Nairobi, Kenya, September 19, 2009 (SL Times) – Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida linked Somali organization arrested three men in Balad Hawo and accused them of planning to kidnap people from across the border in Mandhera, Kenya.
According to Ahmad Haji of the BBC Somali Service (Sept.15, 2009), by making the arrests, al-Shabaab was honoring an agreement that was signed by Kenyan officials led by Francis Mangura and al-Shabaab leaders. Al-Shabaab said it made the arrests to prevent a similar kidnapping from Kenya that took place in July of this year.
The Kenyan agreement with al-Shabaab goes counter to the stated US policy of not talking with al-Shabaab. Asked whether his country would talk to al-Shabaab, the U.S ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, said, ““No, definitely not. I mean the al-Shabaab lacks any legitimacy in Somalia. I mean they are an extremist group.”
The Kenyan position is however close to that of the UN Secretary General’s Representative to Somalia, Mr Ahmed Ould Abdallah, who said to the BBC Somali Service, on Sep 16, 2009, this is the time for talking with al-Shabaab.






 

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