Mogadishu Mayor Accused of Money Laundering

Ahmed Nur Mohamoud better know as Tarzan, the mayor of Mogadishu was widely accused of money laundering.

Kulmiye Yabarow Haruur, Shibis district commissioner told Shabelle Radio that he has clear evidence showing Mogadishu mayor has misused and mismanaged revenues of Benadir region. He said the money destined for the women working on hygienic fields in the capital is missing because he took them.

Harur spelled out all Mogadishu's district commissioners know the mayor's money laundering. The statement of Shibish district commissioner comes days after the mayor of Somalia's capital denied he committed money related crimes such as mismanaging and misusing.

Source: All Africa

KENYA: AML Bill Passes, But Does Govt Mean Business?

Kenya's Parliament finally passed the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Bill in December. But while the passing of the bill is viewed as a highlight of the Tenth Parliament, many fear it may just be a gimmick by the government to appease international partners.

George Kegoro, the executive director of International Commission of Jurists - Kenya Chapter, says while the legislation is good, he doubts there is political will to completely stamp out money laundering in Kenya.

"The existence of the legislation is not sufficient to deter the vice neither are the stiff penalties that are recommended in the bill," he says. "There is need for genuine support from the government to enact this law. We need a good set of people to be put in place to interpret the legislation."

Kegoro, whose organisation undertakes advocacy and policy work aimed at strengthening the role of lawyers and judges in protecting human rights and the rule of law, argues that while the bill was government-sponsored, Kenya’s track-record on corruption is poor and he doubts the genuineness of the political class.

It is the fourth attempt since 2004 to pass a bill to prevent the concealment of large profits from drug trafficking and other organised crime, and even this time around it faced resistance from members of parliament who believed the bill was a sly back-door re-introduction of an Anti-Terrorism Bill which had been quashed.

When the bill was tabled in November, an assistant minister in defiance of his own government, strongly opposed the tenets of the Bill. The assistant minister for public service, Aden Sugow, opposed the Bill saying it was an attack on the Muslim community. He argued implementing the Bill would be bowing to the interests of external interests and said that Kenya currently has adequate laws in place to deter money laundering.

While supporting the bill, defence minister Yusuf Hajji warned of a general feeling among the Muslim community that the legislation was targeting them. The Bill went forward after assurances from Prime Minister Raila Odinga that the government had no such intentions.

Once signed by the president, the law will establish a Financial Reporting Centre to assist in the identification of the proceeds of crime. An Asset Recovery Agency will be charged with tracing and recovering ill-gotten assets.

According to Job Ogonda executive director of international corruption watchdogs Transparency International, this would mean millions of dollars stashed in off-shore accounts swindled from Kenya could be recovered.

But Ogonda doubts the passage of new legislation will improve Kenya’s standing as a corrupt state internationally.

"At the moment it is embarrassing to be a Kenyan. Nigeria is improving with regards to corruption because they have shown tangible commitment of doing something about graft. However, the same cannot be said for Kenya," he says.

"We have previously had good pieces of legislation which would have helped fight graft, however, nothing has been done. How many ministers or former ministers have ever gone to prison because of corruption?" Ogonda wonders.

Ogonda is referring to anti-corruption legislation such as the Public Procurement and the Public Officers Ethics Act which require all public office holders to declare their wealth and origin of the same: this older legislation has had no noticeable effect.

Kenya’s record internationally as a corrupt state has for many years been bad and in the bribery and corruption index released by Transparency International, the country has kept the company of states such as Nigeria, Russia and Zimbabwe. Currently, Kenya is position 147 out of 180 on the global index of corruption.

Indeed the passing of the anti-money laundering bill comes in the wake of the release of a U.S. State Department report saying 93 million dollars of earnings from drug trafficking are laundered in the country’s financial system annually.

Another equally damning report by a UK firm, Kroll Associates, hired by the Kenyan government to track wealth acquired corruptly, revealed an estimated $1.7 billion is currently stashed in off-shore accounts. While the results of this 2004 report have remained confidential, the document was leaked: no action has been taken against any of the prominent figures named in its 110 pages.

But all the right noises were made when the bill was moved in Parliament by deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, who said that in view of the magnitude of the problem to the economy, the debate should focus on the quality of the legislation to ensure it was stringent enough.

Seconding the bill, Raila said, "The country risks becoming a pariah state unless the legislation is passed. We have suffered from the effects of money laundering especially in the property sector whose value has been skyrocketing due to the money being brought from the acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia".

A boom in property prices in Nairobi is preventing a majority of Kenyans from buying real estate, and in some cases even pricing locals out of the rental market. Media reports are linking the boom with profits from Somali pirates who seized numerous vessels during 2009, extracting handsome fees from their owners before releasing ships and crew members. In certain Nairobi neighbourhoods, Somalis are willing and able to pay rent up front for periods of even up to two years.

Ogonda states that for many years, Kenya has been a hub of money laundering with illegally acquired cash from Europe, South Africa, South America, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania finding its way into local financial markets.

"Due to our porous borders and poor implementation of legislation, people have simply walked in with huge amounts of cash, hired a lawyer to front for them who in turn invest the cash, especially in property," Ogonda says.

He says despite moves to assure the independence of the new watchdog agencies' leadership, and fresh monitoring requirements for the banking system, the version of the bill which is now awaiting presidential assent does not demand greater accountability from lawyers whose lawyer-client privileges remain intact.

Kegoro notes that the prescribed penalties are fairly high - jail terms of two to five years, with fines of up to $65,000 for individuals, and corporate penalties set as high as $330,000 or the value of the property. But, he argues, it is not the severity of the penalty that will make people fear it. It is the certainty of being caught, hence the need for genuine political will to implement the law.

Ogonda is in agreement. "Application of the bill is what will be the determining factor. The structure of governance has to support the law and if it remains the same the legislation can exist and nothing will change."

By Susan Anyangu-Amu

Source: IPS

Where United States stands in the war against terror

Since 9/11, Americans have been rightly concerned about how the numbers stack up in the struggle against terrorism. Whether one calls it a war or something else, a sense of direction is not just necessary but vital.

-Along those lines, a new report — "Are We Winning?" — by the bipartisan American Security Project (www.americansecurityproject.org), presented at a recent Capitol Hill briefing, raises provocative questions and contributes to the discussion in several ways.

First, it helps us understand the threat; indeed, this is where the report provides its best advice. The following points reveal volumes about the terrorism challenge:

-"The threat is very real and likely to endure."

-"Any progress is likely to be incremental and will require years of prudence and consistency to institutionalize."

-"Our adversaries are strategically savvy and will continually adapt to our actions to achieve their goals. Complacency can quickly turn into catastrophe."

I would describe the situation even more bluntly. The terrorist threat is open-ended and will never entirely disappear. In other words, we can talk about winning in a relative sense, but there will be no final victory. America's best efforts will diminish terrorism, not eradicate it.

Second, "Are We Winning?" examines terrorism in the context of 10 criteria. In four of its categories, color-coded green, the study determines we are making gains against al-Qaida and associated movements. In four additional categories, color-coded yellow, it finds the data uncertain. And in two other categories, color- coded red, it indicates a lack of progress.

Let us consider them one at a time, starting with the most positive, the green category. Although the report acknowledges that prominent figures such as Osama bin Laden in al-Qaida and related groups remain free, it cheers the fact that many of those organizations' leaders are on the run. It also notes international cooperation is improving.

Well and good, but it is worth emphasizing that "on the run" does not mean al-Qaida's leaders lack resolve or the potential to reorganize and rebound. Further, international cooperation still falls far short of what is required. Too many governments wink at terrorist behavior within their borders.

The report's yellow category then indicates that in areas such as terrorist financing, the status of al-Qaida associated movements, and public attitudes in the Muslim world and the United States, it is hard to determine if progress has occurred. That finding speaks for itself, while suggesting opportunities for Washington to take innovative, proactive steps.

Next, we come to the red category, which bemoans the rise of "Islamist terrorism around the world," along with increases in violence in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia. As if that were not enough, the report also points out the danger of ungoverned spaces in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.

Again, opportunity beckons. It is especially important to deal with the virtually limitless danger of ungoverned spaces. We know from past experience in Afghanistan, for example, that failed or failing states provide a breeding ground for violent movements.

Finally, the study makes several recommendations that deserve a place in the U.S. counter-terrorism conversation: that the most effective way to discredit al-Qaida and its cohorts is to challenge their claim to be defenders of the Muslim world.

Beyond that, we must maintain a long-term view and insist on perpetual vigilance, for the adversary is persistent and creative.

by John C. Bersia, who won a Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing for the Orlando Sentinel in 2000, is the special assistant to the president for global perspectives at the University of Central Florida. Readers may send him e-mail at johncbersia@msn.com .

Source: SouthBendTribune

U.S. Intelligence Chief Outlines Successes Against Terrorism

Michael Hayden, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, spoke recently of the international community's successes against terrorism in key regions of the world and diminished worldwide support for al-Qaida.

Hayden told the Washington-based Atlantic Council of the United States November 13 that the United States - in cooperation with partners such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the Philippines - has greatly diminished the reach of several terrorist groups.

Al-Qaida in Iraq, for example, "is on the verge of strategic defeat," with the flow of money, weapons and foreign fighters into Iraq now "greatly diminished," Hayden said.

And al-Qaida's operational arm in Saudi Arabia largely has been defeated, he said. Indonesia has made inroads in detecting and disrupting terrorist plots in the past three years as a result of what he called "aggressive action by one of our most effective counterterrorism partners." Filipino allies have kept the pressure on the Abu-Sayef group, Hayden said, limiting its effectiveness.

While the remote, tribal areas on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border remain problematic, progress has been made, according to the CIA director. He said the practice of terrorists taking refuge in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas is lessening. Due to cooperation among the Pakistan government, its military and the U.S. intelligence community, terrorist networks have lost many "decision makers, commanders, experienced and committed fighters" who, Hayden said, planned attacks against Europe and the United States.

The Pakistani government and military "deserves great credit for its current campaign against extremists," he added. More al-Qaida leaders have been killed or captured "in partnership with our Pakistani allies than ... with any other partner around the world," Hayden said.

The CIA official cited another reason for optimism in the fight against terrorism: "Some hard-line religious leaders are speaking out against al-Qaida's tactics and its ideology." Hayden cited generic polling showing declining support for al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden in predominantly Muslim countries.

More and more Muslims "are pushing back against the senseless violence and flawed worldview of al-Qaida," he said. Credible, authentic, influential Islamic voices are speaking out and "refuting al-Qaida's twisted justification for murdering innocents" as well as its ideology seeking to erase the distinction between combatants and noncombatants.

Besides Pakistan and Indonesia, Hayden praised the counterterrorism efforts of other U.S. partners such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Military and law enforcement activities and even efforts addressing the conflict of ideas have resulted in improvements in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, he said. "I have always said that the civilized world will win this fight when we win the war of ideas," he added.

NEXT STEPS

Efforts to defeat al-Qaida in the near future will continue to center on Yemen, Somalia and the Afghan-Pakistan border, according to Hayden. Intelligence suggests that some veterans of terror operations in Iraq are now drifting to other regions, such as North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, in search of new action.

Even though al-Qaida has suffered serious setbacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the intelligence-agency director said, "it remains a determined, adaptive enemy." Al-Qaida is still "the most dangerous threat we face," he told the Atlantic Council's Global Intelligence Forum.

In Hayden's opinion, al-Qaida's base of operations on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan remains "the single most important factor today in the group's resilience and its ability to threaten the West." He contends that the remote, tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border have supported terrorist financing, recruiting, training and plotting in the past.

While al-Qaida-related operations in the tribal regions do not rise to the level of activity that once existed in Afghanistan, Hayden said, its recent efforts to destabilize Pakistan are worrisome.

The Pakistani army has been fighting extremists "forcefully and with considerable success since early August," Hayden said. The Pakistanis have a multibrigade operation under way in the tribal area of Bajaur, and while they have sustained losses, "they are also imposing significant casualties on our common enemy."

But when al-Qaida is dealt a blow, Hayden said, its senor leadership recalibrates. "They constantly look for ways to make up for losses, extend their reach, take advantage of opportunities, and we're seeing that ... in some places like ... Somalia or Yemen."

Yemen has witnessed an unprecedented number of attacks in 2008, Hayden said, including two against the U.S. Embassy. The sophistication of attacks and the range of targets are broadening. Hayden said that, like what has happened elsewhere, terrorist cells in Yemen "are operating from remote, tribal areas where the government has traditionally had very little authority."

That al-Qaida tends to gain strength only in isolated, ungoverned territories "may be the most damning thing we can say about this organization," Hayden said. It can subsist only beyond the reach of civilization and the reach of the rule of law.

HANDLING THE TRANSITION

As head of the CIA, Hayden's service may continue into the Obama administration, although frequently a new president appoints his own director. Asked about his interest in continuing in his present position - which includes conducting daily presidential intelligence briefings at the White House - the director said he serves at the pleasure of the president, but would consider staying if asked.

As this is the first wartime presidential transition for the United States in 40 years, some thought is being given by transition officials to keeping some Bush appointees, at least temporarily, so the transfer of power from one administration to another is as seamless as possible.

Hayden said members of the Bush administration have been directed to "make this the smoothest transition in recorded history." With the United States on a wartime footing and al-Qaida already having made a critical remark about President-elect Barack Obama on the Internet, the director said, efforts are under way to get a new team ready for any contingency as swiftly as possible "so that there is no diminution in the ability of the Republic to defend itself."

Video of the forum ( http://www.acus.org/event_blog/cia-director-event ) is available on the Atlantic Council Web site. A transcript of Hayden's remarks ( https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/directors-remarks-at-the-atlantic-council.html ) is available on the CIA Web site.

For more information about U.S. policy, see Confronting Terrorism ( http://fpolicy.america.gov/fpolicy/security/counterterrorism.html) on America.gov.

Source: NewsBlaze

System transfers funds to radicals

An "underground" banking system - investigated by the US for allegedly transmitting funds for terrorist operations - is suspected of being used in Australia to channel money to extremists in Africa.

Counter-terrorism agents and African community leaders have warned that Hawala - a remittance system used to transfer money overseas, especially tocountries lacking traditional financial structures - is being used to funnel private and community-raised funds to terrorist groups in Somalia and other African nations.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre - the financial intelligence authority that monitors the thousands of Hawala outlets - yesterday also admitted it was unable to determine the final destination of transactions and largely relied on Hawala dealers to report suspicious clients.

Somalian Muslim spiritual leader Hersi Hilole said Hawala was abused by community members to bankroll al-Qa'ida-linked terror networks in Somalia.

"There are people who are collecting money from the community and sending that money through this Hawala system to terrorist organisations or organisations that are linked to terrorists," the Sydney imam said yesterday. He said that while Hawala - meaning transfer in Arabic - was largely used by ethnic communities in Australia to subsidise their families' living expenses overseas, authorities needed to do more to track down anyone misusing it.

Hawala is an ancient financial transfer system widely used in Asia and Africa. The funds given by clients to Hawala dealers are often not physically transferred. Instead, a Hawala operator would contact their counterpart overseas by phone and ask them to pass on the sum of money to the third party. The Hawala dealers square up at a later date. Austrac chief executive Neil Jensen said Hawala was a "high-risk" system open to exploitation by terrorism financiers.

He said Austrac was wary that Hawala dealers may refuse to tip off the body about untoward transfers - despite risking jail sentences and thousands of dollars in fines - to protect clients.

"Hawala is generally related to an underground type of activity outside of the normal financial system," Mr Jensen said.

"Through financing of terrorists' studies, facilitators have been found to use alternative remitters services to move money for money laundering or terrorist financing-related issues. As a consequence, they are considered globally to be a high risk for those activities."

He said Hawala operators were required by law to be registered with Austrac, a process that obligates them to report all electronic transfers, including those done by phone. Unregistered dealers risk being locked up or fined under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.

But security agents said Hawala operators were not rigorous with keeping records of transactions.

"No one knows where the money ends up," one source said. "It's a good system when there's no other system in place, but it's open to being abused. There's no track record or paper trail, so it makes things hard for security agencies trying to track certain transactions down. It's largely self-regulated."

A Hawala operator in Melbourne, al-Barakat, had its funds frozen in 2001 and was subsequently shut down after its US business arm was investigated by the Bush administration for allegedly helping terror organisations fund their activities.

While al-Barakat was cleared of any wrongdoing, the Melbourne branch was closed.

Source: The Australian

Top Dubai official slams British newspaper report about money laundering

Somali pirates' money is not laundered through Dubai, said Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Dubai Police's Deputy Commander General, in reply to a report by a British newspaper.

The newspaper, Independent, said vast sums of ransom money that the pirates received for releasing ships they hijacked in Somalia and the African Horn was laundered in Dubai and other GCC countries through piracy syndicates based in these countries.

In a statement to Emarat Al Youm Arabic daily, Al Mazeina said the allegations are baseless, and stressed that the UAE has very strict legislations against all types of money laundring.

The Independent said about $80 million has been paid out by shipping companies to pirates in 2008.

While some of the money has ended up in Somalia, millions have been laundered through bank accounts in the UAE and other parts of the Middle East, the report said.

Al Mazeina said the UAE is the only country in the region where money laundering cases were taken to court, and sentences issued.

Any amount of money exceeding Dh40,000 is monitored and considered questionable until proven otherwise.

The Independent quoted Christopher Ledger, a former Royal Marine officer and a director of the firm, saying: "There is evidence that syndicates based in the Gulf – some in Dubai – play a significant role in the piracy, which is taking place off the African coast. There are huge amounts of money involved and this gives the syndicates access to increasingly sophisticated means of moving money as well as access to modern technology in carrying out the hijackings."

Al Mazeina said the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international organisation against money laundring, includes the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrial nations and other countries cooperating in this field, including the UAE.

"FATF issues periodic reports on uncooperative countries, and we have never received any remarks from them about such operations in the UAE, no matter how small the amounts of money," Al Mazina said.

He said Dubai Police cooperated with many countries in cracking money laundering rackets and other suspected activities, such as fraud, and played a part in arresting organised gangs.

Al Mazeina said some parties wanted to tarnish the image of the UAE through spreading these vicious rumours. "Countries that do not cooperate with efforts against money laundering are held accountable by special organisations, which do not include the media," he said.

He said that Dubai Police are always open to all reporters who want to confirm any information before publishing it. People can also view international reports on the FATF website and find out the UAE’s stand before spreading such rumours, he said.

The British newspaper published the report without any comment or feedback from security bodies in Dubai or the UAE Central Bank.

Source: Gulf News

Anti-terror laws hinder Somali immigrants

For months, Somalis living in Columbus have complained that it has become increasingly difficult to send money home to family members because of banking-industry fears that the funds could end up with terrorists.

Huntington, JPMorgan Chase and Charter One are among the banks that have closed accounts set up by remittance companies, said Omar Tarazi, a local lawyer who has worked with the Somali American Chamber of Commerce and several remittance companies.

Somali leaders said remittances that refugees send home are a lifeline to families and friends struggling in the war-torn African nation. It has few banks, so remittance companies are crucial to sending money home.

The leaders say banks fear being held liable if authorities discover that the money is funding extremists. The Patriot Act requires due diligence of banks in making sure that funds are tracked.

According to the U.S. State Department's Web site, remittances totaling $1 billion were sent to Somalia from around the world in 2008.

"The only reason (families there) are alive is the money," said Mahdi Taakilo, publisher of the Somali Link newspaper in Columbus. "They can feed their hungry kids. They can buy clothes."

Tarazi said there should be a balance between national security and humanitarian issues.

"How much of a threat is it that it will get into terrorist hands in Somalia?" he said. "If you cut this out, it will push people into a more desperate situation."

And that could lead to more destabilization in a country that has been in chaos for nearly two decades.

Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed asked Gov. Ted Strickland and Mayor Michael B. Coleman for help on Oct. 5 when he visited Columbus on a tour of several U.S. cities.

"This is the way millions of people get monthly stipends for living expenses," Abdulkareem H. Jama, the Somali president's chief of staff, said after the visit.

"There have been some issues in the U.S. in particular, Ohio more so than any other state."

There's little the governor can do, said his spokeswoman, Amanda Wurst. It's a federal and banking matter, she said.

The New York-based National Money Transmitters Association supports a bill that U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., introduced this year that would loosen burdens on remittance companies and banks.

The bill notes that the Treasury Department urges banks to make sure that money-service businesses are complying with anti-money-laundering laws.

That places banks in the position of quasi-regulators. Instead, banks have closed the accounts so they don't "incur the burden, risk or potential liability for undertaking a de facto regulatory function."

U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Republican from Genoa Township, first heard concerns from local Somalis about a year ago and has met with several bankers.

A Minnesota bank that works with remittance companies is willing to share best practices with banks in Ohio, said Tiberi spokeswoman Breann Gonzalez.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is home to the largest population of Somalis in the country. Columbus is No. 2.

"We understand both sides," Gonzalez said. "Somalis here want to help their relatives back home. We understand banks' concerns about liability if money gets into the wrong hands."

mferenchik@dispatch.com

Source: Dispatch Politics by By Mark Ferenchik

Migrants, money flows and terrorism

By Steve Schifferes
Economics reporter, BBC News

The amount of money sent back home by migrants working abroad has grown rapidly in recent years - according to the World Bank it doubled in the five years from 2002, reaching at least $350bn

But the mechanisms used to transfer money can also be used for money laundering, and are of increasing concern to law enforcement agencies.

Some estimates suggest that half of all money transfers from migrants living abroad are done outside the formal sector - that is, banks or money transfer firms.

Of course, most migrant transfers are for legitimate reasons.

But the vast volume of informal transfers has made it much easier to hide illicit transfers, whether they relate to criminal activity or terrorist finance.

There are two reasons for the growth of the this informal sector.

The first is the expense of transferring money abroad for poor individuals.

The cost, especially for small amounts sent to nations with a less well-developed financial sector, can be as much as 20% of the sum, according to the World Bank.

Secondly, there are a number of countries, for example in parts of Africa and the Middle East, where the banking system is not highly developed and so cash transactions are common.

System of trust

As directly sending cash, or its equivalent in gold or diamonds, is potentially risky, this has led to the widespread use, in Muslim countries, of the hawala system.

Hawala is an informal system of money transfer based on trust, which uses a system of money brokers based throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with links to others in major cities across Europe and North America.

Under hawala, no money actually crosses international borders.

Instead, a system of complex swaps is employed, using food, fuel, electronics or gold as a way of balancing the books between operators - hawaladas - in different countries.

The OECD's Financial Action Task Force says these "alternative remittance systems" are widely used by terrorist finance, because of the "level of anonymity and rapidity" they offer, and for "cultural" reasons.

They say that they have the additional attraction of "weaker and/or less opaque record-keeping" and in many places "less stringent regulatory oversight".

This might particularly apply in failed states, such as Somalia, or large parts of Afghanistan.

Conduits

Finding terrorist funding in the huge volume of international money transfers may seem akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.

The volume of normal transactions dwarfs the amount of money needed to carry out terrorist actions.

The OECD estimates that the direct operational costs of major terrorist actions like the London and Madrid bombings were no more than $10,000 to $12,000 (£6,751 to £8,100).

This level of funding - or even the Bali bombing, estimated to have cost $50,000 - could easily be incorporated into the hawala system.

But the OECD says terrorist networks need other longer term funding to support their operations and logistics base - and so will also turn to money laundering, criminal activities, and the use of charities as conduits for money.

Regulators, particularly in Europe, are beginning to tighten up the supervision of all types of financial institutions, formal and informal.

An EU directive comes into force in 2009 that will compel financial companies above a certain size to become registered with the FSA and to put up bonds proportionate to their turnover or profit.

Gains and losses

At the same time, The World Bank has been pushing to lower the cost of formal money transfers.

One possibility is to make more use of the postal system, which has the ability to create a global money transfer system.

Another new development could be the use of mobile phone systems to credit small amounts to users.

This would be particularly attractive in developing countries, where mobile phone use is growing and is much more dense than internet use.

Meanwhile, private agencies such as Western Union and Moneygram have expanded rapidly across the globe, and the money transfer business has proved highly profitable, growing by 6% per year.

There is no doubt that, overall, remittances make a positive contribution to economic growth in poor countries - although they might be better targeted.

So finding ways of improving transfers, while avoiding the risks of hiding money, could be useful for economic development.

And improving living conditions in these countries could be in itself an important antidote to the appeal of anti-Western militancy across the globe.

Source: BBC

Ethiopia - 'Canadian Islamists' flee from Somalia

Joseph Brean
National Post

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Canadian authorities were investigating reports yesterday that an alleged Islamist fighter presented a Canadian passport when he was arrested on Monday while trying to flee war-torn Somalia through a Kenyan border crossing.

The Standard newspaper of Kenya reported that the man, an Ethiopian national, is a military commander of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an Ethiopian separatist group that has sided with the Somalian Islamic Courts Union in its war with Ethiopia. The unnamed Ethiopian reportedly presented a Canadian passport when he was arrested at Liboi, the main border crossing between Somalia and Kenya.

The Kenyan Daily Nation newspaper reported that 10 suspected fighters were carrying large amounts of foreign currency when they attempted to make the crossing in a four-wheel drive vehicle and that they were "suspected by Kenyan security agencies to double as financiers of the Islamic Courts Union."

Other media reports, quoting local sources, said there were eight men in total -- two claiming to be Canadian, the rest Eritrean. They are being held at Garissa, a city closer to the capital, Nairobi.

"It's one thing having a Canadian passport, and it's another thing making sure that you correspond to the passport," said Rejean Beaulieu, a Foreign Affairs spokesman in Ottawa.

He said there are only two Canadians in Somalia who are registered with Ottawa, despite a travel advisory that urges Canadians not to travel there.

"But it doesn't mean there are not more. Many people around the world don't necessarily register with us," he said.

Kenyan authorities have anticipated an exodus of as many as 3,000 defeated militiamen loyal to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), an alliance of Muslim fundamentalists that wielded a shaky power over Somalia until last week.

After defeating a U.S.-backed alliance of warlords in June to take the capital, Mogadishu, the ICU rose to power throughout the south of the country, eventually seizing the port of Kismayo, which left the interim government -- supported by Ethiopia and recognized internationally -- confined to Baidoa, an inland commercial centre.

On Nov. 25 last year, a communique issued by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad, the ICU's leader, was posted to Internet message boards, calling jihadists from around the world to come fight against Ethiopia, which he said was engaged in the same "crusade war waged against Iraq and Afghanistan, and the previous war in Somalia."

The month before, the National Post reported that the ICU is composed partly of Somali- Canadians from Toronto or Ottawa who have returned to their homeland.

The highest-ranking Canadian is Abdullahi Ali Afrah, second deputy chairman of the Islamic Courts advisory body. In Toronto, he worked at the Canadian branch of Al-Barakaat, a money-transfer outlet implicated in terrorist financing.

The ICU was defeated by Ethiopian troops in a war that began Christmas Eve with the strafing of Mogadishu's airport by Ethiopian jets. Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, said his country intervened to "protect the sovereignty of the nation and to blunt repeated attacks by Islamic Courts terrorists and anti-Ethiopian elements they are supporting."

Troops of Somalia's interim government, backed by Ethiopia, retook Mogadishu four days later, prompting an exodus of fighters loyal to the ICU.

The day before, forces of the Ogaden National Liberation Front -- which waged a long and often violent campaign for independence from Ethiopia before allying themselves with the ICU -- intercepted an Ethiopian military convoy of more than 20 vehicles, destroying four of them and forcing the remainder to retreat, according to the Sudan Times.

On Christmas Day, Eritrean radio reported that the ONLF attacked another Ethiopian convoy, killing as many as 500 soldiers. And yesterday, an Ogaden Web site, quoting locals, said the ONLF launched a surprise attack on two Ethiopian military personnel carriers, killing their occupants.

http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?title=ethiopia_canadian_islamists_flee_from_so&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1