hot today
http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=5282
http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=5283
http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=5259
evidently in light of the following news & analysis
lifted from
http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=
Somalia: Washington Subtly Engages the ICU
Summary
Representatives of al-Barakat, a Somalian banking
network accused of transferring funds related to the
9/11 attacks, have been removed from the U.S.
terrorism watch list, according to Aug. 28 reports.
The day before, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) sent
its highest-ranking delegation to date to Khartoum,
Sudan, for peace talks on the conflict in Somalia. The
removal of the Somalian banking network is a subtle
U.S. effort to engage the Islamists. Washington,
however, continues its freeze on al-Barakat funds as a
tool to refocus attention on a resumption of peaceful
dialogue.
Analysis
International representatives of al-Barakat, a
Somalian banking network accused of transferring funds
related to the 9/11 attacks, have been removed from
the U.S. terrorism watch list, according to Aug. 28
reports. The move follows the Aug. 27 arrival of a
high-ranking delegation of Islamic Courts Union (ICU)
officials to the Sudanese capital, where peace talks
aimed at resolving the conflict in Somalia are planned
in the next few days.
Because resumption of the al-Barakat banking network
will reinforce the ICU's legitimacy, the U.S. move is
a subtle nod of diplomatic recognition to the Islamist
group that has taken control of Somalia's official
capital, Mogadishu, and the surrounding areas. The
United States, however, continues its freeze on
al-Barakat funds, hoping Somalia's banking and
business community will pressure the Islamists to
engage in peaceful dialogue.
The United States placed international representatives
of the al-Barakat banking network on its terrorism
watch list following the 9/11 attacks, accusing the
network of facilitating the transfer of funds related
to the attacks. The network is an informal method of
transferring money via international representatives
operating in different countries. The ICU will add the
network's removal from the U.S. terrorism list to its
roster of recent accomplishments -- the reopening of
the Mogadishu port and security improvements in the
city, for example -- to demonstrate that it has
delivered marked societal advancements. The resumption
of international money transfers will further enhance
ICU support among the businesspeople who underwrote
the group's rise to power, and will increase support
among the portion of the Somalian population that
relies on family members abroad to send remittances
home.
However, the continued freeze on al-Barakat funds -- a
reported $9 million -- will limit the network's
ability to restart its operations. Washington
apparently believes holding on to al-Barakat funds
will coerce business and civil society groups into
bringing pressure on the ICU.
The removal of the al-Barakat representatives from the
watch list, and its positive impact on the business
and civil society groups operating in ICU-controlled
areas of Somalia, is a subtle move by Washington to
expand its diplomatic strategy of engaging the ICU.
Although there has been no U.S. consensus on dealing
with the ICU or on the acuteness of the threat it
poses, Somalia is a priority concern for Washington.
The concern internationally, and particularly in the
United States, is over the ICU's real intentions in
the country -- and whether Somalia could become a
training ground for transnational militants. The
limited, tacit recognition of the ICU, therefore,
signals a fresh diplomatic initiative, timed to
coincide with the resumption of peace talks.
The Somalian delegation, led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed,
traveled to Khartoum on Aug. 27 for Sudan-brokered
peace talks that supposedly are to take place by Aug.
31. Ahmed's group is the most senior delegation the
Islamists have sent to the peace talks, which broke
down with Somalia's interim government June 22. The
talks also will be the first aimed at resolving the
crisis since the Aug. 21 reconfiguration of the
interim government's Cabinet in Baidoa.
Although an all-out war in Somalia between internal
and regional actors remains a real possibility, the
events of Aug. 27-28 represent an attempt to pull back
from the brink. U.S. recognition, via the al-Barakat
banking system, is a subtle diplomatic move that has
long been sought by the Islamists. The United States
holds on to al-Barakat cash, however, to freshly
invigorate business and societal groups to pressure
the Islamists to bargain in earnest.
so in a nutshell
the breakaway somaliland tripoint hope is still
looking pretty much as predicted here late last year
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BoundaryPoint/message/18971
while any potential breakaway puntland tripoint is
still quite nebulous
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