From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Dec 28 2009 - 16:21:32 EST
Somalia: The Bomber is alive: - Shamo carnage revisited
Dec 28, 2009 - 10:58:47 PM
BY Abdikarim Haji Abdi Buh
The Author is a political analyst based in London
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Opinion_20/Somalia_The_Bomber_is
_alive_-_Shamo_carnage_revisited.shtml
As the dust settled and the emotions subsided the Somalis as well the other
concerned people are out there to peace together the information that is
coming out from different sources in their quest to get the real picture of
how this horrendous action took place and who is to blame for the atrocity
which shocked the nation and rocked further the security concerns of the
already suspicious countries in the neighbourhood. The international as well
as the local media is inundated with the scary news that a young Danish
citizen of Somali origin disguised as a woman blew himself up and took with
him so many innocent lives 每 parents, doctors, teachers, politicians and
some friends and acquaintances of the graduates. The unprecedented carnage
at the graduation ceremony in Hotel Shamo is captured by a recently released
Somali song ※ <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SYnOhU8Npk> Qaylodhaan§
written by Abdi Shire Jamac.
A few hours after the explosion, as surviving graduates and other citizens
were grappling with death and destruction the Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) broke the news to the world that a Danish youngster was
behind the bombing of the Hotel and then the government went mute. The
government did not produce any significant evidence to support its claim
other than a picture of what appears to be one of the casualties who was
martyred as a consequence of the savage bombing. There were many pictures
depicting the barbarity of the slaughter and the scale of the devastation
was beyond description. Some of the bodies were completely shattered, others
cut into half and some lost body parts.
The news so far collected from independent sources is in stark contrast to
the claim of the government. Pictures rolled out from some of the survived
cameras and published on the net and the witness statements from the
survivors including Dr. Dufle who was at the podium at the time of the
explosion paints completely a different scenario. The pictures taken just
before the bomb went off shows the Danish youth sitting among the guest of
honour dressed casually in black striped summer T shirt neither in black
Burkah nor wearing anything that can conceal a suicide bomber＊s vest.
We may not find the truth and the full truth for some time but one thing is
certain 每 security lapse from the TFG side and false accusation of a dead
man. It is not possible that the alleged bomber went out and came back
disguised as women unless the congregation were all blind and dumb.It is
also equally incomprehensible that no one saw the bomber in action as it is
very unlikely to miss a person who is blowing out himself in front of every
one. The information so far in hand only points to one cause 每 a planted
bomb detonated by remote control.
In late May when the Colonel Hashi, the security minister, was killed by a
suicide bomber the TFG claimed that the bomber was a foreign person but to
their embarrassment the bomber turned out to be a local Somali man. The TFG
claimed countless times that they captured foreign fighters but not a single
one materialised. In the summer they claimed that they have killed a foreign
fighter in one of their battles with the Islamists but it latter turned out
that the youngster was a Somali of reer Hamar descent, and sadly one of the
so called ※missing boys§ from Minneapolis. It was a shocking revelation
for his family as they witnessed the dead body of their missing son being
prated as a foreign fighter.
The TFG has taken the habit of giving out contradictory information which is
as flimsy as the TGF itself and as such has overtime created a reputation of
untrustworthiness as a source. But what is frustrating not to mention
annoying for the public at large is how it pulled wool over our eyes. The
Danish man seems to me to be a casualty of miscarriage of justice and I
demand the TFG to prove his misdeeds or else pay compensation to his family
and retract this premature statement which amounts to nothing more than
defamation of character.
New Pictures challenges the TFG Version.
The news that a suicide bomber disguised as women in black Burkah was to
blame; was aired by the TFG who are known to have maintained a track record
of disinformation and misrepresentation. To add to , the TFG made available
photos that didn＊t show any veil or Burkah but a young man in a striped
shirt , appearing more like a victim. This daring misrepresentation of
information raised eye brows and added to the mistrust of an already weak
TFG.
It takes weeks or some times more for the American Government, with all its
facilities and specialities at its disposal, to identify a culprit or a
cause of casualty but half a day is more then enough for the unsighted TFG
to identify the alleged bomber. The American forces after they captured
President Sadam Hussein didn＊t release any information until they
identified and established through DNA and other tests that he is really the
president of Iraq but not a look alike.
As you can see from the picture that the guy who is supposed to be the
bomber looks cool and relaxed at the front row which is reserved for the
guests of honour. He also appears little sleepy or bored which is not the
type of emotions one should rationally expect from a person who is sure to
die in 20 minutes. He is wearing a thin sort of a casual black stripe shirt
which is the same shirt his body was found in after the explosion. No
suicide bombers＊ vests or a veil was recovered from the scene and no one of
the multitude of survivals so far attested to have seen the alleged women in
black and even Dr. Dufle who was at the podium, which gives a full view of
the venue, failed to conclusively point out whether it was a planted bomb or
a suicide bomber - listen this
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/somali/meta/dps/2009/12/091203_duf
le?size=au&bgc=003399&lang=so&nbram=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1> Dr. Dufle＊s
witness statement. The Danish intelligence is still investigating the
allegation made against their citizen but said to have already scrapped the
TFG＊s version as it can＊t hold water.
The information from the alleged bomber＊s father, a graduate from the
Somali National University＊s faculty of agriculture, and that of the hotel
staffs are the only palatable information so far in the public domain. It is
confirmed from different and independent sources that his wife was about to
deliver a baby in Marka, that he was a guest at hotel Shamo and the picture
demonstrates beyond any doubt that he was invited by a friend as his father
repeatedly claimed.
The Bomb blast went off some time after the commencement started. Some of
the activities were坼 a film showing the history of Benadir University, its
faculties and their respective deans which received a standing ovation from
the graduates and the other guests. There were many speakers of which the
noted one was the speech delivered by the rector of Banadir University Dr.
Mohamed Moalin Muse followed by troops of young singers who were decorated
and trained to capture the day. Snacks and drinks which professor Addow
declined to participate in as he observed a day of fasting were served.
People were coming in and out of the venue and many reporters and camera men
from various news agencies where at the scene. I hope the presence of these
reporters would in the coming months shed light in to the spirit and soul
of the gathering before the bomb was detonated.
It is a common knowledge that the alleged bomber＊s body, Mr. Abdirahman,
lay unclaimed for nearly a day as he was an unknown man in Mogadishu which
also indicates that his friends to have died too in the explosion. It is
also known that the Hotel Staff, not the security people, identified him as
a guest from Qoryooley which is near Marka Town. The fallen man unknown to
many due to the fact that he wasn＊t a local person is transformed in to the
ultimate suicide bomber 每 hate figure of the century with out taking stock
of the situation. A dead man without relatives around is an opportunity the
TFG media vultures can hardly miss to take advantage. Please do listen to
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/somali/meta/dps/2009/12/091203_duf
le?size=au&bgc=003399&lang=so&nbram=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1> Character
reference of Mr. Abdirahman on a Radio based in Denmark made by the
community leader of the Somalis in Copenhagen - Denmark.
Who was the real bomber? We will never know.
The fact that Mogadishu is the home of assassinations and the base of
multitude of fronts fighting proxy wars with regional and international
dimensions coupled by the total absence of government makes impossible to
get a stout verdict which can withstand the test of the normal people.
The Al Shabab group who introduced suicide bombing to Somalia and who had
never shied from claiming most of the previous suicide attacks disowned any
connection to this operation and the TFG which is famous of being too
economic in the truth also denied its involvement. Al Shabab was pointing
its finger at no one other then General Abdi Qaydiid who they maintained was
behind the bombing for his own personal benefits. The general has a very
ugly r谷sum谷 and his hands are immersed deep in to the blood of his foes
and friends but suicide bombing and planting of bombs can＊t fit comfortably
in to his mode operands. The general is very selective in his trade and
hunts down only the elite, who mostly hail from his tribe, that he suspects
might in the long run turn to threaten or challenge his position.
In the aftermath of the bombing we see that the General was given a
Ministerial post, Minister of minerals and water, to fill the post sadly
vacated by professor Addow- the man of the people. The infamous 4.5 formula
around which the TFG is shaped regrettably lumps the disreputable warlord
Gen. Abdi Qaydid and the man of the people, Professor Addow, together in the
same box. This golden hand shake has nothing to do with the bombing but is
an opening that the General took with both hands.
Who ever executed this operation must have planted the bomb inside the
premises preferably hidden in a disguised form under the tables set aside to
accommodate TFG Ministers and officials or amalgamated in to the decorations
of the hall. It is very likely that the operative detonated the bomb by
remote control while he/she was sitting in the back rows or adjacent room to
the hall where he/she can monitor with confidence the movement and seating
of the participants 每 the rector was in one of those adjacent room with a
reporter at the time the bomb went off.
It was a premeditated mass murder inflicted on the Somalis where it hurts
most but can any one say who was behind it? The Al Shabab, Hisbi Al-Islam,
Ahlu Sunna wal Jama, the TFG, Ethiopian intelligence operatives, CIA
operatives, Israeli hounds and Iranian sympathisers to mention a few who
have factions within factions to such a degree that the left of the faction
doesn＊t know what the right of the same faction is up to.
In conclusion I say; not everyone whom dogs bark at is a thief 每 we have
only a word of mouth from one faction against the word from another faction
with no material substance. The majority of the people are beginning to
doubt the TFG＊s version that the bomber is dead, and do think that the
bomber is alive and laughing at us but only God knows who the real culprit
is!
Abdikarim Haji Abdi Buh
Email: Abdikarimbuh@yahoo.com
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