GUARDIAN:Briton's Widow Seeks Arrest .......

[ADNAAN]

Briton's Widow Seeks Arrest Of Somali President

Guardian — London, UK — 27 May, 2005

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Duncan Campbell

Friday May 27, 2005

The Guardian

 

The widow of a man allegedly killed by members of the militia of Somalia's president is attempting to have him arrested for murder during his visit to London for medical treatment. Zahra Abdullah has won a civil action for damages from President Abdullahi Yusuf for her husband's death in the high court and she is urging Britain to detain him as it did the former president of Chile, Augusto Pinochet.

 

Mr Yusuf, 70, a warlord, is recognised by Britain as the head of the transitional government of Somalia in exile. He is in Britain for medical treatment following a liver transplant. The president has been accused in connection with the murder of Sultan Ahmed Mohamud Mohamed, a British citizen, who was killed in the village of Kalabeyr in Somalia in August 2002. He was a political leader who had returned from exile in London and was hoping to resettle in his country, his widow told the Guardian. He had been critical of Mr Yusuf.

 

According to evidence given earlier this year in a high court civil action, the murdered man had driven past a convoy led by Mr Yusuf and had been spotted. Two vehicles peeled off from Mr Yusuf's convoy, and their armed occupants tracked down Sultan Ahmed and shot him dead. Such deaths are not uncommon in Somalia and would not normally be investigated, but because Mr Yusuf was a frequent visitor to Britain, Sultan Ahmed's widow decided to pursue the case here.

 

Ms Abdullah lives with her four children in west London, where she works as an interpreter. She married her husband in 1986 in Nairobi. Both were granted refugee status in Britain and later citizenship. He studied accountancy and business in London but was unable to obtain regular employment here.

 

For this reason, she said, he returned to Somalia, which has been in political turmoil for the past 14 years. With the support of some people in the Somali community in London she brought a civil action against the president, accusing him of being responsible for the death of her husband and seeking damages.

 

Mr Yusuf, through his British lawyers, entered a written defence to the action. In it he denied direct or indirect involvement in the killing. He said the action was "politically motivated", the murder would be investigated in Somalia and "blood money" would be paid.

 

But the court did not accept that there was any redress possible in Somalia in its current state. The court referred to evidence that Mr Yusuf had met challenges to his presidential claims "with lethal force" and noted that "his supporters are reported to have carried out retaliations, including executions, against his opponents".

 

Last month judgment was given against Mr Yusuf on the grounds that he had failed to comply with a court order to produce documentation for his defence, and so there was no full trial. He was ordered to pay £10,000 "bereavement damages" to Ms Abdullah.

 

The judgment found "the evidence does not show that the defendant was personally responsible for the killing of the deceased but it appears that the killing was carried out by those acting under his authority and under his command".

 

Mr Yusuf has paid £30,000 in damages and costs. Now Zahra Abdullah wants him to face criminal charges and her lawyer, Michael Hanley, has sent a dossier on the case to Scotland Yard.

 

"All I want is some justice for my husband," she said at her home in White City. "The men who killed my husband were Abdullahi Yusuf's troops, under his command. My husband was unarmed and had no bodyguards - he was a civilian.

 

"It is three years since he was killed and there has been nothing. I think that he thought that by paying the money in the court case that would be an end of it but we want to see him detained so that he cannot go back to Somalia."

 

She said that she believed the case of General Pinochet, who was detained in Britain pending extradition proceedings because of crimes committed in Chile, set a precedent for the UK to act.

 

"Britain has a wonderful opportunity to help the peace process in a constructive way by prosecuting warlords," Mr Hanley said yesterday.

 

There was no response from Mr Yusuf to messages left for him at the contact numbers given on his behalf to the Guardian or via his legal representatives. The Cromwell hospital, in west London, where he was described as having treatment, said no one of that name was registered with it.

 

The Met's serious crime group has examined the case. The detective superintendent handling the inquiry told Mr Hanley that there were immense difficulties in any case in a war zone where there were problems finding impartial witnesses

[OLOL]

2004 AllAfrica, Inc. Africa News

 

LENGTH: 448 words

HEADLINE: Somalia; Two Years After The Assassination of Sultan Hurre in Puntland State of Somalia

BYLINE: Somali Peace Rally

BODY: Today two years ago, on February 17, 2004, the great Sultan of Puntland,Somalia, Ahmed Mohamed Hurre was gunned down by the special body guards of Col. Abdullahi Yusuf, the brutal dictator of Puntland. It is widely believed that the Sultan was assassinated because of his political views. It is common knowledge to all the people of Puntland, most of the Somalis and the international community involved in Somali affairs that Col. Abdullahi sent the assassins who gunned down the Sultan point blank. Co. Yousuf was few kilometres away from the site of the heinous crime the Kalabayr village. The death of many people, of which Sultan Hurre and Col. Farah-Dheere were the most known, has simply passed as non event in Puntland. No finger was lifted to investigate simply because the killer was the boss. This is Col. Abdullahi's justice trade mark. Similar travesties in justice took place in Gaalkacyo when murderers in a jail were let go by force and in Buurtinle when Abdulllahi ordered the release of criminal who had committed murder in a mosque, of all places. This is Abdullahi justice trade mark - people are not equal and some can get away with a broad-day light assassination. Alas, Siyad Barre would be a saint in this regard. Sultan Hurre's death is not simply going away as Col Abdullahi and his cohorts dream. It is an issue that all Sultan Hurre's acquaintances, those who did not know him but shocked by the killing, and the human rights activists will keep pressing until justice sees the light of the day and his assassins are brought before court. SPR is welcoming the court procedure against the defendant (Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed) in UK. It is a tangible success that finally the Colonel came to realize that he can not hob-nob the world with blood on his hands. London, the Sultan's hometown, has fulfilled an obligation. SPR is asking the international community that Suldan Hurre's assassination should go to the crimes against humanity court as a test case for the Horn of Africa. We have warned the Somalis that we should not have a short memory. We should not support or accept someone who is fixed on ruling with the barrel of the gun and brutal force. That is what brought us here. Elimination of intellectuals, respected officers, religious personalities is where the down fall of Somalia had started. Sultan Hurre, a high profile Issim in Puntland and Somalia at large, and the rest of those who were killed for political reasons, deserve a support from us we Somalis. What brought us where we are now is silence that a dictator had translated as an approval. The record should be set straight and the criminals should face the music.

[contraflow]

The old guy seems to be getting a lot of attention.

[Sky]

the colonel taas wuu ku xumaa. you aint safe if you are a threat to him. from 2001 markuu colonel jaamac (part-time wadaad, full-time mafia) haraanti kaga daalay till 2004 markii madaxweyne soomaaliya loo doortay, there was no single person that dared to defy his presidency, except for general c/musse and his golaha badbaadinta puntland. from cabdiraxmaan caydiid in ssdf days till suldaan hurre were all killed for the same reason, they were a blockade on c/yussefs agenda. laakiin with this fella the ends justify the means. so thats pretty messed up. the man definetily has his weaknesses but also many strengths. if you ever met the man, youll know that only his sheer presence intimidates ppl. this white journalist from bbc that once interviewed him, reported how sternlooking he was and how he felt like a child with him. a real somali military officer who served everywhere from burco to baydhabo, goes to bed early, wakes up early, always punctual and never laid a finger on a cigarette or khat. ppl still talk about how he used to force some of his ministers to dress sharply and not with macwiis, as if they were his kids or something. above that jailed as enemy of the state in a total of 12 years by s/barre and mengistu.

[wind.talker]

What was it? 27 protestors? LOL

[Jumatatu]

Originally posted by Sky:

there was no single person that dared to defy his presidency, except for general c/musse and his golaha badbaadinta puntland. from cabdiraxmaan caydiid in ssdf days till suldaan hurre were all killed for the same reason, they were a blockade on c/yussefs agenda. laakiin with this fella the ends justify the means.

Hence it is justifiable the killing of a political opponent, am not suprised after all you are supporter of Yeey. Sxb it might have worked (as you clearly and affirmatively state),the killing of opponents, in SSDF and Puntland but it will definately not work in the rest of Somalia.

For the record I'm glad that at least a staunch supporter of President Yeey has publicly confirmed that Yeey kills anyone who opposses his ideas....

 

Wind sxb even if theere were five demonastrators does it matter..?

[AYOUB]

14 March 2005 High Court Outcome