04 April 2012
A London father of three helped his brother plot attacks in Somalia and owned a terror manual written by one of al Qaeda’s most senior figures, a court heard today.
Mohammed Shabir Ali, 24, from Stepney, was accused of funding his brother Mohammed Shamim in “numerous ways” to travel to the east African country to fight and become a martyr.
Westminster magistrates also heard that he was found with a manual, 44 Ways to Support Jihad, written by extremist cleric Anwar al Awlaki — the man who inspired the Detroit underpants bomber and the woman who tried to stab to death East Ham MP Stephen Timms.
Today’s hearing came as 10 people, including the heads of Somalia’s Olympic and football federations, were killed by a girl suicide bomber in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The al Qaeda linked militant group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place at the newly reopened national theatre at an event also attended by Somali prime minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali.
The allegations against Ali were outlined by prosecutor Louise Gray, who said that he had helped his brother, who left the UK with two other men, to “commit acts of terrorism in Somalia” by raising cash to help fund his trip.
She said he had also been found with Awlaki’s manual during a raid by counter-terrorism police on his home in Stepney. It also led to the arrest of two other men, aged 24 and 30, and a 21-year-old woman, who all remain in police custody.
Shaven headed Ali sat with his hands in his pocket while the charges of assisting another to commit acts of terrorism and possessing a terror manual were read out.
The offences were allegedly committed between 20 August 2008 and 21 June last year. He did not enter a plea and spoke only to confirm his name and address.
He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 20 April after District Judge Caroline Tubbs refused an application for bail.
Unemployed Ali, whose three children are aged four, two and 18 months, was supported at court by his wife and other family members, one of whom saluted him as he walked in.
The terror manual allegedly found in his possession was written by American-born Awlaki, who was killed last year in a drone strike after leading al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
His teachings were said to have influenced Mohammed Merah who carried out a spate of shootings in south-west France last month. He killed seven people, including children, before he was shot by police.
The acts by a lone al Qaeda terrorist fits the profile of a new generation of Islamist terrorists who are now regarded as posing a major security threat to the West.
Awlaki, whose perfect command of English made him a highly effective al Qaeda propagandist, regularly posted sermons on the internet urging his followers to carry out attacks against Western “infidels” using any means at their disposal.
In Britain, his sermons were blamed for the attack on Mr Timms at his constituency surgery in May 2010, when Roshonara Choudhry, 21, tried to stab him to death with a kitchen knife.
British security officials have also broken up several al Qaeda plots in which militants were planning to attack crowded shopping centres with primitive explosives.
A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that two men and a woman remain in custody as part of the investigation into the offences allegedly committed by Ali and have not yet been charged.
Friday, 22 June 2012
19 arrested in two-day blitz on drug gang
Benedict Moore-Bridger 29 February 2012
Scotland Yard smashed a drugs gang today by arresting 19 suspected members in a series of dawn raids.
Officers stormed known criminals' homes in Haringey in a two-day blitz as part of a crackdown on gang activity in London by the Met's new task force.
Detectives said the raids on the Somali gang would have a big impact on improving residents' lives by taking out major players in its drug network. It is one of four known "street gangs" in the area being targeted by officers from the
Trident Crime Gang Command.
The action, codename Operation Fadden, saw several "high-harm" individuals aged 17 to 30 arrested on suspicion of possession and dealing Class A drugs.
Two were also arrested for possessing CS spray and having a dangerous dog. In a raid at Wood Green, a 17-year-old suspected gang member yelled in defiance as officers led him away in handcuffs. Bags of cannabis were seized.
A police source said: "These gangs have built up a reputation of being untouchable in the area. They are not as organised as some of the major criminal networks but they have a hierarchy of employees, several drug runners and a lucrative turnover selling mainly heroin and crack cocaine.
"They are known to supply drugs quite openly - in parks, in front of children and people going to work. That is why they have been targeted."
Gang members were also tailed and snatched on the streets. Det Chief Insp Tim Champion, who led today's operation, said: "They don't have a Mr Big. There is a degree of structure but they are fairly chaotic.
"However, that makes them dangerous. It's either kill or be killed, as we saw on Boxing Day in Oxford Street where two gangs argued over shoplifting and it resulted in murder.
"We've disrupted that drugs network and these arrests will have a big impact, but it is not the end. We have ongoing operations against many other gangs.
"Normally after arrests you get a void but we are fully aware of the potential for new people to move in."
Woman stabbed 57 times in knife frenzy by Somali boyfriend Zakaria Mohamed
A violent partner was jailed for at least 26 years today for stabbing his girlfriend 57 times.
Somalian refugee Zakaria Mohamed, 29, was on probation when he killed television recruitment consultant Amina Adan, 32.
He had assaulted her twice before during their year-long relationship, but magistrates put off sentencing him so he could take part in a domestic abuse programme.
But she took him back and he killed her with three knives and shards of glass from a broken mirror before the counselling sessions were implemented, the Old Bailey heard.
Judge Anthony Morris said he did not know why the sessions were not prioritised before Mohamed served an unpaid work element of a community order.
Mohamed pleaded guilty to murdering Miss Adan on November 6, last year, at the home they shared in Walworth, south London.
After a row, drunken Mohamed went home, dragged her down the stairs by the hair, beat her unconscious, kicked and stamped on her and began to stab her.
After police arrived, Mohamed threatened to kill them and had to be subdued with a Taser gun.
Miss Adan, who was brought up in Kenya, was described as being hard working and popular at the Al Jazeera news network where she worked in human resources.
Judge Morris told Mohamed: "You are a controlling and domineering man and Amina was frightened of you and you sought to control her with violence.
"I am satisfied this was a punishment for her standing up to you.
"This was a savage, brutal, sustained and premeditated attack in which you clearly intended to kill.
"It was clearly a totally senseless killing in which you deprived a hardworking young woman of her life."
Mohamed had been in breach of a community order and a deferred sentence at the time.
He came to the UK in 2002 on a forged Dutch passport. His request for asylum was turned down but he was given indefinite leave to remain in 2007 under an amnesty.
In April 2011, he pleaded guilty to battery on Miss Adan and was placed on a community order which included a domestic abuse programme.
In May, 2011, he punched Miss Adan in the stomach and went on the run before being arrested in July.
In September, he was convicted of the assault and on October 20, of breaching the order.
On October 20, Camberwell Green magistrates deferred a likely prison sentence until January 20 this year, so he could take part in the programme.
Judge Morris said he was surprised the programme had not been implemented first.
He said: "It would be more important that they should have prioritised the domestic violence programme.
"This was not something the probation service were not aware of because he committed another offence, and it became even more urgent he should embark on this programme.
"Unfortunately, for reasons I do not fully understand, that programme had not been started fully."
Prosecutor Timothy Carey told the judge the Ministry of Justice would be holding a review into the case because the murder took place while Mohamed was subject to probation.
Miss Adan's sister, Hanan, said in a statement: "We will probably never know why he could possibly act in this way to another human being. It is something we will never forgive or forget."
Somalia promises west oil riches as diplomats vow to defeat al-Shabaab
Somali prime minister says his country will give west a share of natural resources in return for help with task of reconstruction
Members of the Islamist group al-Shabaab distribute aid near Mogadishu. Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters
They expect the oil to flow within weeks. Coming from two miles underground, the crude should reach the arid plains of Puntland in the north-east corner of Somalia by April.
Around the same time, Somali diplomats say an offensive against al-Shabaab militia in the south of the country, backed by US drone strikes, should have damaged the Islamist group's "effective fighting capability".
Meanwhile, the UN plans to impose trade sanctions on the illicit international trade in charcoal, Somalia's "black gold" which not only funds al-Shabaab but also destroys the country's forests and led in part to last year's widespread famine.
The promise of stability coupled with the apparent discovery of oil reserves could help to rebuild this poverty-stricken country. But experts warn the west must not pillage the newly found resources of Somalia, or risk massively escalating the conflicts already in the region. Kenyan, Ethiopian and Ugandan soldiers are in Somalia fighting al-Shabaab and each country has vested interests in Somalia's future. Already a new militia, led by the unlikely-sounding Sheik Atom, has formed around Puntland's oilfields.
The Somali prime minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, speaking to the Observer after meeting Hillary Clinton and David Cameron at the London Somalia Conference last week, said that in the future a share of natural resources would be offered in return for help with reconstruction. "There's room for everybody when this country gets back on its feet and is ready for investment," he said. "Although now is not the time.
"What we need is capital from countries like the UK to invest. If the private sector can come in and do the work, then we welcome them."
But many observers are uneasy about foreign interference in a country still emerging from 21 years of civil war and facing political transition. The mandate for Somalia's transitional government runs out in August.
Chatham House analyst Adjoa Anyimadu said: "There's already a lot of scepticism from parts of the Somalian community about the reasons for the sudden focus on Somalia and the reasons behind the UK's interest.
"The potential for things to go wrong is high, for the population to feel they are being undermined or invaded by foreigners. Al-Shabaab has little credence with many Somalians but a foreign intervention could create a common enemy."
While a new wealth could bring back the diaspora, she said, they too would need to be wary about riding roughshod over respected clan structures. "There are big gulfs between the experiences of those educated abroad and those living in Somalia. Everyone has a duty to make sure the population really does get a say in establishing governance so that it is seen as legitimate. The pressing issue remains food and security."
Mark Bradbury, director of the Rift Valley Institute and author of several reports on Somalia, said oil was "a big game changer". He added: "The international community has been very quiet on the whole exploitation of minerals and hydrocarbons. There is clearly potential for dispute between the relatively stable Puntland and the rest of the country. The positive end would be a federal government put in place with international support; the negative, a Somalia being divided up by international military forces."
Markets expert Stuart Joyner, of Investec Securities in London, warned against the Somalis getting too carried away with the oil discoveries.
"Somalia obviously has oil potential because it's very close to some of the big east Africa finds and people are looking for more. It's a very poor country so it's going to help them, but in the global oil industry it's nowhere.
"I'd be flabbergasted if the Puntland fields were worth the time of the big players such as BP or Shell. It will be more private investors."
So the real corporate goal may well be not what is due to arrive on the surface next month but what is known to be under the Indian Ocean off Somalia's coast – where sovereignty is unclear.
Drilling in Puntland by the Canadian firm Africa Oil began last month and transitional government officials, in London for David Cameron's conference, said pipelines to the country's ports had been laid.
Civil war, insecurity and lack of infrastructure ensured that the region became a no-go for western companies from the early 1990s when the government collapsed, leaving local warlords and militias to claw out territories.
For Americans, Somalia still holds the painful memory of the "Black Hawk Down" incident of 1993 when 18 members of a US helicopter assault force and an estimated 700 Somalis were killed in a battle in Mogadishu. A senior Somali delegate in London last week said creating the conditions for stability was essential. "If citizens of Britain are kidnapped, then that will interfere with progress."
Dahabo Isse, from Mogadishu, and a prominent member of London's Somali community, is among those concerned at the prospect of western multinationals profiting from their resources. "If resources go to the people, then fine, but if they
Members of the Islamist group al-Shabaab distribute aid near Mogadishu. Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters
They expect the oil to flow within weeks. Coming from two miles underground, the crude should reach the arid plains of Puntland in the north-east corner of Somalia by April.
Around the same time, Somali diplomats say an offensive against al-Shabaab militia in the south of the country, backed by US drone strikes, should have damaged the Islamist group's "effective fighting capability".
Meanwhile, the UN plans to impose trade sanctions on the illicit international trade in charcoal, Somalia's "black gold" which not only funds al-Shabaab but also destroys the country's forests and led in part to last year's widespread famine.
The promise of stability coupled with the apparent discovery of oil reserves could help to rebuild this poverty-stricken country. But experts warn the west must not pillage the newly found resources of Somalia, or risk massively escalating the conflicts already in the region. Kenyan, Ethiopian and Ugandan soldiers are in Somalia fighting al-Shabaab and each country has vested interests in Somalia's future. Already a new militia, led by the unlikely-sounding Sheik Atom, has formed around Puntland's oilfields.
The Somali prime minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, speaking to the Observer after meeting Hillary Clinton and David Cameron at the London Somalia Conference last week, said that in the future a share of natural resources would be offered in return for help with reconstruction. "There's room for everybody when this country gets back on its feet and is ready for investment," he said. "Although now is not the time.
"What we need is capital from countries like the UK to invest. If the private sector can come in and do the work, then we welcome them."
But many observers are uneasy about foreign interference in a country still emerging from 21 years of civil war and facing political transition. The mandate for Somalia's transitional government runs out in August.
Chatham House analyst Adjoa Anyimadu said: "There's already a lot of scepticism from parts of the Somalian community about the reasons for the sudden focus on Somalia and the reasons behind the UK's interest.
"The potential for things to go wrong is high, for the population to feel they are being undermined or invaded by foreigners. Al-Shabaab has little credence with many Somalians but a foreign intervention could create a common enemy."
While a new wealth could bring back the diaspora, she said, they too would need to be wary about riding roughshod over respected clan structures. "There are big gulfs between the experiences of those educated abroad and those living in Somalia. Everyone has a duty to make sure the population really does get a say in establishing governance so that it is seen as legitimate. The pressing issue remains food and security."
Mark Bradbury, director of the Rift Valley Institute and author of several reports on Somalia, said oil was "a big game changer". He added: "The international community has been very quiet on the whole exploitation of minerals and hydrocarbons. There is clearly potential for dispute between the relatively stable Puntland and the rest of the country. The positive end would be a federal government put in place with international support; the negative, a Somalia being divided up by international military forces."
Markets expert Stuart Joyner, of Investec Securities in London, warned against the Somalis getting too carried away with the oil discoveries.
"Somalia obviously has oil potential because it's very close to some of the big east Africa finds and people are looking for more. It's a very poor country so it's going to help them, but in the global oil industry it's nowhere.
"I'd be flabbergasted if the Puntland fields were worth the time of the big players such as BP or Shell. It will be more private investors."
So the real corporate goal may well be not what is due to arrive on the surface next month but what is known to be under the Indian Ocean off Somalia's coast – where sovereignty is unclear.
Drilling in Puntland by the Canadian firm Africa Oil began last month and transitional government officials, in London for David Cameron's conference, said pipelines to the country's ports had been laid.
Civil war, insecurity and lack of infrastructure ensured that the region became a no-go for western companies from the early 1990s when the government collapsed, leaving local warlords and militias to claw out territories.
For Americans, Somalia still holds the painful memory of the "Black Hawk Down" incident of 1993 when 18 members of a US helicopter assault force and an estimated 700 Somalis were killed in a battle in Mogadishu. A senior Somali delegate in London last week said creating the conditions for stability was essential. "If citizens of Britain are kidnapped, then that will interfere with progress."
Dahabo Isse, from Mogadishu, and a prominent member of London's Somali community, is among those concerned at the prospect of western multinationals profiting from their resources. "If resources go to the people, then fine, but if they
Seven arrested on suspicion of exporting qat to fund terrorism
The Guardian, Sandra Laville, crime correspondent
http://www.guardian.co.uk/,
Tuesday 1 May 2012 11.17 BST Seven people have been arrested in three cities on suspicion of raising money for terrorism through illegal exports of the substance qat.
The suspects, who include a 45-year-old woman, were arrested as part of an operation run with the US government's department of homeland security and the UK Border Agency, police said.
They are suspected of exporting qat – which is legal in the UK – to the US and Canada, where it is illegal, to fund a terrorist group overseas.
Qat is used predominantly by members of the Somalian community in the UK. The arrests appear to be linked to the alleged funding of al-Shabaab – the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group in Somalia.
The seven are being questioned on suspicion of funding of a terrorist organisation, and laundering the proceeds of crime for that purpose, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000.
The arrests come as police and security services are on high alert in the runup to the Olympics and as a major military exercise takes place across the capital in preparation for the Games.
The suspects were arrested at four residential addresses in London, Cardiff and Coventry at approximately 6am on Tuesday, Scotland Yard said.
They are a 45-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man, who were both arrested in Croydon, south London, two men aged 47 and 30 who were arrested in Brent, north London, two men aged 45 and 42 arrested in Coventry and a 40-year-old man arrested in Cardiff.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: "The co-ordinated operation is led by the Met's counter-terrorism command, with assistance from the counter-terrorism network, the UK Border Agency and local forces.
"The arrests were a part of a pre-planned, intelligence-led operation, into suspected fundraising for terrorism overseas.
"The operation, which also involves homeland security investigations in America, is investigating a network suspected of illegally exporting the stimulant qat, which is legal in the UK, to the USA and Canada where it is a controlled substance."
Searches of the homes were under way, the police said, and searches of eight further properties – residential addresses in London, Worthing and Coventry and a business premises in Coventry – were also taking place, the police said.
Several Britons are known to have travelled to Somalia for training with al-Shabaab. In a separate ongoing investigation, British police are liaising with the authorities in Kenya in the hunt for two Britons who are allegedly involved in the organisation, including the widow of the 7 July suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/,
Tuesday 1 May 2012 11.17 BST Seven people have been arrested in three cities on suspicion of raising money for terrorism through illegal exports of the substance qat.
The suspects, who include a 45-year-old woman, were arrested as part of an operation run with the US government's department of homeland security and the UK Border Agency, police said.
They are suspected of exporting qat – which is legal in the UK – to the US and Canada, where it is illegal, to fund a terrorist group overseas.
Qat is used predominantly by members of the Somalian community in the UK. The arrests appear to be linked to the alleged funding of al-Shabaab – the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group in Somalia.
The seven are being questioned on suspicion of funding of a terrorist organisation, and laundering the proceeds of crime for that purpose, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000.
The arrests come as police and security services are on high alert in the runup to the Olympics and as a major military exercise takes place across the capital in preparation for the Games.
The suspects were arrested at four residential addresses in London, Cardiff and Coventry at approximately 6am on Tuesday, Scotland Yard said.
They are a 45-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man, who were both arrested in Croydon, south London, two men aged 47 and 30 who were arrested in Brent, north London, two men aged 45 and 42 arrested in Coventry and a 40-year-old man arrested in Cardiff.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: "The co-ordinated operation is led by the Met's counter-terrorism command, with assistance from the counter-terrorism network, the UK Border Agency and local forces.
"The arrests were a part of a pre-planned, intelligence-led operation, into suspected fundraising for terrorism overseas.
"The operation, which also involves homeland security investigations in America, is investigating a network suspected of illegally exporting the stimulant qat, which is legal in the UK, to the USA and Canada where it is a controlled substance."
Searches of the homes were under way, the police said, and searches of eight further properties – residential addresses in London, Worthing and Coventry and a business premises in Coventry – were also taking place, the police said.
Several Britons are known to have travelled to Somalia for training with al-Shabaab. In a separate ongoing investigation, British police are liaising with the authorities in Kenya in the hunt for two Britons who are allegedly involved in the organisation, including the widow of the 7 July suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay.
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