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| Africa Horn |
| UN misled by shoddy Al-Shabaab probe, says MP |
| 2011-08-03 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] Nominated MP Amina Abdalla said in Parliament Tuesday that she donated Sh500,000 for the construction of Riyadha Mosque in Pumwani. She said the United Nations ...Parkinson's Law on an international scale... report, which accused her of funding Al Shaabab, the Somali fundamentalist group, was a conclusion from shoddy investigations. She said the report would undermine efforts to fight terrorism in the region by inordinately sensationalising it with a view by the UN staff to lengthen their stay in Nairobi. Speaking on the basis of a Standing Order, which allows an MP to make statement without debate, Ms Abdalla asked for punitive measures against the consultant who compiled the report if they cannot be substantiated. The report of the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea prepared for the Security Council exposes in great detail the activities of the terrorist group and its links with governments, businesses and individuals across the region. Riyadha mosque, located near Gikomba in Nairobi, is described by the UN report as the nerve centre of the Al Shaabab terror group's activities in Kenya. Although the UN report names her and Tourism minister Najib Balala for donating money to the mosque, Ms Abdalla said former Vice President Moody Awori also gave some contributions. Ms Abdalla told Parliament she met a Nigerian man in her Continental House office last May who claimed to be investigating a "very large donation" she made to the mosque. She said a cheque was issued on February, 14 months after pledging on the third harambee in September 2009. Ms Abdalla told the investigator that the huge sum contributed was due to her strong historical ties to the mosque. She said three generations of her family members have been associated with the mosque since 1930s. Ms Abdalla said it would be difficult for the mosque committee to fund terrorism activities because the three fund raising events failed to raise 10 per cent of the total budget. She said the investigator had inaccurately stated that the money had been used by Ahmed Iman, who left for Somalia more than a year before she issued the cheque. "My interaction with the investigator left me with a view that the UN recruits shoddy Sherlocks or the fellow was a con artist who wanted to extort money from me through his wild claims. I subscribed to the latter and dismissed him," said Ms Abdalla. She said the investigator amused her when he claimed that Mr Iman had ordered his followers to support her during the 2007 general elections when she in fact did not contest any seat. She also admitted that terrorism is huge challenge for the Mohammedan community in Kenya, and inaccurate reports similar to UN's will not assist in fighting terrorism. "Terrorism is a real challenge to the Mohammedan community in Kenya. Recently, we as leaders have fully appreciated the level of recruitment that has been taking place on our soil," she said. "The main reason for the slow appreciation of the problem has been the sensational reports on the subject by the international community," she added. Ms Abdalla said sensationalising the report was the best way the UN consultants could justify "the extension of the Somalia Monitoring Group (SMG) mandate" which they got last month. She said since the 9/11 attacks in the United States, Mohammedan charities rely on local donors such as Mr Balala and herself and the report would scare investors from contributing for fear of being linked with terror activities. Ms Abdalla said if the SMG did not share the information with the Internal Security ministry, she would demand that the Foreign Affairs ministry send a protest note to the UN secretary general for allowing inaccurate reports to be adopted by the UN Security Council. |
| Posted by:Fred |