than individual pity issues
FYI, anger, bitterness and stress leads to heart disease. So take care of yourself.
Genet
Genet July 19, 2013
correction, please read the first statement as unhappy life.
thanks
Genet
NEW HOPE ERITREA July 19, 2013
Genet ,
I was reffering to the Eritreans who had slave mentality ,You are the one generalizing .There were and are a lot of Eritrean heros that do not have this mentality. I AM POINTING OUT SUCH MENTALITY SO THAT WE CAN CHANGE IT .You are trying to put perfume on our dirty laundry.
I brought the illness & prescribed what would lead to national healing .We need to pass that stage ,in order to find solution .We (I will use we ) ,the fifty somethings chose to believe that woyane invaded us ,when the opposite was the truth ..this had a negative consequence on our youth.
Saying Hi 5 to eachother & putting the whole blame on Isaias does not bring solution.እንዳሃለለት ዝመጸት ኣድጊ እዩ ኣኽቢዱ ዝጽዕን ዘሎ።
Please Genet FOR THE SAKE OF ERITREAN YOUTH CONCENTRATE ON THE SOLUTION ,NOT ON MY PERSONALITY ;I COULD BE CHILDISH OR ROTTEN SON OF 1000 nWHORES ,THE ISSUE IS NOT ME.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CRITICIZE MY ,AT TIMES OUTRAGEOUSLY PRESENTED MATERIAL ,BUT IT´S REAL CONTENT.
I CAN NOT & DO NOT WANT TO COMPARE MYSELF WITH TYOUR EDUCATED WRITING ;SERIOUSLY.
AND YOU ARE RIGHT I AM ANGRY ;PLEASE HELP ME GET OVER IT ,FOR OVER 45 YEARS I HAVE SEEN MY ERITREANS SUFFERING DUE TO EMOTION ,POINTLESS EMOTION.
I AM VERY ANGRY YOU ARE RIGHT .
Angry men & women are raped because of my age bracket Eritreans.
bless you ,sister /daughter
NEW HOPE ERITREA July 19, 2013
Genet ,
your advice on balance your anger with positive reinforcement is point well taken.
Your strong worded solution is appreciated ,I was infuriated by Kalighe´s we know you .
However I wish Eritreans major problem was my anger.
thank you
HGDEF July 19, 2013
Dear Ayte Himam Lbi,Singapo Eritrean, Yoguzlavo-Eritrean, mehretu Habte, New Hope Eritrea and so on , kan you also please use such Words that you used to convince Genet use to convince me. I am also your fellow “Eritrean”
Genet July 19, 2013
New….Eritrea
solution to a problem start with awareness.
Let me ask you, What exactly is “Eritrean who had slave mentality”? How do you see yourself? What do you want to say about Eritrean people? How do you see the Eritrean people compared to Sudanese, Somalian or Ethiopian? why is it that it is so easy for you to put down Eritreans? Yet, you claim to be Eritrean.
Genet
HGDEF July 19, 2013
poor Genet! Did you just noticed him/her. He/she has been doing that for years under different nick names.He is a Woyane master of the so called opposition. If you start confronting him your life will not be long at this blogg. Amanuel Eyasu will not work to empty his pocket. He won’t let you challenge his Woyane master.
Kalighe July 19, 2013
Dear Genet, this guy seems to to be on a mission to create hopelessness among Eritreans.
We should not allow such people to weaken our resolve to help our people. We should work together to save the country we love so much.
gidewon July 20, 2013
Kaligne where is your aythazuni??you were promised to expose New hope Eritrea yesterday??could you please try to contrast his post with facts, instead of instigate personal attack like the junta higdef or tiqimti do.
MightyEmbasoyra July 19, 2013
NHE,
Just for the record, I am not objecting to why you have different view. Since I am for the future democratic Eritrea, you have the right to have different view. It is your God given right. However, I don’t have to agree with your view. I hope you understand that.
NEW HOPE ERITREA July 20, 2013
Mighty Embasoyra ,
Why do you think I adressed it to you ,it is because I have respect for you ,of course you want us to have dialogue.
I am sorry ,I came up rude & Jerry Springer on you .I wish you could have witnessed ,what I did experience in KENYA ,UGANDA;ITALY (on my visit) CANADA..YOU WOULD BE EMBARRASED OF OUR FELLOW CITZENS.
Please disregard my outburst & continue to dialogue.
You are civilized & are an asset to the form.I just can not believe ,brother Kalighe which I tried to approach ,yet he is trying to gang up people on me ..& threatenning ,we know you ….We should not let him .
I RESENT MY COUNTRY ,BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN HOW MY PEOPLE HAVE GONE THROUGH.
I act childish for silly humor. Kalighe really needs help on his growing up ,he has no deficiency on intelligence ,just gotcha games that I am not upto.
Accept my6 apology & lñet us start afresh.
Your brother /father
NHE
MightyEmbasoyra July 20, 2013
NHE,
No problem at all. You have the right to express yourself.
By the way, in the future democratic country of Eritrea, you have huge chance to be a famous artist. You seem to have a gift in literature.
belay nega July 20, 2013
Dear Mighty
“By the way, in the future democratic country of Eritrea, you have huge chance to be a famous artist. You seem to have a gift in literature.”
You are too smart to be deceived by the identity of NEW HOPE ERITREA,this guy is a die hard Ethiopian who is performing his job properly.
sidiabd@gmail.com July 19, 2013
The thugs finger was caught in a cookie jar stealing cookies. It is amazing how one so called leader have his proprieties is messed up. Your focus should have being how to beg to feed your people and save them from the dark life they are in. It is true you have to beg until you become self sufficient, and it is not shame. Instead you want to play a superpower game. What a joke you are Mr micro power, whose only power is crush Eritrean people aspirations.. I would have laughed uncontrollably at your silly and dangerous moves Have I not in being in pain that you have inflicted to our people.
belay nega July 19, 2013
“Your focus should have being how to beg to feed your people and save them from the dark life they are in”
You must be ignorant of Eritrean issue which otherwise would not repeat the French Revolution saying “…..እንተ ጠሜም ባኒ ዘይበልዑ….”
Stop judging the president for where he comes from and learn the root cause of Eritrean problem.
belay nega July 20, 2013
Dear Mighty
“The good thing is we all care about our beloved Eritrea. However we have different ideology – at least with Ato Belay”
As you said, as far as the core issue is the same, different approaches to the solution are not harmful. Different people with different ideas is like check and balance to the issue.
Our issue would be shortened if we agree that the cause of all this mess are Ethiopians with the help of big nations.In saying so we should not blame them for doing their job,but is good to know the cause and make a choice.