Muslim Hate of the United Nations
Militants raid UN compounds, ban 3 relief agencies
(AP) – Jul 20, 2009
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Islamic insurgents with alleged links with al-Qaida looted two United Nations compounds in southern Somalia on Monday, and announced they will ban three U.N. agencies from operating in areas the militants control.
The United Nations confirmed that al-Shabab militants had stolen emergency communication equipment from its compound in Baidoa city, and two cars and some furniture from its compound in the town of Wajid. No injuries were reported. The U.N. said it was suspending its operations in Baidoa and continuing them in Wajid, which serves as the world body's hub for humanitarian aid in the region.
Al-Shabab is battling to overthrow Somalia's government, and it controls large areas of Mogadishu, the capital, and southern Somalia. The U.S. State Department says the group has links with al-Qaida, but al-Shabab denies that.
Somalia has not had a functioning government for 18 years since clan warlords overthrew a brutal dictator and then turned on each other, plunging the Horn of Africa nation into chaos and anarchy. Poverty is widespread, and the country's civilians rely heavily on the food, drinking water and medical treatment that relief agencies provide.
In May, al-Shabab militiamen occupied and looted the U.N. children's agency's compound in the southern Somalia town of Jowhar, which had been an operational hub of its humanitarian work in southern and central Somalia.
Over the past year several other aid agencies have suspended their operations in southern and central Somalia following looting of their equipment or the abduction of their staff by different groups or just the general violence. The aid agencies that have suspended some of their Somalia operations include the International Medical Corps, CARE International and Doctors Without Borders.
Al-Shabab issued a statement Monday saying it was banning three U.N. agencies — the U.N. Political Office for Somalia, the Development Program, and the Department for Safety and Security — for allegedly working against the Somali Muslim population and against the establishment of an Islamic state. The insurgents said the groups can no longer operate in areas al-Shabab controls.
The insurgents said all aid agencies must register with al-Shabab and that they also will be closed if the militants find them to be "working with an agenda against the Somali Muslim population and/or against the establishment of an Islamic state."
The U.N. responded with a statement saying: "The U.N. is reassessing the situation on the ground and is optimistic that the minimal conditions on the ground will be restored to allow the critical humanitarian work to resume in Baidoa and continue elsewhere in Somalia."
Marie Okabe, the U.N. deputy spokeswoman in New York, also told reporters the U.N. Political Office for Somalia "has not confirmed any official notification of that kind" from the insurgents.
Al-Shabab and other Islamist groups have been fighting Somalia's U.N.-backed government since being chased from power 2 1/2 years ago. The situation is complicated by the continual splintering and reforming of alliances and a web of clan loyalties.
Kidnappings for ransom have been on the rise in recent years, with journalists and aid workers often targeted. The lawlessness also has allowed piracy to flourish off the coast, making the waterway one of the most dangerous in the world.
Associated Press writers Tom Maliti in Nairobi, Kenya, and Edith Lederer in New York contributed to this report.
UN fury at Darfur militia ambush
BBC News
July 9, 2008
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has condemned an ambush which left seven members of the joint UN-African Union peace mission to Sudan's Darfur region dead.
Twenty-two others were injured, seven critically, in one of the deadliest assaults on UN forces in recent years.
The UN says its peacekeepers fought for over two hours to repulse suspected Janjaweed fighters, who were armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
Only 10,000 of a planned 26,000-strong peacekeeping force have been deployed.
Correspondents say the UN-AU mission, which began work this year, lacks the military hardware, including attack helicopters, needed to operate effectively in a region roughly the size of France.
'Extreme violence'
Khartoum, which wants predominantly African peacekeepers, has been accused of slowing down the deployment of the force by repeatedly raising objections.
About 40 armoured vehicles ambushed the peace force while it was on patrol in North Darfur on Wednesday.
Ten vehicles from the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (Unamid) were destroyed, Sudan's state media reported.
A spokeswoman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he "condemns in the strongest possible terms this unacceptable act of extreme violence".
The BBC's Laura Trevelyan at the UN in New York says that UN officials suspect Janjaweed militia loyal to Sudan's government were to blame.
She says diplomats are wondering whether the timing of the attack could be linked to the fact that top Sudanese officials could be indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court next week.
The Janjaweed has long been hostile to UN troops in Sudan, fearing they could be used to arrest anyone indicted by the court at the Hague, our correspondent says.
Since the conflict began in Darfur five years ago, the UN estimates that some 300,000 people have died and two million have fled their homes.
The conflict began when rebels took up arms in protest at alleged government discrimination against the region.
Pro-government Arab militias have been accused of widespread atrocities against the black African population.